by Kimbra Swain
“Abby,” I said.
“I heard him,” she said knowing what I was thinking. “I will consider it under a few conditions.”
He sat down behind the desk as she sat back down in the chair from which she’d just risen. Two master negotiators and manipulators prepared to go face to face. Standing behind her, I realized by the look on his face she had the upper hand.
“Negotiate, child,” he said.
“I will reconsider signing the contract under three conditions. One, never again will you hurt Tadeas. I don’t care, Grandfather, even if he rips my guts out. Promise to never hurt him or have someone else hurt him, and that includes killing him.,” she demanded.
“I shouldn’t be one of your chips to play,” I grimaced.
“It’s the only way that I can keep him from hurting you. I cannot bear the thought of him causing you harm, because of me,” she returned. “And he can probably hear us like Lianne.”
“I can. It’s interesting to listen to you. He has more sense than you. Agreed, I will never again harm or demand harm against Tadeas Duarte. I swear it.” The house shook with the oath.
“Secondly, I demand that you tell me everything you know about Lincoln, when he took Tadeas, why he insisted I seek him out, and the bond between us. Everything.”
“Lincoln searched on my behalf for a guardian for you, even before we took you from the children’s home in England. I know you felt abandoned there, but you were safe and hidden from those who would prey on a child as powerful as you were. He chose Tadeas, but once he saved Tadeas from shifting in Guatemala, he had to rush to get you in England. Your powers, subdued for so long, started to manifest. He pulled you from the home, but Tadeas had found Isabel. He watched over the both of you. Tadeas, he admired the care and love you had for Isabel. The night of her death, he chased Nalusa Chito, but it was too late for Isabel. He pulled you out of there and placed you with the Agency. I demanded he stay with Abigail after her death, and after he fell in love with her, he never introduced the two of you. I know he strengthened your natural guardian instincts to protect those around you with a focus on Abigail. Lincoln knew his days were numbered when he placed that bond. When I looked at the two of you in Boulder, I didn’t realize it was his bond that held the two of you together. Whatever path you take, it will be together. I came here today without fully understanding its power. I am clear now,” he finished, and I think we were both stunned. I felt her resolve waiver with multiple mentions of Lincoln.
I felt something coming from her. It wasn’t the normal communication, more like a visual impression. Gregory knew something was going on, but he couldn’t figure it out. I understood. “Does the bond force us to have feelings for one another?” I asked. She wanted me to ask because she made a deal for three things. I made no such deal. He could choose to answer me or not, but it would have no bearing on her deal with him to reconsider the contract.
“No, it does not. Other than you care for her a great deal which is your natural instinct as a guardian. All guardian beings have the same instinct. George has the same instinct, as your purpose and his are very similar. I know that he greatly misses her,” he said. She hung her head at the mention of George.
“I did not kill Isabel,” I said.
“Lincoln suspected that you didn’t, but he didn’t know for sure. He told me that he felt like you would either remember it or realize one day that you didn’t kill her. It would have been out of character for you and your abilities,” he replied truthfully. “I am thankful for you, Tadeas. But, your protection of her is not enough. Without access to the island, I fear what will happen to her. However, if she signs the contract, she will slowly inherit my knowledge and abilities. The shadow will no longer be an issue.”
“Will she be different if she signs the contract, or will she still be the Abigail we know?”
“I’ve allowed you to ask a couple of questions, because I owe you a few after the chair. However, Abby has one last request or demand. Other than that, I will not answer any more questions,” he declared.
“My last request is that I be given a full year to decide. During that year, you will not interfere with my operations within the Agency. I think you underestimate Tadeas’ ability to protect me. After the year is up, we will meet here, and I will give you my decision. I reserve the right to break this condition by signing early if I so desire to do so. Do you agree to this final request?” she asked.
“I don’t have very long left, Abigail. We need to start the transition soon,” he pleaded.
“No, one year,” she demanded.
