Deadly Intentions

by Leighann Dobbs

  “We didn’t know there was a special amulet in there, but we found an old sack filled with crystals when we were up in the attic a couple of summers ago.” Fiona referred to a trip they’d made up to the attic in search of clues to the treasure Isaiah Blackmoore had buried. “I bet it’s in there.”

  They’d come across the crystals among some of the older items. Fiona had fallen in love with the old stones and rescued them from the attic. It turned out to be a good thing she had, since a couple of those stones helped save them.

  Maybe this amulet would prove to be just as helpful, Fiona thought as she reached into the top shelf of her closet and pulled out an old, worn burlap bag, which she placed carefully on the bed.

  Eliza sucked in a breath. “The initials, MB … those are Mariah’s.”

  “We thought so,” Morgan said as Fiona carefully opened the flaps on the bag to reveal a selection of crystals in various shapes, sizes and colors.

  Eliza pointed to a small, black oblong stone with a crude silver ring at the top. “That’s it!”

  Fiona reached out and picked it up. “I wonder if all these stones are boosted to be more powerful.”

  “Why do you say that?” Eliza tilted her head to look at the array of stones.

  “A couple of them seemed to exhibit extraordinary behavior,” Fiona said.

  “You mean that white one that showed us the way in the tunnels?” Celeste pointed to a large moonstone.

  Fiona nodded, remembering how the moonstone had lit the way and helped them navigate the tunnels under the house.

  “Mariah might have infused all these stones,” Eliza said. “That would make sense. But I was only told about the obsidian pendant. That’s the one that will help us now.”

  Morgan reached out for the pendant and Fiona handed it over. She held it up in front of her eyes, then looked at the other girls. “So who is going to be the lucky one that gets to wear it?”

  “The wearer of the pendant will have an important and dangerous job. They will have to take the lead and make sure they intercept the negative energy for all of us. One wrong move could mean certain death.” Eliza’s mouth tightened into a grim line. “I’ll wear it.”

  “Wait. Shouldn’t we draw straws or something?” Celeste asked. “It doesn’t seem right that you wear it. It should be one of us … Jolene’s sisters.”

  Eliza shook her head. “I can’t risk anything happening to one of you. I came to protect you.”

  “Protect us?” Morgan’s brows scrunched together. “You mean you knew all of this was happening?”

  “Yes. That’s why I came.”

  Celeste narrowed her eyes at Eliza. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? You could have warned Jolene—maybe she would have been more careful and she’d be her with us now!”

  Eliza face flushed. “I wish I had. But no one knew exactly what would happen, just that you girls were in danger. I was told to just quietly look for the pendant and be on alert.”

  “So some secret society of paranormals sent you to save us?” Morgan crossed her arms over her chest. “I find that hard to believe.”

  “It does sound kind of crazy, but it’s true. You girls have been sheltered from it while your gifts mature, but there are others out there like us. Both good and bad. But you girls … your gifts are extraordinary. That’s why Bly is after you.”

  Fiona, Morgan and Celeste looked at each other. “What do you mean?”

  Eliza pointed to the monogram on the sack. “Mariah’s people come from a small island. Paranormal gifts have run strong in her family since ancient times. When Isaiah Blackmoore landed on that island three hundred years ago, they fell in love. She came back here with him and they built the original house here.”

  “We know all that,” Celeste said impatiently. “Well, except for the ancient paranormal gifts part, I guess.”

  Eliza nodded at Celeste, then continued. “Mariah’s people came from the south side of the island. On the north side was another clan whose paranormal gifts were just as powerful. The two clans were always at war and eventually they killed each other off. It was said that any offspring of the two clans would have extraordinary gifts.”

  “But Mariah married Isaiah and he wasn’t from the island,” Morgan said.

  “That’s right. He didn’t have paranormal powers. But Mariah’s powers have been passed down through the family to your father and to me and to you girls. Mariah was one of the few people who ventured from the island.”

