What are the Chances? Page 16

  He bent over to whisper into my ear. “It’s my fault for taking off, not yours.” He kissed my cheek and then left.

  I crossed the room and sat on the edge of her mattress, but nothing happened, so I wandered around her room, touching things. Her walls were covered with posters of Riley Rivers. Even her bedspread had a life-sized picture of Riley printed on it. I ran my hand across the clothes in her closet. Everything smelled like the strawberry-flavoured lip balm she wore. Jim didn’t let her wear makeup, so she went crazy for the strawberry lip balm. Her desk was pristine, as if it never got used. The only thing on it was the Riley Rivers magazine I gave her. I flipped through the pages and pressed the photos to my cheek. Nothing worked, so I flopped down on her bed, hugged a pink, heart-shaped pillow and stared at the ceiling.

  Why didn’t I try harder to find out the guy’s real identity when I first had suspicions? Why didn’t I go after her to calm her down when she was angry at me? Why did I go to Squamish and leave him unsupervised around her? I couldn’t even comfort myself by saying I didn’t know something bad was going to happen, because I did. What was the point of seeing her face? It wasn’t to prevent it or it would have been more specific. There had to be another explanation.

  Frustrated with myself for not being able to control my stupid brain glitch, I got up and left her room. The most useful thing I could think to do was bake apple cinnamon muffins and fill the coffee urn for the volunteers, which wasn’t at all useful, but better than nothing. I headed back to the Inn and got to work. As I was removing the muffin trays from the oven, someone entered the kitchen behind me, so I turned. Mom was standing with her arms open for a hug. I ran over and let her squeeze me tightly. “I’m sorry I yelled at you on the phone.”

  “It’s okay, honey. You’ve got a lot going on. Grandpa called to tell me about Kailyn.” She kissed the top of my head, then released me from the hug. “Jim and Trevor must be going out of their minds with worry. What can I do to help?”

  “I don’t think there is much anybody can do until the police track the driver down. I was just putting some snacks together for the volunteers as a way to keep myself busy. If you want to help, you can fill those baskets with apples, bananas, and oranges. I’ll take the water and juice out onto the deck.”

  She smiled sympathetically and got to work.

  “Thanks for coming up. Did you drive?”

  “I got a ride.”

  I was going to ask who drove her, but I knew it was the new boyfriend and I really wasn’t in the right mood to meet him. Instead of asking for details I nodded and picked up the flats to carry them outside. Trevor crossed the parking lot and approached me with a hopeful expression.

  “It wasn’t working,” I said. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  It wasn’t okay. I knew that. Long shot or not, a vision was the best chance we had of finding her before it was too late. It killed me to let him down. “I’m hoping it will hit me randomly if I stay busy.”

  “Do whatever feels right. And if nothing comes, don’t worry about it. What’s supposed to happen will happen.”

  I wasn’t okay with that. If what was supposed to happen was Kailyn getting hurt, I would do everything in my power to prevent that. “Maybe I should go into the forest where it’s quiet.”

  “Take a look at this first.” Trevor stepped onto the deck and sat against the railing. “A guy who fits the description you gave was pulling a dice-sliding scam at the casino and they have him on video. They’ve released a police bulletin.”

  “Do they know if she’s with him?”

  He shook his head. “Not yet. Maybe if you look at the photo of him it will trigger something.”

  I stepped in to lean against his chest as he showed me the police bulletin on his phone. He wrapped his arm around me and held me tight as I stared at the guy’s beady eyes. I wished with all my heart that I could see something and take away the pain Trevor was feeling. If Kailyn wasn’t found safe, the only thing I would be able to do is be patient and unwavering as he picked up the pieces of his life—the same way he had done for me. I wished he would never feel something that tragic, but I didn’t see anything. His phone screen faded to black.

  I sighed. “Sorry.”

  His head dropped and he kissed my forehead tenderly. Then his attention shifted to someone who stepped out onto the deck. I turned. My mom took a second to absorb the sight of us embracing, then she asked with a slight tone of disapproval, “You two are a couple now?”

  Neither one of us answered because we hadn’t actually established that, but he hugged me tight to his side.

  “You’re still going to Toronto, though. Right?” she asked me, but it sounded more like a demand.

  I glanced at Trevor because we hadn’t covered that in the discussion process yet either. “I want to stay here. Everyone I know is here.”

  “Seriously? So, you’re going to throw away a ten-thousand-dollar scholarship for a rock-star-wannabee girlfriend who doesn’t even plan to go to university and an adrenaline-junkie boyfriend who will live in Britannia Beach for the rest of his life?” She threw her hands up in the air in exaggerated surrender. “I’m not going to tell you what to do. But you might want to be really sure about that decision before you close doors to opportunities.”

  “Mom. Kailyn is missing. The school I choose is so unimportant right now.”

  She shook her head, still angry, but accepting that it was not the best time to discuss it, and then disappeared back into the kitchen.

  I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “God. She has a talent for pissing me off.”

  “You never told me the scholarship is worth ten thousand dollars,” Trevor said.

  “Does it matter?”

  He turned and leaned against the porch with his arms braced tensely. “It’s a lot of money to turn down.”

