The Harbinger

by Wendy Wang

  "Here let me help you with that." Charlie rushed to her cousin's aid. The two of them lifted the heavy chair placing it near the end of the table then rearranged the other chairs because they were lighter and easier to maneuver.

  "Uncle Jack should really get some folding chairs for company instead of keeping these old things around,” Daphne said. She ran her hand through her short bob.

  "Or maybe we should just let Jen do the lifting,” Charlie teased. "She's the one that can pick up those sacks of flour and sugar."

  "Good idea," Daphne said. "I saw Tom come in."

  "Oh?" Charlie moved to the sideboard and began to fiddle with the forks. She counted them out to make sure there were enough for each plate.

  "And in case no one tells you this tonight, I think it's wonderful. And screw what Lisa thinks."

  Charlie smiled and gave her cousin a grateful look. "I appreciate that. It's not easy to date someone if your family disapproves."

  "Oh, I know," Daphne said. "Why do you think I never bring anybody home?"

  "What?" Charlie asked.

  “What?” Daphne took a handful of dinner knives from the sideboard and began to place one by each plate.

  “Daphne, don’t play dumb with me. What does that mean? Are you dating someone?”

  "Just forget I said anything,” Daphne said.

  "Daphne . . ."

  "Hey, Charlie," a man's voice said from behind her.

  Charlie turned and found Jason Tate standing in the doorway. Her body stiffened. “Hey.”

  “Hey, Charlie,” Cameron said moving in behind Jason. He wore a stiff blue button down and dark gray slacks.

  “Hey, Cameron.” Charlie regarded him with caution. “It’s kind of hot for that get up, isn’t it? Or is there just some FBI rule that you have to be uncomfortable all the time?”

  “It’s pretty much a rule.” Cameron gave her a half-grin. He patted his hand against his stomach. “Naw, really I just wanted to look nice. Jason said Friday dinners are kind of a big deal."

  “That’s very sweet.” Charlie kept her tone neutral. “But Jason exaggerates.”

  “I did not tell him to wear a freaking button-down,” Jason rebuffed, grinning. A glimmer of hope shined in his hazel eyes but Charlie ignored it and looked him up and down. He wore a navy polo shirt and a pair of khaki shorts and a pair of tennis shoes that had seen better days. She wasn’t ready to make up. She wasn’t sure she would ever be ready. “I have no doubt about that. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get another place setting.”

  “Sure,” Jason nodded, the hope in his eyes fading. He disappeared back into the living room. Daphne followed him out but Cameron hovered near the end of the table.

  “Listen, Charlie,” Cameron began, “I was hoping we’d have a chance to chat.”

  “Oh?” Charlie said coolly.

  “Yeah, I think we got off on the wrong foot throughout this whole investigation and . . .”

  “Did Jason make you say that?” Charlie asked unable to hide the surprise in her voice.

  "No. No, of course not.” Cameron sounded offended. “I’m still not sure about whatever ability you have. I like to deal in hard facts, not whatever it is you do.”

  Charlie cut him off. “Okay. This was lovely while it lasted.” Why did everything Cameron say feel like a pebble in her shoe? Not quite painful, but more than just mildly annoying. Tonight was a good night. A night for celebration as far as she was concerned. They’d gotten a killer off the streets and it happened because of her ‘whatever it is you do.’

  “Listen, you don’t have to believe in me. I’m just glad that Gabriel Curtis is on his way to jail.”

  He nodded. “Me, too.” He seemed to struggle for his next words. “No matter what Jason says, we can’t deny that you were instrumental in finding Curtis. That’s all I’m trying to say."

  “All right.” Charlie folded her arms across her chest.

  “Truce?” Cameron held out his hand.

  Charlie sighed. Up till now, she’d done everything she could to avoid touching him, to avoid seeing inside his life and his head. Reluctantly, she took his hand in hers. An electric jolt traveled from the place where their hands met up her arm into her chest. The pressure around her heart tightened and for a moment she could barely breathe. A vision flashed inside her mind. Sights and sounds overwhelmed her senses. Two boys wearing different colored polo shirts and khaki shorts ran across a field. Charlie recognized Cameron’s dark brown eyes and wavy dark hair. The other boy was a near mirror image of Cameron. Twins.

