Dreamscape

Chapter 3

Bugs. She could feel them crawling all over her body. She tried focusing on her surroundings, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. Her bare legs were tied together and covered in dirt.

"Hello?" she called out. "Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me? Help! Please help me!"

A low gravelly voice she faintly recognized answered back, "No one can hear you out here. No one will find you here either."

She looked to her right to see a door with a slight opening covered in bars. Was this some kind of prison?

"Why are you doing this?"

"I told you why," the scratchy voice answered. "I've left some food for you. Eat up. That baby must be healthy."

"Please let me go. Please...please."

The opening quickly shut, leaving her in darkness. A light flickered on above her revealing a small room with a dirt floor and no windows. Her hands covered her large belly, rubbing slowly over the pink fabric of the uniform she wore at King's Diner. As tears rolled down her cheeks, she began singing an old lullaby, "Hush, little baby-"

Dani awoke with tears streaming down her cheeks, "What the hell was that about?"

She rubbed her temples as she tried to make sense of her dream. It didn't take much work to figure out who it belonged to. The person who was dreaming about being abducted was a pregnant waitress at King's Diner.

"Tammy, Tammy, Tammy," Dani clucked. "What are you doing with your life to be having such horrible dreams?"

Dani liked Tammy. She was working while she went to school since her parents had disowned her for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Dani hadn't believed her at first. It wasn't until her parents had come into the diner to have her sign some paperwork that she realized how alone Tammy Owens really was. Tammy's parents hadn't said much to her and left as soon as they came. Not one question had been asked about her or the baby's health. That's when Dolores had confided to Dani that Tammy had been disowned. Dani couldn't fathom parents cutting a child out of their lives.

On top of everything else, Tammy's unborn child's father had been a murderer. He was also the brother of the Maestro. Dani wondered how Tammy felt about that. She never had the courage to ask the pregnant waitress.

After showering and changing, Dani sent a text message to Dolores letting her know she was on her way. A few moments later, her phone dinged back a response.

"Get here as soon as you can. Tammy didn't show today."

Dani's mouth formed a small O. Tammy didn't show up to work? She thought of her dream and shuddered. Weeks ago, her friend Billy had gone missing. His death still bothered her. She had prayed her dream was wrong and just a strange manifestation from Tammy's daily encounters. Before she headed towards the diner, she grabbed her sketchbook and drew out as much of the dream as she could remember. If Tammy's dream wasn't random, she'd help her in any way she could.

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Later that day, Detectives Jax Michaels and Roberto Montoya found themselves at the home of Ryan Sommerby, the widower of Callie Sommerby.

"Your wife was about five months pregnant before she died," Jax noted.

Ryan rubbed his bloodshot eyes, "That's right. We had tried everything to get pregnant but nothing worked. Finally we both got tested and apparently I have slow swimmers and she has...had-" he cut himself off as he began sobbing into a twisted handkerchief he held.