The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3)

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The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) Page 54

by Mackenzie Morgan


  “Good,” Yani said.

  “Now, if you’ll put your hands on my arms,” Kevin said, holding an arm out to each of them, “we’ll get you home.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin finally got back from lining up his spotters that night, Chris was waiting in his room with two mugs of scog.

  “Long day,” Kevin said as he sat down and picked up the mug closest to him.

  “So? How’d it go?”

  “We’ve got six spotters.”

  “No problems? Not even with Allisandra?”

  Kevin shook his head. “She was all for it. Craven wasn’t so sure it was a good idea though.”

  “How did you convince him?”

  “I didn’t. He just gave up, but when I mentioned I wanted her at the chapel he was a little happier about it. I told her the first attack took place behind the chapel and I felt sure if an assassin showed up there, he’d scout out the area pretty well, so I wanted her to stay inside the chapel and use her seeing eye from there.”

  “And she fell for that explanation?”

  Kevin shrugged. “She pretended to.”

  “Have you mentioned any of this to Theresa yet?”

  Kevin shook his head again. “It’s on my list for tomorrow.”

  “What did Warren say?”

  Kevin laughed. “He was thrilled, and Torrey said there’d be no living with him now he’d been included in a House of Nordin adventure.”

  “Is she okay about going to Shadron’s to wait with Kayla?”

  “Well, it won’t be just Kayla. Craven said if Allisandra was going there after it was over, he wanted to be there too, and so did Dara. Sedwin said he’d stay home with the kids and wait for Danyelle to get home and fill him in. But Torrey was all for it, and she was making a list of food to take with her before I left.”

  “I want to go, too,” Chris said. “Sounds like a lot of fun, and if Torrey’s baking … You might want to check with Laryn and see if she and Steve want to go.”

  “I will, tomorrow,” Kevin said with a yawn. “But I’m done for today. All I want now is sleep.”

  Chapter 59

  Count Down

  Late Wednesday afternoon, Kevin sent sealed messages to Darrell, Cpt. Lawrence, and Marcus to meet him that evening at 9:00. He wanted the pages and most of the castle staff to be gone for the day. The less people who knew they were meeting, the less speculation there would be about the topic.

  Chris dismissed the pages when he got back from dinner, and shortly before nine, he closed the office for the night. Then he opened the door to Kevin’s office and asked, “Do you want me to get anything from the kitchen?”

  “I’d love some scog, but if we get enough for everyone, someone’ll notice.”

  “Need anything else before we get started?”

  Kevin shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “Do you think this will work?”

  “I have no idea, but since I don’t have anything better to offer …”

  “That’s the way I feel.”

  A knock on Kevin’s door interrupted them. When Chris opened it, Marcus walked in. “You wanted to see me?”

  Kevin nodded. “Have a seat. We’ll start as soon as Darrell and Cpt. Lawrence get here.”

  Marcus sat down and frowned. “Mind if I ask what this is about?”

  “It’s Darrell’s plan, so I’d rather he explain it to you.”

  Marcus leaned back and sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

  Chris laughed. “No, it’s nothing like that. He hasn’t come up with some new training exercise to torture you with.”

  Kevin grinned. “That didn’t even cross my mind. This is about finding out who our spy is.”

  “You mean the one who set me and Landis up?”

  Kevin nodded.

  Marcus sat up straight. “Then whatever it is, count me in.”

  They didn’t have to wait long before the other two knocked on Kevin’s door.

  Darrell nodded towards Marcus and Chris, and looked at Kevin. “We’re still on for this Saturday, aren’t we?”

  Kevin nodded. “I think we need to make some preparations and I didn’t want to do it without the two of you.”

  “What kind of preparations?” Cpt. Lawrence asked.

  “We need to tell Marcus what’s going on for one thing. Why don’t you tell him what you have in mind?”

  Darrell and Cpt. Lawrence went through their plan. The only thing they left out was the list of suspects.

  While they talked, Kevin listened and jotted down a couple of notes. When they were done, he said, “I’ve talked to Landis. She’s willing to do her part, and she had suggestions for the other two errands.” He looked over at Marcus. “You lifted a tree so she and Rhianna could rescue a kitten. Do you remember that?”

  Marcus nodded. “At Cira’s. She told Landis she could have it after it was weaned if she wanted it.”

  “Landis said she’d like to have the kitten. She wasn’t planning to come back to get it, but since we need a couple of errands, she’d like for that to be one of them.”

  Chris frowned. “A kitten? There?”

  Kevin shook his head. “She’ll take it to her foster parents and let it stay there while she’s training.”

  “We’ll need a carry case, and I know just who to ask to make it,” Darrell said with a grin.