  "Come on, Kyle." Cameron prodded the other boy. His voice echoed through her head. "Hurry or it'll get you." He sped up, heading toward the fence in the distance.

  "Cameron," the other boy said. He paused a minute and held his side, gulping in air. " Cameron, wait!"

  "Keep up, Kyle!” Cameron called back to the other boy. "Mama will be mad if we’re late."

  Brothers. Twin brothers.

  Charlie blinked and met Cameron's wary gaze. "You have a brother named Kyle."

  Cameron jerked his hand out of Charlie's and took a step back, the connection broken. Charlie swiped at her cheek.

  “Did Jason tell you that?” Cameron said, his voice almost a growl.

  "What?" Charlie asked. She opened and closed her hand several times. Her fingers still twitched with the electric connection. It clung to her skin and she thought for a second if she touched him again, her whole hand might catch fire. "No. Of course not."

  "You're lying,” Cameron said.

  "I beg your pardon?” Charlie bristled at his accusatory tone. Anger crept up into her throat, and her chest and neck heated.

  "Just stop,” Cameron said holding up his hand.

  "No, you stop. Are you seriously going to come into my uncle’s house and call me a liar to my face?"

  "Everything all right in here?" Jason said, turning back into the dining room. "Charlie?"

  "Why don’t you ask him?" Charlie folded her arms across her chest. "He's the one who's calling me a liar."

  "What did you tell her?" Cameron said.

  "Tell her about what?" Jason said perplexed.

  "Kyle,” Cameron said.

  "I never said anything to her," Jason held his hands up in surrender. "I swear to God."

  "You sure?" Cameron said. His eyes flitted from Jason to Charlie and back to Jason.

  "Absolutely,” Jason said. "Why would I tell her something like that?"

  Cameron gave Charlie a hard stare but directed his words at Jason. "To make your point."

  "Come on man. You know me better than that,” Jason said, sounding hurt.

  “Then you told Lisa, and she . . .” Cameron started.

  “You hush up. Right now. Do you hear me?” Charlie pointed her finger at him and used her mom voice. She could take insults all day but she wasn’t going to let him disparage Lisa. Especially when Lisa was innocent. “Nobody told me anything." Charlie glanced at the door and lowered her voice. " I saw you with him, when you touched me. Why do you think I've been avoiding shaking your hand? When I touch people, I see things about them. Personal things."

  Cameron clenched his jaw and shook his head. His brown eyes narrowed and he showed no signs that he believed her. "I don't know what your game is. And I don’t know how you convinced Jason to play it but nobody can read minds." The air around them grew heavy in the stare- down between Charlie and Cameron.

  "Everything all right in here?" Her uncle Jack's voice broke through the tension and Charlie and Cameron both stepped back from each other.

  Charlie glanced at her uncle and gave him her best smile. "Everything’s fine Uncle Jack. I'm just finishing up setting the table. Jason, why don't you and Cameron go back into the living room? Supper will be ready in a little bit."

  "Come on," Jason said gruffly, directing Cameron toward the living room. Jason gave her uncle a quick nod of respect as he passed.

  Once they were alone, Jack put one hand on his hip and scrubbed hi
s beard with the other one. "You sure you're all right? That Cameron doesn't seem to like you much."

  "No sir, he doesn't. But it's nothing I can't handle." Charlie moved closer to her uncle and patted him on the arm. It shocked her when he captured her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  "You know you’re as much my daughter as Jen or Lisa. All you girls are. So I’m gonna give you a little unsolicited advice,” Jack said softly.

  Charlie met his intense gaze. A fierceness sparkled in his blue eyes that she’d only seen a few times. The last time she’d seen it, Jen told him she was pregnant and that she wasn’t going to marry the father. “It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks of you. Not me. Or Jen. Or Lisa. Or Daphne. And especially not some friend of a friend.”

