The central
characters of Poltergeist: The Legacy do not belong to me –
they are
the property of Trilogy and MGM – I’ve only borrowed them for a while.
All other
characters are created by me. Hope you
enjoy …
POLTERGEIST:
THE
LEGACY
ROSES
IN DECEMBER
Chapter
1
San
Francisco
Just a few more days, Nick told
himself. And then I am going on a much
needed vacation with my wife. After
what we’ve been thru recently, we need this.
We need time out, time away.
Leave it all behind us. Total
change of scene, pace, and people.
Merli’s bags are already packed.
It’s just a few more days to wait, a few projects to bring up to date,
and then we are out of here.
He typed quickly, a broad, smug grin
on his face. Within a week, he’d be
lazing on some tropical beach. Soaking
up the sun. Living the easy life.
He heard Derek’s voice in the distance
as he spoke on the phone. Then he heard
silence as the call ended. Then
footsteps, slow, measured, as if the guy making them was thinking hard as he
walked. Nick wasn’t precognizant but
his heart began to sink.
“Nick,” Derek began from his office
door.
“No.
Please. Don’t tell me I have to cancel my vacation.”
Derek gave a tiny shrug of
helplessness.
“Derek, you know Peri an’ I need this time
away,” Nick protested.
“Yes, I do, but .. it’s a week. Nothing more. Surely, you can defer your plans for seven days?”
Nick slumped, sagging irritably in his
chair. “What’s come up?”
“That was the Tokyo house on the
phone. They’ve discovered an ancient
weapon – ”
“Not the sword of Amaterasu?” Nick
queried, sitting up and taking notice.
“That’s what they want our help
with. Or, knowing your prowess in that
field, your help. They specifically asked for you, Nick. This weapon must be dated, authenticated,
examined thoroughly .. by an expert.”
It was a simple choice – vacation on a
tropical beach with Merlin, or the fabled, mythical sword of Amaterasu. Or was it a choice? Seven days’ delay would mean he could have both. And Tokyo had asked specifically for Nick Boyle.
“When do I leave?” Nick asked.
“You don’t,” Derek told him. “They’ve already put it on a specially
chartered jet. It should be here
tomorrow.”
He nodded and sighed. “I’ll call Peri,” Nick remarked, reaching
for the phone. “Break the bad news.”
*****
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
Rachel put down her briefcase and
sighed irritably as she sat at the table, her eyes momentarily closing. Sometimes, life ran on well oiled
tracks. Okay, occasionally, there was a
sharp bend in those tracks but you could see it coming and compensate for
it. And, every so often, life got
derailed in a spectacular way. She
raked a hand thru her hair, her shoulders sagging.
“I don’t know how I’m going to tell
her,” she remarked. “I just don’t have the
words.”
“Tell who what?” Pete Miller inquired,
signaling to the waitress.
“Kat.
That I have to cancel our vacation because I have to go to a
conference.”
“Coffee?” he asked and she
nodded. “Two,” he said to the waitress
then faced Rachel again. “You just told
me. Why can’t you tell her the same
way?”
“Because,” Rachel replied, sighing
again even as her eyes sparked with a flare of irritation caused by his
insensitivity, “she’s been looking forward to this vacation for months. And to cancel because of a stupid conference
… She won’t understand, Pete. She’ll say I did it on purpose.”
“Did you?”
“No!”
“Then .. don’t go to the conference.”
“I can’t get out of it. I’m a keynote speaker.”
“Tough break,” he commented. “My advice, for what it’s worth .. which is
probably zero seeing as I have no kids, is to tell her exactly as you’ve just
told me an’ include all the peripheral things – the sighing, the shoulders, the
closed eyes, and the hair raking. It makes
it all more realistic. More genuine. If I were Kat, I wouldn’t be so disappointed as I might have been.”
Rachel regarded him. “You’re right. That is worth about zero.”
“Best I can do at such short notice,”
he grinned. “Have some coffee. Coffee puts all life’s problems into
perspective. That’s why cops thrive on the stuff.”
*****
Merlin picked up the phone. “Yeah.”
“Hi, babe.”
