Inevitable Series 05 The Undeniable Read online

  Here’s another installment in my Inevitable series. If you haven’t read the first four parts, you may be a little confused by some of what goes on in this story.

  As always, Megan Conner does not appear in my story . Although I think Anna Galvin is a fine actress, I just don’t see the need for her character and thus cannot write for her.

  Thanks to everyone who takes the time to drop an e-mail. It’s always nice to know someone is actually out there reading this stuff!

  This one is for Katherine, Caroline, Sandy, Mel, Donna and Kim. Cause you guys encouraged me when I told you I was doing a story about Blair’s father. Hope you’re happy with the results.

  Without further delay.....

  The Undeniable

  Part Five of The Inevitable Series

  By Beth Manz

  Naomi Sandburg awoke from a disturbing dream about her only child. “Blair.” The name came out on a desperate whisper. She glanced at the clock beside her bed - 3:43 a.m. What time would it be in Cascade? She wanted to call Blair. Needed to hear his voice. To be sure he was okay.

  Her gaze fell on the backpack she had left on the chair two nights ago. Throwing back the light blanket covering her, she crossed the darkened room and drew the pack to her. With shaking fingers, she unzipped the bag, reached inside and dug into the pocket in the back. Her hand closed around the object she had not looked at in so long.

  Slowly, she withdrew the crumpled envelope. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she stared down at the block lettering on the front of the white object: For Our Son.

  “It’s time,” she breathed.

  Blair held his hands up at his sides. Jim mirrored his stance beside him. They stared down the barrel of the gun being pointed at them. Kenny Reese, sweating, scared, stared back. “Just don’t move!”

  Jim could hear the man’s racing heart. See the sweat beading his forehead. Smell the young man’s rising fear. “Okay, Reese, just calm down.”

  “You two…you put my brother in jail and now he’s dead!” He waved the gun wildly from Jim to Blair and back again. “Now one of you has to die and the other has to live with that pain. That loss. Understand what I’m feeling!” He aimed the weapon at Blair and Jim’s heart seemed to stop in his chest. “If I kill you,” he began, his eyes cold and hard, “then the cop feels bad but he’d still have his job, his brother and father, a place to live. But if I kill you,” he switched the aim of the gun to Jim, “he’d lose everything.”

  Relief spread through Jim as he realized that he had been chosen to die. No, he didn’t particularly want to die. But if it had to be one of them--

  “Wait a minute,” Blair started, his hands going to his hips in a gesture of defiance. “You kill him and I lose everything but you kill me and he loses nothing? You’re kidding, right?”

  Jim glared at Blair out of the corner of his eye. “Shut up, Sandburg.”

  Blair ignored him. “Do you know anything about me? I am an Anthropologist. I do have a life outside of this.”

  “Shut up.” Reese and Jim yelled at the same time.

  “And after three years,” Blair continued, heedless of the barked order, “I really think I could partner up with someone else.” He turned to Jim. “You’re always telling me that. Is it true or have you just been stroking my ego all this time?”

  Jim blinked as he stared down at the younger man beside him. What the hell does he....? And then it hit him and he realized what Blair was doing...and decided to play along. “Taggert would take you in a second. But I can’t believe you’d keeping working at the precinct if I were dead.”

  “You would if he shot me,” Blair argued, not missing a beat.

  “I was there first,” Jim countered

  “Oh that’s mature.” He turned back to Reese who stared at the two men in confusion, the gun once again shifting from one man to the other, over and over. “And as for his brother and father?” Blair continued, his tone sharp. “You’re not going to get any big scenes of pain there. They’re estranged.”

  “We’re working on the relationship,” Jim offered.

  “Working on…please.” Blair rolled his eyes, his full attention on Reese. “He calls them once every few weeks, grunts into the phone for five minutes and thinks they’ve bonded.”

  “And your relationship with Naomi is better?”

