Oracle Saving (The Phoenix Files Book 3) Read online

  “Now, if you’d like to go in with us, we wouldn’t mind someone clearing the way with the staff. They’re likely broken up about the death of their colleague.”

  Luke stared at his partner.

  Did Nathaniel ‘no holds barred’ Carter just play nice with the local law?

  Really?

  What kind of magician was Bishop Monroe? It seemed that her presence there soothed the savage boss beast. This was a big day in their world.

  “I can do that,” Sheriff Gilespie offered.

  As they headed in, Bishop walked ahead with the sheriff, keeping the man calm. Luke had to know what was going on.

  “Bishop, we’ll be right there,” Luke stated when the woman turned around.

  She gave him a two finger salute to her brow and kept going.

  Nate stared at him. “What’s wrong? Why are you acting all weird?”

  HIM?

  REALLY?

  “You should talk about people acting all weird. Who are you, and what did you do with the real Nathaniel Carter?”

  He looked confused.

  “You’re calm. You’re playing nice. Hell! You’re smiling. It’s scary. I keep thinking your chest is going to explode open and some creature is going to slither out.”

  “Exaggerate much?” he asked, laughing at his partner.

  “No, I’m not. I need you to spill it. We’ve been best friends for years, and we’ve been partners longer. This isn’t like you, and I don’t get it.”

  “I like her.”

  Luke didn’t know what to say to that.

  He simply stared at his partner, trying to find the words to navigate that admission.

  “As in like or as in ‘I would like to like you like that way I like you’?”

  “What? Are you having a stroke? You’re not making sense, Luke.”

  “You said you like her. What about Avalon? Is there going to be some kinky partner switch?”

  “What?”

  Luke pinched him.

  “Jesus! What was that for?” Nate asked, rubbing his side. “Have you lost your damn mind?”

  “ME? You’re engaged and you’re checking out a married woman.”

  Nate looked horrified.

  It was official. His partner had lost it.

  “Are you criminally insane? I love my fiancée. I meant I really like her on this team. She handles our job well, she knows how to interview people, and it takes the pressure off me.”

  Luke was relieved and then thought something else. “Wait! Are you saying I don’t do any of that?”

  He laughed. “You’re all over the board today, aren’t you? No, I’m saying she’s a control freak like myself. You’re laid back. You’re more the comic relief and the person who studies the situation. Bishop jumps right in.”

  He relaxed. “What are you saying then? You don’t make blanket statements. If this is percolating in your head, it’s leading somewhere.”

  “I want her on our team.”

  “She is.”

  “Long term.”

  “Oh. Even with her husband back at that cabin with Avalon?”

  “Yes. Am I crazy to add more people to the team?” he asked, looking around. The halls were empty, and that meant the kids were still in class.

  “No. It makes our lives easier. It’s a bitch to run a case with just the two of us. Let’s face it. Maura is always on guard duty with Avalon. Jagger is watching their backs. With Lucian, we can ease up. The man’s not exactly a stump. If he had to get her out, he could sneak her out a window. It means someone with her at all times and double coverage.”

  He had a point.

  Then he dropped a bomb.

  “Now that Jagger is going to be a father, who knows if he’s staying,” Nate offered.

  Luke had never thought about that.

  Jagger was part of their family. This changed everything, and he knew it. They were headed down a new path, and it had the potential to change everything.

  Then Luke offered up something so amazing that Nate wanted to weep in gratitude.

  “With Bishop on our team, we could rotate one of us out and actually be covered. You could stay with Avalon more often, and Bishop and I could cover interviews.”

  Nate loved that idea.

  He hated cases more and more, since he couldn’t be right there with the woman he loved.

  “So it’s not insane, right?”

  “No, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. Lucian is a powerful psychic in his own right, and staying with Avalon, she’s safer. I know you were freaked out when you found out this killer had gifts they couldn’t battle alone.”

  “I was.”

  “Ask Bishop and Lucian to stay on the team. We could move them to Fire Bay.”

  Yes, they could.

  “Hey, are you two slackers going to play with the big boys, or am I doing all of the heavy lifting?” Bishop shouted down the hall.

  Nate laughed. “I’m insane. It’s like having two Mauras on the team. I must be a glutton for punishment.”

  “Nah, you’re not insane yet. You still have to try to get this past Elizabeth Blackhawk. That’s going to be the turning point. She’s going to make you work for it.”

  Yeah, he was well aware.

  The woman was hardcore. Nate needed to sell this, and it was going to take a miracle.

  Bishop was tired of waiting. She wasn’t really good with being patient. When she needed to jump in, she simply did, and this wasn’t going to be any different.

  She was going to start the interviews.

  It wasn’t like she had a choice. The school principal was staring at her as if she was wasting his time. It was now or never.

  Maybe the men were hazing her. She didn’t have a clue. She had ridden their asses pretty hard on the last case when she was a cop.

  God!

  She missed this.

  “Sir, I’m Agent Bishop Monroe, and I need to talk to you about Brianna Moyer.”

