Mike shrugged off his backpack quickly and reached inside, pulling out his long coil of rope. Rod grabbed the end of the rope from Mike and started moving around Samson, winding it around his legs.
“You’re using both arms?” Mike said.
“I pulled off all the bandages before we left,” Rod said. “Sure as hell I wasn’t going after Omar, or this big guy, with only one arm,”
“Michelle’s gonna be pissed,” Mike said.
They grinned at each other and finished tying knots around Samson’s legs.
Samson, still standing, was blinded by the spray, causing vertigo. Swaying back and forth, he tried to keep his balance, but his legs were tied up and immoveable. He fell to the ground on his back.
“You have duct tape inside there?” Rod asked, nodding at Mike’s backpack.
“Of course,” Mike answered, producing the silvery roll of tape from his backpack.
Rod nodded. He and Mike had used duct tape to immobilize Omar when he’d been stalking them while they were in Mexico.
Rod slapped some tape over Samson’s mouth, worried his constant yelling and moaning might alert someone inside to come see what was causing the commotion. He might not have a tongue, but he sure was noisy.
After spraying Samson, Heather had run to Vincent and dropped to her knees. A blow from Samson was like getting hit by a wrecking ball. She thought he might have a concussion or worse, a skull fracture, and wished Michelle was here right now. Michelle had awesome healing abilities.
Heather shook Vincent’s shoulder and patted his cheeks for a couple of minutes. Vincent finally opened his eyes. He looked a little dazed.
“How are you feeling?” Heather asked.
“Damn, he packs a wallop,” Vincent said. He made an effort to sit up, wincing as he did so.
“You were out for a couple of minutes,” Heather said. “Why don’t you just sit there for a while?”
Vincent nodded, rubbing his head. “Think I’ll do just that. Looks like the guys got Samson under control.”
They watched as Rod and Mike each grabbed one of Samson’s ankles and started hauling him away into the underbrush to hide him. They had tied his arms up and finished strengthening the rope bonds with duct tape. Still, he was so gigantic. dragging him was strenuous work, even for two strong men.
“Since the police are here, they’ll be happy to take him back into custody, I imagine,” Heather said.
“Also, he won’t be able to help Omar, if Omar decides to try something sneaky and run away again with the children.”
“Omar will be sent back to prison, too. I’m sure the officers who came here know his history. He’ll have even more charges against him now.”
Rod and Mike loped over to see how Vincent was doing.
“I’m really okay,” Vincent said, seeing their worried expressions. “It was a glancing blow.”
Rod was looking around. “Where’s Michelle?”
“She went inside to find the kids,” Heather said. “She thought it’d be safe since the police are here.”
“What! It’s never safe around Omar. He’s too tricky. We better go inside and find her.”
“You okay to come with us, Vincent?” Mike asked. “You took quite a wallop from Samson. You could go to the Jeep and stay there with Guy. Rest a bit.”
Vincent nodded. “I’m okay.”
Rod and Mike each grabbed one of his hands and pulled him to a standing position.
He wobbled for a second or two and took a few tentative steps, and said, “Good to go.”
Tough old bird, Rod thought. If Vincent showed any signs of weakness, he’d have to insist that Vincent rest in the Jeep until they came back.
“Show us where Michelle got inside,” Rod said.
Heather led them to the unlocked back kitchen door. They went inside, tentatively looking around, extremely uncomfortable. They were trespassing on private property.
The huge kitchen was empty. The whole place seemed excessively quiet. They all stayed as silent as possible, practically tiptoeing as they went through the empty kitchen, into a large formal dining room, and from there into the grand, high ceilinged living room. There was an awesome view from the front windows, displaying the ocean.
Looking up they saw a balcony which circled the gigantic space. They all stopped dead. A beautiful woman with bright red hair was looking down at them from the second floor.
“One of Omar’s witches, I presume,” Heather whispered.
The woman quickly came down and stood in front of them.