She straightened, her eyes
narrowing. “Oh, Nick, no … Tell me you’re not canceling.”
“No, I’m not. I’m just .. postponing. Rain check.”
“How long?”
“A week. Just seven days.”
Merlin turned to lean against the
kitchen counter. “I guess I can live
with waiting another week. Must be some
project if you agreed over our vacation plans.”
“The
sword of Amaterasu.”
“Right. Of course.
How stupid of me to not know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Tokyo
house has found an ancient sword which could be the legendary, mythical,
magical sword of Amaterasu,” Nick explained.
“They’ve asked me to take a look at it.”
“So
.. we can take our vacation in Japan,” she said brightly.
“It’s
already on a plane to San Francisco.”
He paused. “It’s just a week,
Merli.”
She
heard a faint beeping sound which wasn’t coming from the phone in her
hand. “Can you hold for a second? I got another call coming in on my cell.”
“Sure.”
She
switched phones. “Yeah.”
“Peri,
it’s Carl. How are you set to leave at
very short notice? Like .. tomorrow?”
“My
bag is all packed,” she said honestly.
“Fabulous. You’ll love this assignment. I guarantee it.”
“Is
it somewhere hot an’ tropical?”
“Absolutely,”
Carl Chang replied.
“Okay. Fax me thru the details.” She switched back. “Nick .. you can have your seven days to look at some rusty old
sword.”
“You’re
okay with it?”
“Absolutely,”
she smiled.
*****
Alex
sat on her bed, waiting for the call to connect. “C’mon .. pick up,” she muttered. There was a click and she sat up slightly. “Hello, Jason ..? It’s Alex Moreau, in San Francisco. The Luna Foundation?”
“Alex! Sure, I remember the Luna Foundation. It’s great to hear from you. How are you doing?”
“I’m
… Well, to be honest, I’m in need of
some time out,” she replied. “Is that
standing invitation still open?”
“Of
course, it is!”
“That’s
great,” Alex said, relieved beyond words.
“When
were you thinking of arriving?”
“Well
.. soon. In the next few days. Is that a problem?”
“Not
at all. I only ask so we can prepare
one of the cabins for you.”
“Thanks,
Jason. Oh .. is it okay if I bring a
friend ..?”
*****
Derek
sighed as the phone rang. It was
turning into one of those days when nothing positive was achieved because the
phone wouldn’t stop interrupting. His
hand moved to pick it up just as Alex appeared in the doorway.
“One
second,” Derek murmured to her.
“Hello?”
“Derek,
it’s Rachel. I have to go to London.”
He
blinked. “Is there a problem there?”
“Not
there, no. There is a problem in that I have to tell Kat I can’t take her to the
Florida Keys like we intended.”
“What’s
in London?” he frowned.
“A
conference. I’m a keynote speaker. Your friend Suzanne Emharte was to have
given the talk but she had to pull out an’ she recommended me to take her
place.”
“Well
.. it’s hardly short notice as you were planning to take time out anyway. And we have cover here, now that Nick has
been forced to change his plans. Have
you told Kat yet?”
“No,”
Rachel admitted on a sigh. “This is
gonna cost me big time. Can Kat stay on
the island while I’m gone?”
“Of
course. When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow. I’ll bring her over later today. Thanks, Derek, for being so
understanding. I only hope Kat doesn’t
hate me forever.”
“We’ll
see you both later,” Derek murmured and hung up, then raised his eyes. “Yes, Alex?”
“We
have cover .. so I’d like to go away as well,” she said quickly, while her
courage lasted. “Mine is a working
vacation though.”
“Oh
.. so you’re finally going back to Gretna,” Derek commented, leaning back in
his chair.
She
nodded. “I’m hoping I'll learn a lot
while I’m there. It’s going to be a
pleasant change, being treated as a friend and not as an enemy.”
“Yes,
you should go,” Derek agreed. “Nick has
postponed his vacation for a week, and I’m here. Enjoy yourself. When are
you leaving?”
“In
the next few days. Maybe even as soon
as tomorrow. Jason’s preparing one of
the cabins for me.”
