The Gifted Ones: A Reader

by Maria Elizabeth Romana

  Hiding his discomfort, Joe proceeded inside. “One of the research protocols?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Doo with a smile. “We’ve been looking for natural tonics that might increase milk output without messing with these poor girls’ hormones.” He stroked the animal’s head. “Gilda here really seems to be taking to the seaweed. Her production is up 27%.”

  “That’s great, Doo. I’m glad to hear you’ve been able to keep up the research without Bianco.”

  Doo looked over at Grace as he answered, “You should thank Gracie. We couldn’t have done it without her.”

  Gracie? Why was he calling her Gracie? That was Joe’s thing. He and Lucy were the only ones who ever called her Gracie. Argh! What was this stupid, protective, selfish thing he kept feeling about Grace? He bit his tongue and framed a response, “Well, you might have to manage without her for a couple days.” He looked at Grace. “Angel and I need to make a quick trip to Washington. Something’s come up that we need to take care of right away. I thought, with things being the way they are right now, that it would be best if you and Ellie came with us.” He paused, then added, “For your safety, I mean.”

  “Washington?” Grace looked up into her head, then slowly answered, “I suppose that would be all right. I don’t think Ellie’s ever been there. We could see the sights, do some shopping…”

  Joe gave her a lopsided grin. “I was thinking more along the lines of meeting some of my esteemed colleagues at the Council. Fraser Lincoln will be there to talk about his latest algal pond experiments and a couple of top-notch archeologists from Germany, too, but…whatever you think.” Joe did not want to push her. Grace had always had a stubborn streak, and if he was going to change her thinking about Ellie’s future, he’d have to let her come to it on her own.

  Grace laughed. “Uh, I think Ellie will be more interested in the Lincoln Bedroom than Fraser Lincoln, but sure, we can go. When do we leave?”

  “First thing in the morning?”

  She nodded. “I can do that. Of course, we’ll have to track down Ellie and drag her out of that basement amusement park over there.” Grace motioned back toward the farmhouse. “She’s been hounding those gamers and stalking the Shakespearean actors ever since we got here. But yeah, that’ll give me the rest of the day out here with Doo. We need to finish up our work with the cows and then do a few things with the geese before I could leave. Right, Doo?” She lightly touched Doo’s arm as she said it, and he gave her a nod and a broad smile in return.

  And then Joe was really glad he was taking Grace away with him.

  # # #

  Archer Orucov scanned the roomful of well-dressed men and women, who were sipping drinks and snagging caviar and goat cheese hors d’oeuvres from silver trays carried by tuxedoed waiters. He was more than ready to exit this dreadfully dull congregation of congresspeople, but Kumika was nowhere to be found. He took another pull from his drink, then set it down on the nearest table in disgust. He wondered how a budget as bloated as that of the United States Congress couldn’t find room for a decent bottle of scotch.

  A high-pitched cackle from the other side of the room caught his attention. He lifted his head and spotted her, crushed in a corner with Senator Warren Lathey. With her already long legs perched atop four inch heels, she towered over the man’s bushy gray head, positioning her small but firm breasts not far below his chin. The senator’s rosy cheeks beamed as he pressed closer to her, and though Archer couldn’t see for the crowd, he was guessing Lathey’s hand was firmly planted on Kumika’s slender behind. Her arm was casually draped over the man’s shoulder, and her black eyes sparkled, as she alternately laughed at his jokes and whispered in his ear. Archer had to look away to keep from laughing himself. Did the old codger really think a woman that beautiful and that intelligent was genuinely interested in him?

  When Archer looked again, Kumi caught his eye over the old man’s shoulder, and with the subtlest of glances, told him her mission was accomplished. He turned and headed for the door, stopping only to shake a few hands on his way out.

  Twenty minutes later, she slid into the limo beside him. He patted her knee. “Excellent work, my dear. For a while there, I didn’t think you’d reel him in.”

  Kumika opened her beaded bag and fished out a lipstick case. She carefully traced the black-red color onto her lips, eyeing herself in the case’s tiny mirror, and only when she was satisfied with the job, did she respond. “Please. From the first minute, he was so-o-o in.” She dropped the lipstick case back in the bag and withdrew a folded envelope. She flattened it out and handed it to Archer. “Did you really doubt me?”

