Force of Fire

by Ali Vali

  “Anything yet?” Rawney asked her lover in lieu of a greeting.

  “They posted a few guards around the place today, but I’m not sure why. The only people who’ve come in or out are the staff and the cemetery representatives, though I’m not sure why they’re bothering. From what one guy willing to talk to me said, everyone who died at that dig is dust on the jungle floor.” She finished her apple and leaned more into the shadow of the branches that hung over the fence. “Let me call you back.”

  “What is it?”

  “Someone new with a car that screams how important he is just drove up.” She dropped down into the yard and waited to make sure there was no movement around her. “Let me see who this is. It might be what we’ve been waiting for.”

  “Be careful and don’t linger.”

  “You know you’re the only one I linger on. Don’t worry, but I have to get closer.” She cleared the number off her phone and turned it off before moving nearer the side of the house and climbing onto the roof that was draped in shadows. Franco Rodriguez came out and kissed the man’s hands as he bowed over them, like whoever this man was, he deserved the overexaggerated greeting.

  “Señor Garza, thank you for visiting my home,” Franco said as he still held the man’s hands.

  Aishe mouthed the name and thought, but nothing came to mind. No one, from what she’d learned so far, had that name. She was in luck, since whoever Garza was, he sat on the large porch out front instead of going inside.

  “It’s the least I could do, Franco, since your son died in service to our cause. I wanted you to know that I’ll erect the memorial to him myself so your wife will have somewhere to go and express her grief. His spirit lies, though, in the one place that holds the secrets we most want to know. Hopefully you understand why we had to do what was necessary to keep the site a secret.”

  “I understand that, but I don’t understand how this could have happened. My boy was not new to digging, so that he’d have been killed by a trap doesn’t make sense to me,” Franco said, holding his head. “He was my only son, and my heir. Without him I’ll have no one to carry this on for me.”

  “These people who set the traps are to blame, my friend, so it’s time to tell me the story you’ve been reluctant to up to now. Either you believe or you don’t.” Garza leaned forward and placed his hand on Franco’s knee. “And stop all this whining. You still have your daughter, and with time she’ll be proud to carry on your name and traditions.”

  “You have to understand that, while I believe, my family has been charged with keeping those secrets, and have been for generations.”

  Garza leaned back and sighed. “Then your loyalties lie elsewhere. That’s a pity, since I’ve trusted you with what set you free of the chains these people have put you in. The Genesis Clan hasn’t been around here, from what I can tell, in years, but I’m here and with you in your grief. Where are they?”

  “Alejandro, please understand that my vow is sacred to my family, and breaking it means we lose everything if they find out. Even if my daughter wants to stay here and take over, if I say anything, everything we have will be lost.”

  Alejandro Garza, Aishe mouthed as she moved a little closer, not wanting to miss any part of this conversation. Whoever this guy was had to be in the middle of what they needed to find to locate everyone involved in trying to wake sleeping giants. It was surreal they didn’t understand the dragons would in no way fit into the time period in which they would awaken.

  “I understand that you value that more than the work of the Order. Keep your word, but if you share what you know about me, you and the rest of your family will never live to regret it.”

  Aishe wondered what Order he was talking about and moved a little closer since she was near another tree that would hide her even though she was almost on top of them. She barely noticed the small capuchin monkey that she startled awake, though, and after one small popping noise everything went black.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kendal lay on the floor on her stomach, watching Hali sleep on the blanket Molly and Mac had brought over from Piper’s baby things. Piper’s mother Jen had made the colorful quilt with animal characters in each square when she’d found out she was pregnant with her first child. Piper’s eyes had welled with tears when she’d seen it, and she’d run her fingers over the folded material as Molly had handed it over before spreading it out on the floor of their room.

  “Are you watching her so closely because she’s learned some tricks?” Piper asked when she stepped out of the closet in a robe, holding the outfit she’d chosen.

  “She’s like her mother in that she’s too beautiful not to stare at, so leave me alone,” she said and winked. “And why the hell are you over there and not over here kissing me if you’re naked under there?”

  “Because I’m not getting you all excited with the baby this close to us, so behave and get dressed. We’ve got a bunch of werewolves visiting today, and I’d like to be prepared before they arrive.” Piper dropped her robe, and Kendal groaned at the black panties and bra.

  “There’s no way I want to waste time talking about Convel when you’re dressed like that.”

  “Suck it up, baby, and get going,” Piper said and stepped into her jeans.

  “Suck it up is exactly what I had in mind,” she said, hopping up and pressing Piper to her.

  “Not what I meant and you know it. Get dressed, and let’s sit outside and have coffee so I can ask you a bunch of annoying questions.” Piper laughed when she picked her up and kissed her neck. “I promise I’ll make it up to you later.”

  “What do you want to know?” she asked, stripping off her robe and smiling when Piper put her hands on her ass. “If you’re worried about Convel, don’t. She knows better than to try anything, especially since Lovell’s on a very short leash where’s she’s involved. If she gets out of line, her big sister will save me the trouble of killing her.”