He
nodded. “Have a wonderful time.”
*****
Merlin
read the two sheets Carl had faxed to her.
It was a very easy collection job.
Fly in, go to the university, pick up the item, go to the hotel, stay
over one night, fly home.
She
called him.
“Carl
.. how urgent is it for me to get this back to you?”
There
was a pause. Then he laughed. “Not urgent at all.”
“So
.. if I pick up the hotel bill for the extra days, you’ve no objection to me
extending this trip to .. say, a week?”
“I
say go for it.”
“Thanks,
Carl,” she smiled.
“Tickets
will be at the airport,” he said. “Have
a nice trip.”
“You
guaranteed it,” Merlin grinned, “and I’ll make sure it happens. See you in a week or two.”
*****
Kat
Corrigan slowly sat down on the sofa in her mother’s consulting room at their
house. Her heart was sinking because
Rachel was slowly pacing and wearing an expression of deep sorrow. Kat was either in some serious trouble or she was about to hear something she’d
rather not hear.
“Kat,
honey … ” Rachel began, finally halting and sitting opposite her, “I have got
some really bad news.”
Kat’s
shoulders dropped. “It’s our vacation,
isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re
not going.”
“No. At least, not when we planned. Kat, I have to fly to London tomorrow. We can still go to the Keys .. just not
yet.”
“When?”
“When
I’m back. For sure. You know I wouldn’t do this unless it was
… I can’t get out of it, sweetie. I wish I could.”
“Okay,”
Kat sighed.
“Throw
some things in a bag. Derek says you
can stay on the island while I’m gone.”
Kat
hauled herself upright. It wasn’t fair
but .. that was all part of being a teenager.
Complaining about it was not going to help.
“Kat
..?” Rachel began. “Don’t hate me,” she
begged.
“I
don’t. I’m just .. disappointed.”
“I’ll
make it up to you. I promise,” Rachel
said with a small smile.
“Sure.” Kat nodded and went to pack a bag for her
fun filled trip to Angel Island.
*****
Derek
considered the latest state of play.
Alex needed this break and she was going to take it, no matter what blew
up over the next few days. Rachel would
be gone less than a week. Nick had been
scheduled to fly out in a couple of days but that had now been postponed. And Derek had nothing planned at all. He would be able to cover the routine work
while Nick was involved with his special project. He might even ask if he could help in some way. Merlin would be around, after all, to keep
Kat occupied.
Yes,
it would all work and work well. He
nodded, eminently satisfied.
Unfortunately,
Derek was not in full possession of the facts …
*****
The
hum of the air conditioning unit woke him more than the sound of the ringing
phone. Groggy, he rolled onto his side,
one hand flailing for the receiver on the nightstand. He knocked it onto the floor, groped for it, and hauled it up to
his ear.
“Yeah
..?”
“Jack
..?”
His
eyes flew open. “Alex! What is it?
Problem? Nick hasn’t disappeared
again, has he? I swear to God, I knew
nothing about it. It isn’t my fault.”
There
was a long pause. “Jack, are you okay?”
“I’m
fine. I was sleeping. Late night.
You woke me. I’m not thinking
straight.”
“Mmm. Sounds like it,” Alex commented. “Shall I call you later?”
“Might be an idea but talk to me
now anyway. Then call again later so I
don’t think I dreamed the entire conversation.” He sat up. “Is there a
problem?”
“No,
no problem. You’re not in trouble. I’m not blaming you for anything.”
“Oh.” Jack Chivikian frowned. “So .. this is a social call?”
“Not
exactly,” Alex replied.
“I
see,” he said. “Actually, no, I don’t
see.”
“I’m
not surprised,” Alex laughed. “You
haven’t let me say anything yet.”
“Sorry. It’s instinctive whenever the Luna
Foundation call me. An’ I have no idea
why that is. I panic slightly. Strange, huh?”
“Yes,”
Alex agreed. “Jack, how are you set to
get away for a while?”
“I
can leave whenever I want. Why ..?”
“How
would you like to come on vacation with me?” Alex asked, her voice sounding
just a little rushed.