  The man shook his head. “She was the sweetest woman, Agent. I don’t understand any of this.”

  “Was she having any issues at work?” she asked.

  He looked confused. “Why would you ask that? Brianna died in her sleep.”

  Yeah, that one sticking point was going to suck in this investigation. They couldn’t really get past that, and she understood it. If she was on the other end, she’d be asking the same damn thing.

  “We have to be thorough. Please, if you wouldn’t mind, it would help us out.”

  Tanner Gould liked to think he was a good boss. He liked to believe he knew his teachers.

  “No. I don’t think she had any issues. If she did, Brianna didn’t mention it to me. She was pretty open about her life. She lived for her students. This job was her calling, and she was living it. When she wasn’t sleeping, she was here working.”

  Bishop made notes.

  “Was she seeing anyone?” she asked, keeping the interview going. From her peripheral, she could see the other two agents arrive.

  “Not to my knowledge.”

  The secretary standing there shook her head.

  Bishop caught it.

  “What?” she asked.

  Molly Sparks lowered her voice. “She told me she met a man at a bar. She was thinking of taking a vacation with him. I told her she moved too fast.”

  That was news.

  “Did she give you his name?” Bishop asked.

  The woman shook her head.

  “Molly, I have this. Go get ready for class changes,” Tanner said, sending her away.

  They were all curious.

  “You’ll have to excuse Molly. She likes to talk.”

  They knew that was code for ‘gossip’. Honestly, they were the best people to talk to in an investigation. They knew all the details and weren’t afraid to share them.

  “Brianna was a hard worker, and since she simply died in her sleep, I doubt anything that Molly can give you will help.”

  Well, he was wrong. />
  The woman just gave them a direction, and in a tough case like this, that was important.

  “Director Carter, can you give Mr. Gould your card. You know…in case he recalls something.”

  Nate handed it over.

  “We appreciate anything you can tell us,” he offered. “My partner, Agent Monroe, is right. If you remember anything, please don’t hesitate to contact us.”

  “I will.”

  Luke hoped he could get more out of the man. “Before we go, you wouldn’t happen to know the name of that bar that your secretary was talking about, would you?” he asked.

  He knew it was all about covering every base. Hopefully, the man would help them out.

  Before the principal could answer, the sheriff fielded this one.

  “There’s only one bar in Happy. It’s ‘Lucky’s’ down on Main Street. It’s more a restaurant that has a bar on the one side. It’s a small town. Everyone heads there. I’m not sure how this is going to help you.”

  They ignored him.

  It looked like they were going to be heading to a bar at some point in the investigation.

  A good cop didn’t assume.

  “Thank you for your time, Mr. Gould. We appreciate it so much,” Bishop said, heading toward the door.

  The sheriff was right beside her.

  “Satisfied?”

  Hardly.

  In fact, Bishop was going to make the man’s life even more difficult.

  “We should search her place.”

  “WHAT?” Joe Gilespie asked. “Why?”

  “I felt like looking for treasure. I bought this map from some guy in town, and he promised it would make me rich. Why do you think I want to search her place?” she asked sarcastically.

  Nate was listening and Luke was grinning.

  This was going to be fun. Bishop was a handful, and both men were amused by it.

  “I don’t know what the hell any of you want. None of this makes any sense,” he stated.

  “I want to search her home to see if anything is out of place.”

  He didn’t get it.

  In fact, it was making him increasingly nervous.

  Still, the man pulled out his cards and scribbled down some information. “Here’s the address. My team is getting some leads for you. I’ll meet you there. When I do, I should have some information for you.”

  He started walking away.

  Bishops stared at him.

  “He’s going to make our lives a living hell,” she stated.

  “You think?” Nate asked. It was crystal clear that the sheriff was going to be a problem.

  “Yeah, he’s a busybody sheriff who has to stick his nose in everything.”

  They both started laughing.

  She stared at them. “What?”

  The men simply shook their heads. If they pointed out that she’d been the exact same way, heads would roll.

  Bishop was EXACTLY like Maura.

  The men weren’t falling into that trap.

  They’d been there before.

  * * * O R A C L E * * *

  Roxy’s Rental

  Avalon was sitting on the couch as Lucian helped her flip through the tablet.

  “This is crazy,” she said. “People who can see have all the fun. Before you, I didn’t know what I was missing. The colors are amazing.”

  Lucian laughed. “You’re a powerful psychic. I think the non-psychics would say the same thing about you.”

  She didn’t think she was anything special. They all had a gift, and hers was to help save people. It mattered to her.

  “It looks like we found something,” stated Lucian, skimming over social media.

  “Our reporter, Kathleen Hale, liked to talk about her cases on her page.”

  “Can you read it to me?” Avalon asked.

  “Can’t you see?”

  “My head is beginning to hurt. I think I need to stop ‘seeing’ for a little while. If I don’t, I’ll have a migraine.”

  Honestly, she wanted to rest up her mind. When Nate returned, she wanted to stare at him for as long as she could. There was something about checking out her sexy fiancé.

