A Touch of Murder

by Donna Raider

  Jacob and Raíña-Kaya stood in silence. The garden was suddenly cold. Jacob removed his leather jacket and draped it around the woman’s shoulders. “Wear my jacket.”

  “Mi Raíña,” half a dozen youngsters slowly approached the woman and genuflected before her. “Your meal is ready.”

  Jacob was pleased that he could understand their language. Perhaps God would let him stay for a while.

  “Will you join us for a meal, Jacob, son of Mika and Leah?” Raíña-Kaya smiled.

  “I would like that very much.” Jacob returned her smile.

  ##

  “Mi Raíña.” The beings bowed their heads as Raíña-Kaya walked to the head of a huge banquet table. A beautiful male stood behind her chair. He pulled out the chair and waited for her to be seated before easily pushing it back to the table.

  “Grax,” she said, smiling at the male, “this is Jacob, son of Mika and Leah. Jacob, son of Mika and Leah, this is Grax.”

  Jacob extended his hand to Grax, who merely nodded to him. I guess they don’t shake hands, Jacob thought.

  Grax took his seat at the right of Raíña-Kaya and gestured for Jacob to take the one on her left.

  Jacob listened in silence as the youngsters around the table reported about their day. Raíña-Kaya nodded and smiled, making loving comments and suggestions to them. She praised them and encouraged them.

  She is so like my mother, Jacob thought. The sudden realization took his breath away. She is their mother!

  Grax smiled and nodded as the children spoke about their day.

  He is their father, her mate. Jacob was almost sick at his stomach. In his twenty-six years on Earth, he had never been attracted to anyone, male or female. He was excruciatingly attracted to Raíña-Kaya.

  Jacob bowed his head and prayed to his God. Please remove this feeling from my heart, Lord. I know it is wrong.

  “Are you okay, Jacob, son of Mika and Leah?” Concern wrinkled Raíña-Kaya’s perfect brows.

  “Yes, I am fine.” Jacob smiled a weak smile. “I really must be returning to my home.”

  “No, please.” She placed her soft hand on his arm. “Stay just a while longer.”

  Jacob glanced at Grax to see his reaction to Raíña-Kaya’s invitation. The blonde god frowned but remained stoic.

  “Come.” She stood, gesturing for Jacob to follow her. “Walk with me.” She still wore Jacob’s jacket.

  Jacob followed her, knowing he should leave the planet as quickly as possible. Free will! He knew this was God’s way of answering his question. Jacob had to decide whether to stay or go. God would not make the decision for him.

  “Raíña-Kaya, I think I should leave your planet.” Jacob sighed.

  “Please, Jacob, son of Mika and Leah, call me Kaya. There is no reason for all the formality between us.” Her smile was breathtaking.

  “Only if you will call me Jacob.” He laughed.

  She tilted her head and studied him. “Do that again.”

  “What?” Jacob frowned.

  “That sound from your throat. I found it extremely pleasing.”

  Jacob smiled and found it was easy to laugh in the presence of this woman. He laughed out loud because she made him happy.

  She drew back slightly and tried to emulate his laugh. It sounded more like a strangling baby.

  “What is this sound?” she asked.

  “It is called laughter,” Jacob explained. “Humans laugh when they are happy or pleased with something.”

  “You were pleased to ask me to call you Jacob?”

  “Yes,” he said softly.

  “You are a different color from my people.” She raked her eyes from the top of his head to the loafers on his feet. “Are you a different color beneath your covering?”

  “I am darker than you, yes.” He grinned, hoping she wouldn’t ask to see him. “My mother is dark, but my other mother is blonde, like you. She looks just like you.”

  “Yes, I have observed her.” She nodded. “Your mother was with her. Like you, she is extremely wonderful to look upon. They touched each other often and pressed their mouths together. They sat under the tree while you and the others seemed to be in a trance. Were they mating?”

  Jacob threw his head back and laughed. “Knowing my parents, probably,” he snorted. He realized she wouldn’t understand teasing subtleties and quickly explained. “They weren’t mating. They were kissing.”

