Deadly Intentions (15 page)

“Oh no, you girls can’t go,” Dorian said.

“Can’t go?” Fiona scrunched her face at Dorian. “I don’t think so.”

“No. It’s much too dangerous. If we lose the three of you, it could set all our efforts back decades. I’ll put my best people on it and I’ll let you know what we find.” Dorian glanced at a slim silver watch on her wrist. “I better get to it. I’ll be in touch. I can show myself out.”

She nodded at them, turned on her heel and started toward the hall. Glancing over her shoulder at them, she said, “Stay put until you hear from me. And don’t forget, Dr. Bly has deadly intentions towards you.”

The six of them stared at each other while they listened to the clicking of the screen door and the sound of Dorian’s car starting in the driveway.

Morgan’s voice cut into the silence. “Are we really going to stay put like she asked?”
 

The sisters looked at each other, then at Jake, Luke and Cal.
 

“No way!”

Chapter Nineteen

“Okay, so how do we figure out
where
Jolene is?” Morgan asked.

“Well, if this was a one of my cases, I’d retrace the person’s steps and go to the place they were last seen,” Jake answered.
 

“Which, according to Dorian Hall, was the junior college,” Fiona added.

Jake looked at Celeste. “Did she say anything to you about where she was going or why?”

Celeste’s stomach sank. She must have been the last one to see Jolene before she was kidnapped. “No. As far as I know, she was coming straight home. I
knew
I should have rescheduled my classes and stayed with her.”

Cal slid an arm around Celeste’s shoulders. “Don’t beat yourself up. Jolene is a grown woman. It was her own decision to go off by herself.”

“Yeah, let’s not waste time talking about ‘what if’s’. We need to be proactive,” Luke said. “Let’s find out about this Dr. Bly and see if we get any clues as to where he might have taken Jolene.”

Jake nodded. “And we need to get out to the college before the trail gets cold. Maybe she left us a clue … some sort of key as to who took her.”

Key.
 

The word niggled something in the back of Celeste’s mind.

“Then once we get an idea of what direction to head in, we can come up with a plan on how to get her back.” Luke headed toward the East sitting room. “Where’s that laptop? I wan—”

“Wait a minute!” Celeste rushed to the drawer where Morgan had put the old locket. She held it up by the chain, watching the light glint off the garnet stone in the middle as the pendant dangled in front of her. “Grandma said something strange to me the other day. She said ‘the key is in the locket’. I thought she meant the one Jolene wore that looked like Mom’s, but there was nothing in that locket.”

“So you’re thinking maybe she meant this one?” Fiona asked.

Celeste nodded. She captured the twirling locket in her hand. Immediately, she felt a vibration from the stone. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the energy she was getting from the locket.
 

She sensed a presence to her right and opened her eyes to see a light blue swirling mist. She watched as it slowly took the form of an old woman. She was bent over with age, but her eyes glowed with youth.
 

“The locket is protected … but inside is what you seek.” The voice was barely above a whisper and Celeste had to strain to make out the words. Then the apparition was gone. One small droplet of water fell to the floor as Celeste stared at the empty air.

“What is it?” Morgan asked and Celeste realized the others had all been silently watching her.

“A ghost. An old woman. She said what we seek is inside the locket, but it’s protected.”

 
“Protected?” Fiona’s forehead wrinkled. She reached out for the locket and Celeste handed it over.

“We need to get this thing open, protected or not.” Fiona put the locket on the counter, picked up a knife and stuck it into the opening.
 

Celeste heard a sizzling sound and smelled the arc of electricity. Her hair prickled.

“Ouch!” Fiona jumped back from the locket, shaking her hand.
 

“I think it’s got some kind of energy that’s keeping it from being opened,” Morgan said.
 

“Maybe someone who doesn’t have paranormal gifts should try it. The locket doesn’t seem to affect us regular people the same way.” Cal’s lopsided grin made Celeste’s heart swell and she couldn’t help but feel nervous for him as he picked the locket up.

