See No Evil (The PSI Trilogy Book 2)

by J. R. Rain

  “Dammit,” he muttered, knowing that unless he found Grant Simms and made him talk, his dreams of touching Kylie ever again had just died with Orlenda Kobach.

  The bitch.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  We raced back to where Qumran 4 was located. All was quiet. Neither Ayden nor I could find anyone. “Where are they—”

  “They’re here,” Ayden said. “I saw them.”

  Telepathically, of course. Just as I had heard them audially. We walked down a set of uneven stairs that had been carved into the earth itself. Now I saw the carnage as the sun began to set, casting shadows around me. Three men, all shot dead.

  Noah came out from the shadows. His face was flushed and his eyes wide. “Sorry, I was in there.” He pointed to one of the caves. “I had to be sure it was the two of you before I came out. Someone sent us some ‘friends’ to greet us.” He looked down at the bodies. “We’ve got to get rid of them.”

  I nodded. “Where’s Hope?”

  “In the cave. We need to send her back now, Ky. There’s more of these goons and they’re probably not far behind.”

  “Orlenda’s men?” I asked.

  “No. Hope said she thinks they work for the Russian, Ivan Propokensko. She doesn’t know where Orlenda’s people are, but if I had to guess, they’re close behind. Ayden, want to help me? Let’s move these bodies where they won’t be spotted right away. Kylie, you need to go down and prepare your sister.”

  “Wait,” Ayden said. “I found the map. Turns out, Simms had a plan.” He held up my phone. “Simms has known where the scrolls are all along. He just hadn’t planned on losing Hope. He’d figured when we found her that she’d be brought back to him. Guess he thought we’d think his little school for psychic kids was a good idea. He forgot that the three of us actually have morals, values, and ethics.”

  He handed me the phone and I scanned the images quickly. I recognized the cave immediately. “This is the cave one of my guides showed me, the cave with the gunfire and strange windows.”

  “It’s where Hope needs to leave from,” said Noah. “Through that space—that window—she’ll be able to travel back in time. That’s what I’m picking up anyway. It’s the best I can get. We better get a move on though, because I’m sure we’ll have more visitors soon. Help your sister, Kylie. Remember, Sister Marie-Luce said that she will need to utilize the gift she gave her from St. Eligius.”

  I found her down in the caves and handed Hope the phone after hugging her. “I’m sorry, sweetie. You okay?” I knew if she witnessed those guys being shot up that it could have really shaken her.

  She nodded. “I think so. I need to go back now, Kylie. We need to get the scrolls.”

  “I know. I want you to take the phone. It’s a map. It’ll tell you where they’re located. I know that at the end of the cave there’s a window, or it looks like one anyway. Let’s walk down there. It’s where we think you’re supposed to leave from.”

  “I can’t take it. I can’t take anything electronic. It could mess with the energy. I need to memorize it,” she said hurriedly.

  “Okay. Can you do that? Quickly?”

  Hope took the phone and stared at it for a solid minute. Then she handed the phone back to me. “Done,” she said. “I’ve got to go now.”

  I took her hand and we walked until we found the open space my guide had flown through earlier.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, “but you have to go now. I have to be alone to do this.”

  My stomach sank. I didn’t want to leave her.

  “Kylie, trust me. Okay? Please?” She hugged me and then pulled her small body away. I found myself wanting to cry. I needed to stay strong for her, for both of us. I turned and started to walk away, my shoulders heavy.

  “Don’t worry, sis,” she called back. “I’ll be back. I always do come back.”

  Yeah, my heart sank.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Hope held onto the timepiece that Sister Marie-Luce had given her.

  With it tightly in her hand, and the memory of the map embedded in her mind, she began breathing deeply and calling forth the horse and the hummingbird, which Sister Marie-Luce had instructed her to do before they’d left the Notre Dame de Sion. The hummingbird was a guide that she and Kylie shared and she knew it would help make her stronger if she worked with her sister’s shared energy. Both of the spirit guides she’d chosen were quick and crafty beings. She would need them.

  Hope didn’t know how long it actually took her to spiral into another time and space, but she always knew when she reached it. Fear and fright paralyzed her but she fought through them, knowing she had to move as fast as she could to get what she needed and then return.

  Her eyes opened and she found herself standing in what actually looked like a nice home, but it was ancient.

  Sister Marie-Luce had explained to her some of the history behind the scrolls and the village she was sure she found herself in now—Khirbet Qumran. The nun had told her that some believed “qumran” meant “villa” and that the residences of the village prior to the destruction of it by the Romans, were men and women of wealth.

  Hope thought this might be the case, as she scanned the room and spotted beautiful pottery and silken pillows that she assumed people sat on.

  Realizing there could be people close by and even in the villa, she knew she needed to get the heck out of there. She peeked out the door and saw a woman walking away up a cobblestone pathway carrying a large pot. Hope knew she needed to get out of the house. Thankfully, Hope was dressed almost the same as the woman, so maybe she’d blend in some. Her guides and St. Eligius had definitely worked with her on that aspect.

