Blood in the Marsh

by Ciana Stone

  She grabbed Nick and pulled him down in the seat as the car sped by. He sat up and looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “What was that about?”

  Lyra’s eyes were wide and her face was pale. Seeing Lexi’s car had jogged her memory. Now she knew where she had seen the symbol and it made her flesh crawl.

  “Lyra!” Nick grabbed her and turned her to him. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “I know who it is,” she whispered.

  “You what?”

  “I know who Adoul is.”

  Nick’s mouth fell open in surprise. After a moment, he shook his head and frowned. “Well, I have no idea how you discovered that so suddenly but I’m all ears.”

  “The symbol on the flask!” Lyra opened the box and pointed to it. “I knew I’d seen it before but I couldn’t remember where. Then when I saw Lexi’s car coming toward us it clicked.”

  “Wait! You think you’re mother is Adoul?”

  Lyra shook her head. “The day Chelsey and I went to the house to get my clothes to move into Lucius’, Lexi and Leopold were there. He came to the upstairs landing as we were leaving and called out to us. When I looked up he was wearing a silk robe and he made a big show of letting it be known that he wasn’t wearing anything under it. But he was wearing a heavy gold chain around his neck with a medallion on it. This symbol was on the medallion. Nick, it’s Leopold!”

  Nick leaned back and stared at her with narrowed eyes. “Lyra, are you sure about this? You did say you were at the door and he was on the landing so you could have been mistaken.”

  She shook her head. “I’m absolutely positive. And L Lucius said that the amulet was the way we could recognize Adoul. This flask and that medallion have the exact same symbol on it. I’d bet my life on it.”

  “I rather you didn’t put it quite like that.”

  Lyra closed the box and looked down at it. “Now what do we do?”

  “We go home and tell Michael what we found and we get the contents of that flask analyzed.”

  Lyra looked up at him quickly. “And then?”

  “And then we find a way to prove Leopold is the man we’re looking for.”

  She nodded as he started the Jeep and pulled back on the road. Neither of them had anything else to say on the rest of the drive. They were both too busy trying to decide what to do next.

  Later That Evening

  By the time Nick and Lyra finished telling Michael and Chelsey everything that had happened and all they had found out from May-May Carter, it was almost midnight.

  “So what are you going to do with the flask?” Chelsey asked. “Couldn’t you just drink some of it so that you would be immune just in case?”

  Nick shook his head. “We still don’t know all of it. Hopefully, tomorrow May-May will fill in the rest of the blanks. At any rate I think it’d be best if we turned the flask over to the boys at the lab and let them analyze the contents, find out just what kind of substance it is.”

  Lyra didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure she wanted to turn it over to the CIA. Right now that was the only weapon they had against Leopold.

  “Where is it?”

  “Huh?” Lyra realized Nick was talking to her. “What?”

  “What did you do with the flask?”

  “I put it in my room, why?”

  “Would you get it for me while I make a call?” She nodded and went upstairs. Taking the box from its hiding place, she opened it and took out the flask. Nick’s wrong. This is the only protection we have. We can’t give it up!

  Making a sudden decision, she went into the bathroom and poured out a bottle of mouthwash, rinsing it well. Then she poured most of the liquid from the flask into the bottle and hid in under the sink behind a stack of towels. She made sure the flask was securely closed before she returned it to its box and took it downstairs.

  Nick was waiting in the den. “Michael and Chelsey decided to turn in. Someone will be here within the hour.”

  She nodded and set the box on the coffee table. “Nick, what are we going to do about Leopold? Couldn’t you just tell the people at the CIA who he really is and have them arrest him?”

  “We’re running a check on him now. But we can’t move until we have solid evidence, and right now all we have is a story from an old woman and a medallion you claim to have seen.”

  “But I did see it!”

  “I know, but it’s not enough.”

  She sat down and stared across the room with a frown on her face. “I bet if Lucius was here he’d know what to do.”

  “Lyra,” Nick turned to her. “You’re starting to get obsessive about Lucius. He’s dead and he can’t help us, except for his diary.”

  “His diary!” She jumped up and ran upstairs. She ran into her bathroom and opened the false baseboard where she had hidden the diary. As she pulled it out a picture fell on the floor.

  Lyra picked it up and recognized it as the same picture she had found there once before, of Lucius on stage and a shapely woman standing behind him with the feathered mask over her face.

  “What’s that?” Nick asked from behind her.

  Lyra stood up and handed him the picture. “It’s a photo of Lucius.” She didn’t tell him that she knew she had put the picture in the desk and had no idea how it had gotten back into the hiding place.

  “Who’s this with him?”

  “I don’t know. One of his stage assistants, I guess.”

  “Nice figure,” Nick commented.

  She handed him the diary and he opened it up then looked up at her. “Where’s the rest of it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He took hold of her arm as she started to turn away. “The back section’s been torn out. What happened to it?”

  Lyra looked down at the diary. “No one knew where I hid it. Not even you.”

  “Obviously someone knew.”

  “But who?”

  He shook his head and took the diary. The last page that had not been torn out was blank except for something stuck to it.

