Dreams Fall From the Desert Sky: Author's Notes

·     +    After writing Shadows and Grays, I decided to challenge myself to write a different type of Donovan story; with only one point of view rather than from two characters, and no cursing.

·      +   The dream from the first chapter was inspired by an actual film trailer and I had the same questions that Donovan had.  I had a different idea for a story with that idea, but it dropped into this one instead.

·     +    The idea of the girl drowning in the first scene relates directly to Low Water Crossing. That first nightmare connects Donovan back to the Strayer case, but as we find out later, really isn’t about the Strayers; it’s connected to Julie.  Yes, you’re supposed to think it relates to the Strayer girls. 😊

·     +    I liked exploring this side of Donovan, the thoughtful side rather than the action hero angle.  Not that we don’t get the action scenes, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything like the scene under the stars, for instance.

·    +    In the Donovan universe, this story falls between Low Water Crossing and Shadows and Grays.

·   +     In case you missed it, Julie can’t kill herself, not because she messes it up; she literally can’t kill herself.  There is that “sangre por sangre, blood for blood” thing going on.  When she tries to kill herself, her tormenter dies instead.  Call it a curse, or a superpower in the end.  She knows this when she tells Teddy, “A life for a life.”

·    +     I had the ending dream written before the final chapters.  This story begins with a dream and ends with a dream.  Yes, contrast.

Dreams Fall From the Desert Sky: Part Three: Chapter 12

 

            He awoke with jerk, his body bathed in sweat.  The room was dark, but he recognized the smell of antiseptic and the beeping of hospital monitors.  A voice floated from the darkness.

            “That was me.  You were having dreams about me all this time.”

            A lamp clicked on, and there, next to his bed, was the tired face of Julie Thompson.  “The Rangers arrived just as I pulled the trigger.  A sniper took him out, one shot to the head.”

            “You’re okay? The girls are okay?”

            “Shhhh… Get some rest.  Everyone is fine.”

            Donovan sighed.  “Everyone is fine…” he mumbled and drifted back to sleep.

=

            That night, Donovan had a dream.

 

            He was standing at the edge of a calm blue sea. He turned to his right to see a beautiful white crane peacefully watching him.  He turned to look back out to sea and slowly waded out into the water. He turned onto his back and floated, gazing upward at the bright blue sky.

 

=

            Luna raised her head and listened to the easy breathing of her master.  From her opposite side, a hand reached out and scratched the dog’s head, and Luna retuned to sleep, to dream of chasing squirrels in a leafy wood.

 

Dreams Fall From the Desert Sky: Chapter 11

 

            The girl was standing on the edge of a hellish landscape.  And then –

=         

The sting of water in the cuts from the glass brought Donovan back to the present.  Raindrops were beginning to fall from the sky.  The edge of the desert storm began to push over the canyon walls.  He groaned and sat up slowly.  “Well, I think that worked out okay…”  He kicked out the windshield and crawled out, shaking bits of glass from his clothes as he stood up.  Other than the superficial cuts and a leg that didn’t quite work correctly, he seemed to be okay.  Flames began licking their way from the engine compartment, so he hobbled away from the wrecked truck and started to make his way back to the building.

He was about halfway back when suddenly, there was a bright white flash of pain to the back of his head.  He collapsed to his hands and knees, only to get a kick in the ribs, racking him with even more pain. Someone grabbed him by the collar to haul him up, but only to hit him in the face. 

“You wrecked my truck!” 

Rain was washing his blood into his eyes and the blows to the head made it hard to focus.  “Oh, it’s Teddy…” he thought.  “That’s just great…”  There was a soft whoosh as the truck was enveloped in flames.

Just then, Julie’s voice called out, “Teddddddy.”

Immediately, Ted put his gun to Donovan’s head as he squinted through the rain.  He spotted a figure standing in the doorway of the building.  “Who are you??” he yelled.

“You don’t remember me, Ted?  We danced in the desert about a year ago and I gave you that lovely parting gift on your face.”

Ted’s hand flew up to his face.  “That was you??” he shrieked.  “I thought you were dead, I kicked you over the edge. Figured the coyotes would have ate you up.”

