by Kimbra Swain
I had a wave of exhaustion come over me as they all chatted and planned. Ashley checked proxies and showed Tadeas how it worked on her laptop. I leaned back into the couch and closed my eyes for just a moment. My mind flashed with images of a hastened kiss while the world crumbled around us.
When I opened my eyes, Tadeas sat in the office chair. He leaned back and watched Ashley’s computer.
“You shouldn’t have let me sleep,” I complained.
“You needed it.”
“You need to rest too,” I said.
“Yeah, I will, but not right now. I’m watching the network, and I’m learning a lot. I read some of the information that Tavaris sent. It's all disjointed, and it didn't make much sense,” he said and sipped coffee.
I walked over to where he was watching the screen. A map of the entire Western Hemisphere was vibrantly displayed across the screen. Tiny dots on the map corresponded to every proxy under my watch. They blinked yellow as long as the proxy had made their check-in. I did not see any that weren’t blinking. He clicked on one that showed the timer was about to run out. San Diego’s proxy reached the limit on time to check in. The screen popped up a picture of the proxy with his name. Just before the timer ran out, the dot started blinking again. “Pretty cool. Ashley is actually brilliant with computer stuff. She’s more than just a party planner,” I said and walked over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.
“She has a gift?” he said.
“Yes, they all do. Mostly minor ones, but they all have a talent. Where are they?”
“There’s a pool,” he said smiling.
“It’s pool time?” I asked.
“Let them have a little break,” he said.
“Yes, because I’m such a hard-nosed boss,” I quipped.
“You were pretty brutal to Cassidy,” he said.
“I felt it was necessary, and she is not part of our team,” I explained.
“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” he smiled.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve been on the receiving end,” I said sadly. We had definitely had our fights.
“Maybe it was necessary,” he said.
“No, I was just being stupid,” I admitted. He didn’t comment, but the light in his eye told me that he would save that one for later.
“You want me to make you some tea?” he offered.
“No, this is fine. I know how to make tea,” I said.
“You sure, your microwave skills are lacking,” he teased remembering my failure in his apartment in the compound to use his microwave.
“I’m in a training class. Mr. Duarte’s Microwaving 101,” I teased. Besides, I don’t have my favorite mug here.” He had given me a glossy black coffee mug with matte black jaguar spots. It proudly proclaimed ‘I love Jaguars.’ I hoped it made it out of the compound.
“It’s upstairs in the kitchen,” he said.
“Is it really?”
“Yeah, Ashley made sure it got packed. I can go get it,” he explained.
“The water is fine for now,” I said watching the screen.
“What is her gift?” he asked.
“Hm, oh, Ashley, premonition,” I said.
“She knows the future?” he was astonished.
“Not exactly, think of it this way. She gets a vague image or feeling that something is going to happen. The further that image is in the future; the more likely it is to degrade. The premonition is based solely on the current history of events. The future is not written, so with future events the image could change,” I tried to explain.
“So what good is it? If the image is too far ahead or future events alter it too much, it seems like it might be useless,” he asked.
“Well, the image means that something is going to happen. One, we know there is something that will happen up to this event. Secondly, you have to prepare for the event, but even in your preparation you can alter the event. You have to work in general terms. She might get an image of you and me in Chicago. She will call and make several reservations at different restaurants and hotels to accommodate the possibility that we will be there. She’s not altered the image to make us change course, she’s accommodated the possibility that it might happen. Let me use this as an example. If you look at the flame of a candle in the dark, it makes a blurry impression on your retina. As you blink, the image of the candle flame gets darker and blurrier. It continues to blur out the more you blink. A time goes by, eventually, the image disappears. The flame is like the image she gets. After the fourth or fifth blink, the blurry image that remains is more like the actual reality. Make sense?”
“Kind of. How often does she get the images?” he asked.
“It’s constant. She probably knows what happened in the building between us,” I said.
“Ah! No wonder she tried to pull it out of me. Wait, what about the deal at the party? Did she see something that made her think that was necessary?” he asked.
“Yes, probably,” I admitted. “In general, I trust her instincts. I know the nature of her ability. She’s learned to work with it, and it’s a valuable asset.”
“Extremely valuable.”
“As soon as one of them comes back, we need to take a walk around the house on the spirit side,” I said looking at the envelope on the table.
“I don’t fully comprehend the consequences, if you ever decide to sign that paper,” he admitted. He sounded worried.
“I don’t understand them either, so we are in the same predicament,” I said. “I’m not signing them. I have no desire to run the Agency.”
He turned to me and looked me in the eye, “I’m going to play devil’s advocate. Don’t hate me.”
“Okay, go ahead.” This is why I needed him. We saw things very differently most of the time, and I wanted to know how he looked at it.
“The alternative is what? He gives it to one of the Six, and it’s just my impression that whichever one of them got it, it would turn out bad for all of us. The Agency might cease to be. And then who prevents these evil beings from tearing the world apart?” he asked.
“We do. I will never stop my job whether there is an Agency or not. I made the mistake of taking time off once. It was a huge error on my part. We are still behind the game right now. I will never stop again,” I said.
