Chapter 1



Renee was putting a notebook and some pens and pencils on top of the piles of clothes in her suitcase when she heard a knock on the door downstairs. "I'm coming," she shouted as she started down to the door.
Halfway down the stairs, the door opened. Light flooded in, momentarily blinding her. When she could focus her eyes once more, Gabriel was standing there grinning at her.
"Get in here," she told him as she finished her descent.
He closed the door behind him and wrapped his arms around her when she reached him. She kissed his lips and when she pulled away, a smile brightened her face. "I'm almost ready," she said as she started back up the stairs. Following her, he couldn't get over the feeling of peace being with her brought him.
Once in her room, he noticed the notebook in her suitcase. "Gonna write a novel on the way there?" He teased her.
"Maybe," she replied with a smile.
Just as she finished zipping her suitcase closed, his arms slipped around her waist and she felt his chin rest on her shoulder.

"You make getting ready rather difficult," she told him.
Gabriel just grinned at her. He released his hold on her and sat on the edge of the bed. Renee slipped on a pair of shoes and threw on a lightweight jacket. Then, she picked up her suitcase and turned toward the stairs. Looking back, she asked, "You ready?"
He got to his feet and followed her down to his car. Opening the trunk, he lifted her suitcase and placed it beside his. Then, he slammed the lid shut and walked to the front and stepped in.
"I found out a little more on your necklace," Gabriel told her when they had driven a little way. "There's an envelope in one of the inside pockets of my coat."
Renee turned around and picked the coat up off of the back seat. A corner of a long envelope was sticking out of the pocket. She pulled it out and dropped the coat back onto the seat. Ripping the envelope open, she could hear Gabriel laughing at her eagerness. "I can't help it," she told him defensively. "I'm naturally curious."

He was still laughing. "You look like a little kid on Christmas morning."
She smiled at him. "I rarely acted like this on Christmas morning. Except when it came to the stockings. Always tore into those."
He shook his head at her. Her eyes were bright with happiness, but he wasn't finished teasing her yet. "Let me guess. You always got books, pencils, and notebooks."
She playfully punched his shoulder. "No. I got other things too." She pushed down the immature urge to stick her tongue out at him, only rolling her eyes.
Pulling the paper out of the envelope, she skimmed over the contents. Her eyes and smile widened with delight as she read. "Aideen was from Ireland?"
He nodded his head. "There doesn't seem to be much else I can find out about her. Except for that picture."
She picked up the picture which had fallen on her seat. She looked at it, blinked, then looked again. Except for a few slight differences in her facial features, Renee thought she was looking in a mirror. The same rather plain-looking eyes, the same wide grin. The only thing that seemed to be different is that she seems paler and thinner than me, she thought to herself. Even their hair looked the same. Long, wavy, and the painter of the portrait had put in the streaks of red that always showed when the sun hit it.

"This is unbelievable," she said.
"That's what I thought when I saw it. Sorry I couldn't find anything else."
"That's all right. You found more than I would have." She smiled. "More than I would have had the patience to look for."
They rode the rest of the way in comfortable silence. Renee looked out the window, watching the highway go by. Soon they were at the airport and Renee was feeling nervous. She had not been on an airplane for more than ten years. Not since she had gone out west on a vacation with her dad. She pushed these feelings of apprehension out of her mind and stepped out of the car.
They grabbed their suitcases from the trunk and headed toward the airport terminal. People were heading this way and that and she began to feel nervous again. Large crowds of people around her always did that.Gabriel took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. She looked over at him and couldn't help but smile. He always gave her a sense of security, that nothing could harm her when she was with him. There was something else about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Renee watched their bags while he asked the woman behind the counter what time their flight was expected to leave.
"The flight for Buenos Aires leaves in two hours," Renee heard her say.
Gabriel walked back over to where she was sitting. "A two hour wait. Know of anything we can do to pass the time?"
"You could tell me something about this thing we're going to look at," she suggested.
"Well, my contact said this stone is special. Story goes that as long as someone had it with them, nothing could hurt them. Unless it is used for 'evil' purposes. He didn't say what happened then though." Renee thought he sounded skeptical but interested.

"So why didn't this contact of yours ship the stone here?"
"Because I wanted to see it first," he replied.
"Oh. Okay."
Renee closed her eyes. She had not had a good night's sleep for the past week. Dreams had haunted her but every time she woke up, she could not remember a single detail about the dreams. She would always wake feeling like she was running from something. When she tried to get back to sleep, she could only do so for short bits of time.
After nearly a week of this, she was close to exhaustion. She opened her eyes again when she sensed Gabriel stand up. "They just called for us to board," he explained to her.
They went to their plane and boarded it. Finding their seats, they sank gratefully into them. Renee looked around at the faces of the people in the seats around them.

