Shaking Off the Dust Read online

  “I’ll take my lunch in my room or here, if you don’t mind.”

  Takeshi took my hand. “Hannah, please don’t be this way. You are beautiful.”

  I didn’t say a word.

  Surprise passed over Enrique’s face. “Are you not wanting to join us because you think your bruises are disfiguring?”

  “Look you two, I can’t open my mouth that wide right now because of the swelling. So it makes eating…messy and noisy. It’s embarrassing and I’m sure disgusting to be around. Don’t make me humiliate myself in front of you and others.” Tears gathered in my eyes.

  Takeshi pulled me into his arms and hugged me, but I refused to cry.

  Enrique stared for a moment, then bowed. “My cook will bring you food throughout the day. She is famous for preparing healthy but delicious meals. I will tell her of your problem opening your mouth. Eat to your heart’s content in here then join our table for meals. Partaking of food is a social time of talk and laughter. You should always be there to hear what we are doing, but you do not have to eat. No one else need know why you are eating before us, but they would all enjoy your company.”

  “That’s perfect.” Takeshi kissed my eyebrow. “You barely touched your porridge. I bet you’re starving.”

  I didn’t say anything, but nodded. “Before you both leave, could you show me the nearest bathroom, so I don’t get lost trying to find one?”

  Enrique bowed again and led me several doors down, then brought me back to the library.

  “Enrique.” I touched his hand. “You are the boss in all things, aren’t you?”

  “In some small things only, Hannah. You send your emails and eat until you are full. In a few days, the swelling will be much less and you’ll feel more normal.” He bent and kissed my hand.

  Takeshi acted like he’d linger, but kissed my forehead and followed Enrique out.

  I got online and was soon sending emails. I pretty much fabricated a story about staying with friends in Florida and that I’d lost my cell phone. I sent an email to my boss and told her I was in Florida recuperating, but that a local doctor recommended another two weeks off. I told her I’d send along a written statement from him in the next couple of days. I figured I would recheck my mail later in the day and see if anyone responded.

  I started going through the shelves and within an hour the cook arrived with a tray of food and a bottle of water. There were bite-sized scones and butter and jelly, rice with finely chopped onions and chicken in it. I tried to smile at her.

  She bowed her head.

  “Thank you so much,” I gushed.

  “You are welcome. The young master says you are to be treated very special, that the same one who hurt him, hurt you. Anything you need you ask for me, Maria, or you write it down and send it to me. I speak and read English very good. I will fix you food that will not hurt your mouth. The scones will melt in your mouth for desert.”

  “You are too kind. Enrique is too kind, but I appreciate it. I hate looking like this. I think I would scare small children.”

  “That I do not believe.” She left me alone and I ate every last drop of the food. When I finished, I found an entire section of English literature. I sat down on the couch to read and promptly fell asleep.

  A small face was perched close to mine. I rubbed my eyes and groaned, “Ouch,” when my hand rubbed against by bruised cheek.

  “Hello.” I spoke to a dark-haired child of five or six years old. She was kneeling next to the couch watching me.

  “This is my room,” she declared with an aristocratic English accent.

  “I’m sorry, but I was told I could stay in this room by, I think, your father.” I cocked my head as I sat up.

  “I play on the ’puter whenever I am here,” she announced.

  “Then by all means play away.” I pointed to the desk on which it rested. “My name is Hannah. What’s yours?”

  “Esperanza Eneas. My father doesn’t know I am here yet. Senora Maria said I was to play quietly until she told him.”

  “The computer is the perfect place for you to play.”

  “I thought so too.” She sighed unhappily. “I was told not to come in here and bother the lady who is sick. Are you sick?”

  “I had a nasty fall and hurt my face.” It was the best answer I could come up with on the spot. “It’s not very pretty, is it?”

  “It is very purple and makes your face look like it hurts. But purple is my favorite color, so I don’t mind. One day I want a tattoo all in purple.”

  “I think you will have to wait until you are much older for that.”