“It’s our job,” he said confidently.
“Yes, our job.”
“I’m not stopping either,” he said watching the screen.
Tadeas was the one of the best people I had known in my life. I knew his feelings and connection to me grew. Perhaps I could find an alternative for his affections. My insides churned at the thought.
“You okay? You just turned green. Are you sick?”
I laughed. “No, I’m fine.”
Ashley came in and smiled at both of us sitting there. “How’s it going?” she asked.
“Good, just watching the blinky dots. You back now?” he asked. She was dressed in a tank top and shorts. Her hair was still wet from the pool.
“Yeah, everyone is going to be back here in a few minutes. I can take over,” she said.
“Okay good, we need to jump spirit side and check a few things out around the house,” Tadeas said.
“Be careful,” she said.
“Why? Is something going to happen?” he asked
She turned and looked at me, “You told him?”
“You know I did,” I responded.
“Whatever. Tadeas, I said be careful, because I want you to be careful. I don’t see everything all the time,” she explained.
“Sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be. And yes, I know what you two did in the compound collapse, but I won’t tell,” she grinned.
“Okay, enough, let's go,” I grabbed his hand, and we moved to the middle of the room. He blushed and my insides churned again. He looked back at Ashley, and she watched us intently. “Ahem!” I fake cleared my throat. He looked back at me with a devilish grin and stepped very close to me. His arms wrapp
ed around me tightly, and I realized what he was doing.
I wrapped my arms around her. She had that smug look on her face, but her eyes widened when I pulled her close to me. I could feel Ashley watching us. I moved into her lips, and she cracked a smile and laughed. She knew what I was doing. Before my lips touched hers, I pulled on the veil, and we found ourselves in the spirit world. I heard Ashley swear behind us as the curtain closed.
“You are the devil,” she said.
“I am indeed.” I let her go and she stumbled a little. “Whoa, sorry.”
“We are both going to never hear the end of it now,” she said.
“We were in for that anyway,” I said. “Let’s look around.” Exploring both the basement and main floors, we found nothing that would work as a hiding place for the contract. In the upstairs bedroom, we found a gap in the wall between the closet and bathroom. We stood inside the gap, and I shifted us back to the real world.
“Looks like someone planned for a panic room or something here. It’s small, but I can make it work. There is no door.” she said feeling around the edges of the wall.
“What do you need to do?” I asked.
“I will have to create a time warp similar to my vault back home, only smaller. It would be best if we had a box or something to put this in. “It would give me an object to focus on besides just the folder, plus provide an extra measure of protection,” she said.
Shifting back to the spirit world, I went down to the office on the main floor. I remembered seeing a fire box there when Lianne gave Abby the contract. I shifted to get the box, then back to the spirit world to pass through the wall where Abby waited. Taking a moment to look at her, I remembered the first time I saw her in the spirit world. In the compound while in my class, a magical binding held her abilities, and at the time I didn’t know what it was. My instincts were to try to save her, but Meredith talked me out of “saving” her. That’s what started this whole whirlwind. I shifted back to her, and she smiled when she saw the box.
“That’s perfect,” she put the folder in the box, and the box on the floor. She called the lightning orb to her hand, “Fulmen.” She made a widening motion using both hands. The orb was now slightly bigger than the box. She spoke Latin again, “Impingo.” The orb hit the bare wood floor and burned a circle around the box. The last time I’d seen her do this was in Paris. The orb was huge, and we were inside it.
“What’s next?” I asked.
“The hard part. I’ve got to make everything in that circle including the box shift back in time 2 seconds. Which means if I ever need to retrieve it, I will have to go back in time 2 seconds,” she explained. She turned and put her hand on the hip pocket of my pants. I jumped not expecting her to touch me.
“Whoa, there sweetheart,” I said startled.
“Oh, calm down. I need your knife,” she said.
“You know my knife is in my boot,” I explained.
“Oh, my bad, that’s right. May I have your knife please?” she said.
I reached down and pulled it out. She pricked her finger and touched the circle. It snapped into place with a slight breeze. She reached out and touched the invisible barrier, a blue light sizzling around her hands. “Duo tempora praeterita.” The box shimmered and faded away.
“Neat,” I said.
“Neat? That’s all you got?” She turned and faced me in the small space.
“Abigail, you are the most amazing, wondrous, powerful wizard I’ve ever known. I would bow, my lady, but alas, there is no room,” I said.
“Give me a break,” she laughed. “Let’s get out of the wall, please.”
With the devilish grin I gave her earlier, I reached for her, and she smirked. I didn’t make a move this time while shifting us into the spirit world so we could pass through the wall.
“You are evil,” she proclaimed.
“What? I didn’t do anything,” I confessed, and shifted one last time back to the bedroom.
“You thought about it though,” she claimed. I seriously thought about it, but lost my nerve.
“You should call Samara,” I reminded her. “It would be intensely valuable for us to be able to have the magic on that side.”
“Good idea. I’ll go downstairs and get my phone,” she said smiling at me. She walked out of the room, and I sat on the edge of the bed. The tension between us was torturous for me. I stuck the knife back in my boot and decided to live with the torture in hopes that it would work to my benefit, eventually.
