The Seer Renee

by C. R. Daems

  "Angela's life is still normal?" Grace asked. She was an action-oriented woman and wanted something to happen so she could spring into action. I was content to wait and enjoy whatever time I had left.

  "Yes, too normal. If it weren’t for the fact that the birds have stopped chirping, the tide has receded a thousand yards out to sea, and we have oceanfront property, I'd say life was great."

  Ron choked out a laugh. "A tsunami is hell on oceanfront property."

  "We'll sell up and move inland," Jim said, pushing his orange flavored beef around with his chopsticks.

  * * *

  I tried to enjoy the moment each day. Everyone I knew appeared to be experiencing good times, including me, but Thursday sessions loomed ahead each week with unknown ramifications. I had considered telling her I wouldn't give her any more fortunetelling sessions, but I instinctively knew Jim or Ron or Grace's life would be threatened.

  When Angela appeared, I knew immediately things had changed. She was dressed in sweats that might have been a size too big, although it would have been hard to hide Angela's figure completely.

  "Hi, Angela. I almost didn't recognize you. Are you in disguise?" I asked and gave her a hug—she looked so serious.

  "I guess this is the real me, dressed to curl up with a good book and a glass of wine in front of a warm fire. I'm afraid the game has started although like before I don't understand it. Then I was asked to stand somewhere at a specific time to see something but nothing ever happened...because you stopped it. Now it's a silly game although I doubt it's silly. The money is great but I'd leave rather than hurt you." Her eyes misted. She was right. This was the real Angela: a kind gentle soul who was just trying to survive like the rest of us.

  "No, you might as well take their money because I don't plan on giving them a return on their investment." I laughed, and she rewarded me with a smile. "Tell me about this game."

  "It's simple. They gave me a laptop with this weird game on it. They send me an email telling me to activate the computer. When I do, three smiley faces appear with different colored backgrounds and a small checkbox below each one. I'm to check one of the boxes. If I guess right they will send me five thousand dollars." She shrugged.

  "Do you have to pay to guess? And how do you find out whether you guess right?" I asked wondering how this involved me—which it had to.

  "Sometime each day I turn on my computer, activate the program, and look to see if a result is posted. However, the results wouldn't be posted for weeks so I suppose you have to tell me whether I guessed right or wrong. Then I notify them. If I was right, they will send me five thousand dollars. Does that make sense?" she asked, watching me closely.

  "Last time it was a test. They wanted to see if I could see what you did. This time I admit I'm not sure. Let play their game. I promise you I won't let you get hurt." Of course, I would warn her if I saw she was in danger.

  "I trust you, Mambo Renee," she said, and laughed as she sat down at the table. "Let’s play, we can split the money."

  I put my hands over her and watched. As with the two previous sessions, she took time off from working to relax, dressing comfortably when she went out those days. The man that she had met and was treating as a boyfriend rather than a client continued to date her. Then I saw it. It was the night before what would be our second session. She turned on her laptop and a smiley face with a green background appeared. I took my hands away. "Green."

  "That was the one I picked. We just made two thousand five hundred each." She smiled.

  "No, it's yours, Angela, but I appreciate the thought. Hopefully, it will enable you to retire in comfort. I don't see any problems for the next couple of weeks."

  "I read your book on Vodou. It was very interesting. Would you mind if I attended your next service. You know what I do..."

  "I'd be honored. You can watch and afterward I'll answer any questions you have. You will find others, including my boyfriend, there watching." I gave her the time and address before she left. I just hoped I wasn't endangering her life by letting her get close to me. The tingle I felt under the horse head tattoo reassured me I had done the right thing—I think.

  * * *

  "If you tell me nothing happened, I'm going to scream," Grace said as she put the two buckets of Colonel Sander's fried chicken on the table.

  "You're in luck." I had to smile. Grace was like a race horse in the starting gate. "The game has begun..." I went on to explain what Angela had told me.

