Autumn cocked her head to one side. “No, I don’t know his number.”
What was going on here? “Then how did you call Dillon?” She kept her head down, petting Big Louie faster.
“Autumn, sweetheart, you’ve got to know you can tell me anything. If you’ve got something to say that will help me help you, you should tell me.”
She looked up at him then, and sighed. “Uncle Tollie would help us, but he’s not here. You’re here, Ethan.”
Ethan nodded and waited.
She looked him straight in the eye and said, “I called Dillon last Thursday night, real late. I think he was asleep. I haven’t been able to speak to him since then. He hasn’t been there.”
“How did you do that?”
She closed her eyes a moment, then whispered, “Mama will be mad at me.”
He waited, impatient now, wondering what she was doing.
“I called him because I saw him on TV, standing in front of a bank. He stopped a bunch of bank robbers. He was a hero. I knew he could help us, so I waited until it was real late and then I thought hard about him, made him clear in my mind, and he was there and he could hear me and see me too, just like Daddy when he was in prison. He wasn’t scared or anything. I told him Mama and I were in big trouble. I’m going to try to call him again tonight, when it’s real late again.”
What was he to say to that? Some imagination you’ve got there, kiddo, but could you eat your cereal and throw kibble to the varmints and get back to the real world?
He said instead, “What did Dillon say to you when you told him you and your mama were in trouble?”
“Well, I had some problems because I hadn’t spoken to anyone like that since Daddy died. He knows my name but not my last name, and he doesn’t know where we are. I’ve got to call him and tell him so he can come and help you find Blessed.”
Joanna walked into the kitchen, carrying Lula in her arms. The small smile fell off her face when she looked at her daughter. She grew very still. Lula meowed, and Joanna set her on the floor. “What, Autumn? What did you say to Ethan?”
Autumn didn’t say a word. She took a big bite of her toast and kept her head down.
Ethan said, “She told me she spoke to someone called Dillon last Thursday night, like she used to speak to her daddy, and she’s going to try to call Dillon again tonight to come help us. Has she told you stories like this before, Joanna?”
Autumn whispered, “Dillon’s a hero. Remember, Mama? He shot those bank robbers in Washington. I called him, just like I called Daddy, and he talked to me.”
“Oh, Autumn, baby, you didn’t. I told you—” She broke off and gave a sideways look at Ethan. “Well, never mind, we can talk about this later, Sheriff. I’m hungry. How about I make some pancakes?”
“No,” Ethan said, walking to her. “I don’t want pancakes. I want to know what’s going on with Autumn. Did you believe her story about speaking to her father in her head when he was in prison hundreds of miles away, and speaking to this Dillon last Thursday night? Is that why you doubted her story about the cemetery, because she’s told you stories like this before?”
Joanna wrapped her arms around herself and began pacing the small kitchen.
“Joanna?”
Autumn said, “Mama, I told Ethan we were going to tell Uncle Tollie, and he’s not here. We need to tell Ethan, explain it to him.”
Ethan said, a hint of sarcasm breaking through, “I’d sure appreciate anything you deign to tell me about all this, Joanna.”
That got her. She drew up and stared him straight in the eye. “Very well, Sheriff, I will. Autumn has a special gift, one I didn’t believe at first either until I met the Backmans in Bricker’s Bowl and saw what Blessed could do. She inherited it from her father, and I think that’s why they want to get her back, because she has the same gift her father had.”
“You mean that Autumn has the ability to do the things Blessed can do?”
“No, she can’t hypnotize people. But I believe Autumn can speak telepathically to some people. Not all that many people, but naturally with her father, and it seems this Dillon as well. Autumn, you really called this man who killed the bank robbers?”
Autumn nodded and took a small bite of her toast.
Joanna said, “He was crazy, what he did. What if there had been children in that bank?”
“He’s a hero,” Autumn said again, her chin going up. “He was real nice to me, Mama. I mean, he was surprised when I called him, but he didn’t freak or anything like that. We talked. But I’ve tried to get him a bunch more times, but he wasn’t there. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but you’re so worried about me, I didn’t want to scare you more. And you told me not to talk to anyone except Uncle Tollie.”