  “I’m not worried about that,” Piper said, pressing up to her back after she’d followed her into the closet. “I don’t understand why I can’t really see forward. All the images I’ve been able to make out are of the past. Ancient history won’t do us any good right now.”

  “Stop trying to see the future and concentrate on what you can see. Sometimes the best way forward is through the past. History helps us all not repeat our mistakes, if we’re smart enough to learn anything from it.”

  “I know only darkness can take you away from me, but I’m afraid of sending you somewhere without knowing what you’re getting into. Your loss before Hali would’ve devastated me, but now with her, I don’t know if I could go on.” Piper squeezed her harder. “After I fell in love with you, I understand my father so much better now. All those days I spent cursing him for leaving me seem like such a waste.” Piper couldn’t seem to lift her head as she said the words, and as always when she spoke of her parents, something in Kendal hurt like someone had driven a sword through her gut.

  “Believe me, my love, if I could go back in time and change what happened to them, I would. What you lost is so unfair, and that you’ve carried the hurt all this time is what I find the most painful, but it’s not something I can do anything about.” She raised Piper’s head with a couple of fingers under her chin and smiled at her. “That above all else is what hurts the most.”

  “You do the most important thing by loving me. I’d go through all that again a thousand times if I get this life at the end of it. When I became your partner in every sense of the word by drinking from that cup, I thought all the adventures we’d have together would fill up another one of Lenore’s books, but now, I’m terrified something may happen to you.”

  “Nothing is going to—” Someone started knocking loudly on the door. “Doesn’t everyone in the house get that we have a baby now?”

  “Finish putting your pants on, and I’ll go see who it is. Whoever’s out there had better pray that the sun will cure them after I stick something sharp in their ey
e if they wake Hali.” Piper rubbed Kendal’s side as she left her in the closet.

  “Piper, I’m so sorry,” Rawney said as Piper tied off her robe. “Is Asra here?”

  “What’s wrong?” Kendal said, her shirt not tucked in as if she’d hurried dressing.

  “Aishe called last night to report that everything was quiet at the watcher’s home, but then she said she’d get back to me when someone new arrived to visit the family. She hasn’t called, and she made me promise I wouldn’t contact you if I didn’t hear from her so as to not lead anyone back to us.”

  “She didn’t recognize who it was?” Kendal asked.

  “She said something about a big car and the kind of man who drove around in one.”

  “The kind of guy who might be in charge of the dig these idiots are supposed to be guarding against anyone going near?” Kendal asked, and Piper thought the game or whatever the hell this was had started in earnest.

  “What do you think happened to Aishe?” Rawney asked, and Piper could hear the worry in her voice. It didn’t matter that no amount of physical harm could come to their loved ones because of the elixir, but the concern was still there.

  “Let me make a few calls and see what I can find out. I still have some contacts in that area through Richoux International. If not, it’s not a long flight from here, and I have to check out the area anyway.”

  “Not without me,” Piper said, and Rawney seemed almost uncomfortable with having to come to them, but Piper couldn’t blame her for asking. If Kendal had been missing, she would’ve demanded every single elder hunt her down and not stop until she was found.

  “We’ll eventually have to go, but I’ll try to find her without leaving. I don’t want to go until we know exactly what the hell is waiting for us either. Did she mention anything else? Who are these people that the Clan has watching the site?” Kendal kissed Rawney’s cheek before sitting to put on her socks.

  “Franco Rodriguez used some of the stipend the Clan pays him to open a resort close to where the site is. It’s one of those places for nature lovers who enjoy being in the rain forest, and it did well until a few years ago, when a group of tourists died falling from one of the hanging bridges on the property. That’s what everyone thought at first, but when they fished them out of the ravine they noticed that all six of them had been shot.” Rawney sat, glanced down at the sleeping baby, and smiled.

  “That’s unusual for Costa Rica,” Kendal said, sitting back. “Did they ever find whoever was responsible?”

  “No. From what Aishe found, the investigation is still open, but Franco’s business never recovered.”

  Piper put her hand on Rawney’s shoulder and squeezed. “I take it the falloff in business is what pushed him to something else like going into business with the guy in the big car?”

  “That’s what Rolla and the others think. Please, you have to help me find her. I sent her there, and maybe she wasn’t ready,” Rawney said, and Piper had to agree with her feelings of something being wrong. It wasn’t anything she could really say for sure, but whoever these people were, they were dangerous. “Please help me find her.”

  “We’ll do whatever it takes,” she said as she took Rawney’s hand. “While Asra makes some calls, I’ll sit with Bruik and concentrate on finding something we can use.”

  “Thank you, Piper, and if I haven’t said it before, I’m glad you and Asra found each other.”

  Rawney left, and she seemed to be trying to hold her emotions in check. “They can’t really do anything to Aishe, can they?” Piper asked once the door closed again.

  “I’m not sure that the watchers realize exactly what we are. Any interaction between the elders and a family like this doesn’t require a lot of contact. Whoever Rolla put in charge will meet with the family so infrequently, they’ll never know they’re dealing with the same person throughout the duration of their job.” Kendal held her as if understanding that her worry was starting to grow.

