Chapter Fourteen
Crow
Fuck my head was killing me. I lay in place for long minutes listening and getting my bearings. It took longer than it should for me to wake up, while I tried to decide where I was and what was happening. I heard the familiar rush of water in front of me and the crunch of fir needles under my shoulder. There was the unmistakable smell of the trees and water in the air I immediately recognized. I was on the ground by my stream.
Why the fuck am I sleeping by the stream?
My mind finally came online to the memory of Worthy and me taking a walk to the water. I remembered our talks, what I revealed to him and his absolute acceptance. The last thing I remember, he was walking toward my open arms. But he’d stopped.
Why did he stop?
“Worthy?”
I was still on the ground because moving hurt my head too much. I would just call him, and he’d help me.
“Worthy? I need your help.”
I waited, but there was no movement. No reply.
My memory was playing that last moment over and over again. He had been almost in my grasp, but he’d stopped. Then in a burst of light in my mind, I remembered something else. I remembered the look in Worthy’s eyes just after he stopped walking. His eyes had looked wild. I could see the whites of his eyes and his face had gone completely pale. His mouth had gone wide and breathing accelerated. I’d seen that look before. My subjects looked like that every time they recognized their fate.
That look was terror.
No, no, no, no, no!
I forced my eyes open, and it was dark. I panicked a minute until my eyes adjusted and I realized I wasn’t blind, it was just night time now. I forced my body to sit up, the pounding in the back of my head making me lean over and empty out all the food we’d had at lunch. I couldn’t stand yet, so I crawled to the stream, scooped up some water, and rinsed as best I could. The fuzziness was beginning to recede, and the reality was setting in. I didn’t want to believe it yet. I needed to find Worthy. I needed to make sure he was okay.
“WORTHY!” I screamed as loud as I could, pushing through the pounding pain and my own fear creeping into my chest. No, this couldn’t happen.
“WORTHY, WHERE ARE YOU?”
I crawled to the rock we’d been on earlier in the day, and my backpack was still there, untouched. I used the boulder to pull up to my feet. Jesus, fuck my head hurt. I reached back and felt dried blood in my hair and a large knot. The bleeding had stopped, thank God.
I took a minute to feel around in my pack for my phone. Finding it, I checked the time and cursed to see it was almost ten. I’d been out at least six hours, maybe more. If what I imagined occurred, so much time had already been wasted.
I found my contacts and made a phone call I very rarely made. It didn’t matter though. I needed help, and I knew exactly who to call. As I waited for them to answer, I felt the huge knot on the back of my head again. I couldn’t remember what had happened to me, but blow to the head was a good bet. At least it hadn’t been a bullet—small consolation.
“Crow, what’s wrong? What do you need?”
“Os, where are you today? Please say you’re in Portland.”
“I’m actually on I-5 right now, just drove through Medford.”
I didn’t pray much, but I thanked all that was holy for small favors.
“I need you to come to my cabin as fast as you can. If you’re in Medford, you can be here in about forty-five minutes, but I’m asking you to be here in thirty.”
“Anything you need, man. I’m there. Give me the info.”
“I was at the stream with Worthy, and someone got the drop on me. I don’t know why they didn’t kill me, but I’m not looking a gift horse. Knot on my head and possible concussion. I’ll deal. I’m down at the stream, making my way to the cabin now. Do you have your tracking stuff?”
“Shit yeah, I do. You know I don’t go anyplace without my gear. But what do you want me to do?”
While talking, I had put my backpack on, steadied myself, and started walking, well stumbling, back to the cabin. There was no time to waste.
“What I want you to do is help me find the son of a bitch who took my Worthy, so I can kill him as slowly and painfully as I can. He took what was mine, and I’m going to make him pay.”
I stumbled over a limb in the dark, but grabbed a nearby tree trunk and kept my feet. I had to get back and get to work. Worthy’s life depended on how fast we could find him.
