Storm Dreamer

Chapter 1

1

TWENTY-TWO YEARS LATERSlipping on the wet patio tiles, she tried to balance to keep from falling. The wind blew her long wet hair across her face, blinding her further in her quest to slip into the darkness of the grasslands. Even the cracks of lightning bolts, followed by thunderous booms, couldn’t cover his yells and curses as he chased her through the night. She pushed her hair back and pulled hair from her mouth. Each time a lightning bolt exploded, the night sky lit up, allowing her to adjust her direction—it also allowed her pursuer to see her and continue his pursuit.

“Stop. Dammit. We shouldn’t be out here. It’s too dangerous,” he yelled through the rumbling.

But she wouldn’t stop. She’d reached a flat plateau. Her lungs hurt and her chest heaved. She sucked in the cold air and found the strength to keep running. Fear was her adrenalin. The torrential rain had soaked her to the skin and her body shivered. The lightning strikes were getting closer.

In a matter of seconds, her hair stood on end and a tingling sensation spread across her skin. She crouched low to the ground with her feet together and balanced on the balls of her feet. The bolt hit the ground a few feet away and a reciprocating bolt left the ground and surged into the sky. That was way too close.

Frozen in her crouching position, she took a moment to catch her breath—too long a moment. As she stood, a hand from behind grasped her by the hair and pulled her backwards. Her feet flew out from under her and she hit the ground hard on her back, knocking out what little wind she had left. A series of lightning bolts exploded around them and she stared up at his jean-clad legs and saw his new black and white Nike Air Max runners as he straddled her.

The noise grew louder and more intense. The buzzing sound filled her head and her eyes flew open. “Uh …” Madie Hayes gasped. She groaned and reached out, fumbling around the nightstand until she found the button on the alarm clock and turned it off. She closed her eyes and relived the horrific dream she’d just experienced.

There she was again. Different scenarios but always the same woman and always the fear.

Madie sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her body shuddered. Her mother told her she’d had night terrors as a baby, lasting until she started school. She didn’t remember any of them and had forgotten about them years ago. Now they were back. The dreams had been haunting her for a few months. But this one was particularly violent. Why are they back? Why now? And who was this woman?

The pinging of rain on the tin roof reminded her of the thunderstorm that had occurred in full force throughout the night. All she knew was the nightmares only occurred on stormy nights. Why? Another unanswered question.

Madie stood and headed to the shower. The hot steam settled her frayed nerves and her body relaxed.

Thirty minutes later she rinsed her coffee cup, grabbed her car keys and the lunch she’d made the night before, and headed to her car. It was a short drive to work at the Stoney Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. She worked closely as an Administrative Assistant with Chelsea Grey, one of the owners. Chelsea had survived a twenty-year a*******n by a neighbouring farmer; freed by her daughter that she never got to raise and a mother who’d considered the farmer, and his deceased wife, a friend. Madie was impressed with the strength and compassion her boss brought to the Centre and looked upon her as a mentor.

The Centre had only been in operation for ten months and they were coming into the late spring and it was already busy. She’d started working for them a couple of months before they opened their doors, readying education and internship programs and working with Chelsea to set up Administration. They’d had a successful first year and Madie looked forward to the summer season. Her twenty-third birthday was coming up and she felt content that at such a young age she’d found her dream job.

She parked her car in the employee parking area, taking note of the extra cars not normally there. As she entered the administration building, her eyebrows shot up. The reception was full of people, sitting and standing.

A male voice beside her said, “Uh-oh, here comes another one.”

She turned to see a young man in his mid-twenties staring at her. She could have lost herself in his deep blue eyes and boyish grin but, instead, she stared him down. “Are you referring to me?” she asked.

“Welcome to the jungle,” he said with a laugh.

“And you are?”

“Cody … Cody Diaz.” He put out his hand.

Madie shook it. “Madie Hayes.”

“I should wish you good luck but hopefully it’s all mine.”

