Intuition (The Path to Redemption Series Book 2)

by Kimbra Swain

  “Tony and Tommy Lemalu, this is Lukas Castille. He’s a new recruit,” I said. Lukas offered his hand to both of them. He was picking up on it.

  “Hi, nice to meet both of you,” he said.

  They both just stared at me, “Say hello. You are being rude.”

  “Oh, hello Lukas. Nice to have you aboard,” Tommy said.

  “Hey man,” Tony said.

  “Ashley is upstairs,” Tommy said.

  “Great. See you guys in a bit,” I said and started walking to the elevators. Lukas followed me. The doors opened immediately, and we went in. I pressed the button for the 10th floor.

  “The penthouse, huh?” he said.

  “It’s actually called a loft. Sorry no naked ladies,” I replied.

  “Darn,” he said. “How do you tell those two apart?”

  “Well, Tommy has a yellow aura, and Tony has a green one,” I said.

  “Great,” he replied.

  I laughed. “You will get to know them, and then you will be able to tell them apart.”

  “What color is my aura?” he asked.

  “Cobalt,” I said. It was more than just blue. It was a rich, vibrant blue.

  “How old are you, Lukas?” I had not thought to ask. He looked young, but not overly so.

  “I’m 21,” he said.

  “Good grief, you are a baby,” I said.

  “You aren’t that much older than me,” he said. “You are what, 25 maybe 26?”

  “Okay, this is a rule you should know by the time you are 21. You do not talk about a woman’s age. However, because I’ve got you utterly confused, I will tell you that I’m 93 years old,” I said.

  “Bullshit,” he said. I just looked at him. “Oh crap, are you for real?”

  “I will never lie to you, Lukas. I’ve been on this earth for a very long time. Lying helps no one. I expect you to be truthful with me as well. Do we have a deal?” I asked.

  “Yes ma’am. I mean, yes, Abby.”

  The doors opened up to a small room with one door that had the number 10 on it. “Welcome to my current home. You are to treat is as your own. I promise no harm will come to you while you stay here. You are under my protection. You may come and go as you please, but you work for me. I need to know where you are at all times. And, if there is business to be done, you will cancel whatever your plans are to be with me. Do you understand?” I asked.

  “Yes, I understand,” he said. I opened the door to the apartment. The main room, open and large with a panoramic window, had a great view of the city all the way around the apartment. Ashley got up from the couch and smiled at us both.

  “Thank you, Lukas, for delivering the box,” she said.

  “I think you set me up, ma’am,” he said.

  “I did, but I promise this is going to be an excellent opportunity for you. Thank you, Abby, for trusting me,” she said.

  “I’m not sold, but let's get him cleaned up. We have a reservation at The Coconut tonight,” I said.

  “The file is on the counter there,” she said and pointed to the bar in the kitchen. I walked over and poured myself a glass of bourbon and sat down on a stool.

  “Lukas, go with Ashley. Trust her. She works magic of a whole different kind,” I said.

  He looked unsure, but he followed her into the guest bedroom. I knew Ashley. She already had the closet full of clothes, and the whole room would be set up to his liking. I heard the shower turn on, and I opened the file.

  There were only a few sheets of paper detailing the life of Lukas Castille.

  Born August 5, 1964 to Eugene and Bethany Castille in Pasadena, CA. Attended Pasadena High School, graduated with a 4.0 and Valedictorian of his class. Left home to move to Los Angeles. Worked various jobs across the city. No known addresses.

  I flipped to the next page. It was a photocopy of a newspaper article.

  “Pasadena couple killed in tragic accident.” Eugene and Bethany Castille were killed in a car accident on the highway. They were returning home from a dinner in Los Angeles with their son, Lukas Castille. They were only 3 miles from home when the accident happened. It was a one car accident. Eugene, who was driving, died at the scene. Bethany was transported to the hospital, but died shortly after arriving.

  I winced for this young man’s pain. Both of his parents had died. I suppose they had no assets, or the assets weren’t willed to him. They probably got tied up in the courts. He obviously had no money to hire a lawyer. I turned to the last page. It was a joint obituary for his parents. I took a few more sips of my bourbon and contemplated my next move. The phone rang over near the couch. “I’ve got it,” I yelled to Ashley. “Davenport.”