“Not quite, Teddy.  But what you did to me has been tormenting me for the entire year.  I wanted to die,” she shouted back.

“It’s not too late!” he retorted.

            “Is that what you want?” she yelled.

            “I want you!  I want the girl who did this to me.”

            “Let him go, and I’ll come out,” she shouted.

            “What??”

            “He has nothing to do with this!  Let him go and you can have me.  A life for a life.”

            The trucker chuckled.  “That’s beginning to sound good.  Bring it on, girly.”

            “You have to promise to let him go!”

            The man looked down and laughed, speaking to Donovan. “She must really like you, man.”  He called out, “Okay, it’s a deal.  Your life for his.”

            Julie walked out; Donovan’s gun pointed at her own head. “Is this what you want?  You want me dead anyway, don’t you?”

            He grinned malevolently, “That’ll work.”

            Donovan, fighting to stay conscious, yelled out.  “Julie, don’t do it!”

            Julie looked at the detective, biting her lip.  “It’s okay, Donovan.  Everything will be okay.”

            “Julie! No!”

            She spoke in a tired voice, “I just want this to end.”  She closed her eyes, and as Donovan fought to remain conscious, trying desperately to call out to her, he heard the shot.  The sound echoed in his head.  The darkness closed around him; it took him quickly.

=

            There was one more dream.

 

            The girl was standing on the edge of a hellish landscape. Rain was falling from the sky and flames danced in the distance.

            Donovan finally recognized the girl from his dreams.  It was Julie.

            She was terrified and desperate, shouting into the storm.  But as scared as she was, she had one more play, her last painful choice.  “Is this what you want?”  She had his gun to her head.

            The man who had antagonized her, the one who had haunted her, sneered at her.  “That’ll work.”

            Julie knew what she had to do. This was it; this was the ending she was looking for. 

            Donovan tried to scream, but his voice was caught in his throat.  He tried to move, to save her, to stop her, but his body wouldn’t respond.  She pulled the trigger.

 

Dreams Fall From the Desert Sky: Chapter 10

 

            It wasn’t until they got to the top of the canyon wall that they were able to get a good signal.  Donovan tapped out some numbers on his phone and when he got connected, he got right to the point.  “This is Detective Kyle Donovan, I’m with the San Antonio Police Department.  I’m on sabbatical right now, but I’ve come across three young women being held against their will.  There is a high probability that this is a human trafficking situation. There are three suspects at this location, and I’ve good reason to believe that they will move the women tonight.  I need immediate backup at the Stillwater mines, off State Highway 67.  Let me get you the coordinates.”  He checked his map and read off some numbers.  “How soon can you get here?”

            Donovan’s expression turned grim.  “I don’t believe we have that much time…. They’re watching a football game.  I’m thinking as soon as that game is over, they’ll head out…” And then, exasperated, “Because that’s what I would do!”  He ran his hand through his hair.  “Okay, fine.  Just get here as soon as you can… Yah, we’ll sit tight.”  He ended the call and looked over at Julie, shaking his head.  “They’re not going to get here in time.  We have to go with Plan B.”

            “Plan B?  What was Plan A?”

            “Plan A was ‘we call for backup and sit tight.’ Plan B is ‘we don’t sit tight.’”

=

            They made their way back to where Donovan had parked his pickup and he grabbed a few things from the cab.  As he turned to leave, he looked back and thought for a moment.  “Here, hold this for a moment.” He handed some zip ties and duct tape to Julie and grabbed his towing straps from the back of the truck.  He jumped back into his truck and backed up to a large rock. In a few moments, he had dragged it onto the dirt road.  He repeated it a few more times until there was a decent blockade across the entrance to the canyon.  He parked the truck out of sight and made his way back to Julie.  “Just in case…”

            As they made their way back to the building, Donovan filled Julie in on the plan.  “The rocks across the road are our backup, kind of a last resort to slow them down.  But first and foremost, the plan is to save the girls.”  He shot her a look.  “That’s where you come in.”

            He heard her stumble in the dark.  She paused. “What do you want me to do?”

