Chapter 6

Questions

“To be honest .. I’m glad to be outta there,” Rachel remarked, rolling her eyes. “Computers are great inventions but I see them as a tool. I’m a people person, an’ I don’t apologize for that. And to see all that number crunching going on … ” She shuddered. “From first thing in the morning to last thing at night .. an’ it’s been four days of it.”

Pete Miller nodded sympathetically, having no idea what she was talking about. Today was the second day of his personal time. He’d extended his hotel reservation to the end of the week. Maybe he’d stay longer than that. It all depended on how these days went. So far, it was going okay.

Rachel saw his expression and laughed. “I’m sorry. Forgive me?”

“No need to apologize, doc. You’re a people person an’ you’re concerned how your friends are coping.”

“Yeah, I am, but you don’t need to hear it. This isn’t my investigation and it shouldn’t be yours.” She halted. “Where would you like to go today?”

“Well,” he said, rubbing a thumb along his jaw, “I’d like to go see where all this activity’s going on. Where you work. Your colleagues. I’m a people person too cos crimes are rarely committed by machines.”

Rachel hesitated.

“Problem with that?” Pete inquired.

“I’m not sure.” She looked along the street. “How about a cup of coffee an’ I’ll try to explain.”

“Okay,” he agreed.

Rachel led the way along the sidewalk to a small diner. She ordered coffee, Pete had a Danish with his, and then they waited for it to arrive.

“It’s a nice city,” Pete remarked, watching the street outside. “Contained.”

“Well, it has water on three sides,” Rachel commented.

“Pretty steep though.”

“And forty hills,” she laughed.

“I saw one sidewalk .. it was steps. Man, that was amazing.”

“You keep pretty fit around here,” she remarked.

The coffee and Danish arrived. Pete started to eat. His eyebrows rose, inviting her to begin the explanation.

Rachel started with a slight shrug.

“I would love to take you to the island. Really, I would. But. The work which goes on there … Security’s pretty tight. It has to be. There are rules. I’ll be totally honest with you. No one goes there without a thorough check carried out on their background. I don’t like it, I think it’s an invasion of my privacy and yours. So, while I am perfectly willing an’ ready to vouch for you and I would take you to see the house an’ meet my friends there, I’m not prepared to have you investigated just so you can do that.”

Pete swallowed and sipped his coffee. “I don’t mind.”

Rachel blinked. “You don’t?”

“I can understand it. I’m a cop. I dig into people’s backgrounds all the time. If those are the rules, sure, go ahead. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

She stared at him and started to laugh. “That is so typical. I make a stand for the rights an’ freedoms of the individual an’ you cut me off at the knees.”

Pete shook his head. “I’m not saying it’s right for everyone, but I’m okay with it. There again,” he went on, “maybe I’m okay with it because you were totally honest with me. A guy with my inborn suspicious nature appreciates honesty cos it’s so hard to find in my job. If I’d found out later that I’d been checked over .. maybe I’d have to ask myself why an’ do some of my own digging. Now I don’t have to do that.”

“All right,” Rachel accepted. “I'll tell Alex it’s okay to look at your records. Soon as I get the all clear .. I’ll take you over there.”

“You want my address, date an’ place of birth, phone and badge number?” he offered.

“Why are you so eager to get to Angel Island?” Rachel wondered.

“I just wanna see if they’re all as amazing as you, doc. You go up against some pretty way out stuff. Takes a certain kinda person. A certain kinda strength. I admire people with guts.”

“Thank you,” Rachel said, smiling.

“Is your daughter over there?” Pete asked in a neutral voice.

“Right now, yeah. Kat an’ I don’t live there, not like the others. But she is there now because .. well, Joseph, the butler, died late last month.”

“How?” Pete frowned.

“An accident.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Rachel replied. “It was in England. The police investigated. Something was thrown onto the road and the bus hit it, the driver lost control … It was an accident.”

“What was thrown?” he asked. “Who threw it?”

