“Yep. The CU guys told me they’ve kept it a big secret. You can buy her help by giving her a chance to work on that project. But wait ’til I’m back in France. I can’t stand the thought of running into the prissy bitch.”
He stuck out his tongue like he’d just bitten down on something nasty.
“Do I really need her?”
He shrugged. “If you want to fight Escobar, you better give her a call.”
Gill headed off to bed, and I found Katie and Laura talking in Katie’s room.
“I have to tell you two what Gill just told me.” Then I explained about him leaving for France.
Katie bit her lip. “He’s like an old elephant wandering off to die. He needs to stay with us in Boulder.”
I shook my head. “He won’t change his mind.”
Her eyes filled. “Then maybe I’ll go with him, if he’ll let me.”
Laura laughed. “Of course he will. He loves you. Anybody can see that.”
I couldn’t, but I kept that failing to myself. “If you were willing to go and keep him company, that might give him something to live for. Then maybe he’d let Laura heal him before he goes.”
Katie nodded. “It’s worth a try.”
-o-o-o-
Sunday, May 12th
THE NEXT MORNING, WE all flew back to Las Vegas by helicopter and charter plane. Lazarus circled overhead, and I waved hello at him.
Katie didn’t leave Gill’s side all morning, and when he told the others about heading home, tears flowed down her cheeks.
That seemed to catch him by surprise. “You’re always welcome to come visit and stay for as long as you want. All of you.”
“I’d be happy to go with you,” Katie said, but I need to drive the RV back to Boulder. Nobody else has a bus license.”
Gill paused for a moment. “Then we’ll leave together from Denver. That’ll give you a chance to bring a few things from home.”
I couldn’t fight a grin. I knew he couldn’t resist the chance to spend more time with Katie.
She kissed him on each cheek. “Thank you.”
After a quiet lunch, Katie drove the RV back to Boulder by the quickest route. Along the way, Gill let Laura get close. She noticed a problem with his heart rhythm, and without asking for his permission, healed it.
“He’s now good for another twenty years or more,” she whispered to me.
Gill spent most of his time in the front chatting with Katie, but when we entered Colorado, he came back and sat on the sofa with me.
“Since Katie’s coming to visit me for a while, she was looking for something to keep her busy. I suggested she could take over the Gill Happiness Project, if you don’t mind.”
I laughed. “Happy to let her handle it. My life is plenty full already.”
“Sure, it is,” he said. “I hope you can head down to Liberty after we get back to Boulder. If you collect the contents of the safe deposit box, we’ll take it with us when we fly to Brittany. Then she can take care of the rest.”
“Happy to do it.”
“You can fly down there,” he said, “but you’ll have to rent a car to drive back.”
There was something in that box he didn’t want to go through airport security. No wonder he wanted me to go instead of Katie. “No problem.”
We stopped at an RV park for the night in Grand Junction, and at dinner, Gill seemed years younger.
-o-o-o-
Monday, May 13th
IN THE MORNING, WE continued our journey. Just to make sure the bank manager wouldn’t give me trouble, I called him from the road while Gill was available to resolve any problems.
“Sure ’nuff,” Rick Hansen said, “talked to Gill weeks ago. He said you’d be coming by at some point to clean out the box. Don’t forget your key.”
We chatted for a few minutes about the old fart, and I told my new buddy Rick that I’d visit him in a few days.
Finally, we reached the Colorado Rockies, and hours later, arrived in Boulder, exhausted by the trip.
-o-o-o-
Tuesday, May 14th
IN BETWEEN SAYING HELLO again to old friends, I finalized the details for my trip to Texas. Late in the afternoon, I boarded a flight from DIA to Houston.
Having both grown up in a rural area like Liberty, I imagined that it would be a little like going home. Oklahoma remained off limits until I got the extradition request resolved. I made a mental note to check with my lawyers and see how that was coming along.
My plane got to Houston late, and I rented a car for the trip back to Boulder. Then I found a fancy motel where Gill had wanted me to stay. He’d already arranged for a room and a bottle of red Bordeaux to welcome me.
