“Ah, William,” Randolph smiled. “Did you enjoy catching up on old times with
Mrs Boyle?”
William nodded. “Yes, thank you, I did.”
“And did you tell her what was going
on?” Randolph’s eyes twinkled with
mischievous amusement.
“What I knew, yes,” William replied,
his eyes hooded. “I doubt she would
have let me leave otherwise.”
“Excellent!”
William frowned. “How is it excellent, Randolph? If you knew what she is capable of doing – ”
“But .. I do know,” the other man cut in, unable to contain his elation.
William’s mouth shut like a trap. Randolph watched him keenly.
“I can actually see the cogs working
in your mind,” he remarked jovially. “I
know, William, because you told me. You
revealed all the secrets of the Enforcers.
Now, you are asking yourself, why would you do that? It’s been your power base for a decade or
more. Your own private army. But, now, of course, you don’t have access
to them. However, you did and you
learned a lot. You’ve passed that all
onto me. You did it because I asked you
to tell me. It’s that simple.”
“If you know so much, you’ll also know
that to have one as an enemy is not conducive to a long life,” William stated,
inwardly appalled. Only his years of
practice automatically kept the quiver from his voice.
“Unless you have a weapon you can use
against them,” Randolph confided.
“Do you have such a weapon?” William
asked steadily, his voice neutral.
“No,” Randolph replied. “Not anymore. I did, it’s true. But I mailed it to Berkeley, gave it to the
Antiquities Department there.”
“And it’s now on the island,” William
reasoned.
“Not only on the island but assembled,
and, by now I sincerely hope, been put to use.” Randolph rubbed his hands together with brisk pleasure. “The Enforcers will not be a problem, not
for me, not for you, not for anyone, ever again.” He glanced round. “Of
course, I can tell you this now that it’s too late for you to do anything to
prevent what must be from happening.”
“Is she dead?” William inquired.
“Now that I cannot answer because I
don’t know how the weapon works. It may
very well kill instantly. Or it may
not. I’m waiting to hear. The real beauty is that, if any other
Enforcers try to attempt a rescue, they will .. be affected as well. The only thing saving them for now is their
distance .. and that is perfectly fine with me.”
William sank into an armchair in the
hotel lobby. The sheer scale and
complexity of this plan staggered even him, and he was a master at planning.
“She wouldn’t allow it to happen,” he
muttered. “They wouldn’t do that to her.”
Randolph’s
mild eyes twinkled again. “Ah, but,
like you, they will do whatever they’re told.
Like you, they have no choice.
And I am not even there! They’ve been so busy keeping watch for me, the terrible Randolph Hitchcock, that
they’ve opened the door wide to their doom and escorted it in. They actively helped in their own
downfall.” He leaned forward and patted
William’s arm. William twitched his
sleeve away in disgust. “You’ve played your
part extremely well, William. I am so
grateful.”
“Does
that mean I can fly home to my wife?”
At
the mention of that word, Randolph’s mischievous merriment faded and his eyes
became cold and calculating.
“Not
just yet. You’ll want to be there, won’t
you, to see the culmination of this great plan of mine?”
“I
doubt I’ll be welcomed in that house,” William commented with commendable
honesty.
“I
shall ensure that we are both greeted like kings. You can have Ms Moreau or the delightful Dr Corrigan as your
personal slave. Derek Rayne belongs to
me,” Randolph stated. “He will wait on
me hand and foot, and dance to my tune until I grow tired of seeing his face
and hearing his voice … ”
William
was stunned by the cold malevolence in the other’s voice. “And when you are tired ..?”
Randolph
shrugged slightly. “I’ll watch him
die.”
*****
“I
take it lunch is off,” Pete remarked.
“Was it something I said?”
Rachel
was running back to where she’d left her car.
He was keeping pace.