  “Shut up!” Reese screamed. Both men raised their arms again and turned back to the man holding the gun. Reese licked his lips. His eyes narrowed. Jim was sure this was it. Blair had bought them some time but not enough. Not enough to-- “Who’s Naomi?” Reese asked.

  Jim nearly laughed with relief. The kid had gotten to Reese. Had managed to pique his interest. Stall him from just blowing them away. His talents never ceased to amaze Jim. Now, if he could just mange to distract him long enough so that Jim could get that gun...

  “Naomi’s my mom.” Blair leaned toward the guy, speaking in a low, conspiratorial voice. “You want to see crying at a funeral? My mom will deliver like you’ve never seen.” He smiled with pride at the thought of his mother happily wailing at his wake. “Me and my mom?” He held out two crossed fingers. “Like this, man.”

  “When she’s around,” Jim mumbled.

  “She’s a free spirit,” Blair explained to Reese.

  “She’s a flake,” Jim countered.

  Blair turned on him sharply. “That’s what you think of my mom?”

  Jim turned toward his partner. “That time you were shot?” he began, keeping Reese in his peripheral vision, hoping to catch a break. “I couldn’t find her for three weeks. By the time I did catch up to her, you were fine but she was pissed at me because I didn’t tell her when her baby needed her.” The last part came out in a high-pitched tone.

  “Just because my mom worries about me doesn’t mean you have to mock her.”

  Reese took another unsteady step toward them. “That’s enough,” he said, the gun still shifting back and forth.

  “I’m not mocking her, Chief,” Jim said, ignoring Reese and his order. “I’m just saying that she’s a little...” His voice trailed off.

  Reese stepped closer. “I said that’s enough.”

  “What Jim?” Blair’s voice came out tinged with just the right amount of anger. But Jim could hear the racing of his heart. Would this work? “A little what?” Blair demanded. “A flake as you so nicely put it. Or something even worse than that!”

  “Enough!” Reese screamed. He had the gun pointed at Blair’s head now. Blair stared up into Jim’s eyes without fear. In that moment, they shared complete clarity. Each knew what was expected of the other without a single word passing between them.

  “Shut up!” Reese screamed, the gun inches from Blair’s face. Just as Blair was about to drop to the ground, just as Jim should have grabbed the gun, the kid shifted his aim to Jim...and fired.

  Time stopped. Disbelief washed through him. Panic gripped his heart. “No!” The single word of denial reverberated around him, pounded through him. It was another moment before Blair realized it had been torn from his own throat.

  He caught Jim as he fell, going down himself under the weight of his much larger partner. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered Kenny Reese as he ran from the alley, leaving Blair alone with his wounded partner.

  “Jim,” he choked out, his eyes locked on the growing stain of red spreading quickly across the sentinel’s chest. No, no, no! He fumbled for his phone. Punched in 911. The ringing echoed in his ear as his hands moved helplessly over Jim.

  “911. What is the nature of your emergency?” a voice grated in his ear.

  “I have an officer down,” Blair said, trying to make himself clear. Trying to breathe.
“I need an ambulance to the alley at Conner and Welles.”

  It all seemed to happen in a blur. The ambulance arrived. Technicians surrounded his partner. And then Simon was there, holding his arm, telling him he needed to give them room to work, asking him what had happened.

  Blair hadn’t been allowed to ride with Jim in the ambulance. Instead, Simon had driven him to the hospital, once again asking him what had happened. But there were only two words that floated through Blair’s mind: my fault. Jim had been shot because he had gambled and lost.

  “Blair?”

  He looked up at Simon. They were in the hospital waiting room. Jim had been taken to surgery nearly an hour ago.

  “I need you to tell me what happened, son.”

  He shook his head. “I thought he wouldn’t do it. I really did, Simon.” He stood and paced to the window. In the alley, he and Jim had shared a perfect moment of clarity. He’d felt it and he was sure Jim had too. And in that moment, he knew he was doing the right thing. That he had read the situation perfectly and they would survive yet another day. Then Reese had fired and all those feelings had crumbled even as Jim crumbled.

