Malevolent

by S. Peters Davis

  The shadow of the SUV didn’t block my view of him rolling his eyes, nor the sound of his skeptical gasp.

  Every part of me tensed, my hands fisted. An overbearing urge to punch his face ripped along my nerves. “I’m not a witch, simply a believer in a Divine Source. I only use nature as a natural healing resource.” I’d never explained my belief to anyone, it just was what I believed to be true. Nor had I ever been challenged. “I’m tired. Where am I supposed to sleep?”

  “Look, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just a lot to take in at once.” His words might have been apologetic if his tone wasn’t coated in judgment. He had both of our carry-ons over his shoulder and my suitcase in the opposite hand. “Let’s go, I’ll show you the way to the cottage.”

  We walked side-by-side around the garage, more lights flipped on. He must have a total light system set up with motion sensors. On the backside of the house, a brick path led the way across his yard and into the woods. Lights popped on as we neared the cottage.

  Exhaustion consumed me and stole my patience. I simply wanted sleep like I’d been awake for days. Honestly, after the last ten days, would I ever catch up on my rest?

  He opened the door and clicked on the lights, setting my luggage down.

  My breath caught as I scanned the cottage interior. An open concept layout of knotty pinewood, like Derek’s log home, including a smaller version of his stone fireplace, gave way to a large living space. The kitchen took up the opposite side of the room. A door was open to the bedroom and another doorway led to a bathroom. Wow. The warm colors and woodsy scent gave the single-level cottage a cozy feel that somehow reminded me of home.

  “Sleep well, Kendra. I’ll see you in the morning.” Derek left, closing the door.

  I wandered around the cottage in a daze and discovered a three-season room of wall length windows off the back. I stepped out to investigate. A wicker couch with a table in front faced the forest view.

  Twilight sifted through the trees, a reminder sunrise would soon follow. I used the bathroom and then turned off the trail of lights to the bedroom. The bed appeared inviting as my lids grew heavy. Not bothering to shuffle through my suitcase for pajamas, I undressed to my bra and underwear then snuggled under the covers. Tears crowded my eyes as I nodded off thinking of girls too young and how to rescue them from Buster’s hold and the human traffickers.

  * * *

  Derek

  I rapped on the door of the cottage, no sound came from within. I made a quick decision to walk in, get a pot of coffee brewing, and then awaken Kendra. After finishing my second cup of coffee, I poured her a cup then went to the bedroom door. “Kendra, rise and shine. It’s meeting time and we’re late.”

  Rustling from the other side of the door told me Kendra shifted in the bed, but I didn’t hear her feet hit the floor. I cracked the door then strolled to the curtains and slid them open.

  She startled awake, blinking her eyes against the filtered sunlight streaming across the room.

  “Ready for a cup of java?” I set the cup on the nightstand beside her.

  “Yes, most definitely,” she replied with a morning huskiness.

  “Get a move on, sleepyhead. We’ve got a malevolent ghost to bust.”

  She whipped the covers away and swung her legs off the edge of the bed.

  My breath caught. I stood only a few feet away from her near-nakedness. My out of control observation meandered, noting her delicate curves in all the right places for such a tall, slender woman.

  She gasped and pulled the sheet barely over her breasts. “Um, sorry about that. I’ll get dressed and meet you in the great room.” A blush reddened her face, sliding down her neck and over the subtle mounds above her lacy bra.

  I dragged my gaze to meet her violet eyes, spotting a reflection of what I was feeling. A firestorm unleashed inside of me. I wanted her in my arms, but instead, I walked out of the room without a word, not trusting my urges or anything I might say.

  Her suitcases still stood where I’d left them the night before. I carried them to the bedroom, setting them next to the door. “Let me guess, you’re looking for the suitcase and overnight bag.”

  “You are on fire with those detective skills.” She cracked the door and peeked out.