“How
would I like it ..? To spend time with
you, on vacation, just the two of us?
You have to ask?”
She
laughed quietly, warmly. “Then get to
San Francisco as soon as you can. I’ll
tell you more when you arrive.”
“Okay.”
“You
want me to call you again?” Alex wondered.
“Oh,
yeah. I think you should. This is something I definitely think I will
have imagined, so, yes, please call me again.
What should I pack?”
“It
isn’t somewhere hot an’ tropical, but it is nice. Quiet. Peaceful. Secluded.”
“Sounds
my type of vacation,” Jack remarked.
“I’ll
call you again in an hour,” Alex said and hung up.
He
sagged back against the pillows and closed his eyes. “Wow .. this is a really great dream,” he sighed happily. “Any second now, I’m gonna wake up … ”
*****
“Derek
says you’ve postponed your trip?” Alex said to Nick.
“S’right. Something came up that I could not turn
down.”
“And
Peri’s okay with it?” she frowned.
He
paused, biting at his lower lip. “She
seems to be an’ that is just a little worrying. We both know she needs this after what happened recently yet she
appears to be .. happy to put it off for a week.”
Alex
laughed. “I’m sure she’ll think up some
innovative ways to make you pay for it.
Ways which won’t all involve pain an’ torture.”
“Yeah,
there is that,” Nick grinned. “I can
take a lot of the pain an’ torture she gives me.”
“You
hear Rachel’s going to a conference?” Alex went on. “Kat’s staying here.”
“Thought
they had plans to hit the Keys,” he frowned.
“They
did. You can bet that Kat isn’t as
happy as Peri that her trip’s been put off.”
“Maybe
she can help out in here,” Nick suggested, swinging round to face her. “You said you had her doing basic research
before, didn’t you?”
Alex
nodded. “Kat’s very thorough. Not much gets past her.”
“We’ll
keep her busy. Before she knows it,
Rachel will be back an’ they’ll be packing their bags.”
“I
won’t be here,” Alex remarked. “I’m
finally heading up to Gretna.”
“Good
for you!” Nick grinned. “Alone ..?” he
queried innocently.
Alex
airily shrugged. “I’ve asked Jack ..
and he said yes.”
Nick
chuckled dryly. “Does he know what
Gretna is?”
“Not
yet, but I’ll tell him soon as he arrives in the city.”
“Derek
an’ I can cover. Peri’s gonna be here
too. We’ll be fine,” Nick declared. “Enjoy yourself.”
*****
Rachel
packed for her trip to London and resented every blouse, skirt, tailored jacket
and pair of pants she put in her luggage.
It should be shorts, T-shirts, bikinis, and sandals, she thought sourly. I should be packing suntan lotion, not an
umbrella just in case. This is so
unfair. And not just for me; it’s
unfair on Kat as well. I can’t take her
with me because .. how can I let her go off exploring while I’m working? I can’t.
So she has to stay here, knowing
what she’s missing out on, and I have to fly all the way to London knowing
she’s resenting me being away.
Damn,
but, sometimes, life really sucks.
Along
the hall, Kat sat on her bed and tried to come to terms with being less
important in her mother’s life than a conference.
“C’mon,”
she told herself, “that isn’t true an’ you know it. It just hurts, that’s all.
It’s okay to feel hurt. You
wanted to go to the Florida Keys, an’ now you have to wait again. An’ the reason you’re all tense inside is
because you know that something else important could come up an’ .. you’ll
never get there, at all, ever.”
Kat
felt slightly better now that was out in the open. The phone began to ring downstairs.
“Mom,
shall I get that?” she called.
“Would
you? Thanks, honey.”
Kat
ran down the stairs and picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Kat? Hi there, it’s Pete Miller.”
“Oh,
hi,” she smiled. “You want to speak to
my Mom?”
“Who
is it?” Rachel called.
“Actually,
I want to speak with you,” Pete answered.
Kat
put her hand over the phone. “It’s Pete
Miller.”
“What
does he want?” Rachel asked.
“Hold
on a second,” Kat said into the phone.
“He wants to speak with me. I
don’t know why.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Kat
took her hand away for the second time.
