To Touch Poison

by Charles, L. J

  Loyria reached to hug her mother. “That can’t be right. There’s no way we’ll be able to protect Niele there. Not without help. An army.”

  Harlan coughed, self-conscious. “That’s why we’re going with you, Loyria. Millie and I are your new bodyguards. From what Makani told us on the way over here, we’ll be taking care of Niele after…”

  Loyria stiffened her spine. “After James and I are murdered. Yes, Makani told me. But we have time yet. Niele will be grown before that happens.”

  James came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “I still don’t understand why we can’t stop it since we know it will happen. Even if we don’t know the exact time frame.”

  Makani grabbed a tissue and mopped the tears from her face. “Because fate trumps the gift of sight. It’s a curse I’ve had to live with every moment of my adult life.”

  James blew out a sigh, then sat down. “Protecting Niele is the most important thing right now. I’ve been thinking about it since that first moment I held her in my arms. We need to find a way to tell her our story.”

  Loyria nodded and sighed. “Yes. It will all rest on her shoulders one day. No matter how vigilant we are, and how dedicated I am to finding an antidote for this toxin, my life span won’t be long enough to finish the work. I hate that she’s the single living person who has the altered DNA from the formula I consumed before she was born, but we can’t change history. We can make damn sure she has every bit of knowledge necessary to protect herself.”

  “You can’t ever come back here, daughter,” Makani said, her voice trembling. “But this will be Niele’s home. One that she’ll share with her husband and children.”

  Loyria’s heart shattered, broken with longing to see Niele married and with a family. “Will you draw pictures of them for me, Makani? Of Niele’s family? It will help James and me get through this.”

  Makani nodded. “Yes. And they will be one of the things you hide for our Niele to find when she’s ready to accept her Scottish heritage. And this.” She tapped James’s grandmother’s ring. “It is one of the clues my granddaughter will use to guide her to the Circle of Nine.”

  Loyria slipped the ring off. “We’ll leave it in the safe here at the house.” She handed the ring to James. “I know you’re uncomfortable with the Circle of Nine, but it is part of our daughter’s future path. We have to trust that it’s right to leave the ring.”

  James shook his head. “I’m sure it’s a bad idea.” He looked long and hard at Makani, then nodded. “It has to be her choice, but I don’t like it.”

  “I agree, James. I don’t like it either.” Loyria’s eyes welled with tears. “But whatever your father experienced with the Circle of Nine has been embedded in Niele’s DNA. She’ll need to know about it one day.”

  He took her hand. “We’ll build a map for her. A guide that will hopefully also keep her safe. You’re right, Makani, clues and a map of sorts are the most help we can give her.”

  “I need to phone Fred.” Loyria sandwiched James’s hand between hers. “It’s time for us to face our destiny as well.”

  The eerie thwhop-thwhop of a nearby helicopter filled the room.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  LOYRIA RAN TO THE WINDOW and looked up. “It’s military. They’re landing here.”

  Terror shot through James, and he raced to the window. “They can’t land. There’s no room. And the house isn’t visible from the air, not the way it’s tucked into the shadow of the mountains.”

  The drone of the chopper closed in on them, and then faded.

  Some of the tension left James’s shoulders. “Gone. Must have been a screwed-up military exercise. There are bases here on Oahu for every damn branch of the armed forces so—”

  His voice was drowned out by the rumbling vibration of a chopper landing nearby.

  “Aukele. Makani. Stay here with Niele. The noise might have scared her.” He palmed his .9mm and checked it. “Harlan. Millie. Do you have weapons, and are you proficient?”

  They both nodded, but it was a moot gesture since their weapons were in their hands and they were poised for action. “We’ll cover the house, James. You and Loyria take the breach site.”

  James gave Harlan a curt nod, then ran to catch up with Loyria. She was halfway out the door, weapon at the ready.

  WHY HADN’T SHE MADE IT a point to phone Fred immediately? Talking things out with her family had stalled any action on his part for…too long. Sweat crawled down Loyria’s back. She checked the immediate area, exited the front door, and did a fast scan of the perimeter before she entered the maze.

