Of Daggers and Dreamers

Chapter 4

4

A few minutes later, they found a spot on the street half a block from the bank. They both got out on their respective sides of the car. Mason waited for Kai on the sidewalk, doing surveillance through his dark glasses. They were taught skills in the military that none of them thought they would continue to need once they returned stateside, their tours done. In the time it took Kai to set the alarm on the Dodge and join him on the sidewalk, Mason had located all the city cameras, the make and model of the vehicles on each side of the street, the pedestrians on the sidewalks and crossing at the light, and the dog, a black lab, that was watering the tree twenty feet from the bank’s front entrance.

They walked, side by side, hands relaxed and hanging loose. Once they stepped inside the marble foyer of the bank, Mason removed his shades and followed Kai. Details of their surroundings continued to be categorized. Three security guards, five tellers, a dozen people in line, including two mothers with kids. Of the six desks set along the east wall inside cubicles, four were busy holding conversations regarding loans and accounts.

Kai stopped in front of the counter that held the sign “Information”. He smiled at the petite blonde. “Hello. I’m hoping you can help me.”

She glanced up from a computer screen and looked twice before she smiled back. As her gaze took in Kai’s dark hair, gray eyes, square jaw, and full lips spread to reveal a white smile, she leaned forward slightly, offering both Kai and Mason a view of ample cleavage.

Mason shook his head as the corner of his mouth tipped up. It was the same wherever they went. With Kai’s looks and build, he was often mistaken for a Hollywood star. Not that Kai cared. Instead, he used his luck from the gene pool, along with his charm, to get what he wanted. Mason thought that if Kai chose to be a criminal, he could have used all those looks and talents to make a million. But to Kai, and his closest friends, honor meant more than wealth.

Kai had taken the keyring from his pocket and held it out in his palm. “I need to get into this safe deposit box.”

Stephanie, according to her gold name badge, dragged her fingers across his palm as she picked up the keys. Dangling them in front of her, she read the number of the box, then clicked a few times with the mouse next to the computer.

“Can I see some ID?” she asked.

Kai pulled out his wall and showed her his driver’s license.

“Thank you, Mr. Matthieus,” she said. “And I can help you.” Her gaze shifted from the screen to Kai. She tilted to the side to unlock and open a drawer, where she withdrew her own keyring that held at least a hundred keys.

Straightening, she looked at his keys, her eyebrows lifting. “A Dodge? And one with an ignition key this old, it must be from the seventies.”

“Seventy-four Dodge Dart,” Kai offered, then took his keyring from her.

“Oh, I love muscle cars,” she purred.

Mason quirked his own brow and idly wondered if Stephanie purred like that when other “muscles” were being discussed.

“This one is pretty special. I’ve had her a long time, and had her customized with two cams,” Kai smiled to himself as Stephanie shifted, thrusting her breasts a fraction of an inch closer to him, “and a blower.”

Mason covered his snort of laughter with a cough as Stephanie pursed her hot pink lips.

“Manual?” she asked, her voice breathy.

Kai tucked his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “Absolutely.”

“I love a man who can handle his stick.”

Mason clapped Kai on the shoulder. “I’ve got work. So… the box?”

“Oh. Right. Sure. This way,” Stephanie said, shaking her head a little as if she’d been caught in a daydream. She stepped out from behind the desk in four-inch heels and glanced back over her shoulder to make sure they followed her.

“Seriously?” Mason mumbled to Kai, whose only response was a half-smile.

They followed Stephanie down a hallway, then turned left. She paused outside a door. Taking her ID, she swiped the card through the lock, then entered a six-digit code. When a green light flashed, she pushed the handle down and leaned into the door to open it.

Mason glanced at Kai, then said to Stephanie, “Top of the line security. The last time we were here, the bank had just installed the ZXI7000.”

Stephanie stepped inside the room and held the door open as she gave Mason the same double take she’d given Kai. “Yes. Financial security is the number one concern for First Bank. It’s important to stay on top.” She studied them both as they entered the room.

“True,” Mason said. “And security is big business.”

Her gaze traveled down his body as her brows met her bangs. “It certainly is. You must be in the industry if you’re familiar with the systems.”

“Mason McCormick. Security Specialists.”

Her eyes widened. “I’ve heard of you. It was your company that saved the singer last year from the sniper! Wow. I guess you have to know all kinds of security.”

“I thought you had to get to work,” Kai said, then shifted so Stephanie saw him and remembered why they were there, since she’d been staring at Mason.

“Oh. Right,” Stephanie said and moved to the row of boxes to the left of the door. It took her only a moment to find the correct key on the huge keyring.