“I agree, but please listen to me. I’m going whether you sign it or not. It’s time for me to move on. You are the only being on this earth that I trust,” he told her passionately. The ward dropped as he disappeared from sight.
She turned toward me, and her eyes were desperate. “That was damn dangerous! Coming through those wards. Do you have no sense at all? You ruined a perfectly good suit. But, I’m so glad that you did.” She hugged me and trembled. “He was going to take me.”
“No one is taking you from me,” I said and for a moment, we stood there locked in each other’s gaze. I shook it off. “I’ll go change. We are already late. That was clever and dangerous to get him to tell you all of that, but at least we know now, right?”
“Yes, now we know. I couldn’t have done it without you. I knew if I could get you a mental picture, he wouldn’t be able to see it like he was hearing us communicate.”
We went through the doors, and Ashley looked worried as Ichiro comforted her. “Thank God, you both are okay. The house shook. What did you do to that suit?”
“The wards didn’t like the suit,” I explained. “I’ll be right back.” As I ran up the stairs, I heard Abby starting to tell them what happened behind the closed door. I tried to pick out a suit that looked similar, but honestly, they all looked the same to me. I ran back downstairs, and Tony was outside waiting on all of us. Ashley and Ichiro went out the front door.
“What all did you tell them?” I asked.
“Only what they needed to know?” she said with a wicked grin.
“That’s my girl,” I smiled, and we got in the big Yukon and headed to KBS Headquarters in downtown Atlanta.
One thing I learned from last couple of days, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is in Atlanta, the traffic is horrendous. It took us almost two hours to get to the office.
“Tadeas, I guess you’ve never had the experience of working in an office, when suddenly a corporate bigwig shows up, have you?” Ashley asked.
“It was a big deal if someone from upstairs came into the training center, but I imagine this is uniquely different,” I said.
“Abby has a reputation,” she said.
“Ash,” Abby said rubbing her forehead.
“What? You do. If you show up, then something is wrong. Nobody likes an angry Abigail,” Ashley teased. Abigail groaned. I laughed at them both.
We pulled up in front. Ashley had given all of us directions on how to exit the vehicle. She directed everything to the finest detail. I was informed that I couldn’t walk with Abby, but must walk behind her instead. Abby actually protested this even though it was her own rule. Ashley insisted the rule was put in place for a reason. Abigail had to be presented as in charge. No one was her equal.
“It’s time to change the rules,” Abigail said.
“You are the boss. You should look like the boss,” I said.
“You aren’t helping,” she said.
We all exited the vehicle. I rounded it and opened the door for Abigail. She stepped out onto the sidewalk and the half-dozen people there milling about stopped and stared. She led us all into the building. The receptionist at the desk didn’t look up and said, “Who are you to here to see?”
Abby cleared her throat. The woman looked up with a stern look, but melted when she made eye contact with Abigail. “Miss Davenport, we did not expect you today.”
“I suppos
e not, since I did not give you forewarning. Do not alert them unless you want to find other employment,” she insisted.
“As you wish ma’am,” the receptionist gulped.
Abby turned and walked to the bank of elevators. We all filed in, Abby entering last. I made sure I was right behind her. I leaned in and let the smell of honeysuckle overwhelm me. “Do you mind?” she said. “I am trying to be a bad-ass here.”
“Your ass is not bad at all,” I smirked. Ichiro and Ashley died laughing.
“Enough,” she tried to say without giggling, but she couldn’t. The doors opened, and she straightened. She entered the large office with desks spread around the room. We all stood behind her. People bustled about doing work. Keyboards clicked. Printers printed. Cell phones rang. But within a matter of seconds, the whole room silenced. A tall, thin man stood in the back of the room and approached us.
“Miss Davenport, it is an honor to see you again,” he spoke with a deep southern accent.
“Mr. Monroe, it is good to see you as well. If you would please, direct us to Mr. Gilbert’s office,” she said.
