by S. E. Akers
I gave the deserted street one more check before I rolled up my sleeve. Painfully, I dug my fingernails down into my left arm. After a quick wipe on the leg of my jeans, I cupped the rough little wonder in my hand. I infused the diamond with my mental gifts for protection and telepathy, and even blessed the magical stone with the ability to magnify her powers. I turned and hurried back to store.
“This is for you,” I announced and threw her granddaughter a glare.
“Bless you, child.” Her copper-penny eyes started to well with tears, forcing them to glisten even more. “This is not just a diamond… It is your compete trust in me,” Padimae replied as she squeezed my hand.
“I may have some questions,” I hinted. “Is there any way I can talk to you?”
“Yes, with the doll,” Padimae assured with a gentle grin. “It is infused with my powers, so it is a part of me. You can speak to me through it, whenever you hold it in your hands.” She lifted up the diamond. “And I will answer.”
I smiled appreciatively.
“I told you that one was special, young one,” Padimae added with a nod.
“What? No diamond for me?” Ms. Lá Léo whined. We both turned to her in perfect sync, shaking our heads while we each let out a sigh of disbelief.
“It never hurt to ask!” Ms. Lá Léo snapped as she turned and stormed back into the store.
Padimae shook her head. “Good bye, dear child. May blue skies light your days and a sea of stars illuminate your way at night. But above all, be watchful.”
“Thank you, Padimae. I will,” I assured the gracious voodoo queen as I flagged down a cab. After the blue and white taxi had screeched to a halt, I made the driver lower his shades for a quick “eye check”. They were good and green, so I opened the rear door and hopped in. Padimae tapped on the back window as the driver was about to pull off. I rolled it down quickly.
“Do be careful on your voyage today. The waters can be unseasonably rough out in the Gulf…especially after feeling the tug of a full moon,” she stressed.
“That shouldn’t matter… I’m flying over it, remember?” I insisted politely, still unconvinced of that particular card’s accuracy.
Padimae signaled to the driver with a couple of firm taps on the roof of the cab. As we pulled off, she smiled and called out, “You’ll see.”
Chapter 16 — Seasick
The taxi careened down the streets, and in less than forty-five nail-biting seconds, I arrived at the La Château Marseille safely. I crept invisibly through the lobby after spying Coach Hayes loading up at the breakfast buffet. Even though one of their warm, sugary beignets would have sure hit the spot, my “up-all-night” appearance was way too damning. Why give him the ammunition to send me packing?
Relieved to find my room Kara-free, I rushed over to the safe. My stomach settled after a quick turn of the key. There was Katie, sparkling as usual. I picked up my watch. 7:15… Crap! Crap! Crap! I whirled around on the spot, snagged some clothes out of my suitcase, and bolted into the bathroom. I’d really hoped to take another long shower. Aside from spending time with Katie, it had been the best part of the trip. But I didn’t have time to spare, not with us scheduled to depart at eight sharp. Short and vigorous would have to do. But I did throw my iPod into the dock. Who says you can’t hurry and jam to a few tunes?
Seven minutes was all it took to wash away the remnants of last night’s butt-kicking and the musty smell of Ms. Lá Léo’s voodoo. I thought I’d heard something, so I threw on my robe and hurried back into the bedroom.
Just the maid, I realized. It did strike me as odd. It was the same one from last night, and I couldn’t help but wonder why she was in here, this early?
Clothes on, hair dried, and make-up applied, I called out in my head. Just need my bosom friend. My eyes shot open when I suddenly realized I’d left the door hanging wide-open. I hurried back to the wall safe, only to discover my necklace was missing! I snatched the watch and locked it on my wrist in a panic. When I spun around to search for the maid, I bumped straight into her. She had been standing behind me the entire time. Today, the sweet and attentive woman had more of a ticked-off look on her face. My diamond pendant was swaying on the tip of her glittery red-lacquered fingernail, dangling by its tiny gold clasp.
“Thank you,” I said as I removed the necklace from her finger. My polite remark didn’t even make a dent in her stony expression. “That’s a pretty polish,” I added, taking another stab. The only thing my compliment sparked was a seething grunt before she stormed off, headed towards the door.