  He grinned and shook his head. “You have never failed me yet. However…” He paused while he carefully tucked the envelope into his inside pocket, then continued, “We still need three more votes to get this project through. You and I have a lot more work to do.” She didn’t respond. Archer supposed she was looking for a more flowery acknowledgment of her success. He reached over and brushed her lower lip with his thumb. “This lovely mouth can do such amazing things.”

  She dipped her chin then and looked up at him through her lashes. “Talking is not the only thing it’s good for.”

  He gave her half a smile, but refused to give in to her attempts at distraction. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later, Kumi.” He rapped once on the wall to the driver’s section, and in a moment, the car began to move.

  Kumika glanced out the window. “Where are we going?”

  “We have one more stop to make.”

  “Archer, it’s after midnight.”

  He shrugged. “I got a message from Mondo.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? You can’t see him tomorrow? I’m tired. My feet are killing me.”

  “He said it had to be tonight. And Aiden’s meeting us there.”

  She flipped her knees toward the door and folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, for God’s sake. Shouldn’t he be tucked in his little boy bed by now?”

  Archer bit his tongue and didn’t answer. Kumika Asano was an alluring woman with a sharp mind, and surely an invaluable asset in his business dealings, but sometimes, her childish needs for attention and adoration were wearying.

  They traveled the several blocks to Mondo’s divey little ristorante and entered through the back door. A short, but thickly muscled man in a too-tight t-shirt greeted them and ushered them down a hallway to a private room. The space was picture-book Italian restaurant: checkered tablecloths, dim lighting, half-melted candles, and a lot of bad art.

  Three men were seated at the only occupied table in the room. The largest and eldest of the three, whose broad back was to them, turned to look when Archer and Kumika walked in. He immediately stood and greeted them. His voice was gruff, but warm, “Archer, my friend, I’m glad you could join us.” He briefly grasped Archer’s hand in both of his, then turned his attention to Kumika. He gave her a mock bow. “And Kumika, so nice to see you again.” His eyes scanned her body up and down, then he lifted her hand to his lips. “You look absolutely ravishing this evening.”

  She reacted to the gesture with a wry smile. “Armondo, you’re so full of shit.”

  He laughed out loud and reached for a chair for her, but then noticed the two younger men at the table had not moved. “Hey, whattsa matter, you two? Get up! There’s a lady in the room. Carlo, you got no manners?” He smacked the head of the one nearest him, and the lad quickly stood.

  Aiden, who was seated on the other side of the table, also stood, but in a more leisurely manner. He was holding a pepperoncini from the antipasti on the table. He lifted it to his lips and said simply, “Kumi.” Then he bit down hard on the pepper.

  Kumika narrowed her eyes, barely nodded, and slipped into the proferred chair. When all the men were seated, she turned to Carlo, who was next to her, and stuck her fingers into his hair. Pulling a tuft straight up on his head, she asked, “Gone blonde, huh?” She looked toward Aiden. “You boys going in for some matchy-ma
tchy look?”

  Aiden didn’t answer, but Carlo blurted, “No!” as he attempted to undo the damage she had done to his perfect coiffure.

  Suppressing a grin, Archer settled the matter, “I suggested it, Kumi. I thought the Angel of Darkness might like it. Opposites attract and all that.”

  Kumika reached for a tiny plastic sword on the antipasti tray and pierced a cube of aged cheddar. She studied it as she spoke, “Hmm, I guess it worked. Let’s hope the rest of the plan is equally successful, because, from what I hear, it’s on.” She stuck the cheese end of the sword in her mouth and pulled it out clean.

  “It will be, and it starts with this.” Archer held his left hand up and pulled and twisted at a ring on his middle finger. He reached across the table and handed the ring to Carlo. “Try it on.”

  Carlo tried the ring on his thick middle finger first, then failing that, his ring finger. When it got stuck there as well, he moved it to his pinky, and the ring slid on. “Okay, so what do I do with it? Is it like a radio or somethin’?” He held the ring up to his mouth and seemed about to speak into it when Archer held up a hand.