  "That's interesting," Ron said, leaning back and looking off into the distance.

  "I don't understand," Grace said. Ron thought it was an interesting puzzle, whereas Grace was frustrated by the lack of clues to begin the hunt.

  "I like it," Jim said, raising his wine glass in salute.

  "Why," everyone said at once.

  "The game will give Renee and me time to get married and plan our escape. Unless she would rather continue living in sin." He grinned and winked at me. I understood his clowning. He was frustrated, worried, and scared. The final chapter of this mystery always seemed to end in my death—one way or another.

  "I'd rather we catch the bad guys, and you two stay in N’Orleans. But they aren't giving us much to go on. I'd like to get a trace on all of Angela's communications, but after the FBI leak we had with Mambo Monique, I'd be concerned about alerting them. Damn, this is frustrating."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  The game continues

  True to her word, Angela was waiting when I arrived at Woldenberg Park with Jim. She looked ready to run. "I'm glad you could make it, Angela. I'd like you to meet Jim. Jim this is the beautiful Angela I spoke of," I said. She had dressed in sweats. If I were to guess, it was because they were the only loose fitting clothes she owned.

  "It's nice to meet you, Jim," she said and extended her hand.

  "It's nice to meet you, Angela," Jim said, taking her hand.

  "I didn't know what to wear. I hope..." she said, looking at me.

  "I don't know what you are used to, but these services are very informal. They don't mind spectators. You can stand with me if you like. I'm still learning, but I might be able to answer a few questions until Renee is available," Jim said, which I think made her even more nervous.

  "That's a good idea, Angela. Vodou services are different from most church services. Jim can make some sense of it," I said, hoping to put her at ease about any possible jealousy issues. Although it would break my heart, I wish Jim would find someone else. But it would take a major operation to separate him from me—we seemed to be sharing one heart. She seemed to visually relax.

  "Thank you, I'd like that. I do feel a bit out of place." Her face lit with her first real smile. I left them to talk and wandered the sizeable crowd stopping to talk to everyone that showed an interest. My congregation tended to be growing by one or two every time. Finally, I entered the pavilion and began to draw the ve've for Legba-Papa Labas to open the gates between the Loa and those attending the ceremony. Then on a whim, I drew the ve've for Danh-Gbwe, the great serpent venerated as an intermediary of focus of divine power. Then I began the service by singing an opening prayer to Bon Dieu, the good God, and then continued with a prayer to Danh-Gbwe. As I sang and danced, I felt the serpent on my arm move into my arm and travel through my body. Feeling one with the Loa Danh-Gbwe, I was lost to the world.

  * * *

  I woke with my head in Jim's lap and staring at his face and said the first thing that came to mind, "You have beautiful eyes."

  "You almost gave me and Angela a heart attack. Six others also...fainted. People are saying you're a mambo with great power. That you evoked the spirits, and they took possession of many individuals. I don't know about that, but it did get exciting."

  When I rose and walked around, everyone was interested in talking with me, and it was another hour before I got back to Jim and Angela, who wasn't her normal animated self.

  "Mambo Renee, would you help me learn Vodou. I'm interested and wou
ld like to join."

  "I'd be happy to. Maybe after our fortunetelling sessions, and if necessary, we can schedule additional time."

  "Thank you."

  "I can see why you like her. She had a lot of good questions and insightful observations. She's certainly no dumb blond," Jim said as Angela wandered off into the night. "How do you feel?"

  "I've made a decision, or maybe the Loa Danh-Gbwe, the great serpent, made it." I pointed to the serpent on my arm. “They will find that I not only bite but the fangs have poison."

  "Good. When do we get married?" Jim laughed. I punched him in the arm.

  "Soon. Let’s see if Ron and Grace are up and available."

  * * *

  It was late by the time we arrived back at the condo, and Ron and Grace looked ready for bed but livened up when I wanted to talk about the bad guys. Ron put on coffee, and Grace came out with a tray of snacks.