  “A cigar band.”

  Lyra grabbed it and crumpled it in her hand. Nick held out his hand, palm up. “Let’s see it.”

  “It’s just an old cigar band. How important can that be?”

  “Lyra.” His voice carried a warning.

  “Fine.” She slapped the cigar band in his hand and turned away.

  “A Lyra cigar,” he said as he read it. “Interesting. What do you suppose this means? That he knew who your father was?”

  “I suppose.”

  Nick walked over, took her arm, and led her to the bed. “Are you sure no one knew where you hid this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yet someone found it and tore part of it out. Why?”

  “To keep me from finding out what was in it!” she snapped. “Why else? Look, Nick, I’ve been thinking about this and I think it’s time we test our theory. We have to find out for sure if Leopold is the man or we’re looking for and I think the best way to do that is for me to spend a couple of days at my mother’s.”

  Nick grabbed her. “Don’t even think that! You know what he’ll do if he gets his hands on you.”

  “Yeah!” she said bitterly. “And god forbid I do anything to spoil what he wants.”

  “Just what’s that supposed to mean?”

  Lyra jerked away and walked to the door. “You’re the secret agent. You figure it out!”

  Nick followed her downstairs. Just as he walked in the den, the gate bell rang. He went to the intercom and answered it, receiving the correct response. A minute later, he let a man in the back door.

  “Lyra, will you excuse us for a few minutes?” he asked as the man entered the house.

  She nodded and walked down the hall and Nick turned to the man. “Got anything yet?”

  “As a matter of fact there are a couple of interesting tidbits,” the man said as he followed Nick into the den. “Seems like your and the Count’s paths have crossed before.”

 
Nick stopped and gave the man a surprised look. “This it?” The man pointed to the box on the coffee table.

  “Yeah,” Nick answered. “You want to elaborate on that last comment.”

  The man put the box containing the flask into his briefcase and sat down. “South America, remember? Seems like he was there about the same time as you. Some bit player. We did a background check and turned up some strange things. The County was virtually broke when he went to Columbia. He made his living off rich women who liked having a man with a title as—an escort. But about three months after the Columbia incident he suddenly became a very rich man.”

  “You’ve got my attention,” Nick said as he sat down.

  “Seems like a lot of property and assets suddenly changed hands during those three months. We don’t have all of it, but it looks like the bulk of it came from a mother company called ASM Odeus.”

  Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so?”

  The man nodded. “Apparently he managed to somehow inherit a substantial sum of money from a guy by the name of Juan Ramirez.”

  “Nick looked up sharply. “But that’s the guy…”

  “Yeah, tell me about it.” The man nodded. “That’s the dude we found dead—the guy who was supposed to be the ring leader of the group in Columbia.”

  Nick looked at the man. “Listen, I want you to check and see if you can find out what happened to the rest of Kostanza’s estate.”

  “We’ve already tried that,” the man replied. “And you wouldn’t believe the paper trail. It’ll take us months to figure it all out—if we do figure it out, that is. Whoever set things up was a master.”

  Nick stood up. “Well, find out everything you can about the Count and when he got here. I want to know the exact date.”

  “This connected?” the man asked.

  Nick nodded. “If it weren’t, I wouldn’t ask.”

  The man nodded as he stood up. “Okay, I’ll get on it. I’ll call as soon as we know. Lab should have this analyzed by the morning. I’ll tell them to call and let you know what they find.”

  Nick let the man out and returned to the den. “You can come out now,” he said as he sat down on the couch.

  Lyra looked in the doorway from the front hall and Nick looked over at her. “Hear anything interesting?”

  She walked into the. “You want to tell me what that stuff about Columbia was about?”

  “Not really.”

  “Well, don’t you think I have a right to know?”

  “No.”

  “Fine.” She turned to leave but Nick jumped up and bounded across the room, grabbed her,

  and jerked her around. “I’d suggest that you stop eavesdropping on private conversations. There are some things I can’t discuss with you and this childish habit you have of—“

  Lyra jerk free and slapped him. “Take your hand off me this instant!”

  Nick’s face stung from the slap and his temper threatened to erupt. His grip tightened on her arm and he jerked her up close to him. “Don’t ever do that again.”

  “Or what?” she taunted him.

  Nick took a deep breath to calm himself, but the way she challenged him with her eyes made it hard. “I’m not going to get into a fight with you.”

  “Well, why not?” She tried to pull free. “You fight everyone else! That’s all you know how to do, anyway! If it weren’t for fighting and killing, your life would be just an empty shell. It’s all you have so why not just be true to your nature. And let go of me!”

  She tried to slap him again but he knocked her hand aside and grabbed her long hair, pulling her head back so that he stared down into her eyes. “Don’t push me, Lyra.”

  Lyra pushed at him, her eyes flashing in anger.

  “Let go of me now!” she hissed

  Lyra’s eyes widened as his lips crushed hers in a brutal kiss. She struggled against him, working her hands between them to push at his chest.

  His breath was harsh as she shoved him away and his eyes blazed. He started to reach for her again and she jumped back, raising her hands in front of her. “Stay away from me.”