“I don’t know. Pete .. the case is closed.”

“Sorry. Tough to switch off at times. You were saying – the butler died.”

“Kat’s on kitchen duty until we get a new butler. She volunteered, now she’s getting paid, an’ she is doing one hell of a great job.” Rachel angled her head. “Why’d you ask?”

“Just wondered if I’d get to meet her too. She sounds like a great kid.”

“She is,” Rachel nodded. “I’ve told her about you. She isn’t sure yet whether she wants to meet you .. which is another reason I’m wary of taking you over there. I’ve been a widow seven years now, almost half Kat’s life. She’s still very attached to her father.”

“You don’t have to apologize for her, Rachel,” Pete said. “She’d see any guy as a threat. I’d just like to meet her an’ say hi. Show her my plane ticket home to Tulsa.”

Rachel laughed. “She’d probably like to see that.”

“Look,” he said, “you were honest with me. I’ll be honest with you in turn. When you came to help Harry, we were thrown together into .. well, a weird situation. If we hadn’t worked together, we wouldn’t be here now having coffee. I believe that. And .. in those situations, things are distorted, y’know?”

“Sure. Emotions are heightened. Behavior isn’t exactly typical.”

“I knew you’d have the right words,” he grinned. “I saved your life. You saved mine. I don’t have hopes of a meaningful relationship between us .. but I would like to believe I got a friend in this city, just like you’ll always have a friend in Tulsa. You can tell your daughter that. If I’m ever back this way, I’d like to see you again .. but I can’t see me moving here. And .. even if I did, I’m not the marrying kinda guy, Rachel. I like women too much. I’d rather have you as a real good friend.”

To her surprise, Rachel wasn’t disappointed. She smiled and squeezed his hand. “I will always be that for you, Pete. Okay .. where shall we go today?”

*****

Merlin folded her arms. “I know this place is cheaper than staying in a hotel but how long do you intend to be here, William?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’m hardly an inconvenience,” William replied, smiling. “I was surprised to find you here. Have you and Mr Boyle had a .. falling out?”

“No.”

“No .. he calls you at least three times a day, doesn’t he?”

She smiled too. “William, your mind games are not gonna work on me so quit trying.”

“I’m merely curious as to why you’re here, he’s there, and you don’t go to see him, and he doesn’t come to see you.”

“He’s busy.”

“You’re not.”

Merlin lit a cigarette and took pleasure in seeing him frown in distaste. “Oh, but I am. Fully occupied.”

Watching you, you sonofabitch. What are you doing? What’s the deal this time? Okay, you wanna play mind games, let’s play. Remember, you can’t ever be sure, but I’ll know if you’re lying.

“Why are you here?”

He smiled, leaning back in the armchair and crossing one leg over the other. “Seeing an old friend. Well .. an old acquaintance anyway. We used to work closely together. I regret losing contact with you.”

I bet you do …

“So, after over a year, you come all this way just to see me. You could’ve called. Written. But, no. You fly six thousand miles to see me. That the only reason you’re here?”

He shrugged. “Actually no. I have other business in the area. Other .. acquaintances.”

Merlin nodded. “You going over to the island?”

“I may .. if time permits, and if I’m welcome,” he replied.

“You think that’s likely?” she queried.

His smile widened briefly. “Probably not.”

“Me neither. Your .. outside friends, if I can call ’em that, have caused a whole lotta trouble, William. The kind which sticks in the memory for a very long time.”

He shrugged again and said nothing. Just watched her.

“You’ve been here four days, not left the house once. When are you planning on going to see these .. other acquaintances?”

“When it’s convenient. I’m waiting for a phone call.”

“Does Patricia know you’re here?”

“Of course.”

“Well .. you may have time to sit around on your ass all day but I don’t. I have something which needs to be done.”

Then she got it. Up till that point, William had spoken the truth and his emotions had been calm. He’d had years of practice getting his equilibrium so stable. But at the mention of something needing to be done, there was a flare of .. almost panic. Merlin was intrigued.