  I frowned and studied his expression. I didn’t like what I saw. He was having second thoughts, and it was my mom’s fault. “The amount of the scholarship isn’t important right now. Can we talk about it after we find Kailyn? Making sure she’s safe is all we should be focused on.”

  He nodded to agree, then stepped down off the deck and crossed the lot to stand with Murphy next to a police cruiser. After some debate, Jim made the decision to have the team go to the gas station in Whistler where the car had been abandoned and launch a search from there. Trevor walked over to leave a police scanner with me. “Do you mind staying here in case she comes home on her own?”

  “Of course. Be safe. I’ll keep trying to see something.” I leaned over the railing to give him a quick kiss, then he got in his truck and followed the rest of the team out onto the highway.

  After the village was back to its quiet norm, it felt eerie. And the chatter on the scanner echoed against the mountain. Mom stepped out onto the porch and rested her palms on the railing, staring up at the trees. “I overreacted earlier about you dating Trevor. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. We’re all under a lot of stress.” Even though I meant what I said and I was glad she was with me, the resentment I felt towards her was still so strong. It wasn’t healthy. And it really wasn’t serving any purpose besides deteriorating our relationship. I wanted to let it go and repair things between us. “I want to apologize to you.”

  She turned to face me and leaned her hips against the railing. “You don’t need to apologize. If you want to go to UBC and date Trevor I support you one hundred percent. I was just surprised at first. But then, once I thought about it some more, it made perfect sense. I would be happy if you stayed, especially if that’s what would make you happy. I also understand why you aren’t comfortable with the idea of me dating again. I wasn’t even sure if I was ready for it yet. Don’t worry about that right now. There is no need to rush into any of that with all the other changes that have been going on.”

  “Actually, I’m sorry for something else. Something you don’t know about. Something from the past I haven’t been able to forgi
ve you for.”

  She hugged herself as if she felt a breeze, but maybe she was bracing in anticipation of an emotional body blow. “Are you angry because I haven’t visited you here more often?”

  I shook my head and leaned forward to rest my elbows on my knees. “No. I was already used to you not being here that often.”

  “I’m sorry I left you here alone with the responsibility of keeping Grandpa company and helping out at the Inn.”

  “It’s not that. I liked doing those things.”

  She studied my expression, then glanced over the parking lot towards the water. “Is it something I can fix or make amends for?”

  “No.”

  Her head shifted back and she made eye contact with me. “Then where does that leave us now?”

  “I don’t know.” I stood and walked over to lean against the railing next to her. “All I know is that I need to figure out how to forgive you for something that wasn’t your fault. And then I need to let it go so we can move forward. It’s my issue to work out, not yours. I just wanted to let you know that I am determined to make things better.”

  She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in tight to rest her cheek on top of my head. “You blame me for what happened to your dad, don’t you?”

  I clenched my eyes shut.

  She was quiet for a couple of breaths, then, to my surprise, she whispered, “I understand if you do. I do, too, sweetie. I do, too.”

  Hearing her say it out loud and knowing that she struggled with the guilt instantly flooded me with sympathy and remorse. It really wasn’t her fault. He just happened to be going to Vancouver to see her on the day the accident happened. The truth was there were a lot of people to blame—myself for not recognizing his face in the vision in time to warn him, the semi-truck driver who jack-knifed, or the road engineers who didn’t make the guardrail stronger. But she had been the person I blamed the most because she insisted on living in the city. It could have happened on his way to work or to go grocery shopping, though.

  As I rested in her embrace the anger dissipated, but then sadness took its place, which was definitely the more painful of the two emotions. Eventually I said, “I don’t want to blame anyone anymore.”

  “Me neither. Let’s start fresh.”

  I nodded and she started to cry, so she kissed my cheek and then excused herself and went inside. It felt good to forgive her, but that meant I was the only one left to forgive. That was going to be much harder.

  Kailyn’s Kiki keychain was still in my pocket, so I took it out and squeezed it in my palm. When we were younger, Kailyn really wanted to do all the things Trevor and I did. Sometimes she wasn’t allowed because it wasn’t safe, but usually it was because Jim was overly cautious and hesitant to let her try. When she turned sixteen he gave her her own keys to the house, which she felt symbolized adult responsibilities and some of the freedom she had been wishing for. She was so excited, so Trevor carved her the custom keychain for her birthday. She lost her keys fairly regularly, but because of the keychain they always got returned. As I traced my finger over each letter, I had a vision: Kailyn stepped down narrow steps and through a glass door. Then the scene changed. It was dark and really loud. People crowded around us. She pressed her hands over her ears to block the noise before she turned and grinned at me.

  The vision ended and I fumbled to text Trevor: I saw her get off a bus. Not sure where or when. Then she was somewhere dark and crowded.

  Ok. Good job. I’ll let the cops know.

  I closed my eyes to concentrate. I recognized the glass door Kailyn walked through. I had done it so many times myself when I went to visit my mom. It looked like the Whistler-Squamish-Vancouver bus I always took. Kailyn could have been headed north to Whistler or south to Vancouver. The team was already searching north so I decided to head south. It was possible if I was physically in Vancouver the surroundings would trigger another vision with more details. It was worth a try. I stood and dialled the number of the only person who could get me there fast enough to check it out. Mason answered.

