The Summit

“Any questions?”

Today was the second in a series of basic rock-climbing classes that would take place over the summer. Once the group had progressed far enough, there would be actual forays into the nearby Cascade Mountains. They would do some bouldering then progress to top-roping: safe, easy ways to build confidence and improve their skills. Maybe they would even do some more difficult technical climbing.

In her first session, she had addressed the general nature of the sport, some of its history and topics to be discussed in future lessons: getting your body in shape and the right nutrition, choosing the proper clothing; mountain hazards; climb rating systems; and the proper equipment and how to use it.

This morning they were discussing weather forecasts and navigation, which included the use of USGS maps and GPS instrumentation.

“I use my GPS all the time,” said Matthew Gould, a tall, string bean of a guy with shaggy brown hair. “Are you saying I’m better off hauling out a map? That’s kind of old-fashioned, isn’t it?”

“A GPS is an invaluable piece of equipment—I won’t argue with that—and some of the newer devices are pretty fantastic. But for the most part the information on a USGS map is far more extensive than what’s on the equipment most people own. The maps show vegetation, rivers, streams, snowfields and glaciers, as well as roads, trails and less tangible features, like boundaries and section lines. Learn to read them well and it may save your butt when the rest of your planning goes south.”

A few chuckles rumbled from the group.

“There are sample maps on the counter over there. I know most of you are hikers so you probably already have some experience using them. Take a look at the maps and go over what we’ve discussed. See if you understand everything that’s printed on them. If you need any help, I’m right here.”

The students rose from their places on the floor and ambled to the counter. Autumn stayed for questions, then once her students had left, changed into her shorts and went into the weight room to do her morning routine.

She usually worked out before class but sometimes she went to the gym in the evenings. It didn’t really matter, as long as she got her workout done. As a climber it was essential to stay in shape. Her small frame was solid and compact, with strong muscles in her arms, legs and thighs. But her breasts were nicely rounded—one of her most feminine features—and she was proud of the way she looked in a pair of shorts or a bikini.

She usually did a ninety-minute routine four or five days a week, which gave her weekends off to climb or to simply relax and enjoy herself.

Today, as soon as she had finished on the Stair-Master and the Nautilus machines, she showered, dressed and set out to see if she could find the mysterious little girl who had appeared in her dreams.

She had decided to begin at the school, which wasn’t far away. Summer school was in session, though she hadn’t offered to teach. The summer was hers and she loved every minute of it. Shoving through the door of the main office building, a flat-roofed, two-story brick structure, she walked over to speak to her friend, Lisa Gregory, who worked as office manager.

“Hi, Lise, sorry to bother you, but I was hoping you might do me a favor.” Lisa was in her thirties, a pretty woman with short brown hair who was efficient and always friendly.

“What kind of favor?”

“I need to get into the school’s computer files. I want to take a look at photos of the girls between five and seven years old.”

“What for?”

“I’m trying to find a particular child. I know what she looks like, but not her name. I’m not even sure she’s a student at Lewis and Clark.”

“Do I dare ask why you’re doing this?”

“I wish you wouldn’t. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe it. But it’s important I find her, whoever she is. Will you help me? You’re way better at this computer stuff than I am.”

“Sure. As long as it doesn’t get me into trouble.”

They walked into the back room and Lisa sat down at one of the office computers. The school was proud of its cutting-edge technology. Everything was computerized and updated every year.

“What else do you know besides her age?” Lisa asked as she typed in the information. “Maybe we can narrow the search.”

“I know she’s blond and blue-eyed. I think her first name is Molly. Besides my guess at her age, I’m afraid that’s just about it.”

“Every little bit helps.” Lisa input the information, hit the search button and waited for the results to come up. There were several pages of photos of students who fit at least some of the criteria and Autumn studied each girl’s face. Some she had seen on the playground but none of the others looked familiar, none were named Molly and none resembled the little girl she had seen in her dreams.

“Does your information go backward?” Autumn asked. “Maybe she was a student here last year but her family moved somewhere else.”