  “Kissing.” She slowly moved her pink tongue across her full bottom lip. “What does kissing do?”

  “It is a way to let someone know that you care for them,” Jacob struggled to explain. “People who are mates kiss a lot; at least they do in my family.”

  “You are very beautiful,” she said casually. “Your thick black hair and your piercing blue eyes. You have the same indentions in your face as I.”

  “Dimples.” He laughed, and she smiled. “We call them dimples. My eyes and dimples, plus a few other attributes, are from my other mother. Everything else is pure Queen Mommy.”

  “Queen Mommy?” She narrowed her eyes as if searching for understanding.

  “That is what we call my mother,” he said.

  “She is queen of your world?” The thought seemed to excite Kaya. “You are a prince?”

  “No.” Jacob smiled. “We just call her that because she definitely rules our family. Mika worships her. I guess we all do.”

  Raíña-Kaya nodded. She could understand how the beautiful, regal woman could rule anything she chose.

  “Actually, she was a queen in another world, in a different time.” Jacob wondered how he could explain his mother.

  “Kiss me,” Raíña-Kaya demanded.

  “What? No! I can’t.” Jacob scowled. “God wouldn’t like it. Grax wouldn’t like it.”

  “Umm.” She frowned. “Grax would not like it?”

  She pulled his jacket tighter around her shoulders and inhaled the fragrance of Jacob that floated from it. She closed her eyes and savored the scent of the man. To her surprise, her heart beat faster and a strange sensation filled her lower abdomen.

  “I must go, Kaya,” he said reluctantly.

  “You will return?” Her eyes held a pleading look.

  “I don’t think so.” He sighed deeply. He feared he was the serpent in her garden.

  “May I keep your jacket, Jacob?”

  “Yes,” he whispered softly. Then he was gone.

  ##

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Rachel easily mounted Mars and walked him from the stables. Away from the ranch, she nudged her black steed into a gallop. She loved the feeling of speed and wind in her hair. She was surprised at how much she trusted the horse—how comfortable she was with him.

  She wanted to visit the pool they had discovered on the ranch. She wondered if Adam and Amber were at their dig, sifting bones from the dirt. She might visit their dig site.

  A rustling from the bushes startled her as Lucas’s dog ran out. The man soon followed. He looked as if he had been dragged through the bushes for days then trampled by a herd of cows. His clothes were wrinkled and torn by the underbrush. His face was cut and bleeding. He hadn’t shaved. His green eyes were dull and bloodshot. She wondered if something was wrong with him.

  “Lucas are you okay?” she asked.

  “Rachel.” He looked around as if shocked that he was on her property. “I-I was searching for a calf.”

  As if on cue, his dog herded a small calf from the bushes. A cow followed close behind.

  “Well,” Rachel huffed, “here it is.” She cued Mars to move ahead.

  “Rachel, wait.” Lucas pulled his horse beside her. “We need to talk.”

  She eyed him for several seconds. He smelled like a brewery. “When you clean yourself up and are presentable, you may call on me at my home.”

  Lucas looked down at his rumpled clothing and ran his hand over his unshaven face. He was certain he looked dreadful. He had never wanted anyone to see him like this. He had never done t
his before, but then he had never been in love before.

  He nodded. “May I call on you at six tonight? Maybe take you to dinner?”

  “We will see.” She frowned.

  “I saw your documentary.” He glared at her then rode away.

  ##

  Rachel continued her ride. She dismounted and led Mars to the pool to drink. To her surprise, her brother was sitting on the flat limestone rock they all liked. He was leaning against the ancient boulder. His eyes were closed. Tears were seeping from between his dark lashes.

  “Jacob,” she whispered, not wanting to intrude on his private thoughts.

  “Rachel.” He grinned broadly at the sight of her. “God, am I glad to see you.”

  “Mom and Mika were looking for you this morning,” she informed him. “Where have you been for the past two days?

  “Have you and Lexi…?”

  “I wish,” Jacob snorted. “I wish I cared for Lexi. Everything would be so simple.”

