The central characters of Poltergeist: The Legacy do not belong to me –

They are the property of Trilogy and MGM, and I’ve only borrowed them for a while

All other characters were created by me. Hope you enjoy

POLTERGEIST: THE LEGACY

BLOOD FROM A STONE

Chapter 1

Angel Island

“Peri … ” The voice was quiet but that was because it came from a distance. “You ever think about demons?”

Merlin looked up, her eyes widening, then she turned. “Why’d you ask, Carl?”

“Linda’s mother’s visiting,” he replied in an absorbed voice as he studied an ancient manuscript thru a magnifying glass.

Merlin grinned. “That is a wicked thing to say.”

“Is it? Oh … ” He paused, frowning as he thought about it, then met her amused expression from the other end of the hall. “I like Linda’s mother. I don’t object to her visiting. She does rather .. outstay her welcome, though. You didn’t think I meant demons, did you?”

“She’s family, Carl. Family’s important.”

“I married Linda, not her mother.”

“And, without the mother, there’d be no daughter.”

“I guess,” he muttered, already gravitating back to the manuscript.

“Anyway, it gives you a legit excuse to spend even more time here.”

“Linda thinks I spend more than enough time here as it is,” Carl Chang responded.

“And deny your wife quality time with her mother?”

He paused again, and smiled. “I’ll try that argument when I eventually get home.”

Merlin winked. “Well, I am all done with the catalog revisions. You need me for anything else?”

He glanced round. The hall was deserted apart from the two of them. Most of the campus was deserted for the summer vacation. Carl liked empty. He did his best work alone during the summer.

“No,” Carl replied. “Except – ”

Merlin swung back. “Yep?”

“The party. I sent an invitation .. seven weeks, no, eight weeks ago. You haven’t answered yet. I spoke with Nick, he said you were outta town, and that he couldn’t accept till he’d spoken with you.”

“I never turn down an invitation to a party.”

“Oh. Right. Okay then. Just you, or will Nick be coming as well?”

Her head angled. “Is it formal?”

“Faculty parties always are.”

“Strange time of year to be having a black tie function,” Merlin remarked.

“It’s to celebrate the opening of the new extension.” Carl actually blushed and looked uncomfortable. “Getting the funding was like getting blood from a stone but we did it. And they’ve decided to name it the Carl Chang Annex. I couldn’t exactly refuse .. I could’ve lost the money.”

“Way to go, Carl! When is it?”

“Three weeks on Saturday. Oh. Three weeks today, in fact.”

“I’ll tell Nick he has to rent a tux,” she winked. “It’ll make his evening.” As she waved and went out, she grinned broadly and softly added, “I don’t think.”

*****

Rachel Corrigan surveyed her diary. Kat Corrigan stood silently by the desk.

“Well .. it depends,” Rachel said at last.

“It always does,” Kat commented. “The thing is, Mom, neither of us are getting any younger.”

For a moment, Rachel felt ancient. Her shoulders dropped very slightly and she sighed. But then she started to laugh. You couldn’t argue with the blunt truth.

“You’re right. Absolutely, you are right, Katherine Corrigan.”

“So .. it has to be soon,” Kat said, looking past her mother to the appointments diary. She put the brochures next to Rachel’s elbow. “I know you can do it, Mom. If anyone can .. it’s you.”

Rachel slowly nodded. “How long have I known Derek Rayne now? Six years? Seven? And yet, in some ways, I don’t know him at all. This could be tough,” she confessed. “Getting his agreement could be like getting blood from the proverbial stone.”

Kat regarded her. “Alex has known him the longest. Ask her advice.”

Rachel smiled. “I’ll ask her tomorrow,” she agreed and looked at her daughter. “Good plan.”

*****

It was nearly six when Merlin got back to the island. She’d thought of several ways to broach the subject, dismissing each as unworkable. Nick hated wearing a tux. It was the truth and the truth couldn’t be rationalized or justified or explained away. It couldn’t be forced into a pattern which didn’t fit. It tended to dig in its heels and complain loudly.

Merlin paused in the foyer, then shook her head. Don’t try, just do. Go straight for the throat. You know that approach always works.

She found him just finishing up for the day and he grinned when he saw her.

“All done at the university?”

“Yeah. I’m now officially on summer vacation and I can get to have all that quality time you spoke about. Resting up, recharging, sleeping in till .. six thirty.” She watched him. “Go to the faculty party three weeks today .. with you, in a tux.” Her head tilted slightly as his grin broadened. “What’d you do with the invitation?”