“I’m not even sure it’s worth it,” Jake said. “What could possibly be inside that would help us find Jolene?”

“I don’t know, but if it gives us a clue on where Jolene is, it’s worth finding out.” Cal gritted his teeth together and pressed on the clasp.

Crack!

The sound was deafening. Celeste covered her ears just as a light blue beam of energy shot across the room, shattering a ceramic mug into a million pieces, which flew up almost to the ceiling, then rained down on the tile floor in a clatter of shards.
 

“Damn it!” Morgan ran her fingers through her hair. “We need to find a way to open this! I have a feeling what we need to know is inside.”

They were hunched over the island, staring at the locket which was sitting in the center where Cal had dropped it, each of them trying to figure out how to get it open when a cold draft pulled their attention away.

Celeste looked up, her heart jerking when she saw a figure silhouetted in the open doorway leading to the basement.

“I can open it.”

***

Fiona’s narrowed-eyed glare made Eliza’s stomach twist.

“You were down in the basement all this time?” It sounded more like an accusation than a question.

Eliza glanced behind her. “I guess you could say that …”

Eliza saw the sisters exchange an uneasy glance and she knew they were wondering what she’d been doing down there. There wasn’t much to look at. She’d probably have to tell them she’d discovered the tunnels … too bad she hadn’t found the amulet, but she’d get them to help her with that in due time.
 

Right now, she could tell they needed her help. It was all coming to a head just as she’d been told and she’d have to come clean with her nieces and hope they trusted her if she wanted her mission to end in success.

“That locket is protected with an energy seal. You won’t be able to open it yourselves.”

“What the heck is an energy seal?” Morgan scrunched up her face.

“It’s a paranormal device. People with certain skills can seal anything that has hinges with an energy cypher. Only people skilled in breaking that cypher can open it. It’s kind of like picking a lock.”

Fiona raised her right brow at her aunt. “And you know how to break the cypher?”

Eliza nodded. “But first, tell me what happened. I know something is wrong and I think I can help.”

The girls hesitated. Eliza was afraid they wouldn’t trust her enough to let her in, but after a few seconds, Celeste said:

“Oh, what the heck. She knows about the locket and the energy lock. Maybe she
can
help.”

“Okay.” Morgan nodded and told Eliza how Dorian Hall had told them Jolene had been taken and how the mysterious old woman had brought the locket to their shop earlier that day.

Eliza stared down at the locket on the counter. “This is made from meteorite.”

“Do you know something about the locket?” Fiona asked. “Near as we can tell, it seems to have unusual properties.”

Eliza glanced up at Fiona. “The stone conducts energy like some metals conduct heat. The meteorite this stone came from has a high concentration of iron and nickel which makes it highly conductive to paranormal energy.”

“Is that why I feel all tingly when I touch it?” Celeste asked.

Eliza nodded as she bent closer to inspect the locket. “Yes, it enhances paranormal abilities. All meteorites do, so jewelry made from it would be especially valuable for us para’s because wearing it would guarantee that you’d always have something that could amplify your special gifts.”

“You’ve seen jewelry like this before?”

“Not the locket per se … but I’ve seen pendants. This is very old. It was most likely owned by an Energy Master.”

“Energy Master?” Morgan stared at the locket.

“Someone highly skilled in the art of bending energy—making it do what you want. You know what I’m talking about, right?” Eliza’s ice-blue eyes stared at each of her nieces in turn.
 

She sensed that in that one look she was making a connection … a bond that couldn’t be broken, stronger even than their bond of family. She just hoped it wasn’t too late.

The girls glanced at each other again. Then Morgan spoke for them.
 

“We know exactly what you mean.”

Eliza nodded. “I know you girls have paranormal gifts, just as I do. It’s a Blackmoore family trait like the blue eyes. Which is why we have to get Jolene back. It’s critical to our cause.”

“Your cause?” Jake looked skeptically at Eliza.