“Yeah,
it was! Hugh Satterley – ”
“Hey,
wait up!” Pete grabbed her sleeve and
hauled her to a stop. She struggled
briefly, her face animated with a mixture of emotions – anger, frustration, and
fear. Pete simply increased his grip
until she stood quiescent. “What do you
know of this guy?”
“Just
about everything there is to know,” Rachel retorted.
“Then
calm down, take a deep breath, an’ tell me.”
“Hugh
Satterley is the guy Derek appointed as the new butler in the house. He went to the airport yesterday to pick him
up – ”
Pete’s
face darkened. “Is Derek capable of
cold blooded murder?”
Rachel
hesitated. “No.”
“You’re
lying to me, doc. That’s a first from
you,” he accused bluntly.
She
raked a hand thru her hair. “Pete, you
know the kinda things we deal with.
Yeah, he is capable of killing but not people, not like this.”
“Uh
huh. Okay. Are you sure it was Derek who picked this guy up? It wasn’t the SEAL ..? I know
they’re capable of killing.”
“Listen
to me,” she hissed, furious that he was so quickly suspicious of her
friends. “Derek went to the
airport. He picked up Hugh Satterley
and he took him to the island. Only the
guy he took there isn’t Hugh
Satterley because he is dead an’ in
the morgue!”
Pete
stepped back. “An imposter?”
“Yes! You said yourself, the dead guy couldn’t
have gotten far from the airport. Kat
called, remember? She said the new
butler creeped her out. My God, she’s
there, in that house! I have to go!”
Rachel
tore her sleeve from his grip and resumed running. Pete took off after her.
“Doc
– ”
“Don’t
get in my way!” she warned, her eyes flashing.
“I’m
not going to. I just think you should
slow down.”
Rachel
shot a disgusted look at him. “Not when
my daughter’s in danger!”
“Look,
I understand that,” Pete flared back.
“But you racing in there could just make it worse. Slow down, think, come up with a plan, put
it into action. You ain’t gonna help
anyone if you get trapped too, least of all your daughter.”
Rachel
stumbled to a halt.
“That’s
better,” he muttered. “Kat asked me to
look out for you. I’m just doing what
she wants, Rachel. And, if that means
stopping you making a total ass of yourself .. that’s fine with me.”
She
swallowed and let out a long breath.
“You’re right,” she said in a calm yet strangled voice.
“Try
calling them. Tell them what’s going
on. Put ’em on alert. That way, you got allies on the inside.”
Rachel
nodded, fumbling for her purse and her cell phone. Her hands were shaking so much, she dropped everything and the
contents spilled over the sidewalk.
“Oh
.. God!”
Pete
bent, retrieved the phone and handed it up to her, then coolly gathered
everything up and put it back in her purse as Rachel quickly pressed out the
number.
“C’mon,
c’mon, pick up … ”
“Luna
Foundation, Derek Rayne – ”
“Oh,
Derek! Thank God you’re there!”
“Rachel,
what is it?”
She
heard the deep concern in his voice.
“The
new butler, he isn’t Hugh
Satterley. Hugh, the real one, is dead,
murdered. The guy you picked up at the
airport is an imposter. He has to be
working for Randolph Hitchcock,” she reported in a breathless rush.
There
was silence for a moment. “Really ..?”
“Yes,
really! Derek, you’re in danger!”
“No,
I don’t believe so. Hugh is a very
competent individual. He’s settling in
here very well.”
Rachel
blinked. Her heart stuttered then
raced. If he’d confessed to betraying
her, she wouldn’t have felt any different.
“Rachel,
we checked his background together and Nick went even further. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Is
Nick there?” she asked, deliberately calm.
“He’s
seeing to something just now. Shall I
get him to call you?”
“What
about Alex?” Rachel requested.
“Just
one moment.”
Pete
was watching and frowning. “Trouble?”
“Derek
isn’t himself,” she said softly.
“Rachel!”
Alex said brightly.