  “This isn’t your fault, Blair.”

  He turned toward Simon. “Yes, it is.” Briefly, he told him what happened.

  “Blair, it doesn’t sound like you were given much choice. You bought some time.”

  “I thought he wouldn’t do it. I was so sure. And then he just turned the gun and...and shot him.” He could still hear that sound as it reverberated around him. Could see the look on Jim’s face as he registered the pain of that single bullet. Still feel the weight of his partner as he pulled him to the ground. “I’m supposed to be able to trust my instincts. That’s what Frank Croft told me, Simon. He told me to trust myself. Trust my inner voice. It’s supposed to be this huge asset for Jim. But where has it gotten me so far? I was wrong about Brackett. Wrong about Reese. What else am I going to be wrong about? When will it cost Jim his life?” He shook his head, wishing he could change the past, go back and correct each of his mistakes, make the right choices. “Jim believes that I was meant to be a Guide the same as he was meant to be a Sentinel. He told you that, right?”

  Simon nodded, his gaze uncertain.

  “I really liked that idea, Simon. But I don’t know if that’s true anymore.” He dropped back into his chair. “Did I just want to believe it because I needed to? Because it gave me purpose? A reason to stay with Jim beyond my dissertation?”

  “I can’t answer that for you, Blair,” Simon said truthfully. “Only you can. But I know how Jim feels about you. And I know what I’ve seen you do and I can say in all honestly that you are...special.” He sat beside him, pinning him with a firm gaze. “But you’re also human. You need to give yourself a break.”

  Blair stood beside the bed staring at the still form of his partner, listening to the monitors that beeped out the rhythm of his heart, each beat pounding through him. He wondered how Jim could stand it. Always hearing his heartbeat, hearing every change from steady and calm to suddenly racing. Knowing that in an instant it could stop. He closed his eyes against the unwelcome thought.

  He’s going to be fine.

  Jim had come through the surgery without any complications. The bullet had missed any major organs but he had suffered a great deal of blood loss. The doctor expected a full recovery but Jim would remain unconscious for at least another day. His body needed time to heal, the doctor had explained. Blair had been relieved by his words but would not relax completely until Jim was awake.

  Opening his eyes, he let out a long breath. He hated the waiting. Hated sitting here knowing that Jim could wake at any moment or never again. Stop it! He’s going to wake up and everything will be fine!

  Reaching out, he touched a hand to the side of Jim’s face. “I’m sorry I let you down,” he whispered. “I don’t have all the answers, Jim. I try but I just don’t.” He’d told the doctor’s about Jim’s problems with drugs in the past. And they had the records regarding his near overdose by Lee Brackett yet Blair couldn’t help but worry. He still didn’t know how different drugs would affect the Sentinel. There simply was no good way of testing it.

  Simon had gone home almost two hours ago. He had tried to convince Blair to do the same but he would have none of it. Jim didn’t leave him when he was hurt. He certainly wasn’t going to leave Jim. He tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn. It had been a hell of a long day. He didn’t want to sleep. He wanted to watch over Jim. Make sure he was okay. But he was just so damn tired.

  Dropping down in the chair beside the bed, he rubbed a hand along his forehead, trying to ease the tension there. He needed to clear his mind. To rest. Maybe if he slept for a few hours, he’d be able to come up with some answers to the questions buzzing around in his head. To the doubts that still plagued him.

  He closed his eyes and...

  ....found himself in a forest. Am I dreaming? He was sure he was but it felt so real. He could feel the heat from the sun on his face, hear the high-pitched buzz of the insects all around him, see the deep greens and browns of the jungle.

  “Jim?” he called, his voice unsteady. No answer and on some instinctual level, he knew his sentinel was not near. He took an uncertain step forward, unsure what to do. A sound drew his attention. Blair turned and found himself face to face with...

  “Incacha,” he breathed.

  The Shaman still wore the red ceremonial paint of his people on his face. Looked exactly as he had the day he had died. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Blair. “Why do you doubt your role as Guide, young shaman?” he asked.