  “Bro, tell me what is going on.” She lifted herself onto the rock and settled beside him.

  “Why did you change your mind about exploring Regina Madre?” he asked.

  “God told me not to.” She shrugged. “He told Mom and Mika. He said he didn’t want mankind corrupting the beings that lived on the planet.”

  “You knew the planet was inhabited,” he groaned.

  “Yes.” She nodded. “I never saw them, but our parents did. You know Mika has a direct line to God?”

  “Why didn’t you share this with the rest of us?” Jacob’s look of desolation made her heart hurt.

  “I thought the less said, the better,” she said truthfully. “Why? What has happened?”

  “I loved the planet,” Jacob explained. “I was fascinated with its beauty, its perfection. I have visited it several times and found it to be peaceful. It is what I imagine heaven must be like.

  “Thursday morning, I was sitting here—I don’t know, comparing Regina Madre with this place. This is special, too: natural springs, beautiful trees, and all kinds of wildlife. Then I thought about Regina Madre and how pristine it is, how pure and untouched.

  “I transported myself there. No one told me we shouldn’t. I heard singing and followed the sound. Rachel, I met the most wonderful race of people. They all look just like Mika. Tall, slender, blonde, glacial blue eyes, dimples. They are beautiful.”

  “Did you touch them?” Rachael asked.

  “No. No, I didn’t touch any of them, but I wanted to,” he groaned. “I wanted to so badly.”

  “You found one you like,” she said flatly.

  “Yes, Raíña-Kaya.” Jacob breathed her name as if he didn’t feel worthy to let it pass through his lips. “She is wonderful, so innocent and trusting.”

  He laughed. “When I introduced myself, I said I was Jacob, son of Mika and Leah. She thought that was my name. Every time she spoke to me or of me, she always said Jacob, son of Mika and Leah. She had never heard laughter and asked me what it was when I laughed.

  “She took me to meet God.” Jacob inhaled deeply. “He was kind and gentle, but I wouldn’t want to disappoint Him. I have a feeling his wrath would put Queen Mommy to shame. Raíña-Kaya asked him if I could stay on the planet. He said that was for me to decide.

  “He said the people of Regina Madre had always obeyed. The serpent hadn’t been able to get them to disobey him.

  “Raíña-Kaya said she had never seen the serpent.”

  “Why the long face?” His sister smiled. “Didn’t you want to stay?”

  “I did, so much,” he moaned. “I wanted to stay with her forever.

  “She is mated to another and they have many children. They reminded me of Mom and Mika. Rachel, I fear I may be the serpent!”

  Jacob fought the bile that rose in his throat as he said the words he loathed. She is mated to another.

  “I know I must never go back there,” Jacob almost cried.

  “You should talk to Mika,” Rachel instructed him. “Mika will know what to do.”

  “I am a grown man, Rachel. I know what I must do.” In his heart, he prayed he was strong enough to stay away from Raíña-Kaya.

  Rachel clasped her brother’s hands in hers. “Oh, Jacob, we need guidance from our parents. I, too, am in a quandary over love.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I fear I am falling in love with Lucas Omen.” She gripped her brother’s hand tighter. “I was going to tell him about myself, what I do. I want to tell him about us and our purpose on Earth, but I am afraid he hates me.”

  “How could anyone hate you, Rachel?” Jacob smiled. “You’re wonderful.”

  “I just encountered him,” Rachel explained. “He told me he had seen my documentary. Jacob, he looked at me as if he hated me.”

  “He probably felt hurt that you haven’t confided in him.” Jacob thought for a few minutes. “It is hard to know what to do. Sara struggled with the same thing. It is difficult with mortals. She knew Jennifer for a long time before she confided in her about what we are. Giving information about us to the wrong person could result in our destruction.”

  “I know.” Rachel sighed.

  “Perhaps you should go talk with him. See if he is angry with you or just hurt.”

  “Hopefully he will call on me tonight.” Rachel bowed her head and said a silent prayer that she would see Lucas tonight.

