foyer. She returns in just a moment and hands a pen and pad of paper to him. Kallen sits down and writes out a fairly long list.
When he’s done, he tears the sheet from the pad and hands it to Agent Amman. “Do you have the resources to obtain these items?” he asks.
Without replying, Agent Amman takes out his cell phone from the inside of his jacket and presses a button. His call is answered immediately. “Jacqueline, I have list of items I need you to obtain. Your ears only. I will text you an address and I want these items delivered within the hour.” He reads list to the person on the other end of the line. “I understand that some of these items will be difficult to find. I want them here in an hour.” The agent ends the call and puts the phone back in his pocket. “You said a personal effect is required. What did you mean?”
“It will need to be a part of them, such as hair,” says Kallen.
“Do we have time to drive to your house to get what we need?” asks Eliana.
A tiny smile touches agent Amman’s lips. Taking out his wallet, he says, “My wife is very superstitious. She insisted that I carry this with me. The locks from your child’s first haircut are supposed to bring good luck.” He takes a small plastic bag with a little curl of hair from his wallet.
None of us quite know how to respond to that. Yes, it is good luck that he has it with him right now, but it certainly didn’t bring him good luck this morning.
He hands the small plastic bag to Kallen. “Will this be enough?” he asks. Kallen nods and takes the bag from him. He sets it down on the table while we wait for the other ingredients.
“Josh and I will check the artifacts around the house and find a porcelain bowl,” Eliana says. She and Josh leave the room. Now all that’s left to do is wait.
Chapter 21
One hour and five minutes later there is a knock on the door. Agent Amman has spent the last five minutes pacing the floor and has a withering look on his face when he pulls the door open and confronts the person who dared to be five minutes late. A woman in her late fifties or early sixties breezes into the room as if he had given her the brightest smile. She has gray hair pulled back into a loose bun, a rather pear-shaped body yet still quite thin, and is wearing a dull gray jacket and skirt that she must have bought when she weighed a few more pounds. She is carrying two cloth shopping bags which she brings into the living room and sets on the low table between the couches.
“I had to run here and there across the city,” the woman says in heavily accented English. “Why do you need such items?”
I can see the deliberation clearly on agent Amman’s face as he decides whether or not to tell her the truth. Finally, he says, “They are for a locator spell.”
“Ah.” That is all the woman says. Then she sits in a chair by the fireplace and places her hands in her lap as if waiting patiently for a bus.
“Your services are no longer needed, Jacqueline,” agent Amman says rather tersely.
“I am not running around like a crazy woman and then not witness the reason for my insanity,” Jacqueline says, just as tersely. I suspect these two often have conversations like this.
I look up at Kallen who is standing next to me by the window with a questioning look. He shrugs his shoulders as if to say ‘what’s one more person?’ I guess he’s right.
“Where should we do this?” Eliana asks.
“Outside the best,” Kallen replies.
“There’s a gazebo out back in the garden,” Josh says.
Kallen nods. “That will work fine.”
Without another word, Agent Amman picks up the cloth bags and follows Eliana and Josh to the back of the house and out through a sliding glass door that leads to the garden. Kallen and I follow
When he’s done, he tears the sheet from the pad and hands it to Agent Amman. “Do you have the resources to obtain these items?” he asks.
Without replying, Agent Amman takes out his cell phone from the inside of his jacket and presses a button. His call is answered immediately. “Jacqueline, I have list of items I need you to obtain. Your ears only. I will text you an address and I want these items delivered within the hour.” He reads list to the person on the other end of the line. “I understand that some of these items will be difficult to find. I want them here in an hour.” The agent ends the call and puts the phone back in his pocket. “You said a personal effect is required. What did you mean?”
“It will need to be a part of them, such as hair,” says Kallen.
“Do we have time to drive to your house to get what we need?” asks Eliana.
A tiny smile touches agent Amman’s lips. Taking out his wallet, he says, “My wife is very superstitious. She insisted that I carry this with me. The locks from your child’s first haircut are supposed to bring good luck.” He takes a small plastic bag with a little curl of hair from his wallet.
None of us quite know how to respond to that. Yes, it is good luck that he has it with him right now, but it certainly didn’t bring him good luck this morning.
He hands the small plastic bag to Kallen. “Will this be enough?” he asks. Kallen nods and takes the bag from him. He sets it down on the table while we wait for the other ingredients.
“Josh and I will check the artifacts around the house and find a porcelain bowl,” Eliana says. She and Josh leave the room. Now all that’s left to do is wait.
Chapter 21
One hour and five minutes later there is a knock on the door. Agent Amman has spent the last five minutes pacing the floor and has a withering look on his face when he pulls the door open and confronts the person who dared to be five minutes late. A woman in her late fifties or early sixties breezes into the room as if he had given her the brightest smile. She has gray hair pulled back into a loose bun, a rather pear-shaped body yet still quite thin, and is wearing a dull gray jacket and skirt that she must have bought when she weighed a few more pounds. She is carrying two cloth shopping bags which she brings into the living room and sets on the low table between the couches.
“I had to run here and there across the city,” the woman says in heavily accented English. “Why do you need such items?”
I can see the deliberation clearly on agent Amman’s face as he decides whether or not to tell her the truth. Finally, he says, “They are for a locator spell.”
“Ah.” That is all the woman says. Then she sits in a chair by the fireplace and places her hands in her lap as if waiting patiently for a bus.
“Your services are no longer needed, Jacqueline,” agent Amman says rather tersely.
“I am not running around like a crazy woman and then not witness the reason for my insanity,” Jacqueline says, just as tersely. I suspect these two often have conversations like this.
I look up at Kallen who is standing next to me by the window with a questioning look. He shrugs his shoulders as if to say ‘what’s one more person?’ I guess he’s right.
“Where should we do this?” Eliana asks.
“Outside the best,” Kallen replies.
“There’s a gazebo out back in the garden,” Josh says.
Kallen nods. “That will work fine.”
Without another word, Agent Amman picks up the cloth bags and follows Eliana and Josh to the back of the house and out through a sliding glass door that leads to the garden. Kallen and I follow
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