“I’ll see you later,” she said.

“I could use some fresh air,” William remarked, rising smoothly.

“Feel free to leave whenever you like,” Merlin invited.

“I was thinking more of accompanying you.”

“I’m a big girl now, William. I don’t need an escort or a babysitter.”

“I realize that .. but I’d be company for you. And, as you say, I haven’t been out of the house in days.”

I’m watching you .. and you’re watching me. We’re guarding each other. What the hell’s going on here ..?

“Okay,” she agreed. “I’d rather have you where I can see you.”

“Likewise,” William responded. “I know what you’re capable of doing.”

One day, I am gonna have a lotta fun wiping that smile from your face. And, no, buster, you have no idea what I can do, not now.

Merlin hadn’t told Nick about her houseguest. It was better all round if she kept this contained. From the sound of it, they had enough to do on the island, without worrying that William Sloan was virtually on their doorstep. Naturally, she hadn’t said a word to William about what was happening over there either. Their small talk during the preceding four days had been precisely that – small.

She wondered what had caused his momentary flare of disquiet.

He wants me isolated. He doesn’t want me to go to Angel Island. No problem there. I’m not going, not yet. But he isn’t sure.

She drove the 4x4 to Belvedere. As soon as they drove past the road leading to the ferry terminal, she felt the slight strain in the atmosphere relax again. William definitely wanted her to stay away from the island. All she had to do now was figure out why.

No .. she didn’t. Nick had said it. If they know us enough to know to take you out first .. we’ll be next. Effectively, that had happened. She wasn’t incapacitated but she couldn’t go there, not till she’d found a way to render that ancient weapon safe. And, with William around, watching her every move, trying to do any research was problematical.

“Where are we going?” William asked.

“I have a task to do. You can help. Two pair of hands means it won’t take so long.”

“What task could you have to do that I could possibly help you with?”

“Joseph’s apartment.”

“Oh … I was sorry to read about that. I recognized the name in the newspaper report.” William watched the scenery drift by. “Have you been to see him yet?”

“Not recently.”

“Hmm.” And he smiled.

“Why are you smiling?” Merlin demanded. “The guy’s dead, William. It isn’t a smiling matter.”

“Forgive me, I was simply thinking about what you can do, and how amazing it is, and that led me onto .. how you and your enemies are really very much alike.”

“Excuse me?” she exclaimed. “No way are we alike!”

“The one crucial difference is that they willingly sold out. They made a deal and became slaves. You were born into it.”

Merlin pulled out outside Joseph’s apartment building, and she put her foot on the brake pretty hard. William braced himself with a hand on the dash. She switched off the engine with a vicious twist of the key, then, deliberately, she turned to face him.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

William sat back. “It’s obvious, Peri. I don’t need to explain it to you.”

“I am not a slave.”

“Really. Then why did you choose to not carry and give birth to children? As I recall, it was because you didn’t want them to live the life you did. They would never be free, so they would never be born.”

“That’s twisting the facts to fit your own theory.”

“Is it? Your family has never been free, not since the first Enforcer bartered his liberty for power. He placed himself and all future generations in chains, Peri. You don’t even gain freedom when you die – you are in service forever.”

“William .. people who cross the line, who sell out, they give away their soul to evil. They damn themselves for eternity. They become slaves, yes. They put themselves into bondage for power, money, sex, whatever they want in this world. I’m not like that. I don’t need power or money – ”

“You already have it,” he cut in.

She shook her head, her eyes darkening. “I’m not a slave. Don’t ever believe I am.”

William raised both eyebrows. “Aren’t you just deluding yourself?”

“I have free will, and I can choose. The Darkside doesn’t an’ can’t. I have everything I need and I can work toward getting what I want. The Darkside makes a deal which never quite pays off in the way they think it would. They’re always hungry, always thirsty. They’ve never satisfied, because their bosses are never satisfied. Their god always demands more. Mine doesn’t. Mine just asks for dedication to a cause and demands I fight when there’s a need. That’s it. Rest of the day’s my own. That’s more freedom than you’ll ever know.”