Lukas had returned, and he brought more weapons than we requested. I looked for Abby, but she was out on the patio talking on the phone. I found the pair of Sig Sauer P226s that I requested. There was a shoulder holster, and an ankle rig. I looked at Lukas. “This is perfect, Lukas. Thank you.”
“You are welcome. I have extensive contacts, so it wasn’t a problem. If you think of anything else, let me know.”
“I will,” I started looking at all the other stuff there. He had flash bang grenades, explosive grenades, and several land mines. There was also a small stack of C4. My eyes widened, because apparently, he had very good connections. I looked back to the patio, and Abby wasn’t alone. I guess I had gotten distracted by the weapons, and Lukas was out there with her.
I tried not to stare, but I kept an eye on them while Tony and Tommy sorted the weapons stash. I found a box of 9mm shells and started loading my new pistols.
I listened to her heartbeat as she talked to Lukas. She needed to clear the air with him, especially if we were going to be based out of Los Angeles now. Lukas would take every opportunity to be with her, and I couldn’t blame him. I was content to let them talk for now.
Ashley moved up next to me as I loaded the weapon, “Nice guns.”
“Thanks. Abby had a pair, that I commandeered, but they got lost in the fray of the compound,” I explained.
“Are you going to leave them out there alone?” she asked.
I looked down at the guns. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”
“Because I could have sworn you were in love with her, and if she spends too much time with him, she will remember what they used to have,” she said.
“Ashley, you know, not because of some premonition, but because you know her, that she has absolutely forbidden anything between us. I am not sure of what I want either. If in the meantime, she finds happiness again, then I will be happy for her,” I said. I didn’t believe it myself, but I said it anyway.
“You are a liar,” Ashley said flatly. “If you don’t want to go against what she wants, that’s fine, but I’d be damned if I let someone I loved fall for someone else.”
“It’s not my business what happens between them. She told me that Lukas was in the past. I have to trust that,” I said. This was true. I had told Meredith over and over that my dealings with Abigail were none of her business. I was eating my own words now.
“You are going to lose her,” Ashley said.
“Ash, I know you care about her and want her to be happy, but please for the both of us, stop pushing. I can’t lose something that I don’t have,” I said. It was painful to say it, but no matter what had happened between us, we weren’t together. Partners, yes. More than that, absolutely not. I looked back up to her and Lukas outside. He sat down next to her on the swing. They were deep in conversation.
Taking the guns, ammo and holsters, I decided to finish loading in the master bedroom. Ashley rattled me, and I couldn’t watch them. Sometimes I thought the bond made me feel beyond what was really there, and I needed to clear my mind. When I got upstairs, I laid back on the bed and listened to the faint beating of her heart.
I went outside and dialed the number for Jasper Samara’s answering service in Dubai. “Hello, you have reached the answering service for Jasper Samara, how may I help you?” a female voice answered.
“Hello, I am Abigail Davenport. I was Mr. Samara’s apprentice. I would like to speak to him as soon as possible about an important matter,” I said and gave my number to the
female.
“I will pass this message along to him, Miss Davenport. He is currently travelling across Asia, but he should check in soon,” she explained.
“I appreciate it,” I said and hung up the phone. As I sat down on the swing, Lukas came in carrying several cases. Tony and Tommy ran up the stairs like kids on Christmas morning. Nothing got those two excited like a bunch of weapons. After a few minutes, Tony and Tommy came in with more cases. They started pulling all of it out. I watched as they made inventory lists. Tadeas came down from the bedroom where I had left him. Among the horde of weaponry, he found a couple of pistols and a shoulder rig. My phone rang.
“Davenport,” I said.
“Miss Abigail, It’s Tavaris.”
“Hello, how may I help you?”
“You said you would arrive tomorrow, right?
“Yes, we will arrive tomorrow evening.” I knew I had told him all of this. “What’s wrong Tavaris?”
“Miss Abby, please don’t kill me, but I’m positive someone on the inside had something to do with this,” he said.
“Tavaris, I think you will find that I’m a lot more tolerant than I used to be. I am not going to kill you unless you are about to tell me that you killed Andrew.”
“No, it wasn’t me, but I think it was my brother,” he said. His brother, Jamal, had been in prison for drugs, trafficking, theft and a whole plethora of charges. Jamal never bought into cleaning up his life like Tavaris did. He could have joined Tavaris in Andrew’s network, but he couldn’t stay out of jail.
“Jamal is out of prison? That's hardly someone on the inside. Besides, are you sure?” I asked.
“Miss Abby, Jamal got out of prison five years ago. He’d cleaned up, and Andy let him join the crews. Just last year Andy promoted him to head of security,” he explained.
“Your delinquent brother was Andrew’s head of security? I swear to God that man’s heart was too good.” I said. Jamal should have never been allowed that close to the operations since he had a proven track record for criminal activities.
“He had cleaned up,” Tavaris protested.
“And yet, you defend him, even though you think he killed your boss?” I said.