  “Hello, Abigail,” Gregory Theodoard, my grandfather said.

  “Hi Gregory, how are you this fine day?” I asked.

  “How are things in Los Angeles? Do you have a candidate?” he asked.

  “Possibly. I’m not sure. Ashley sent me a guy today. We are cleaning him up. I’m going to hire him for the time we are here. He knows the streets. Maybe a canvas leader at some point, but no real leads on proxy,” I said.

  “I spoke to Lincoln today. He said to tell you that you are doing a good job,” he said.

  “Lincoln can go fuck himself,” I said. I was pissed at that man, and it might be the better part of a century before I got over it.

  “Perhaps you could consider a friendship with him. The two of you make a great team. I need you working together.” Gregory suggested.

  “Perhaps I could not kill him the next time I see him,” I said.

  “Abby, I know you don’t mean that,” he said.

  “No, I don’t. Please, no more messages from Lincoln. I’ve moved on, and I’ve got work to do without the distraction,” I said to him.

  “As you wish, my child. Keep me informed,” he said.

  I hung up the phone. Ashley talked to Lukas in the other room about hair styles. Going into my bedroom, I pulled out a one shoulder Bill Blass dress, adding black pumps. It was simple, but elegant. Brushing my hair, I looked at myself in the mirror and decided to wear simple diamond earrings. I reached in the top drawer of my dresser, pulled out a ring box, then returned to the main room.

  Ashley stood there grinning like a cat. Behind her stood a handsome young man fidgeting with his lapel. He wore a deep blue suit with a crisp white shirt. She had cut his hair from the long Don Johnson feathered locks to a much more manageable look with a little length. I had a little glimmer of hope that this might work.

  “Thank you, Ashley. Get the accounts set up,” I said. She smiled and rushed out of the apartment. Her apartment was one floor below. I had rented the entire building, with my team filling most of the building. For now, Lukas could stay here with me, but eventually we would get him his own place, if this worked out.

  “Lukas, you look very nice,” I said.

  “Thank you, Abby. You look beautiful,” he said.

  “That’s very sweet of you,” I walked over to him. “May I see your hand please?”

  He held his right hand up to me. “What are you going to do?”

  “Left hand please, wait. Are you left-handed or right-handed?”

  “Right.”

  “Okay, left hand please. I am going to place a ring on your hand. It has magical protections, and will alert me if anything ever happens to you. You work for me, so I will protect you. There are people who are always trying to kill me. This will assure that you stay safe. Okay?” I explained.

  “Okay,” he replied. I put the ring on his left pointer finger because I did not want it to look like he was married. I felt the ring adjust to his finger size as I put it on. It was platinum with a Celtic knot pattern. As I put my hand over it and spoke Latin word for protection, it glowed blue. He stared at it amazed, and the blue glow faded.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Yes. That’s crazy,” he said.

  “You can feel it?”

  “Yes. It vibrates a little,” he said.

&n
bsp; “You will get used to it. Now, I want you to know the truth from the beginning. There are a lot of things I want to teach you. I cannot possibly do that in a short period of time. I don’t want your brain to explode. The world I live in, and you are being introduced to is vast, dark and can be downright scary. Ashley is very thorough. I assume she showed you the whole room?”

  “Yes, it’s full of stuff for me,” he said.

  “Yes, I told you that we would take care of all of your needs. I meant that,” I said.

  “I don’t need half the stuff in that room,” he said.

  “You will. She also prepared a file on you for me. I know your background, and I know about your parents,” I said and watched him. His eyes darkened.

  “I don’t want to talk about that,” he said.

  “We don’t have to talk about it. I just wanted you to know that I know a few things about you. I don’t want to hide anything from you, Lukas. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “You are extremely smart. I think it’s about time the world met Mr. Lukas Castille. Shall we go to dinner?” I asked.

  He cleared the sad look on his face. “Yes, let's go to dinner,” he said and offered me his arm. Together we went down the elevator to the car.

