Avenger Read online

  “How long until she wakes up?” Pru asked.

  “It differs from case to case. Could be half an hour…” he pointed with his chin, “or now as it seems.”

  Ellen swallowed and rubbed her face on her father’s arm. Slowly, her eyes opened. She blinked and looked around the room, her gaze locking on Herbert. “Dada, wheh aah we?”

  No red in the eyes, no fancy speech, no aggressive vibes. Just a bewildered innocent child.

  Herbert’s tears started anew. He lifted her to his chest and held her close without uttering a word, his face buried in her hair.

  Ellen pushed against her father’s hug. “You’he hu’ting me!”

  Herbert relaxed his grip on her and laughed. He went to Luke’s side and bent down. “I’m sorry I hit you. For saving my daughter, I’m forevermore in your debt. Anytime you want something, just name it.”

  Luke continued massaging his side. “Do me a favor, will ya? Take few days off and spend them with your family. This spirit will not possess anyone anymore, let whoever ordered the possession think Ellen still is.”

  Herbert studied Luke for a short while and then said, “I will take a holiday later. For now, Pru’s life is a debt I will pay back with my life.”

  “Tell him he doesn’t need to do that,” Pru said.

  Luke opened his mouth to speak but Herbert beat him to it. “I’ve been injecting Pru with insulin for the past one week to keep her in hypoglycemic coma. If these people can get my daughter possessed, they can find someone else to continue dosing or even killing Pru. You’ll need all the help you can get and I’m offering mine. We’ll take turns guarding her.” He glanced at his now groggy daughter, a soft smile tugging on his lips. “Your shift starts now.”

  With that, he kissed Ellen on the forehead, and strode out of the room.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Pru huddled on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, the combination of short denim skirt and high-heeled boots shaped her legs like a ballerina’s. Luke dragged his gaze from her legs and focused on her face, he could see in her eyes the belief in him and his abilities. Her pride in him made his chest puff up and did marvelous things to his ego. He wished he could gather her in his arms and seat her on his lap. Of course, these thoughts would get him nowhere since he couldn’t allow himself to cheat her out of a good solid relationship with a dependable guy someday. A guy who would be killed by Luke’s hands.

  What is wrong with me?

  Slamming the door shut on his scattered thoughts, he said, “Why are spirits and pushers after you?”

  Pru frowned, her chin on her knee. “No clue. I don’t do drugs nor do I deal with anyone who does. I also—”

  “You do have someone in your life who’s a junkie.” His voice was soft, hardly heard, as though the words could cut.

  “Nah. You came back into my life after the accident.”

  “I don’t do drugs, Carmen does.”

  “She doesn’t.”

  There was no easy way to say it, so Luke blurted it out, “Carmen is displaying typical signs of an addict in need of a fix. Clammy skin, pallid pallor. She even had the shakes.”

  Pru shook her head. “You’re mistaken.”

  “I’m the expert on this, remember? How much is Carmen involved in your life?”

  “She’s my best friend, she’s very involved. We share everything, even my salary.”

  “I bet you don’t share her salary with her, right? A great indicator of drug addiction is the speed with which one’s money disappears.”

  Luke gave her some time to consider his statement. Finally, she said, “You’re wrong, but even so, how would that affect me?”

  “That’s what we need to figure out and the best place to start is Carmen.”

  Pru shook her head. “This is why I hate drugs. Many lives are wasted because of it. Dealers, users, and smugglers should be gathered in a pit, doused in gasoline, and then burned in a fire that would last ten years as a lesson to others.”

  Luke fell silent again. He understood her anger and appreciated her spirit. Pity he had to die to witness how wrong his ways were.

  “Okay, so what can you tell me about Carmen?”

  Pru closed her eyes and said in small voice, “She’s a hair dresser in a posh salon where she meets semi-famous people, makes lots of great friends, and goes partying with them most of the week.”

