Chapter 31

I didn’t dare even take a breath. I didn’t even want to look. Closing my eyes tight, I let my mind drift like I had been taught by the medicine woman when I was a child.

Meditation.

She always spoke of the magic and the mysticism of meditation. She said it was the soul’s way to dream. At night, human’s dreamt with their mind, but the soul could dream at any time. When a soul dreamt, however, it could make things happen. It could manifest a wish or a prayer.

“Connected to the spirits of our ancestor’s,” she would say, “meditation brings magic to life from within you.”

With the door to the closet now opening, I sincerely hoped with everything I had that she was right.

“Cassia?” A deep voice whispered into the shadows.

“Oh god! Keanu!” I tried to keep my voice down as I scrambled from the corner. Managing to step over everything in the closet without tripping, I lunged and pressed myself into him. His large arms wrapped around me like a cocoon as I breathed a sigh of relief.

I was surprised, and found it a bit disturbing, to see him fully clad in a ‘men in black’ uniform, but there he was, holding me tight with the devil’s attire covering him.

“Oh!” Keanu suddenly exclaimed and I looked up at his surprised face. Following his gaze into the belly of the closet, I locked eyes with the frightened cleaning lady.

She’d shoved herself behind one of the wooden storage shelves. Appearing terribly cramped and uncomfortable, I extended my hand to help her out. Clumsily, she clambered out of her hiding spot. Obviously shaken, she mumbled something incoherent as she meandered her way past us and out the door.

Smoothing back her untidy hair, she turned to look at us as she stated cryptically. “I will pray for you. Whatever happens.”

“Come on. This way.” His hand on the small of my back, Keanu ushered me swiftly toward the end of the hallway.

Approaching a large steel door just north of the janitorial closet, I thought it was ironic that it would have been the exact escape route that the cleaning lady and I would have used.

Pushing the door open, Keanu checked the area for unwanted eyes before letting me come through.

“Okay.” Waving his hand for me to move forward and follow him, I cringed as my bare feet left the cool tile of the facility and landed on the freezing cement floor of the parking garage. Exhaling, my breath fogged as the heat of my body clashed with the frigid air around me.

Winter.

I’d forgotten that this side of the world was likely embraced in the throes of an arctic season which made this venture even more dangerous.

Hand in hand, we moved quickly through the garage. Leading me toward a dark sedan near the very back of the building, Keanu silently pointed to some cameras that were hidden atop cement pillars. Thankfully, Keanu seemed to know all their exact locations and the directions they were pointing. It appeared that he’d strategically parked this car in the cameras’ blind spots.

I marveled at his agent abilities. Up until now, I hadn’t seen him in action. Calm, smooth and in control, he reminded me of a young Hawaiian James Bond.

With the keys in his hand, he popped the trunk a few feet before we reached the car. Lifting the lid, he pulled out a large black piece of fabric. It didn’t flow like a blanket though, it was rigid and oval.

Signaling for me to get into the trunk, I paused and gave him a wary glance. He gave me a reassuring smile and I reluctantly climbed into the trunk of the car, hoping that it would not become my means of travel for very long. I’d never been one to be claustrophobic, but this was certainly going to test my limits.

Lying down, it was surprisingly comfortable. The view from the trunk, however, was unnerving.

A coffin.

That’s what it reminded me of. Even though I’d obviously never been in a coffin before, I was certain this would be the view—and the lid was coming down soon.

After giving me a final reassuring look, Keanu placed the strange fabric lid over me like an enormous black shield. With only tiny slivers of light gliding in from under the fabric, I was suddenly buried in complete darkness.

Keanu had slammed the lid shut.

If ever I was going to have to learn to trust someone—now was the time.