“Saw black tie an’ threw it in the trash,” Nick replied honestly. “You weren’t here,” he shrugged. “I wasn’t going on my own. Didn’t seem any point in keeping it. Derek’s going. You could partner him,” he suggested.

“No, I couldn’t. Our invite has been accepted. You will go to the ball.” She watched his expression. “C’mon, Nicky. I’ll be there too. If I have to bail last minute, you can pull out as well. It’ll be fun,” she coaxed.

“It’s an excuse for you to go shopping for new clothes,” Nick corrected in a flat voice.

Merlin put her arms around his neck. “There is that added benefit, isn’t there? Now that is what I call quality time. You cannot beat the feeling of walking into a big store with a charge card and coming out with lots of bags.”

“Really.”

She shrugged. “Unless you know something I don’t.”

“Nothing beats that feeling?” he asked, his eyes starting to twinkle with a wicked gleam.

Merlin quickly retreated. “I’m talking about things you can do in public. Things you can do in private are different again. And .. being private with you .. nothing beats that feeling.”

“Wanna test your theory?” he invited, nuzzling her neck. “I’m done for the day, no other demands on my time. Or we could head off the island, go north for a couple of hours. Buy you a beer, lady, and you can be nice to me.”

“You don’t mean the back seat of your car, do you?”

“Be a new experience.”

“Just for me?”

He chuckled softly. “I’ll take the Fifth.”

Merlin laughed too. “You got yourself a deal, sailor. Buy me a beer, I’ll be nice to you on the back seat of your car.”

He took her hand and they went out, hurrying faster with every step.

“Nick ..?” Alex called as she saw them heading downstairs almost at a run. “There a fire?”

He only laughed quietly. “Be back later!” he told her.

The door slammed. Alex heard the silence roll back in. She looked around and sighed very softly. Saturday evening. Oh well .. it could be worse, she mused. I’m not exactly sure how, I just know it could.

*****

Derek sighed shortly and shook his head. He disliked untidiness but was prepared to live with a degree of it in large areas like the library, provided it was short term. A few hours. A day at the most. His office was set apart from this tolerance. Everything in there had a place. Just recently, he had been completely absorbed in a translation project for London, a personal favor for Paul Emery, and things had started to pile up. He was now involved in a brisk sorting out session, and he’d just excavated the notification card from the little bookstore in Haight Ashbury to say the book he’d ordered was ready to be collected. The card had arrived several days ago and it had been swamped by other papers, files and folders, and then buried.

“This ends, right now,” Derek told himself in a stern voice. “I will not have sloppy practices in this room.”

He felt irritated because he knew he had no one else to blame. This was down to him and no one else. He had been in the city on Thursday, he could easily have collected the book from the store. It would have given him something to read in the evenings, in that gap between the end of dinner – and the usual discussions about work – and retiring for the night, the gap the mind needed to realize it was time to stop thinking and start switching off.

Now he had an entire evening to fill and only Alex for company.

Derek halted as if slapped, and reflected how unfair that thought was. Alex was family, and family was important. Especially this family. It shared no genetic background yet they were bound more tightly than any parent and child, any cousin, aunt or uncle. The thing which united them was an unswerving belief in giving their service to an organization. The Legacy did that to its members. Tore them inside out, risked their lives time and again, pitted them against enemies far more subtle and sly than anyone could ever believe possible, and it forced a total dedication on them which went to the bone. It ran in their blood. Each would sacrifice everything for the others and not think twice about it. To do otherwise would be impossible, like .. blood from a stone.

Derek left his office and found he was looking forward to spending the evening in Alex’s company.

*****

Sunday morning, early, the control room was a haven of consideration and profound thought. The silence was broken only by the hum of electricity. Rachel had spoken quietly with Alex, Nick and Merlin, and she had deliberately excluded Derek. He was her Precept and the last obstacle to be cleared.

Alex slowly nodded. Her face was sober. Gravely serious. Anxiously, Rachel watched her.

“Italy,” Alex decided.

“You think.”

“I do. Most definitely.”

Rachel drew in a long, slow breath, then she got deliberately to her feet. She paused at the entrance to the corridor and looked back. “Not France?”

Alex shook her head.

Rachel glanced toward Nick who shrugged. “I’m like Switzerland,” he remarked quietly, holding up his hands. “Strictly neutral.”