  “I am so sorry to bother you at work, but it’s an emergency,” I said.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Trevor’s sister went missing and I just had a vision of her on a bus. She might have been headed to Vancouver and I think I need to be there to see more. I know it sounds crazy. But is there any way you can send your dad’s helicopter to Britannia Beach to pick me up? I need to get downtown as fast as possible.”

  Without even asking for more details, he said, “Yeah, it’s already at the house because my dad has to be at the airport. It can be there in three minutes to pick you up.”

  “Perfect. Thank you. I owe you.”

  I grabbed a jacket and my purse and ran towards the highway. Once there was a break in the traffic I ran across the lanes. I jumped over the railroad tracks and scrambled down the rocks onto the sand. The helicopter landed on the dock as I hurried, bent over, towards it.

  Mason’s dad was waiting inside. “Where to?” he asked.

  CHAPTER 23

  We couldn’t land exactly where I wanted to go, so the pilot communicated on the radio to find a helicopter pad nearby. We were able to land on a rooftop just down the street. I thanked Mr. Cartwright and hopped off the helicopter, then it took off again to head to the airport.

  I rushed across the roof, took the elevator down to the ground floor, and then ran along the sidewalk to the bus stop I used when I visited my mom. It was the only one I had ever taken Kailyn to. She wasn’t anywhere on the sidewalk, so I hurried down the stairs into the SkyTrain station and wove through the crowds of people flowing the other way. I bought a ticket so I could search the train platforms, but she wasn’t there. She wasn’t in the bathrooms either.

  Mason texted me: Are you at Waterfront?

  No. The Squamish bus stops at Burrard Station. She’s not here.

  He responded immediately: I’ll hop in a cab and meet you there to help search.

  Thanks. I appreciated his offer. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn’t help that much to have two people looking if we didn’t know where she went. I headed back up the stairs onto street level and wandered around, poking my head in cafés as I waited for Mason.

  If she did come down on the bus she could have gone anywhere. Especially if the guy was with her. He could have taken her on a train, in a cab, or had someone else pick them up. The possibilities were endless. And terrifying.

  A yellow cab pulled up to the curb and Mason hopped out. He hugged me and then waited for me to tell him what I wanted to do next. I didn’t know. I sat on a bench and watched the people file out of the train station. Seeing her get off the bus wasn’t a specific enough clue.

  Mason sat next to me. “Can you think of any reason why she would come to Vancouver—maybe a friend she would visit or a place she likes to go to?”

  An analytical approach. Yes, that was good. Places she might want to go if she made the trip under her own power. “Um, she used to love the aquarium, but she sort of outgrew that. Sometimes she likes it when I take her shopping on Robson Street. Other than that she doesn’t really like being in the city. It’s too loud and crowded for her.”

  “Do you want to walk up to Robson?”

  I sighed and heaved myself off the bench. It felt like we’d have as much luck running into her on Robson as finding a specific grain of sand on the beach, but we had to try. And maybe I would see something as we walked the five blocks over to the shopping district. We split up and made our way along the strip of stores on both sides of the street, asking sales clerks if they’d seen her. I showed her picture to a motorcycle cop who was writing out a parking ticket. He said he’d contact me if he saw her.

  Discouraged by the enormity of possibilities, I sat on a concrete planter to think.

  Mason bought a coffee at the shop on the corner and brought me a tea. He sat next to me and smiled in an encouraging way.

  “Sorry to waste your time. I know you have a lot
of work to do. You can go back to your office. I’ll keep looking by myself for a while and then take transit back home.”

  “This is more important than work.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “It’s not a waste of time. We just need a little more to go on.”

  I nodded, feeling pressured by the minutes ticking by. There was a possibility she was getting farther and farther away by the second. And her time was running out if the guy planned to hurt her. “I need to see the next clue.”

  He was quiet to let me concentrate. When nothing happened I groaned with frustration and paced around.

  “How did you see the bus clue?”

  “I was holding her keychain.” I held it up to show him I was already trying that one again, with no success. “I wish I had more control over it.”

  “According to some of the literature it can be practiced and honed like any other talent.”

  “You researched it?”

  “Yeah, after our picnic I went home and studied up on intuition and psychic ability. It’s extremely interesting. According to some of the articles it’s not really scientifically accepted, but I found a lot of valid evidence written about clairvoyants, empaths, and lucid dreaming. And police forces use psychics to help in investigations, so there’s obviously something to it.”

  “Thanks for being open-minded. Most people don’t believe it’s possible.”

  “Well, I’ve seen you do it, which is all the evidence I need. Just be patient. Something will come to you.”

  “I hope so.” I sat back down and took a sip of tea. “I don’t think I can live with the guilt of not being able to save another person I love in time.”

  “Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot about your dad’s accident since our picnic, too.”

  It was touching that he cared, but I wasn’t in the right mood to talk about my dad, so I took another sip of tea and watched the traffic go by.

  “Maybe you didn’t see your dad’s accident beforehand so you could prevent it.”