“What are you doing here? Are you lost?” she asked.
“We’re looking for someone we lost. Her name is Michelle,” Rod said.
“This is the home of Omar Satinov. You all must leave immediately. This Michelle person is not here,” the woman said.
“How about Omar? Is he here?” Rod asked.
She shook her head.
A voice from above them practically thundered down on them, “Ah, there you all are. Welcome to my humble abode.”
Shit, shit, shit, Rod thought, looking up at Omar. He was on the third floor balcony. By now Omar had probably hidden Michelle, along with the children.
Omar waved his arms in a circle above his head. His eyes were changing from the dark, almost black color, bleaching to a pale yellow. They gleamed like flames.
Omar pointed at the people below. They all could see what looked like tiny lightning bolts spinning from his hands. Each silvery bolt lifted up in the air to circle around Omar’s head. Then like heat seeking missiles they moved toward the people below.
Uh-oh, Rod thought. He’s putting the whammy on us.
Rod was correct. He tried to dodge the silvery bolt homing in on him, but was zapped anyway. It felt like a red hot poker burned him, right in the chest. Rod’s legs suddenly couldn’t hold him and he slowly collapsed to the floor. They were all dropping like flies, Mike, Vincent, and Heather, their energy obliterated.
“Oh damn,” Heather said when she went down like a ragdoll. She and Mike had experienced this spell once before while in Mexico. Omar had called it a ‘lassitude spell.’
Omar started down the stairs. “It’s necessary to incapacitate a victim before that person is tortured,” he said in a conversational tone, as if speaking at a dinner party, or lecturing students for their edification.
“First one to tell me where Michelle is gets the prize,” Omar said, clapping his hands, smiling diabolically.
Mike was making swimming motions with his hands and feet and managed to get to Heather. He tried to cover her body with his own, to protect her.
Vincent lay unmoving.
Rod had a hard time moving his neck, but he managed to painfully look up at Omar. “What’s the prize?”
“You may get to live. A possibility,” Omar shrugged nonchalantly. “If you’re very lucky. See, I don’t like people coming into my house uninvited. If I had a gun I could legally shoot you. The police wouldn’t even charge me with a crime, if it was apparent I was in danger from said trespassers. And look. It’s four against one.”
“You obviously don’t need a gun. Where are the police?” Rod said.
“There was a tiny mishap,” Omar said. “They had to leave.”
Rod was glad Omar had no idea where Michelle was. He thought she must be hidden somewhere inside this place. But the news that the police left was disturbing.
The red haired witch stood beside Omar. He whispered in her ear, but Rod heard him ask, “Where are Samson and Nohea?”
She shrugged and shook her head.
“How about a compromise,” Rod said. “I’ll tell you where Samson is if you get rid of this spell on us.”
Omar shook his head. His eyes had changed back to their intense dark black color and he was looking over his captives. “The torture part will come in a little while. Heather is so fragile. She’ll be the first. You can all watch her and know what’s coming. The professor isn’t fragile, but he will be the second to expire.
Then Mike. I might let Rod live long enough to watch it happen to Michelle.”
He’s planning to kill us all, Rod thought.
Omar came down the stairs and went to the front door. “Watch them,” he said to the red haired witch.
He left.
Omar knew Michelle was somewhere on the premises. On the off chance she’d actually found the children he decided to check the hidden underground basement, although how she could have found it was a mystery. Still, he had searched all the floors and rooms in the mansion. If she was outside, Samson would have found her.
If she was anywhere near, he would have felt her aura. Michelle put out a distinctive magical vitality he could sense.
He went through the kitchen to the pantry and pulled the shelves aside, noting that the door to the basement was unlocked. He went down the stairs into the hidden underground area and stopped.
Immediately he knew no one was there. No heat signatures. That meant the children had escaped through the tunnel that went directly through the mountain.
He thought about going through it himself, but he was so tall he always conked himself in the head on the low rounded ceiling, even when he tried to hunch down. Besides which, subterranean areas seemed to leach his paranormal powers.