“Okay.” Rachel twitched her shoulders slightly to strengthen her resolve and went thru to Derek’s office.

*****

Merlin pounded along the small beach and felt sweat trickle down her spine. A wave rolled in and soaked her running shoes. It didn’t make much difference to her. She was wet pretty much all over. Late June meant nothing in San Francisco. It was foggy, cloudy, there was a coolness in the air. The fog soaked her clothes from the outside, the hard run soaked her clothes from the inside.

It would be Italy. She felt it in her bones. She’d prepared for Italy.

*****

“It’s her birthday, Derek,” Rachel said. Repeated. Emphasizing the point. “And I am taking her to Europe.”

Her voice held an element of challenge.

He nodded, frowning slightly, watching her over his steepled index fingers. His eyes held an element of suspicious readiness, like a hunter watching a pacing lion.

Rachel raised her eyebrows, inviting a response. Any response.

Derek moved a little, sitting up slightly.

“The last time – ” he began.

“I didn’t know,” she cut in. “I’d never heard of sepulchers. We are both a little older and a lot wiser.”

He nodded again. “Paris?”

“Actually .. I thought Rome.”

At last, Derek Rayne smiled. “Ah .. Rome. Florence. Milan. Naples. Sorrento. I envy you, if you choose Italy. The Umbrian hills. Tuscany … ”

Rachel smiled too. Alex had been spot on. If anything would sway Derek, it was Italy. “Italy it is then. Try not to build up my caseload too much while I’m gone.”

“Enjoy yourself,” he said. “Oh .. and take this.”

He held out a small rectangle of card. Rachel accepted it and glanced down.

“The address and phone number for the Rome Legacy house .. just in case your vacation turns out to be typical,” Derek explained mildly. “Fabio is a capable and .. energetic individual. He will be happy to assist.”

“Thanks,” Rachel said and slipped the card into her pocket. “See you when I get back.”

She left his office and strolled back to the control room where, in response to Alex’s silent question, Rachel gave a small punch in the air and softly hissed, “Yes!”

“Good for you!” Alex grinned. “It was Italy?”

“You were absolutely right,” Rachel marveled. Her eyes became distant, dreamy. “A week in Rome, seeing the sights – ”

“Eating the food,” Nick commented, lounging back.

“Walking the hills,” Rachel countered. “The galleries, the Vatican, the stores – ”

“Oh, yeah, the stores,” Alex agreed enviously, her eyes shining.

“Then up to Florence, Milan maybe, and then a week or two in a villa in Tuscany.”

“Eating the food,” Nick grinned.

“And walking it off,” Rachel persisted.

“I wish I could go with you,” Alex sighed wistfully. “It sounds glorious. Bring back lots of photographs?”

“You bet,” Rachel agreed. “Well, I am outta here to go pack and I will see you when I return to foggy San Francisco .. whenever that is.”

“Have a great time,” Nick said. “Don’t run into anything .. typical.”

“I will try very hard to avoid typical as much as I possibly can,” Rachel declared as she headed briskly for the library.

Nick straightened up. “You must be due a field investigation sometime soon, Alex.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“It’s what usually passes for a vacation around here,” he remarked, grinning. “We leave this place, best intentions to hang loose, chill out, an’, before we know it, something just .. gets in the way.”

“Well,” Alex began, leaning her elbows on her workstation, “I have arranged a vacation for a little later in the year. A .. kinda working vacation – ”

“Isn’t that a field trip?” he queried.

“No. A real working vacation.” She looked down and shrugged mildly. “I was thinking of asking Jack if he’d like to come along.”

“Chivikian?” Nick inquired. Alex nodded airily. “He’d jump at the chance to spend time with you. Where you going?”

“Gretna. Jason said I could come back whenever I wanted and it’d be a good chance to work on my gift, expand it a little, see where it takes me. I thought maybe Jack would enjoy it too.”

“Go for it,” he encouraged. “Though .. I’d be careful how you ask him.”

“Why?” Alex frowned.

“ ‘Jack, come with me to Gretna’ could give him entirely the wrong idea.” Nick paused and angled a look at her, an eyebrow rising. “Unless .. that’s kinda what you have in mind ..?”

“No!” Alex exclaimed but she blushed as she said it and couldn’t quite meet Nick’s amused eyes.

“Right … ” he smirked. “Those cabins, out in the woods … Kinda isolated … Sure, go for it. Gives a whole new meaning to being laid back on vacation.”

