See Me in Your Dreams (26 page)

"Damn!"
Skelly's hand crashed into the steering wheel. "We've lost him."

Dismay filling
her, Keelin said, "Perhaps you can find him again."

Skelly did his
best. The light changed. He raced through the intersection and around several
vehicles with the same expertise as had her taxi driver the day before. Ahead,
she spotted several yellow cabs, any one of which could be Tyler's. The problem
was compounded when two of the taxis turned off Clark, one in either direction.
Skelly stayed with those that continued south, but when they drew closer,
Keelin could see a couple in each back seat.

"We
really did lose him," she cried. "Now what?"

"Now it's
time for you to develop a new skill," Skelly said, making a turn and
racing down a darker side street. He pulled into the curb at a fireplug and cut
the engine. "Think you can convince yourself to relax?"

Realizing what
he expected of her, Keelin opened her mouth to protest. But what choice did she
have?

"Ready?"
he asked.

She fumbled
with her dress pocket. "I shall have to be."

"I'll
talk you through it. Start by taking some deep breaths...in through your
nose...out through your mouth. That's it, only slower."

Following
Skelly's voice, Keelin stared down at her palm. The ghostly illumination of a
nearby streetlight allowed her to see Cheryl's fairy charm. She concentrated on
it.

"Close
your eyes...let your body relax. Start with your feet...feel a little tingly
sensation...then your ankles...your calves."

Eyes closed,
charm pressed into her closed hand, Keelin felt her body grow lighter and
lighter as Skelly helped her find the path she so desperately needed.

"You're
drifting. Now clear your mind of all thoughts but Cheryl. Concentrate on
her...on her smiling face. She's happy, Keelin..."

For a moment,
she envisioned a pretty young girl with light brown hair being twirled around
and around. Cheryl threw her arms around Tyler's neck, the motion setting the
bracelet on her wrist to tinkling.

"I see
her," Keelin whispered. "With Tyler...the fair last summer."

"Good.
You're on the right track. Look for Cheryl wherever she is now," Skelly
was saying. "She's somewhere close-by. Concentrate on her thoughts...her
emotions...what she's seeing..."

Keelin's hand
flexed around the charm and in her mind, she raced through the darkness.

She stared out into blackness as her sore fingers played
over her bracelet for comfort. At least her wrists weren't tied anymore. They
didn't have to be. She knew what would happen if she tried anything.

She'd seen the gun.

"Dear
God," Keelin whispered, the image dissolving instantly. "I believe
they've threatened to shoot her if she doesn't cooperate."

"You did
it?" came Skelly's voice from somewhere beyond her new consciousness.
"Don't let it go, Keelin. Don't lose her. We can deal with the gun. Stay
with Cheryl. See through her eyes one last time. We've got to know where
they're headed!"

Heart
pounding, Keelin did as Skelly urged. Desperately, she clung to the charm in
her hand and let her mind re-enter the cosmos.

She was scared. More scared than she'd been in the apartment
or the abandoned building. More scared than she'd been on the streets. She
squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip so she wouldn't cry like some baby.

Her dad was giving them lots of money for her, but what if
he tried something brave to save her and they shot him anyway?

Then she'd have no one.

"Don't be
scared, Cheryl," Keelin whispered. "You're not alone, I promise. I
won't let anything bad happen to you or your dad."

Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes flashed open as she
thought she heard something weird...something inside her head.

Not the first time, either.

"We're
almost there,"
came a voice from
behind her, raised to be heard over the loud drone of the motor.

Their direction changed and they hit some rough bumps. Cold
water sprayed her. Shivering, she glanced over her shoulder, past the city's
skyline, her eyes drawn to the bright, moving lights that were coming closer...

"What are
you seeing, Keelin?" came the voice outside her head.

"A Ferris
wheel." The lit circle and spokes clear in her mind's eye, she said,
"They're drawing closer...coming in from the lake. I think...they
are
in a motorboat!"

"Keelin,
let the image go for now. Let Cheryl go," Skelly urged, his voice excited.
"You're back in the car with me. You can feel your body again. Your hands,
feet and everything in between."

The unnatural
darkness receded and Keelin blinked her eyes open. Felt the weight of the tiny
charm in her palm. She uncurled her fingers and stared at it.

"I found
her," she whispered, even as Skelly started the car. "I saw through
her eyes...a giant Ferris wheel."

He nodded.
"It's got to be the one at Navy Pier! You did good. And we're only a few
minutes away."

The longest
few minutes that Keelin had ever experienced even though Skelly drove like a
madman, careening through the night, somehow managing to avoid several
traffic-engulfed intersections for quieter ones.

Finally, the
crowds couldn't be avoided and their progress slowed. Keelin glanced at the car
clock – almost ten – and then straight ahead at a long pier swarming with
people where several tourist boats were docked.

The Ferris
wheel seemed to grow larger as they approached.

"I
believe we don't have much time," she told her cousin, her eyes glued to
the lights.

"I'll let
you off and park the car. Don't worry, I'll find you," he promised.

Keelin nodded
and drew herself together. She was prepared for whatever was to come. This was
it. Her chance to redeem herself. She only hoped that she could look forward to
more. A future, for one. And, God willing, a future with Tyler. Heaven only
knew what hand fate had dealt her, for uppermost in Keelin's mind was her
solemn promise to Cheryl Leighton.

She would see
that the girl and her father were both safe if it was the last thing she ever
did.