  James caught up with her, staying close to her back. “It wasn’t a private chopper, and it’s unlikely Connor or Eamon got their hands on a military bird.”

  “She’s here, James. And we don’t know for sure if she’s still working for MI6. This could be their operation. Sanctioned by them.” Loyria had chosen the word carefully.

  “Sanctioned? As in we’re on somebody’s kill roster?”

  “Before we exit the maze, we have to be damn sure that isn’t their mission. It isn’t time for us to die yet, but they could do some serious damage.”

  “No government agency is going to kill the only living person with access to those formulas, honey.”

  Loyria shot him a sardonic grin. “Maybe I’m not the only one anymore. Fred hasn’t said anything, but… holy crap! It’s Fred!”

  James pushed leaves aside, clearing his visual field. “Not armed. Not that I can see. But his mouth is going like it’s stuck in action mode. And that chopper is twenty-five yards from Millie and Harlan’s car. That must be how they found us.”

  Loyria tucked her gun into her waistband at the small of her back. “Lip reading isn’t one of my strengths, but I recognize my name and a few of his more inventive curses. Guess I better show myself.”

  James grabbed her arm, insistent. “Careful, honey. I’ve got your back.”

  She kissed him. Added some tongue. It was probably the adrenaline blasting through her veins, but any excuse to kiss James was a good one. “You always do. I love you, James. And Fred has just saved me a phone call.”

  She crept through, pausing until Fred looked away, and then stepped into the open. No point letting him see exactly where an entrance to the maze was located. Just in case this wasn’t a friendly visit. “How’d you find me?”

  He whirled to face her, arms akimbo, fire in his eyes. “Damn it all to bloody hell, woman, but you’re a pain in the ass.”

  Loyria grinned. “Good to see you, too. You know I’m not letting you into the inner sanctum. In fact, I’m pissed that you got this close.”

  He rocked on his heels. “Took me four years and a crisis. Where can we talk?”

  Loyria pointed to a couple trees down the road, and then motioned to James. “Under those trees. Ground’s flat and we can sit. James needs to be in on this. We have a situation, and…Oh! That’s how you found us. You’ve been tracking Fion Conner.”

  “Got it in one.” Fred’s cheeks turned a faint pink.

  Loyria squashed a smile. The man positively hated to be bested by anyone, and hopefully she could make that work in her favor.

  James closed in behind Loyria, the heat from his body strengthening her. “Fred. It hasn’t been long enough.”

  Fred jerked his head in agreement. “Sit. This is going to take a while.”

  “Not that long, really.” Loyria sat cross-legged facing Fred.

  He jabbed a finger toward her chest. “You got away with taking control four years ago because it was the best and safest plan. Things have changed. We’re relocating you to North Carolina. We have a property there that can’t be traced. It’s held in trust by the CIA under a pseudo company, so it won’t be in your name. You’ll be close to several military bases that will be running continuous surveillance on the three of you.”

  Loyria held up her hand. “Five of us. We’ll be bringing two bodyguards with us.”

  Fred
’s brows beetled. “Hawaiian?”

  Loyria nodded.

  “All right. Give me names and I’ll have them vetted. Listen up. What I’m about to tell you hasn’t been, and won’t be, in any official record. As you know, during détente, and now that it’s ended, the Soviets have been conducting studies on paranormal psychology, specifically remote viewing. Which is a crock. But there’s more, and because you tested off the charts, Loyria, on a pile of paranormal traits, but specifically the affinity you have with plants, you were recruited by the CIA.”

  Shock pooled in Loyria’s gut. “No. I applied. At the time, I believed the agency worked in the best interests of the Unites States, that it would protect our citizens.” Skepticism infused her words with a bitter tone. “Now I know they were only interested in controlling my formula as a biological weapon…and aren’t all that interested in the antidote.”

  Fred’s only response was a grunt. “The parapsychological research effort was transferred to the military, which is why I got you.”