  "I’ve been feeling sorry for myself and accepting the fact that the bad guys were going to win. Tonight during my service, I or the Loa or maybe both of us decided to fight. They know I can tell the future but not how far into the future. They know I can see a week but not how much further. The game with Angela is to find out, and that is why they haven't made a move against me yet."

  "How far can you see?" Ron asked. His curiosity was academic; however, Grace's look tended to be professional—how could it be used. I trusted these people but no sense providing unnecessary temptation. A week was interesting but three months or more opened a world of possibilities.

  "Don't know, Ron. I don't think the Loa are interested in us knowing too much more. Maybe two, but probably with less specificity," I said, noticing a trace of disappointment from Grace. I couldn't blame her. It must have been a tantalizing tool to use to catch bad guys. "Anyway, I want to go on the offensive."

  "How?" Jim said cautiously. I knew he preferred the let’s run away option as less dangerous.

  "If we can catch Angela's contact then maybe we can trap their contact... I'm stupid when it comes to computers, so I'll need some help, Grace. Angela would give me the one she's using, but I imagine that wouldn't lead anywhere. But if we could capture Angela's contact, and she has a computer..."

  "That might work, especially if that person didn't know we were monitoring the signal. We could at very least get his location. Let me talk to some people at work and get their input. But how do we catch Angela's contact?" Grace said, leaning forward excitedly.

  "I'll disappear. That should cause Angela's contact or someone who works for him to visit my shop looking for clues."

  "We stake out your store? That will require a lot of manpower."

  "Yes and no. I suggest we install a recording camera in my shop. Then either you or Ron review the tape each day."

  "Having a picture of the person might not lead to finding him."

  "Sometime each day I'll look at your future. I might be able to determine the time and day the person is going to break in, and you can be ready to grab them." I smiled.

  "You just gave me a migraine headache," Grace said, and Jim nodded agreement.

  "I love it," Ron said. "Since Renee will be able to see my future, she will see when I see the person breaking into her shop. It will be the future so you can set a trap. When do we start?"

  "It's no wonder these two got along so well when they met." Grace rolled her eyes at Jim. "Let me see about getting this set up. I might be able to suggest I believe there are more people involved with the group I'm investigating and get some FBI assistance, or at a minimum, support for continuing my investigation. If I hedge—misrepresent—the facts, I think I can make it look like a continuation of the old case and keep Renee's involvement as related to her kidnapping," Grace said almost as if thinking out loud. We decided to meet again the next night.

  * * *

  Jim and I spent a leisurely day at the Barataria preserve exploring and wandering the trails, ate an early dinner, and arrived back at the condo an hour before Grace arrived. She waited to update us on her discussion until Ron arrived about an hour later.

  "On the camera, they suggested it appear to be a standard security camera which would allow the thief to remove the tape and feel secure. However, the camera would send a signal to the Internet and be recorded for later viewing." Grace paused to sip her wine. "The laptops probably interface via Wi-Fi with the Internet and would most likely be routed through several dozen servers which will make it hard to get a location unless the person trusted who he was talking to. Finding the server is easier, but determining who signed up for the service may not be easy depending upon how cautious the person is—alias, false address, etc. But I say if you're willing, Renee, we have nothing to lose. I got the Director's permission to expand the investigation without directly involving you. So even if there is a leak, it should appear related to the Sheriff and his group."

  I was scheduled to disappear on Thursday.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Countermoves

  I had barely opened the shop for business on Tuesday, when a man entered with tools and hauled in a couple of boxes on a two-wheeled luggage-cart.

  "Good morning, Ms. Mathur. I'm Max, and I'm here to install your new security camera."

  "Good morning, Max. If you need any help, let me know."

  "Nah, I will need to go into your...living quarters." He nodded towards the door. I opened it and led him look around. “If you don't mind, I'd like to install it in with your books. We don't really care if they find it, but we need to make it look like we do." He laughed.