  I handed her the luggage, which gave me a flash of her soft pink bra and panties. Again, my focus was driven, holding the steering wheel without consent, like the blood thundering through my veins. “Sorry to pressure you, Kendra, but the team is already with Jackson. They’ve started the meeting.”

  Her gaze caught mine and a slow smile crossed her tempting lips.

  Even though her face held an innocent blush, her bold stance as she reached for her luggage sent my blood into another frenzy, this time against my trousers. I turned away from her to hide my physical response, and said, “I’m sorry about last night, questioning your belief. All of this is new to me. It’s going to take some time to understand. Please don’t give up on me.” I heard her step away from the open door and closed my eyes for a heartbeat. A groan escaped.

  “I’ll only be a second. Got to brush my teeth and freshen my face,” she called to me.

  “I better wait for you in the SUV.” I needed my head on the case, and Kendra distracted me like no woman ever had. Sure, I’d played the field a bit, but none of those women came close to Kendra. And, honestly, how do I feel about her? It’s only been ten days since we first met.

  My cell rang. I grabbed it from my pocket. Tressa. I answered, “We’re about forty minutes out, just getting ready to leave my place.”

  “Pack for a few days stay in Wilmington and bring your luggage with you. Text when you get close. We left the meeting. Director Powers excused us to get a few tasks done until you arrive.”

  I stood beside the SUV and Kendra came around the corner of the garage. She’d pulled her dark hair into a clip, escaping tendrils framed her face. “I’ll text,” I told Tressa, and then hung up as Kendra walked over. She wore white slacks and a matching short-fitted blazer. Her irises appeared stained the same purple as her blouse. Beautiful.

  “Was that something about the case?” She nodded toward the pocket where I’d just tucked my cell phone.

  “Only that the meeting with Jackson finished up and will resume once we arrive. But, we have to pack our bags because we’re going to be staying in Wilmington for the next few days.”

  “Guess that won’t be too hard for me. Everything is still packed. Maybe I should take some things out of the bag though. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be here, so I packed more than enough.”

  “I’ve got a smaller suitcase you can use. We’ll have to hurry though, everyone’s waiting on us.”

  Chapter Four

  Kendra

  After a speedy drive into the city, Derek and I rode the elevator to the fifth floor of the FBI Headquarters.

  Darla stepped around her desk in the reception area and led us to the conference room. “The meeting resumed. I was directed to escort you as soon as you arrived.” She opened the door and waved her arm for us to enter.

  Derek and I settled in the empty chairs across from Luke, Ray, and Tressa. Jackson, looking as though he hadn’t slept at all, stood at the head of the table.

  “WPD Director Robert Gimbel set up a meeting with Tory James tomorrow, but he refused to share anything with me over the phone, even the exact location of the meeting. Perhaps you’ll have better luck with Ms. James in person. I gave Tressa the details, she’s probably already set up your travel and accommodations.” He nodded to Tressa.

  “The flight is scheduled to take off at 11:45 this morning, and the hotel arrangements have also been made, Sir,” she said.

  “Good.” Jackson eyed Derek, his jaw tensed. “We’ve looked over the trucker’s logbook and figured the last seventy-two hours of entries are fabricated. There’s a team working with satellite images backtracking the truck’s route. So far, we know Detroit, Michigan was one of its stops. Not from satellite images
, but from the driver’s one use of a credit card found in his wallet, even though it was a stolen card. Apparently, the truck didn’t follow interstate expressways, making it harder to track, and he used cash. Hundreds of dollars were stashed in the glove compartment.”

  Jackson rolled out his chair and sat. “Luke, Ray, Tressa, you’re excused to ready yourselves for the trip.” He turned to Derek. “I’d like you and Kendra to stay for a moment.”

  Derek and I waited while the others filed out the door, and then he said, “It’s too bad that truck driver’s spirit didn’t stick around long enough for Kendra to get the goods on him.” He shoved his chair away from the table as if throwing in an animated exclamation mark. After a sigh, he said, “How are we to find out the location of our meeting with Ms. James?”