  He was wrong, her voice wasn’t just small, it was drenched in misery. “Do you envy her or feel sorry for her?”

  Angrily, Pru said, “I don’t envy her, but yeah, her job is easier than mine. My heart breaks every time I lose an animal. Last month I nursed a dog until he died. He was brought here from France even though he’s just had a surgery in his stomach and was very ill. The stitches weren’t infected, but he wouldn’t recover no matter what I did or said to him.”

  He glanced at Pru on the bed. Tears were sliding off her face and were staining the pillow. Luke couldn’t take her tears, so he allowed the topic to shift from Carmen. “I thought sick animals weren’t supposed to travel.”

  “It’s not allowed and I spoke to Dr. Higgins, our vet, about it. Money must’ve exchanged hands in these deals of subjecting such creatures to this level of suffering. Rich people and their pets. Huh! They don’t have to deal—”

  Luke’s sense perked at this. “Deals? Creatures? How many sick animals did you care for?”

  “About seven in the past five months. I heard of more in other shelters.”

  Luke straightened in the chair. “What were they suffering from?”

  Pru shot to her feet and snapped her fingers. “Now that you mention it, they all had seizures and constipation. Some couldn’t move while others were almost out of their minds with pain, either yowling or not eating. They were reduced to ragdolls.”

  “The same symptoms are displayed by drug mules. You must’ve heard of the incident way back when boa constrictors were used to smuggle liquid heroin or cocaine from South America. “

  She stilled.

  “These animals were used to smuggle drugs into the country,” Luke said. “I guess the ones that fell sick were the ones whose packages burst within them and the drugs mixed with their system.”

  “Then how come Dr. Higgins didn’t know what these symptoms meant? He’d even scanned them with the ultrasound machine and didn’t know what was wrong.”

  Luke only looked at her, waiting for her to reach the right conclusion.

  “He’s in on it!”

  “And you became a problem the moment you made a fuss.”

  Pru rubbed her face with open palms. “Dear God. This explains the involvement of one party. What about the spirits?”

  Afraid she would make a connection back to him, Luke didn’t utter a word. Her agitation reawakened a consuming need to wrap her in his arms and reassure her. It was an urge he must curb for the safety of her heart, and his. Glancing up at the wall clock, he said, “Dr. Higgins will most probably keep any documents related to his shady businesses in his house. If Herbert comes back before sunrise, I will try and sneak into the vet’s house to look for clues.”

  “Shouldn’t it be easier to do it during the day?”

  Luke shook his head. “I might be seen during the day.” And he was blind to auras in daylight.

  She shrugged. “Might as well. I don’t know Dr. Higgins’ home address.”

  An idea hit Luke and it was his turn to snap his fingers. “You know Carmen’s address though.”

  Luke dragged his feet into his apartment, fatigue playing tricks with his vision. Herbert had arrived for his shift in the morning and took over guarding Pru. He’d been wise enough to exchange phone numbers with Luke, in case of an emergency.

  Upon his request, Pru also remained in the hospital. His excuse for her was that Herbert wouldn’t be by her room the whole time, he had a job to do. She could reach Luke if something was wrong.

  As much as Luke wanted her with him, he needed some private time with Celestine.

/>   “Your diligence to hunt spirits has waned,” Celestine said the moment Luke entered his apartment.

  “But I did exorcise one spirit last night.” He frowned. “Even you must be mystified by the interest of criminals and spirits in Pru.”

  “That is intriguing, I agree, however, your vocation is not guarding her.”

  Luke headed to the bed. “Right now my only job is reaching that bed.”

  “You intend to follow on the trail of her friend when you wake up. Where does this leave spirit hunting?”

  The conversation wasn’t progressing as he’d hoped and it wasn’t going to end soon. There was only one way to get rid of Celestine. Luke veered toward the kitchenette and opened the drawer containing small plastic bags. He then retrieved rubber bands from another, and finally, pulled out a pre-packed small pouch and placed it on the counter.