            “Well.” he tried to sound nonchalant, “I’ll take care of the bad guys, you just need to go in and unlock the security cage that the girls are in, then get them outside to hide.”

            “You make it sound so easy.”

            “It will be,” he said calmly.  “When you go in through the door, the girls will be off to the left.  Grab the lanyard hanging on the wall on the left close to the cage.  The key should unlock the door. You rescue the girls, and we wait for the calvary.”

            “How will I know when it’s time for me to go in?”

            Donovan ran his hand through his hair.  “I’m going to get those guys out and neutralize them.  When I get them all out, that’s when you go in.  Just keep your eyes peeled and don’t panic over anything you see.  You just worry about getting those girls out.”

            Julie placed her hand on his arm.  “Donovan, don’t leave us. Don’t leave me.”

            “I have to, to get these guys.”

            “That’s not what I meant.” She spoke quietly. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

            He replied reassuringly as he patted her hand.  “I’ll be okay.   You just take care of yourself.  And the girls.  Everything will be just fine.”

=

            They made their way to the rear of the building.  The wind was kicking up dust, lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled nearby.  Donovan tore off a few strips of duct tape, stuck them to his arm, then looked at Julie and pointed to the generator.  “Are you ready?” She nodded and he turned to look at his dog.  “Stealth mode, Luna.”  She crouched down next to Julie.  “Okay, here we go.”  He peeked through the window; the men were engrossed in the game.  He looked over at Julie and nodded. She gave him a thumbs-up and turned off the generator.

            There was an eruption of shouts as the power went off and someone yelled, “Bobby! Get that generator back on!” The door swung open and banged against the building.  In a moment, Bobby came jogging around the corner, only to be wrapped up in a sleeper hold by a waiting Donovan.  After a momentary struggle, Donovan lowered Bobby’s limp form to the ground, zip-tied his hands behind him, and stretched the duct tape across his mouth.

            He made his way over to Julie. “Okay, now turn the power on for a second, then cut it off again.  Then bang your fist against the side of the building.”

            “Got it,” she said confidently.

            He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “So far, so good, Julie.”

            Donovan went back to the corner of the building as the lights flashed on, then off again.  The banging of Julie’s fist brought up a chorus of more yelling.  It didn’t take long for another person to come around the corner only to meet the same fate as Bobby.  He was out and secured within a minute.

            “Two down, one more to go,” he said to Julie.  “This isn’t going to work a third time. So, I want you to turn the generator back on, then take off around the other side of the building and wait.  I’ll draw Teddy out of the building, and you go in and free the girls.”  He looked her in the eye.  “You got this.”

            “I got this.”

            “Okay - Go.”

She hit the switch and then made a dash around the building.  Donovan took a deep breath and quickly made his way over to the semi.  He jerked open the door and stopped in surprise before climbing into the driver’s seat.  “This is why you should NEVER leave your keys in the ignition.”  The vehicle started with a roar, the air brakes hissed, and he put the truck into gear.  Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Teddy in the doorway, then heard a shout, “Hey! What the heck?? Come back with my truck!”

Inertia was working against the detective; the large truck moved too slowly.  Within moments, Teddy had jumped onto the running board of the truck and was trying to get the door open.  Donovan glanced in the rear-view mirror and grinned as he saw Julie run into the building.  All he had to do was to keep moving away to give her as much time as possible, so he accelerated as best he could.

Suddenly, the window next to him exploded, showering him with bits of glass and sending pieces flying into the cab.  Everything was happening at once and things started to move in slow motion.  Teddy had smashed the glass with the butt of a gun.  In the rear-view mirror, Donovan saw the girls running away to safety, Julie was standing in the doorway of the building, staring after the truck.  Teddy was throwing punches and reaching for the steering wheel.  Donovan took another look in the mirror, saw that the girls were safe, and thought, “I’m sorry Julie. It’s time for Plan C.” 

He stomped on the gas, gathered speed, then cranked the steering wheel over hard.  The truck protested and groaned, then jackknifed, tipping over and sliding, throwing Teddy from the side of the truck, and tossing Donovan around in the cab.

 

Surprisingly, after all that mayhem, it was strangely peaceful as Donovan lay in the wreckage of the truck.

