Chapter 39: Ep 10 - Part One: Drilled Away

“We don’t have long to find him,” Smitty said, looking up at Nash.

Nash shook his head. He knew how long they had. If they don’t find Berry Stone within the next forty-eight hours, he will more than likely be dead by the time they find him. They were lucky when Daemen disappeared because Wallawits needed him alive to find out who Daemen had talked to.

“Where do we start?” Smitty asked when Nash didn’t say anything.

Nash looked at Airianna and her father. They were standing outside the captain’s office, talking to him about the disappearance of Mr. Williams’s best friend.

“We start with whatever information Mr. Williams can give us.”

“How is Airianna doing?” Smitty asked, concern for the seer evident in his voice.

Nash looked at his partner. The man cared for Airianna as he would a little sister. Which was a good thing. It meant Smitty would protect her as if she were family. Which she was.

“She’s upset. The man has been like an uncle to her since she was born.”

Smitty nodded.

“Nash?”

Nash turned to the sweet voice of his seer and smiled. “Yes, sweet seer?”

Her smile had his heart skipping a beat and his insides fluttering. He can’t get enough of this woman and her smiles. And her kisses, of course.

“Papa and I are going home now. If you find anything, please let me know.”

Nash nodded and leaned forward to kiss her. She closed her eyes and sighed against his lips.

“I promise,” he whispered, hoping fate let her hear him.

“Thank you,” she whispered back. She turned and walked back to her father.

Nash looked up. Mr. Williams looked at him, nodded, then placed his hand on his daughter’s back and led her from the station.

“I think the old man is finally accepting you.” Smitty snickered.

Nash sighed. “I hope so. I don’t like how sad it made Airianna that her father was fighting her relationship with me. Though, I don’t blame the man after what happened….”

“Shut up, asshole, and come help me find her uncle.”

~🔮~

Airianna felt the tears slide down her cheek as she looked at her newest painting.

“Daddy!” she practically screamed.

The door burst open, and her father entered, hollering at her. She couldn’t hear him and didn’t turn to read his lips. When he sees her painting, he will know.

“Oh, dear lord.” Jeremy Williams cursed under his breath as he stared at his daughter’s painting.

His prayers have been answered—or they’re too late. He has been praying that his daughter got a dream of his best friend—but not like this.

In her painting, his best friend was in a box just big enough to hold him. His eyes were open, and his fists were above his head as if he were pounding above him. His eyes were full of fear, and Jeremy knew the man was out there somewhere—buried alive.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Airianna whimpered.

Jeremy took his daughter into his arms and held her as she cried. Neither of them had wanted this to be how they found Berry. Hopefully, the detectives will find him before his air runs out—or Airianna’s dream is ahead of time.

~🔮~

“It’s been five hours, and still nothing,” Smitty grumbled as he went through Berry Stone’s home office. The man’s wife was in hysterics and had no idea what could have happened to her husband.

Nash’s phone rang, and he dropped the notebook he’d been going through. He picked it up, knowing who it was by the ringtone.

Nash pressed the speaker button and answered. “Hello, sweet seer. Is everything okay?”

“This is Jeremy Williams.”

Shit, he hadn’t expected that. “Mr. Williams. Is Airianna okay?”

“Not really. We need you and your partner to come over. She had a dream.”

“Fuck,” Smitty cursed as he set the binder he’d been looking through on the desk.

“Is she okay?” Nash asked again as he headed out Berry Stone’s office door.

“She could use your help. Physically and emotionally.”

Nash cursed. He knew the man meant physically as in solving the case, but it still stirred his mind—and body.

“We’ll be there in thirty,” Nash said, then hung up.

“I wonder what she saw,” Smitty said as they climbed into the cruiser.

“Well, it wasn’t her uncle somewhere safe and happy,” Nash said as he pulled away from the Stone’s house.

~🔮~

Nash walked into Airianna’s art room and paused when he saw her standing at her newest painting, looking at it as if she could make it change if she stared at it long enough. He moved closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, letting her know he was there. She didn’t jump or turn to look at him.

“Please tell me this isn’t real,” she whispered, touching the painting with her right index finger.

“I wish I could,” Nash whispered, knowing she couldn’t hear him.

Nash pulled Airianna into his arms and held her. He studied the painting and frowned. Berry Stone was in a lot of trouble if he wasn’t already dead.

~🔮~

“Keep that drill still!” the foreman shouted when the drill made a grinding sound, and the operator almost fell out of his seat.

It’s hard to find good operators during this time of year. Everyone is always doing summer gigs. He didn’t need his only drill operator falling off and breaking a leg, or worse, killing himself.

The drill made another horrible noise, and what sounded like a man screaming came from the hole. The foreman slashed his hand through the air—telling the operator to shut it down.

The operator shut down the drill and let it lift from the hole in the ground. Everyone stopped and stared when the drill came up bloody—meat and skin hanging from the large drill.

“What the fuck?!” one of the other workers bellowed.

