Tonya pursed her lips and flashed Max a heated glare. She wasn’t making bad decisions—okay, she was making a few bad ones, but they were for the right reasons. At fourteen, she thought she was doing pretty damn good compared to some of the other girls at the new school that she didn’t often deign to attend.
“School is boring, okay? I finished half a year of work in two weeks. I’ve got better things to do than sit around with a bunch of snobby kids who think they’re better than everyone else and don’t have a clue what’s really going on in the world. Food’s coming,” she snapped.
They both sat back as the waitress placed their hamburgers in front of them. She grabbed the bottle of ketchup, opened it, and tried to pour some on her fries.
Nothing. Why did a business make a ketchup bottle that you can never get the ketchup out of? she silently groaned, smacking the bottom of the bottle.
“Let me,” Max said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
She watched him take his clean knife and swirl it in the glass bottle. He pulled it out and held out the bottle to her. She took it and poured more ketchup than she wanted onto her plate.
“I just can’t catch a break today,” she muttered.
“So, what do you do all day on the streets?” Max casually asked, taking the ketchup bottle from her.
Tonya looked up at Max, a French fry halfway to her mouth. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but she didn’t see any disapproval in his expression, only curiosity. She stuffed the ketchup-laden French fry into her mouth and reached into her backpack for her notebook. This was her life’s work—or at least the last two years of it.
“I’ve been working on an investigation,” she said in a hushed voice.
She looked around the restaurant before she leaned forward and slid the notebook to Max. He raised an eyebrow before he looked down at the tattered spiral notebook. She nodded at it.
“An investigation?” he repeated.
“You’ll see. I just need a few more days,” she said.
She picked up her hamburger and began eating. Max opened the notebook with one hand and absently ate his fries with the other. He glanced at her in shock before he looked back down at the meticulous notes she had been writing.
“Where did you get this information?” he demanded.
She grinned at him. “Grownups think kids are stupid. You know the old saying that adults like to repeat all the time about kids being seen but not heard. That’s bullshit, of course. The reality is kids aren’t often seen or heard, but we hear just fine when they say shit they think we don’t understand. I happen to be really good at not being seen or heard,” she announced with a wave of a French fry.
Max shot her a disapproving frown. “Can you say that without the foul language?” he dryly replied.
“Whatever. You don’t like it? Tough. Foul language has a certain power to it when used at the right time and in the right situation,” she replied.
Max shook his head at her even as he continued to turn the pages and read. “Words are powerful, foul language is vulgar, there is a difference, Tonya. What happened to you that made you so cynical at such a young age?” he asked.
Tonya sat back against the bright red vinyl seat. “You haven’t read my file? How’d you know what the judge said? Oh—right, Angela, never mind,” Tonya answered. “Are you going to eat that hamburger? I haven’t eaten in two days, and I’m starving!”
Max looked at her again and pushed his plate across the table. She didn’t hesitate to grab the hamburger and start eating it.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous what you’ve done is? If they had caught you—if the men saw the information you’ve got—Tonya, I’ve seen people killed for less,” Max warned, closing the notebook.
“But—it’s good, right? I mean, the information, the details? I’ve got everything documented. I even have pictures. I just don’t have the money to print them out. This is good, isn’t it, Max?” she asked in an earnest voice.
“Yeah, it’s really good, kid. What do you want to do with your life when you graduate from high school? You are way too smart not to go to college. Do you want to join the force and become a Detective?” he asked.
She shook her head and looked at the notebook. “No. I want to be an investigative reporter—the best in the world—just like my parents before they were killed,” she softly shared.
Max sighed. “You will be, Tonya, if you don’t end up dead before you get the chance,” he replied.
1
Yachats State Park, Oregon
Present Day
Tonya walked along the beach with her arms wrapped around her waist. Her thoughts were scattered, and nausea threatened to make her lose her last meal. She had been warned that she might feel this way for a short period after her return due to the residual magic from her last trip.
She staggered and almost fell on a mound of seaweed-covered sand. She heard a man’s yell and looked up. She lifted an unsteady hand and pushed her long, dark brown hair back from her face when the wind blew it across her eyes. A blast of chilly mist from the incoming fog seeped through her jacket, and she shivered.
“I’m sorry but the Park closed at sunset. Hey—are you okay?” the ranger asked with concern.
Tonya looked at him with dazed eyes. She nodded, unable to speak at first. The dizziness was beginning to piss her off. She had never liked roller coasters, and at the moment she felt like she had just gotten off the biggest one in the world.
“I’m fine. What—what day is it? How long have I been gone?” she asked.
“I’ll be damned! Aren’t you one of the people that went missing?” the ranger exclaimed in surprise.
“Did the others come back?” she demanded, her voice stronger now as her stomach began to settle.
“My name’s Marty. Are you Tonya Maitland?” Marty asked.
“Yes. Did the others—” she shook her head and started again. “Did Agent Tanaka and Ruth Hallbrook come back?” she repeated, her voice becoming louder in her distress.
“I haven’t seen anyone else. I think I’d better call the clinic and see if Doc Field is in,” Marty recommended, reaching out in concern when she swayed.
The name immediately registered—Doctor Kane Field. He would know, or at least his lover, Magna, would know what she was talking about. She carefully nodded her head, afraid of exacerbating the dizziness and nausea that were finally beginning to fade.
“Yes, I would like to see Dr. Field,” she agreed.
“Kane, don’t be in such a hurry to leave,” Anne Wright called out.
Kane grimaced and looked at the clock on the wall. Damn it, he and Gabe were planning to take Magna out to a new movie and were going to make the trip into a mini-vacation. They were supposed to be here any minute to pick him up.
With a sigh of resignation, he reached for the clean, crisp white coat on the peg next to his office door. He had discarded the one he had worn all day in the laundry basket in the back room, and placed this one on the peg less than thirty seconds ago.
Hopefully this won’t take long, he thought with another glance at the clock as he dutifully slipped on the white coat.