  “You have a tattoo on your ankle. I saw it. Only it’s black, not purple. Did it hurt when they put it on you?”

  “No, it is not a forever tattoo. A very close friend of mine painted it on for me. He has one on his wrist.”

  “Is he here too or are you here with my papa?”

  “Your father invited us and some other friends so there are several people visiting. Do you stay for a few days?”

  “No, Mama leaves me here sometimes when she has to go to Madrid. Senora Maria always looks after me. She’s making me some cake to eat after lunch today. What are we having for lunch?”

  “I don’t know, Esperanza. What is your favorite?”

  “Anything that Senora Maria cooks.”

  The library door opened and Takeshi and Enrique entered, but stopped short when they saw I had company. Esperanza turned and, seeing Enrique, squealed, running to him. He bent down and scooped her up. She threw her arms around him, hugging his neck fiercely. She touched his face, tracing her fingers over every stitch.

  “Papa, did you fall down too, like Hannah fell? It must have been very slippery,” she said in awe.

  He hugged her again, mouthing a thank-you. I walked to Takeshi, taking his hand.

  “What are you doing here, Eszie?” He tweaked her nose.

  “Mama asked Senora Maria to watch me for the afternoon, so she could go into the city for some errands. She said I am too full of energy to obey today.”

  “Is that so? So you have been bothering my guest I see.”

  “Never,” I declared. “This is her playroom and her computer. We all need our own space. I was intruding.”

  Enrique set her down and she wandered over to us tracing Takeshi’s tattoo on his wrist. “This is your close friend you were talking about.”

  “She was asking me about my tattoo. I told her a close friend painted it on,” I explained.

  “Eszie has told me she wants a tattoo. She mentions it often.” Enrique words were bland, but his eyes showed his amusement.

  “Yes, she likes purple. She doesn’t mind my face at all, because it has so much purple.” I kept my voice serious.

  Takeshi smiled. “She speaks excellent English.”

  Enrique nodded. “It’s easy for the young to learn languages. She is fluent in Spanish, Basque, French and English.”

  “Esperanza, this is Dr. Shimodo.” I smiled into his face and he was pleased. “He can speak Japanese.”

  “You can? Can you tell me something in Japanese? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.”

  “What would you like me to say?”

  “Tell me how you met my papa. You didn’t fall, did you?”

  “No, I didn’t fall.” He spoke for a full minute in Japanese.

  Esperanza eyes got bigger and bigger. When he stopped, she clapped her hands and jumped up and down. “Again please!” she cried.

  “Eszie, Dr. Shimodo is not here to entertain you. I’m very busy today, so you’ll need to go find Senora Maria and stay with her.”

  “Enrique, I think no one would be offended if you had your lunch in here with her. I can tell an excellent story about a personal phone call that you had to take and you two can discuss tattoos and all things purple.” He wanted to give in to my suggestions, but the host was putting up a good fight.

  Takeshi bowed to them both. “We’ll give your excuses and let the staff kn
ow you will be in here. I’ll bring Hannah back after lunch.”

  Walking with Takeshi’s arm around my waist filled me with contentment. “She’s a little doll and looks just like him. I was sound asleep on the couch and she sat there watching me.”

  He laughed. “She’s charming. Did you eat anything?”

  “I ate everything. In fact, I am going to have to start watching how much I’m eating here. Maria is a great cook and I’ll be fat in two weeks if I keep this up.”

  “You don’t worry about eating too much right now. Your health has been fragile. You have lost too much weight since we met.”

  “My health is the result of numerous assaults by nature and the unnatural. I promise I’m not always such a mess.” I put up my chin. “So, how did your morning go? Were you able to make some progress with the ghost interviews?”

  “Yes. It requires a lot of concentration to get everything Tom tells me. It is very sad, Arturo and Mia are asking about their parents. I can see why you find it so difficult. I am trying to keep myself detached, but it is not easy. They don’t like to be away from Tom for very long, so he’s agreed for them to hang out with him. Bethann now wants to stay until they all are ready to go. She says we are all bound together now and they must protect us until the answers are found. I get the impression from Bill that she wasn’t as religious in life. She’s on a spiritual journey and she’s taking everyone else along.”

