Chapter 31: Clues and A Cave

The only remnant of the house was a black pile of rubble marring the white of the surrounding snow. Dead grass stood around the wreckage where the fire had melted nearby snow, but fresh snowfall was already starting to cover everything in white again. The sky above was gray. The wind was cold. The feeling in my gut was that I had failed.

I felt miserable. My family was gone; taken when they needed me most. Taken when I had left to find out something that ended up having nothing to do with what was happening in the house. I sat in the SUV, staring at the smudge of black in the snow that was the final impression of what I felt inside.

"Ral, don't do this. I know you feel bad. I know you think this was your fault, but it wasn't," Yvonne said, stealing glances at me as she drove.

"If I hadn't left..."

Yvonne interrupted me, "No, Ral. You needed to know what that paperwork meant. I don't think your leaving would have changed anything except maybe delaying what happened here, unless the one responsible for this got tired of waiting and came while everyone slept." She held out her hand to me. "Mandy still needs you. Your family needs you. You have to be strong for them and do everything you can."

She was right. I still couldn't feel Mandy and I still didn't know if that meant that our bond had been broken or if it was just being blocked from me. I took Yvonne's hand and felt better. She believed in me. She had confidence that I would find my family and put this right. I looked back at Chloe and Savannah in the back seat. Savannah was staring out her window at the remains of my house. Chloe looked back at me.

"Yvonne's right, Master. You have to be strong. I believe in you. I know you can do anything you set your mind to. Anything." She smiled at that last, but there were no innuendos or raunchy thoughts to accompany it. It was just a simple smile. I felt even better.

Chloe sat up to look out the window too and her motion put my mark into view past her coat. My mark. The mark on Mom and Monique. I had to talk to Andrea.

Our procession of vehicles stopped and everyone got out. I found Officer Colburn immediately. "I think I have another clue."

She was all ears. "What?"

"My mom and sister were marked. A small red diamond on the back of their necks. If we find anyone with the same mark we may have the Mind Magi we're looking for."

"House Vaughan? But they abhor violent acts like this. They would have put this to an end very quickly."

"Well, they obviously haven't. Is there any kind of record regarding which Mind Magi might have that shape and placement of their mark?"

"Each House has its own records," she said as she pulled out her phone. "I've got a friend in House Vaughan. He can find out for me."

"Good. In the meantime, we keep an eye out for it."

After her call, Officer Colburn led me past the tape surrounding the wreckage left by the fire. The home that I had grown up in was gone. It wasn't a matter of the lost possessions, those could be replaced, but the memories.

Memories.

"That son of a bitch!"

"Ral, what is it?" Yvonne asked.

"He knew. Somehow he knew I had grown up here. He knew that I had been raised as I had been. The bastard knew I was here all along."

"Maybe he got the memories from you? When you get memories, they include the emotions attached." Chloe suggested.

"No, he knew about something else too. He said that my family had hurt others too, but not who. Nothing he suggested stirred any memories in me."

I looked at Officer Colburn. "Whoever this guy is. He knew I grew up here. He knew my family and their interactions with others. It was like he's been watching this house for years. I wonder if maybe it's someone who's lived here for years. Somewhere nearby."

Andrea looked around. No one else was close enough to hear. "All of the other neighbors have volunteered to help search, though, Ral. If someone had refused or not been home..."

"Was there anyone who came to you or the searchers offering to help without knowing what was going on?"

She thought about that. "Not that I know of, but someone else might."

She turned to the crowd that was standing by. She spoke with a few people quietly and finally came back to me. "Kurt Loftin volunteered this morning. No one had called him, he just showed up and offered to help. He lives on the other side of town. He might have heard about the fire, but otherwise no one approached him."

"Where is he?"

The officer led me through the crowd to an older man. He looked to be in his mid-forties with dark hair and cool gray eyes. His hair was grizzled and fell past his shoulders. That alone was enough to hide the back of his neck. For the search he was helping us with, he wore heavy coveralls, patterned in camouflage, like something you'd find in a sporting goods store for hunting. He also wore modern snowshoes attached to his heavy hiking boots. "Mr. Loftin? My name is Ral Setton." I held out my hand to shake.

He handed me a pair of snowshoes like the ones he wore. His grin didn't change, and he didn't take my hand. "You're gonna need these while we search, Mr. Setton."

I took the snowshoes. "Thank you. I'm glad you've volunteered to help us. We're going to be splitting up into groups soon and you'll be with me."

"That'll be fine." His smile seemed plastered on.

I nodded and looked at Andrea. I wished I could communicate with her like I did my girls. "One last word before we start."

We went back to the wreckage. "He deliberately avoided contact with me. Even with his gloves on."

"That doesn't mean anything. Some people just don't like to be touched."

"In a situation like this trust is everything and he should have taken the opportunity to build my trust in him. Besides, if he knows what I can do, he would have known I could have gotten his memories and known if he were the one we were looking for."