“Alex,
listen, the new butler – ”
“Derek’s
just told me,” Alex cut in. “You’re
mistaken. Hugh’s a really great guy.”
Rachel
put a hand to her mouth for a second.
“Is Kat there?”
“I
haven’t seen her since earlier this morning,” Alex replied casually.
“All
right,” Rachel accepted. “Thanks.”
“Are
you coming in?” Alex inquired. “Hugh so
wants to meet you.”
“Maybe
later. You know how it is when friends
show up in the city. Probably
tomorrow. I’m looking forward to ..
meeting him too,” Rachel answered with a brittle laugh. “Bye, Alex.”
She
shoved the phone back in her purse.
“He’s gotten to them.
Somehow. Alex, Derek .. probably
Nick as well. They’re definitely acting
oddly. They won’t listen to me.”
“And
Kat?” Pete ventured.
“Alex
said she hasn’t seen her since this
morning.”
“Uh
huh.” Pete watched the anxiety crash
over her. Rachel looked isolated,
bereft. “Doc, it’s your turn to
listen.”
He
tipped her face up so he could meet her eyes.
“You’re not alone in this, okay?
I’m right here an’ I’m not going anywhere. I don’t know your daughter at all really, except what you’ve told
me and I’ve had one, very brief conversation with her, but I do know she’s a
smart kid. Would she let herself be
suckered in?”
“Pete,
Derek’s a smart guy an’ he got
suckered in,” Rachel pointed out.
“Sure,
but he wasn’t creeped out. Seems to me
Kat was already alerted, suspicious.
She’d make a great cop. She’s
got good instincts. Maybe Derek has
too,” he shrugged, “but he was trying to accommodate the new guy. If they’ve done all this background
checking, they wouldn’t be instantly suspicious. It’s probably why this imposter was substituted in the first
place. What beats me is .. you never
got a photograph?”
“British
ID isn’t like ours,” Rachel replied shortly.
“Okay,
well .. maybe Kat’s gone to ground somewhere.
Let’s not panic just yet. Is
there anyone else you can call?”
“I
could try Peri,” Rachel realized. “She
wasn’t at the house.”
“Do
it,” he instructed, hustling her toward her car. “I’ll drive.”
*****
“Dr
Rayne ..?” Richard called.
He’d
looked everywhere but hadn’t been able to locate Derek. Now he stood in the library and he staggered
back when Derek emerged thru an apparently solid wall.
“Yes,
Hugh?” Derek asked.
“The
Eye.”
Derek’s
face blanked out.
“I
require a progress report. Have you
called the gate?”
“Yes. I told them the emergency was simply a
misunderstanding. Randolph will not be
prevented from coming up to the house.”
“Excellent. Where is Mr Boyle?”
“In
the lab. He’s keeping watch over the
artifact.”
“Unnecessary,”
Richard declared. “Tell him to bring it
to me. I have another task more worthy
of his skills.”
“Very
well,” Derek agreed.
“You
may go.”
Derek
turned on his heel and vanished thru the wall again. Warily, Richard approached and ran a hand over it. It was solid. An amazing security device, he considered, backing off again.
Nick
emerged, carrying the pottery artifact.
“You wanted this?”
“Thank
you,” Richard said, accepting it. “The
Eye. Please come with me to the
kitchen.”
“Why?”
Nick frowned.
“We
have an intruder on the premises. A
total stranger to you. You, I
understand, are in charge of security.
I want you to .. deal with this prisoner. Guard her. Interrogate
her. Find out why she’s here.”
“Is
she conscious?”
“Not
at the moment,” Richard replied. “I
managed to .. incapacitate her.”
Nick
nodded. “Let’s go.”
*****
“There’s
no answer,” Rachel sighed. “Not at
Paradise Drive, nor on her cell phone.”
“Maybe
she’s tied up,” Pete commented. “You
wanna go straight to the island?”
“I
want to find my daughter,” Rachel replied.