“Nick!” Alex choked, screwed up a sheet of paper and threw it at him.

He ducked it, laughing.

Derek came out of his office and paused in the entrance to the control room. “If it wasn’t summer, I would say spring fever has struck the pair of you,” he remarked.

“It’s summer?” Nick queried in mock surprise. “I’d never have known cos the fog’s too thick.”

Derek grunted. “It’s summer everywhere else. This time of year .. does make me yearn for pastures new.”

“Anything keeping you here?” Nick asked. “You’re the boss, you don’t need our permission to take off for a week. Alex hasn’t got plans for right now and I’ve already had my week away.” He shrugged. “There’s cover.”

“That’s very kind of you, Nick, to think about my vacation needs but .. something will come up necessitating that I remain very firmly in the fog.” Derek sighed. “Something always does.”

*****

Merlin ran up the drive and waved at Rachel’s car as it drove away from the house. Rachel slowed to a halt.

“He agreed?” Merlin asked.

“When I play my ace card, Derek finds it difficult to give an outright refusal,” Rachel replied with a smug grin. “When I then compound that … ”

“Italy, right?”

“Yeah. I’ve never been there and it does sound wonderful.”

Merlin dug into the pocket of her sweat pants and fished out a crumpled piece of paper. “In case you need it,” she said, handing it over.

Rachel took it and looked at a single name and a number. “Uncia?” she queried, glancing up again.

“He covers Italy and Greece. He has contacts you wouldn’t believe. You need anything at all, call him, tell him Aquila said it was okay.”

“I’m really hoping I won’t need to use this,” Rachel commented somberly.

Merlin laughed. “If you need somewhere to stay, call him. He’ll recommend somewhere and you can rest easy knowing he’s already checked it out and declared it clean .. an’ I’m not talking about the state of the kitchen. He’s also very good company if you’d like a guide in Rome.” She stepped back from the car. “Hey, it’s no big if you don’t call him. I’m not trying to force you to anything. It’s just another option, okay?”

“Thanks,” Rachel smiled.

“Enjoy yourself,” Merlin said and ran on up the drive.

She went into the house and halted at Joseph’s stern glare. “What did I do now to earn that?” she asked.

He pointedly looked down. Merlin looked down too. She’d tracked muddy footprints over the floor. She held up both hands.

“Mea culpa. What’s my punishment?”

“Usually, I am not present on Sundays but today is silver cleaning day,” he replied. “Report for duty in the kitchen in thirty minutes.”

Merlin trudged past him. “Slavedriver,” she muttered, grinning.

Joseph grinned too.

She took the stairs two at a time and ran toward her room. Thirty minutes was plenty of time to grab a shower and get back downstairs.

She’d been back here a month. The fuzzy comfort layer which Aquila detested so much had grown back. Merlin had tried but it had been impossible to prevent. For a Legacy house, it had normal in massive quantities. Take today, for example. She was going to help clean the silver, and, in a house this size, she was sure there must be a hell of a lot of silver to clean.

She and Joseph had a comfortable association now. He called her Peri when they were alone and she spoke to him like he was a member of her family, a surrogate uncle, perhaps, or an older, stricter cousin. Besides, they had secrets which the others didn’t know. It gave them a bond. There was trust involved. Once, they’d been allies against an enemy. That kind of thing went deep.

In the month since training week, Merlin had helped out with a lot of things. Routine errands. Checking up on stuff. She’d been eager to help and she’d ignored Aquila grumbling in the background that it was beneath her skills to do anything routine for these people. Merlin didn’t feel a need to apologize for what she’d done in Colorado but she wanted to make amends for them grieving so long and so hard.

The hated statue had disappeared as quietly as it had arrived, having ground Nick into hot embarrassment. He’d told them all about training week and what they’d done, and Alex had found it highly amusing. Her fellow crusader against fakes had changed sides.

“We were up against more than experts,” Nick had defended. “They were fakes .. yet completely genuine.”

“Fight fire with fire,” Derek had agreed.

“Exactly. And literally too.”

Although he would never had said it aloud, Merlin knew Derek felt very proud of Nick and the way he’d taken charge. And Nick had done it without any extra power. That made Derek feel very pleased.

Merlin had taken Nick to visit her parents and that had been a riot. Nick had gone into a lot of details with Joe and Shauna his wide-eyed and open-mouthed, totally entranced audience. Merlin had sat quietly and let him talk. Nick had accomplished a great deal during training week. He’d learned a lot and taught even more. He deserved to have center stage.