“Sorry about that. What d’you wanna
talk with me about?”
“Your
Mom’s heading outta town an’ I know she’s feeling bad that she couldn’t take
you away like she wanted. I figure
you’re disappointed even more than she’s feeling bad so .. how about I take you
out one day? Or you take me. I’ll drive, you pick the place. My treat.
Help make the time pass a little faster.”
“That’s
very kind of you,” Kat smiled.
“Thanks. I’m gonna be over at
the island so I’ll call you an’ let you know.”
“I
hope you do, Kat. Really. I am sure you know a lot of places in the area that I will never discover without a
local guide. And I’m not really into
museums or art galleries, y’know?”
“I
understand,” she laughed.
“Great. I’ll expect to hear from you.”
“Okay. Bye.
Thanks for calling.” She hung up
and started for the stairs.
“Well
..?” Rachel queried from the top.
“He’s
a nice guy. I really like him,” Kat
replied. “He wants to take me out one
day so I won’t feel so disappointed that I’m not on vacation. He doesn’t have to do that.”
“But
he still called. It is nice of
him. He’s a very good friend.”
“Yeah. He is,” Kat agreed.
*****
Alex
made her second call to Las Vegas and Jack was typically surprised.
“Yes,
it is real,” she told him. “You really did not dream it. If you don’t want to come, it’s okay. I can go alone. It’s just .. this is a special place, Jack. I think you’ll get a lot from going there
and experiencing what goes on.”
“Right. But you can’t tell me where this place is or
why it’s special. Hey, you didn’t go
there once with a boyfriend, did you?
Cos I don’t wanna play second string to an impossible ideal.”
“No,
I didn’t. I have been there but .. it
was work. Now I want to go back as a
private citizen.”
“Okay. I will be in the city by tomorrow morning. Unless I can’t get a flight, in which case
it’ll be the day after.”
“Call
me when you know for sure,” she requested.
“We have to fly so it makes sense for me to meet you at the airport and
we can go on together.”
“Yes,
it does make sense,” he agreed. “I’ll
call you, soon as I know what I’m doing.”
The
line clicked dead and Alex shook her head.
“I’ll be waiting forever if I have to wait for you to know that … ”
*****
Rachel
and Kat arrived at just past three.
Merlin arrived ten minutes later.
By that time, Kat was upstairs, dumping her bag and her books and trying
hard to be positive about the whole thing.
Rachel was in the control room.
Merlin
went to the kitchen. She often learned
more about what was going on from Andrew because he was always there, a visible
yet ghostly presence, and he always had time to talk.
“Well,”
he began, “it’s been a busy day, Peri.
Dr Corrigan is going to London tomorrow to a conference on
parapsychology and Miss Kat is staying here.
Miss Alex is going on vacation to a place called Gretna and, I believe,
Mr Chivikian is going with her. Master
Nick is now remaining here for a further seven days .. but I suspect you
already know that. And Dr Rayne has not
changed his plans at all because he never had any.”
“Wow. I have said it before an’ it is still just
as true. Things change on a dime in
this house,” Merlin commented. “Where
is everyone right now?”
“In
the control room except for Miss Kat who is in her room upstairs.”
“How’s
she feeling?”
Andrew
raised an eyebrow. “If you’d planned to
go to the Florida Keys and were now staying here, how would you feel? But, of course, you know.”
“An’
that remark proves you might know a lot but you don’t know everything,” she
grinned. “Thanks for the update,
Andrew.”
She
left the kitchen and strolled up to Kat’s room. Merlin knocked and waited until a subdued invitation to come in
was offered.
“Hey,
Kat, feeling miserable, yeah?” she asked and Kat nodded as she sighed. Merlin sat on the bed next to her. “Well .. these things happen, y’know? You an’ me, we’re in the same boat.”
“We
are?” Kat queried.
“You
got bumped for a conference an’ I got bumped for some rusty, ol’ sword. What we gotta keep in mind is that your Mom
an’ my husband wouldn’t do this to us unless they really believed it was
important. Now, if they worked for
anything other than the Legacy, sure, I think it fair that we argue it
out. But they do work for the Legacy an’
that will always take priority over things like vacations.”