“Okay. Where would she go?” he asked. “If she feels threatened, where would she feel
safe?”
Rachel
thought. “Paradise Drive.”
“An’
where’s that?”
She
smiled quickly, glad he was there. “On
the way.”
*****
Nick
crouched down and checked Merlin’s vital signs.
“She
isn’t dead,” he announced, straightening.
“But she’s out of it. Maybe even
permanently.”
“Take
her away somewhere and secure her,” Richard ordered, “in case it isn’t
permanent.”
Merlin
was like a rag doll in Nick’s arms.
“Okay,” he agreed.
“Mr
Boyle .. you don’t have to be gentle with intruders,” Richard added. “Not if it keeps them pliable and gets us
the answers we want.”
Nick
slowly nodded.
“You
may go.”
Carrying
his prisoner, Nick walked out. Richard
went to the phone and pressed out a number.
It rang several times, then he stiffened.
“Mr
Hitchcock?”
“Yes,
Richard. How is everything proceeding?”
“Extremely
well, sir,” Richard replied. “I have
three under enchantment, and the artifact has been assembled. The guard did arrive but has been
incapacitated. She went out like a
light.”
“How
very interesting,” Randolph remarked.
“Is she dead?”
“Apparently
not, sir, but she is very unconscious.
Perhaps even permanently.”
“I
see. Who is missing?”
“Dr
Corrigan. She hasn’t been here at all,
sir. Her daughter is around, but not
the doctor.”
“And
your progress? What suggestions have
you given?”
“Dr
Rayne has instructed the gate to allow you access. The emergency was a misunderstanding. Mr Boyle is guarding the guard with orders to interrogate her
should she recover awareness. He’s been
told that he doesn’t know her at all.”
Randolph
chuckled. “William and I will travel to
Angel Island later. Expect us for
supper,” he went on. “I shall want to
inspect my new property. And Richard –
”
“Yes,
sir?”
“We
have three slaves in the house. You
will join us for supper. Your days as a
butler are over.”
“Thank
you, Mr Hitchcock. You’re most
generous.”
*****
Merlin
tried to move but couldn’t. Slowly, she
opened her eyes to see a bare ceiling.
“Who
are you?”
No
.. wrong question. I should ask .. what
the hell happened? But I’m not asking
the questions, am I?
She
slowly rolled her head on the pillow.
“C’mon, Nick, you know who I am,” she croaked, her throat dry.
He
sat in a chair beside the bed but beyond arm’s reach. Not that she could have reached him. She was tied up pretty good.
“I’ve
never seen you before in my life,” Nick stated. “Who are you? How’d you
get in?”
Merlin
studied him.
No
free will, just like William. Hugh, or
whoever he is, has gotten to him. Hell,
he’s gotten to them all. They’ve
assembled the damn weapon, haven’t they?
It’s the only explanation for why I’m laying here, trussed up like a
Thanksgiving turkey, feeling weak an’ sick, an’ missing my soul.
“If
you’ve never seen me before, how come I know your name?”
He
leaned forward and slapped her.
Merlin’s head snapped round.
“I
ask the questions. You answer ’em.”
O-kay. I guess he’s been told to play it nasty.
“My
name is Peri Boyle. I got in thru the
front door. Can I please have a glass
of water?”
“Later. What d’you mean, thru the front door?”
“I
went up to it, I opened it, I stepped thru.”
He
slapped her again.
“Jeez
.. I answered the damn question!” Merlin snapped. “Don’t push me, Nick.”
“How’d
you know my name?”
“I’m
your wife.”
She
was expecting the blow this time, but it still cut her lip.
Where’s
Aquila when I need her? Aquila ..!
There
was no answer, only a ringing silence in her mind.
Okay,
so she’s not around. Telling the truth
isn’t getting me anything except a beating so I may as well lie.
“I
know your name because Randolph Hitchcock gave it to me. He told me all about this house. He sent me on ahead, an advance guard, to
check it out. Make sure it was all okay
for him. Randolph and I are real
tight.”