She opened the door and got out, twitching her shoulders and uncurling her fists. The sad thing was that William really believed what he’d said.

“Stay there, if you want.”

“It’s all right,” he replied. “I’ll help. Joseph was always polite to me when I was at the house.”

That’s just down to his training, Merlin thought. I bet he wanted to slap you as hard as I do right now.

*****

“And you have references ..?” Derek inquired. He nodded slowly. “Really? Are you sure working for us won’t be a step down? Oh. All right. Do you have any questions you’d like to ask me ..?”

Outside, in the control room, Alex blew out her cheeks and shook her head.

“Take a break,” Nick murmured.

“Y’know, that’s a very good idea. I can’t focus on this screen.”

“You too?” he grinned. Nick pushed away from the keyboard and rammed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I think, after four solid days of this, we’re wasting our time. If there’s a message, we can’t find it.”

“I think you’re right. Joseph was given false information which he passed on in good faith.”

“Has to be a first,” Nick commented, pulling his hands away. “A hoax from the other side.”

“And what are the reasons behind most hoaxes?” Alex inquired. “I’ll tell you – to tie up resources an’ waste time. It’s succeeded beautifully.”

In his office, Derek eased back. “The position is not live in, although a room can be provided for certain occasions. Exactly,” he nodded, “the charity functions we spoke of earlier. Naturally, yes, allowance will be made when there is bad weather and the ferries cannot run. Our standards are high but we don’t expect the impossible.”

At least, he silently added, not from the staff.

He listened. “Our needs, such as they are, are slight. Three meals a day, five days a week. Weekends, we fend for ourselves. Four are resident with two more on occasion. Supervision of the cleaning staff three days a week. Making sure we have supplies. It is a big house. There are lot of rooms. Making up and lighting the fires is a major task. Is there anything else I can tell you?”

“What else could we be doing?” Nick asked, although he suspected he knew the answer.

“Carl’s pottery shapes,” Alex replied. “Nick, I know Carl said time wasn’t important and that the answers were, but we have to make a start at some time.”

“Well, Hugh,” Derek said, drawing the conversation to a close, “I am perfectly happy with this interview and I intend to contact your agency and offer you the position. However, I do understand it is a big decision for you to make and, if you want to fly out and take a look at us first, I am prepared to pay your expenses. If you like what you see .. we’ll expect you back within the month.”

He smiled. “Excellent. How soon can you leave? Tomorrow? I'll have someone book the flights and I’ll contact you again with the details and the time. I’ll look forward to meeting you at the airport. All right. Goodbye.”

Derek hung up. Alex’s impressions had been exactly right. Hugh appeared to be perfect for the role. He rose, moved around the desk and went outside. The first thing he noticed was a lack of activity.

“Do I assume you have good news for me?” he asked mildly. “And that you were simply waiting for me to finish my telephone call before telling me?”

“Not exactly,” Nick replied.

“More .. the opposite,” Alex added.

“We’ve been crunching this thing for nearly four days, and, while we’ve taken time out to eat an’ sleep, the computer’s been running twenty four/seven. We can’t find any hidden message,” Nick concluded.

Derek frowned.

“We think Joseph was given false information,” Alex said.

“From the other side?” Derek queried. “Someone deliberately lied to him?”

They glanced at each other and shrugged helplessly almost in unison.

“Anything’s possible,” Alex murmured.

“What is Peri’s opinion on this?” Derek asked.

“I haven’t spoken with her about it. She’s got other things on her mind,” Nick replied.

“Derek, all we’ve managed to achieve is to tie up the computer for four days an’ waste time,” Alex declared. “Maybe .. we should just accept it as a hoax we fell for and .. do something else.”

“Like Carl’s artifacts?” Derek wondered.

“Well, now you mention it, yes.”