“We have the names and photos. We’ll have to adjust for age, though, if you think she’s only six. She would have been five then.”

Autumn sighed. “I suppose she could be younger now or maybe she could be older, I don’t know.” In fact, she had no idea if the little girl actually existed.

“I’ll bring up the photos for the past three years and you can see if you recognize her.”

“Thanks, Lise.”

But a search of the pictures led nowhere and after a thorough examination of each possible child, Autumn ignored a kink in the back of her neck and straightened away from the screen.

“Well, that’s it,” Lisa said.

“I really appreciate your help, even if we didn’t find her.”

Lisa slid her chair back from the computer. “So tell me why you’re looking for this girl.”

Autumn studied her friend, trying to decide whether or not to tell her the truth. She sighed. “I’ve been having dreams about her. It’s weird because it’s the same dream over and over. In the dream, a man she doesn’t know convinces her to get in his car and drives away with her. The dream doesn’t go any further but I get the feeling something bad is going to happen. I was thinking maybe I should try to find her, warn her parents. Of course, it’s just a dream and it probably isn’t even real.”

Lisa stuck a pencil into the light-brown hair over her ear. “But it might be. You see that stuff on TV all the time.”

Autumn relaxed and smiled. “That’s kind of what I thought. Thanks for understanding.”

“No problem. Good luck—one way or the other.”

Autumn nodded and headed for the door. All the way back to her apartment, she searched the face of every little girl she passed, thinking maybe she had seen the child on the street, but none of the small faces looked familiar.

She was tired by the time she got home.

And no closer to discovering who the little girl was than she had been before.

That night Autumn had the dream. It was exactly the same as the past three nights, though each time she noticed more details. Tonight she saw that the man with the puppy was blond and fair, with a friendly smile and eyes that crinkled at the corners.

And the little red-haired boy was named Robbie. She heard one of the other children call him that. But just as before, as the little blond girl climbed into the car and the vehicle drove away, Autumn jerked awake and the warning on her lips died as she realized none of it was real.

Leaning back against the white wrought-iron headboard of her canopy bed, Autumn raked a hand through her sweat-damp auburn hair. She tried to tell herself she hadn’t really seen anything bad—only a little girl getting into someone’s car—but she couldn’t imagine why a man would take a child he didn’t seem to know away from her friends and family unless he had some evil intent.

It was two in the morning. Autumn lay back on her pillow and tried to fall asleep, but an hour ticked past and then another. Exhaustion finally overcame her and she drifted into a restless sleep.

Three

It was Tuesday. Autumn didn’t have a climbing class this morning. Figuring a good solid workout might clear her head, revive her tired body and rejuvenate her lagging spirits, she headed for the gym. Afterward, she planned to call Joe Duffy, a fellow climber and friend who worked for the Seattle police.

As soon as she got back to her apartment, a little before noon, she left a message for Joe. Joe was a detective in the burglary division but she figured he might be able to help her. She wanted to ask him if there was a way she could look at the list of registered pedophiles living in the Seattle area to see if she recognized the blond man in the dream.

She was trying to think of what she might say to him without mentioning the dream when the phone in her apartment began to ring.

It was Joe, returning her call. “Hey, hot stuff, what can I do for you?”

“I need a favor, Joe.” Now for the lie, which she told very poorly. “…Um…just before school let out for the summer, I saw a guy loitering near the playground. At the time I didn’t think anything about it, but I was wondering if maybe you could arrange for me to take a look at your files…you know, the ones that show photos of known pedophiles in the area. I just want to be on the safe side, make sure he wasn’t one of them.”

“Sure. I’ll tell the sergeant you want to take a look at the mug book. When do you want to come down?”

“How about this afternoon?”

“You got it. Stop by anytime after…say two o’clock. That should give the guys time to get the stuff ready.”

It was two-fifteen when she walked into the modern structure on Virginia Street that housed the west precinct of the Seattle police department. She gave Joe’s name to the desk sergeant who sent her down the hall. Joe, a ruddy complexioned, dark-haired man who claimed to be at least half Irish, was waiting.