Kai stepped to the box and inserted his key into the lock on his side. When she slid hers in, she turned to look at him. “Ready?” When he nodded, they turned their keys simultaneously and the red light turned white.

Stephanie pulled the handle enough to clear the locking mechanism, then she removed her key.

“You’re welcome to use the table. I’ll close the door for privacy. You know what to do when you’re finished?”

“Yes. It’s been a while since I’ve visited, but I remember what to do.”

She gave him a heated smiled, then crossed to the door. “If you need anything else, just ask.”

“Thank you,” both Kai and Mason said at the same time.

Once the door closed, Kai said to Mason, “Big business? Seriously?”

Mason shrugged.

With a pull, the drawer slid out. Kai put a hand under it, then turned to set it on the table. Taking the key from the front, he inserted it into the second lock that held the lid in place. He turned the key to unlock it, then tucked the keyring inside his pocket.

Mason stepped up beside him, his thoughts on the last time they’d been not just at this bank, but in this room. He remembered then that he’d hoped they wouldn’t ever have to return. Because if they did, it meant s**t had gotten critical. The entire Unit had planned on not having to ever deal with what they did overseas once they returned home. They were wrong then, and Mason thought that this wouldn’t be the last time he and Kai would have to return here.

Kai lifted the lid. Inside sat a centuries old wooden box decorated with the same symbol etched on his amulet plus other protective carvings. The box wasn’t what he’d come for, but rather what lay within it. He passed his palm over the elaborately engraved lid. Mason couldn’t see the vibrations, but Kai could feel them, even though the box had been lined in recent years with two layers of titanium and a layer of lead in between. At his whispered words, they heard a whirl, then two clicks as the interior locks released. He lifted the lid to Mason’s quietly uttered curse.

Without hesitation, Kai reached in and pulled the items out, one at a time. The first was a glass vial filled with pale purple liquid. Not exactly the elixir of eternal life, but a blend of rare ingredients that, should he become gravely injured, would buy him time to get somewhere safe and, hopefully, to someone who could help him. The second item was a book. Anyone besides Kai would see only bank pages. To him, it contained information from eons past. Countless people had lost their lives in the quest for the book, the temporary ownership of the book, and when the book was taken from those who had possessed it. Carved into the hide that held the pages was the same design that marked his amulet. He briefly touched the small pouch that remained hidden inside his shirt, then tucked the book into his back pocket. The final item he removed was wrapped in white linen. He believed it was more for tradition than any protection for the weapon. Peeling away the cloth, he stared a moment at the crystal dagger. The hilt guard was etched to resemble wings. The nine-inch-long blade contained four corners and completed a 360-degree twist from hilt to tip. When he grasped the winged handle, a glow emanated from within the crystal and a hum filled the room.

Mason shifted to cover the view from the camera above the door. “Great, not really, that the two of you are reunited. But you need to quiet down,” he hissed at Kai.

Speaking one word and passing his hand over the blade, the light and hum disappeared. Placing the tip beneath the cuff of the left sleeve of his hoodie, Kai slid the blade into the sheath that he’d strapped to his forearm before leaving the loft. After tugging the cuff back into place, he closed the lid on the wood box, then lowered and relocked the lid on the safe deposit box. He returned the box to its slot and waited for the red light to signal the locks were reengaged.

Mason crossed to the door and pulled it open. “Going to take care of the finances while you’re here?”

“Sure,” Kai answered as he walked out of the room. “And as I play the shell game, you can get Stephanie’s number.”

“For you?” Mason would do what Kai requested, though Kai never had trouble getting the phone number of a woman before.

“Nope. You’re the celebrity with the big security business,” Kai chucked. “And I don’t want her to draw attention to me as I leave.”

Mason glanced at his friend. “Is there trouble?”

“Nothing that a small diversion can’t cover. And a simple distraction to keep the branch manager busy.”

When they emerged from the hallway, Mason smiled and sauntered toward the desk that Stephanie occupied.

Kai, with his hands tucked inside the pockets of his hoodie, walked to the end of the line of customers waiting for a teller. Since their time in the room with the safe deposit box, most of those in line had completed their business and left the bank. One person stood in front of him. Kai’s gift buzzed when he’d entered the bank and looked at the manager who sat in a glass-walled office. To prevent the bank manager from noticing Kai’s exit, and therefore contacting the one he worked for who wasn’t part of the bank’s payroll, he needed a distraction.

Kai took his left hand from his pocket, pushed his fingers through his hair, then flicked them toward the teller at the middle window. The man, in his forties with thinning dark hair, blinked. He put up a “Next Window” sign. As he left his post, he gave an excuse to his colleague as he walked past and disappeared behind a door that required four buttons to be pushed before he could open it.

