While the Savage Sleeps (32 page)

An anxious crowd gathered around them, whispering and wondering who this stranger was, passed out on the floor.

Several minutes later, two paramedics came rushing through the door, and Cameron felt a wave of relief as they took over, attaching tubes, checking her vital signs, and trying to get her to wake up. She was unresponsive. The medics slid her onto a scoop stretcher, pulling canvas straps across her chest and legs.

Cameron stood back, watching, worrying, but most of all, with many questions still wandering through his mind: who was this woman, and why had she come here? Even more troubling, what had caused her to collapse onto the floor?

Within seconds she was gone, rushed off to Faith Community with Cameron in his car, following closely behind.

Chapter
Seventy

Community Hospital

Faith, New Mexico

Kyle opened her eyes to find Cameron sitting motionless, just several feet away, and watching her. It only took her a few seconds to realize where she was and what had happened.

The menacing aura that had surrounded him earlier was gone now; still, she knew that even though she couldn’t actually see or feel the energy, it hadn’t gone far. This sort of thing often changed in form and intensity, but rarely did it ever go away completely. Kyle couldn’t help but wonder from where it was coming. Even more of a concern was what had caused it.

“
Feeling okay?” Cameron asked.

“
I’m not sure yet,” Kyle replied, her voice soft and breathy, her mind still groggy.

“
Do you remember what happened?”

“
No … I mean yes … well, sort of.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms, then suddenly looked up. “What time is it, anyway?”

Cameron turned his wrist to look at his watch. “About seven forty-eight.”

Kyle shifted her gaze out the window next to her bed. A remnant splash of ginger sunlight streaked across the western skies. Was it the settling dusk or the rising dawn? She couldn’t be sure. Time had evaded her the minute she’d lost consciousness. She looked back at Cameron. “As in seven forty-eight …
at night
?”

“
You got it,” he replied, letting a yawn escape and feeling the long day wearing down on him. He still had no idea who this woman was, or why she’d come to meet him. Her collapse only seemed to widen the mystery.

As soon as Kyle found the clock on the wall, her expression fell.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Nothing.” But she was thinking of her obligatory call to Josh. Kyle had been doing well keeping in touch until now. She eyed the phone on the nightstand. If she called him soon, she’d still be okay.

Cameron followed her glance with curiosity. “Got somewhere you have to be?”

She looked up at him quickly and tried to appear casual while forcing a laugh. “Do I look like I have somewhere to go?”

“
We were having coffee,” Cameron said, changing the subject. “Or about to, anyway.”

“
That part, I remember.”

“
Then you passed out.”

“
That’s where things got a little murky—actually, a lot murky.” She rubbed the back of her head, a shadow passing over her expression.

“
Took quite a fall there,” Cameron said, turning his head to look out the window.

Kyle took the opportunity to size him up.
Nice looking,
she thought,
if you like the type—a blond-haired, blue-eyed Ken Doll.
She’d dated a few in her time, but nothing good ever came from any of them—always seemed to lack substance, and too self-absorbed to be able to give very much of themselves.

Cameron looked back and caught her staring. She looked away, pretending it meant nothing.
He
pretended not to notice, then said, “There’s this matter about why you came here.”

“
Yeah. I know. I’d hoped to get to that. But I need to give you some background before I go into …”

Just then, the doctor walked into the room, changing the topic, changing the mood. “Good evening,” he said, his voice brisk, while appearing preoccupied. He flipped through pages on a clipboard, sighing the whole time. “Well, doctor, everything looks fine. You’re in excellent shape. All your tests came up normal. No real explanation for why you passed out. Could be exhaustion.” He glanced up. “You do appear a little dehydrated. How about sleep? Getting enough?”

“
Not very much,” she admitted.

Now Cameron was checking
her
out. She caught his gaze, then shot him a look that mixed curiosity with annoyance. He didn’t shy away. Instead, he smiled.

“
Well, there you go, then,” the doctor said, as if solving some sort of medical mystery. “Anyway, I’ll go ahead and let you check out tonight—no need to keep you here. I’ll spare you the get-more-rest-and-drink-more-fluids speech, you being a doctor and all.”

“
Thank you,” Kyle said, forcing a thin smile.

“
I’ll also suspend with the
Doctor, heal thyself
lecture as well and just remind you that you can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself.”

“
Yes, yes, you’re right,” she said, feigning obedience. “I do need to watch myself better.”
His bedside manner sucks
, Kyle thought, but she was glad he’d diagnosed her with a simple case of exhaustion, relieving her of having to account for something she couldn’t explain.

The doctor scribbled a few notes on his clipboard, looked up, then attempted another polite smile before leaving the room.

“
Whatever happened to small-town doctors with charming bedside manners?” Kyle asked.

“
They went the same way as the eight-track tape?” Cameron suggested. “How ‘bout I give you a lift?”

Kyle was sitting on the edge of her bed. She got down, slipped her jeans on under her gown, paused to think, then looked up at Cameron. “Look. I appreciate what you’ve done so far, coming here and all—I do—but you don’t have to—”

“
You’re welcome,” Cameron interrupted. “It would be my pleasure.”

Kyle glared at him. “As I was saying, you don’t have to do all this. I’m fine.”

“
I know that,” Cameron said. “That’s not why I’m here.” He grinned.

“
It’s not?”

“
Nope. Our meeting over coffee proved nothing short of a disaster. Hoping dinner might be better. I’m just making sure you don’t sneak out of town without making good on it.”