 

Dreams Fall From the Desert Sky: Chapter 9

 

            Julie looked at Donovan expectantly.  “Who should we call?”

            “It’s not that simple,” he replied uneasily.

            “But why? I told you everything.” Her voice was tense.

Donovan could hear the impatience and underlying anger in her voice.  “No one will come out just because we ask.  Even if we told them what you know, they would want to do their own investigation first. And that would take time, time that I don’t think we have.” He looked down at the building.  “We need to know for sure that there are girls down there…”  The wind kicked up a little dust and he looked up at the sky.  “It’s getting dark, so that will help.  And so will that.”  Donovan pointed toward a shelf of approaching clouds.  “A storm is coming.”

=

            They made their way down to the floor of the canyon and then moved among the rocks to a spot behind the building.  They crouched down and Donovan turned to Julie.  “I’m going to go listen and try and hear what’s going on. You stay here-” She started to protest, but he continued. “You stay here in case something happens so that you can get help.  You’re the reporter, you have to tell the story.”  She started to say something but stopped; she knew that he was right.

            “One more thing.”  The detective reached down and unstrapped a holster from around his ankle.  He pulled out the pistol and showed it to her.  “Do you know how to use this?”

            “I know the basics…”

            “Are you afraid to use a gun?”

            “No.  I’ve shot guns before, but never actually had to use one.”

            “Okay. I had a feeling that since you were in Afghanistan the guys there would have talked to you about it.”  He ran his hand through his hair. “Basically, I want you to have this just in case.  Self-defense, no hero stuff.” She nodded, and he continued.  “You don’t shoot to scare someone; you shoot to stop someone.  Don’t point it at something you’re afraid to hurt.  Check what’s behind what you’re going to shoot. This is a revolver, so there’s no safety.  Finger off the trigger.  Hold it out straight, point, squeeze the trigger twice.  Do it quick, bang bang.  Put at least two shots in the body.  If they keep coming, two more.  This gun has six shots, so don’t waste them.”

            He put the gun back into the holster, then handed the holster to her.  “Any questions?”  Her expression was serious as she shook her head and took the gun. He folded her hand in his.  “I’m not asking you to kill someone.  I’m telling you that you can protect yourself if you need to.”  He looked over at his dog.  “Luna. Stay.”  He pointed at Julie.  “Guard.”  Luna moved over and sat next to Julie.  “I’ll be right back.  If there are girls there, we’ll make some calls.”

Donovan looked up at the darkening sky, then cautiously crossed the open ground to the back of the building.  He crouched down next to a portable generator that was feeding power to the building.  There were two windows there and he hoped to get some information about the occupants by listening at one of the windows.  He tried to listen, but the generator was making too much noise.  There as a gap under a curtain, so he carefully peeked through the tiny space.

His eyes took in the interior, a large open area with a kitchen area on one side, a door that led to a bathroom and importantly, three men sprawled across some tired looking furniture.  They seemed to be focused on a football game that was playing on a large screen tv.  What was crucial, however, was that on the opposite side of the room was a locked security cage with three dejected looking young women inside. There was a lanyard with a key close to the cage; more than likely, it was the key to the cage.  Finally, he had the proof that the girls were being held here.  All he needed now was some help. He peeked into the building one more time, then carefully made his way back to Julie.

            “Well?” she asked anxiously.

            “There are girls locked up in there,” he answered.  “We need to call for backup.” He ran his hand through his hair.  “I just don’t know how long we can wait.  Tonight is the new moon and if they keep to their MO, they’ll be moving out in a few hours.”

            “So, what do we do?”

            Donovan was grim.  “We make the call.  Then, we hope they get here in time.  If they don’t, then we’ll have to rescue the girls. That might get a little…complicated.”

 

Dreams Fall From the Desert Sky: Part Two: Chapter 8

 

            It took several hours, and just plain luck, for Julie and Donovan to find the truck.  They found the Stillwater Mines, but there were smaller side roads going off in a multitude of directions.  One of those roads took them down a canyon, and Julie caught sight of Teddy Bear’s rig.  Julie blurted out, “There it is!”  Donovan jammed on the brakes and quickly reversed back down the road.  “What are you doing??” she yelled.  “Let’s go get him!”