Kai glanced at Mason, who laughed at something Stephanie had said. He waited as another teller put the sign behind the glass and joined them at the desk.

Looking at one of the loan officers who spoke with a customer, Kai pointed his right hand at the phone on the desk, then bent over as if he was scratching his knee. In the next moment, the phone rang next to one of the tellers who was called to the desk for assistance. A third sign appeared in the teller’s window.

The female customer in front of Kai finished and turned to leave. Kai ducked his head and glanced away. The woman had power but didn’t appear to know she possessed any. She looked at him. His energy caused small ripples of vibration that would make her stare at him quizzically had he made eye contact.

Stepping up to the window, pleased to see there were two tellers left, the man in front of him and one at the far end of the stretch of bulletproof glass. The blonde kid at the end busied himself with receipts and slips, and Kai’s suggestion sent his way would ensure that the new employee couldn’t be bothered with looking bored or paying attention to customers or other employees while there was paperwork to put in order.

“How can I help you?” the teller in front of Kai asked with a thick Middle Eastern accent.

“I need to transfer some money,” Kai began, taking his bank card from his wallet and sliding it under the glass.

With a few keystrokes on the computer, his business balance was brought down to $6,659. An alert would be sent to him via text if he overdrew his account. He guessed when the vandal would next have her driver withdraw six thousand six hundred sixty dollars, but this way he would be sure. If events that she set in motion were taken from her control, it might force her to change her schedule. That might give him the opportunity to follow the limo and confront the thief. He would put a secondary plan in place should he miss the chance to catch them at the ATM.

From his personal account, he transferred the cost of the bed and linens to the shared account. Mason would do what he wanted with it.

He then handed over a black card only premier members qualified for, and a handful actually had issued to them. “I need you to transfer this amount from the card to this account number,” Kai said as he slid a deposit slip toward the teller.

Amal, the name tag on the teller’s chest read, glanced from his computer screen to Kai, who had his face down as if he rearranged things in his wallet on the counter in front of him.

“Sir, are you aware of how much—”

“I know how much there is in the account and on the balance of the card. Is there a problem with the transfer?” Kai asked without looking up.

“Uh, no, sir. I just thought perhaps you would like to speak with an account manager.”

“No. I would like you to take care of it. Please.

“Yes, sir.” Amal clicked some more on the keyboard.

The corner of Kai’s mouth lifted as he heard the press of keys and the quickening breath of the teller. What Amal didn’t know was the dispersal of funds that would occur once the transfer was made. It wasn’t unusual for those who did what Kai’s Unit had done to set up accounts, safe houses, and stash a change of clothes and IDs in several places worldwide. This transfer would ensure that all was available should any of them need it. Uncle Sam had paid well for what his Unit had accomplished in the time they were in the government’s employ. The private sector since then had contributed to the limit of his black card as well. He could wish he wouldn’t need to use it, but he’d long ago quit living in a fantasy world. Or, more accurately, he lived in the reality of what most considered fantasy.

Amal slid the card and transfer receipt back under the glass. Kai, who felt Mason’s gaze on him, nodded. As he tucked his wallet into his pocket and turned to leave, he saw Stephanie and the other teller head toward the manager’s office. With his head down and his hands tucked inside his pockets, Kai left the bank.

Mason stepped to the side of the desk where Stephanie had been working at the computer and nudged a pen from the desk onto the floor. As he placed his hand on the desk to steady himself to bend and pick up the pen, his finger hit the delete key. When he straightened, he looked from the manager’s office, which was blocked from the rest of the bank with the two employees standing in the doorway, to the computer screen, which showed no record of Kai Matthieus accessing his safe deposit box. Dropping the pen into a cup that held several others, he walked toward the exit.

Kai waited for him at the car, leaning casually against the passenger door.

Mason put his sunglasses on and scanned the street as he approached the Dodge. “How did you do?” he asked, stopping in front of his friend.

“Shuffling is complete. The ball is in my court. And you?”

Mason recited Stephanie’s number.

“Nice,” Kai said as he straightened and walked around the front of the car.

“As a bonus, you didn’t visit your safe deposit box today.”

Kai smiled, opened the driver’s door, and slid behind the wheel.

Mason got in on his side, then closed the door. He blinked. His vision began to gray. Reaching out with his left hand, he grabbed hold of Kai’s sweatshirt and twisted it in his fist. The air slammed out of his lungs as if he’d been sucker punched in the gut. Staring through his sunglasses and the windshield, all cognitive thought ceased as his precog gift gave him the where and the what.