  Charlie opened her mouth to protest. Jack made a flat warning sound and held up one finger to stop her. “There’s only one opinion that matters about who you are, and what you’re capable of, and that’s yours. You understand me?”

  “Yes, sir,” Charlie said, her lips tugging into an appreciative smile.

  “Good. Family is where they love you, no matter what,” Jack said.

  “Thank you,” Charlie’s heart swelled with adoration. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “For the record, I love you, too. Now I better get this table set before Evangeline has my hide."

  “Can’t have that, now can we?” he said and let her go. They went their separate ways but she looked back over her shoulder and watched him disappear around the corner toward the living room. He was right. It didn’t matter what anybody else thought. Not Cameron. Not Jason. Not even her Tom.

  Still, being called a liar stung, and no amount of shaking it off soothed the wound. Only time and distance could do that. With the case pretty much solved, she was ready to put as much distance between her, Jason and Cameron as she could get.

  Chapter 21

  "Sounds like you're having a devil of a time with the boys," Evangeline commented from her place at the stove.

  "It's fine." Charlie opened the silverware drawer and pulled out another set of cutlery. Then reached into the cabinet above her and grabbed another place setting. "I can take care of myself."

  "I have no doubt about that, sweetie," Evangeline said and scooped up the last batch of shrimp onto a large platter. "But you can be stubborn. The whole lot of you can."

  Charlie grinned, and rolled her eyes. "Now I wonder where we get that from?"

  "I have no idea," Evangeline quipped.

  "You know I have a spell for that," Jen said softly.

  Charlie turned and looked her cousin squarely in the eye. "For what? Stubbornness?"

  "No. For opening a jackass’s eyes. Well, his third eye. And only for long enough to get a little perspective," Jen said.

  Charlie chuckled. "Now that's a spell I could get behind."

  “Shush you two,” Evangeline scolded in a harsh whisper, her eye toward the door.

  Charlie and Jen exchanged a knowing glance. Their aunt didn’t like it when they spoke of using spells in what she sometimes referred to as a ‘frivolous manner,’ especially in the kitchen where Jack might overhear them.

  Charlie reached for the drawer next to the cutlery, where the napkins were kept. She listened to her aunt and cousin discuss the logistics of moving the food into the dining room. Then their voices suddenly seemed far away. She pressed her finger against her ear and a faint buzzing sound filled her head. The world swam in gray and Charlie reached for the counter to steady herself. She closed her eyes tight. The vision filled her mind, transporting her somewhere else for a moment.

  When she looked around, she saw Ben holding up a cross. Which was a strange thing, because he was a witch, and there were no crosses in the practice of witchcraft. She heard him speaking Latin.

  "Revelare nomen tuum . . .”

  The growling sound echoed through Charlie's head. Her eyes were drawn to the young woman standing across from him. There was something tiger-like and fierce about her face, but there was no mistaking those eyes. They were solid black. Nausea washed over her. A demon.

  The demon raised her arms and suddenly it was as if Ben were weightless. He lifted eight feet into the air just before he sailed across the room, slamming into the wall, denting the drywall. A cloud of dust and broken plaster rained down on him. He lay motionless. Was he breathing? Charlie couldn’t tell.

  A strangled sound ushered from Charlie’s chest and she blinked, aware of the wetness on her eyelashes and cheeks. When her eyesight cleared she found Jen and Evangeline kneeling next to her. Somehow she had lowered herself to the floor. She looked around, reassuring herself. She was in her uncle’s kitchen. Sitting up against the counter, squeezing a linen napkin in her sweaty palm. The fabric felt oddly rough and soft at the same time. She pinched the napkin between her thumb and forefinger, grounding herself in this place.

  Worried looks marred the faces of her aunt and cousin.

  "Charlie?" Jen said, her voice quiet but strained.

  "I'm okay," she said.

  "What happened?" Evangeline asked.

  "Just a vision," Charlie said. "I'm sorry if I scared you.” She gave Jen a weak smile. "Help me to my feet?"

  “Of course," Jen said hopping up. Evangeline took Charlie's elbow and Charlie put her hand into Jen's and pulled herself up to standing. Dizziness swirled through her brain for a second and she held tight.