  “Okay, so why are our gifts extraordinary, then?” Morgan asked. “If Mariah didn’t marry someone from the island then wouldn’t our gifts be the same as anyone else’s?”

  “Mariah didn’t marry someone from the island, but someone else did make it off that island three hundred years ago. From the North side,” Eliza said. “That person was an ancestor of your mother’s. She had strong paranormal powers, too. And that means that you girls are children of descendants of the two different clans.”

  The girls fell silent as they digested what Eliza had just told them. Fiona’s thoughts whirled in her head, but one stuck out above the others. “My mother had paranormal abilities?”

  “Yes. Very strong abilities.” Eliza waved her hand. “Oh, I know she didn’t show them to you girls, mostly because you weren’t old enough. Only Morgan had begun to show an awareness of it while I was still here … but mostly she was afraid.”

  “Afraid of what?” Morgan asked.

  “That you’d start to develop them, then someone would find out how strong your gifts were and try to harm you.”

  “Looks like she was right to be afraid,” Celeste said.

  “So, she really didn’t jump from the cliff. Someone killed her because of her abilities.” Fiona felt a chill creep up her spine as she voiced her thoughts.

  Eliza looked out the window. “That’s what we think. We don’t know for sure. But that was one of the reasons I left all those years ago … so Johanna and you girls would be safe.”

  “How would that make us safe?” Celeste asked.

  “My unique skills bring a lot of unwanted attention,” Eliza said. “We agreed it was best if I went elsewhere so the attention wouldn’t fall on you girls. But I never stopped caring about you and watching over you. I secretly kept in touch with Johanna until …”

  Her voice trailed off and Fiona’s heart twisted—all this time, they’d thought Eliza had just taken off and didn’t care about contacting them, but she’d really been protecting them and watching over them.

  “Okay, enough of this reminiscing,” Morgan cut in, tapping the large face of the watch on the wide brown leather band she wore on her wrist. “We need to get going if we want to save Jolene.”

  Right,” Celeste agreed. “Let’s figure out who is going to wear the obsidian amulet.”

  Fiona chewed her bottom lip. An idea was forming in her mind. She didn’t know if she could pull it off, but it was worth a try. “I think I know a way all of us can wear one.”

  “You do?” Eliza asked

  “Yes, get me some obsidian and the meteorite locket.”

  ***

  Two hours later, Luke and Jake had a plan of attack, a boat and the necessary supplies on the way. They’d used the hologram to map out a route through the tunnels to the top of the island where the building now stood. That’s where they assumed Jolene would be.

  Fiona had used the boosting power of the meteorite locket to infuse obsidian amulets for all of them—even Luke, Jake and Cal, who reluctantly wore theirs at the insistence of Morgan, Fiona and Celeste.

  The seven of them stood in the foyer, bags in hand and ready to rush out the door. They’d hired a pilot to fly them to the Caribbean where the boat, gear, and a few of Luke’s men were waiting.

  Luke’s phone chirped and he looked at the display, then rolled his eyes. “Hello, Dorian … yes, we are going to try to rescue Jolene … no you can’t talk me out of it … well, if you think you need to fire me, then so be it.” He punched at t
he buttons on the phone.

  “She threatened to fire you?” Jake asked.

  Luke shrugged. “Yep. Wouldn’t be the first time, though. Anyway, some things are more important. Besides, it’s the government. Their standard operating procedure is to disavow all knowledge when you do something they don’t sanction and the best way to do that is to fire me.”

  “You don’t think she’ll try to stop us, do you?” Morgan asked.

  “She might put out the order, but I’m pretty sure no one is actually going to obey.” Luke winked. “I called in a few favors.

  “I guess we can’t count on them for any help either then,” Cal said.

  “Hopefully, we won’t need it. We have our secret weapons right here.” Luke nodded toward Morgan, Celeste, Fiona and Eliza and Morgan’s stomach tightened.

  Secret weapons?

  Morgan suddenly wished she’d spent more time honing her gifts. She hoped they could handle whatever was about to happen.