  ##

  “That was interesting.” Amber laced her fingers through her husband’s as they walked toward their Jeep.

  “It is always fun to find something that is over a hundred and twelve million years old.” Adam grinned. He opened the Jeep door for his wife and kissed her briefly before she entered the vehicle.

  “There is quite a storm brewing between creationist and evolutionist,” Amber noted. “Some are claiming those last prints we saw are human and were made at the same time the dinosaur prints were made. Those aren’t human prints in the Paluxy Riverbed.”

  “Look at you, my angel,” he said with a laugh, “siding with the evolutionists.”

  “Oh, no.” She placed her hand on the inside of his thigh. “I know for a fact that God created everything. Mika and I were there. It was fascinating.

  “The thing mankind doesn’t seem to understand is time. Time is a purely human concept—a beginning and an end: alpha and omega.

  “God, Mika and I, others like us; we never had a beginning or an end. We simply existed. We have always existed. Billions of years from now, we will still exist, as will you, my love.”

  He placed his hand over hers and pressed it tighter into his leg. She seldom spoke of her existence before coming to Earth. She had never explained to him why she chose to come to Earth. He knew it was her choice. She was certainly no fallen angel. Even if she were, he would still adore her.

  “Maybe Peter said it best when he told his followers that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.” She smiled. “Even that is not accurate. God, heaven, it is all timeless. Earth, mankind—as important as man thinks he is—he is just a blip on God’s eternity radar.”

  Jacob swung the Jeep onto the highway that would take them from Glen Rose, back to Godly. “You know we have the same limestone formations surrounding our river. I believe we can unearth similar findings.”

  “Are you abandoning your pursuit of archeological evidence of Jesus?” Amber watched her husband closely as she asked the question.

  Several emotions crossed his handsome face before he answered. “No,” he said. “I don’t want to be parted from you and I worry for your safety in Africa.

  “It has always been difficult for me to leave you and return to a dig. Since we have married and I have grown accustomed to...ah...falling asleep in your arms every night, I find it impossible to leave you. I don’t know the words to express the depth of my feelings for you.”

  She slowly moved her hand along the inside of his thigh. “That is as it should be, my darling.”

 
##

  Lexi Cole moved her table light to illuminate the plans on her drawing desk. The construction on the hospital and research facility was moving much quicker than she had anticipated. Tomorrow, they would begin moving dirt in preparation for the foundation of the church.

  She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, stretching her neck muscles. The image of Mika Cross flashed through her mind. The Cross family had been wonderful to her. They had allowed her to benefit from all the publicity generated by their project. She had enough work waiting for her to carry her through the next ten years. Their construction ideas were phenomenal. She knew this project would be the crown jewel of her careers, both as an architect and a builder. She knew she shouldn’t be having sexual thoughts about Mika, but damn, she was so beautiful.

  A light knock on her office door pulled her from her thoughts. “Come in,” she called.

  The woman who had been haunting her dreams for the past few months walked into her office. “I thought I would just chat with you briefly.” She smiled.

  “Mika, it is so good to see you. How is Leah doing?”

  “She is very well.” Mika nodded. “Thank you for asking. The babies are keeping her busy.

  “I wanted to check to make certain everything is going as you hoped. Will we be able to break ground next week?”

  She nodded, surveying her. Something was very different. It hit her like a ton of bricks. “You’re wearing a priest’s collar.” She frowned.

  “Yes.” Mika grinned broadly. “My chosen profession.”

  “I didn’t know you were a priest.”

  “I have been on sabbatical,” she said. “With our move to Texas, the construction and our new babies, I took some time off.

  “I haven’t received a new church assignment, but I’m hopping God wants me to serve the church here.”

  Lexi held the priest’s gaze for a few moments. “The rock-cutting crew is already at work in the quarry on your ranch. They have cut some amazing pieces. I think it is ingenious of you to build the church with the limestone from your ranch.”

  “That was my wife’s idea. She wanted the church to be constructed as closely as possible to some of the historic churches in Italy. She also wants to make certain it will withstand the test of time.”