  “I hate to say this, but I’m glad I wasn’t there. I need this time away from the others. I never realized how needy ghosts are. And any little thing makes me tearful. I’m not usually this bad. When I PMS, it only lasts a day or so.”

  He didn’t say anything to me, but his look spoke volumes.

  “Give it up, Shimodo.”

  “Hannah, when will you start your period? What day?”

  “Sometime this week. Which reminds me, I’ll need supplies. Maybe Enrique or Mateo can drive me into town tomorrow.”

  “You need more rest. In a few days we can see about it, but we should buy a pregnancy test, one that shows the earliest results.”

  “Excuse me! But we’ve been together, what, less than two weeks, and only one time we forgot to use a condom. Why a pregnancy test?”

  He smiled. “Three times without protection, and you smell like blackberries and honey.”

  “What? You don’t understand the chances are slim to none. With my recent history and meds, I doubt I could maintain a pregnancy, even if I was.”

  “Every pregnant female I’ve ever met, I was able to recognize from her scent. You are blackberries covered in honey and sunshine, ready to be savored.” He lightly traced my jaw. “You’ll have to decide how you will deal with the inevitable.”

  I was getting nervous at his need for this to be true. “Takeshi, if a woman who can give you children is what you require, then perhaps you have miscalculated. I don’t believe I can do that for you. I already lost one baby and I don’t think I can carry babies. I’d be afraid to try with all the medications I am taking.”

  “It never entered my mind, but you smell pregnant. It is the one sense I have absolute faith is right.”

  “If you are right and a test proves it, I’ll go off all my meds. Don’t get your hopes up, Shimodo. My luck is not good. You’ll notice my bad luck is now rubbing off on you and the others.”

  “It’s all perception, Hannah. From my perspective, I’m very lucky.”

  “I don’t know if I like you because you are delusional or if you’re delusional because I like you.” I bussed his chin. “We better go tell Senora Maria and the others the change in lunch plans. This whole conversation is over for a week. I’ll start my period and you can start searching for a girl to give you babies. Many babies. See, I was right after all. You need to find a young, healthy, fertile woman. I’ll even help.” I sighed. “Well maybe not, but I’ll say a prayer you find someone perfect.”

  We walked towards the general direction of the dining room and I followed Takeshi because he knew where he was going. A maid found us and I asked her to bring Maria. Within a few moments she was hurrying towards us.

  I explained Enrique would lunch in the library with Eszie and the rest of us in the dining room. She tisked and headed back to the kitchen.

  “You’re in charge of making me a map of this place tonight,” I demanded of Takeshi.

  Mateo, Hector, Bill, Jack and Rachel were already sitting at the table when we arrived. There were salads in front of each chair.

  “Enrique is tied up on some personal business. He’ll not be joining us for lunch. He instructed us to enjoy our meal,” Takeshi informed them.

  Everyone began to eat, except me, of course. I took baby sips of my bottle of water and waited. I sat next to Takeshi, whose foot had wandered over and his long leg was soon bumping against mine. It made me smile, no easy feat with this face, so I stuck with crinkling my eyes and that satisfied him.

  Jack was impatient to talk. I was ready for any conversation. “So, Jack, spit it out.”

  “I should wait for Agent Eneas, although it does not affect this investigation. Tom, Sharon and Bethann should hear the news.”

  “They found the children,” I exclaimed. “Tell me they were all okay.”

  “Hannah, let Jack tell us,” Takeshi chastised me.

  “Sorry.”

  “We traced the license number Sharon gave us,” Jack began.

  “Wait. Tom!”

  He appeared in front of me. “What now? Oh hello, Hannah, how are you?”

  “Fine. Can you get Sharon and Bethann? Jack’s got news on the missing kids.”