-o-o-o-
Wednesday, May 15th
City Hall, Liberty, Texas
BEFORE DROPPING BY THE bank, I wanted to get a feel for Gill’s past. He’d lived his adult life in Houston, but that was close by, and he’d told me he’d stayed in close touch with lots of folks in Liberty, including the mayor.
I dropped by his office, and he told me a series of hilarious stories about Gill’s quirks, and it was obvious to me he’d been well-loved back home.
After a long lunch in a local café, I dropped by the First State Bank. Rick couldn’t have been friendlier, and he shared a few more stories about my elderly mentor. I liked the relaxed pace of life in small towns, and I didn’t try to hurry the manager through his reminiscences.
Eventually, though, he led me to a private room and brought in box number 66. Then he left me alone. As I’d expected, I found a hundred American Eagle gold coins, each freshly minted and wrapped in plastic sleeves. I also collected five bundles of hundred dollar bills and a small notebook that mentioned a Cayman Islands bank account. Gill had neatly jotted down the password for a numbered account and the specific instructions for how to securely access the account online. The last balance he’d written into the notebook was for over four million bucks.
I stuffed all the contents of the box into a locking briefcase I’d brought along for that purpose. After saying our goodbyes to the bank manager, I confirmed that Gill wouldn’t need the deposit box anymore, and he offered to put me up for the night in his home.
I thanked him but told him I already had a reservation in San Antonio for the night. I locked the briefcase in the trunk of the rental car and hit the road.
The trip back was uneventful, and I pulled into the ranch late on Thursday evening.
-o-o-o-
Friday, May 17th
WE SPENT THE MORNING saying goodbye to Gill and Katie. Then Amber drove them to the ranch I’d visited once for a private flight to Brittany. No airport security for those two who were carrying way too much money and gold to explain to Homeland Security.
When Laura and I returned to our apartment, I found Gill’s staff and a note attached.
Dear Ian, I guess you know by now, I’m not getting any younger or spryer. Even worse, living without Marie has been brutal. The only reason I didn’t eat a gun months ago is that you needed help. Now I’ve done all I can for you, except for one final gift. Katie has been a great comfort—I don’t plan to eat that gun anytime soon—but I may not see you again. I sure don’t expect to fight any more.
Here’s the gift: take my staff and strap it to yours. Then say, Holarthon, elbo transfère. That should move all the magic in my weapon to yours. As a bonus, you’ll get a bit of my spin on things, too.
Of course, you’ll keep this to yourself. We ain’t supposed to give magic to those we love, but fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.
P.S. One last thing. If you beat Escobar, look out for my dear friend Diana. She won’t tolerate a rival, so that might be the right time to move on. As for me, worry not. The steed does not keep his speed forever, but I’m not in the ground yet either. Love, Gill
I showed Laura the note. I also told her about my conversation with him regarding Sorcha Leòideach.
“What do you think I should do?” I asked.
“Duh
! As for his staff, take as much power as you can get. I don’t want my husband to end up as Sitka’s or Escobar’s slave. Then talk to Diana about Leòideach.”
Laura was right that I shouldn’t pass up any chance to get stronger. I used a thin strip of leather to bind the two weapons together. Gill’s staff looked like homemade, a simple black stick with almost no ornamentation, except for a band of gold a quarter-inch wide that encircled the shaft just below the top. Otherwise, the stick looked ordinary.
I held both staffs in my right hand and said, “Holarthon, elbo transfère.”
The rods vibrated for a moment, and the gold band vanished and then reappeared, embedded at the top of my staff. When I removed the leather binding, neither weapon seemed any different. I put Gill’s in the closet to keep as a memento of him, and I set mine close to the door for when I’d soon be heading into town to work at Holly’s animal hospital. It was time to reclaim my old life.
At dinner, back at the ranch, I met with Diana. She agreed to help me contact Leòideach.