“Hey Autumn, good to see you.”

“You too, Joe.”

“This is a little out of my area, but one of the guys got the stuff together. It’s all on computer these days but we’ve also got photos—easier for lay people to use.” Joe led her into a room and she sat down at a table with several albums stacked on top. She opened the first and began to thumb through pages of pictures. There were some very rough-looking men in the books—guys with earrings and beards and long, scraggly hair—while others looked completely harmless. She figured those were probably the ones to really worry about.

She spent nearly two hours going through the photo albums, but no face jumped out at her or even looked vaguely familiar. Twice she had tried and come up empty, she thought as she left the building.

In a way she was glad.

It’s just a dream, that’s all. Even if it isn’t, you’ve done everything you can think of to stop it from happening.

She tried to convince herself, but still it bothered her. So much so she took an Ambien that night and slept straight through till morning.

For the first time in days, Autumn awakened fully rested. She said a little thank you that the pill had worked and the nightmare hadn’t come and prayed it would never come again. Deciding to forego her morning workout, she lay back against the pillow and slept for a little longer, just to indulge herself.

She had a climbing class today and a couple of private lessons in the afternoon, which made her some extra money, then she planned to meet Terri at the gym that evening, after her friend got off work. Terri was a legal secretary at Hughes, Jones, Weinstein and Meyers, one of the city’s most prestigious law firms. She wasn’t a member at Pike’s Gym but occasionally worked out using one of the guest passes Autumn got as part of her teaching deal. Terri wasn’t much on exercise, but she liked looking at the men.

At six o’clock, Autumn headed for the gym, hoping to get the serious part of her workout done before Terri arrived and they wound up sitting at one of the tables in the health bar drinking smoothies.

She had just finished using the thigh machine, stretching and working muscles that were invaluable in climbing, when she spotted her friend. Terri was wearing tight black leotards and a pink-and-black midrift top and she looked terrific. She had a fabulous figure and she showed it off whenever she could.

“Hi ya’ll!” Terri waved and walked toward her. She was born in Virginia but raised out west and her southern accent was mostly gone, surfacing only on occasion just for fun.

“I see you’re ready to sweat,” Autumn teased, knowing that was the last thing Terri wanted.

“Sure thing, honey. I’ll just go put my bag in a locker and be right back.” She disappeared for a few minutes, turning several male heads as she walked past. While she was gone, Josh Kendall, Autumn’s climbing partner, walked into the gym.

“Hey, Autumn, how’s it hangin’?”

Autumn smiled at Josh’s favorite expression and gave her usual reply. “By the thumbs, Josh, how about you?” They had met during a four-man climb up in the Cascade Mountains two years ago. Josh was long and lanky, with sandy hair and a slightly freckled face. He wasn’t killer handsome, but good-looking in a sort of nerdy way.

“We still going up next weekend?” he asked.

“You bet. I’ve really been looking forward to it. I can’t wait to tackle Castle Rock.”

“Yeah, me too.”

A climbing partner had to be someone you could trust with your life because that was literally what you had to do. Autumn had admired Josh’s skill and he had respected hers so they had decided to make a climb together. Their styles turned out to be extremely compatible. They were both certified guides and in the summer they headed for the mountains whenever they weren’t giving classes or doing private coaching.

They were friends. Close friends. Climbing together had a way of doing that. Autumn felt safe with Josh—in more ways than one. She knew he had no interest in her beyond their climbing partnership. It was Terri he wanted, Terri who snagged his attention whenever she walked into a room. Considering she saw him only as a friend and it didn’t look like that was going to change anytime soon, Autumn felt sorry for him.

Josh’s gaze darted away from her to the shapely brunette sauntering toward him. Terri’s hips swayed provocatively, her gaze moving over the guys with the bulging muscles who were working out on the weight machines.

“Hi, Terri,” Josh said, his smile a little too bright.

“Hi, Josh.”

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“Fine. Great, in fact.” She turned away from him as if he weren’t there and leaned over to whisper in Autumn’s ear. “See that hunk over there working on the bicep machine?”