Nick tensed, ready to speak up.

“Not yet,” Derek decided. “A matter of life and death, Alex. Even if it is a hoax .. something that important, that critical, demands we exhaust all possibilities.”

“Derek,” Nick began, “we’ve run this over an’ over. Eight plus eight twice is twenty four. We’ve taken every twenty fourth letter .. and there is no hidden message. Either your enigmatic lady friend is leading us by the nose or she sucks at math.”

“And possibly both,” Alex remarked.

“Hmm.” Derek frowned and thought hard for a moment. “One of you, I don’t mind which, please arrange a return flight from Heathrow to San Francisco tomorrow for our new butler – Hugh Satterley. Flying back in .. a week. Let me have the flight number and time so I can call him back. Then we need to start the paperwork for his work permit.”

“I’ll do the flights,” Nick said quickly.

“Thanks,” Alex commented in a flat voice. “You know how much I enjoy liaising with the INS.”

“Yeah, I do,” Nick grinned.

“Eight plus eight twice,” Derek breathed. “Twenty four.”

Kat had come in to refill the coffee machine and she glanced round. “That isn’t right,” she said.

“What isn’t?” Derek asked.

“Well, it is, but there’s another answer,” Kat replied with a quick shrug. “Eight plus eight twice is eight plus sixteen which is twenty four. But it could also be eight plus eight which is sixteen twice .. which is thirty two.”

“I’m on it,” Alex said without waiting to be told.

*****

Joseph had lived a comfortable lifestyle, Merlin discovered. The sale of his furniture wouldn’t raise a lot but would give something to the Winston Rayne Hall of Antiquities. There were a few photograph albums and other personal items which she put in a box ready to be mailed back to England. The collection of antique guns was amazing – she wished Nick could be here to see it. That took up three more boxes. A truck arrived to take the furniture away.

There was something inestimably sad about all this. It made no difference to her knowing that Joseph lived an equally comfortable existence on the other side of the river. This – emptying the contents of an apartment – was like destroying a life, erasing it from the pages of history. It had been a lot easier clearing Paradise Drive after her parents had died. She’d known the house, could picture how she wanted it to look. This .. was a duty and an onerous chore.

Merlin also hated the idea of William Sloan going thru Joseph’s possessions and possibly .. no, very likely making judgments. She set him to work on Joseph’s clothes, putting them in bags ready to be delivered to charity stores, because it was the one task she would’ve found to be almost impossible and the one least able to give William the opportunity to judge.

He surprised her. He did as he was asked, made no comment while he worked and made no effort to explore elsewhere in the apartment.

Another truck arrived; more of Joseph’s life was carried away.

“How are you coping?” William inquired.

“Okay.”

“It’s difficult, isn’t it?” he remarked sadly, gazing around. “We strive hard every day .. and, eventually, it comes to nothing.”

Merlin paused. “William .. just why exactly are you here?”
“Here?”

“In the States,” she said with a touch of impatience.

He paused. “Does it matter?”

“I hope it doesn’t but …”

“You think it does.”

“Put bluntly, yeah.”

He shook his head. “I’ve already told you.”

“And this has nothing to do with the Legacy.”

William considered briefly. “Only in that I am no longer a part of that organization.”

Merlin gave a quiet laugh. “You could argue your way around a corkscrew.”

“And I’ll take that as a compliment.”

*****

Derek glanced up as Nick entered his office. “Yes, Nick.”

“The flight details,” the younger man said, holding out a slip of paper.

“Thank you. It doesn’t give Hugh much time to pack a bag,” he remarked, glancing at the check in time and calculating the present hour in England. He noticed Nick was lingering. “Was there something else?”

“Yeah. It’s about Carl’s artifacts.”

“What about them?” he frowned.

Nick hesitated. “We have to leave them as they are. Peri thinks .. they’re a weapon targeted at the Enforcers. A kinda doomsday device the magicians were trying to make to avert the destruction of Sodom. They failed because they ran outta time.”