A week or so after that visit, she’d taken him across the river again to visit his parents and his brother. Merlin hadn’t stayed long. She’d accepted Jimmy’s quiet thanks again then left the family alone to relive old times.

Nick had bought her a big bunch of flowers the next day and taken her to dinner in the city.

And now, she was going to clean the silver. Merlin had to admit – at some profound level, she liked normal if only because, to her, it was so unusual.

*****

The group stood there. No one said a word. They didn’t know what to say. In the same way, they couldn’t quite meet each other’s eyes. They shuffled their feet every so often, scratched a nose, ran a hand around the back of a sunburned neck.

Lance Dacey, the foreman, eventually sucked in a deep breath. “Call the architect. Get him up here.”

His eyes narrowed to a glare. He was pretty damned mad because this was a Sunday and he should be home with his wife. It was Sunday and he had guys here who should be home with their families. Instead, they were working, making up time .. or trying to.

“Send everyone home. I’m not doing another minute on this damned site till someone figures out exactly what the hell is going on.”

*****

“So .. just how tight are you an’ good ol’ Jack?” Nick wondered, his voice innocent, his eyes anything but.

“We’re friends,” Alex replied.

“Just good friends?”

She felt the blush creeping up her cheeks again. “I have never made a secret of the fact that I enjoy his company, especially since he .. cleaned up his act. Okay, at first, he was an aggravating, irritating, know it all .. but so were you, Nick Boyle. The only difference,” Alex qualified into his open-mouthed astonishment, “was that he talked too much and we had to prod you to get a word out. You did it all with .. facial expressions. But you both mellowed with time.”

Alex looked round and had to laugh. She’d often seen Nick silent and withdrawn. She’d often seen him so angry he didn’t dare say a word. She’d never seen him struck dumb before.

“Okay, maybe that was a little harsh,” she said.

“A little?” Nick choked, recovering his voice. “Jack Chivikian and I have nothing in common.”

Alex nodded. “Right. And this is the same Nick Boyle who created his own church and had .. eight thousand people hanging on every word he said. Jack would’ve killed to get an audience that size so completely taken in.”

“It wasn’t a scam,” Nick defended. “It wasn’t really fake.” He watched the laughter in her dark, expressive eyes. “You had to be there,” he said, surrendering.

“I wanted to be there. You told me to stay away.”

“You could’ve come, provided you stayed in the church. Outside .. that was different. That was nasty.”

Alex sobered. “Did you learn anything?”

Nick eased back, slumping slightly in his chair. “Yeah, I did, but not what you’d think. I learned .. they don’t have all the answers. They tend to see things in black an’ white and along straight lines but they don’t always know how to get themselves there. Put ’em up against a known, identified enemy, Alex, they are awesome. They may regroup but they never retreat. They can recognize an enemy. They can take an enemy down in the middle of a crowd. But getting them to be just a little creative .. no.”

“They have no imagination?” she wondered.

“Yeah, I think they do as individuals, but only to a limited degree cos that’s all they need. As a group .. it was painful watching them struggle to come up with ideas.” He sat upright again. “I think what I learned the most is that .. they’re not that special, not day to day. They’re like us. Seeing ’em in the camp, eating, talking, laughing … They’re just human.”

“You already knew that,” she pointed out.

He laughed quietly. “Yeah, I did .. an’ yet I didn’t. Peri’s different again. I mean, I know her, what she can do, I’m not scared of her. But the others ..? I only ever got to meet ’em on business and, then, they are totally focused. When they’re like that, there’s this .. energy they give off. This sense of power. I wanted to share it .. but I learned I don't need it. I could do more being myself than they could, even being so awesome.”

Alex smiled. “Which, as I recall, is what Peri’s said all along.”

“Yeah, well, she’s very smart,” Nick replied, a smug grin on his face. “She must be cos she married me.”

*****

The phone rang. The architect picked it up. “Y’ello,” he said, frowning down at his design board.

“We got major problems out here in California.”

He looked up, still frowning but now gazing blindly at the far wall. “What d’you mean, major problems?”

There was a long silence. “Mr Dacey, the foreman, he said to get you out here. He’s sent everyone home. You want work started again, you get your ass out here an’ solve the problems.”

The architect glanced at his watch, focusing on the dial. “I can’t get a flight till tomorrow. I have things I have to do here first. I will be there .. tomorrow afternoon. You tell Mr Dacey to meet me at the site at four o’clock.”