“
Our
cause,” she replied. “This isn’t just about the Blackmore family or even the paranormal community. What Dr. Bly intends to do could spell disaster for the entire human race.”

***

Morgan felt a dark sense of foreboding take hold in the pit of her stomach as she listened to her aunt. She’d learned to trust her gut instincts and right now they told her that her aunt wasn’t exaggerating about what might happen if Bly’s plan came to fruition.

She shivered thinking what might happen if Bly was successful … and what he might be doing to Jolene right this very minute.

Luke, Jake and Cal, however, were a bit more skeptical.

“So, you expect us to believe this Dr. Bly is some sort of mad scientists whose goal is to take over the world?” Jake’s brows had risen almost to his hairline.

“I guess it does sound a bit far-fetched when you put it that way, but basically that’s what it is.” Eliza shrugged. “He really does have a multibillion dollar company that researches alternative energy, but that’s just a cover for his real work.”

“Which is?” Luke asked.

“Trying to harness paranormal energy.”

“Why would he want to do that?”

Eliza sighed. “You guys probably haven’t thought about it this way, but having gifts like the girls have could make one very powerful. Thus far, you’ve only used your gifts to defend … but think about what you could do with them if you wanted to use them on the offensive for evil purposes. Those gifts would enable you to control whatever you want. Money. People. Even whole governments. And Bly wants it all.”

Jake scoffed. “Surely he couldn’t take over a whole government. No one would let that happen.”

“No?” Eliza’s blue eyes turned hard. “He has a great front with his business and he acts every bit the philanthropist by donating money and helping in the community. For all outward appearances, he’s a pillar of society. It works to his advantage because he can do all kinds of experiments in the name of his alternative energy company and no one suspects him. Quite the opposite, really—they think he is helping us find clean energy. He’s made a lot of friends, many of whom are politicians. And if he gets enough of them in his pocket, he can control most of the world without anyone ever knowing.”

Luke snorted. “I don’t think too many world leaders would fall for that.”

“Believe me—Bly can be very persuasive … especially if he is using paranormal powers to do the persuading.”

“You mean he has gifts, too?” Fiona asked.

Eliza nodded. “And an army of minions to do his bidding. But, from what we know, his people are not as powerful as he needs them to be and we fear he is experimenting with ways to boost their power.”

Morgan’s eyes slid over to the locket. “You mean with rocks and crystals that amplify paranormal abilities like meteorites?”

“That’s part of it. The other part is the ancient relics—items infused with amplifying powers by the old Energy Masters. The more of these he has in his possession, the more his powers grow.”

“So, there are others with gifts like ours?” Celeste asked.

“Yes, and they use them for both good and bad purposes,” Eliza said. “Unfortunately, Bly has recruited a lot of people with gifts to his side—the lure of riches and power is too compelling for most.”

Cal leaned against the counter, arms crossed on his chest. “If there are so many people with gifts, why have we never heard of them? You’d think they’d be everywhere, shooting out energy bolts when they get mad or want something.”

“There are quite a few with these abilities, although not everyone can shoot out bolts of energy. The abilities manifest themselves differently in everyone. But, as you may have already figured out, it doesn’t pay to advertise that you have paranormal gifts so mostly we keep quiet about it.”

“I still don’t understand why he took Jolene.” Morgan asked.

“You girls are very powerful … more than most. My guess is you haven’t even realized the extent of your abilities yet.”

Morgan pressed her lips together. It was true, she hadn’t spent much time honing her skills, but she could feel them growing stronger every day.

Celeste spoke up from the other side of the room, her forehead etched in a frown. “Wait a minute … do you think Bly had something to do with our mother’s death?”

Eliza’s eyes took on a faraway, glassy look. “It’s possible. Your Mom was very powerful, too, so you girls have paranormal gifts from the Blackmoore side and her side. We’re not sure what happened to her, but I’m certain Bly would have either wanted to turn her to his side or get her out of the way.”