  “Wow, you look great, Lukas,” Jay said.

  “Thanks,” Lukas replied.

  “You look lovely as always, Abby,” he said to me.

  “Thank you, Jay. We are going to The Coconut,” I said.

  “Fantastic,” he said, and we drove off to dinner.

  “Is this a date, or a job interview?” Lukas asked.

  “Both,” I replied.

  “It’s been awhile since I was on a date,” he said.

  “Well, when I’m done with you, the women will be begging to go out with you,” I said.

  He looked at me and his eyes got wide. I saw Jay smiling in the rearview mirror. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing, Abby,” Lukas said.

  “Too true, but it will be as such,” I assured him. He looked out into the early evening. The last signs of the sun were gone.

  “Why me?” he asked.

  “To be honest, I don’t know. Here you are, and I have a good feeling about it. Beyond that, I’m not sure,” I said. I tried to continue to be honest with him without scaring him to death.

  “I’m not special,” he mumbled.

  “No more of that. I will not have it. Either you buck up and pretend you are something special, or you come to a realization that you really are. But for the purposes of tonight, I will not have any 'woe is me' bullshit. Are we clear?” I said.

  “I’m sorry,” he offered.

  “No need to be. Besides, you are taking a lovely woman out to dinner, you should enjoy yourself,” I said.

  “She’s taking me out,” he said. I looked at Jay, and he handed me a wallet. I handed it to Lukas. He opened it up. It was full of proper identification including driver’s license and credit cards. He pulled one of the cards out. It was black and had the letters KBS in silver on it. His name was stamped along the bottom. He looked at me astonished.

  “I don’t play, Mr. Castille.”

  “I see,” he said and put the card away.

  “You are paying tonight,” I said.

  “How much is on this thing?” he said.

  “More than you will ever spend in your lifetime,” I replied which was mostly true. I’m sure Ashley set an account up in his name with the Agency. The account would transfer money from one of my accounts every time he used the card. I could track his usage until we could get his own accounts set up. I just hope we didn’t overwhelm him.

  Dinner went smoothly. I told him before we went in that he was to pretend it was a date, and we would be fine. Over the course of the meal, he started to open up to me. I learned a lot about Mr. Lukas Castille. He was, as I suspected, very smart. He never went to college, even though he had many scholarship offers. He wanted to live in the city.

  “Looking back, it was a dumb move on my part. Then, with what happened to Mom and Dad, I was just stuck on the streets. It didn’t matter how much science and math I knew. I had to learn to survive,” he said. We finished eating, and the crowd in the restaurant started to die down.

  I reached across the table and took his hand. It was rough, but warm. “Lukas, you no longer have to live on the streets. You have a job now working for The Agency. It’s the company I work for, and we would love to have you. I can’t define your responsibilities yet, but I know you are going to do great things for us.”

  For a moment, I saw a light in his eyes. A bit of hope from this young man. “Thank you for believing in me, Abby.”

  “Are you ready to go?” I asked.

  “Not really. It’s been nice to sit and talk and have a good meal. I hate for it to end,” he said.

  I stood up and looked at him, “This is only the beginning, Lukas.”

  He stood up and took my hand, “In that case, let's go home, and do it all again tomorrow.”

  I laughed. “Sounds like a plan,” I replied. We walked out of the restaurant. Jay stood on the curb waiting for us. That was when I heard the report of the gun. I threw up my golden shield, while Jay took cover behind the door to the car. Lukas spun me around and threw me to the ground. He turned toward the direction of the gunfire. The gun rang out again. I heard people screaming. I held the shield on him, which became more difficult as he moved away from me. I focused on the ring I had placed on his finger. The shield flared bright gold as the second bullet hit it and bounced off. He did not flinch. I was amazed.

  “Lukas,” I said trying to get his attention.

  “I can chase them,” he said.

  I tried to push myself up off the ground. He turned to look at me. “Oh crap, Abby, I’m sorry.” I laughed a little at him.