  Loyria’s back muscles tightened against James’s hand, and she inhaled, leaned forward, and opened her mouth. A not-so-gentle tap from her husband told her to shut up and let him talk. “You’re not telling us anything new, Fred.”

  Fred ignored James, and shifted his full attention to Loyria, his stare drilling into her. “Yesterday the remains of M6342CN went missing.”

  “What?” Loyria’s stomach lurched. She swallowed down the nausea. “You’ve kept his body all these years? That’s…disgusting.”

  “Cold storage.” Fred’s smile lacked warmth. “Some cases take longer than others to, ah, wrap up. We think the remains are now in the hands of the KGB. There’s a double agent involved.”

  “What does that have to do with Loyria?” James fired the words at Fred.

  Loyria threaded her fingers with James’s. “There was residue on M6342CN’s fingers. A combination of spy dust and…my formula. Until this moment, I thought it was a simple matter of contamination between my lab and the morgue. I’m meticulous, and the chance of that happening was practically nil, but I couldn’t come up with another viable answer.”

  Fred’s face had drained of color. “All the files associated with M6342CN are missing.”

  Panic knotted Loyria’s chest. “Which means that, not only are Eamon Grady and Fion Connor after me, so is the KGB.”

  James tensed against her. “Or Eamon and Connor are working for the KGB.”

  Fred nodded. “Eamon Connor has been off our radar since the incident at the Amazon base camp. Connor was demoted, but kept on at MI6. My opinion: they wanted to hold her close enough for continuous monitoring.

  “And you’re going to protect my family from this clusterfuck, how?” A vein in James’s forehead throbbed.

  “The three of you will be tagged with permanent tracking devices. We know both of you carry parapsychological DNA. The real thing, not a scam. Both Langley and my, ah, team, will be watching your daughter to see if she shows any sign of paranormal abilities. The paperwork is complete.”

  “Fucking bastard.” James was on his feet, fist headed for Fred’s jaw.

  Fred ducked.

  Loyria growled, jumping to her feet. “No!” Her shriek cut the air. “No one is going to watch Niele like she’s some kind of freak. She’s still a baby. And she will never be your toy.”

  The helicopter pilot was on his feet, AK-47 pointed at James and Loyria.

  “Stand down, Sergeant,” Fred yelled. “Stop thinking like parents. Your daughter is in danger.” Fred’s voice rose with every word. “You can’t protect her from this pile of shit, no matter how hard you try. I’m trying to help, here. We have surveillance videos of all of you in town. She’s a precocious and special child. I can see that. Don’t have to meet her.” He jabbed his thumb into his chest. “I, personally, want to protect her from all the crap in the world. Yeah, I know this makes our government look bad, but we’re not out to hurt her. Yes, there will be psychological testing. I would think both of you would welcome that.” Fred shifted his index finger back and forth between them. “You don’t know what’s going on in her DNA. I’d think that might be critical information considering, Loyria, that you swallowed an entire vial of…” The fire drained out of him. “…whatever you were working on.”

  James paced, anger escalating with every step.

  Loyria sank to the ground and fixed Fred with an icy glare. “It’s true that we don’t know what effect, if any, that incident has had, or will have, on Niele. But I won’t allow her to be put through random psychological testing. Not ever.”

  She inhaled, ready to blast him again.

  And then Millie and Harlan’s car exploded.

  And a child-sized body rolled from under the bushes next to the helicopter.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  LOYRIA’S SCREAM STRAFED THE AIR. She launched into a full-out run toward Niele’s body, James on her heels. “OhmyGod, ohmyGod, ohmyGod, how did she get out here?” With hands shaking so badly she had to fist them and then release them before she could hold her fingers steady on her daughter’s pulse. “It’s strong. Steady. She’s okay, James.” She swallowed against tears of relief and glanced up at him with a wobbly smile. “She’s okay.”

  Gently, James rolled Niele to her back so they could assess any damage. “There’s no blood, no cuts. Some bruises, but…” He lifted one of her eyelids, then the other. “Her pupils look normal. Maybe she fell with the vibration and hit her head. No shrapnel from the car came this far, and we weren’t knocked over with the blast. It was more loud than damaging.”