He quickly ran back up the stairs into the kitchen. He went through the house, noting his hostages were still lying on the living room floor, spread out like starfish. They had managed to move so their heads were all together. He didn’t care. They could talk all they wanted. It wouldn’t break the spell. They would all be dead in a few hours anyway.
Out the front door, he went across the road to the stairs. He knew the children would be there.
Chapter 33
Michelle finally emerged from that creepy dark tunnel. She was surprised to see that the twilight sky was already darkening, with stars visible over a churning, white-capped ocean. A sliver of silvery moon was just visible on the horizon.
She searched the stairway and finally saw the girls. She hurriedly jumped over the narrow rock bridge and started climbing up toward Ivory and Shelly.
“Girls!” she shouted.
They saw Michelle and their little faces lit up with wide smiles.
She hurried up to them and sat on the stairs, hugging them. Michelle could feel her own face smiling with pure relief and happiness.
Nohea hurried over and sat down with them.
“Did you go through the tunnel?” Michelle asked the girls.
Ivory nodded. “Daddy put us to sleep. Then he put us in a dark place,” She blinked back tears.
“It was awful,” Shelly said seriously.
“Green slime was on the walls. And it smelled. Why would Father do that?” Ivory asked. She sounded bereft.
Michelle was furious. Omar broke their little hearts. She wiped a tear from Ivory’s cheek. She couldn’t say anything reassuring to them about Omar, their own father, for doing something so despicable.
“We’re going to take you home to Leilanie,” Michelle said to comfort them.
“Okay,” Shelly said in a sad little voice.
Still hugging the girls, she took the phone out of her back jeans pocket. Everyone on the rescue team had put their phones on silent and vibrate when they left the Jeep so a ringing phone wouldn’t catch them at a crucial moment while searching for the children.
Michelle clicked on Guy’s number. “I’ve got the kids,” she said when Guy picked up from the Jeep. “Maybe you could message everyone?”
“Fantastic!” Guy said. “I’ll do that. Where are you?”
“We’re on a stairway leading down to the beach from the road. It’s almost across the street from Omar’s place. So I’m really close.”
“I’ll tell everyone to gather at the Jeep. Then we’ll come get you and the kids.”
“We’ll be taking a woman named Nohea with us. She wants to get away from Omar, too.”
They both clicked off.
Michelle realized she wouldn’t be able to do anything about Omar; like execute him, as she had visualized countless times. But getting the children home was the vital, essential, priority now. They had been through enough.
Still, getting rid of Omar would be such a vast relief, not only to her, but it would be advantageous for the future of Leilanie and her daughters. The black sheathed knife that she had powered with a deadly spell was attached to her belt, ready for a confrontation.
She shuddered when she thought of the girls watching her kill their father, no matter how wicked he was. It would crush their little souls and they’d probably never trust her again.
Nohea was sitting on the stairs, an arm around the girls, talking to them. Shelly wanted to pet Lucifer and Michelle let her hold the cat.
Michelle couldn’t wait another second. She had to call Rod and tell him the great news.
She clicked Rod’s cell and waited. It went to voicemail. Perhaps he hadn’t felt the vibration?
Worried, Michelle tried to get Heather, then Mike, then Vincent. The same thing happened.
Something was wrong.
She got a message from Guy. “I can’t get through to anyone.”
Uh-oh, Michelle thought with dread. Omar’s got them. She had no doubt.
After a few minutes, Guy called her back, “I finally got through to Rod. They’re in the house, but can’t move. Omar zapped them with some creepy spell.”
Michelle knew she could reverse the curse. She’d done it before. But she had to be able to physically touch the spell’s recipient while holding the diamond, Abigail. That’s how she’d done it before in Mexico when Omar cast the energy dissolving spell on Heather and Mike. They’d been exhausted, drained of all energy, and almost unable to move.