She stared into his eyes, sparkling with humour. She had no idea what he was talking about but decided to go along with it. “Well, Cody Diaz, my being here in the jungle has nothing to do with luck. So, it’s all yours.” She pushed her way through the crowd of people and entered her office at the far end of the reception.

Instantly there was a knock on the door and Chelsea entered, carrying a pile of folders. “Good morning, Madie. Quite the zoo out there.”

“Hi. Have a seat and tell me what’s going on.”

“It seems we’ve lost Peter. He called Wenner on Saturday and told him he’d decided to take a year off to travel the world with a couple of friends.”

Madie’s eyebrows shot up. “Just like that? No notice?”

“Nope. Another friend had dropped out and they needed someone to take his place this week. Wenner posted it online right away and told people to apply in person Monday morning as the position was available immediately.” Chelsea nodded over her shoulder. “We never expected this kind of response.”

“Impressive. Where’s Wenner?”

“Stitching up a deer caught in a wire fence. Came in thirty minutes ago. So-oo … he’s left this up to you and me. I thought we could go through the resumes together and shortlist the top five and send the others on their way.”

“Sure. We can do that.”

“It’s not the usual way to do this, but since they’re all here, we might as well w**d them out now. I’m going to move them into the conference room and tell them I’ll be back shortly with a short list.”

Chelsea handed half the folders to Madie. “Here … you know what’s required for Peter’s job. Choose the top five and I’ll do the same with my pile when I return. We’ll cut them down further together.”

It didn’t take them long to go through the resumes. Peter’s basic job consisted of helping Wenner with surgeries, training and managing the volunteers, cleaning the cages, feeding the animals, general maintenance around the animal compound, and everything else in-between that happened to pop up.

Madie pushed the files aside. “I only found three I think are eligible.”

“Me too. We’ll interview all six.” Chelsea stood. “I’ll go thank them for coming and let the deleted ones go. Are you up to sitting in on the interviews with me?”

“Absolutely.”

Chelsea smiled. “Not exactly how we expected our morning to go is it?”

Madie laughed. “Nothing here at the Centre follows routine for long.”

Chelsea wrote the names of the six interviewees on a piece of paper. “You’ve got that right. Here take the six files and I’ll meet you in my office.”

Madie crossed the hall and waited for Chelsea to join her. One by one her boss brought the candidates in for an interview. There were two women and four men. They got to the last one and Madie was surprised to see Cody Diaz enter with Chelsea. She’d forgotten about him, realizing that Chelsea must have shortlisted him. As soon as he saw her, his face turned red.

Before Chelsea could introduce them, Madie stood and shook his hand for a second time. “Cody, we meet again. I see that luck is working for you so far. Have a seat.”

He looked sheepish and gave her a crooked grin as he sat.

“You two know each other?” Chelsea asked her.

“Not really. We met in reception earlier.”

Chelsea nodded. “Well then, let’s get started. I’m impressed with your resume, Cody. Tell us about your work in Africa.”

“After I graduated from university, I worked my way around Europe and ended up at a wildlife reserve in Africa. It was a working holiday in Botswana. We repaired fences, built new compounds, and fed the wildlife. It was there that I knew when I returned home, my work had to include working with animals. I became a Conservation Officer, but it wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it would be. Instead of conserving animal life, we spent most of our time putting animals down that interfaced with people. After three years, I had to leave. I’ve been working part-time at the Kelowna Wildlife Centre for the past six months but I’m looking for full-time work. I’ve been following your Centre since you opened your doors and when I saw Peter’s position was open, I jumped at the opportunity.”

While Cody and Chelsea chatted, Madie read his resume. Impressive. She studied his face. His look was unique with his black hair, deep blue eyes, and straight nose. Not too hard to look at, that’s for sure.

“I assume you’re willing to relocate to the area then,” Chelsea said.

“Absolutely.”

They spent some time talking about the position, wages, and benefits.

“Peter’s job has evolved in the year since we opened our doors here. We have a lot of plans for the future and I expect as we grow, the position will take on more responsibility. We’re looking for someone who intends to stay and grow with the job.”