  “Fion Connor,” Fred barked. “A warning.”

  Loyria ran her hands over her daughter’s arms and legs. “She’s a lot smaller than we are. The vibration was hardly anything, but it might have been enough to toss her to the ground. “Niele, can you hear me?”

  After Fred and the pilot determined there was no serious damage to Niele, they checked the remains of Mille and Harlan’s car. “Looks like an explosive device, but the damage is minimal, considering. No fire, just a torn up vehicle. Want me to radio for an ambulance?”

  Makani and Aukele ran toward them. “Niele’s missing. Isn’t in her room,” Makani shouted.

  Millie and Harlan were following right behind them.

  Loyria’s grabbed James’s wrist. “Explain what happened, and tell Aukele that we’re in need of his healing gifts.” She glanced at Fred. “No ambulance. Go away. We need time to discuss what to do.”

  Fred stabbed his index finger at the ground. “Four hours. Right here. I’ll send someone to pick up the vehicle. We’ll need to run forensics on it.” He reached into the helicopter and grabbed a large envelope, handed it to Harlan, then climbed into the chopper. They flew off, leaving a whirlwind of dust and debris in their wake.

  Aukele knelt next to Niele, and, eyes closed, began an assessment of her energy systems.

  Millie and Harlan held a hurried conversation with Makani, and then approached their damaged vehicle.

  Loyria practiced deep breathing. Totally failed. “Can we move her inside, Aukele?”

  “Yes, daughter. There’s nothing broken, and all of her organs are strong and undamaged. I believe this was a simple act of defiance on her part, but she overheard your conversation, and I believe it triggered something. I’m not sure what.” He scooped his granddaughter into his arms and hurried inside, Loyria and James close on his heels.

  Aukele settled Niele on the sofa, and began a deeper energetic assessment.

  Makani prodded James and Loyria toward the kitchen. “Come children, I need to speak with you, and Aukele will work better without your presence contaminating his field.”

  Loyria kept looking over her shoulder. “I don’t think we should leave her, Mom. Can’t this wait unti—”

  “No.” The single syllable was harsh, and without the soft island lilt that usually sang through Makani’s speech.

  “I have seen this.” Makani began, her fingers tremb
ling. “You must leave with the man from the government. Niele is fine, but when Aukele has completed his work with her, she will not remember anything prior to the time of the explosion. It is protection for her. He will undo the blocks he’s putting into her mind when she comes to him many years from now.”

  Loyria scooted her chair back. “No. That’s not okay, Makani. She’s our daughter, and—”

  “And her destiny was determined before she was born, as is everyone’s. She will not be called Niele in her new life. I have seen that you name her Everly.” Makani glanced at James. “After your maternal great grandfather, James. It will be one of the clues she follows when it is time for her to discover her destiny.”

  Makani tugged an envelope from her pocket. “This will be the first clue she discovers after you both have passed and she begins her journey.”

  Loyria took the envelope, slipped the letter free, and read it aloud.

  Aloha Kaikamahine,

  To have missed the birth of my mo’opuna wahine is of the deepest pain.

  I write this to fulfill my role as tutu. In our family, it is always the responsibility of the hulu kupuna to bestow the traditional name. It came as inoa po, a dream in the night.

  She will be known as ‘Eleu Niele.’ She is a child full of life and curiosity.

  I smile as I bestow the name Niele, for her nosiness will create a great deal of work for you, my kaikamahine.

  Pomaika’i to you, Leialoha, kaikamahine and to our new mo’opuna wahine.

  Aloha Ke Akua

  Makani, makuahine

  James lifted the letter from her hand. “These are all lies.”

  “Not all,” Makani said. “I did name her, and it does pain me that I will not see her again after this day. I could not write the complete truth, because when Niele…Everly reads this letter she will not yet be ready to hear the truth. The purpose of this clue is to instigate travel here to Hawaii, to her true home. And then she will begin her studies of Huna with Aukele.” Makani smiled. “And I will leave a little something for her to discover about me as well.”