“Yes, of course, this way,” he went down the center aisle of desks. With Abby’s first step into the aisle, every single person stood to their feet. She walked gracefully down the aisle never taking her eyes off Mr. Monroe. As she passed, I saw several women behind us slip away into a side room. Mr. Monroe stopped outside a door with no name plate. Abby entered the office, followed by each one of us. The office had already been cleaned out. The furniture was all that remained from its previous occupant. Abby sat down behind the desk. I flanked her on her left, but I backed against the wall. Ashley sat Abby’s briefcase down on the table, and then she and Ichiro sat on the black leather couch. Tony stayed outside the door. Mr. Monroe entered, and several ladies followed with a rolling cart. They brought coffee and doughnuts. They hustled out and left Mr. Monroe with us. Tony reached in and shut the door.
“Mr. Monroe, I would like a meeting set up with all the department heads in the boardroom as soon as possible. I also need all the files and records of what Mr. Gilbert was working on the week prior to his murder. Tavaris Williams is in the wind. Please let the current head of security know that I have quite a few questions, and that person will be required to stay longer after the department head meeting. As of this moment, I am in charge in Atlanta. I do not answer to anyone, including Mr. Giordano. All information and run-ups go through me. He is essentially cut-off. If he calls, he will be directed to my phone. Understood?” she finished her list.
“Yes. I will schedule the department head meeting within the next couple of hours. Miss Langtry will forward Mr. Gilbert's files to you. Mrs. Cagle went down to Starbucks to get you a tea. I’m sorry we were so ill-prepared for you. We had no idea you were coming to the office. I saw you at the funeral yesterday. We assumed you would show up with a new proxy,” he turned his eyes to me.
“Mr. Monroe, this is Tadeas Duarte. He is my new partner. I do apologize, but you can’t have him for proxy,” she finally smiled at him.
“Ah, very nice to meet you, Mr. Duarte,” he said politely.
“You as well, Mr. Monroe.”
“Anything else, Miss Davenport?”
“No, Mr. Monroe, please let me know as soon as possible about the meeting time.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he scurried out like a mouse.
“Bulla,” Abby said.
“Damn,” I said. She turned and grinned at me.
“Oh Tadeas, that’s not even half of it. Just wait until the meeting. They will all squirm,” Ashley said.
She got up and walked to the window. I walked over to stand next to her. “I have no desire to make these people squirm. Their leader was just murdered at their doorstep. We will get to the bottom of it, but not by intimidation of the innocent. Ashley, when will he arrive?”
“Who?” Tadeas asked.
“Matthew’s plane will land within the hour. We should send Tony for him,” she said.
“I agree. I don’t want him upset,” Abby said. Ashley walked to the door and quietly spoke with Tony. Matthew was the human lie detector. I was interested to see him in action. He was a waif of a guy with autism, but he had an uncanny ability to detect lies and perceive the truth. I’ve heard it was quite amazing. He was the one member of Abby’s group that didn’t travel much because of his condition. “Ash, order some food. I’m starving. Or I can do it if you are busy.”
“I’ll do it. I have some contacts here,” she said.
“You hungry?” she asked me.
“I am,” I said. We had skipped breakfast.
I watched as her eyes grew distant. To let her think, I went over to the leather chair on the opposite side of the room, and sat back. I watched them work, feeling useless. Listening to them and the world around us, Atlanta wasn’t nearly as loud as Los Angeles. It helped that we were in a skyscraper.
“What’s going through your head?” I asked.
“You just can’t be quiet.”
“Actually, I slept last night, and you didn’t. But I feel like I’m sitting here useless,” I confessed.
“When we go into this meeting, I don’t have to be in charge. You can do some of the talking. We are partners. I didn’t want you follow me in here in the first place. Things need to change. I need to change.”
“Did Lincoln follow?”
“Yes, but it was just his way. I’ve seen you talk to crowds for two years. I know you can do it as well as I do if not better.”
“Now that’s a lie. You own it. It’s beautiful and scary at the same time. I think I’ll adopt Lincoln’s way until I know how things work.”