  "Wherever you think, Max. You’re the expert." I went back out into the shop to greet a customer. Max was done in less than two hours and spent a half hour explaining the system. It had two separate memories, one for the shop and one for the camera in my living quarters. I could program it to turn on and off at certain hours or work it manually. The machine’s memory was good for about five days at which time it would begin writing over the stored recordings. Of course, it didn't matter since the recording was being sent via Wi-Fi to another machine which Ron would review each day.

  After I closed for the day, I locked up and made my way to Jim's condo, which I was beginning to think of as a second home. He was such a comfortable person to be with. I was afraid to think too far ahead, but I couldn't help speculating about children and a life with him.

  I stopped at a grocery store on the way and picked up a couple of pounds of redfish and the ingredients to fix a dinner of blackened redfish for the four of us.

  * * *

  "This is excellent, Renee," Ron said to nodding heads.

  "Thank you. Granny never had a lot of money so she cooked all our meals. A lot cheaper than eating out. And she started me early learning how to cook which went well with my lessons on herbs."

  "I reviewed the records from today. The cameras are working fine," Grace said between swallows. "What's the plan for disappearing, and where are you going?"

  "Jim is going to call someone for me and arrange for him to pick me up and hide me. I'd rather not say who. I plan to leave Thursday before my scheduled meeting with Angela. I hate to do that to her, but she will be more convincing if she doesn't know what's happened to me." Jim and I had discussed it the previous day. He had called Ellen from the hospital in case someone could examine his cell phone calls. Ellen had agreed to pick me up at seven p.m. in the French Quarter's Visitor Center parking lot towards Saint Peter Street and provide me with a place to stay for a week or two if necessary. An agent would review the tape each morning and let Grace know if he saw anything. He would give her the tape to review, and she would share the tape with Ron that evening. We thought it less likely someone was trying to watch Ron while he was at his office, therefore, I would meet with Ron there each morning. His secretary would schedule his first fifteen minutes with me as someone doing research for him. In reality, it wouldn't take but a few days, since I'd be looking into the future, i.e., if they were going to search my shop and home it would already be a
future event. I just needed to touch someone who would witness the event or in this case have watched it on a monitor.

  * * *

  Wednesday turned out to be a typical day, with people popping in and out with the most traffic in the mid-afternoon. At first, I was a bit concerned about having a security camera in the store, although it wasn't conspicuous, it wasn't hidden. But everyone seemed to ignore it or took it as normal for the times. As an elderly man, who had purchased some herbs, left the shop, I rose, getting ready to close, when three young, South American looking men entered. Like the Locos they were filled with tattoos. One closed the door, reversed the Open sign to Closed, and leaned back against the door. One walked in the shop and with his arm walked sweeping things off shelves and walls onto the floor. The third approached me. Smiling, he turned his head slightly so I could see the MS666 tattoo.

  "Well, bitch, your fucking future is looking up. You're going be the 666's fortunetelling ho." He laughed as he reached for me, grabbing my arm and jerking me into him. As I slammed into his chest, his hand grabbed my crotch and squeezed. I cramped in pain. His other hand tore at my blouse, ripping it open. Fear had me frozen. Only years of reflexive training caused me to twist, driving my right elbow into his temple. Shock, then anger registered on his face before a smile began to emerge until my left elbow slammed into his eye socket. He staggered backward but managed to stay on his feet. The man who had been destroying my shop stopped, and came striding towards me, laughing.

  "Julio, I guess you'll have to take sloppy seconds," he said, throwing a punch towards my face. I rotated right, blocking with my right while my left fist drove towards his face. As it hit him in the temple, he jerked around and his right arm lifted me off the ground and into the wall. My breath exploded out of me, and I leaned against the wall gasping for air. Julio stood to my right glaring hate at me, and my second attacker to my left, his face twisted in anger.