  “Director Gimbel will meet you tonight for a drink. Tressa has that information also.” Jackson rose from his chair and strode over to them. “Kendra, sorry about making you head off again when you no more than touched down. Are you up for this?”

  “More than you know.” I stood and gave him a hug, thinking of the innocent girls and the beast, Buster. “Those girls need to be rescued asap.”

  “Glad you’re on board. I’m happy Jenna will also be there to help.” He stepped back and scanned the room.

  “She’s not here this morning, but I know she’s all-in to stop the sick minds that are trafficking children.” I wondered about Jenna. She rarely passed up a chance to visit her father with me. The last time I’d seen her was when I first arrived at Derek’s. We were talking about my belief and how it was similar to Jenna’s significant other, Lisa. At some point, we should probably stop in and check on Lisa, let her know how Jenna was doing.

  He nodded and then led us out the door. “You may be in Wilmington for an extended stay.”

  * * *

  The flight from D.C. to Wilmington took a little over an hour. As soon as we departed the plane, a large black van parked on the tarmac for us. The attendant passed our luggage out to Ray and Luke from a separate door on the plane, and they loaded all of the bags into the back of the van. Tressa had booked us at the Wingate on Market Street, only a couple miles from the airport. Ray drove us.

  After checking in, we rode the elevator to the second floor. Tressa and I would occupy room number 218, a double suite across from 217, Derek’s room. Ray and Luke’s 219, a double, was connected to Derek’s, so we resided close to each other.

  “Hey, before we break up to unpack, I wondered if we could all meet in your suite, Tressa? It’s one-fifteen now, so about one-forty-five?” Derek had carried my suitcase to our door. “I’m going to get some food ordered and brought up. I’m starving, and I know Kendra must be hungry also, after no breakfast and no food on the plane.” He nodded at Ray and Luke as they proceeded to their room. “I thought Ray, Luke and I could give the hotel a quick assessment first.”

  “Food sounds good to me, too, we’ll be ready whenever you are,” Tressa said. “Oh, be sure to check out the bar on the main floor also, that’s where Director Gimbel will be meeting you tonight. Do you want all of us there or only you?” Tressa slid the plastic key card into the door lock release. When the lock clicked, she pushed the door open and dropped her bag to stop the door from closing.

  “Let’s talk about that when we eat.” Derek carried my suitcase into the room and set it on one of the beds.

  The bedroom was a separate room from the full kitchen and living room area. A round table that would seat all of us stood near the far wall and a couple of couches and chairs were positioned along the opposite wall and in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

  “I’ll see you in a little while.” As he walked past, he patted my shoulder, leaving a heated mark that zinged through my system, and nodded at Tressa. He quickly moved her bag to the other bed, and then left.

  Derek’s and my exchange when I’d first arrived at his place was unexpectedly hurtful. He’d questioned my belief as if he’d never been on board with it. Yet, he acknowledged my ability to Jackson in our morning meeting when he mentioned the trucker’s spirit left before I could communicate with it.

  So, what is my status with Derek? And where is Jenna?

  “I’ll be in the bathroom for a few minutes,” I announced to Tressa as I closed the door. I turned the fan on then leaned against the wall and mentally called to Jenna. The rose quartz half-heart pendant I’d received from Jenna as a childhood friendship exchange gift vibrated against my sternum. I pulled the necklace out from the neckline of my blouse and wrapped my fingers around it. “Jenna, come now.”

  The scent of vanilla filled the bathroom. Jenna shimmered into form in front of me. I noticed her hand wrapped around a pendant on her necklace.

  “What did you do to get your door to open?” Her wide eyes and drawn brows presented a panicked appearance. “Something happened in my safe place…all the doors locked. They all clicked at the same time. I knocked on all of them, but no one answered. The doors felt ice cold. I couldn’t leave and I didn’t feel safe there.” She stepped closer. “How did your door open? It glowed with warm light then popped open. I heard your voice.”