That’s
gotta set up a conflict of interest in your programming, she thought as she
shifted slightly to try to become more comfortable. She failed miserably but saw a small frown dent Nick’s
forehead. Great .. let’s throw in a
little healthy paranoia too …
“All
this proves is that your security’s a little sloppy. You let me walk straight in.
Believe me, it isn’t gonna look good for you when Randolph sees what
you’ve done to me here. His consultant,
William Sloan, said I was the best person for this job.”
“Sloan?”
Nick repeated sharply, the frown deepening.
“He’s in on this?”
“At
the deep end,” she replied, and wasn’t lying.
Nick
hauled himself out of the chair and went to the door.
“Hey,
mister, I’ve told you what I know. Any
chance of that water?”
“Later,”
he said without looking back.
As
soon as the door closed, Merlin shuffled to the edge of the bed and swung her
feet to the floor.
I
gotta get outta here. Outta this
room. That story won’t hold ’em for
long.
She
tested the ropes again. No, they were
tight. They weren’t going to come loose
or unravel any time soon.
Where’s
Aquila ..? Man, I wish I didn’t feel so
lousy. I’m never sick, but this … Look, Aquila isn’t here, so stop relying on
her to come free you. Mom an’ Dad
raised you to solve your own problems.
You’re the thinking half of this partnership, she’s the brute
force. You can’t fight your way outta
this .. so think.
After
a few seconds, a memory struggled up thru the throbbing layers of pain.
Remember
that time when you were on special ops an’ you got caught ..?
Oh
yeah …
She
smiled.
*****
Rachel
rang the bell and pounded on the door.
“Peri! Are you in there?”
Several
fraught minutes went by. Rachel kept on
pounding and calling, and then the door opened.
“Mom! I was just gonna call you, honest!”
Rachel
took a step back. “Is that make-up?”
Kat
blushed. “Peri said I could. An’ try on some of her clothes. She told me to come here, I didn’t sneak in
or anything. She gave me money for a
cab.” Her gaze shifted to the tall,
dark haired man. “Hi, Pete.”
“Kat,”
he nodded, hands pushed into the pockets of his jeans.
“Can
we come in?” Rachel asked. “I’ve been
worried sick about you!”
“Why?”
Kat frowned. “I haven’t been here that
long. I figured you’d be sight seeing
till later. I was just gonna call to
say where I was and ask you to come pick me up this evening. What’re you doing here now?” she asked,
sounding confused.
Rachel
and Pete entered the house and closed the door. “Are you all right?” Rachel demanded.
“I’m
fine.” Kat looked from one to the
other. “What’s happened?”
“Where’s
Peri? Did she go to the island?” Rachel
asked.
“Mom,
why do you never answer my questions?” Kat asked in turn. “I’m not a little kid, and I don’t need to
be protected from stuff, not if my friends are in trouble. I know something bad is gonna happen over
there – it’s why Peri sent me here, so I’d be safe.”
“Slow
down, doc,” Pete quietly advised.
“She’s okay so you don’t have to panic anymore.”
Rachel
let out a long breath. “Kat, I’m sorry
– ”
“How
about I make a cup of tea?” Kat suggested.
“Then we’ll talk.”
“Smart
kid,” Pete commented, following them into the kitchen.
*****
Merlin
felt the rope around her wrists start to smolder. She could smell the fiber burning, but there was no heat or
pain. Wisps of smoke curled up from
around her ankles too. After a while,
she tried the ropes again and, this time, her hands came apart. She bent quickly – too quickly, and suffered
a rush of nausea – to pick away the crisped remains of the binding around her
ankles, then she was up and heading for the door.
I
can do this, she thought. I gotta find
that artifact and smash it. Now it’s
been used, smashing it will work. The
house won’t get destroyed. I’ll stop
feeling so damned sick. And Aquila can
come back from wherever the hell she’s gone.