“That will be difficult to explain to Carl Chang,” Derek remarked. “That his anonymous gift is a weapon and that it is so dangerous he can never have it returned. Can it be destroyed?”

“She doesn’t know yet.”

“Disabled permanently?”

“Depends on whether we can find a way to get the magic out. If we can .. Carl can have ’em back. If we can’t .. Peri will be effectively exiled from the house.”

“And that would mean you’d leave to live on the mainland.”

“Yeah,” Nick agreed. “Those things are safe enough right now, they can’t hurt us, but .. I’m not giving anyone the key. I thought you should know."

“Thank you for telling me. As soon as everything settles down, start work on trying to find a way to disable this weapon.”

“Sure.” Nick backed out again.

Derek picked up the phone and called Hugh Satterley as he’d promised. He apologized for the short notice and passed on the flight number and check in time, concluding with his good wishes for a safe journey. Then he hung up again, happy that this one matter was resolved. Before long, the house could resume its quiet routine, Kat could be freed to enjoy what was left of her summer, and everyone else could focus again on what was important.

Magic, he mused. Powerful magic, a gift from the evil forces at work in that town in those times and designed to be used against their enemies. Magic which is still potent all these millennia later. No wonder Peri is uneasy. I would be too, if I were in her place. And, I suppose, the question we have to asked ourselves is .. why now? Why should this come to us now and not, say, two or three years ago? We were here then, nothing much has changed in our circumstances. Perhaps these artifacts, these .. components, had not been found then. Or maybe it was because Peri was not living here then and now she is. Or was.

We can go on without her resident in the house. If the artifacts are left as they are, locked away in separate containers if we must, she can always return as needed even if she refuses to live here again. An uneasy feeling does not render her incapable of doing her job. We will miss her being here though. We will certainly miss Nick.

And the other question we must ask on the heels of the first is .. who?

“Derek ..!” Alex called, an urgent tone to her voice. “I think I’ve found something!”

*****

“Excellent … ”

He put the electronic scanner and monitoring device back in his jacket pocket, then he sat and watched the waves drift into the shore for a long moment.

At last, it moves into the final phase. Tomorrow, the last piece will be positioned, the mailed fist will begin to crash down … I do so wish I could be there to see it happen.

He rose, brushed himself off, calmly took his cell phone and pressed out a number.

“Tomorrow, ten thirty,” he said, and ended the call. He pressed out another number. “William, you may leave your young friend to her own devices tomorrow, after .. shall we say lunchtime? By then, it will be too late for her to do anything.”

He ended that call too. He smiled gently and watched the waves. Soon, it would be over and he could find peace.

*****

Derek hurried into the control room. Nick was studying the small monitor over Alex’s shoulder. Derek turned at once to the big screen.

“What have you found?” he asked.

“Well, I ran the numbers again looking at a key sequence of thirty four, and .. I found this. ‘Secret energies’, ‘weapon of destruction’, and ‘from the first times’. It didn’t tell me much so I tried crunching the numbers with a key sequence of eight, and of sixteen. Every sixteenth letter revealed ‘enemies will be swept away’, ‘death will follow death’ and ‘the three shall become one’.”

Nick wasn’t liking the sound of any of this. It wasn’t so much a message as a confirmation.

“Where in the Old Testament are these messages located?” Derek asked, tensely.

“Get this – the verses describing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,” Alex replied.

“What about the other key sequence?” Nick inquired, his voice just as tight.

“Not very much,” Alex said. “But very significant. First, the initials D and R. Next, the initials R and H, and, finally, the words ‘used summer, two thousand one.’

“D and R. I’d say that’s you,” Nick remarked to Derek. “Who’s RH?”

“How does all this tie into the message given to Joseph?” Alex wondered.

“For the sake of old love, break the chain. Smash the circle. Don’t believe your own lies … He is coming,” Derek whispered.

Nick and Alex waited as the tension grew.