Now though, she realized she might actually be able to release the spell from afar. She looked at her little girls. They were so cute and beautiful with their long, black, curly hair, and exquisite faces, appearing like tiny angels. No one would suspect they had strong supernatural powers, but they were her own magical legacy.
From what she’d seen, they were much more powerful than she was. And they seemed to use that magic as an extension, like a powerful extra limb. Michelle had to work hard to learn how to use her own magical gifts. The girls seemed to come by it naturally and took their unusual abilities for granted.
With her daughters’ power added to her own, and the help of a big old diamond encompassing a powerful spirit, Michelle thought they might be able to free her friends.
She couldn’t discount having Lucifer with her, either. He always made her feel strong, and had taken to her daughters, not like they were strangers, but as though he recognized them.
The diamond had helped her find Petal in Waikiki when Omar abducted the girls from Heather’s wedding. She took it out from under her shirt, holding it in her hand. It was cool to touch.
“Look, girls,” Michelle said, holding the diamond out so they could see it.
“Ohhh, pretty,” both girls said, almost in unison.
“Inside this gem is a powerful spirit I call Abigail. She can help us because my friends, Rod, Heather, Mike, and Vincent can’t move.”
Shelly nodded her little head thoughtfully. “Like our Suck, suck, suck game?”
Michelle nodded, smiling. “Just like that. They’re in your father’s house and want to help take you home to Leilanie.”
“We need to use Push, push, push,” Ivory said, quite seriously.
Michelle almost laughed. Her girls were so bright. They treated the situation as if it was normal. Something to fix with paranormal magic.
“I like Rod. He danced with me at the wedding,” Ivory commented.
Michelle took the chain from around her neck and held the diamond out. “Let’s all touch the diamond and think about our friends. We want them to be able to move with lots of energy.”
The girls put their hands in Michelle’s, touching the diamond.
“Push, push, push,” Ivory and Shelly chanted. Michelle closed h
er eyes, picturing Rod, Heather, Mike and Vincent. She also said, “Push, push, push” in unison with the girls.
The diamond got hot for a minute, and then went cold again.
She really hoped it worked, because when she opened her eyes and glanced up, she was horrified. Omar was glaring down at them from the top of the stairs.
They had two choices. Go back through the tunnel to Omar’s home, or down to the beach. Either way they’d probably be trapped. To keep out of Omar’s clutches they’d have to move fast, which she realized was impossible. The girls could never outrun Omar, especially on these stairs. For that matter, neither could she.
“Look,” Ivory said, pointing up at the top of the stairs. “It’s daddy. We have to run.”
“You’re really sure you want to run away from your father?” Michelle asked. She needed to know if they were serious about breaking ties with the only father they’d ever have.
Both girls nodded urgently. “He won’t take us home to mommy,” Shelly said. “Please, please.
“Hop on my back,” Michelle said to Shelly.
Shelly grinned and said, “Like playing horsey,” as Michelle bent down. She gripped her arms around Michelle’s neck. Her short legs wrapped around her waist.
Michelle looked at Nohea. “You take Ivory.”
When they were ready, children on their backs, they started hurrying down the stairs.
Michelle held on to Shelly’s little legs to prevent her from losing hold. Also, Shelly was nearly strangling her. She stopped squeezing so tightly when she felt more secure. She hoped Nohea would be strong enough to carry Ivory.
Going back through the tunnel was preferable to the beach, she decided. It would put them back into Omar’s clutches, sending them right into his mansion, but that couldn’t be helped. The beach would be a trap they couldn’t escape from.
She hoped everyone zapped by Omar’s curse was freed by their magical Push spell. Maybe they’d be able to help her when they got inside Omar’s fortress.
She gave a quick glance behind her when she got to the small bridge leading into the tunnel. Nohea was right on her heels. Omar was sauntering casually down the steps behind them. She caught a snide smile on his face, like they would never get away. He stalked after them like a deadly tiger awaiting his moment to strike.
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