            “No,” he said tersely.  “Not yet.”  He moved the truck about half a mile away, near the entrance of the canyon, out of sight from where they had spotted the truck.

            “Why?? He’s right there!  We can catch him!”  She was bouncing up and down on the truck seat, gesturing down the road, agitated and exasperated.

            “Hang on,” he said patiently.  “…Julie.... Julie! Calm down for a minute.”  She sat back heavily and crossed her arms, casting nervous glances toward the road.

            “First of all, we don’t know for sure if he’s our guy,” he held up a hand to quiet her for a moment, “and if he IS, we can’t just go up to the door and get him. We don’t know if he’s alone.  I’d almost guarantee that he isn’t.” She looked disappointed, but she nodded.

            Donovan nodded back.  “We have some time to check things out,” he said reassuringly.  “We need to get some proof.”  He was thinking aloud now.  “Once we get the proof, we can call for some back-up.  He won’t move until dark.  The girls must be somewhere close, they wouldn’t be in the truck yet.  We can find them and get them to someplace safe.”

            Julie sighed, “So what do we do now?”

            He pointed.  “We go up that side of the canyon so that the sun isn’t behind us; we don’t want to cast a shadow.  We don’t want to go to the very top because we don’t want to appear on the horizon up there.  We want the high ground so we can look down and see where everything is and get a feel for where people might be.  When it gets dark, we go down and get close, get enough evidence so that we have good reason to call Border Patrol, Homeland, Texas Rangers, whoever can get here first.”

            She stared at him.  “You thought all this out already?”

            “I’m a cop,” he reminded her.  “I think cop things.”

=

            From their vantage point, they could see the semi parked alongside a portable office-like building.  There was one other vehicle there, a pick-up truck.  “That’s good,” he observed, “probably not a lot of people to deal with.”

            “Teddy and two others…” Julie’s voice trailed off hesitantly.  Donovan turned to stare at her.  She glanced at him quickly, “I heard things.”

            He looked at her carefully.  “I’ve heard some things too, Julie. Like how you know these guys.” He paused to measure her reaction.

            “What do you mean?” She was caught off guard but kept her composure.

            “You know these guys.  You got away from them.  You’ve been looking for them.”  She stared at the ground, avoiding his gaze, and he pressed on.  “I don’t mind that you didn’t tell me, but what I need to know is, is this about revenge, or are there really girls that need our help?”

            Her head snapped up, her eyes blazing.  “I’m here to save these girls. I was one of those girls, Donovan.  I was taken.  God knows, I know what they’re going through.  Look, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before, but I could never find the right time.”

            “I can understand that it would be hard to talk about.” He ran his fingers through his hair.  “But dang it Julie, it would be helpful if you could tell me everything you know about these guys right now.”

            She balled her fists. “I’m trying to remember!” she said angrily.  “All I have are pieces of memory.  I get triggered by things, and then these memories come back.”  The scar on her cheek made a hot line on her face as she spoke.

            Donovan nodded silently, taking it all in.  “Okay,” he said finally, “what can you remember, what can you tell me?”

            “About a year ago, I woke up in a house and some ladies were taking care of me.  I didn’t remember anything, didn’t know anything, except that I hurt like hell, and I had my face sliced open. I found out the ladies were working girls, but I had no idea what I was doing there. They told me that I had stumbled out of the desert one night.  Couple of weeks later, I remembered my name when I saw something on the internet that said I was missing.  I started to piece things together; I remembered I was a writer, a journalist.  Had no idea how I ended up in West Texas though.  I managed to find my way home, didn’t have any answers, so I just tried to pick up my life.” 

She closed her eyes for a moment.  “But there was something about this highway that kept nagging me.”

“Then a few months ago, I saw a report about a young woman who had disappeared from an Austin bar.  That was the trigger.  I realized that I was abducted from a club that night.  I started to dig into all the disappearances, I remembered this highway, and then, when I saw that video back in the truck stop with you, I remembered who had taken me.”