“It’s probably better that she hears first from me,” she said. “I’ll try to schmooze her into doing the right thing, but if not, I’ll dangle the book as a lure.”
Chapter 14
Saturday, May 18th
EARLY IN THE MORNING, Laura woke me up.
“Ian, I just felt our baby move!”
She took my hand and placed it on her stomach. Sure enough, I felt a tiny kick, and my heart glowed.
“Are you sure that wasn’t just gas?” I asked.
Her reply came in the form of a sharp elbow to my ribs.
I laughed anyway. “Happy news. I’ll have to tell my grandparents, after the sun rises.”
I cupped her cheeks in my hand and kissed her as thoroughly as I could at three o’clock in the morning. Then one thing led to another, and I forgot my tiredness.
The next morning, I had a hard time waking up. We’d slept little since hearing her great news.
After my shower, I dressed and headed to breakfast with my lovely wife and Christina.
It was a joyful morning, until Diana approached.
“Howdy,” I said.
“You sound worn out,” she replied.
“Please tell me everything is great. Laura felt the baby move last night. We’d like a few days of bliss to enjoy the experience.”
Diana could be a first-class killjoy. “Bliss is over, at least for the time being. The sorcerers have figured out you’re back. I just saw a notice to that effect go out on the sorcerers’ network. If Sitka isn’t here already, I expect him soon.”
Bang went my idea of getting a break. “I’m already training hard with Tess and Don, and I’m running the trails here every day and weightlifting. What else should I do to get ready?”
She shrugged. “Gill told me he thought you were ready to challenge Sitka, but not Escobar. Maybe the best approach is to agree to a time for battle, and you simply destroy him. That might be enough to get you stronger than Escobar. Then you eliminate him.”
It sounded awfully easy when she said it, but Sitka had fired on me enough for me to know he was damned powerful. Beating him would be tough.
“I don’t think my karate is as strong as it should be,” I said. “I’m in good shape, but I need more training with Don. I practiced the karate forms during the trip, but they’re no substitute for hand-to-hand combat with a living opponent.”
“We definitely want you ready to perform at your peak. I can make sure you get another week to train. Is that enough?”
Gill thought it was, and I trusted him, so I nodded to Diana.
For most of the day, I worked at Holly’s hospital, and as I healed animals, I wondered whether the best approach to the fight was simply to throw myself at Sitka. That strategy had the virtue of simplicity.
After dinner at the ranch, I sought out Diana and Tess. I found them in the lounge and sat next to them.
“The more I think about the coming fight,” I said, “the more I want it to begin. The time for waiting is over.”
They both nodded.
“We were just discussing that very issue,” Diana said. “Perhaps I should arrange a conversation with my good friend, Pando Norbek.”
-o-o-o-
Sunday, May 19th
DIANA ARRANGED FOR A truce and a meeting at a fancy steakhouse in Broomfield. She wore a wire, and we’d be able to listen in on the conversation from a computer at the ranch.
After the preliminary jousting, our high priestess said, “I understand that your Supreme Leader Escobar is anxiously seeking a confrontation between Ian and Sitka.”
Norbek chuckled. “How you learn these things, I’ll never know. In truth, I’m quite worried about my dear friend Bruno. His failures have mounted steadily. First, he crashes and burns spectacularly in Eureka, and then he can’t seem to find your Ian anywhere in the world. Shocking in this day and age.”
“Under the right conditions and for the proper consideration,” Diana said, “I might be able to find Ian for him.”
“Hmmm,” Norbek replied. “That could save my dear friend’s life. I’m expecting Mr. Escobar to tell me any day now to assassinate my favorite assassin. And now I must ask myself, why you are so accommodating. Has your disciple truly become Ian the Conqueror?”
“Let’s simply say he’s tired of being hunted, and Sitka’s past behavior hasn’t inspired awe on our side.”
“If you make your champion available, that will certainly make my job easier. I applaud you for the suggestion. What would you like in return for such generosity?”
“How about the return of all slaves collected in Colorado? By our count, there are only sixteen, and I always love a tearful homecoming.”