“Don’t forget your nice things,” the maid shot back, barely able to form her words through her gritted teeth. “AGAIN,” she added, huffing out of the room, leaving her cleaning cart behind.
What the heck is her problem?
Katie’s roaring yarn interrupted my thought. “Was that the same maid from last night?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“She sounded cranky,” Katie remarked. “Didn’t you leave her a tip?”
“Not yet. I just got back,” I blurted by accident. Shit! Maybe she didn’t catch that?
Katie yawned again. “Don’t you laborers have some tip-code you live by? Leave it out in the open…and leave a lot? She probably thinks you stiffed her.”
“Well, I wouldn’t. You know me better than that,” I remarked directly as I threw a twenty on the bedside table, compensating for Kara’s stinginess. “She’ll get it when she comes back,” I assured my bosom friend turned “gratuity police” as I grabbed my suitcases and stepped into the hall.
“Where did you go?” Katie asked.
Just when I thought I was in the clear…
“Down to the lobby…to eat breakfast,” I lied as I raced to the elevator. The picture of the tower crumbling on the tarot card, the very one that warned about the fallout of secrets, flashed through my mind every step of the way. I had planned on telling Katie about my adventure, but not this soon. I gave the “down” button an angry punch. When I added up all the little lies, they felt just as bad as the big one hanging over my head. Katie didn’t say anything until the bell dinged.
“You didn’t eat,” she remarked as I stepped onto the elevator. I dropped my suitcases just as my heart skipped a beat. “Not enough… Your stomach is still growling.”
My frame sagged against the back panel as I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. After the longest descent down five-floors ever, the doors finally opened and within less than a minute, I arrived in the lobby just as our group was being ushered outside.
“Wallace!” a surly voice bellowed.
Guess who? I followed the sound of Coach Hayes’ voice over to the front desk.
“Nice of you to join us. Where have you been? Your phone keeps going to voicemail!” I pulled it out of my purse and showed him the smashed screen. He snatched the cell out of my hand and shook his head. “Useless,” Coach Hayes grumbled as he shoved it inside his pocket. I was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about the broken phone. He pointed towards the revolving doors. “Just get your butt on the bus. You’re holding us up!”
A distinct odor hit my nostrils. “Yes sir,” I grinned when I noticed his slick, greasy locks. Yuck! He smelled like day-old coleslaw too.
Once my bags had been securely stowed away, I boarded the shuttle. Ty motioned me back to an empty seat next to his.
“What happened to you last night?” Ty whispered. “You weren’t in your room when we got back. We waited for you all night.” Mike even leaned across the aisle, wanting an answer as well. I was strangely flattered. They both looked exhausted, but not Kara. Her self-absorbed, precious little red-head looked extremely well-rested.
“The French Quarter,” I replied.
“By yourself?” Ty asked.
“No,” I replied. “Someone I met earlier kind of dragged me there.”
“Why didn’t you call us from your phone?” Mike asked.
“I broke the loner yesterday, and I didn’t bring my own.” I didn�
�t have international calling and other than Samuel, I spoke to everyone else via stone. They shook their heads. I glanced at Kara, who was casually thumbing through an issue of Cosmo. “I’m sorry I worried you all,” I stressed.
“Coach Hayes busted us coming off the elevator last night,” Ty disclosed.
“Did any of you tell him that I went too?” Mike and Ty shook their heads. Kara started flicking her pages purposely. “Nobody?” I posed again.
Kara let out a sharp huff while her gaze remained glued to the pages of the magazine. “Why rat you out? I figured you were probably in enough trouble,” she remarked dryly.
“So he’s not shipping the three of you back?” I asked.
“Not hardly,” Mike laughed and motioned me closer. “The only reason he caught us was because he had just picked up a hooker and was bringing her up to his room.”
“I would have loved to have seen that,” I giggled.
“Me too,” Katie cracked, sounding none too pleased.
My teeth dug into my bottom lip. I crumpled my jacket into a makeshift pillow and propped it under my head. This delicate matter required my full attention, so I pretended to close my eyes and turned towards the window.