  "You sure you're all right?" Jen said. "Maybe I should get daddy."

  "No," Charlie said. "I'm fine. I don't want to worry him. It'll pass."

  Jen nodded and swallowed hard. Her large blue eyes searched Charlie's face. "You called Ben’s name."

  Charlie sighed. She was caught. There would be no way to evade questions now.

  "That’s because I saw him. And I'll tell you all about it, but first, I need to call him. To make sure, he’s okay." Charlie gave Jen's hand a squeeze and returned Jen’s smile.

  Charlie blew out a breath and headed to the back porch. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and quickly thumbed through her contacts. When she found Ben Sutton she didn't hesitate calling. Her visions could be wrong. They had been in the past. She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer.

  Mother goddess hear my prayer, Keep Ben safe and free from harm.

  Her heart thudded in her throat and part of her wanted to hang up. But another part of her knew this call was too important. She had to make sure he was all right. If only for Jen's sake.

  Ben sat on the edge of his motel room bed and leaned forward with his elbow on his knee, propping his head up with a makeshift ice pack. How had it come to this? How had he let this happen? He'd gotten his ass handed to him. He should have known better.

  Facing off with a demon was probably one of the most dangerous things he ever did in his job. And if today was any indication, he was woefully underprepared and lacked the experience to do what was necessary to bring this demon to heel.

  He scrubbed his fingers through his hair and lay back on the bed. The cold, wet washcloth wrapped around ice felt good against the hot throbbing of his cheek. He stared at the dingy ceiling, wishing he were somewhere else, anywhere else. Well, maybe not just anywhere. Jen’s adorable face drifted through his brain. The way she smiled. The way she made him feel. He had it bad, and now, he had totally screwed it up.

  The phone in his pocket began to buzz and he dug it out. He looked at the screen and pressed the green talk button.

  "Hey, Charlie? I didn't expect to hear from you," he said trying to keep his voice light.

  "Are you okay?" Charlie asked.

  "Yeah, I'm great. Why do you ask?" He hoped she was buying his ruse. The last thing he wanted was for Jen to get word of this conversation. She might be mad at him and hurt, but he knew in his empathic heart that she cared about him. Of that he had no doubt.

  "Did you hit your head?” she asked. “I’m sure it’s nothing, but I just had this flash of pain in my head and face."

  "A flash, huh?" He sigh
ed. Damn her and her psychic abilities. If the DOL knew about her they’d be at her door tomorrow. Her gifts were some of the most honed he’d ever encountered and he’d met some pretty talented psychics in his line of work.

  "Well," he started, his voice rising half an octave. "Now that you mention it."

  "What happened?" Charlie asked, her voice full of concern.

  "I met her," he said.

  “Who?" Charlie said.

  "The demon. Although I’m just assuming it's a female because of the form she took."

  "Dammit,” Charlie muttered.

  “What?”

  “I was hoping I was wrong. It’s possessing the witch that summoned it, right?” Charlie said.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yep. You saw it?”

  “I had a vision.”

  “Great. Thank you, goddess. I love it when you share my fuck ups,” he called to the ceiling.

  “How bad is it?” Charlie asked.

  “It's been a while since I’ve done this. I’m rusty, I guess," he said.

  “I saw you sailing across the room and being knocked out when you hit the wall," Charlie said.

  "Wow. I bet Evan can't get anything over on you, can he?" He joked but it was only halfhearted.

  “You need our help.” It wasn’t a question. It was a firm statement. Ben closed his eyes and grimaced. He was torn between wanting to say yes and wanting to say no. He’d grown rather fond of Charlie Payne and the women in her family.

  "No. It's too dangerous.” His voice cracked.

  "That's it, we’re coming," Charlie said. "What's your address?"

  "Charlie, I just said it's too dangerous. I don't want any of you to get hurt."

  “We’d all be heartbroken if something happened to you.”

  Damn her. She wielded guilt like a pro. No, like a mom. Not that he really knew what that felt like, but he could imagine it. She thrust the dagger in deeper and twisted. “Especially if we could’ve stopped it.”