After dinner, they retired back to the parlor for after-dinner drinks and socializing. Rebecca discovered that being a family member, especially the newest family member, was quite different than her position as Brenna’s friend. All of those who had traveled in for the event wanted to meet her, and of course, they wanted to meet Don Carlos. The news of the alliance was out, and worries about the coming war were evident. A few were interested in the trade and business opportunities the alliance enabled, and she could tell that Carlos was more comfortable with those conversations.
“For a general,” she whispered when they had a moment alone, “you seem a lot more comfortable with business than war.”
“A good general should always be uncomfortable with war,” he told her. “There are no winners in war, only survivors.”
“It does my heart good to hear you say that,” Seamus said from behind them. “Goddess grant we can avoid any of my children coming home in body bags.”
“I pray it is so,” Carlos returned.
~~~
A war council was convened the next day. Collin had been closeted with Carlos’ security people almost non-stop since they arrived. Kallen, Jeremy and the regional security chiefs had been planning for weeks.
Sitting in a large conference room in O’Donnell’s office building that was next to the manor house, Collin explained the plan.
“Don Carlos, this is what we’re prepared to do. O’Donnell will send one hundred fifty advisors to Quito immediately. They’ll leave on Sunday. We’ll send another hundred fifty in two weeks, and commit to fifteen hundred total within a week of the commencement of hostilities.”
The Vargas contingent, grim looks on their faces, seemed to relax at this news.
“We’re also staging fifteen hundred troops in Europe,” Collin continued, “prepared to move onto the Continent in the event of any overt CBW activity. We’re hoping those troops will freeze any CBW support and keep them from openly entering hostilities in South America. If we’re really lucky, that size force will make the Europeans think about it and pull their people back for defense.”
Collin pointed to a map of Europe with markers in Ireland, England, France and Sweden to show where O’Donnell’s forces were being moved.
“Our forces in your area will be under our command,” Collin said. “We’ll place liaisons with your units for coordination. We need people of yours who know the local terrain placed with our units as advisors. If you can also provide scouts, that would be a bonus. We don’t know the country or the local people, and many of our people don’t know the language. Any comments, suggestions or objections?”
“Senor Doyle, I am very impressed,” Carlos said. “The number of Protectors you’re committing is more than the Consortium as a whole could field. Vargas has three hundred we can commit to offense with two hundred in reserve for defense.”
“Carlos, it’s Collin, not Senor Doyle,” Collin smiled. “We’re rather informal, and since it looks like we might be brothers-in-law, we should probably try to learn to like each other.”
Carlos laughed. “I would like that. Okay, Collin, of the initial two contingents, how many are intelligence operatives?”
“About thirty, including a succubus. Siobhan is fluent in Spanish, Castilian to be sure, but she can be passed off as a Spaniard. She picks up accents fairly quickly. All of those people are experienced and have multiple useful Gifts. The first three hundred are shock troops, very powerful telepaths, and all speak Spanish.”
Collin hesitated, pursing his mouth, then continued.
“The one thing that really concerns me is that while my people are trained in conventional warfare, they aren’t experienced in such tactics. We use guns and bombs as a last resort. The lack of powerful telepaths in South America means that you folks fight much more conventionally. If the Argentines throw conventional mercenaries at us, it could swing things.”
“My intelligence says they aren’t planning to do that,” Carlos said. “They’re depending on the Europeans.”
“We’re used to their tactics,” Collin replied with a shrug. “They use conventional weapons more than we do, but there are certain constraints when using guns against air shields on a battlefield. We can deal with it.”
~~~
Siobhan flew out to Argentina the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Sitting in a sidewalk cafe, wearing a light summer dress and sipping wine on the first day of December, she reflected on the sleet storm she’d trudged through in New York only two weeks before.
A tall, handsome man walked up and sat across from her.
“Hello, Tom,” Siobhan said with a smile.
Tom Darlington returned the smile. “Hello, Siobhan. You’re looking good.”
“Thank you. I didn’t know you were in Argentina,” she said to her friend from the U.S. State Department.
“Temporary posting. I’m down here advising the trade mission on a treaty the Argentines are thinking of signing with Germany.”
He ordered a beer with his lunch and they sat and chatted, a totally innocuous meeting to any observers. But mentally, a complete briefing of the intelligence O’Donnell had gathered in Argentina was going on. Darlington passed Siobhan a thought package containing information on the Hernandez Clan’s business, real estate holdings, and personnel dossiers.
Flipping through the dossiers in her mind, Siobhan sent a query, Enrique Cardozo?
Yes, Tom answered, he was a child in 1938 and came to live with Hernandez. He’s as passionate in his loyalty to Don Rodrigo as he’s passionate about hating O’Donnell. He’s their deputy chief of security.
I imagine, Siobhan returned. It says he’s a womanizer with a taste for high-end escorts.
Yes, and he also procures young girls for the Don. We think some of them are being supplied by the German von Ebersberg Clan.
Tom, tell your people to be careful. Some of the girls von Ebersberg sells are succubi.