“Katie, I was going to tell you on the plane,” I insisted.
“WHAT THE HELL?” my bosom friend blasted. “Why didn’t you take me along?!?”
“I caught Kara sneaking out last night. It just happened so quickly,” I declared.
“Did you go clubbing in your pj’s?” Katie challenged.
“No,” I mumbled.
“That’s what I thought,” Katie huffed.
“Are you mad?” I asked.
“NO. Just hurt. Really, really HURT,” my jilted BFF stressed. “I thought this was our time, Shi?”
“It is,” I insisted. “I’m sorry, Katie.” She didn’t respond, not even a grunt. “Truly,” I added penitently.
Katie let out a grumpy sigh. “Did you have a good time?”
“Oh, I had a time all right,” I grumbled and then went on to reveal everything that happened from the moment we hit the club, all the way through my overnight stay at the voodoo shop. I fudged the details about Lorelei a little — well, more like A LOT.
“So you left your bosom friend behind, and now you’re walking around with a curse?” Katie posed.
Direct hit. “Maybe that’s my punishment?” I affirmed, playing along.
“What does it feel like? Is it…painful?” Katie inquired, now sounding truly concerned.
“No,” I replied. “It’s like my brain keeps forcing me to remember something…but knowing that crazy woman, I’m sure there’s more to it than that. I’m just afraid of how forceful it gets.”
My eyes opened when the bus came to a whistling halt. I peered out the window, confused by the much shorter trip. Judging by the buildings, we were still downtown. Despite our location, Ms. Fitz ordered everyone to grab his or her things and promptly exit the bus.
“This isn’t the airport,” I commented to Ty.
“No,” he confirmed. “Oh yeah…You missed the meeting this morning. Something was wrong with Xcavare’s jet, so they made other arrangements,” Ty said as he headed down the aisle. The roll of a deep, drawn-out horn vibrated from out of nowhere. As I stared out the window on the other side, the muddy waters of the Mississippi River came into view. A musty, wet smell grew stronger as I trailed my classmates down the aisle. My footsteps were heavy, almost weighted down, as I stepped off the bus. Katie knew something was wrong from the way my emotions took a sharp nosedive, but I couldn’t answer her. With a sluggish sweep, my disbelieving eyes read the gleaming golden letters scribed on the sprawling vessel.
THE JEWLEEANA
I stared at the massive yacht feeling like one of the crewmen had just dropped its anchor in the center of my gut. While the others in my party “oohed and aahed” about The Jewleeana’s grandness, all I could see docked in the harbor was a watery coffin.
NO…FREAKIN’…WAY…
The crew ushered us aboard immediately and within an hour we had set sail. It was hard to pick which was worse? That the card was on the money (and most likely everything else they revealed would turn out to be true) or that I was walking around with a curse hanging around my neck like a noose! But here I was, trapped on a yacht and left to dwell on “WHAT ELSE” was going to happen during this daggone trip! At least we all got private cabins. The last thing I needed (on top of everything) was to bunk with Kara and her priss-pot attitude.
We ate lunch buy a small pool located at the stern of the ship. If I wasn’t so preoccupied with trying to decipher Padimae’s card reading, I might have actually enjoyed this part of the trip. I did say I wanted to “take a cruise”. We hadn’t hit the open waters of the Gulf yet, but the line of unspoiled marshes we sailed past looked rather serene. Ms. Fitzpatrick took this opportunity to give us a quick marine biology lesson. After a couple hours of lecturing, everyone went his or her own separate ways. Coach Hayes, Ethan, Mike, Ty, and Kara hit the gym, Ms. Fitzpatrick and Anna retired to a couple of lounge chairs for some poolside reading, and Tammy and Heath headed off, arm-in-arm with their lips locked like a pair of suction cups, straight for the Jacuzzi. I opted to spend some time with my bosom friend while I gave myself a private tour. After leaving her out of my adventure last night, I still had a lot of suckin’ up to do.