Kat
sighed and nodded again.
“However,
I may have a solution to your problem,” Merlin went on. “I know I have a solution to mine.”
Kat
twisted round to look at her. “What?”
“Carl
Chang called me an’ I have a job to do for him. It isn’t urgent that I get back in a hurry so I’m extending it
for a week. You wanna come with me?”
“Can
I?” Kat’s eyes were shining.
“It’s
just a collection job. I don’t see why
not. I’ll have to clear it with Rachel
but I won’t even ask if you’d prefer to stay here.”
Kat
shook her head. “No way. Where is it?”
Merlin
grimaced. “Some awful place called
Hawaii. It’s cursed with sandy beaches
an’ warm ocean, horribly luxurious hotels which have terrible room service.”
Kat’s
face fell.
“Hey,
I was kidding,” Merlin said.
“It
sounds wonderful an’ I’d really love to go with you, but … ”
“Hawaii
has a ‘but’?” Merlin queried in surprise.
“But
you have to fly .. an’ I hate flying.”
“Ah.” Merlin nodded slowly. “An’ you can’t drive to Hawaii.”
“An’
now you’ll say I’m a pathetic wuss who doesn’t deserve to go with you. And you’d be right.”
“No,
I wouldn’t say that. I expect you have
your reasons for hating flying. I know
you have flown before – you went to Ireland with your Mom, after all – so it’s
a fear you can overcome. But I will ask
you .. what if some huge monster with tentacles and rows of big sharp teeth
suddenly sprang thru the floor right now, would you be terrified?”
“No,”
Kat replied.
“Why?”
Merlin asked.
Kat
laughed. “Because you’re with me. You wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”
“An’
you’re scared of flying to Hawaii with me because ..?”
Kat
thought about it. “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I
haven’t packed for Hawaii!”
“Aw,
gee .. we’ll just have to hit the
stores when we get there. Damn, what a
horribly complicated inconvenience.”
Kat
giggled. “It sounds like fun. Thanks, Peri.”
Merlin
winked. “No problem.”
*****
They
sat down to dinner at seven thirty.
Rachel was looking a little flustered as she’d been working on her
speech all afternoon. Alex was looking
relaxed for the first time in quite a while.
Merlin seemed as calm as ever but Kat had a big grin on her face that
she couldn’t erase. Nick seemed wary.
“I’m
sorry, babe, but this is – ” he began.
“It’s
okay. Really.”
“Why?”
he asked. “Are you thinking up some
kinda punishment?”
“Nope. I’ve got something to keep me occupied so
you’re home free.”
“Really? What?”
“Little
job for Carl. That was the other call.”
“You
gonna be gone long?” he frowned.
“A
week. Kinda convenient, really,” Merlin
replied. “Actual job is only a few
hours but he let me extend it. Of
course, if I had been going on vacation, I would’ve had to turn him down. Good thing our plans got changed.”
Nick
frowned suspiciously.
“And,
as Rachel’s plans have been forced to change as well,” she went on, “I thought,
if you agree, I could take Kat with me.
I’ve asked her an’ she said she’d like to but it’s your call.”
“It’s
just a collection job, Mom,” Kat said.
“Well
.. if it’s no trouble – ” Rachel began.
“It
really isn’t,” Merlin cut in. “A half
day doing this thing for Carl an’ then we can use the rest of the time to
chill. Go sight seeing. It’ll be fun.”
“Where?”
Nick frowned.
“Hawaii. We leave tomorrow. In fact, you can give us a ride to the airport.”
“Hawaii
..?” Rachel echoed. “Katherine, are you
sure?”
“Yes,
Mom. I’m still gonna be scared of
flying but I’ll be with Peri. She’ll
protect me. I’ll be fine.”
“I
think I’m a little jealous,” Rachel remarked.
“Well, sure,” she grinned. “You
go an’ have a great time. Thank you,
Peri.”
“No
problem. Solves everyone’s
disappointment.”
“Hawaii?”
Nick accused.