“Okay. I’ll tell him.”

The line went dead. He replaced the phone and sat down at his design board again. He picked up his pen. Then he realized he still didn’t know what the major problems were. He frowned, and started to tap the pen on the table top.

*****

Nick, Alex and Derek sat down to lunch. Only three places had been set.

“Joseph?” Derek queried. “Peri isn’t joining us?”

“No, sir,” Joseph replied.

“She isn’t back yet?” Nick frowned, imagining her out in the woods somewhere, her ankle wrenched so badly she couldn’t walk on it.

“Oh, yes, sir. Mrs Boyle is engaged on some work.”

Nick’s face fell. He knew the call could come at any time and she’d have to go, but she’d only been back such a short while.

“I’m sure she’ll join you for dinner this evening,” Joseph concluded.

“She’s still here?” Nick’s face lit up.

“Yes, Master Nick. However, Mrs Boyle cannot be disturbed.”

Joseph checked everything was as perfect as it could be then left them alone to eat.

“What work could Peri have here on the island?” Derek wondered. “At the least .. it is simple courtesy to tell me.”

“We’ll find out later,” Nick responded. “If she hasn’t had to leave, it can’t be anything major. May have nothing to do with us. She could be dealing with it on the phone.”

“Not leave in person,” Derek pointed out. “Not wanting to be disturbed could indicate a candle is burning in one of our windows.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Nick conceded. “But maybe not. Joseph seems to know a lot about it an’ we don’t. Says to me it’s minor.”

In the pantry, Merlin was surveying a table full of shiny silver. She’d put on the cleaner, let it go dull, rubbed it off, then buffed it to a high sheen. It was surprisingly hard physical work. Joseph returned to regard her efforts.

“Very well done,” he nodded.

“Can I go eat lunch now?” she asked.

“You can eat lunch,” he replied, “but you may not go.”

“I’ve cleaned the silver,” she said. “I only tracked a few muddy footprints into the foyer. What more do you demand of me in payment?”

“You’ve started cleaning the silver,” Joseph amended sternly. “There is a awful lot more of it to clean.”

*****

Nick found her at five o’clock. He tilted his head. “What the hell have you been doing?” he wondered, taking in the smudges on her face, the stains on her clothes, and the disheveled hair. “Wrestling in a mud pit?”

“My shoulders ache. My arms ache. And my ass has gone numb.” She closed her eyes and let out a weary groan.

Nick stepped around behind her and began to massage the knotted muscles in her upper back. She groaned again, this time with painful pleasure.

“Who’d you go fight?” he asked.

“The silverware.”

“Say again?”

“The silverware. I got the floor muddy. Joseph’s had me cleaning the damned silver since eleven this morning. I only finished a half hour ago. The guy is a slavedriver. I mean it. I was joking before, but, now, I really mean it.”

“Uh huh, not a guy to cross lightly. So .. what have you learned from this experience?” Nick inquired, concentrating on a particularly stubborn knot.

“One, not to get the floor muddy. Two, take off my shoes before entering the house. Three, never volunteer. Four, there is too much silver on the premises,” she recited. “And, five, there is a small amount of attraction to be found in data processing whereas there is no attraction whatsoever in cleaning metal.”

“Does that mean you’d like to help out more in the control room?” he grinned.

“It means that, if there’s a choice, I would rather be with you an’ watching you work than with Joseph with him watching me work an’ telling me that I’ve missed a bit.”

“I know what would cure this.”

She twisted round, wincing slightly. “What?”

“Early night.”

“Tell me more,” she invited, a slow smile lighting her eyes.

“And an early start in the morning.”

Merlin frowned. “I got it as far as ‘early night’.”

“Helicopter lesson number one.”

She blinked. “Wow .. really?”

“Up for it?” he grinned.

“You bet!”

“Okay,” Nick agreed, feeling her excitement crashing over him. “In bed by nine. Asleep by ten.”

“That sounds even better.”

*****

Lance Dacey ate his dinner in silence, his face a scowling mask. His wife never said a word all thru the silent meal. She hadn’t said a word to him since exclaiming in all innocence “You’re home early!” and flinching back at the growled response. He’d stalked into the den, slammed the door, and spent most of the afternoon on the phone checking out some facts. Now he had all his information, and he was chewing it over along with the meatloaf. But, while the meatloaf was easy to swallow and digest, the facts were giving him major indigestion and a slightly sick headache.