  “No, son, it’s not a radio. It’s a magnet, a fairly powerful magnet. It’s the perfect tool for removing nanophones.”

  The boy wrinkled his nose up. “Nanophones? What’s a nanophone?”

  Kumika grinned her most devilish grin, saying, “I’ll show you.” She turned to face the boy and slowly extricated a dripping mass of diamonds from her right ear. Then she took Carlo’s hand in hers and laid it along the side of her neck. Keeping her eyes on his face, she gently guided his fingers up toward her ear, pushing them through her silky locks. Archer couldn’t stop himself from grinning as the young man’s face turned an ever-deepening shade of red. Finally, Kumi pulled his hand away from her ear and held it out in front of all of them. With a long fingernail, she pointed to a tiny metal button that had affixed itself to the pinky ring. “That, my dear, is a nanophone—a little teeny two-way microphone.”

  Carlo snatched his hand back and held it two inches from his face, inspecting the tiny device. “No kidding,” he said. Then he looked at Kumi. “That was in your ear?”

  Archer answered for her, “Yes, and there’s likely one in your girlfriend’s ear much of the time.”

  Carlo thought about that for a minute, and his face took on a horrified look. “Wait, like…even when…”

  At that, Kumika spiraled into a fit of laughter, and Mondo joined her, his deep bass resonating off the walls. Only Aiden seemed unamused. Archer just shrugged. “Let’s hope the monitors are discreet enough to turn the tapes off once in a while.”

  “Tapes?” Carlo gulped.

  The poor guy looked miserable, so Archer moved on. He reached into his inside jacket pocket and brought out two tiny sealed vials. One was about half-full, and the other, all the way to the top. He laid them on a napkin and pushed it across the table to Carlo. He pointed to the one that was half-filled. “This one’s for the kid.”

  Aiden interjected, “She’s a lightweight, Carlo. Don’t confuse the vials.”

  “And make sure they eat first. No empty stomachs, or it might not stay down,” added Archer.

  “Wait, what exactly’s gonna happen here?” Carlo picked up the filled vial and studied it. “What does this stuff do? Drowsiness? Confusion? Blackout?” When he got no immediate response, his tone changed, “I mean, this ain’t gonna kill her, right? ’Cause I—”

  Armondo laid a hand on his son’s arm. “No, no, no. Nobody’s gonna get hurt. We don’t want no trouble.” He looked across the table. “Do we, Arch?”

  Archer had just picked up the bottle of wine from the table. “Why, of course not, Mondo.” He poured himself a glass and lifted it up. He held the glass at eye level, studying the dark colored liquid inside, then spoke, as if to himself, “The formula is quite precise. I mixed it myself. It’s based on some of my groundbreaking research in paralytics…from back in the day.” He swirled the wine in the glass, then took a sip. After holding the beverage in his mouth long enough to savor the flavor, he swallowed. He set the glass down, nodding his approval of the vintage, then looked at all of them. “I just want what’s mine, and this is the simplest way to get it.” He smiled at Armondo. “But I appreciate your concern, my friend; good parents always want what’s best for their children.”

  # # #

  “And while Joe’s at his meeting, we can tour the monuments and see the White House.” Grace was talking to Ellie the next morning, as they approached the barn, en route to the secret entrance to the airstrip.

  Angel, who was just behind them, was thinking how that just sounded boring as hell. She had much better ideas for Ellie’s trip to Washington. “No, no, no. You don’t want to go there. Go see the spy museum. It’s my favorite! There’s so much cool stuff in there, and there’s this awesome bistro next door where they bake all their own bread, and then this gelato place right next to that—it’s to die for. And once we’re done with our…uh, stuff we have to do, we’ll come meet you guys for dinner. Oh, but first thing when we get there, you’ve got to try some of Nicky Argulo’s homemade pretzels—”

  Joe looked back at her, laughing. “Angel you should write a book: Washington, D.C., the Gastronomic Guide.”

  “Hey, I just don’t want them to miss out…” Her voice trailed off as everyone’s attention shifted toward the barn.