“You
throw me over for the sword of Amaretto – ”
“Amaterasu,”
he corrected.
“Whatever,
an’ I get tropical beaches, sunshine, heat an’ palm trees. I think that’s fair.” Merlin smiled. “I’ll send you a postcard.”
“So,
Nick, that just leaves me and you,” Derek commented. “I believe we can cope.
Don’t you?”
“Sure,”
Nick agreed flatly. “We’ll have a
fabulous time.”
*****
Jack
called Alex to say he’d gotten a seat on an early flight so he’d be at the
airport in San Francisco around nine thirty.
“Great. When you get there, stay there. I’ll meet you by the information desk,” she
told him.
Alex
went to find Nick who was in the control room setting the alarms.
“As
you’re going to the airport tomorrow, can you give me a ride as well?”
“No
problem,” he muttered.
Alex
leaned against the workstation and folded her arms. “Is the sword of Amaterasu really worth not going to Hawaii?” she
asked.
He
shrugged tightly. “I can’t answer
that. I’m not going so .. it has to
be.”
“It’s
just a sword, Nick. It could wait.”
“It’s
bad timing, Alex. Tokyo house has asked
for me specifically to take a look at this thing. Peri needs time out. Let
her go to Hawaii an’ chill for a week.
She an’ Kat will have a great time.”
He glanced round. “An’ so will
you an’ Jack.”
She
chuckled to herself. “He has no idea what he’s letting himself in
for. He’ll come back a different guy.”
*****
Early
the next morning, bags were loaded into the 4x4 and the house emptied, all
except for Derek and Andrew. The 4x4
had only just disappeared around the curve in the drive when Derek began
missing the sound of voices in the house.
Yes, it had been empty before but he’d always known it was just for a
few hours, and, yes, Nick would be back by early afternoon. But the others, the women of this house,
they would be gone for days, and he missed them with a quiet melancholy.
Alex,
the conscience of his team, always so dedicated and, in her own way, as driven
as he was to find the truth. Rachel,
the brain of the team, possessed of a temper equal to Nick’s if the cause was
right or her daughter was threatened, yet without his talent for deadly
sarcasm. And Merlin, the divine
retribution, not a member yet a part of his team, who had such a clear focus on
the enemy that no one really felt threatened when she was there. Yes, Derek missed them. Alex’s wry smile, Rachel’s blunt honesty,
Merlin’s dry sense of humor. Even Kat’s
innocence. The house was worse off
without them.
He
went to find Andrew and tell him of the change of plans.
*****
South
of the city, Pete Miller was at his desk early. There was no one at home to urge him to take an extra thirty
minutes in bed. No one to suggest he
eat a proper breakfast because black coffee and a couple of cigarettes weren’t
really classed as nutrition, good or
bad. He had friends but no one
close. Rachel Corrigan and her daughter
were the nearest to close friends and they didn’t live with him. He felt comfortable with the people she
worked with, so he classed them as friends too. Cops were suspicious by nature and so, it seemed, were the people
on Angel Island. Therefore, Pete Miller
accepted them as good people. And, if
truth be told, he admired them for doing the good thing as well as the right
thing, in a way he never could. His
hands were tied by the law.
The
phone rang and he looked at it, then at the time. The day was starting early today. He scooped it up.
“Miller,
Homicide,” he stated.
“It’s
Frank, over at Airport Security.”
“Hey,
Frank. What’s going on?”
There
was a pause. “Well .. we got ourselves
a situation here. Maybe you’d like to
drive over an’ take a look for yourself.”
There
was something in his voice which signaled that Frank Malone was feeling out of
his depth. Pete knew Frank. He was a big, solid, honest as the day was
long kind of guy. Pete had never heard
him sound so .. confused before.
“Okay. I’m on my way right now,” Pete replied. “Er .. we are talking about a homicide,
aren’t we?”
“There’s
dead bodies, yeah.”
“Okay.” Pete hung up, stood and grabbed his
jacket. He was halfway to the door when
he blinked.
Frank
had said bodies, hadn’t he ..? Not body, but bodies. Plural.
Pete began to run.