  Jake opened the front door. “Okay, you guys ready?”

  “Meow!” Belladonna stood on the stairs looking at them with wide eyes. Her gaze drifted over the various pieces of luggage, then up at Morgan as if to say ‘aren’t you forgetting something?’

  “Sorry, Belladonna, you can’t come. It’s going to be too dangerous. Brody is going to come over and feed you while we’re gone.”

  “MEOW!” Belladonna voiced her disapproval loudly, then hissed at them, turned her back and trotted up the stairs.

  Morgan wondered if she’d find a hairball on her bed when she came back … if she came back.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jolene shivered on the cold, stone bench as she looked around the strange, white marble-lined cell she’d been stewing in for several hours.

  The room had only one solid steel door with a tiny, rectangular window in the upper-middle. She’d already tested the lock and it wouldn’t open. In fact, her energy seemed to be muted in this room. She guessed that was the reason for the marble walls. The stone must somehow absorb or mute her paranormal gifts.

  Leaning back on the bench, her thoughts drifted to the college. She’d been so happy to find out that Gail was only taking cooking lessons that she’d let her guard down.

  Her stomach clenched as she realized how stupid she’d been. If only she’d listened to Jake and Luke and stayed with Celeste or at least paid more attention to what was going on around her. Some investigator she was, letting herself get captured in broad daylight!

  But, she had been captured, knocked out by some weird gizmo that zapped the energy from her. She wasn’t even sure where she was or how long it had taken them to get her here, since she’d been asleep for some of the time. The only thing she remembered was being dragged down a series of tunnels and shoved unceremoniously into this room.

  Luckily, she’d been awake enough to pay attention to the route through the tunnels and that route was engraved in her photographic memory like a map.

  Jolene knew there was no sense in kicking herself over the bad judgment that caused her to be captured. Right now she needed to focus on finding a way out. But the only other opening besides the door was a rainbow shaped hole in the marble wall near the floor. It reminded her of a mouse hole but bigger. Not big enough to fit through, though.

  Maybe she could use it to break away more pieces of the wall until it was big enough? It was either that, or overpower whoever came for her and make a break for the tunnels.

  She was contemplating which plan would work best, when noises at her door made up her mind for her. Looks like overpowering whoever came for her would be quicker.

  She curled up on the bench and feigned sleep.

  The door clicked open. Jolene focused her concentration on the doorway where she sensed two men. Her nerves tensed as they stepped into the room.

  “I think she’s asleep,” one of them said. The footsteps came closer. They were beside her now—she could feel the waves of vibration from their energy.

  Her eyes snapped open and she launched herself off the bench. Her palms pushed out toward the energy, which she now could see was a giant of a man with broad shoulders and a thick neck the size of a tree trunk.

  He jumped back and her heart sank as they both watched a stream of pale blue energy dribble out of her hands and pool on the floor before vanishing.

  Thick Neck wasn’t taking any chances, though, and he produced a large rock with a rainbow colored geode in the center. He aimed it at Jolene and she felt the energy drain out of her just like it had at the storage facility and the junior college.

  “Stop that, you idiot! You’ll drain all the paranormal essence out of her!”

  Jolene whipped her head around at the familiar voice. “Mateo!”

  Her mind whirled with confusion. She’d always thought Mateo, her mysterious guardian angel who had shown up and saved her on several occasions, was her friend … a few times she’d felt he might be even more than a friend.

  Had he really been working with an enemy the whole time? Saving her just for this strange encounter?

  Mateo grabbed her right elbow and jerked her to her feet, ignoring her questioning look. He indicated for Thick Neck to hold onto her left side, which he did none too gently.

  “Let’s get her to the lab. Bly is waiting,” Mateo barked out the words and she was propelled through the door.

  They dragged her down the shiny gray tile hall, her feet barely getting a chance to move on her own. On the way, they passed another steel door with a rectangular window like hers.

  Was someone else being held captive in that room?