  At the last minute, she’d made the decision to go further back in time, to Israel when the scrolls were originally placed in caves, not when they’d been discovered. She knew that historically she was somewhere between 134 BCE to 68 CE—she knew that was a long expanse, but she was trusting not only her guides but a higher power to have directed her to the correct time and space to find what she needed.

  Noah and Sister Marie-Luce had instructed her to go to the time when the scrolls were discovered, but she’d trusted her gut, although she knew she should’ve told them. Her intuition had never failed her before.

  The pathway was void of any people after the lady with the pot had walked on. Hope continued peering out the door. The lack of people could be a problem because it might make her easier to spot. Her hand remained tight in her long dress pocket around the timepiece. Time to utilize her guides. She sent the hummingbird in one direction and the horse in another. Then she listened.

  Night had fallen here. The only light was from the moon, stars, and candles from within the homes of the people, but she sensed that bedtime was soon for most of them and she knew a child on the street, if spotted by anyone, would surely be questioned.

  However, since they were all tucking in for the night, it would hopefully make it easier for her to sneak down to the area where the caves now were. She set the map from her memory out in front of her mind’s eye, and began in the direction the map had dictated.

  She had to find the scrolls.

  Orlenda believed that they held a list of the ultimate evil, but with specifics about when and where this person was born. Hope was really worried about what Orlenda would be able to accomplish if she could find out when and where the next evil being was located. The crazy lady would work her hardest to see that the evil one became a success.

  Hope’s hummingbird picked up a conversation on the far side of village and Hope quickly translated the Hebrew. A man and his wife were talking. “The priest urged me to complete the scrolls tonight. The Roman army comes swiftly. If we are to protect these stories, they must be hidden tonight.”

  Hope could almost see the woman move to her husband’s side and rest a hand on his shoulder. “It’s late. Come eat. You can finish tomorrow.”

  She heard the sound of his skin brushing against the woman’s, maybe
as he patted her hand. “I’ll only be a few more minutes. I have to finish. I’ve been instructed by God through the priest.”

  She sighed. “Don’t stay late.”

  Hope followed the direction of the conversation, keeping a careful eye on her surroundings, but no one saw her. In front of her, in her mind’s eye, flew her colorful hummingbird. The guide was a positive affirmation that she was going in the right direction.

  The woman came out from a small building and headed up an incline, probably toward her house. Hope found a spot to wait. The hummingbird fluttered and landed on her shoulder, the buzzing of its wings echoing in her ears.

  “Shh. I know. This is where we need to be,” she told her guide. The scrolls she needed were with the man. He was burying them now. She didn’t know who he was, or if he was translating, or if he was receiving messages from God, but what she did know was that they were the scrolls she needed—and that he, in that moment, was busy hiding them. It was where the map was leading her as well. Hope just had to wait for the man to finish and then grab the scrolls and sneak home.

  Easy peasy, she thought.

  Through a window, Hope could see him blow out the candle and follow the woman’s trail. The hummingbird lifted off of her shoulder, letting her know that it was safe to move forward. She eased upright and glanced around to make sure she was still alone. Carefully, she crept across the path and slipped inside the building. She knew that the place she stood inside would one day become ruins and meld into the caves, earth and sea around her. Hope’s guide flew in the open window, and then out. Hope knew the bird was keeping watch.

  Scrolls lay everywhere, and the strong scent of ink filled the air. What was she going to do? She couldn’t take them all back with her, but she had to make sure she found the right one. Hope stepped behind a crude desk and touched the surface, then listened. She had a sense that she needed to tune back into the man who had just buried the scrolls to return to his wife.

  “Did you finish, my love?” It was the woman’s voice.

  Hope heard the clatter of dishes as he settled into his place at the table. “Complete at last. I tucked the final jar in the lowest opening then sealed it up. They’ll never think to look beneath their feet.” He laughed. “All of the other pieces left out on the floor are nothing. They are nonsense, which will confuse the Romans.”

  Hope spun around and scanned the floor. In the far corner, there was a dark spot of clay that was barely bigger than her fist. She scrambled across the room, dropped to her knees, and dug through the still-moist patch. A few inches down, her fingers brushed the lid of a jar and Hope eased it out, not daring to glance over her shoulder. She needed to work quickly and trust that she’d hear anything out of the ordinary. Her guide would warn her as well.

  She hadn’t been in touch with her horse since she’d sent it in a separate direction, but she was sure that the horse was also working for her in the same way.

  The jar was small and fit in the palm of her hand. She needed to make sure it was the right one, then she had to get out of here.

  The ink was barely dry, but Hope scanned the Hebrew writings. It was some kind of prophecy. There was also what looked like a list. Maybe names and there were numbers, too. Hope tucked the scroll into her back pocket. The second scroll held information, too—another list and more numbers. It was all written in ancient Hebrew and she could only understand so much of it. She had to get back, and get the scrolls to Kylie. The team would have to translate it. These had to be the right scrolls. Had to be.

  A noise. Hope lifted her head and stared out the door into the darkness. Her hummingbird flew in through the window and zoomed around her head and then back out the window. She didn’t like that.

  Hope jammed the empty jar back into the hole and stood, then pushed the clay back into place with her foot and hoped it would cure before the man came back in the morning.