No matter which way he came at it, it didn’t make sense.

He’d been in the construction industry over twenty years. He’d never encountered a situation like this before. He doubted, very seriously, if anyone had.

Lance Dacey took pride in the fact that he’d never missed a deadline. Yes, he’d come close a few times and always due to factors outside his control – torrential downpours which meant concrete foundations couldn’t be laid, high winds which delayed anything involving the use of a crane – but he’d always been able to make up the lost time by putting on double shifts, working round the clock. Coming close didn’t matter. Hitting a deadline did.

And he was, now, already a week behind. If .. when the architect demanded to know why, Lance knew whatever he said would sound ridiculous. It sounded ridiculous to him, and he was here. He’d seen it with his own eyes.

Okay, yes, others had seen it too and, if he had to, he’d force them to confess. To admit that, while it made no sense because it was plainly impossible, they had seen it.

There was only one way really that this would end – the architect would fire him and the crew. Others would be brought in to finish the work Lance and his men had started, and started well. The site wasn’t big and the other properties were being built exactly as custom and long experience dictated they must. But … There was a big problem with the corner plot overlooking the lake. Lance couldn’t explain it. He couldn’t even begin to try. He was going to be fired.

“Pie?” his wife ventured in a small voice.

“Sure,” he agreed on a deep sigh.

It was apple and peach, his favorite. He felt his mood start to lift. Being fired wasn’t so bad. They had savings in the bank and, this time of year, there was always work to be found. Perhaps .. it would be for the best. He could put the whole sorry, inexplicable business behind him.

Lance Dacey glanced up at his wife. He smiled. So did she.

“Nice pie,” he said.

*****

With the weather being its usual, predictable self, as dusk closed in on that Sunday evening, the house had fires lit to take off the cool edge in the bigger rooms. The drapes were drawn. It was more like the fall than June 24. Derek was still working on the translation because, for once, there was not any pressure to complete it. This was relaxation for him. Pure enjoyment. Alex was engrossed in a book, curled up in one of the comfortable chairs in the lounge. Across the other side of the room, Nick and Merlin were doing a jigsaw puzzle. She had a passion for these, Nick had discovered. Joe had begun it as a way of instilling discipline in a child struggling to cope with powerful inner demands. The only other way, he’d told Nick, had been to chain her up. So Nick had found a four thousand piece puzzle of Yosemite National Park – lots of sky and trees – and bought it for her. It took up the entire table. He was amazed that someone with so much energy could channel it into something so static, into searching in such silence and with so much intense concentration. Yet, he realized, it made a lot of sense. Enforcers were all about small details. Taking down the enemy was one thing, cleaning up afterward was another. That was mostly small details. Seeing no one innocent got hurt. Ensuring no one guilty got away. The attention she gave to small details was like being scanned by a laser. Really, he mused, this is just .. more training.

“I think I’ll get some cocoa an’ have an early night,” Alex said.

“Must be some book,” Nick remarked as Merlin pounced on a piece and triumphantly fit it into place.

“It is .. but not your thing.”

He grinned. Alex just kept on setting herself up.

“You mean .. it’s one of those historically inaccurate bodice rippers, where the guys are all dark haired an’ have flashing blue eyes an’ the women are all uncharacteristically strong until they meet the hero, an’ then they faint and suffer a complete personality change.”

Alex rose gracefully. “Actually, it’s a biography of Florence Nightingale,” she said, smiling sweetly. “See you in the morning.”

Silence fell again. Merlin fit another piece into a tree. Nick thought about how it had been better in the old days, when he had been the silent, strong type. He hadn’t set himself up so often.

Merlin straightened. “Okay, I’m done for today. Ready for my theory lesson.”

“What theory lesson?” Nick frowned.

“My Dad explained the controls of a car before I got behind the wheel. Must be similar, right? Wheel, pedals. Key, ignition. Insert, twist. Place foot on gas. Watch where you’re going. That kinda deal?” she replied.

He looked at his watch. It was eight forty five. “Not in fifteen minutes. We’ll cover the theory tomorrow.” He took her hand and led her out. “And, no, it isn’t that simple.”

“Oh. Sounds complicated then.”

Nick thought about it. “Yeah, just a little,” he agreed, “but you can learn.” He grinned. “Trust me.”

