See No Evil (The PSI Trilogy Book 2)

by J. R. Rain

  He knew she was going to need that resilience soon because what he’d seen was a shit storm at the caves. Everyone would be headed there because that’s where the answers were, and John knew he’d need to be there, too. He’d do what he could to protect the woman he loved and would always love; but one that, without reversing what had been done to him by Grant Simms, he could never make himself be known to again. She could never know he was alive, because if she knew and accepted the truth, he would only hurt her. He could never touch Kylie again. He knew if he did, it would kill her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  My stomach was a roiling mess of knots.

  This was one of the least comfortable setups I’d been in and without PSI laying groundwork and supplying me with intel before, during, and after, yeah, dicey at best.

  Truth was, I’d been in worse situations, and I had come out on top. I would come out on top again. Or, at least, see this mission through to the end.

  And at the moment, I was virtually on my own even if my guys were keeping psychic watch on me. If a move was made toward me, they would have no choice but to get Hope out of there and stay on task. We had a job to do, and I believed we were all on the same page.

  I hoped.

  We were all working off of our own intel, gained from our own abilities, without any help from the inside. That was hopefully about to change.

  Wolf.

  He was a friend and very good at his job. Wolf was a genius. Definitely the real deal. We connected as buddies over lunch because we were close in age, and I think we both felt awkward. Wolf was gay, although he didn’t share that with anyone. He was very private and I completely respected that. He’d confided in me for years about his relationships, or lack thereof, and I’d confided in him, too. He was a good guy and I would never want to take advantage of his kindness and our friendship, but I knew that I might have to play upon our BFF status when we spoke. I knew I’d be working on his emotions to get the information we needed.

  All’s fair in love and war, I thought. My dad had taught me that.

  I walked to the bus stop, while I took notice of my surroundings. The village of Ein Karem was an ancient one. The Christian tradition claimed that John the Baptist was born here. It was quaint and very cultural in an antiquity kind of way. Although the actual population itself was sparse, it was quite the tourist destination. One couldn’t help but feel almost transported to a space of designated spirituality—a place that even with what we were facing, made me feel ethereal.

  The hummingbird that I’d seen in the garden swooped on by me. It might have been a different hummingbird of course, but it had the same markings. Once I had time to think, I knew that I needed to take a deeper look at what my guide might be attempting to reveal.

  A handful of people were waiting for the bus at the street corner. I attracted a few idle glances, but most, I felt, were harmless. The bus heading into Jerusalem pulled up a few minutes later. Once seated in the third to the back row of the bus next to the window, I closed my eyes and took in several deep breaths. I silently called upon the spirit of the hummingbird and within seconds, in my mind’s eye, my little friend and guide was buzzing about.

  What do you want to show me? I thought.

  I followed the hummingbird in my mind’s eye. Easier than you think, if you know what you’re doing. And I’d spent a lifetime being trained by the best. The little bird flew ahead through Jerusalem, where I saw the Tower of David, and headed to the coast—the Dead Sea, to be specific. Continuing our travels, the hummingbird suddenly dove to the left just as something shot out from the right. I realized it was a bullet. We avoided it, but I could “hear” bullets flying by us. There was a pathway lit by candlelight now, and I knew that my guide had adjusted us from the present into the past as the details around me seemed of a different time.

  There was darkness ahead of us, and I could hear the lapping of waves. I realized the hummingbird had led me into a cave. Not a real cave, of course. All of this was symbolism, meant for me to puzzle out. Now the hummingbird fluttered wildly around an open space that next morphed into a sort of window in the cave. So strange, I thought, but that was the nature of such visions. Now the window formed into deeply etched wedges in the wall, and the little bird flew in and out of these arched openings. Then the bird was gone—just like that—and my eyes flew open.

  I had to decipher what my guide had been showing and telling me; some of it I could understand, and some I could not.

  But a chill crept up the back of my neck. As my eyes once again focused on the passengers in the bus, I realized we must have made a stop somewhere; the bus had filled up quite a bit more.

  There was now a man seated three rows up on the opposite side of the aisle that I couldn’t help noticing. He turned slightly to the side as if he were looking back. He picked up his cell phone and dialed a number. I tuned into him easily enough. One thing was clear: he was no psychic.

  “Just the woman. I don’t think anyone else is with her.” He spoke Russian.

  “Not the girl?” A man’s voice on the other end, his accent distinctly British.

  “No. Just the woman.”

  “Be careful. She is no ordinary woman.”

  Okay, I liked that. No ordinary woman. And, yeah, the Russian dude had better be careful.

  And so had I.

  The snaking feeling that had gone up my back and into my neck now traveled throughout my entire body. The Russian was speaking with someone working for Orlenda, if I had to guess; and if my abilities were directing me on the right path, she’d probably sent an entire security team throughout the city to locate us—and one of the members had just found me.

  Lucky me.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Nonchalant.

  That was how I needed to be. Don’t let the douchebag know I was on to him. At the same time, I needed to make the team aware that Orlenda likely had minions everywhere in the city.

