Intuition (The Path to Redemption Series Book 2)

by Kimbra Swain

  “Yes, I can. Lest you forget that I learned my tactics from you, so I am quite capable. Am I not?” I said.

  “I think this is foolish. You need back-up, and not from some human toy you have,” he said revealing his true feelings.

  “Fuck off, Lincoln,” I shouted slamming the phone.

  “That went well,” Ashley said dryly.

  “I thought so,” I replied, trying to catch my breath. I sighed. “I was fine until he cut down Lukas.”

  “He isn’t wrong. This is over Lukas’s head,” Ashley said.

  I sighed, “I know. It’s over my head.”

  Lukas came back in. “I’ve got all available crews checking warehouses. I’ve made a call to Detective Sanchez at LAPD. I’ll have something soon. Are you okay?”

  “Thank you. I need to talk to you about a personnel matter,” I said, shooting a look at Ashley. She took the cue and left the room.

  He sat back down in the chair. “What personnel matter?”

  “I would like you to release Dr. Ichiro Maki from his duties,” but before I could continue he interrupted me.

  “No, I’m not going to fire Ichiro. He’s awesome. He and Jackie run that department like a well-oiled machine. Do you know something I don’t?”

  I smiled at him, “I want you to make him available to join my team. I’ve needed a team doctor for quite some time. We could have used him in Guatemala. He and I have spoken about it in the last couple of months, and he wants to join us. I told him it would be up to you since you were his boss.”

  “I won’t keep him here if he doesn’t want to be here,” he said.

  “I know, but it’s more than that. I think he and Dr. Vargas had a relationship, and it ended badly. I think they both are having a hard time working together,” I explained.

  He grimaced. He knew about the relationship. He was a good proxy and kept up with all his people, even their private lives, “Yes, I’ve spoken to Jackie on several occasions. She is upset. I also know she is quite capable of running the department herself. They might both be more productive if they could work separately. I consent to him leaving the Los Angeles office as long as he intends to work for you. Plus, it will be nice to know you have someone to patch you up when you get yourself into messes.”

  “I don’t get myself into anything. Bad things find me,” I quipped.

  “Still, I’d like to know you had some measure of medical attention. He’s good. I trust him,” he said.

  I smiled at him as there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” we both said.

  Mrs. Lambert entered, followed by Ashley. She knew our conversation was over. She knew I wanted to bring Maki on to our team agreeing it was a good move.

  “Mr. Castille, I hate to bother you, but there are some gentlemen that have arrived for your 2 o’clock meeting. They are in the board room,” she said.

  “Oh, I forgot about that. Thank you, Mrs. Lambert. I’ve got to go. This involves some new security features I’m looking into for the offices. I’ll be back soon,” he stood as he buttoned his jacket. I stood up and straightened his tie, which didn’t need to be straightened. He kissed me lightly, leaving the room with Mrs. Lambert.

  “It’s good to see you happy, Abby,” Ashley said.

  “It’s good to be happy,” I replied.

  “Are you going to tell him about the oracle in Guatemala?” she asked.

  “That woman was not an oracle. She’s a blind, crazy woman,” I retorted.

  “You know as well as I do that she was more than just crazy. She was far from blind.”

  I sighed, “Yes, I know, but I doubt I’ll come across any jaguar shapeshifters any time soon.”

  She handed me a manila folder. I sat down next to her and looked at it. “Open it,” she said.

  “I’m going to hate you, aren’t I?”

  “Probably,” she said.

  I opened the file folder, and the warm smile of a young Hispanic man looked back at me. The file was for a jaguar shifter that worked for the Agency at the Boulder compound. I only looked at the first page. I noticed that we were born in the same year. He was born in January of 1892, and I was born in June. He was a trainer for canvas crews. I shut the file and didn’t look any further. I handed it back to her. “I don’t want to know,” I said.

  “Curiosity isn’t wrong Abigail. You aren’t cheating on Lukas by reading a file,” she said.