  “Luke!” Celestine exclaimed.

  “If you don’t want to be privy to some Laymour-criminal activity, you better get going. Maybe you can find out why the spirits are interested in Pru.”

  “How do you suggest I go about that?”

  “You said spirits chatted amongst themselves in the Pit. Perhaps you can eavesdrop on them.”

  When silence persisted, Luke knew his spirit guide had departed. He eyed the goodies lined on the counter and sighed. “What the heck, I might as well prepare few since I’m here.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Reaching the Laymour, Celestine spared the judgment a mere glance and climbed the stairs to the Watching Point. Naiten had taken a vapor like appearance and was hovering over the Pit to monitor the level of its liquid, the lock on the spirits.

  “Welcome, Celestine. I see the judgment did not garner your attention this time. It does get tedious after a while.” He drew nearer. “Have you an update?”

  “Luke and Pru are attracted to each other.” He kept his voice even, afraid it would convey his turmoil.

  Naiten smiled gently. “She might be his Destined One, the reason that will ground this wild ward of yours. In that case, he can wed her when she gains consciousness.”

  “If she gains consciousness,” Celestine said. “He knows all about the Destined One and had laughed in my face before saying there will not be any female willing to endanger her life for him to gain that position.”

  “Understandable if we look at the type of females he associated with before he joined us.”

  “This reminds me, last night he had dispatched a spirit possessing a female child who was used as leverage on the father to drug Pru and then kill her.”

  Naiten’s vaporous appearance paused in its shifting and solidified. “Why?”

  “Luke has unearthed facts about Pru. She works in an animal shelter where animals are used to smuggle drugs into the country.”

  Naiten frowned. “How is that accomplished?”

  “The smugglers create surgical incisions in these animals and insert packed drugs inside them. After that, the animals are shipped to another country. Pru had noticed traces of the incisions and inquired about them. Luke reckons this is the reason for her forced coma.”

  “Why did they not kill her from the start?”

  “That is baffling me as well.”

  “Hmm,” Naiten said and massaged his beard, deep in thought. “Are the smugglers possessed?”

  “We do not know who they are.”

  Naiten dipped his head and continued massaging his beard. “If they are not possessed then we have humans and spirits working together. This is unheard of.”

  “Not only that. I wonder why no spirit possessed Pru so far. If these smugglers have spirits on their side, why are they using an orderly who is not possessed?”

  “I do not know why they did not kill Pru but I can venture the reason for not possessing the orderly or her.” Naiten rose and paced the platform around his chair. “The orderly’s spirit must be a strong one, nothing more than a transit spirit can possess him. Most probably it was tried and failed. If you question him, he would most likely remember losing few hours of his day. He had won that battle and returned in charge of his faculty. That left that poor child of his to become the host. It worked as good as though he was the one possessed.”

  Naiten paused, his translucent robes gathering around him. “I do believe Pru’s spirit to be unassailable. It would not remain trapped within her healthy body when it was forced into slumber. Because she is strong willed, the bond to her body would be powerful and she would not be able to roam far away from it.”

  “I was beseeching Luke to stop guarding her and continue hunting outside.”

  Naiten said, “Half of the spirits we judge were either using drugs or selling them. They are the lowest of the low. I suggest that Luke focus on this since both spirits and drug smugglers are involved. If we reduce the number of people providing and spreading that filth, we will reduce the number of bad spirits, not by much, but it will be a small victory nonetheless.”

  Celestine fought not to interrupt Naiten, keeping his expression blank even though the memory of what Luke had on display in his kitchen kept playing in his head.

  Despite all of Celestine’s efforts, Naiten narrowed his eyes and studied him. “Is something else the matter?”

  Celestine wouldn’t and couldn’t lie, so he kept his mouth shut.

  “Celestine!”

  With a sigh, Celestine unloaded the certainty that has been a doubt for a long time. “I have reasons to believe Luke is trading in drugs.”