Cody nodded. “Just what I’m looking for. I did my carefree hitchhiking around the world after I graduated. I’m looking for stability and work in a field I love.”

“Okay. If we did offer you the job, when could you start full-time?”

“I’d like to say right away but I do owe Kelowna some notice. I could start part-time tomorrow while I finish my part-time shifts there for the next two weeks.”

Chelsea stood. “We could probably work around that and I respect your work ethic towards your employer. The others we interviewed were told we’d contact them later today with our decision. But why don’t you wait in the reception area for a few minutes while Madie and I chat? I need to get this decision behind me.”

“Of course.”

Chelsea walked to the door and as Cody stood, Madie stared into his eyes. “Your lucks still holding, Cody.”

He grinned and held up his hands with crossed fingers.

After Chelsea closed the door, she sat down and swung her chair towards Madie. “I like him. What do you think?”

“He’s certainly qualified but a bit … cocky.”

Chelsea’s brow furrowed. “Oh? I saw confidence and enthusiasm. He’s the most qualified. But … we’re a small outfit and I want you to be comfortable with whoever we bring in.”

Madie paused at that. “Well, maybe I was misreading him. I came to work in a mood this morning, certainly not expecting to see all these people. He didn’t know I worked here, and I wasn’t up to his teasing humour.”

Chelsea studied her face. “Are you alright?”

“Yes. Fine. As for Cody, I think Wenner will like him.”

“Mmm … me too. Why don’t you take him on a tour and introduce him to Wenner? Take his resume.”

“Okay. It’ll give me another chance to reassess my initial reaction.”

“Good girl. If Wenner likes him, I’m sold. Bring him back and process him, then turn him over to Wenner. And if you would, please call the other candidates with the bad news.”

“Sure thing.” Madie smiled as she headed to the door. Chelsea’s mind was already made up.

She found Cody sitting in reception. One leg was wiggling nervously and when he looked up at her, for the first time, she saw insecurity in his eyes. “Come on, lion tamer. We’re going on a tour of the place and to meet Wenner.”

As Madie showed him around the Centre, Cody never said a word. Then, he blurted out, “Sorry about earlier in reception. I didn’t know you worked here. I tried to use humour to cover my nervousness. I want this.”

Okay, so maybe I overacted. “Hey, working here, a sense of humour is a definite must. You’ve already got Chelsea in your corner. If you win over Wenner, the job’s yours.” She felt Cody staring at her.

“And what about you? Are you in my corner?”

“Maybe, but I’m not the one hiring you.”

“But you appear to be an important person around here, so your opinion counts.”

Madie smiled. He wasn’t only cocky, but a flatterer as well.

“Phew … finally, I made you smile. And it’s a beautiful one too.”

Madie laughed. “Save your flattery for Wenner.”

Twenty minutes later, she and Wenner stood back and watched Cody bottle-feed a fox cub. He knew what he was doing and made it look easy. Madie caught Wenner’s eye. “Whatcha think?” she whispered.

Wenner nodded yes and gave thumbs up.

Wenner Gibb was Chelsea’s partner. He ran a small animal rehab Centre in Emerald Lake, where Chelsea had gone to heal and find herself. He’d offered her a job and the two worked well together, forming a close friendship. Wenner was a widower who’d thought he’d lost his husband in a car accident. But together, he and Chelsea discovered that his husband had stumbled upon a money-laundering scheme through his accounting firm, and it had cost him his life. The bond between Chelsea and Wenner became one of mutual healing and they’d moved to the Grey family acreage, split between Chelsea and her daughter Sydney. The Stoney Creek Rehab Centre was formed with Chelsea and Wenner as equal partners. To Madie, it was business first, yes, but the compassion and empathy the owners brought into the Centre, not only to the animals in their care but to their employees, bonded them all as a family.

Cody finished the feed and took the baby fox back to its cage.

Wenner watched him wash his hands. “I like him. He knows what he’s doing, and I’ve heard good things about him through rehab circles.”

When the young man rejoined them, Wenner put out his hand. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re hired. Welcome aboard, Cody!”