  “Let’s get one thing straight. I love Lukas. I don’t care what some crazy, blind woman in a market in Guatemala said about a soul mate. You can’t throw a file at me, and just assume this is what she meant?” I was frustrated.

  “It’s not a soul mate, Abby! A soul bond is very different. I just thought it was a coincidence,” she said.

  “It’s not a coincidence. It’s a distraction. Did you have some premonition about a jaguar or about this Tadeas Duarte?” I asked.

  “No, I just thought it was interesting. I’m sorry I brought it up,” she said.

  I marched back over to the desk and started going through the files on Lukas’s desk. They were all the incidents in the city since we left. Ashley picked up the folders with the files from the rituals to peruse them again. I felt bad for getting angry at her. Lincoln started it. I just hadn’t let go of that frustration yet. Knowing Lincoln, he probably travelled through the spirit world to get here immediately, or he planned to very soon. I did not want to see him.

  My confrontation with Lincoln put me in a sour mood, and I felt bad about snapping at Ashley. “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “I know you are,” she replied.

  While in Antigua, Guatemala, we went to the local market one day. It was a beautiful sight. Full of color and life, the market bustled with activity. We walked up and down through the stalls admiring the goods and making a few purchases. We got to the end of one of the rows, and woman sat on a cushion with a large colorful blanket under it. By the opaque color of her eyes, I could tell she was blind. She sat smiling, then she spoke to me.

  “Hija del sol. I see you. Please come here, my lady,” she spoke in English.

  “Miss Davenport, Abuela está locá. Please come this way,” Lucio Hernandez, the new proxy I’d just chosen, said as he placed his hand on my elbow to lead me away.

  “Mr. Hernandez, do not suppose that you know the world as I do. Do not suppose that just because I am blind that I cannot see,” she said. He froze in his tracks. I tilted my head.

  “Have you spoken to her before? You called her grandmother,” I asked him.

  “No, I avoid the riff raff. She will only try to take your money, and she calls herself grandmother,” he said.

  “Oh, well then, I have nothing to lose. I’ll give her money out of curiosity,” I said, approaching her. “Hello Mujer Sabia, how did you know that I am a child of the sun?”

  “Because you radiate light,” she replied. I lifted my eyebrow skeptical. I reached out with my power, and I felt a surge of energy pulsing off the woman in waves. “No temas, my lady. Please sit with me.”

  Timidly, I walked to her and sat on the edge of one of her colorful blankets. “What are you?” I asked.

  “I see things,” she replied.

  “You are an oracle?” I asked.

  “I keep time,” she replied. I felt a wave of power brush pass me. I turned to look at Ashley, her eyes panicked. Tony and Tommy rushed to the blanket. I raised my hands to tell them to stop. I made a circular motion with my fingers pointed down, requesting them to monitor the perimeter. Abuela had put a silence bubble around us.

  “Now, speak,” I said to her. “I will hear you.”

  “But will you listen?” she replied.

  “I’m not fond of oracles who speak in riddles. The message gets twisted and perverted. If you are that sort, I have nothing more to say to you,” I replied.

  “Your arrogance is almost endearing, Sun Child,” she said, waving her hand above the blanket. A circle appeared with various Mayan symbols. She shook her fis
t, and I heard a slight rattle. She cast the contents of her hand across the circle. She performed a divination with seeds. “Where is your bond mate?”

  “My mate is back home in Los Angeles,” I replied.

  “He is not your bond. Your soul bond. Your bond has brown skin and black hair,” she replied as she pointed to a symbol on the circle where one of the red seeds sat.

  I groaned. “Lincoln and I used to be together, but no more.”

  She chuckled, “I see now. You speak of the twin. I, too, have twins. Grandsons not of my blood. But I do not speak of the hunter.”

  “Then, I do not know of whom you speak,” I replied. She had power. I had no doubts, but just because you were powerful didn’t mean you were sane.

  “Ah, your ways have not crossed. Yes, I see that now. Time is all at once for me. Sometimes I have trouble telling the past from the future. Your father is very proud of you,” she continued.