  “Grace! Grace, I’m so glad I caught you!” Doo was running toward them, Stetson in hand, from the direction of the pasture. He came to a screeching halt in front of Grace, and panted out his words, “It’s Gilda. She’s sick. I never seen her like this, and she can’t tell me what’s wrong.” He rocked his head back on his neck and looked skyward, catching his breath, then went on, “I think she got into the seaweed bin. I found it this morning with the lid off, and the whole thing’s empty.”

  Grace’s eyes widened. “The whole thing?” She bit her lower lip and appeared to be thinking hard about something.

  Joe looked at Doo. “Well, can’t you just give her something to settle her stomach?”

  “No! It’s not that simple,” Grace insisted. “Seaweed has iron and iodine and lots of other powerful constituents.” She shifted her attention to Doo. “If she really ate all that…”

  “Is it bad?”

  “Yes, really bad. It could kill her. We have to act fast. Do you have any activated charcoal? What about sodium chloride?” She dropped her bag, and started to move toward the pasture.

  “Grace…” Joe looked bewildered.

  She turned back to look at them, as though she’d completely forgotten about the trip to Washington. “Oh, Joe, I…uh…”

  “We can wait for you,” he offered.

  She shook her head. “No, you go. I have to stay with her. It might be all day…even all night.” She pointed at Angel. “You’ll stay with Ellie, right? Every minute?”

  Angel raised her hands. “That’s my job, Grace. Won’t let her out of my sight.”

  “I’ll be fine, Aunt Grace. Go take care of the cow.” Ellie made a shooing motion.

  Grace nodded her assent to all of them, and blew a kiss to Ellie. Then she grabbed Doo by the elbow and yanked him back in the direction from which he had come. Joe looked at Angel and Ellie and said half-heartedly, “Well, I guess it’s just us then. Ready, ladies?”

  Angel looked at him quizzically. She’d known Joe Manning a long time, worked side-by-side with him in many stressful situations, and he’d always kept his cool. That was Joe—Mr. Even Keel. It was why he was such a fantastic leader. But yet, these last few days, with Ellie and Grace around…well, he just seemed off his game.

  # # #

  Joe was still brooding as the trio boarded the plane. While Angel and Ellie settled themselves in to comfortable seats in the front, he excused himself to the back cabin, taking his computer and phone with him. As soon as he’d pulled closed the cabin door, Ellie wrinkled up her nose. “So what’s up with him?”

  “You n
oticed that, too, huh?” Angel looked in the direction of the back cabin, as if it would somehow yield some insight. “He’s never like this—all moody and broody.”

  “It’s certainly not the way I remember him, from when I was little. He was always happy and funny and playful. At least with me. He used to take me to the zoo and the museum and the playground.” She shrugged. “Maybe this is just what happens to people when they get old.”

  Angel laughed out loud. “Hey, he’s not that old, and he’s probably got more on his mind nowadays than he did back then, but…something does seem to be bothering him. He’ll usually tell me. I can’t very well protect him and our other Gifted folks, if I don’t know everything that’s going on.”

  “Maybe it’s personal.”

  “Personal…” Angel raised an eyebrow to indicate her confusion.

  “You know, like…maybe he had a fight with his girlfriend.”

  Angel shook her head. “No girlfriend. At least not currently.” She looked up in her head a moment, trying to recall. “Hmm, not for a long time, now that I think about it. As long as I’ve known Joe, he’s never really had great luck in that department. He’ll go out with somebody a few times, maybe a few weeks or months, but it never lasts.” She shrugged. “I don’t know why. I guess he’s just too wrapped up in his work. His love life is one area we don’t discuss.”

  “But maybe…I mean, I was thinking…” Ellie bit her lip.

  “What?”

  “Well, he looked kind of red, didn’t he? Maybe more violet. You know, hot. Like hot temperature.”

  “Violet? Hot temperature?” Angel shook her head out. What was the kid talking about? She seemed like a bright girl, but she was making zero sense right now.

  “You know what I mean, Angel. Jealous. Angry. Hurt.”

  “O-o-o-h.” Angel’s eyes widened. “You think Joe has a thing for your aunt? And he’s jealous of Doo?” Angel thought about it a minute, then laughed. “No. No way. Even if he was totally diggin’ on Grace, Joe would never be jealous of the cowboy.”