  “Get in the car,” I insisted. He helped me up, keeping his body between me and the location of the gunman. Jay ducked in the car first and climbed over the seat. I went in next. Lukas sat down in the car and pulled the door shut. He was calm as he kept his eyes turned in the direction of the shots.

  Sirens sounded in the distance. “Go, Jay, go!” I said. Jay spun the car out into traffic and turned opposite of the gunfire. He punched the gas, and we sped off into the night toward home. Lukas kept his eyes behind us. Then I noticed it. He had a hole in his suit coat. “Oh my God, Lukas, are you shot?” I started pulling the suit coat off him.

  “Hey, you said this wasn’t that kind of deal,” he said. I paused and realized he was joking.

  “Oh bugger, take the coat off, and let me see,” I said.

  “It’s not bad. I think it’s just a flesh wound,” he said very calmly. I was stunned at his humor while bleeding everywhere. He took off the coat. The whole right arm of his shirt was blood red. I put my finger in the hole and ripped the shirt sleeve open. It was more than a flesh wound. “Aw, Abby, that’s my good shirt,” he said joking again.

  “Lukas, this is serious,” I said to him.

  “I know, but it will be okay,” he said confidently. I was amazed at his composure. He had been shot. He saw the magic of my shield. Neither phased him. I started ripping his shirt sleeve and tying it off as a tourniquet. “Besides it’s not every day a beautiful woman rips your shirt off. Right, Jay?”

  “Damn straight,” Jay said. I rolled my eyes at them both. Yes, I thought then and there that Lukas Castille would be a huge part of our lives. He would fit right in.

  “Listen to me, when we get back, I’m going to pull the bullet out and heal the wound. It is going to hurt like hell, but it won’t be but for a moment,” I said. He finally looked a little sick at his stomach.

  “She’s done it to me before, Lukas. It will be okay,” Jay said. He still looked green. Jay pulled the car up in front of the building. He waved toward the entrance, answered by the twins running out. Jay opened the door. I held what cloth I could over the wound and followed Lukas out of the car.

  “What the
hell happened?” Tony said.

  “Someone shot at us,” I said. “We need to find out who!”

  “I think you guys should start going out with us when we go,” Lukas said. The twins looked at each other, and I shrugged.

  “He’s right. It does no good to leave security at home,” I said pulling Lukas to the door. We got in the elevator.

  Ashley had anticipated our arrival, waiting up in the apartment to assist. Jay remained with the car, since he would have to get the blood cleaned up. I sent Tony and Tommy to clean as much as they could off the sidewalk and from inside the building. Ashley sat him Lukas down on the couch.

  “Ash, get the shirt off. He’s lost a lot of blood,” I went over and washed my hands. He was in a daze now. The blood loss was catching up with him. I noticed he had several vivid scars on his chest and back from knife wounds. I needed to have Ashley run a background check through the criminal justice system. I didn’t care what it said, he had stood between me and bullets tonight. I thought I should know just in case. I tightened the tourniquet, and he grunted.

  “Sorry. Sorry. I’m so sorry,” I said. I took his face in my hands, and told him, “Lukas, this is going to hurt. Hang in there with me, okay?” He nodded. I put my hand over the hole in his arm. The blood poured less with the tourniquet, but it still flowed some. I reached with my senses to feel the bullet. I put the palm of my hand on the wound, and he jerked. “Attraho.” The bullet was attracted to my hand. He screamed. Ashley tried to calm him. It stopped moving. I had to put a little more behind it. “Attraho!” He screamed again, and I felt the bullet touch the palm of my hand. I pulled it out with my fingers and dropped it on the coffee table. He started to pass out. I saw his eyes roll back in his head, and I slapped his face lightly, “Hey you! You stay with me. Look at me, Lukas.” His blue eyes looked dark and lost. “Stay with me!”

  He swallowed, “I’m here. Don’t you ever hit me again.”

  I shook my head and placed my palm back over the wound. “Consano!” I said ‘heal’ in Latin and put a little more power behind it. I was starting to feel the exhaustion myself from using magic. The wound closed up, and the pain should have stopped for him. He leaned his head forward on my shoulder. “We need to get you to the bed before you pass out on me,” I said.