She
paused. She isn’t actually in Hell .. is she? Could the magic be that strong ..? Maybe, but
it can’t keep her there. It’ll just
take a little time for her to get back.
Merlin
eased open the door and checked the hallway.
It was empty. She crept
out. Two steps toward the stairs, she
heard voices so she turned and fled in the opposite direction.
Maybe
finding the artifact should wait for a while, she considered. Maybe I should concentrate first on
surviving long enough to find it.
*****
“William
Sloan?” Derek repeated.
“That’s
what she said,” Nick replied. “A
consultant to Randolph Hitchcock.”
“I
don’t understand,” the older man frowned.
“Randolph is a former member of this house.”
“Sloan
is a former head of the Legacy worldwide and we all remember what it was like
when he was around.”
“Do
you think Sloan’s pulling the strings?” Alex suggested. “That he’s using Randolph to get back in here? And at you?”
“After
London last year, it’s very possible,” Derek agreed quietly. “Randolph could be in terrible danger. He doesn’t know what William is like.”
“Should
we put the house on lockdown?” Nick asked.
“Warn the gate?”
“It
might be advisable. And .. nothing of
this to Hugh. We don’t want to scare
him,” Derek added.
“This
intruder,” Alex frowned. “How did she
get in?”
“She
said she just walked in the front door.”
Nick laughed tightly.
“Incredible looking woman, too.
Said she was my wife, can you believe that?”
Silence
greeted this remark. Nick saw Derek and
Alex glance at each other.
“What
did I say?” Nick asked.
“This
tall, black hair with a silver white streak in it?” Derek responded.
“How’d
you know that?” Nick frowned.
“That’s
Peri. Your wife,” Alex replied.
“She
said her name was Peri. She knew me. But I’ve never seen her before in my life. I’d remember, Derek.”
They
studied each other, suddenly unsure of everything.
“Something
strange is going on here,” Derek said softly.
“We must be cautious. Nick ..
lock down the house.”
*****
“I’ll
act as mediator,” Pete suggested. “Who
wants to go first?”
“Kat? You wanna go first?” Rachel asked. “I promise, I will answer all your
questions.”
“Okay.”
“Kat,
the floor is yours,” Pete said.
“I
told you about Hugh, the new butler,” Kat began. “I wish I knew what it was about him. He just .. doesn’t seem right.
Anyway, this morning, he took over in the kitchen an’ I was bored so I
went to see Nick cos he said he’d find stuff for me to do. Only he was too busy doing other stuff. Alex was working in the library. I think she was checking you out, Pete, so I
went to find Derek .. an’ he was nasty.
Not cruel nasty, just .. abrupt.
Not himself. So I went out into
the garden an’ was walking down the drive when Peri showed up. We had a real long talk, an’ she said
something bad was gonna happen in the house an’ she didn’t want me there, so
she gave me the door key to here an’ some money an’ told me to call you to come
pick me up.”
Kat
shrugged. “I guess she went on to the
house to stop the bad thing happening.
I went down to the ferry, came over here, got a taxi cab, an’ I’d not
long gotten inside when you showed up.”
She angled her head. “Next time I
ask you for my own cell phone, maybe you’d like to think about it for a second
instead of just saying no.”
“Maybe
I will,” Rachel conceded.
“Doc,
your turn,” Pete said.
Rachel
didn’t say a word. She slowly shook her
head. “I don’t know where to start. Hugh, the new butler, isn’t the guy Derek
and I checked out. He’s a fraud. An imposter. Obviously, he’s working for Randolph Hitchcock. They’ve gone into lockdown over there so he
can’t get in, and they bring his agent straight thru all the security. The real Hugh Satterley … ” She shook her head. “I don’t know how Randolph did it.”
“Can
I step in?” Pete inquired.
“Sure,”
Rachel agreed.