  Using anything electronic was a risk I wasn’t willing to take, and so I reached out to Sister Marie-Luce via her guide, Mother Mary.

  I took a rosary from my bag that she had given me and began reciting the words of the rosary in my head. I went through many of the beads before I felt a lightness in my skull and I knew the connection had been made. I took note again of the man on the bus. He was pretending to read a book.

  I sent the telepathic message to Sister Marie-Luce to be aware and have the team aware that there were others around who were aggressively looking for us within the city. Not exactly news, but at least they knew it was a reality, and not theory.

  Next, I sat back and pretended to sleep. Mostly, I watched the man in front of me. Funny how he never turned a single page.

  Crappy spycraft, I thought.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Noah didn’t like sending Kylie out on her own to make the call to Wolf. He understood her reasons for going it alone. He also knew she was the right one to call Wolf. Noah doubted that Wolf would go running to Simms, even if out of his loyalty to Kylie. He just hoped that Ayden had been correct in his assessment that Wolf did indeed have something in his possession that would help them locate the elusive scrolls they were after.

  Simms was off the radar. If Noah had to guess, he’d used one of the GEPSI kids to help erase him energetically. Mostly, Noah needed to know what had been done to him. How had Jacqueline been able to use him? The whole thing creeped the fuck out of him.

  How had that bitch gotten so embedded in his head—and without him ever even knowing it?

  And then there was that business with the leather-bound journal. Sister Marie-Luce said it contained answers. Except Noah hadn’t a clue where that journal might be. And now that he thought about it, he’d only seen it the day he’d bought it for her. She must have stored it somewhere. But where, and how would he get his hands on it? Would have been nice if Sister Marie-Luce could have included that information as well.

  Now, he paced the gardens while waiting for some kind of
divine intervention to strike him with answers.

  Ayden, he saw, was playing a game of chess with Hope. The girl appeared to be beating him. This appealed to Noah more than it should have. Anyway, at least he was keeping Hope distracted. No reason to unduly worry her. His pacing eventually led him to their outdoor table, which might not have been a coincidence, since Noah still had a few questions for her.

  “Looks like she plays a mean game,” Noah said.

  Hope smiled. “What can I say? I’m kinda good.”

  “She is,” Ayden conceded.

  “Hope, can I ask you some more questions about the teacher you were working with at the school? The one who was teaching you time travel?”

  She looked at him, pausing in mid-move. “Gary? Sure.”

  “Yeah. Him. How, exactly, did he work with you?”

  “Well, he taught me all of the theories of time travel and how it worked, but he already knew I could kind of do it because I’d told Mr. Simms about being able to use my guides to go to different places. He told me that I was special and that I would be a leader. I can’t tell you a whole lot more than what I have already.”

  Something was eating at Noah, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. “You said that Gary was about our age?”

  She nodded.

  Noah continued, “Tall, dark hair and eyes?” More nodding. “Is there anything else you can remember about him?”

  “I think he worked for a queen once.”

  Noah glanced at Ayden. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, he had an English accent. It was the only thing I liked about him!” She giggled.

  Noah knew this was something, he just didn’t know why or what without tuning in directly. He also suspected that this Gary character was far more important than just being a teacher at Simms’ school.

  Just then, Sister Marie-Luce came out of the chapel and hurried toward them.

  “What’s the matter, Sister?” asked Noah.

  “It’s Kylie. She’s in trouble.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I finally received information that I’d made contact with Sister Marie-Luce. The lightness traveled to the top of my head and then released, affirming this for me. Hopefully, the cavalry would come to my aid soon; that is, if they could figure out my exact location.

  I knew that I needed to get off at the next stop, but by doing so, Orlenda’s men could close in on me. I couldn’t stay on the bus forever, either.

  I chewed on that as the bus came to a stop within the old city walls of Jerusalem. As it did so, I hopped up. I had already unzipped the front of my backpack and located my weapon of choice, taking it in hand. It was inconspicuous and if I caught the guy just right, I could take him out.

  I spotted a café across the street, which I walked briskly to. I knew he was following me, so I didn’t bother looking back. I was tuned into him and he was already on the phone, talking rapidly.

  I spoke the street names and the café in a whisper, keeping in mind that my guys and sister were likely tuned in to me, too. I implanted a picture of the area in my mind as I scanned my surroundings.

  Once inside the café, I told the hostess that I’d come back to be seated but that I really needed to use the restroom first. She directed me, and I headed to it. Closing the door behind me, I lay in wait, tucked in as tightly as I could at the door hinge. I quickly connected to my lioness, and asked for a shield to be drawn around me. Within fifteen seconds, Orlenda’s minion entered the bathroom and before he could say a word or make a move, I kicked out the back of his shins and sent him sprawling forward. For a skinny dude, he was tougher than I expected and although I had my weapon drawn—a hunting knife my dad had given me on my ninth birthday—he, too, had a weapon. A pistol. He swung it up at me, but before he could take aim, I threw a round-off kick aimed at the Glock—and knocked it out of his hand. He lunged at me, grabbing me by the shoulders and pushing me back against the wall. He wrapped his hands tightly around my neck and squeezed. Or tried to. My knee was already driving up into his crotch. Bullseye, motherfucker.