  At the end of the hall, they shoved her into an elevator and pressed a button, which took them up four floors by Jolene’s estimation. The doors accordioned open and Jolene spilled out into a cavernous room that looked like some sort of laboratory with shiny stainless steel tables loaded with beakers and test tubes. Jolene inhaled the bitter scent of sulfur, her heart stuttering as she eyed the centerpiece of the room—a bulky, stainless steel chair.

  The chair gleamed under the halogen lighting, but what caught Jolene’s attention were the wide leather restraints on the arms and legs. The chair was pierced with dozens of holes, each of which had a clear plastic tube running from it. The tubes ran into a large glass container, which sat empty on the floor next to the chair.

  What the hell is that thing for? Jolene felt a chill work its way up her spine as she wondered if the chair was meant for her.

  Her attention drifted to a man in a nicely tailored charcoal gray business suit standing at the other end of the room with his back to them. In his hand, he held a laboratory flask by its thin neck, the triangular bottom glowing eerily with a red liquid. He lifted it to the light and swirled the liquid around, a pink mist drifted out of the top of the flask, spiraling toward the twenty-foot high ceiling.

  Jolene thought this might be a good time to put up a fight, but her arms were clamped down in the vise-like grips of Mateo and Thick Neck. She squirmed around anyway, but her energy was low and her squirms didn’t amount to much.

  Slowly, the man turned to face them.

  Jolene didn’t know what she had been expecting. Some sort of maniacal looking monster, she supposed. But this man was ordinary looking. Medium build with brown hair parted on the side. His bangs fell over his forehead partially obscuring one of his beady black eyes.

  He came toward her, staring at her with a predatory look that made her very uncomfortable.

  “Ahhh, Jolene Blackmoore. It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you.” His voice was harsh and raspy. He nodded at Mateo and Thick Neck. “Release her.”

  They let go and she fell to the ground, cursing herself for not being able to stand on her own. She hadn’t even realized the two men were holding her up. She made a mental note to find out what the heck was in those geodes and avoid them if at all possible in the future.

  Struggling to her hands and knees, she looked up through the brown curls falling in her face. “Who the hell
are you?”

  The man laughed. “Why, I’m Mortimer Bly. Dr. Bly, the scientist. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?”

  “No.” Jolene rocked back on her feet, trying to stand. Mateo reached out instinctively to help her, but she batted his hand away. She didn’t need help from traitors like him.

  Bly sighed. “Well, perhaps it’s just as well. I doubt we can become friends.”

  He turned to Thick Neck. “Put her in the chair.”

  In an instant, Thick Neck’s hand wrapped around her upper arm, crushing it and almost bringing her back down to her knees. She tried to pull away, her heart fluttering frantically in her chest as he dragged her toward the chair.

  He pushed her down into the chair and she stilled, trying to focus all her energy. But it was no use, she was too panicked. She tried pushing out some energy but only succeeded in exploding a glass tube on the other side of the room. White goo melted out of the tube in a puddle on the counter, then dripped thickly onto the floor.

  “Is that all you can do?” Bly lifted a brow at her. “I see you have some spunk, though. Hopefully I will be able to use some of it.”

  Jolene didn’t answer. She was too busy wondering what he meant about using some of her spunk. She didn’t like any of the answers that popped into her head. Thick Neck got busy securing the leather straps on her arms and legs, making sure to pull them tight enough so they bit painfully into her flesh.

  Panic lapped at her stomach as she looked around at the tubes and flasks. “What is this thing? What are you going to do to me?”

  “I’m going to do what I do best, of course. I’m famous for my research on alternative energy. Except this research isn’t about energy for powering homes, running manufacturing plants or fueling cars. No … this is for powering an army. An army of paranormal troops.” He tapped the red beaker of liquid. “And this is the key.”

  Jolene frowned at the beaker. “What is that?”

  A gleam lit Bly’s eye. He put the beaker down, staring at it lovingly for a few seconds.