I had to hand it to her. She’d picked a wonderful gift that we could give families of witches in this state in return for scheduling a fight that was inevitable in any case.
“I will convey your suggestion to Mr. Escobar,” Norbek said. “Thank you. We get such pleasure from doing business with you, Diana. He’s unavailable now, but I expect to be able to contact him within a few days.”
-o-o-o-
Monday, May 20th
AT SIX IN THE morning, my phone rang, and the Caller ID said Delacourt and Laurent, LLC.
Puzzled, I answered the phone.
Felicity said hello.
“Are you actually working already?” I asked.
“I’m afraid I have a trial starting tomorrow. Anyway, I’m calling because Juan’s made a breakthrough on the bombing investigation. Can we meet?”
“Great, I was wondering if we’d messed up by paying you guys seven thousand dollars on that deal.”
“Yeah, we’re expensive, I know. Unfortunately, seven thousand is small change. Anyway, Juan says he has hot info. How about dinner tonight?”
“Fine. Pick a time and place.”
-o-o-o-
The Rustler Saloon, Nederland, Colorado
AT 5:30, I WALKED into a historic bar in the mountains. Mounted animal heads and flintlock rifles decorated the walls. The place was almost deserted, and I found Felicity and Juan waiting at a table in the corner.
After I ordered a beer, I said, “There’s no rest for the pure-of-heart these days.”
We got reacquainted for a few minutes, and then I asked, “What have you been doing for the last month, Juan?”
He explained all the people he’d talked to and all the false leads he’d followed. Then he said, “I think I’m headed in the right direction now. On an unrelated case, I ran into a guy who knows a gal who knows a sorcerer named Stevie, whose last name isn’t known. Stevie happens to be a gambler. The gal told me a week ago that Stevie’s into one of Escobar’s loan sharks for fifty large—”
Felicity coughed.
“Sorry,” Juan said, “—fifty thousand dollars. Of course, this loan shark is threatening to use Stevie as a human punching bag for gladiator training if he doesn’t come up with at least ten grand by tomorrow.”
&n
bsp; “Okay,” I replied, not getting the connection yet.
“Actually,” Juan said, “I first contacted Stevie a month ago, but he wasn’t interested in talking then. I guess he’s desperate these days. I spoke to him late yesterday, and he claims he has earth-shattering information about Hudson’s death. He’s willing to exchange this precious information for fifty thousand.”
“Whoa,” I said, “that’s a lot of money.”
“Don’t worry,” Felicity replied, “we’re used to dealing with punks. I’m sure we can get him down to a fraction of that. He’ll do anything for ten grand, and that’s the most we’ll offer. He’ll take it, unless somebody else has already come through for him. Then all our leverage would be gone until the next payment on his loan is due.”
“Okay,” I said. “It’s sure worth a ten grand to find out if someone besides Escobar or Sitka is hunting me.” Then I remembered her time crunch. “Don’t you have a trial starting in the morning?”
She grinned. “Judge just kicked it back two months because of an urgent criminal case. I’m free tomorrow to deal with the dirtbag.”
To celebrate the potential for a breakthrough in the bombing case, we all ordered buffalo steaks with plenty of trimmings, at my expense. The food happened to be terrific.
“The bottom line,” Juan said after our waiter left us alone, “is that I wanted to be sure you were on board before giving him the money. He claims he watched Hudson getting killed from a half-mile away, and his unnamed companion dialed the cellphone that triggered the bomb.”
“Okay,” I said. “Sounds promising. Don’t pay a dime until you know for sure this guy is telling the truth.”
“Of course,” Felicity said. “I propose we meet with this scumbag, and you authorize us to spend up to ten grand if we can get both a full story and actual proof of authenticity. Then we can go after the murderer and make sure he’s not a threat to you anymore.”
They looked at me. “I appreciate the concern, and, I need to know who all my enemies are.”
-o-o-o-
Tuesday, May 21st
Vengeance (The Sorcerers' Scourge Series Book 3) Page 13