  “I’ve made so many mistakes,” he answered. “I don’t know if I really belong with my Sentinel.”

  “But you made that choice already. There is no going back. There is only forward.”

  Blair’s chest tightened at the words. “What choice? I don’t remember making any choice.”

  Suddenly, Blair was back in the fountain at Rainier. The cold water bit into his flesh like a thousand knives being driven under his skin. His mind screamed for him to move. But he couldn’t. The water held him down. Filled his lungs.

  Help me! Someone, please, help me!

  The words screamed through his mind. But he could not force them past his lips. Could not make his body move. Could not save himself.

  Jim!

  But he knew Jim wasn’t coming. Didn’t care what happened to him. Might even be relieved to be rid of him for good.

  A profound sadness filled him, more painful than any physical injury he had ever sustained.

  No one’s coming. No one cares.

  He had lost everything and everyone that meant anything to him. And now he would die. Alone.

  A shadow fell across him. Blocked out the sun’s rays. His last source of warmth.

  Help me!

  Muffled voices reached his ears. Then laughter. Fear tightened his already aching chest. Whoever stood over him would offer no help. Instead gained pleasure from his pain. He sensed it and was terrified by it even as the darkness came to engulf him...forever.

  He was lost. Alone.

  “Jim?” he called out, his voice tinged with desperation. But as the single name echoed around him without answer, he knew his Sentinel would not come for him this time. A painful emptiness filled him. With it came the fear. He was no longer in the fountain. Instead, he was lost in a black void with no way out. No way home.

  “Please,” he whispered.

  Light appeared in the distance. A small pinpoint that grew brighter and brighter until it surrounded him. A man stepped from within the light, moving toward him. Blair squinted at him, trying to block out the blinding light, trying to see him because there was something familiar about him. Something...

  “Hello, my son.”

  Blair jerked awake. His breath came in short gasps. His heart hammered in his chest.

  “You okay, honey?”

  He looked toward the sound of the voice. The night nurse stood besi
de Jim, checking the IV line that ran into the Sentinel’s left arm. She glanced at Blair, concern clearly etched in her face.

  “I’m okay,” he said, sitting back in his chair, running a shaky hand through his hair.

  “Nightmares?” she asked, turning her attention back to her work.

  “Yeah, something like that,” he muttered. He stood and crossed to the window, staring out at the dark night sky. There was no moon tonight just blackness. It seemed to press against the glass. To reach out toward him. Blair hugged himself, remembering the black void from his dream.

  “Hello, my son.”

  He shuddered. It was just a dream. But something deep inside told him that wasn’t true. That it was much more than a that.

  “I heard you were with him when this happened.”

  He turned back to the nurse, pulled away from his thoughts. “Yes, I was.”

  “That’s enough to give anyone nightmares.” She finished checking the equipment around Jim and crossed to Blair, holding her hand out toward him. “I’m Ruthie. I’ll be taking care of your friend here for the next couple of nights.”

  “Blair Sandburg,” he said, shaking the extended hand. She appeared to be in her mid-forties, her brown hair swept up into a loose bun that accented her heart-shaped face. He liked her immediately.

  “Well, Blair, you can relax.” Ruthie released his hand and moving back to the bed, snatched up Jim’s chart and made a few notations. “Your friend is coming along well. In another day, he’ll be awake and everything will be back to normal.”

  “That’s great.” He forced a smile and prayed she was right.

  Simon stepped from the elevator and headed toward Jim’s hospital room. He hefted the backpack he carried onto his shoulder and wondered how the kid managed to carry this thing around all day and still walk upright. He’d picked up the books Blair had asked for and a few other items he thought the grad student could use.

  Reaching Jim’s door, he pushed inside. The kid sat where he had left him last night - beside Jim’s bed. He stared at Jim, seemingly unaware of Simon’s presence. His eyes were bloodshot. His skin pale and drawn. His shoulders slumped forward.