Thanks, I’ll pass that along. But if any of our people have a taste for young girls, I want to know about it for other reasons.
After lunch, Siobhan contacted one of her protection team, a man with the Krasevec Gift of Distance Communication, and passed the information she’d received along to be transmitted to Collin. Then she caught a taxi to the escort service that Enrique Cardozo most commonly used.
Entering the office, she quickly gained an interview with the woman who ran the service and enrolled as an escort. She also planted a suggestion in the woman’s mind that Siobhan would be the perfect date for Senor Cardozo the next time he called.
~~~
She didn’t have long to wait. A call came the next evening for her to meet Cardozo. Getting out of the taxi, she wasn’t impressed. He might spend big on women, but he obviously didn’t feel a nice hotel was necessary for his meetings.
The dossier had provided her with an image of Cardozo as well as a list of his Gifts. He didn’t have any Talents that worried her.
He answered the door in his underwear and stood appraising her. “The agency has outdone itself this time,” he finally said. “Come in, Beautiful.”
Siobhan entered the room and looked around. It wasn’t seedy, but it wasn’t fancy either. The same description could be applied to the man standing and watching her. She began to undress and he sat silently on the bed. When she only had her garter belt, hose and heels left, he held up his hand and said, “Enough. Come here.”
Two hours later, his energy finally flowed into her as he climaxed. She entered his mind and found her way through his weakened shields.
It was all there. Hernandez’ war plans, defensive plans, the contacts with their South American and German allies, and Cardozo’s contacts with the von Ebersberg white slavery operation. A lot of what she gathered from him was already contained in the intelligence briefing Tom had given her the day before. That meant she could push that information aside and concentrate on other things.
It took hours, but she wasn’t in a hurry. He would be out for days.
She carefully compiled, cataloged and filed the information she gathered into a compact thought package. When she finished, she transmitted it to her Protector with the Krasevec Gift. Then she took a shower, dressed and left.
The next morning, she took a plane for Rio de Janeiro to see what the Brazilian Clan was doing.
~~~
CHAPTER 15
I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to go crazy. - Sarah McLachlan
“You need to move to a bigger room,” Brenna told Rebecca.
“Why? I like my room. I’m used to it.”
“Come with me.” She led Rebecca to the second floor and into the room just below hers. “Ignore the paintings, we can move those somewhere else.”
Rebecca immediately checked out the paintings. “Oh my God. Is that you?”
“No, it’s my mom. Cindy painted it a long time ago. I told you, look at the room. We can do some remodeling, change the paper and paint if you like, expand the bathroom, larger closet. So what do you think?”
“Whose room is this?”
“It was my dad’s. But now that you’re officially a granddaughter, you should have a granddaughter room. Otherwise people will think Seamus is playing favorites.”
“That’s a weird way of looking at things.”
“You’re not helping. We’re building a marketing story here. Pay attention. I have a big room. Callie has a big room. You should have a big room.”
“Jared doesn’t have a big room.”
“Jared lives in Baltimore, and he has a double room there.”
“True.” Rebecca looked around a bit, sat on the bed, bounced on it. “It would be nice to have a king-size bed.”
“See? And if you’re going to have a lover stay with you regularly, you need a bigger bathroom than what you have now.”
“Well, that’s probably true. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“So what do you think? Personally, I’d replace the wallpaper. I think it’s too dark. And …”
“I like the wallpaper. I think the green is soothing. There’s so much light with these windows. I think it’s okay.”
“Well, a bigger closet. When my dad had it, my mom used the room next door for her closet.”
“I don’t have as many clothes as you do. I probably never will. If I could just get a couple of wardrobes like you have, that would be enough.”
“How about the bathroom?”
Rebecca looked into the bath. It wasn’t as huge as Brenna’s, but it had a double sink, separate bath and shower, and the bathtub was large enough for two. She’d be able to stretch out in it. “I think it’s fine. Maybe change the wallpaper in here. It’s kind of old.”
“Ok, that’s getting into the spirit of things. One other improvement we need to make is the staircase.”
“What staircase?”
“Exactly. There isn’t a staircase. If I was being attacked, you’d have to run all the way to the middle of the building, climb the main staircase, then run all the way back. I could be dead by then.”
Rebecca eyed her skeptically, “I’d be more worried about whoever was stupid enough to attack you. Where would you put a staircase?”
“Right over here,” Brenna showed her. “A spiral iron staircase up to my room, then we could be close. And think of the parties we could throw.”
“Isn’t Seamus’ bedroom directly below this? Any parties would have to be rather discreet.”
“But you like the room?”
“Yeah, I like it.”
~~~
“Callie, don’t you think it’s rather mean to treat one granddaughter like a princess and the other one like an employee?” Brenna said, leaning against Callie’s desk.
“I think that would be mean, yes. Who’s doing that to their granddaughter?”
“Seamus is. I mean, I have that luxurious room while poor Rebecca has to live in that cubby hole with a tiny closet.”
“You’re laying it on a little too thick, Brenna. Dial it back.”
“Well, it’s true.”