There was a young couple with a small child in front of them. Across from them, an older couple was waiting patiently for the plane to take off. Once it did, Renee closed her eyes again and promptly fell asleep. Gabriel looked over at her and smiled to himself. She looks so much like an angel when she's asleep. There were no signs of worry on her face now, just peace.
He, too, closed his eyes but was unable to get any sleep. He opened them again and looked out the window.
A little more than an hour later, Renee woke up. That feeling of extreme fear was back again. Gabriel could see it in her face. It was uncomfortable to sit sideways in the seat, but he did it anyway.
He took both of her hands in his and asked, "Are you okay?"
She started to nod her head, then changed her mind. "No, I'm not. I've been having these dreams for a week now."
"What happens in them?" He asked with both concern and curiosity.
She shook her head. "That's the thing. I don't know. When I wake up, I can't remember any of it. I just feel like I've been running and I'm always so afraid."

"You have no reason to be afraid now. I will never let anything happen to you."
Even though the fear still clung to her she couldn't help but giggle at this. "I'm sorry. It's just that you sounded so chivalrous when you said that."
"I'm serious, Renee."
"I know you are. It's just that, well, anymore you only hear people say those things in books and movies."
He smiled. His smile took away the last of the fear that had been clinging to her. She smiled at him and said, "I'm all right now."
"Good." He let go of one of her hands, but kept the other one in his.
Renee closed her eyes again and this time she slept peacefully. She didn't wake until she felt the plane land. She opened her eyes and asked, "Are we there?"
Gabriel shook his head. "Not yet. The people getting off aren't going all the way. At least we don't have to switch planes."
"Yeah."
She started to close her eyes again, then remembered something she had wanted to ask him. "What is this place called where we are staying?"

"Los Estrellas Rancho. My contact said he'd have someone meet us at the airport to drive us there."
"Is it a cattle ranch?"
"That's what he told me. But don't worry, Renee. I'm sure there'll be horses there too." He couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease her.
This time she jokingly stuck her tongue out at him. By this time, more passengers were boarding the plane. Gabriel was laughing quietly to himself. She tried to glare at him, but couldn't pull it off. Soon she was laughing too. The other passengers just looked at them, then looked away shaking their heads.
Soon the plane was taking off again. Renee relaxed against the back of the seat. After a couple of minutes, she picked up a book she had brought along. Gabriel looked at her and asked, "That's not the same one you were reading last night, is it?"
She shook her head. "No, I finished that one last night."
He looked at the front cover of this one. Dark Canyon it read. "Another Louis L'Amour one?"
"Yeah."
"Haven't you read all of them yet?" He teased her.
"No, I haven't," she replied. "But almost." They both laughed.
She started reading and had soon forgotten about everything else. Not until her eyes began to grow tired did she put the book down. Gabriel had closed his eyes quite some time ago and was now sleeping. As soon as she brushed against his arm, however, his eyes fluttered open and he smiled at her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized.
"Yes, you did. But it's okay." He brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. She smiled at him and her face glowed with happiness.
Just then a voice came through the speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing soon, if you would please fasten your seat belts.
*******
"It's been a quiet week," Jake said as he and Sara left the office.
"Please don't say that. Something will happen now."
"Relax, Sara."
"Relax you say. Not in this city."
"You get your new bike yet?" he asked, desperately wanting to change the subject.
"Not yet," she replied shaking her head. "I'm going to go get it now."
He nodded. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning."
She walked to the shop to pick up her bike. She had finally decided to get a new one several months after hers had been destroyed by the White Bulls. Opening the door, she noticed that the place was almost empty. "Hello," she said when the man behind the counter looked up. "I'm here to pick up my new bike."
"The Buell?"
"Yeah."
"It's in the back. Come around to the back door and I'll bring it out to you."
"Thanks."
She walked around to the back of the shop and met the man as he came out. "Is there anything else you'll need?"
"Yeah," she said, nodding her head. "A new helmet."
They walked back inside together. Sara picked out a helmet and paid for it, then walked back outside.
As she was getting on the bike, she thought she saw a shadow move in the alley between two buildings across the street, but couldn't be sure. Shaking her head, she slipped her helmet on and headed home.
*******

Gabriel was looking around for the driver when Renee saw someone coming toward them. She touched his arm and when he looked at her, pointed toward the approaching man. When he reached them, he inquired, "Senor Bowman and Senorita Mackenzie?"
"Yes, we are," Gabriel replied as he stepped forward.
"The car is this way."
Gabriel and Renee followed him to the car and slid into the back seat. They sat together in silence as the man drove along numerous roads. Soon they were out of the city. There were now large areas of nothing but fields and cattle.
Finally, they turned into a long, winding drive. Both sides were lined with fences. On the left side were many cattle. Some of them stood up when they saw the car drive by. On the other side were some horses. They lifted their heads from grazing to watch them pass.
When they came to the end of the drive, Renee looked out the window and saw a very large house. The car came to a stop and Renee and Gabriel stepped out. They walked up to the porch together where a man was standing, waiting for them.
"Bienvenidos mis amigos."