Autumn glanced that way. “I see him.” She had noticed him a couple of times before, but hadn’t really paid much attention.

“Well, what’s his name, honey? Is he married?”

“How would I know?”

Terri rolled her eyes. “Lord, you are impossible.”

They both stared at the hunk whose arms bulged with nicely shaped muscle as he strained on the weight machine. Josh made a noise in his throat, returning their attention to him.

“Well, I…um…guess I better get going. I’ll see you next weekend, Autumn.”

“Call me the end of the week and we’ll go over our trip plans.”

“Sounds good.”

“So, Josh…you wouldn’t happen to know that guy over there in the corner?” Terri asked.

Josh turned that way. “I don’t know him but I’ve seen his picture in the newspaper. He owns this building. That’s Ben McKenzie.”

Terri’s dark eyebrows shot up. “Is that so?”

Terri was openly salivating and Josh looked like he wanted to slash his wrists. “Like I said, I better get going.” With a last longing glance at Terri, he headed for the climbing gym.

Terri surveyed the room, the long rows of white-and-black exercise machines, rows of treadmills each with its own TV, and racks of heavy chrome barbells at the far end in front of a wall of mirrors.

“I’m ready if you are,” she said. “Why don’t we start over there?” She pointed toward the area where Ben McKenzie was now lying back on a black vinyl bench hoisting a barbell loaded with weights.

Autumn gave him a long, assessing glance. Terri was right. The man was amazing. Not only drop-dead gorgeous, but with a lean, athletic body that looked as if it were sculpted more from sports than lifting weights in a gym. He had thick dark-brown hair, nicely trimmed, a square jaw and dark brown eyes. He was wearing shorts and Reeboks. A tank top stretched over his powerful chest and she caught a glimpse of curly dark-brown chest hair.

“Nice, huh?” Terri said.

“Very nice.”

“Probably married with at least four kids.”

“At least.”

Terri sighed. “Wouldn’t it be great if he wasn’t?”

“I thought you were madly in lust with Todd.”

Terri cast her a glance. “I was thinking of you.”

Autumn laughed. “Sure you were.”

Terri just smiled. They started out in the bike room, riding only long enough to get Terri warmed up a little but not break into a sweat. From there they moved on to the Nautilus machines.

“I really was thinking of you,” Terri said as she shoved the handles in the air, working her arms and shoulders. “Now that I’ve hooked up with Todd, I’m not looking for anyone else.”

At least for now, that was probably true. Terri really was a good friend and she was always on the lookout for a man for Autumn. “Even if the hunk was single, a guy like that would have a horde of women chasing after him from dawn to dusk.”

“All too true,” Terri agreed regretfully.

They worked out for almost an hour—a record for Terri—then retired to the snack bar for thick berry smoothies. Terri planned to stay at home that night and order pizza. Todd, of course, was coming by to join her.

Autumn left the gym, went home and made herself a plate of leftovers from the chicken she had roasted for herself on Sunday. She carried her plate into the living room and curled up on the overstuffed sofa in front of the TV.

She had a class tomorrow morning so she went to bed early. She considered taking an Ambien, but didn’t like taking any sort of drug and she could hardly take sleeping pills forever.

Instead, she hoped the glass of white wine she’d had with her makeshift supper would help her fall asleep—and that tonight she wouldn’t dream.

It was raining, the air heavy with mist. Inside the house, it was warm, the kitchen steamy from the pot boiling on the stove. A group of three women moved together with practiced ease, working to prepare the evening meal. They were a family, Autumn thought somewhere in the depths of her mind. All of them were blond and fair, girls and women of various ages, the oldest, a woman in her late thirties, all of them pretty.

Autumn watched the women chop vegetables and roll out biscuit dough. They didn’t say much as they did their jobs and began to take down cups and dishes to set the kitchen table.

Autumn might have kept dreaming if the youngest of the women, a girl of eleven or twelve, hadn’t turned just then and looked straight at her. Autumn knew that face. She recognized the pretty oval shape, the soft blue eyes and long silky lashes, the pale blond hair drifting like corn silk around her narrow shoulders.

