Book Of Days_ A Novel Part 3

"Let me talk to her!" Cameron shouted into his cell phone. Through the phone he heard a siren wail through the night."I'm sorry, sir. Her condition isn't ... she can't-""Please put her on the phone. Please."Cameron heard muted voices and then rustling."Hey." Her voice sounded soft and m.u.f.fled, as if she were speaking through a thick blanket."Jessie!""Hi, Sweet-dream." A labored breath. "I love you." Silence. Then barely a whisper. "Hurry, baby, please?"He hung up and tossed his cell phone onto the pa.s.senger seat.Sweat dripped off his forehead into his eyes as he alternated between crus.h.i.+ng the accelerator and mas.h.i.+ng the brakes. Swerving around and through light traffic on I-5, he felt like he was in a movie chase scene on double speed. Rain hammered against the winds.h.i.+eld and "Don't Fear the Reaper" played on the radio, the perfect soundtrack to the nightmare he was living.Breathe, Cameron.This couldn't be happening.But it was.He wanted to call her back, tell her something, anything, to keep her alive.Jessie was dying.No. Impossible. They were meant to be together always-till they were old and gray and it was time to lose their minds.This wasn't the end. It couldn't be. There was so much life left to live.By the time he reached the off-ramp that would take him to Paine Field, the rain had s.h.i.+fted from a downpour to a fine mist, as if a giant spray bottle pumped out little bursts overhead.As he skidded around the final corner leading to the air strip and straightened his MINI Cooper, the lights of the police cars and ambulance lit up the horizon like the Las Vegas strip. But the lights pulsed with death.He rolled down his window as he approached the scene, and the silence struck him like a wall. No sirens sliced into the night. No one spoke, no one shouted, no one ran back and forth between the ambulance and the mutilated metal that had been Jessie's midnight blue and white Cessna Skylane.As Cameron got out of his car, he tried to take slow breaths. He'd imagined running for Jessie the moment he arrived, but his feet felt bolted to the asphalt.A medic squatting next to the wreck glanced at him, then nodded toward the inside of the ambulance and spoke to someone inside.A medic appeared from the ambulance, jogged up to Cameron, and stuck out his hand. Cameron didn't take it."Mr. Vaux?""Yes.""She only has minutes left. You need to come.""Now?" As Cameron uttered the word he realized how stupid it must sound. But everything was out of rhythm, out of body, far past surreal."Yes, you need to come now. Right this way." The paramedic took his arm and guided him toward the mangled Cessna.Part of him wondered why he didn't sprint to the plane, cradle Jessie in his arms, and somehow pull her back into this life."How did it happen?" Cameron mumbled as the medic guided him toward Jessie, his hand still on Cameron's arm."You need to talk to her now."Cameron scuffed up to the plane and stopped just before reaching it."Is she... ?""Her body has been ... her upper body is okay. She can talk to you."Jessie lay inside the plane, her head resting on the pa.s.senger's seat, eyes closed. No cuts, no bruises, dark hair framing her face like a work of art. A tiny speck of blood on her chin was the only imperfection.But what must have been the c.o.c.kpit lay buried in her torso, her blouse dark red from blood already starting to dry.As Cameron reached out with his pinky finger and stroked her chin, Jessie's eyes opened."Hey, baby. You're here." She coughed lightly."I'm here, you're going to be-""Shh, only moments now." She coughed. "I was never completely sure it was real, but it was. What I saw. Death brings clarity. It sweeps away all the doubts, you know?""What-?"She laughed but the blood mixing in her lungs made it sound like she was gargling. "Mortality makes many things clear, my love." She swallowed. "One is I love you more than life. The other is, the book is real. I know it is. I saw it."Cameron braced himself against the plane's frame. The book? Too weird. The memory of his last conversation with his dad flashed into his mind. Dad had talked about a book he'd seen that he wanted Cameron to find. It was a nightmare version of deja vu. It couldn't be the same book, could it?"Jessie, are you talking about a book with all days in it?""No time." She coughed again. "You have the stone, yes?""What stone?" He stared into her eyes, as if he could do it with enough intensity to climb inside her mind."I gave you ... before I left ... this afternoon." She sucked in a stilted breath. "You must not lose it. It's the key.""Yes, I have the stone, but a key to what?"She closed her eyes and her head slipped back."Jessie!"Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped for air."Use it to find the book, okay?" She blinked and drew another breath."What book? My dad's book?""He saw it too? You never told me." She coughed out a barely audible laugh. "That's G.o.d. He loves you so much, Cameron.""I thought Dad was crazy.""Promise you'll find it." Her eyes closed. "It's okay."Tears fought their way onto his cheeks."No. No tears, Aragorn." The most precious name she had for him."You can't leave me, Jessie.""I have to. It's going to be all right, I promise." Her grip on his hand faded. "Someday you'll know that it's okay."Jessie drew one more breath and locked her eyes on his. "I love you, Cameron. Always and forever."

He blinked back tears as he shook his head.

Unbelievable.

Jessie and his dad both saw this book, whatever it was, or at least they believed they saw something.

Cameron stood and wiped his moist palms on his shorts as he paced back and forth on the top of the cliff near his tent. Was the book real?

He had to find out.

Now.

And he needed help.

But from whom?

Someone who wouldn't think he was nuts when he told his dad's and Jessie's story. Someone he could trust. Someone who knew Jessie almost as well as he did.

He sighed and slumped forward.

No, he wouldn't call her.

But he had no choice. He picked up his iPhone and scrolled through his contacts. If she was still in Portland, her number would be in there.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Hi, Ann, it's Cameron Vaux."

"Yeah, I saw that on caller ID."

"It's been a long time. How are you?"

"Fine."

Cold as ever. What was he doing? He could hang up right now and Ann wouldn't call back. He needed another option. If only there was one.

