"Josh, how are you?"
A slender woman made her way into the coffee shop, standing patiently in line to order herself a hot beverage.
"Mira," Josh said, nodding as he walked past with a tray of breakfast foods.
He placed the orders in front of patrons and gave obligatory answers to questions before turning back to his friend in line. She stared patiently at the board up on the wall.
"What can I get you?" he asked, sliding behind the register.
"I'll have a black coffee, decaf please."
"You got it."
After he rang her up, he handed his apron over to the assistant manager.
"I'm taking off. See you tomorrow."
The assistant manager smiled and resumed working. Once Mira's coffee was done, Josh handed it to her, and they both left the coffee shop together. The air outside was warm with a nice breeze. Walking in silence, they make their way to a city park, nestled in between large buildings. Finding an empty bench on the far corner, they sit.
"How is she doing?"
Josh sighs, crossing his arms behind his head.
"She is meeting more of them. Today."
"We know. I tracked her this morning. I mean mentally. How is she doing. It's not easy to read her."
"That's because she has the stones powers in her."
Mira choked on a sip of her coffee.
"The stones."
"The very ones. And they are tracking her from Egypt. I went to her room this morning and.."
"You moron! You could have been caught!"
Josh turned and looked at Mira in the eyes. His irises contracted in anger and hers flashed with recognition. She shrunk back slightly, a bead of sweat rolling down her back.
"What did you say?" Josh asked softly.
"N..nothing. I didn't mean that. It's been stressful lately tracking this case is all."
"You are not focusing. Go see Gary after this. He will realign you."
Mira nodded and took another sip of her coffee.
"As far as her emotions. Well, she is all over the place. The man that she still loves in in the shadows. Marcus."
"Crap. I thought our LA folks took care of him?"
"He knows them actually. They researched the organization once for a movie. So it has to be done covertly. I checked into it, and apparently LA is less apt to do surveillance than we are."
"I will talk to the head. They owe me a favor. But once we get Marcus out of the way, then what? What else is she dealing with?"
Josh unfolded his hands and stretched his long legs out, letting the sun hit his face. He closed his eyes and connected to the thoughts in his mind.
"She is having racing thoughts; her mind is pretty scattered. Not unmanageable, but she needs more help than we have been giving her. That's for sure."
"Our protocols are working though, right? At least helping?"
"They are. We need to ramp them up though."
Josh stood and stretched, then touched his temples lightly, rubbing.
"I want the insiders to do more than bump into her. We need to get a tracker on her. I am afraid that the Egyptians are going to be more brutal than they have ever been before. Too much is at stake."
"What makes you think that? Can you hear them?"
Josh nodded. Pacing lightly. His head throbbed and pulsed with the voices that he could pick up on. He could hear them chattering in the city. They were already in Denver.
"There are about six of them," he whispered, closing his eyes. "And they are looking for her, but she is with Liam, so they won't. Yet. Later tonight though, they will come for her."
"Shit. We will dedicate more resources to her then."
"Yes. And I'll watch her."
A breeze picked up and the air smelled suddenly of flowers in bloom. Mira inhaled and exhaled; her eyes alight.
"I was just thinking, she is about to discover the real reason why the airport is there. If she discovers the star, it could scare her, the aftereffects."
"In Seti's temple, 1250, the star was placed and then deactivated. For the rightful time..."
"The rightful time for the rightful person to activate it again."
Josh nodded, and pulled out his cell phone, looking at the screen.
"That's right. It's coming, soon. Charlotte is smart. Way smarter than we knew before meeting her. I have a feeling that she will have this figured out before the big bosses do. She will need our extra help. They might try to kidnap her."
"You don't think they will...take her to...."
"Yes. I do. I've been watching the boss. He is worried. And he never gets that way. Not in the past ten years I've been assigned to him."
Mira pulled out her phone as well, typing into the screen.
"Our group can't come up against them though, not head on. We don't posses the powers they do.."
"We don't, you are right, but we have the stone in our back pocket. It will be redirected to strengthen us."
Mira scoffed audibly, "It was used once in this way. Before Jesus time, yes. We know that it was, but the creator squashed it."
"He squashed it and buried it. Almost all of it."
"I remember the old story. It is one of my favorites. Nimrod brought about the technologies that would change the entire world. And they did, for a long time, until the tower began to go up. Then God had enough. Humans were abusing what was given. The Nephilim were running amok, and it was time to use them for his purpose, again."
"The Nephilim are always overlooked in that story," Josh said. "Let's walk. No one can hear us."
Mira stood and followed in step with her colleague. She loved talking about this topic, the early days. They trailed along a brick path that led to a shaded sidewalk not used by anyone. Flowers bloomed on bushes nearby and the scent wafted into the air. It was intoxicating.
"They are still hidden though, no one knows about them, except for the conspiracy folks."
"The world is not kind to those who know. So, in a way, no one knows. Except for our group and a few others."
"You don't think the boss will bring them forward with Charlotte, do you?"
Josh motioned for them to walk behind a set of buildings, in an alleyway.
"No. Not at all. But they will be woken up from the stones. So Charlotte has to be ready," he said.
"Hmm, I know. We are working on a plan to go over with her once her powers are awoken fully. It's bound to happen any day now. Especially with the Egyptians here."
"Yes. I think it will be a matter of days."
Continuing their walk in silence, they finally made it to a main city cross street. Josh exhaled and touched his chest again.
"We just stick to the plan. That's it."
Nodding, Mira crossed the road when the rest of the people do, leaving Josh to walk the opposite direction, back towards the café. He was deep in thought as he made his way along the pavement. Thoughts of Charlotte floated in his mind.
She will need more. More protection. More inner work. More healing. I need to get to Marcus.
Josh frowned at the thoughts. He loathed the pain the man had brought to his charge. Having absorbed some of it already, he wasn't excited to absorb more. Energy work took a lot, and it was painstaking. He stopped at another light and watched the cars as they passed by.
Maybe transportation was the key.
He mulled over the logistics of getting a person onto Marcus' tail as he went to and from work, and how that would work. The crossing sign changed to green, so he stepped out into the street. A warm breeze brushed over his face as he got to the sidewalk. His phone chirped as an incoming text came in. It was from her. Smiling, he opened the message.
Hey Josh, I was wondering if you had time to talk? You aren't at work, I asked. If you are busy, no worries.
His fingers nimble, he quickly typed out a reply.
Would love to meet you. There is a coffee shop a block down in the opposite direction from mine. Meet you there in ten?
Sure!
Satisfied with her quick reply, Josh made his way to the said coffee spot, thoughts swirling in his mind. She was thinking of him, he could feel it. And it wasn't just for work reasons. His cheeks tinted with happiness. But he knew he had to keep it together. At any time, he might be ambushed.
The coffee shop came into sight and so did she. His breath hitched at the sight of her in the spring sunlight. Her hair was practically glowing. Heart rate high, Josh inhaled and focused, to bring it back down. She waved and called out to him.
"Josh!"
Charlotte.