  “My father tried to have me killed,” I replied.

  “No, your father is un guardián del cielo,” she corrected me.

  “I suppose, George is a father figure. He was once a guardian of heaven,” I replied.

  “There is so much you do not see. You are the light along your own path, but the darkness just beyond you conceals the truth,” she said. “You are a daughter of the sun. You will be the partner of a nahual.”

  “What is a nahual?” I asked.

  “You call them shifters. In your case, he will be a jaguar. A guardian. Your soul bond,” she pressed.

  “I already have two ‘mates’, so the last thing I need is another one,” I responded.

  “When the time is right, you will only have one,” she said confidently.

  “You’ve told me nothing important,” I said.

  “How do you know if it is important or not? It may not be at the moment, but time says it will be,” she replied.

  “Who are you?” I questioned.

  “I have been called Xmucane. My mate and I watch time. We watch you,” she said and her opaque eyes started to glow with a godly light.

  “You are a Mayan goddess?” I questioned.

  “You know my name then. Good, good,” she smiled. “When you return to this country, bring your bond, and my consort Xpiacoc will bless your union. It will be our gift to you. I look forward to seeing you again, Abigail Sophia Davenport.”

  I froze as she spoke my name. My whole name. The privacy bubble she placed around us evaporated, and her eyes turned opaque again. I sat transfixed. She ignored me. She acted as if I weren’t there anymore. Tony pulled me to my feet looking back at the others.

  “We are leaving with her now,” he said. They all nodded, and Ashley walked up, linking her arm with mine.

  “Are you okay?” she said.

  “Yeah, sure. Just completely weirded out. No big deal,” I responded. She laughed a little.

  “You get yourself in the strangest messes,” she said.

  “Life would be boring without me,” I responded.

  “I think we are due for some boring,” she replied as we approached the vehicles.

  “I am ready to go home,” I said.

  “To the island?” she said as her eyes darkened.

  “No, to Lukas,” I said, smiling at her. She smiled back and shook her head at me.

  “That sounds great. Today?” she asked. She planned our escape from Guatemala already. I could see it in her eyes.

  “As soon as possible,” I replied.

  I told her about the conversation with the Mayan Goddess on the way home. Ashley always had a unique perspective on things. “A jaguar. Rawr. That sounds sexy,” she said. And most of them involved sexual activity. She needed to get laid badly.

  “Are you going to ask Lukas about Ichiro?” she asked.

  “Are you interested in Ichiro?” I asked.

  “No, Abby, you know I live vicariously through you,” she said. Of that, I had no doubt.

  “He’s cute,” I offered.

  “Meh, he’s okay,” she said.

  I laughed. “Yes, when we get back, I’m going to request that the proxy release him to work for me,” I said.

  “Yay!” she clapped and giggled. She thought he was cute.

  Lukas returned from his meeting in a great mood. I smiled at his enthusiasm. He had missed me. It was nice to be missed. Mrs. Lambert came in and handed him a piece of paper with a written message. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said picking up the phone on his desk.

  “Sanchez, please. This is Lukas Castille from KBS,” he stated. He came to this very naturally. I watched him in wonder. Ashley had never had such a completely perfect premonition. “Javier! Thank you for returning my call.” The man on the other end began to talk. I couldn’t make it out without using magic. Lukas would tell us what we needed to know. I did not want to interfere with his job. He didn’t need me to. His blue eyes turned dark.

  “Yes, Javy, I understand. She has returned from Guatemala and will be working the case. I’ll tell her what you’ve found. Thank you very much. I’ll keep you in the loop.” He paused, listening to the detective. “There is no way man. You cheated last time. Yes, double or nothing. We get this ritual thing settled, and you’re on!” He laughed without humor. He hung up the phone, and his eyes met mine.

  “What is it?”

  “Three others besides the one we found,” he said. “I don’t know how there have been that many without my knowledge.”

  “Do we know the victims?”

  “No,” he said.