The phone buzzed and interrupted our internal conversation.
“Davenport,” she answered.
“Miss Davenport, I have Roderick Overton on the phone for you.”
“Patch him through please.” She waited for the click over. “Mr. Overton, how are you, old friend?”
A rich preacher’s voice came over the line, “Miss Davenport, it has been too long. I hear that you are down our way.”
“I am in Atlanta covering the situation here,” she answered him.
“Sad thing about Andy. He was a good man,” Overton said.
“How may I help you, Mr. Overton?”
“I’ve got some activity here that I need to run up the line. I always ran things up to Andrew. He was more the regent than Giordano,” he explained.
“I understand. I expect to remedy that problem in the next few days,” she said which was a surprise to me.
“I’ve got a mess of wizards in town. They are out west of here in a little mining town called Brookwood. They are messing around with some of the abandoned shafts. The home office sent alerts out a couple of weeks ago about watching these sorts of operations,” he explained.
Ashley walked over and sat her laptop on the desk. Abby sat down at it, looking at the map and the proximity of the city to Atlanta. She plotted a drive there, which would take 3 hours with a time zone change.
“Mr. Overton, my partner and I will be out that way sometime in the next 24 hours. We will check on the activity personally. I will report back to you as soon as possible. If I don’t report back, Mr. Tadeas Duarte, my partner, will get back to you. I really appreciate you running this one up to me,” she said.
“It’s good to see you back in the field. We need you. A storm is coming,” he said. “Have a wonderful day, Miss Davenport.”
“You, as well, Mr. Overton,” she said as she pushed the button to hang up the phone.
“Ashley get us a car, and we will leave from here today. We will drive and check out the lead. The GEA has been quiet since Boulder. You, Ichiro and Tony take Matthew back to the estate after the meeting. Continue to track Tavaris Williams. You might see if our contacts with the police can help us. Tie my Mercedes to his name and let them put an APB out for him for the car chase on I-85 yesterday. The car is safely hidden at the estate. Please have some tactical gear brough
t in for us. You bring your guns?” She directed the last question to me.
I opened my jacket and showed her the shoulder rig underneath. “Who is he?”
“Rod Overton has been the proxy in Birmingham, Alabama for 40 years. He’s pushing 65, I think. He is the pastor there at an enormous church active in the community. A lot of his canvas crew are members of the church. He’s a kind and good man. We will go check it out for him. Looks like the town is just west of Birmingham. There is really nowhere to stay out there. We will drive over and back. If you are up for it?”
“I’m more worried about you,” I said.
“I’ll be fine. As long as I’m working, I’m good.” There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Abby said.
Mr. Monroe entered with a Starbucks cup. “Here you are. The meeting is scheduled for 1:00pm if that is fine with you.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Monroe,” he nodded and went back out. She picked up the tea, removed the lid, blew on it, and took a few sips.
The food Ashley ordered arrived. We ate as we prepared for the meeting. Ashley and Ichiro went down to the boardroom, leaving us alone for a few minutes before the meeting. Ashley winked at me when she went out. She never ceased to nudge us, but I chuckled at her.
“What’s funny?” Abby asked from the bathroom that was connected to the office. She was touching up make-up or some other girl stuff I didn’t understand.
“Ashley winked at me when she went out. She always like that?” I said.
She came out and smiled at me. “Yes, it's annoying. I’m surprised I don’t have an email full of wedding dresses.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. She’s slacking,” she laughed.
I was sitting on the couch that Ashley and Ichiro had vacated. She came over and sat next to me. “You sure you are up for all this running around? You didn’t sleep much.”
“Working keeps me focused. I am fine,” she assured me.
“I’d prefer you had your mind on me,” I said. “Shit, did I say that out loud?”
“Yes, you did,” she grinned at me. “Without inflating your ego, my mind is often on you, Tadeas.” Something inside me stirred with her admission. She rarely gave me anything to hope, but there were moments like this one.