  “These people and the guy leading them aren’t going to give up easily, and they won’t be easily beaten,” she said, kissing Kendal’s hand. “You know that, right?”

  “Will you do me a favor?”

  “For you, anything. What do you need?” she asked, and Kendal kissed her forehead.

  “While I’m making calls and Hali is sleeping, try to see something, but when you do it, let your mind wander wherever it might want to go. Don’t try to guide the path. I trust your sight, and I’m curious as to where it’ll lead you.”

  “Do you think that’ll help?”

  “I think you need to start trusting yourself. You belong with me, and more importantly, you belong in our ranks as much as anyone.”

  * * *

  “Who is she?” Pauline asked when Alejandro’s men carried the dead woman to the back of the house where the platform over the cliff was. The bullet hole in the center of the woman’s head was a sure sign of finality, so they’d have no way of finding out anything more.

  “Who the hell knows? The idiot Franco hired shot the bitch before we could talk to her. I bet she’s with the Genesis Clan, and we’ve missed our chance to find out who these people are and what they’re about.”

  The men came back with the body of the guard who’d shot the woman, and the man also had a bullet hole in the center of his forehead, put there by one of his people for his stupidity. His men tossed the guy over first, and the fall was too high to hear the body drop below, but the area was so remote the animals roaming the mountainside would take care that no trace of him would ever be found.

  “Make sure you check all her pockets before you get rid of her,” Pauline said and took the phone the closest man handed over. “It’s not locked, but it’s completely empty too,” she said as she scanned through the device. “She erased all the calls and messages in here.”

  “Then her only mistake was not seeing the monkey close to her,” he said, and grunted in disgust. “At least they have smart people working against us.” He glanced at his daughter, and she made the right move by lowering her head. “Try to learn from this and keep the mistakes to a minimum. Find Oscar and bring him to me. That’s the most important thing.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said before kicking the dead woman over the side and taking a deep breath.

  “Don’t worry,” he said and smiled widely. “If you suffer the same fate, I promise you’ll get the same kindness of a bullet to the head before I push you off for the birds and wild pigs to finish you off.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Thanks, Rueben,” Kendal said as she leaned back in her chair in the office. “Pull that badge out of mothballs, and go over there and scare the hell out of them. These idiots aren’t going to know any one police officer from San José, and Aishe was there last night. Push until they give you something.”

  “You got it, Jefe,” Rueben Margoles said, and after hearing the intakes of breath, Kendal knew he’d lit one of his favorite cigars. “I’ll call you if I find anything.”

  “Try and get out there today if you can manage it. I know it’s a trek from the capital, but it’s important.”

  “I might get there late, but I’m leaving now.”

  Kendal stood when she was done and held her hand out to Piper, who’d been listening in one of the chairs opposite the desk. “Who was that?” Piper asked, glancing back at the bassinet in the room where Hali still slept.

  “Rueben is an old friend who did some legwork for me when I bought some abandoned factories outside the capital.” She squeezed Piper’s fingers and smiled. “Don’t worry. There were no pretty girls mad at me for trying to steal their businesses.”

  “Lucky for me then, since you’ve got a soft spot for that type. I would’ve lost out.”

  “I refitted the places and put them back to work without ever going in person. I thought after Kendal Richoux had run her course, I could set up my next identity there.”

  “We’ll still keep this place once we have to move on, won’t we?” Piper
came closer to her and slowly ran her hands up her chest. “I love the fact we’ve started out our life together here.”

  “Of course, and you know that every house, no matter where it is, will be our home. And if you decide on somewhere I don’t already have one, we’ll have fun picking one out together for us and our family.”

  “Will you sit with me for a little while?” Piper asked as she moved her hands farther up and locked them around her neck.

  “Our guests aren’t due for a while, so I’d love to, but let me tell Rawney that I’ve got Rueben going out and checking.”

  Piper gave Hali’s nanny some instructions while Kendal chatted with Rawney and smiled at the young woman as she took Kendal’s hand and walked to the back of the house and out to the yard. Kendal had surprised her one day with a nice, secluded retreat in the spot where she and Hill had hidden to spy on her all those months ago when they didn’t know each other well. They walked there holding hands and not really needing to fill the air with a lot of small talk.

  The area had a large chaise lounge covered by a big umbrella that was there more to keep the leaves off the chair than for shade, since they were in the center of a bunch of old maple trees that bordered the lake out back. “I love you,” she said to Kendal when she picked her up and laid her gently on the seat.

  “That’s what will make any place home, love.” Kendal sat at the foot of the chaise and took Piper’s shoes off. “And it’s time to show you how lucky I think I am.”

  “That’s not why I brought you out here,” she said but didn’t stop Kendal when she stood, leaned over her, and reached for the button on her jeans.

  “You’re turning me down?” Kendal said as she moved to the next button of Piper’s pants.

  “I didn’t say that, but I don’t want you to think I want you only for your body,” she said and winked as Kendal almost pulled her off the chair getting her pants off.