*****
“Call
me,” Nick said. “Every day. I don’t care what time, just call me.”
“Kat
an’ I could be out partying – ” Merlin began but smiled and put her arms around
his neck. “Sure. I’ll call you an’ I’ll try to fit in with
the time difference. We’ll be fine,
Nick. Don’t worry.”
“I’m
not worried, I’m envious,” he admitted, nuzzling her neck.
“This
is what happens when you choose a sword over time with me,” she grinned. “If you get done quickly, fly out to join us.”
“I
will. Count on it.” He kissed her then turned to Kat. “Enjoy yourself. Make her spend a lot of money on you.”
Kat
beamed. “I will.”
“I
gotta go pick up this crate from Tokyo.”
Nick backed away. “Call me.”
“I
love you too,” Merlin replied.
Alex
was waiting by the information desk with Jack’s ticket to Vancouver in her
hand.
“Alex! I made it.
Boy, did I have an early start today.
Where are we going?” Jack greeted.
“Canada.”
“Canada
… Oh.
Well, I’ve never been north of the border. Are you sure Canada’s the place you mean? Wouldn’t the Caribbean be nicer?”
She
shook her head. “Canada. C’mon,” she urged, taking his arm. “You’ll love
this place.”
Rachel
was already thru security and waiting for her flight to be called. If there was any advantage to this
situation, it was that the conference was paying all her expenses. And, now that she knew Kat wouldn’t be
sitting at Angel Island, bored and restless and resentful, Rachel was a lot
more disposed toward attending and making a really knockout speech. Plus there would be time free for shopping
and sight seeing and doing normal things.
Nick
headed over to the Customs yard to start the paperwork for collecting the crate
containing the sword. As he arrived, so
did Pete Miller.
“Hey,
Nick. Small world,” Pete called.
“Yeah,
it is.”
“What
you doing here?”
“Collecting
something from Japan. Dropping off
Alex, Rachel, Peri an’ Kat to go on various trips.”
“Kat?”
Pete frowned.
“Peri
has to go to Hawaii for the university.
Kat’s going with her. Better
than sitting around for a week.”
“Yeah. Good for her. I did say I’d take her out one day but I’m gonna be tied up. Did you say Japan?”
Nick
nodded.
“Small
charter jet?”
“That’s
right. Why?”
“Might
have known you’d be in this somewhere.”
“I
got an alibi an’ people to prove it,” Nick grinned.
“I
know that. It’s … What are you collecting?”
“Ancient
sword.” Nick’s grin had faded. “What’s going on, Pete?”
“The
pilot an’ co-pilot of that charter jet .. they’re both dead. Sitting in the cockpit, dead as a couple of
dead guys can be. Looking at ’em, I’d
say at least six hours,” Pete related.
“Strange thing is, they talked to air traffic control an’ they landed
that jet. Now, how the hell did they do
that ..?”
Nick
had no idea. “You want me to take a
look?”
“I’d
appreciate it. I got a feeling I may
need your kinda help on this one. Nick
.. this sword,” Pete went on, his voice low, “could it be responsible somehow? Ordinarily, you know I wouldn’t ask such a
dumb sounding question but how can dead guys talk an’ fly a jet an’ land it an’
taxi to the right area?”
He
angled his head. “I’ve seen pieces of
pottery almost kill someone. I’ve seen
.. things I always believed existed only in movies an’ books, and on TV. So, seriously, could the sword be responsible
.. somehow?”
Nick
was frowning. “It could,” he
replied. “How, I don’t know. But .. this weapon is thought to have
magical properties .. if it is the
sword of Amaterasu.”
“The
who?” Pete queried.
“Japanese
Sun Goddess. According to ancient myth,
she forged the sword an’ used it to cut open the heavens an’ release the
sun. But she was a benevolent goddess. I can’t believe she would put a curse on
it.”
Pete
nodded in a way which would have astounded him four years ago. Four years ago, he’d never heard of the Luna
Foundation.
“Okay,
I hear you on that one. But how about
this - what if it isn’t her sword but someone else’s?”
Continue to Chapter
2 Return to Home