  He gasped and fell to his knees. I lifted his chin to look me in the eyes. I cold-cocked him across his face, and almost thought twice about killing him.

  Almost.

  My rage against Orlenda and my past allowed me to be the killer I had been trained to be. I took my knife and severed his jugular, knowing his death would be a rapid one.

  I left the bathroom as inconspicuously as I could, and walked quickly through the kitchen where the cooks yelled out at me. I ignored them and pushed my way through the back door. I glanced around and spotted a moped. I jumped on it, and, using skills I’d learned long ago, I had it hot-wired and puttering through the back alleyway.

  I made a sharp left, and immediately picked up a tail. Maneuvering through traffic, I reached into my backpack, and took out a semi-automatic. I knew these people weren’t going to screw around and neither was I.

  The first bullet whizzed past me just as I turned down another alleyway and onto another street. A busier street. Damn. Although I didn’t want any civilian casualties, I also didn’t want to die on the back of this damned moped.

  Weaving around a dump truck, I spotted an outdoor market and aimed down the center of it. Immediately, angry people jumped to either side as I waved them away, using my best Hebrew to tell them to get the fuck out of the way.

  The moped wasn’t exactly a street racer, and I nearly bit it taking a hard right coming out of the market. Except my pursuers were legion; meaning, another SUV was parked there, waiting. One guy stepped outside and took aim. I took aim, too. Not to mention I was quicker. I took him out—three shots to the chest. Not bad shooting. Ayden would have been proud. So would John. Hell, all the boys in my life.

  I sped past the SUV, just as another bullet whizzed past me, barely missing. I had gotten lucky. Real lucky. Time to create my own luck, though, as I wove in and out of traffic. Hell, it was my only advantage; that is, until I felt the moped start to lurch. Crap! I was running out of gas.

  I did what any secret agent would do on the run: I dumped the bike right there in the middle of the street and hoofed it until I could find something else.

  And as I was running, I heard it before I saw it.

  A Suzuki Hayabusa—the second-fastest motorcycle in the world—came to a screeching halt right in front of me. I couldn’t have been more relieved to find Ayden staring back at me. “Get the hell on,” he yelled.

  I got the hell on, as directed. I looked back and saw the SUV with the thugs in it speeding to catch up. Then I watched in what seemed like slow motion as a supply truck came barreling at them from a side street, hitting them hard and sending the SUV flip-flopping several times. In those split seconds, I caught a glimpse of the driver of the truck, and my heart skipped a beat.

  No, I thought. No fucking way.

  But it had been. I was sure of it. I had seen a ghost from my past.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “Is there a problem?” Orlenda asked, walking into the room as Geryon was about to make a phone call.

  “No problems, ma’am.”

  “Good. Any news?”

  “Just that Kylie Cain was spotted. I have people on it,” he said.

  “Ah, very good news.”

  “Also, I’ve found a safe house for you—”

  “I don’t think that will be necessary,” she replied.

  “Ivan Propokensko is dangerous, ma’am. Not to mention Kylie Cain and her team of special agents are dangerous. Hell, Grant Simms is dangerous and I need to do my job. I can’t get this done worrying about you. I need to know that you’re safe and no one can get to you. Once we have the girl, you’ll be brought to the plane. We have already set course to where we need to go.”

  “You have, have you? And, where might that be?” She found his assertion in taking on the leadership-type role that had once belonged to his lover, Echidna, quite endearing.

  “Switzerland. The doctor and teachers who can work
with Hope Mitchell are being rounded up now.”

  “You feel confident then that you will find the girl?”

  “I do.”

  “And that she will lead you to the scrolls?”

  “I wouldn’t be taking the risks if I didn’t think so. But I do believe that your safety could be jeopardized here, and I do believe I’m needed out in the field with my team if we are going to find the girl and get her out of Israel.”

  Orlenda waved one of her hands in the air. “Suit yourself. I’ll go.”

  “Very good.” Geryon dialed a number on his phone, requested a car be brought to the back entrance. He then called another number, and three armed men showed at the door within moments. “They’ll take you to the house. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll do my best to make certain that isn’t long.”

  “Yes. Do your best.” She wrapped her cashmere shawl around her shoulders and went with her escorts to where Geryon insisted she’d be safe.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  After slamming the car with the Russians inside of it, John’s heart raced, filled with adrenaline.

  Jesus, had he made eye contact with Kylie?

  He left the truck he’d stolen behind and walked briskly through the marketplace and out to the other side, attempting to be as nonchalant and incognito as he possibly could.

  Once out the other side of the marketplace he stepped into a cab. He handed the driver an address. He knew where they’d taken Orlenda. After all, he’s seen it clearly. Maybe his psychic abilities were growing?