“Secret energies .. must be the magic in the artifacts. Weapon of destruction from the first times, enemies will be swept away. Death will follow death … The three shall become one,” Derek repeated quietly.

“Does that all refer to the artifacts?” Alex wondered, leaning her forearms on the workstation. “It seems to link together. Assemble the three into one .. they become a weapon.”

“Against Enforcers,” Nick said. “We don’t do it.”

Alex paled. “But it predicts it will be used this year, and this summer.”

“Who’s RH?” Nick demanded again. “Who’s this ‘he’ who’s coming?”

“For the sake of .. old love. He is coming. A tall, dark haired woman … ” Derek swallowed. “It cannot be … RH. Are you sure, Alex?”

“That’s what it says,” she nodded. “I checked it twice.”

“There is one way I can know the answer. Nick, where is the letter and the packaging?”

“In the lab.”

“Get it, quickly!”

Nick ran. Moments later, he was back and he held out the wrapping and the single sheet of paper to his Precept.

Derek sucked in a deep breath and accepted them. He tensed, his eyes staring and wide, then sagged slightly.

“Well ..?” Nick asked, folding his arms and stepping back.

“The woman Joseph met … Alicia. And RH … ”

“Hey, wait a second,” Nick muttered, his own memory kicking in. “That guy who came here, bearing a gift for us to look at? Him?”

“RH. Randolph Hitchcock,” Derek nodded.

There was a moment of silence.

“Well .. correct me if I’m wrong,” Nick at last invited, “but we’ve already beaten him. We know what he’s doing. He’s gone the same route as before – giving us a gift to investigate. But we haven’t done it. So long as we don’t let him past the gate, we’re okay.” He looked at them. “Right?”

“I suppose so,” Derek hesitantly agreed.

“Either I’m right or I’m wrong. If I’m wrong, tell me so I can figure a way to stop this guy.”

“You could be right,” Derek replied after a stretched moment of consideration. “Alicia .. if it was her, has warned us and we have acted on that warning. Maybe that will be enough to break the chain. Smash the circle.”

“Don’t believe your own lies ..?” Alex queried cautiously. “Could this conversation be deemed a lie?”

“Who can say? Whatever we might believe, this isn’t over, not yet. We need to plan our response to this. He will try to gain admission, assemble the weapon,” Derek muttered, his face intense. “Warn the gate he is not to be permitted past that point. Call Rachel, tell her what we’ve discovered. Randolph may try to approach her. Nick, increase the security around the perimeter. Be vigilant, all of you.”

“But, Derek,” Alex pointed out, “this weapon .. isn’t aimed at us.”

“You think that makes any difference?” Nick countered hotly. “Peri is our shield. If everything else fails, she puts herself in the line of fire for us. Where is she, Alex? Not here. Randolph Hitchcock has already taken her from the loop. We’re on our own .. and we’re next. You can count on it.”

*****

Randolph Hitchcock reviewed his plan and nodded slowly.

By now, Derek must have realized who is behind everything. He’ll increase his security, warn his people to be vigilant, tell the gate not to let me in. They know I’ve removed their armed guard .. for the present. All exactly according to plan. Derek, my old, old friend and enemy, I couldn’t have succeeded so well without your devoted assistance. Thank you! There really isn’t any satisfaction quite so profound as watching your enemy help in his own destruction, all the while believing he is saving himself. It really is quite wonderful …

He strolled back toward the ferry, making another phone call as he went, making the final arrangements, putting the frosting on the cake. And then it was time to put the final phase into action.

Randolph Hitchcock boarded the ferry and pressed out a long series of numbers on his cell phone.

“Mr Satterley, I’m sorry to call you at such a late hour but there has been a slight amendment to your travel itinerary. In your favor, I add. I work with Dr Rayne and he’s had to leave at very short notice – he asked me to call on his behalf. Instead of the flight already notified to you, you are now booked on one two hours later. I’ll meet you at the airport …”

The shadow lengthened, grew darker.

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