King Solomon's Journey (The Dominguez Adventures) Read Free Page B

scroll, and then he secured the precious antiques.
                Antonio called Joe from the workshop; "Joe, do me a favor. I am going to leave an envelope on the hall table, call Terry over at the airport and ask him to swing by and pick it up. I need it air-shipped out tonight to the address on the envelope." With a final look around, Antonio ensured all traces of the scrolls existence disappeared.
                As he closed the case, thoughts of the woman entered his mind again. This time he felt as he did during the hallucination. Her spirit seemed to surround him. His eyes closed, as he breathed in her essence. Where did she come from? Her eyes were mysterious, breathtaking, sparkling her arms were reaching for him.
                Remember her name, Amanda Messenger or damn, perhaps Amanda the Messenger; she wanted him to think. This made him consider the possibility that somewhere, she waited for him. As he rubbed his head, the pain lessened at the thought of her, his soul thrummed with excitement. Would he find her through his soul? Maybe he should go get his head examined since now he was insane.
                Antonio finished checking the security measures, picked up his copies of the scrolls, and locked the door. As he headed for the door, he saw Maria run out to meet him.
                 “Madre de Dios, Antonio, you need a Doctor.”
                “Maria, I am fine, let me shower you'll see the injury is much better than it looks.”
                 “Antonio, it is possible to have a bump inside your head.” She felt concerned.
                 “We will see after I shower.” He thought hell, not a bump; a woman is in my head. He walked to the hallway and left the envelope for Joe. After he climbed up the short flight of stairs, he stopped to put the copies of the scrolls and the keys to the workroom in his desk. In the bedroom, he threw his dirty clothes by the door and stepped back to the bathroom. The shower felt terrific, after a generous application of soap, he threw his sore head back under the water, and allowed it to wash away his pain with the dried blood.
                It didn't matter how ridiculous the thought, the longing he felt for this woman, would not go away. Images of her in his mind sent waves of emotion through him. He needed her; even crazier was his sense that she was a necessary element in relation to his finding the Scrolls or their meaning.
                In the vision, he could feel her intense love. Intellectually, he knew a concussion must have triggered a strange reaction in his brain causing him to hallucinate. If love could achieve the feeling he experienced heroin and cocaine trafficking would collapse. No way, it was some somatic response to trauma inducing a chemical that resulted in a hallucination.
                Out of the shower, he dried off and dressed. He glanced at his wound in the mirror, his forehead now boasted a dark bruise and a gigantic goose egg, and it was an ugly sight. At least it had swelled out, and he could assure Maria that he did not have a bump inside his head.
                After he made his way down to the kitchen, he suddenly found himself checked over as if he were a child in need of a hug and a Super-Hero band-aid. It took all he could do to stop Maria from dragging him out to the drive for a trip to the hospital.
                She finally conceded and retrieved a bottle of aspirin.  After he had taken the aspirin, he asked Maria to take his food to the office. She agreed but shot him a worried look.
                He chuckled. “Maria, you know I love it when you take care of me, but I'm fine. I have some work to do. Tomorrow, I'll need to get new glasses, since I travel to Vegas early, the day after tomorrow.” He bounded up the stairs two at a time, and reached his office prepared to