"Cameron?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Are you still doing investigative reporting?"

"No, I'm hosting Adventure Northwest. Adventure Northwest. For almost two years now." For almost two years now."

"That's right, I'd heard that." He rubbed his forehead. "Today's the anniversary of Jessie's-."

"What do you need, Cameron?"

"I thought maybe you would want to talk about-"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but we haven't had a conversation in two years, and it seems a little strange that you want to talk about Jessie all of a sudden."

Cameron ma.s.saged the back of his neck and walked to the edge of the cliff. No choice. He had to tell her. "I have to talk to you about something important."

"Okay."

"When my dad was forty-two, forty-three, his mind started slipping."

"I remember Jessie mentioning something about that, but I never knew the details."

Did he really want to get into this with Ann? Cameron glanced at the river below surging with the spring runoff. No choice.

"Are you there, Cameron?"

"I'm not sure I want to talk about this."

"So why'd you call?"

"I don't know." A red-tailed hawk soared above him screaming kee-eeee-ar kee-eeee-ar as he tried to make a decision. as he tried to make a decision.

"Do you want to call me back?"

"I...".

"Look, Cameron, I know we've clashed in the past, but if you want to talk I'm willing."

He pressed his lips together and drew a deep breath. "I need to tell you the last thing my dad said to me."

"Okay."

"It was bizarre at the time, but now I'm not so sure." Cameron paused. This he needed to remember with as much accuracy as possible. "He said I would get the same disease he had. Not if, if, but but when. when."

"I'm sorry."

"I went to my fifteen-year reunion a few weeks ago and didn't remember people."

"I'm going to mine next year. I'm sure I'll forget people too. You hadn't seen some of them in fifteen years."

"I didn't remember a girlfriend I had for a year, a guy I played in a band with for two years."

"You had no memory of them the whole time?"

"No, I mean, yeah I did ... but it took a while each time for the memories to kick in. It's like it was locked up somewhere in my mind. I stared at this person, knowing I should remember them and just couldn't."

"And now you're thinking you're going to go down your dad's path?"

"Yeah, but there's more. At the same time he told me my mind would start going, he said I had to find a book with all the days in it. That he saw this book when he was a kid. That when I found it, everything would make sense; everything would be all right."

Ann didn't respond.

Great. He needed video conferencing on his phone. Was she surprised? Amused? "Are you there?"

"You're saying he was coherent when he laid all this Twilight Zone Twilight Zone stuff on you?" stuff on you?"

"He was clear, Ann. It was only for a few moments, but he was all there."

"It's been eight years since you had that conversation with him. Is there any chance time has tainted your memory of it? Given what you've, uh, been going through lately?"

Maybe. It was a fair question. But Cameron knew what his dad had said.

"No, I remember." He kicked at a rock, then said, "Here's where it gets a little bizarre. Jessie said the same thing on the day she died. She said I had to find a book, and if I did, it would be okay." Cameron swallowed hard. "What if they were talking about the same book?"

"Jessie was on the verge of dying; the mind can come up with fantastical things in those moments."

"But they both came up with the same story." Cameron shuffled back to his tent and sat next to it. "Jessie also said her stone was one of the keys to finding the book."

Again, Ann didn't answer.

"Did Jessie ever talk to you about a book or her stone?"

"What does all this have to do with me, Cameron?"

"I have to find the book. For my dad, for Jessie, for myself."

"But why are you calling me about it?"

"I need someone who knew Jessie to help me. Who might know something more about her story."

"I don't think I'm the person you're looking for."

"You know you are. Who else can I trust?" He scratched at the dirt with his forefinger. "Who else do I know who has a background in investigative reporting?"

The silence lasted more than thirty seconds.

Ann sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

The next morning his cell phone shattered the silence. Who was calling this early? He fumbled through his pack to find his phone. Ann. Cameron unzipped his tent and glanced outside. Not a hint of dawn. He might be able to get back to sleep.

He slid his Bluetooth over his ear. "Why are you calling me at this hour?"

"I thought you wanted answers."

"It's four forty-five, Ann."

"My foster dad always said, 'Never any point in burning daylight.'"

"It's not light," Cameron muttered.

"Do you want to know what I've discovered or not?"

He blinked and shook his head to wake up. "I want to know."

"Your dad said he found this thing when he was a kid?"

"Yes."

"Did he ever talk with you about his childhood? His early childhood when he lived in Central Oregon, in a town called Three Peaks?"

"No, I knew he grew up in Oregon ... and I remembered him saying it was a strange time for him, but I didn't remember where. Where is Three Peaks?"

"I just told you, Central Oregon."

"Hey, I'm still waking up." Cameron crawled out of his tent and sat cross-legged.

"How long did he live there?"

"Till he was nine. What does this have to do with-?"

"Remember what he said to you?"

"About?" He scratched the back of his head.

"Wake up, Cameron. You need to be on point for this. Your dad said he saw this book thing as a kid."

"Yeah."

"I got up early and dug through the Internet, grabbing everything I could find on Three Peaks, which wasn't a lot. But I did find one item worth mentioning."

"What?" Cameron ma.s.saged his feet and slipped on his shoes.

"Have you ever heard of Future Current?"

"No, should I?"

"Probably not. It's not that well known outside of New Age circles. But in that subculture it's pretty well known. Their whole focus is unlocking memories from the past as well as trying to look into the future. Know it, tap into it, control it, use it to shape future events. And their headquarters are in-"

"Three Peaks, Oregon."

"Yep. For them to choose to locate in a town of only seventeen-hundred people ... seems like a pretty interesting coincidence. Why there, you know what I mean?"

Cameron started breaking down his tent.

"So what's next?" Ann asked.

"When can you meet me in Three Peaks?"