*****

The architect worked late. He had no choice, not if he was having to fly clear across the country the next day. He’d managed to book a seat on a flight but it wasn’t direct. He had to make a stop over in Denver, and the first part of the flight was in coach. From Denver to Sacramento, he could travel his customary business class. With the forced stop, it meant he would arrive at the site perilously close to four o’clock. It couldn’t be helped. This was a prestigious contract so he had to work late, writing up file notes and leaving them on people’s desks, completing first sketches of new ideas, getting other minor things ready for mailing out to clients. He didn’t plan to return straight away, even if the ‘major problems’ could be quickly resolved. He thought he would take a week out. He hadn’t intended to but he believed in making the most of his opportunities. The site was just outside a place called Hidden Valley, which was thirty or so miles north east of Sacramento. And Sacramento was only ninety miles from San Francisco.

If he had to fly right across the country, the least he could do was go see Alex. If she found out at some future time that he’d been that close and not found time to visit, especially as she’d been so good to him earlier in the year, it would not go down well. Mark Absolom discovered he was rather looking forward to the trip.

Once the last minute details were concluded, Mark dug out the file for the Hidden Valley project, in an attempt to pre-determine what the ‘major problems’ could be.

A small site, once the grounds to Lake House. Earthquakes were a possibility but he’d taken that into account in the design of the six units being built there. Hidden Valley wasn’t right on top of the San Andreas fault but shock waves could penetrate inland. Maybe there had been a small tremor, causing the site to shift and settle before the units were constructed. It would set back the schedule.

The initial phase was clearing and leveling the majority of the site followed by demolition of the old Lake House, clearing away the debris and then preparing the ground. At this stage in the project, foundations should have been laid for all six of the new properties and construction begun on three of them. The progress reports, faxed to his office in Wilmington from the construction office on site, didn’t show any signs of delays. Yet, now .. major problems.

Mark shook his head and thrust the file into his briefcase. What the hell was so damned secret anyway? Why couldn’t the guy just have said it’s .. whatever.

There was a lot riding on this project. Mark’s business was successful but small. He wanted to expand. To do that he needed to get his name out there. It was well known in North Carolina, getting that way in South Carolina, and even as far as Georgia. He’d had several big projects, all completed on time and to budget. Hidden Valley was his first project on the West Coast. Small in comparison to his other work but this was only a start. Six houses .. but they’d already been sold, just on the strength of the design. Someone from Sacramento had already called Mark’s office to make initial inquiries, sounding him out, talking big bucks.

Mark didn’t need major problems. He didn’t need even minor problems. He’d researched and he’d investigated, sent out his surveyor to map the site, even hired a geologist to check out the ground. All the results had indicated .. no problems. So what the hell had happened?

Mark couldn’t begin to guess. He looked round the darkened office, nodded briefly to himself as he mentally reviewed his ‘to do’ list and ticked off every item, then switched off the lamp at his desk, set the alarm, went out and locked up. Tomorrow. He’d find out tomorrow. He’d resolve it tomorrow. In less than fifteen minutes, it would be tomorrow. The day after, he’d go see Alex. But, tonight, he had to go pack a bag.

*****

The western sky was still glowing with the sunset. It wouldn’t be completely dark for another hour. A soft breeze ruffled the water of the lake. The land was churned up, heavy with the print of tracked vehicles. The naked lights strung on cables which crisscrossed this piece of land were dark, dead. There was no sound except the sigh of the breeze thru summer leaves. No one was here; the site was deserted. Abandoned, albeit temporarily.

Lake House stood where it had always stood, a sentinel beside the expanse of water, a haven and a home no longer required. It stood proudly, defiantly, even if the paint was cracked and peeling with long dilapidation and neglect. One window, upstairs, was broken. The garden was rank with weeds. The fence had already been torn down and removed. In the near distance, the bones of a new house were poking up, like the ribs of a skeleton. But Lake House ignored these interlopers. Its blind eyes gazed over the ground it had once owned, over the lake which gave it its name. The breeze moved over its walls, its roof, thru the broken upstairs window. Peeling wallpaper in that room shivered under its caress.

Inside, the floors had been partially ripped up. Interior doors had been removed. There was nothing like furniture left now. It was just an empty shell, a husk ready for the dynamite to be inserted, the countdown given, and the switch to be turned. Lake House was just .. waiting for death to come.

Somewhere, on the far side of the lake, a bird trilled mournfully, grieving for the loss of the sun and the coming of night. In Lake House, there was a mournful, echoing sigh.

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