  “Maybe the victims are your people, Lukas. Run a count.” I said.

  He grimaced and picked up the phone again. “Hey Lucky, run a count for me. Send the word. I need the count as soon as possible.”

  “Lucky?”

  “He runs that bar I own down on Sunset. I use it as a hub for information,” he explained. I made note of him making moves that I did not teach him.

  “We will figure it out. I promise.”

  “I’m going downstairs to talk to Maki. Want to meet me in about 30 minutes? I want to take you to dinner,” he said.

  “Sure. I’ll make a couple of inquires back at headquarters. I’ll meet you down there,” I said. He passed me on the way out, and I squeezed his hand. He hated people dying in his town.

  “Want me to jet?” Ashley asked.

  I sighed. “Yes.”

  “Helping Lukas is more important,” she added before she walked out the door.

  “I know,” I said. I sat down at his desk once again. He was neatly organized. Just to the left of center he had a photograph of us. I hated photographs, but he insisted we have one made together. It was endearing, and I loved him for it. I loved him for a lot of reasons. I just hoped he wouldn’t hate me after the phone call I was about to make.

  I dialed the number. His calm steady voice answered, “Lincoln.”

  “I need the information, Lincoln. As soon as you can,” I said quietly.

  “How bad is it?”

  “Four total,” I replied.

  “Abby,” he said.

  “I know. Please don’t ruin this for me,” I begged.

  “I promise I won’t, but you need help. I will stay out of your relationship with the human. I swear to you on my power,” he said. I felt the cool oath settle on me.

  “Chaha’oh, that was not necessary,” I said. I always called him Shadow in his own language because of his ability to shift into the spirit world. When I first saw that plane, it reminded me of a land of shadows. A land of shades and spirits. He called me Ajéí. His heart.

  “Tell me what you want me to do, and I will do it,” he said softly.

  “Are there any knowns in the area?”

  “It’s unknown, but perhaps someone from your recent trip to Guatemala,” he said.

  “I’ve only been back a day. The rituals have been going on for four days. There will be another tonight, yes?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Who did you provoke in Guatemala?”

  �
��You read the report?”

  “Yes, but I know you. You never tell the whole truth,” he said with a hint of humor.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure,” I said.

  “I’m on my way with a team. We will stay out of your way, but you know they must be stopped,” he said firmly.

  “Yes, I know,” I replied.

  “Yes?” he asked surprised.

  “Yes,” I said. I swallowed, “I need help, and don’t you dare say anything else.”

  He grunted and hung up the phone. My heart split in two all over again. He would operate outside of the proxy’s establishment, but I wouldn’t hide it from Lukas. I’d tell him tonight once we got out of the building.

  “You usually aren’t nervous about a job,” he said.

  “There are too many unknown variables with this one,” I replied.

  “Stay connected to me, and everything will be fine,” Tadeas assured me.

  “I dislike brutality.”

  “Necessary evil?” he asked.

  “No, just necessary,” I said. I placed my arm on his, and we exited the private plane on the attached stairs. Angelo Giordano waited for us on the tarmac. He had six men that I could see. I felt two others in the car beyond him. I cast my thoughts to Tadeas, feeling his acknowledgement. I reached further and felt another two cars approaching. We stopped five feet in front of Giordano and his men.

  “Miss Abigail Davenport, daughter of Helios, son of Hyperion, magistrate of the Western Hemisphere, welcome to New York,” he stated. He offered no hospitality.

  “Mr. Angelo Giordano, regent of the East Coast, father of the families, thank you for meeting me on such short notice. Allow me to introduce Tadeas Duarte, my chosen partner, part of the inner circle,” I said to him.

  “Mr. Duarte, welcome to New York,” he stated.

  Tadeas nodded at him. “Formalities, but no hospitality.”

  “I will end him,” I stated. I reached out again, deeper this time. I pulled power from all directions. When I did it, I could feel the wielder he had in his pocket concealed nearby. I alerted Tadeas who were dealing with, making him grimace.