A cityscape flashed before him, but not one that registered with his memories. That often happened because he didn’t know every street and alley from all possible angles. Like the flickering of an old 16mm reel-to-reel film, the pictures came at him. Gunfire. Explosions. Blood. A lot of blood. A woman lying face up on the asphalt, her belly ripped open. Kai leaning over her, the vial of pale purple liquid in his left hand, as his right arm hung useless at his side. The stench of sulfur and blood had Mason recoiling, but it was the final image that had him throwing up his right arm to protect his face, as if the beast that flew at Kai as he tended the woman had just broken through the windshield.

“Mason! Mason!” Kai yelled and shook his friend, both of his fists gripped the front of the Mason’s shirt.

In an instant, the odor and the vision vanished. Mason gulped in huge breaths and released Kai’s shoulder.

“I’m alright. I’m okay,” Mason said, taking off his sunglasses and swiping his hand down his face, as if that would lessen the impact of the vision.

“s**t, Mason, when did your visions get so violent?”

Mason took another breath and peered at the windshield to reassure himself that the creature he saw hadn’t busted the glass.

Kai followed his gaze. “The windshield is fine. Bulletproof, remember?”

“Yeah, but is it demon proof?” Mason put on his sunglasses, then pulled the custom seatbelt around him. Glancing out the side window, he realized a group of three pedestrians had stopped and one aimed his cell phone at the Dodge, no doubt hoping to capture what was going on in the vintage ride and put it online.

He rolled down his window and spoke to the small crowd. “Just upset that my favorite team won’t make it to the playoffs. That’s all. We’re fine. Have a nice day.” He smiled and waved at them as Kai pulled away from the curb.

Neither spoke for several minutes. Mason let the lyrics of Zeppelin’s “American Graffiti” fill the interior of the Dodge and ground him in the present.

“It’s been like this for a while,” he finally said. “You remember those missions we went on? The ones where we all got the bad vibes, like more was going on than we were briefed about?” He glanced at Kai, who nodded. “For each one of those assignments, my precog knocked me on my ass. It seemed to happen when I was alone. No point in sharing I had a case of the heebie-jeebies.”

“But you told us about the visions, then when we were close, you would signal it was time.”

Mason looked out the open side window. He didn’t register the passing storefronts, parked vehicles, or people on the sidewalk. It served as a neutral visual, something different from what his gift had shown him.

“And, as you said earlier, your precog alerts you to life and death situations. So, who might die?” Kai asked.

Shifting to look through the windshield, Mason had a moment where he considered lying. Kai’s gift wouldn’t detect the untruth, but his friend-meter would.

“So, the cards Sabrina read for you? When she explained Death inverted could mean either you or the woman don’t walk away from this fight?” He took a breath, not wanting to look at Kai. “Well, it might be both of you.”

Mason swallowed in an attempt to keep from vomiting. Only when his visions contained elements most would consider fantastical did his body rebel. Unlike dreams that, for most people, faded upon waking, none of his visions were ever forgotten. He closed his eyes, rested his head against the seat, and let the cool autumn breeze blow over him.

Kai kept quiet. He knew bombarding Mason with questions and demanding details wouldn’t be productive. Though he’d never seen such a reaction from his friend, he trusted Mason to talk when he was ready.

In the meantime, it told him whoever vandalized his place was one bad b***h. He hoped to only ask his former Unit for a bit of help in the bank tracking and maybe some surveillance. But he realized he would need them. He pushed his fingers through his hair, then rested his arm on the door. Cold wind rushed up the left sleeve of his hoodie, past the dagger, under his T-shirt, to the amulet that lay against his heart. His death was an event he’d reconciled long ago. It wasn’t something he feared, but it wasn’t something he wanted to rush toward. He’d made decisions years earlier on what would happen with whatever material possessions he left behind. He imagined Mason’s reaction to having the pink slip to the Dodge.

Turning on his signal, he glanced at his closest and oldest friend. There wasn’t much of his life that had happened that didn’t have Mason as a part of it. Downshifting to second, he turned from Main Street onto the 501 that would take them along the shoreline, over the Isthmus of Vancouver, to Frenchman’s Regional Park and Hewlett Point. Steering the tight turn of the exit, he was relieved to see that not many people currently drove on the 501. Passing a Mini Cooper, he shifted to third, then fourth. It didn’t take long for the humid air to push out the exhaust and restaurant smells. About eight miles later, Mason stirred.

“Where are we going?”

“Some place where we can talk.”

“What’s wrong with right here?”

“I’m good with multitasking, driving and talking, using a cell phone and texting, but what we’re going to discuss requires all of my attention. And I think some outside assistance.”

Mason grunted.

“How are you feeling?”

“Peachy. Could use a drink.”

“Alcohol? Coffee?”

“The first available.”

The corner of Kai’s mouth twitched.