  He pointed behind me. “They’re here and so are Arturo and Mia.”

  “They are all here.” I gestured to Jack.

  “The car was registered to a Reverend Lionel Mueller. He has property in west Texas and New Mexico. We started visiting every piece of property he owns. Most were listed as rental farm property. We met resistance at three compounds. Not only did they find the compound where Sharon had been, but three others.

  “It seems that Mr. Mueller’s theory was that the kidnapped children were free labor and future devotees. He preached religion, but taught paramilitary propaganda. There were thirty-six missing children total. All but a few were children of junkies or the homeless. The others were runaways. He poached the homeless shelters in four states. The press is having a field day.”

  I high-fived Tom and Sharon ran forward for her turn, which ended up being four turns before she was satisfied. When I looked at Jack, he had a serious expression on his face.

  “The director has guaranteed you are safe from us. We may ask your assistance in special cases, but we cannot coerce you in any way.”

  “Well, that’s real sweet of him, now, isn’t it?” I bit out sarcastically.

  “What of the other agencies?” Takeshi added. “The FBI was a danger to her, but I suspect that others know about her. Is she safe from them? I would like some kind of assurance of that. Perhaps you should send a picture to your director of how she looks, so he can see what some people will try to do to get her to participate in their agenda.” His hand was shaking. He was angry and I think it was the first time he’d really been able to vent.

  “Takeshi.” Tom touched his shoulders. “It’s my fault she’s here. Stop blaming yourself.”

  “Stop it both of you,” I demanded. “It just is. In another week or so, I’m back to my everyday emergency-room nursing, and if you play your cards right, Shimodo, I’ll agree to let you stay over once in a while until we find you a nice younger girlfriend.”

  Tom and Takeshi stared at me and waited to see what else I’d say. The others looked confused, which I ignored, and turned to Jack. “Tell me everything you know. Were all the children all right? Do they know about Sharon and how helpful and brave she was? Will someone pay for her death?”

  “One of the first things they did was search for her body. So far they haven’t had any luck.” Jack frowned.

  “Call so
meone right now,” Tom nearly shouted. “Sharon can go there and show them the way. Tell them to follow the direction of the cold touch. When they reach the spot she’ll touch their chest. Sharon, where shall they meet you? Are you buried near the compound?”

  Bethann gave us details that I repeated while Bill went to the nearest phone.

  “Tell them to wait beyond the fenced garden under a large tree. Let us know when he’s there and she’ll go to him.” Tom, Bethann and Sharon were all talking at once, so I was spitting my words out in a rush of excitement.

  Mateo and Hector listened, their faces masks of sadness. Rachel and Bill were very pleased, Bill looking like a proud father.

  “Sharon has solved this case for us,” Bill declared. He reached out an arm, as if waiting for a handshake. I could see in his face when Sharon high-fived him.

  Mateo jumped a little. “Who touched me?”

  Tom glanced at Mateo and me. “Mia is thirteen and finds him very attractive. Mostly she presses her face against his because she likes the little warm buzz. She’s ignoring my request for her to stop.”

  I was surprised at how much that tickled me. “Mia thinks you are very attractive. She’s expressing her feminine side. You are probably used to woman throwing themselves at you, so be gentle. Of course in this case she's throwing herself through you, mostly your face. Oh, to be beautiful, like you are.”

  Hector and Rachel laughed, and Mateo dropped his head in defeat. He spoke Spanish and I heard Hector’s name being bandied about. Hector laughed louder.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The main course arrived. It was chicken stuffed with the rice dish I had earlier. I was still pretty full so I managed to decline the plate before it was placed in front of me. Jack came back, saying they were ready for Sharon. He sat down and finished telling us everything they’d found at the compounds.

  By the time the dessert was served, Sharon was back. I was fantasizing about the still-warm chocolate cake that I was definitely having when I was alone again. I’d take extra napkins.

  I watched as the tiny ghost talked in a loud whisper to Bethann.