Girl With a Past by Sherri Leigh James Page A

the
strain on his face belied his attempt at casual. “Not answering her
cell.” Maybe he wasn’t as coldhearted as Steven thought.
    “I’ve been trying to reach her all
afternoon.” Steven said. “What’s going on? What’s this about,
Dad?”
    Jeff shook his head, but he looked relieved
when Carol and Dave burst into the room distracting his son from
further questioning. The four exchanged silent, gentle hugs.
    Carol tiptoed to the bed and whispered, “Is
she going to be okay?”
    Dave put his arm around Carol and whispered
in her ear. She turned to Jeff and Steven with tears running down
her botoxed face. She slid her hand down Steven’s face and then
embraced Jeff. “Have you found Lauren yet?”
    “No,” Jeff said.
    The four stood together eyes on Al’s pale
face, listening to the hum of the machines.
    “When was the last time you guys ate?” Carol
broke the silence.
    “This morning,” Jeff answered even though
he’d only grabbed coffee on the run to court.
    Carol glanced out the window at the
darkening sky. “Let’s get some food.”
    “She’s been moaning, trying to tell us
something.” Steven returned to the chair next to the bed. “I’ll
stay here.”
    Steven’s father, his Uncle Dave and his Aunt
Carol tried to persuade Steven to go with them but he held his
ground.
    Dave and Carol were not a couple. In fact
they’d probably run into each other in the lobby, but they were
both, each in their own way, extraordinarily successful.
    Dave had turned what had started as a
waterbed company into several furniture manufacturing and
distributing businesses spending weeks at a time flying on his
plane throughout south East Asia checking on his companies. He was
today, as always, dressed in a dark, impeccably tailored, suit, his
grooming perfect in every detail from the trim of his light brown
hair to his buffed fingernails.
    Aunt Carol had never given up her hippie
ways. Instead she had built a career on designing bohemian chic
clothing and home accessories. She had changed out of her bloodied
clothes into a rose velvet vest over a full paisley skirt, a silk
shirt and ankle boots, with her signature scarf tied around her
black hair. Indian style.
    “We’ll bring you a sandwich,” offered
Carol.
    “Fine.” Steven wasn’t feeling hungry even
though he’d been about to eat lunch when his father called and told
him to leave immediately to pick up Al on the edge of campus.
    Oh man, did that scene blow. He couldn’t
close his eyes without seeing blood erupt from the side of his
sister’s head. She was running towards him, totally freaked even
before the shots, on a mission. If only he had some idea of what
she was on to. For sure, it had something to do with Mom.
     

 
     

CHAPTER
    14
    Big Sur, July 1968
     
     
     
    Familiar voices brought me back from
dreaming of Big Sur. I wanted to tell them I was okay, but even the
thought of trying to speak made my head hurt unbearably. Slipping
back into the world of dreams, even a nightmare, was easier.
    The heat of the glaring sun intensified
against the granite and dirt, where I was sheltered from the ocean
breeze by the cliff and the rocky over hang. My heart pounded
nearly out of my chest when I awoke to find my legs draped over the
side of the ledge, my ears filled with the sound of the waves
crashing below. I scrambled to my knees, fought hyperventilating.
“Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.” I mentally
chanted until I stopped freaking out.
    I licked lips gritty with dust, wiped sweat
from my brow, rolled my sleeves down over arms that were already
stinging with sunburn. If only I’d asked Jeff for some of the water
he carried in his backpack. Thinking of Jeff, usually my best
friend, I cursed him for leading me down what he called a shortcut
from the easier trail climb. With great care, I braved turning my
head to look up the mountain face. I had no idea how to climb up
from where I was. Faint, familiar voices from the