“Oh, my God.” The drill operator leaned over the open area from his seat and barfed on the ground. “Did I do that?” he asked, wiping his mouth as he looked at his boss.

The foreman moved closer to the hole and found a box buried deep in the dirt.

“Someone call the cops!” he called out to the crew. “Someone was buried here—alive.”

~🔮~

“I don’t know where he could be buried,” Airianna said, for what felt like the thousandth time since Nash brought her to the station to talk to the captain. “I only draw what comes to me. They don’t tell me every detail.”

“Did you find any clues to indicate where he may be?” Dish asked, watching her.

Airianna shook her head. “No, sir. I couldn’t see anything but my uncle dying because he’s running out of air.”

Dish frowned and looked at Nash.

Nash nodded. “That’s all it shows. This one doesn’t have any kind of clue.”

“Captain!” an officer hollered as he ran into the office. The man held onto the doorknob painting.

“What is it?” Dish asked, looking at the intruder.

“A call just came in. A man was buried alive, and a digging crew just found him.”

“How?” Dish asked, moving around his desk to get closer to the officer.

“They drilled into the man.”

“Fuck,” Smitty cursed, moving closer to the captain.

“Let’s go.” Dish didn’t look at them as he headed out the door.

“What’s happening?” Airianna asked as she followed them out of the office.

Nash stopped and turned to her. “You need to stay here.”

Airianna stopped and gave him a dirty look. “Whatever is going on, I’m going with.”

Nash shook his head. “Nope. You’re staying behind this time. You don’t need to see….”

“You can’t keep me from following you now, Detective Jackman. I have my own ID.” She held up her ID and grinned.

Nash closed his eyes and cursed; he’d forgotten the captain had given her that. He opened her eyes and saw the triumph in hers. He grunted and pulled her with him as he turned and caught up with his captain and partner.

“If you throw up in my car, I’m going to tan your hide.”

Airianna giggled because she heard every word, even though Nash wasn’t facing her.

“Maybe I’ll do it just….” she stopped talking when he turned to her and leaned his head close enough—she could count his eyelashes.

“Don’t tempt me, Airianna. Because I have wanted to do more than kiss you for a long time. So, let’s not get me spanking your pretty little ass just yet.”

Airianna blinked. Not only did she hear his words—she felt his fire.

“What if I want you to spank my pretty little ass?” she asked, daring him.

Nash snarled and captured her mouth with his. Airianna moaned against his lips.

“Nash, let’s go, now!” the captain shouted.

Nash lifted his head and smirked down at her. “To be continued.” He grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the station, straight to their cruiser.

Airianna had a hard time catching her breath. She actually couldn’t wait until later. She shook her head to clear it. But first, she needed to find her uncle.

~🔮~

“So, what happened here?” Captain Michael Dish asked as he and his detectives entered the scene. Their little consultant stayed close to Jackman’s side.

“We didn’t know he was buried here,” the foreman said, pointing into the hole they’d been digging.

Nash looked over the edge and turned to keep Airianna from looking. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

“Let’s get the man out of the hole.” Captain Dish motioned for his crew to start digging the man out.

“What do you want us to do?” Smitty asked, looking from the hole in the ground to their captain.

Nash looked at Dish. He wanted to know what was next. If this isn’t Airianna’s uncle, could he be buried around here, too? The box—from what he could see of it—was similar to the one in Airianna’s painting.

“Look for any kind of clue that other bodies were buried here. The killers probably didn’t expect the drilling crew to be in this area.”

“Actually, originally, we were supposed to drill on the other side. But there are wires in the ground; we couldn’t put water pipes with electric wires.” The foreman pointed across the property to another hole, presently being filled in.

“That settles it.” Captain Dish looked at the detectives. “Check out the area. Use dogs if you have to.” He turned and headed for his car.

Nash looked at Smitty, then at Airianna. She was looking at him, confused. She hadn’t caught everything being said. Nash explained everything to her, and she nodded. Her uncle could be buried somewhere around here. He prayed it wasn’t the man the drill had shredded.

“Where do we start?” Airianna asked.

Nash looked up at the foreman. He was watching their crew pull the body from the box, then back down at Airianna.

“First, you identify the body, then we look for others.”

Nash watched Airianna take a deep breath, let it out, and then nod. They turned just as the crew pulled the body onto the solid ground.

Airianna walked over to the body, forcing herself to look at the face, not the blood and gore. The man was young and had a terrified look—as if his face froze in place when the drill turned out his lights. She sighed and leaned into Nash. She turned her head into her muse’s chest.

“It’s not him. It’s not Uncle Berry.”

Nash held onto Airianna and nodded to the officers gathered around them. He hadn’t thought it was Berry Stone. The man was too young.

“Let’s see if we can find your uncle,” Nash said, lifting her chin so she could read his lips.

She nodded, and they headed away from the gore of the poor man who’d been buried alive, then drilled.

He prayed they found Berry before the same thing or worse happened to him.