“He
probably got hold of one of those electronic scanners and monitoring
machines. Tiny, fit in your pocket. It scans for telecommunications signals,
locks on, then eavesdrops. Private
investigators use ’em all the time. The
range is good for maybe a half mile,” Pete explained. “If he heard what time Hugh was meant to fly in, he’d know when
to get his own guy in place. Easy
enough to use the machine to trace the number, call it, tell Hugh to make a
flight a couple of hours later .. an’ be there to meet him when he walks thru.”
“That’s
what he must have done,” Rachel nodded.
“An’
then he took him somewhere, an’ killed him.”
Kat’s
eyes widened. “He’s dead?”
“Fished
his body out the lagoon late last night,” Pete reported. “I was down at San Bruno PD this morning,
catching up with a buddy I made at the convention. He pulled the case. Will
someone remind me to call him sometime an’ tell him this one’s solved.”
“When
Pete told me the dead man’s name,” Rachel said, picking up the story, “all I
could think of was that you were in there, in that house, with that fraud. If he works for the guy who could calmly
meet someone at the airport, take him somewhere and murder him … I panicked,” she confessed, shrugging. “We hoped to hell you’d be here. Thank God you were.”
“Your
Mom tried calling the house,” Pete added.
“Oh,
yeah,” Rachel recalled. “Whoever he is,
he’s gotten to them. Derek an’ Alex,
they think Hugh’s a great guy. They
wouldn’t listen to a word I said. Told
me I was wrong.”
“And
Nick ..?” Kat asked in a small, worried voice.
“You
said he was too busy for you .. an’ he’s never too busy for you,” Rachel
replied quietly. “It means .. when I go
over there, I’m not gonna have any friends on the inside.”
“Peri’s
in there,” Kat pointed out.
Rachel
suddenly had a sick feeling in her stomach.
Merlin hadn’t answered her cell phone.
*****
“Ah,
Mr Boyle,” Richard began as Nick emerged from the library. “Your report, please, on the interrogation.”
Nick
wasn’t sure if he could trust this guy and, in that situation, it was best to
err on the side of caution. After all,
Nick might not know who Peri was, but it was obvious Derek and Alex did. They corroborated her story. And that threw everything in the air.
“She’s
still unconscious,” Nick said.
“I
see. Where have you put her?”
“She’s
safe enough where she is.”
“The
Eye,” Richard stated and watched his victim’s face grow blank. “Where have you put the prisoner?”
“Top
floor of the guest wing, third room on the right.”
“Mr
Boyle, tell your colleagues to assemble in the study and wait for me there.”
“Okay.”
“You
may go.”
Nick
turned and walked away. Richard Jones
released a long, tense breath. Randolph
Hitchcock had told him the woman was smart, tricky. He’d warned him to be cautious around her.
His
hands curled into fists as he went to check on his prisoner. Mr Hitchcock would not be happy if anything
.. nice happened to her.
*****
Merlin
crawled up the stairs and into the attic.
She was sweating and trembling, as if with a fever. The nausea was constant now. Her head pounded relentlessly and it was
hard to focus. Her swimming vision saw
an abandoned wooden chair and she shoved it under the door handle. It wasn’t much of a barrier but it would
have to serve. Staggering, she went to
the far corner, made a hasty mattress of some old drapes, and lay down. She shivered violently and closed her
eyes.
It’s
the magic, she realized. Like the
fallout of a nuclear bomb.
Radiation. No matter where I go
in this house, it’ll find me. Make me
sick, then make me worse. All I can do
.. is hold on. Try to heal myself. Stay free.
If they catch me again, they’ll kill me.
*****
“Mom,
Peri’s over there,” Kat repeated.
“She’s your friend.”
“Wait
just a second … ”
Things
were clicking in Rachel’s analytical, logical, scientific mind. Her eyes widened.
“Those
artifacts.”
“The
ones Carl brought over?” Kat queried.