Regardless of my feelings towards the ship’s owner, I had to admit that the vessel was rather impressive. The captain had stated that it was the largest private yacht in the world, stretching over 587 feet in length, complete with twenty-eight guest cabins, two luxury suites, and enough staterooms to house seventy staff and crewmembers. The longer I roamed, the more I was blown away by the grandeur of its amenities. Aside from the fitness center, the ship boasted a spa, a large cinema, a ballroom, and even a casino. Clearly, the Xcavare’s didn’t skimp on luxury.
I hadn’t paid too much attention to the path the porter had taken when he showed me to my cabin earlier. All the ritzy wood-paneled corridors looked the same. After several wrong turns, I accidently ran into a member of the crew who informed me that I was lost. No shit.
“Go back down the hall and turn right at the marble statute. The staircase will take you up to the main deck,” he instructed. “This area is off limits to guests.” With that, he hurried down the corridor in the opposite direction.
When I started to turn around, I realized why he was making such a fuss. A plaque mounted on one of the wooden doors bore the initials, “MX”, and below it, a brass doorknob that had a malachite cabochon embedded in its center.
Malachi Xcavare’s suite. My curiosity about the mysterious Talisman heightened the longer I stared at the gemstone. The coast was clear, so I reached for the knob. I couldn’t get it to open, despite its brass construction.
“What are you doing?” Katie asked.
I jiggled the knob some more. “Trying to break into Malachi Xcavare’s room.”
“Are you CRAZY?” Katie charged. “You don’t need any cards. I can tell you what your future holds. A comfy cot in the brig.”
“I can’t get in anyway. It’s been spelled.” Disappointed, I turned around and fell back against the door. Directly across the hall, another stateroom hailed my attention.
LX… Lazarus Xcavare, I thought as I eyed an identical brass handle, which held a different stone in the center of its knob — a lapis lazuli.
I barely laid my hand on the knob when the “pop” from the bolt rang out. It was open. Imagine that… Finally a perk! Quickly, I darted into the cabin and closed the door.
“Did you get it open?” Katie aksed.
“Not Malachi’s… I’m in Lazarus’ room,” I revealed.
“I take it back. I see a wooden plank,” Katie said dryly.
“No one will ever know I’ve been in here,” I insisted.
“You won’t wear his ring…so why are you in there anyway?”
“I don’t know,” I replied as I sea
rched for a light switch. Suddenly the area around me illuminated magically without having to touch a thing. “Curiosity?”
“Just hurry up,” Katie urged.
“Hey! You’re the one who told me that I’d left my balls at home. Why are you so nervous?” I posed.
“Paranoia,” Katie swiftly replied. “I’m already without my body…and diamond necklaces don’t fare too well at sea.”
“I won’t be long, Katie Winslet,” I laughed as I stepped into the dark main quarters. Again, the lights turned on all by themselves. More rich mahogany paneling trimmed with gold-leaf molding adorned every wall in the room. Though there were enough oil-paintings hanging around the room to deem it a museum, the one mounted behind his desk stuck out like a sore thumb. It depicted Lazarus, lying amongst a bank of dark clouds with his fist clutching a bolt of lightning, while his other wielded a glistening wand. If he was going for “sanctimonious” and “gaudy”, he had hit his mark.
A lapis lazuli and crystal chandelier hung over a gargantuan marble-topped desk. Stacks of geological maps were sprawled out across its top. They all appeared to be mines he had acquired, and they all had large red “X’s” marked over their sites. All of them that is, until I arrived at the last one — a map of the Riverside-Pocahontas Mine in Welch. If the picture wasn’t damning enough, this evidence hit the nail on the head.
Not good…
I wonder if there’s any more? Since I’d seen enough movies highlighting “hidden safes”, I thought I would take a stab and check. My hunch was right. The hinged picture swung away from the wall effortlessly to reveal a small steel safe. It didn’t have a combination lock, only a lapis lazuli embedded in its center. When I placed my hand on the royal blue stone, a loud “clank” echoed throughout the room and the door swung open on its own. Convenient. There was a ton of money, in all forms of foreign currency, and even a few gold bars. Katie urged me to take it, claiming that, “He can’t use it.” But that, I simply couldn’t do.