  “What?” Naiten’s voice boomed in the Dome.

  “Before, he only hinted at it at times. Tonight, however, I saw him prepare to package some.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Celestine didn’t know what to say to that. He had never been a witness to an exchange of drugs.

  Naiten continued, “Because if he is, then he has preached one of our terms when we cured his body that night and made him our spirit hunter. His crime would be against multitudes of people he does not even know.” He paced some more. “Provide an evidence of his heinous crime against the living and the dead before we judge him.”

  Celestine shook his head with regret.

  Naiten placed a hand on his shoulder. “If he is dealing in drugs we will summon Lidwien out of him. Luke’s time will be up.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Making a living while in hiding was a cumbrous and risky business.

  While resisting the strong draw of sleepiness, Luke prepared the packages that would bring him income. After opening six of the small plastic bags, he extracted six rubber bands and lined them up. He then retrieved a teaspoon and an old metal container.

  “What are you doing?” Pru asked softly, startling him into dropping the teaspoon.

  “Why are you here? Did something happen?” He felt guilty, his reaction didn’t help.

  Pain and reproach were visible in Pru’s eyes even from her post by the window. “Nothing happened to my body.”

  He retrieved the spoon from the floor, his gaze never leaving her. “What brings you here then? We agreed—”

  “I arrived few minutes ago. You were so fixated on what you were doing you didn’t even notice.” She heaved a sigh. “I thought you insisted I remain at the hospital for my safety.”

  “It was for your safety.” An awkward emotion churned in his chest. Her sad eyes accused him, just like Celestine’s tone. Disappointment seeped from her in waves, breaking cold sweat all over his skin. His past was shady, he would give them that, but they should at least trust in him, believe he would do the right thing. He wasn’t a disillusioned teenager anymore.

  It isn’t easy after seeing what you’re doing.

  True. Disappointment in him was all he received from people he cared about. They just assumed, and his stubborn nature took over. It always did. A realization hit him then, he almost doubled over with its painful severity. All he ever wanted was someone to believe in him, or stop him. Instead, he was treated like a lost cause.

  Silentl
y, Luke measured few spoons full from the container and added them to the bags.

  Pru crossed her arms. “You don’t lie, Luke. I know this much about you. You might evade, change topics, or hide facts, but never lie. From where I stand, it looks like you’re preparing drug packets to sell.”

  “Of course that’s how it looks like.”

  “Then what is it? I’m giving you benefit of the doubt but your past taints everything you do.” She gestured at the packets. “This doesn’t make sense because I’m certain you’re not dealing. Make me believe.”

  Pru believed in him, she was literally begging him to restore her confidence in him. This was his chance to defend himself, to explain. His mother loved him, but didn’t trust him and had to earn an honest living to feed herself. Celestine was bound by Laymour’s rules and couldn’t risk confirming what he suspected. Pru, on the other hand, was willing to believe in him. “Look around you, would I keep my raw stash in the open, on a shelf, in an old cookie container?”

  She bristled. “You’re avoiding a direct answer again. What are you doing?”

  He reached in the container and scooped out a spoon of the stuff into his mouth.

  “No!” She rushed forward as though to stop him, most probably thinking he would overdose and die.

  He smacked his lips a couple of times. “Nothing will happen to me, unless I’m diabetic, which I’m not.”

  Pru frowned in confusion.

  He nodded. “This is powdered sugar to the consistency of the drug of choice in the market. I pack it and sell it to addicts as cocaine or heroin.”

  “And they buy it? Just like that?”

  Luke yawned and covered his mouth. “Yes. One of my spirit hunting fringe benefits is the ability to influence thoughts. As long as the thought is a plausible and a welcomed one by the receiver, it works. The people who come to me are in dire need for a fix initially. I convince them it is a drug and when they take it their body reacts as though they got the fix they craved.”

  “This doesn’t help anyone. If you’re not there, they’ll look for another pusher?”