Deep sigh. “Just tell me what you want without the dramatics. I’ve got a million people coming in here over the next month and I don’t have time for whatever you’re trying to wheedle.”
“I think Rebecca should move into my dad’s old room. I showed it to her, and she likes it. Some minor updating, change the wallpaper in the bathroom and a couple of wardrobes, and she’d like it even better. She even likes the green wallpaper. And if she moves in soon, it would free her room for Solstice guests.”
Callie searched her face. “That’s it? That’s all you want? No second manor house? No sports car? No extra Gifts? Sure, tell her it’s hers. If I wasn’t so swamped, I might have thought of it.”
“And for the minor renovations, should I call Darrien?”
“Yes, call Darrien. Now, can I get back to my current headache?”
~~~
Seamus erupted out of his office, “What the hell is going on? It sounds like someone’s trying to demolish the house.”
“Dad, I told you,” Callie met him in the hall, “Rebecca’s moving into Jack’s old room …” she had to stop because of the screech of a power saw. When quiet returned, she finished her sentence, “and Darrien’s doing some minor renovations. It should all be over in a day or two.”
The power saw started again.
“That’s more than minor renovations. The whole damn house is shaking.”
Charging up the stairs, he stomped down the hall to Rebecca’s new room, Callie trailing in his wake. Throwing open the door, he looked around and didn’t see any power saw, just one man putting a new wardrobe in place. Then the power saw started again. The noise was coming from upstairs.
“What the hell?”
He whirled and raced back down the hall. Reaching Brenna’s room on the floor above, he arrived just in time for the last cut. Watching as two men pried up a large circle of floor, he asked the man standing there with the power saw, “Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Putting in a new staircase between these rooms. That’s what Brenna said to do.”
Callie stood behind him, horrified. “Goddess, deliver us! She did it to me again.”
“What?”
“She said she wanted to do some minor renovations and put in a new wardrobe and change some wallpaper.”
“That’s what we’re doing,” the workman said. “Wardrobes and wallpaper in the bathroom downstairs and this staircase. We cut out the floor here, now we have to cut through the ceiling below, but first we have to brace the joists.”
“Minor renovations?” Seamus asked incredulously. “A four-foot hole in the floor is a minor renovation? Where is she?”
“She went back to DC.”
“That’s where I’m going, to DC to stay with Cindy. Let me know when the minor renovations are finished.”
~~~
“You’re the heir and you’re the Lord’s lady,” Callie said to Brenna and Cindy. “With privilege comes responsibility. By rights, you should have been helping with this mess from the beginning.”
The two women stood in front of Callie’s desk like naughty schoolgirls before the headmistress. It was the week before Solstice, and the manor was a beehive of activity.
“But you didn’t think of it,” Cindy muttered.
“No, I didn’t,” Callie’s smile was predatory. “But now that I have, you need to prepare for me not working on the Solstice Ball the year after next. I’ll give you one year of help, and then I’m just going to be another partygoer and enjoy myself.”
Brenna and Cindy shot each other a quick, panicked glance.
“Now, here is what needs to be done,” Callie handed them a list. “I don’t care how you divide the tasks, or who you draft to help you, but remember that you can’t pull people off already-assigned tasks. Good luck, ladies, and call me for help if the building is burning down.”
“You used to be my favorite aunt,” Brenna whined.
“Afte
r I dumped being heir on you?” Callie looked surprised. “You sure are a slow learner.”
Outside in the hall, they surveyed the list with dismay. “I hope you already got your pedicure, because I don’t think we’re going to have time to breathe,” Cindy said as she leaned against the wall. “Who can we get to help? Everyone is busy as beavers.”
She watched a tight smile grow on Brenna’s face. It reminded her of the one Callie had given them a few minutes before.
“You know all those Protectors that we’re always stumbling over? The ones who have basically nothing to do when we’re here at the estate?” Brenna began.
Cindy’s face lit up. “Yeah. Lazy bums. Hell, I’ll bet they’re bored to tears right now.”
They split up the tasks and went looking for the leaders of their respective security teams.
“What? You want my team to do what?” Rebecca looked at the list Brenna had handed her.
“What else do they have to do? I checked the barracks. Half are playing video games and the other half are playing kissy face. Just because I’m in a safe environment doesn’t mean they have a vacation.”
Rebecca fixed her with an irritated glare. “They’re Protectors, not inventory clerks or hotel check-in hosts.”
“You all keep telling me you’re multi-talented. Consider it covert operations training. Who knows when they might have to provide logistics for a hoard of complaining tourists?”
Brenna’s responsibilities included ensuring that deliveries of food and other consumable materials arrived on schedule and reached the proper storage and distribution points. She could understand that having enough toilet paper for four hundred guests was probably important. Her other assignment was ensuring new arrivals were routed to their accommodations and settled in properly. It had never occurred to her the amount of work involved in what seemed so straightforward a task.
Having coordinated Brenna’s travel for the past year, Rebecca understood and had far more experience with it than she wished. She was tempted to take on the materiel logistics, the far easier task.
Succubus Rising, An Urban Fantasy (The Telepathic Clans Saga) Page 15