Those eyes were staring into hers and the pain in them jolted Autumn from a deep, hypnotic sleep.

Heart pounding, palms sweating, she bolted upright in bed. It was her! The girl named Molly! It was the little girl she had dreamed about before, only she was no longer a child but a girl approaching her teens. Autumn knew it deep in her bones.

Trembling, she swung her legs to the side of the bed.

It was nearly two-thirty but she was wide awake, her mouth dry and her heart beating too fast. Images of the dream rolled around in her head. Straightening her pink silk nightie, she padded into the bathroom and turned on the tap, shakily filled the glass next to the sink with water and took a long, calming drink.

Her mind spun, replaying the images she had seen. If this was the same girl—and Autumn was convinced it was—she was somewhere around eleven or twelve. How could that be?

She tried to recall the first series of dreams, when the child was much younger. Was there something in the dream that hinted at the time frame? Nothing she could recall. Still, if the child was five or six then and eleven or twelve now, the abduction—if that’s what it had been—would have had to have happened at least six years ago.

The whole thing was crazy. Certainly tonight’s dream was nothing at all like the nightmare she’d had in her teens and yet…

There was no use trying to sleep. Instead, she walked into the kitchen, poured herself a glass of milk and carried it over to the sofa. Pulling the soft wool afghan her grandmother had crocheted off the back of the couch, Autumn covered her legs, leaned back and let her mind sift through the dream.

Maybe the dream tonight was actually that. A real dream where everything’s just a fantasy.

Or maybe neither of them were real.

Autumn finished her milk and stretched out on the sofa. If she continued to dream, maybe she would see the girl as a full-grown woman, happy wherever she had finally ended up, and Autumn could stop worrying about her.

Maybe she was wrong and—unlike before—nothing bad had happened or was going to. Warm beneath the comforter, she finally fell asleep. When she did, she began to dream.

Three women worked in the kitchen, the little girl no longer a child, but taller, beginning to develop breasts, showing the first signs of becoming a woman. And when she looked at Autumn there was always so much pain in her eyes, Autumn awakened from the dream.

She lay there on the sofa, heart thumping madly, exhausted and even more worried. This was no simple dream. This was a message—just like it had been when she was fifteen.

She couldn’t ignore it the way she had before. She refused to sit around and let something terrible happen again. Dear God, if only she knew what to do.

Four

It was early morning, almost time to get up. As Autumn lay awake on the sofa staring up at the ceiling, memories of the dream played over and over in her head. If this was the same blond child, the little girl named Molly from the first dream, maybe she was among the millions of children who went missing and were never found. Maybe she was reaching out, asking Autumn for help.

But if that’s true, why now? Why didn’t the dreams begin years earlier? So far it appeared she didn’t even know the girl. It was all so utterly confusing.

Tired to the bone and still thinking of the dream, she tossed back the afghan and headed for the bathroom to shower and dress for the gym. She needed some physical exertion, something to clear her head. Hopefully, her climbing class would take her mind off the girl. After lunch she had a couple of private lessons and around five-thirty she was supposed to meet Terri for drinks at O’Shaunessy’s Bar and Grill, an upscale local hangout that was one of Terri’s favorite see-and-be scenes.

The day passed swiftly. Autumn arrived at the bar right on time but Terri, as usual, was running a little late. By the time she got there, Autumn was sipping a nice chilled glass of Kendall Jackson chardonnay and beginning to relax.

Terri was smiling as she wove her way through the crowd at the bar and sitting at tables. She walked up and hung her purse on the back of one of the stools around the tiny table and waved one of the cocktail waitresses over.

“I’m desperate for a Cosmo, Rita. After a day like today, I really deserve one.”

“Will do, hon.” Rita sashayed away, tray propped on her shoulder, wide hips swaying, and returned just a few minutes later with the drink. Terri was a regular and always got good service and Autumn enjoyed the lively little pub as well.

Terri took a sip from her frosty, long-stemmed martini glass. “So how was your day, girlfriend? Mine totally sucked.”