  “My rose quartz vibrated when I first called to you, but you didn’t appear. So, I held the stone in my hand and gave you a direct order to come.” I still clung to the stone.

  Jenna opened her hand. The half-heart rose quartz dangled from the chain. “Isn’t that strange we’d kept these things and both of us wore them on the day of my murder.” Jenna paced back and forth in the roomy bathroom. “Something spooky is going on.” She suddenly flipped topics like she did so often. “My safe place feels more like a trap, and I’m not sure I want to go back there.” She stopped and looked around. “Where are we?”

  “We’re at the Wingate Hotel in North Carolina to meet with Tory James, like you suggested.” I didn’t like that Jenna no longer had her safe place. What could have locked her doors? I dropped the quartz so it hung outside my shirt. “Why were you holding the pendant when you first appeared?”

  “Craziest thing ever, it started buzzing against my chest, like you mentioned that yours did, and when I grabbed it…” She gasped and stared at me, her mouth dropped open. “That’s what connects us, isn’t it? Like Bertellia appearing when you picked up her diamond-studded watch last week.”

  I glanced down at my rose quartz. “If this is what connects us, neither of us can take it off. At least for now, until we build a stronger connection like what I have with my grandmother. We never required any outside source to connect us…and honestly, I’m not sure how all of that works.”

  Raps on the door jolted me away from the wall.

  “Hey, are you talking on the phone in there?” Tressa asked.

  “Oh, sorry about that. I’ll be right out.” I turned to Jenna and whispered, “Stay with me today until we can figure out what’s going on with your safe place. I brought Grandma Ellie’s journal. I’ll find what we need to do.”

  Jenna morphed through the door. I opened it and followed her out.

  Tressa waited next to the bathroom. “Didn’t mean to push you out of there, just all of a sudden I had to go.” She giggled and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind.

  I walked straight to the bedroom and grabbed the journal out of my carry-on bag. “I’ve got some time right now. I can read a bit before Derek gets back with the food. You can sit with me if you want to be another set of eyes going over Grandma’s writings. Let’s do it here on the bed so we’re out of the main room.”

  We no sooner sat back against the headboard and the temperature took a drastic nosedive. The lighting darkened to twilight, not allowing sunlight to shine through the window. I quickly tucked Grandma’s journal underneath the pillow. An ominous wind snapped my hair around my face.

  “Oh, Sparky, this doesn’t look good. The inside of my chest is burning.” Jenna’s eyes rounded, her hands covered her heart.

  The inside of my chest burned also, and I could only think of one
reason why. Buster.

  * * *

  Derek

  I walked through the hotel lobby with Luke and Ray, getting familiar with the layout and noting security camera positions. We went into the bar and did the same thing. A couple of guys sat along the bar, a man and woman snuggled in a corner booth, but all the tables were empty.

  Other than the way we entered through the hotel lobby, a door went directly outside to the parking lot and another doorway we passed through from the bar to a plush restaurant. I noticed one in the restaurant that opened to the parking lot. Knowing all exits proved to be an advantage, worthy of noting.

  “Order lunch for everyone and have it delivered to Tressa’s room, 218. I’m going to take a hike around the building and parking lot. I’ll meet you in Kendra and Tressa’s suite.”

  “Sure, Boss,” Luke answered. “You don’t want someone with you?”

  “No, but maybe check the activity rooms on the way back, just to get familiar with the layout, exits, and the security system cameras.”

  “On it,” Ray said.

  A hostess stepped over and asked how many in the party to be seated.

  “I’d like to place an order from the menu and have it sent to a room,” Luke said.

  I headed for the door leading outside, and Ray went back the way we’d come in. Something seemed off the moment I had walked into the lobby. Now that I knew an invisible supernatural world existed with mine, I couldn’t shake the unpredictability of my being immobilized to aid Kendra. I couldn’t keep her safe, like being stuck in a canoe without a paddle headed for a raging waterfall that I never heard or saw coming.