  It was her guilty pleasure when Lucian was around. She loved being able to watch Nate. He moved with such confidence, always looked sexy in his suit, and when he smiled…?

  She wanted to swoon.

  “Sure thing, Avalon.”

  “Thank you.”

  Maura strolled in, pulling leaves from her hair. “How the hell does Jagger sit in a tree all day long?” she asked.

  “Patience?” Avalon replied. “Lucian thinks he found something online about our reporter. He was about to read it to me.”

  Maura moved closer and touched Avalon’s face. “You’re hot. Are you okay?”

  “I had to go blind again. I was getting a headache.”

  “You need to take it easy. You know how Nate gets upset when you don’t feel well. Then he makes all of our lives a living hell.”

  Avalon laughed. “He’s just worried about me. It’s sweet and endearing.”

  “It’s borderline obsessive,” Maura corrected.

  “Yeah, he’s intense,” stated Lucian. “I feel like he’s staring at me and waiting for me to do something inappropriate.”

  Well, the man was astute.

  “He’s a guard dog when it comes to Avalon,” Maura stated. “Don’t let it bother you. He’s like that with anyone who comes near her. He’s territorial. It’s his nature. If Luke wasn’t married, he’d growl at him too.”

  Lucian hoped it was only that. He’d never do anything inappropriate with Avalon. He had his woman, and she was amazing. Bishop lit up his world.

  “I think it’s sweet,” Avalon offered.

  “It would drive me batshit insane,” Maura replied.

  Avalon didn’t mind in the least. She loved him with her whole heart.

  “He’s my everything,” Avalon corrected.

  They both smiled.

  Maura and Lucian knew what that was like.

  “What did you find?” Maura asked, getting them to focus on the information. The team would be back soon, and they would be dividing up for the night.

  “Our reporter was teasing her next article online. It seemed she was, indeed, working on the psychic angle.”

  “What does it say?” Avalon asked.

  He read it out loud.

  ‘Psychics exist, and they are going to enslave us all.’

  Avalon opened her mouth, and then closed it.

  She didn’t know what to say. Something like that, if it were proven, would be a disaster.

  People didn’t like what they didn’t understand.

  She’d been the one who was enslaved to the government. It wasn’t pretty.

  “That’s bad,” Maura stated as she gently held Avalon’s hand. There was one thing going through her mind.

  This was why Oracle had to remain hidden.

  Her life depended on it.

  Chapter Nine

  Thursday Afternoon

  Washington DC

  She was concerned.

  Heading into her husband’s office, she stopped to clear his secretary’s desk. Ginny was now the gatekeeper to Ethan’s kingdom, and no one got past her to see him unless they had her approval.

  Well, she could just rush the door, but it freaked Ethan out when she barged into a room. The last time, it had been during an important meeting.

  He’d gone bright red.

  She’d opted to keep him from having a stroke.

  This time, it was different. She’d been summoned.

  This was new.

  When Elizabeth had gotten the text from her husband, she’d been in her office working on the upcoming case. She had dead hookers a plenty, and not a way to find the killer.

  His text said urgent, and that worried her.

  “Go on in,” Ginny said. “He needs to see you ASAP.”

  In her head, Elizabeth was thinking about all the possible thin
gs she could have done to break the rules. Callen wasn’t in the office that day, instead taking a personal day to meet with his publisher, so he wasn’t the cause.

  She was befuddled.

  Was this personal?

  Inside, she found her sexy husband sitting behind his desk. When he looked up, his midnight blue-black eyes were filled with concern.

  “Did our kids get hurt?”

  It would always be her first gut response. Elizabeth couldn’t help that her mind went there.

  “No.”

  “Is it Callen? Has something happened to him?”

  “No.”

  “Dad?”

  “No. Sit.”

  Yeah, that wasn’t good.

  This apparently wasn’t a social call where he would be moaning her name and she was on her knees in front of him.

  Well, shit.

  “Here.”

  He slid the paper across the desk for her to read. Elizabeth scanned it. This totally sucked.

  “You have to be kidding me.”

  “Trust me, I’m not. Someone on the President’s staff saw Avalon on the news. It was when they were working in Ravenswood. That one glimpse has started up a bad, bad mess.”

  Yeah, she was aware.

  They’d covered for her.

  No.

  Not they.

  HER.

  “All the video is gone. Jagger burned down the building, and we had that hacker friend of yours take off the footage from the internet.”

  “Elizabeth, we are officially screwed. If the president decides to dig, we are at the top of the chopping block. This is the worst possible situation.”

  She was aware.

  “I know you’re not going to like it, but we may have to take down the Phoenix Files. They are going to come out, and POTUS is going to take her back.”

  “No. We can’t put her back into that cage, Ethan. She’s a human being, not a tool. I don’t care how much pressure he puts on us. I’ll lose my job before I’ll tell him anything.”

  Ethan said nothing.

  “Please tell me you have my back.”

  His expression softened. “You shouldn’t have to even ask that, Lyzee my love. I will always have your back. You’re my wife and soul mate.”