BACKPACK SLUNG OVER HIS SHOULDER as
casually as if he were carrying a change of clothing rather than a million
dollars in cash, Tyler entered the Family Pavilion. Trying not to let his worry
about Cheryl dull his senses, he dodged a passel of running kids while keeping
out an eye for anyone too interested in his progress. If he were being watched,
he couldn't tell. Finally, rounding a half-
hazardly
parked baby stroller, he reached his objective – the escalator that would take
him to the upper level Crystal Gardens.

Weaver should
already be in the big, flashy building whose main feature was a mini-forest of
Arizona palm trees. Meant to be an oasis for winter fun-seekers, the space was a
greenhouse with a view in every direction – transparent wall and ceiling panels
supported by towering grids.

The moment he
entered, Tyler searched the busy area for the private investigator. Black
wrought iron tables and chairs were mostly occupied as were seats around the
palm trees. But no Jack Weaver.

Tyler checked
his watch. Nearly ten. The fireworks display was set for ten-fifteen. Even now,
couples and whole families were drifting to the outside upper level deck to
find a spot from which to watch.

Unsure of how
things would go with the exchange, he wanted back-up. Someone other than
Keelin. He couldn't be put in a situation where his attention was split. He
knew he'd hurt Keelin earlier by excluding her, but he would make it up to her.
She had to forgive him. He'd never known such a woman existed before.

A woman who
was a true innocent.

No one waited
any more, he thought, dazed by the unspoken revelation he'd come to while
making love to her. At least not that long. Why had Keelin?

The answer was
all too clear. Undoubtedly, she'd been waiting for the right man. Tyler could
hardly believe it, but there it was. Keelin had waited to share herself with
someone special.

Special sure
as hell didn't describe him.

He took a deep
breath. His romantic desires would have to wait. First things first. Cheryl.

Not liking
firearms himself, especially not around so many innocent people, he suspected
Feldman or Brock or whoever would deliver his daughter for the trade would be
armed. The private investigator's having a handgun was supposed to be
insurance, just in case something went wrong. Tyler wasn't going home without
his daughter.

So where the
hell was Weaver?

The knot in
Tyler's gut loosened a moment later when he saw the investigator stroll into
the Crystal Gardens through a southeast door. Wearing a glow-in-the-dark
plastic necklace and carrying a cotton candy like a tourist, Weaver barely
looked his way before finding himself a seat. Relieved, Tyler strolled through
the oasis toward the north end to wait as he'd been instructed.

He checked his
watch.

Ten o'clock.

The next
fifteen minutes would be the longest of his life.

Chapter Twelve

KEELIN JOGGED A THIRD OF THE LENGTH of
Dock Street, pushing her way through gathering crowds, avoiding a couple on bicycles
and several younger people on in-line skates. Further down the south side of
the pier, a mime was entertaining a group of teenagers and a clown was twisting
balloons into animal shapes for some small children. Families were swarming
onto one of the tourist boats, while two other vessels were just pulling away
from the docks. People were taking seats and watching out to the water as if
expectant.

She knew they
were gathering for the fireworks the sign at the west entrance of Navy Pier
announced in flashing lights. Pounded by loud rock music from above, she
stopped, breathless, and glanced upward at what looked like a weird-shaped
white parachute, but what was, in fact, the roof of an open-air concert arena.
She'd already passed beneath the lit Ferris wheel and Merry-go-round. Hordes of
people on the upper level gathered at the railing to stare out over the water.

She hadn't
realized how big Navy Pier was. Cheryl could be anywhere.

What to do?

The Ferris
wheel drew her.

Climbing over disgruntled
visitors who were using the steps as seats, Keelin reached the upper level,
gaze continually roaming the crowd. Hundreds of people in line for the Ferris
wheel made the going slower and limited her line of sight.

How would she
ever find Cheryl and her captors? An impossible situation, Keelin feared.

Unless...

Praying she
could produce just one more lucid vision, that just one more time she could
will herself to see through Cheryl Leighton's eyes, Keelin found a bit of
unoccupied railing and pressed her back into the metal. Slipping a hand into
her pocket, she grasped the fairy charm. Closed her ears to the rock music and
the raucous voices pummeling her. The constantly changing lights of the giant
Ferris wheel that towered overhead mesmerized her.

Keelin willed
herself to relax.

Legs...arms...body...mind.

She breathed
deeply, in through her nose, out through her mouth. She concentrated on the
pattern of changing lights. Envisioned the pretty face and long brown hair
she'd only seen in photographs. Her eyes grew tired, her lids heavy. She let
them flutter closed.

At first her
mind wandered through a dark space.

Then it raced
faster and faster until she crashed into a million flickering lights.

Even with her eyes closed, she was
still seeing the Ferris wheel, Keelin realized, though from a different
angle...

CHERYL'S HEART POUNDED WILDLY as she
was dragged along, bumped and jostled by tons of happy people. She glanced back
past the Ferris wheel at the Skyline Stage beyond. She'd been to a concert there
once, with her friends. They'd all loved the place and had been looking forward
to the next time.

After tonight,
she never wanted to step foot on Navy Pier again.

For a moment,
the Ferris wheel mesmerized her, and she got that sensation again, like someone
was inside her head, looking around. She must be going nuts.

Wanting to
scream, she instead gasped, "Who are you?"

"You know
very well who I am." The grip on her wrist tightened. "Stop dragging
your feet."

"I'm
not," she answered sullenly as they passed the Merry-go-round and the
now-familiar sensation receded as quickly as it had come upon her.

She might have
to do as she was told, but she didn't have to keep making things easy. All her
fault. What a jerk! What a stupid jerk she was believing all those lies the
woman had told her.