Julie took a deep breath. “His name is Ted, and I gave him that scar.”  The detective raised an eyebrow and she continued.  “I remember waking up in a van with some other girls, two guys in the front, Ted in the seat next to me.  I told him that I needed to pee, so they pulled over.  Ted took me off behind some rocks and untied me. I had a knife in my boot-”

            “Wait, what?”

            She dismissed his interruption with a wave of her hand, “When I was embedded with the troops in Afghanistan, they gave me some tips.”  Donovan nodded and she continued. “I pulled out my knife, stabbed him in the cheek.  He pulled out his OWN knife and slashed at me, got MY cheek, I lost my footing, fell into one of these ravines.  They left me for dead.” She paused for a moment.  “I was saved by those working girls.”

            Donovan spoke quietly, “I meant no disrespect…”

            “No, I get it.  Revenge would be sweet, but-” she looked stricken, “I got away, but there were two other girls in the van with me. I don’t know what happened to them.  I didn’t save them, but maybe I can save someone else.”           

            Donovan ran his hand through his hair and sighed heavily.  “Okay then, let’s go do this.”

 

Dreams Fall From the Desert Sky: Chapter 7

 

            Sometime later, they arrived at the truck stop.  Julie and Luna climbed out, Julie scratching the dog’s head and smiling before they headed off toward the trucks.  Meanwhile, Donovan got out and stretched, then made his way into the truck stop to buy some supplies.  As he went to pay for his items, he noticed the security cameras set up behind the register.  He pursed his lips in thought and then he said to the cashier, “May I speak to your manager?”

            A few minutes later, the detective was standing in the doorway of a cramped office in the back of the store.

            “Have I seen anything unusual?”  The manager rubbed his chin and tilted back in his office chair.  “I don’t know about unusual, but pretty darn funny.  This morning, me and the guys were giving this one driver a hard time.”  He laughed.  “Couldn’t help it.  He was buying some feminine pads and we were giving him a hard time, just kidding ya know.  He got all angry and embarrassed and stormed outta here.”  He grinned and turned to his computer.  “I got it on tape here somewhere.  Lemme find it…”

            He pulled up the surveillance video and pointed, “Here it is.”  Donovan studied the figure on the screen; it was a dark-haired heavyset man, perhaps in his 40’s.

            “That’s him.” Julie’s voice was behind him.  “That’s gotta be him.”  When Donovan turned around to look at her, she gave him an embarrassed glance and lowered her voice, “I didn’t know where you were, so I asked the cashier if she had seen a cop…”  She gestured back at the screen. “That’s our guy.”

            He raised his eyebrow.  “You sound pretty sure.  What makes you so confident it’s him?”

            “I heard things.”  She pointed at the figure on the monitor, “See that?” There was an ugly scar on the side of his face.  “Someone said he got into a fight or something.  That scar should make him easier to find.”

            Donovan nodded and turned to the manager.  “Could we see if there are any views of the truck he was driving?”  They followed him from camera to camera, out into the parking area where he climbed into a black rig. “Dang it... can’t make out the plates from this angle. That would have helped.”

            “Wait-” Julie pointed at the screen.  “What’s that? At the top of the radiator. Can you enlarge that?”  The manager fiddled with the settings, and the three of them studied the picture.  “Is that…a teddy bear?”

            Donovan tilted his head from side to side. “I think it is.”  He tapped the manager on the shoulder.  “Can you give me the shots of his face and his rig? I’d appreciate it.”

=

            Armed with pictures of a possible suspect, Julie and Donovan were able to focus their investigation a bit better. They split up to cover more ground at the truck stop and Donovan made his way into the restaurant.  He showed the pictures to the waiter behind the counter who shook his head, but then a woman who was sitting nearby asked to take a look.

            She studied the pictures for a moment, then said, “That’s Toady.”

            “I’m sorry, what?” Donovan asked.

            She pointed to the teddy bear that was mounted on the truck.  “Teddy Bear actually, but we call him Toady. I mean he IS a slimy little man.  His handle is Teddy Bear.”

“Thanks,” he said sincerely, “that will be helpful.”