  She wasn’t sure that she wanted to risk crossing the roads and traveling back to her destination point, but she knew Kylie would be protecting it and expecting her there. Should she try to get back inside the villa she’d landed in? That could be risky. She didn’t want to get caught, either. She sighed heavily and decided to make an attempt to at least leave the space she was currently in.

  Connecting back with her horse, she saw his nostrils breathing heavy in her mind’s eye and she pushed her horse and hummingbird to that present of where she belonged to, instead of the one she was standing in. She needed to get back as she tightened her hand around the timepiece. There was nothing to hear. Nothing at all. Until...she lost her guides somehow, and she heard a voice.

  “I knew you could do it. Bravo, Hope. Bravo.”

  Hope gasped and jumped away from the door where her teacher, Gary, blocked her escape. “Gary?” she uttered.

  “Geryon, to be exact. I knew you would lead me here. And, once you found what we needed, I could get it from you. Hand over the scrolls, dear.”

  Hope started to back away, hoping the future present would take hold and send her back to her sister.

  “You’re not going anywhere, kiddo. We have a job to do.” Gary, who now called himself Geryon, grabbed Hope’s arm and yanked her from the room.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  I heard the shots and shouts before I came out of the opening of the cave. I ducked back inside, stood close to the wall and took hold of my own weapon. I knew that Ayden and Noah were firing back, and they probably needed my help.

  More gunshots from above where a section of scaffolding was set up in an area where some refurbishing was obviously going on. Outside was dark, and I couldn’t see our assailants. Plus, I had no idea where Noah or Ayden were and if I yelled out for them, I’d only be giving their location away. I started to move.

  “Kylie!” I heard my name. “Down!” It wasn’t Noah or Ayden. At least it didn’t sound like either of them. But I knew the voice and my brain was trying to process it as I dove for the ground, knowing that the order was meant to protect me. As I dove for the ground, a round of gunfire shot over my head, and a body dropped only feet from me.

  This was exactly what my guide the hummingbird had shown me—but what the little bugger hadn’t shown me was how to get out of this mess.

  The shouting continued, mainly in Russian. I had no time to audially tune into Noah or Ayden, much less Hope, who I knew could return to the present at any time, and I definitely didn’t want her returning into the line of fire.

  I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. I had to be careful about pulling the trigger at someone. I didn’t want to shoot one of my guys. When I saw the size of the guy coming at me, I knew it wasn’t Ayden or Noah and I took the shot. The massive man pommeled forward and hit the ground hard—dead.

  Another round of gunshots, and then everything was quiet—eerily so.

  I heard my name. “Kylie! They’re down.” It was Ayden. I spotted him atop the scaffolding. “So is Noah. Come quick!”

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  John had found them by tuning in, in ways he hadn’t used in a couple of years. He knew that Kylie and the guys were in trouble, so after leaving Orlenda’s body, he hotwired a car and made his way to the caves.

  He’d been able to find a spot where he could see Kylie walk Hope down into the cave, but then the gunfire had started and he’d gone to work along with Ayden and Noah. He’d had to work hard to keep from being shot by either side. If the PSI team spotted him, they’d think him an enemy and vice versa with the Russian goons.

  All seemed quiet now as he knew the team was regrouping. Would Kylie have recognized his voice? He’d had no way around not shouting at her. He hadn’t been able to get a target on the man who had been coming at her from behind, without risking shooting her. He’d had to yell at her to duck so that he could take aim.

  Hopefully, she’d been so distracted that his voice hadn’t registered in her psyche.

  He swallowed hard as he ducked into one of the caves. He hadn’t been this clos
e to her in a very, very long time and he could almost smell her. The day they thought he’d betrayed him had been a similar type of shootout situation.

  John clenched his teeth at the memory of it all, but he didn’t have time at the moment to take this trip down memory lane. He was sure there were more enemies who would be gunning for the team—and for him—and he wanted to help if he could. He also knew that Kylie’s sister would be returning from the past at some point, and the girl needed to be protected at all costs.

  John was worried about Noah. He knew his old friend was hurt, and in the past, John would’ve been right there to heal him. But now, he couldn’t even if he wanted to. Now, all he would do was cause him harm.

  Not harm, he thought bitterly. Death.

  Chapter Thirty

  I could hear Noah groan as I made my way up through the scaffolding. Ayden was kneeling beside him. Noah had fallen down a short section of stairs and toppled at the bottom of a large swath of the scaffolding, which had collapsed into a spiderweb of metal and wood, trapping him. There was no way to pull him out without setting down my weapon.

  I looked from him to Ayden. “How bad is it?” I couldn’t see him well in the deepening darkness.

  “I don’t know. But we’ve got to get this off of him and assess the situation. And fast.”

  “Okay. Let me get over to the one side and you on that side. Hang in there, Noah.”

  Our partner grimaced. “You need to find Hope and protect her. Ayden can help me.” He shifted and a section of the scaffolding swayed and somehow tightened around him.

  “Go, Kylie!” grunted Noah. “You’ve got to get to the kid.”

  “He’s right. I’ll help him,” Ayden added.