  “Lyra, I—”

  “No. Shut up. And get out. Now.”

  “Lyra—”

  “Get out!” The strength of her scream surprised even her.

  Nick looked at her for a long moment, then turned on his heel and left the room. Lyra ran to the door, checked to make sure he wasn’t waiting for her then raced to her room, locking the door behind her.

  She thought about going to Michael. Feeling his arms around her had a strong appeal. When she was with him, she felt safe and strong. But she couldn’t spend her life depending on someone else for strength. Besides, if she called him then there was a chance Nick would realize something was going on and she wasn’t ready to get into that. As cowardly as it was, she didn’t think she could face a fight between him and Michael. Particularly not one she was the cause of.

  She thought and fretted for hours, finally curling up on the bed. The next thing she knew she was waking up. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and looked across the room.

  A shadowy figure was sitting on the sofa.

  “Lucius?” she whispered, pulling the sheet tighter around her. “Is that you? Am I dreaming or is this real?”

  “Follow your instincts, Lyra.” His voice was soft. “You have all the pieces of the puzzle. Now you just have to assemble them. Don’t let anyone confuse you.”

  “But I don’t have all the pieces! Lucius, nothing really makes sense. These people that Adoul gathers around him; they don’t really follow any particular doctrine or set of beliefs as far as I can tell. It’s like they don’t know what they’re doing when they inscribe those circles and…”

  “It is irrelevant as to whether the symbology makes sense. You see, in essence, all his followers really believe in is him and he does not dictate any ideology other than their submission and obedience. You are letting yourself get caught up in the imagery and not the substance.”

  She thought about what he said for a moment. “I think maybe it’s time I got a closer look around. I still want to get a good look at that amulet, and I want to check and see if I can find anything at Lexi’s that will tie Leo into all this, and I want to see if I can discover who the people are that…”

  “Lyra, listen to me,” Lucius said as he stood. “Time grows short.”

  She nodded and didn’t speak as he talked. “First of all,” he said as he pulled a sheaf of folder papers from his coat. “This is the remainder of the journal.”

  “You’re the one who took it?” Lyra was surprised. “Why?”

  “To protect you,” he said simply.

  “From what?”

  “Lyra please,” he implored as he returned the papers to his coat. “You must listen to me.”

  “Okay.” She fell silent.

  When he finished she stared at him incredulously. “Are you telling me the truth?”

  “You must decide that for yourself. Have I ever lied to you before?”

  She shook her head. “No, never. But I don’t know if I can do this. I mean, what if I mess up or someone finds out?”

  Lucius smiled at her. “No one will—at least not until it is too late for them to change things. You are the only one who can do this, Lyra. It is up to you. Now, the only question that remains is will you?”

  She thought about it for a few moments then nodded her head. “Yes. I will.”

  “Good. I am very proud of you, Lyra. You’re grown into a very remarkable woman.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a smile and climbed off the bed. “I guess I better get moving so I can get over there before anyone finds out I’m gone. Nick and Michael will have a fit if they find out… Lucius?”

  She looked around, but he was no longer there. Falling back on the bed, she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, willing herself to be calm. When she opened her eyes, she was in the bed with the covers pulled up to her chin.

 
Jumping up, she looked at the time. It was a little past two in the morning. Quickly she crept down the hall, pausing at each bedroom door to listen for movement. Letting herself out of the house, she ran down the driveway and looked down the street. There were no cars parked on the road and she didn’t see anyone about. Sprinting briskly, she started down the street toward Lexi’s house.

  When she reached the house she could see lights on downstairs, but the upstairs was dark. She went around to the back of the house and slowly opened the gate to look in at the terrace. It was empty. She made her way to the large picture windows in the back and peeked in. She jumped as she saw who was inside. Nick sat in the den as Leopold poured them drinks.

  Running to the opposite end of the house, she let herself in the servant’s entrance. Making it to the kitchen without being seen, she eased into the hall and made her way toward the den. Hearing footsteps, she rushed into the study that was adjacent to the den and dove behind the sofa.

  “Will there be anything else, sir?” she heard the housekeeperr, Greta, ask from the other room.

  “No, that will be all,” Leopold replied.

  Footsteps sounded again in the hallway and Lyra got up and went to the door that opened into the den. Cracking it open a tiny bit, she could see Leopold taking a seat across from Nick.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Zampella?” Leopold asked with a chuckle.

  “The price for the girl is twenty million,” Nick said sharply.

  “Twenty million?” Leopold raised his eyebrows. “Well, that is a very tidy sum. “

  Nick smiled coldly. “A pittance in comparison to the rewards joining with her will bring, wouldn’t you say?”

  Leopold nodded. “Yes, that is so. But then, what assurance is there that she will give herself willingly?”

  Nick took a sip of his drink and laughed. “That is not a problem.”

  “And the transference?” Leopold asked. “Is there a host, should the need arise to take a new identity?”

  “That’s been taken care of as well,” Nick said. “I’ve located the perfect candidate—handsome, charming and a true pillar of the community. One of the police department’s finest.”