“Yeah. Three pieces. From Sodom, or so they think.
Peri had a twitchy feeling about them.
She said she didn’t feel safe in the house. That’s why she stayed away.
And now the others aren’t being themselves.”
“Excuse
me,” Pete frowned. “Sodom .. as in the
Old Testament?”
“That’s
right,” Rachel nodded briskly. “Kat,
what if.. there’s something strange about them? Something which wouldn’t affect us, but would affect Peri? Like .. they’re a weapon of some kind.”
“Then
Peri wouldn’t be able to do anything,” Kat reasoned.
“Right. She wouldn’t be able to protect the others
.. who didn’t get twitchy feelings about the artifacts. An anonymous donation to the university … Randolph Hitchcock again,” Rachel declared.
Pete
leaned forward. “Seems to me this guy
is one hell of a tricky bastard. Excuse
my language,” he added to Kat.
“Oh
yeah. He has some plan this time,”
Rachel agreed angrily. “And that means
.. our plan has to be even better.”
*****
Richard
strode into the study, his face dark with fury.
“The
Eye,” he said.
Derek,
Alex and Nick instantly went into a trance.
“Listen
to me. I am your friend. Mr Sloan is your friend. Mr Hitchcock is your master. You will obey his words without hesitation
or comment. Dr Rayne, you will call the
gate again and tell them to allow anyone up to the house. Ms Moreau, you will contact Dr Corrigan and
tell her there is an emergency here, that she must come at once. Mr Boyle, you will hunt down the intruder
and kill her. She is an assassin sent
to murder Mr Hitchcock, and everyone else in this house. She is dangerous .. and she has
escaped. From now on, until Mr
Hitchcock arrives, the Eye remains in force.
When you have completed your tasks, return here and await further
orders. Go!”
*****
“Are
you sure you haven’t left a loophole somewhere?” William inquired as Randolph
drove his rental car onto the ferry.
“I
don’t believe I have, no,” Randolph replied cheerfully. “Besides, it is all predicted.”
“Ah
.. a prophecy,” William murmured with a quiet little smile.
“No. A prediction. There is a difference,” the other man
corrected peevishly. “A prophecy is a
warning. A prediction is fact. The weather can be predicted.”
“With
only a certain degree of accuracy,” William felt obliged to comment.
“This
prediction is in the Bible,” Randolph responded. “It’s all there. Really,
very remarkable, William. A fascinating
study.”
“I’ve
heard of it,” William agreed mildly.
“But
you’re too much the ingrained skeptic to fully trust.”
“I
trust myself, Randolph. Then, if I let
myself down, I am to blame, no one else.”
William shifted slightly. “It’s
all very well to fail and blame God, or the government, or one’s next door
neighbor, but that’s the easy way out.
I long ago learned the hard lesson that life isn’t easy. There are no quick fixes.”
“You
believe this is a quick fix? Nothing
could be further from the truth. I
found the artifacts from Sodom over five years ago, and had no idea what they
were for, until I discovered the prediction in the Bible. The Eye of Thoth .. that I found four years
ago, and had no purpose for it, until I found the prediction. Then it became clear. I want my revenge on Derek Rayne. He destroyed my life when Alicia was
killed. This plan has been long indeed
in the making. It cannot fail.”
“Who
do you trust, Randolph?”
Randolph
frowned. “Why do you ask?”
“In
my experience,” William shrugged, “the only time a plan cannot fail is when you
are the only person involved or when you can trust every individual
involved. I don’t deny it is a masterly
plan, but is it flexible enough to take into account all the unknown
variables?”
He
glanced sideways. “Those people are
Legacy. Peri is an Enforcer. How many thousands of years of evolution
have occurred since those artifacts were first made? They may work exactly as they were intended but the human mind
has evolved and the people in that house are the cream, the pinnacle. They may have resources of which you are
unaware.”
Randolph
twitched slightly. “We’ll soon find
out, won’t we?”
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