“
Tell me you’re joking.” But she was smiling, too.

“
Just the part about making sure you don’t sneak away. But I’m dead serious about the dinner. I’m starving. I was thinking maybe Italian. We might do better with that. I like Italian. In fact, you can take me tonight, if you’re feeling up to it.”
I’m babbling,
he thought irrelevantly.
What’s going on?

Kyle turned away, pulled the gown over her head, exposing her bare back to him, then tossed the garment onto the bed. After pulling on her shirt, she turned around and smiled. “Okay, Italian it is, then.”

Chapter
Seventy-One

6623 Hunter’s Run

Faith, New Mexico

If they were serious about Italian food, Cameron and Kyle were out of luck. The only place in town that served it had already shut down for the day. The closest they were going to get was the local pizza joint on Cedar and Third. Since neither had eaten all day and both were famished, they settled for pickup and dinner at Cameron’s house.

A pebbly driveway led to a craftsman-styled bungalow, complete with wrap-around porch and a set of short-stacked steps tumbling down the center. Almost immediately, Bentley materialized in the doorway, launching himself off the top step, and hitting the ground running, his thick club of a tail swatting the air. Kyle froze as the robust canine continued charging toward her at a rapid clip.

“
Bentley,
off!”
Cameron shouted.

Immediately heeding his owner’s command, the dog twisted direction just before plowing into Kyle. Once past her, Bentley turned and walked back, tail tucked between his hind legs, gazing up at Cameron with big brown eyes that seemed to beg forgiveness. While passing Kyle he licked her hand, the canine equivalent of passing the olive branch. From there, he moved over to Cameron to do the same.

“
You okay?” he asked her.

“
What was
that
?” Kyle asked instead.

“
That would be the welcoming committee, better known as Bentley, the overfed Labrador.”

“
That’s your welcoming committee? What’s your guard dog look like?”

Cameron smiled and shrugged. “He’s just excited to see you. Don’t get new company around here much.”

It was a beautiful New Mexico evening. Jasmine decorated the air with its fragrant aroma while scrub oak branches twisted in the background, creating sounds not unlike waves of rushing water. They decided to take advantage of the ambiance by having dinner on the front porch.

Cameron dragged a wrought-iron garden table with Bentley following closely behind. Upon reaching the top step, the chunky brown dog scanned the yard once, let out a
big yawn, then dropped to the floor, falling asleep almost the instant his chin hit the deck.

Once again, Kyle felt Cameron’s energy begin to stir as he leaned over to lay down paper plates, not nearly as powerful as before, yet much more specific:
A loss. Something treasured. Something dear.

Kyle wondered what that was, but before she could grab hold of the thought, it escaped, almost as if being swept into the wind that blew past them.

“
You okay?” Cameron asked, noticing Kyle’s sudden change of expression.

“
Sure … fine,” Kyle replied, knowing she’d lied, and sensing that something vague had just slipped through her fingers. She did her best to act as if it hadn’t mattered.

The breeze shifted and the scent of Kyle’s hair suddenly caught Cameron’s attention: mint, or lavender, or maybe both; he wasn’t sure. Memories swirled through his mind. Memories of Sarah. He tried to ignore them.

But not before becoming entangled in Kyle’s intuitive grasp.

She’s not coming back,
Kyle thought, then wondered who it was and why.

An awkward silence fell between them, neither knowing what to say, but for different reasons.

Chapter
Seventy-Two

6623 Hunter’s Run

Faith, New Mexico

Kyle and Cameron sat on the porch swing.

Somewhere, mixed within the silent, emotional exchange of information, Kyle felt an attraction to Cameron. She knew it was neither appropriate nor timely.

Cameron, on the other hand, not only felt the connection, he wanted to act on it. But before he could, Kyle broke the mood.

She stirred. “There’s something you need to know.”

Cameron turned his head toward her. “Something wrong?”

Kyle smiled and closed her eyes. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“
What, then?”

“
I need to tell you why I’m here.” She took a deep breath. “You know, before last night, I never even knew Faith existed.”

“
So how’d you find us?”

She looked at him for a few seconds, studying his face. “Actually, Faith found me.”

“
Not sure I follow,” Cameron said.

Kyle smiled, trying to find the right words. “Have you ever heard the term retro-cognition?”

“
No,” he admitted.

“
Post-cognition?”

He shook his head.

Kyle gazed up, trying to think. White, shimmering stars no larger than pinholes glistened against a sable sky. “Let me see if I can explain this: it’s when people can see events from the past without ever being there.”

“
See them how?” Cameron asked.

“
The images can come in dreams or appear almost like hallucinations—very vivid.” She hesitated. “People experience an event as if they’re actually there, right in the middle of it all. They can see and hear—sometimes even smell—everything. In essence, they become transported back in time, back to the event.”

“
I’m sorry, I don’t know if I can—”

“
I know what’s causing all the horrible things that have been happening here.”

He shook his head, his face a mask of confusion. “Are you saying that you’ve been seeing everything that’s been going on here?”

“
No.” She looked down, fumbling with her fingers, then back up and into his eyes. “What I’m saying, is that I’ve been seeing the cause.”

“
The cause,” he repeated, even more baffled.

“
Yeah, I’ve been getting inundated with images, but I’m having a difficult time figuring out the connection,” she said. “It’s not making much sense, but I know it’s all coming from right here, from this town.”