“You’re welcome.” She looked him up and down.  “You’re the cop who’s helping Julie?” It wasn’t a question as much as a statement.  “We wanted to help her out, so we’ve been doing some digging on our own.  We’re pretty sure the guy she was looking for was him.”

Donovan nodded, “Yah, she’s been working hard to catch this guy.”

“It’s nice that you’re helping her.”

“It’s nothing really…”

“Well, we hope you get him.  Especially after what he did to her.”

“…I’m sorry, what?” He was caught off guard.

“You know…” she made a slashing motion across her cheek.

He looked confused. “She told me she got that in Afghanistan-”

“Naw, he cut her when she was fighting to get away-” she looked at him sharply.  “-Wait, you DO know that she was the one who got away, don’t you?” 

Donovan was stunned.  “I-I had no idea.  What happened?”

“About a year ago,” she lowered her voice, “that poor girl comes stumbling out of the desert, out of the dark.  She was in shock, blood dripping down her face, someone had worked her over but good.  She didn’t know who she was, where she was, or what had happened to her.  Some of us have a little place out here so we took her in, cleaned her up.  Figured she was someone’s girl and was trying to get out.” 

She sat back in her chair.  “Couple of weeks later, Julie finally remembered her name, but she was still fuzzy about everything else. Then one day, she took up and left, until a couple of weeks ago. She’s come back out here, working up and down this highway, asking questions.”  The woman looked Donovan in the eye.  “You gotta find that guy. That woman deserves her revenge. Sangre por sangre, blood for blood.” She gathered her things and stood up to leave.  “By the way, you didn’t hear any of this from me.”  With that, she turned and walked out the door.

Donovan was speechless.  He realized how much he didn’t actually know about Julie.  Was she really working a story? Or was this all about revenge?

He didn’t have any time to come up answers, because at that moment, Julie came racing through the doors.  “We got him!”

=

            Moments later, they were racing out to the truck, Julie breathlessly explaining what she had found.  “One of the truckers said he’s sure he recognized the truck turning onto a road leading out to a place called Stillwater Mines.  It was like thirty minutes ago!”  They leapt into the pickup and Donovan quickly looked up the location on his GPS.

“Got it. Let’s go.” They raced out of the parking lot; Donovan pushed aside the many questions that were crowding his thoughts.

Dreams Fall From the Desert Sky: Chapter 6

 

            Donovan awoke with a jolt; Luna had nudged him awake.  He rolled over to grab his journal and was startled to see Julie sitting on his other side. “Wha-”

            “I’m sorry.  I heard you cry out and then Luna barked.  I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

            “Um, yah… I just need a minute,” he said groggily.  He rubbed his eyes and felt for his light and the notebook.  “I need to write this down.” There was an awkward moment as he sat up and started to write down the dream. He met Julie’s curious gaze and explained, “A dream journal. Just working though some stuff.”

            “No problem,” she answered, and sat quietly, her arms wrapped around her knees.

            After a few minutes, Donovan put the journal aside, dimmed the light, and apologized.  “I’m sorry I woke you up.”

            “It’s okay…”  Then she asked, “Does it happen often? The bad dreams?”  Her voice drifted from the other side of the truck bed.

            “Off and on…it comes with the job.”  He stared up at the sky.  “It helps to get away every once and awhile.  Take some time to just look at the stars.”

            “They’re easy to see out here, so far away from the cities.”

            “Oh definitely.  See there,” he said, pointing into the sky, “the Big Dipper.”

            “Where?” There was an embarrassed laugh.  “All my travels, and I never learned the constellations.”

            He smiled and pointed.  “Over there…”

            “I don’t see it.”

            “Well, come sit over here…” She moved over and he moved behind her.  He put his head next to hers, then put his arm over her shoulder, lining up his arm along her line of sight and pointed.  “It’s right there, see?  There’s the handle,” he gestured, “and then there’s the cup.”

There was a moment of quiet and then a surprised gasp, “I see it!” 

He patted her other shoulder with his free hand.  “And if you follow those two stars,” he pointed again, “you can find the North Star.”

“Ohhhh!”

Donovan started to point out the other constellations, telling her the stories and myths that went along with them.  She leaned against him as they looked heavenward, and he could feel her getting comfortable in his arms.  With his face buried near the back of her head, it didn’t take long for him to notice the faint perfume of her hair.  He sighed and she turned to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“Nothing.  I’m just a little tired.”  He moved himself away from her and lay back onto his sleeping bag.  She hesitated for a moment, then lay next to him, her head on his chest. “Julie, um… I don’t know where to put my arm,” he said.

“You can put it anywhere…” 

It wasn’t long before she was fast asleep, breathing gently. With his arm around her shoulders, keeping her warm, it was not long before Donovan had drifted off as well.

=

 

            The girl awoke with sunlight streaming through her windows.  Her eyes widened in surprise, and she spotted the pill bottle on the table next to her bed.  She snatched it off her bedstand and shook it. Empty! Screaming, she banged her fist against her head then threw the bottle across the room.

            She contemplated staying home from school but didn’t want to face her mother’s rage.  Two horrible scenarios, home, or school, but at least she could ignore her snide remarks from her peers better than the yelling from her angry parent.

            When she arrived at the schoolyard, she braced herself for the torrent of abuse.  But teachers were herding the students into the auditorium.  “What’s going on? What happened?” people were whispering. 

            Unbelievably someone whispered back, “It’s Staci.  She OD’d at a party last night.”

 

=

            Donovan was awash with questions as the ebb and flow of the dream deposited him on the shores of wakefulness.   Dawn was breaking and he lay quietly, listening to the steady breathing of the reporter at his side.  She was, he reminded himself, a reporter, one who was trying to save some very vulnerable girls from a very dark fate.  Last night had been a nice reminder of what a normal life could be, but his, nor hers, was a normal life.  He told himself that he was a cop, and he needed to do cop things.

            He was careful to not wake Julie up as he silently gathered his journal and the other things needed for the morning routine.  Luna watched sleepily from her spot next to Julie and Donovan signaled to her that she could stay where she was.  He set up the table and camp stove and started to heat some water.

            It wasn’t long before the roasted smell of coffee wafted over the campsite.  Donovan glanced over to the truck and found Julie rolled over on her stomach, her chin in her hands, watching him.  He smiled.  “Well, good morning, Julie.”

            Tentatively, she returned the smile, “Good morning…” She hesitated, then motioned back and forth between the two of them with her finger and asked, “Do you want to – do we need to – um – talk about last night?”

            He looked down at the ground for a moment, several thoughts crossed his mind, and then he looked up at her and simply said, “No.”

            The was a fleeting look of both disappointment and confusion on her face.  “I just thought-”

            “I’ve been thinking too,” he interrupted, hoping to change the subject.  “Take a look at the map.”  He had been studying it and had an idea.  “I don’t mean to try to tell you how to do your search, but I’ve been thinking this over.” Donovan turned the map toward her.  “You’re pretty sure of this highway, but I think we need to look here.”  He pointed to a spot on the map. “This highway runs north and south, but it intersects this other one right here.  This road goes east to west.  This crossroad would be the best place in these parts to bring girls in from all over Texas.”    He looked up at her.  “There’s a big truck stop there.  I think it would a good place to check out.”

            She looked at the map, then looked up at Donovan, studying him thoughtfully.  Finally, she nodded.  “Let’s have some breakfast first. And then we’ll check it out.”  She sat on the tailgate, carefully shook out her boots, and then pulled them on.  As Donovan moved about the campsite, Julie spoke.  “Thank you,” she said quietly.

            He looked surprised. “For what?”

            “For not making a big deal about last night…”

            Donovan stopped what he was doing and looked her in the eye.  “Julie, we had a very pleasant dinner with a great conversation, and then later, we spent some time looking at the stars where we both fell into a deep relaxing sleep.”

            “So that’s it then?”

            He chose his words carefully.  “For right now, yes.”  He continued, “But I’d like to take this up again later, if you don’t mind, when things settle down.”

            “I’d like that,” she said with a smile.

            “Me too.”  Then he said solemnly, holding up two boxes, “Now… Corn Pops or Rice Krispies?”