  Marcus looked confused. “Who?”

  Darrell hesitated and looked at Kevin.

  Kevin shrugged. “He’s the one who got shot. I think if anyone deserves to know who the suspects are, he does.”

  Cpt. Lawrence nodded and told Marcus who they were looking at.

  When he was done, everyone looked at Marcus to see his reaction, but Marcus just shrugged. “I don’t know any of them well enough to say one way or the other.” After a moment, he added, “I do have one request though.”

  Kevin frowned and asked, “What?”

  “I know you’re not planning to say anything now, but one day you’ll decide to confront the spy, and when you do, I want to be there.”

  Kevin nodded. “As long as you aren’t planning to turn our spy into a pile of ashes.”

  Marcus laughed. “I won’t do that, but I’m not going to promise not to slug him.” Then he asked, “What was the second errand Landis suggested?”

  “She said an older lady gave all of you something to drink and some muffins after you got the tree off her chimney. Do you know who she’s talking about?”

  Again, Marcus nodded. “Bekka.”

  “Landis suggested taking her a basket of baked goods or something like that to thank her for her kindness.”

  “And I know who to ask to get the basket ready,” Darrell said with a nod. He started to get up. “Is that it?”

  “Not quite,” Kevin answered. “Someone needs to talk to Cira and make sure the kitten’s still alive, and that it’s still all right for Landis to have it. We need to let her know it will be picked up this weekend, and then we need to pick it up.”

  “I saw Cira the other day,” Marcus said. “She told me to let Landis know the kitten’s ready. I can go by and tell her I’ll be out there Saturday afternoon to get it.”

  Kevin shook his head. “I don’t want you anywhere near there Saturday. If you show up out there and there’s an assassin in the area, you may get shot to avenge Saryn.”

  “Let him try,” Marcus grumbled. “I’ll be ready this time.”

  “Well, I’d rather avoid that altogether. We’ll pick it up after this whole thing’s over and done with. Let her know it’ll be this weekend, but that’s it.”

  Marcus nodded.

  “What else do we need to do?” Darrell asked.

  “Someone needs to talk to Joan and Jana. If we’re going to send them a note saying Landis is going to drop by, they need to be at home to get it.”

  “Do you want to do that?” Darrell asked. “Or do you want me to?”

  “I thought I’d tell Joan and let her talk to Jana,” Kevin a
nswered. “Both of them are used to keeping things quiet.”

  “Has anyone mentioned anything about all of this to Theresa?” Darrell asked.

  Kevin nodded. “I did, including the special tea for enhancing Landis’s ability to gather and store energy. She said she’ll have a tea packaged with Landis’s name on it and she’ll send a note up here to tell me she has it ready.”

  “Did you come up with some way to avoid sending two messages to the chapel?” Darrell asked.

  “Theresa’s taking care of that one,” Kevin said with a grin. “Hayley will be at Wanda’s Saturday morning.”

  Marcus laughed, but Darrell and Cpt. Lawrence both frowned.

  “Wanda’s?” Darrell asked. “I don’t understand.”

  “Once a month one of the sisters goes out to Wanda’s farm and examines her husband and all eight children,” Marcus explained. “It’s a lot simpler for a sister to go there than for Wanda to round them all up and get them to the chapel, but while she’s there, the sister has to examine a couple of cows, a horse or two, the dogs, and a few dolls. It’s a full morning’s work, and Wanda always cooks a big meal and insists the sister stay for lunch.”

  “So Marcus can write a note asking Hayley to meet him in Fenway’s garden around 2:00 for a mug of scog,” Kevin explained.

  “If I do that, someone needs to meet her. If no one shows up, she’ll sit there and wait all afternoon,” Marcus pointed out.

  “I’ll go,” Chris said.

  Darrell looked at Marcus. “You’ll have to be here early Saturday morning, and then stay out of sight until evening.”

  Marcus nodded. “But I have a question. Who’s going to ask these different people to deliver the messages or whatever. Last time, I handled that.”

  “Let me think about it,” Kevin said. “I’ll let you know what you’ll need to handle.” Kevin glanced around. “I think we need to divide this up so one person doesn’t make all the arrangements. Any questions?”

  No one said anything, so Kevin nodded. “Guess that’s it. Keep your fingers crossed this works.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  While Kevin was at lunch Thursday, Joan asked Ariel to let her know when Kevin had a few minutes. So when Kevin walked in the door, Ariel asked when he’d have time to see her.

  “I’ll go see her now,” Kevin answered. “If anyone needs me, tell them I’ll be back in a bit.”

  When Kevin got to Joan’s office, she sent Petri on a list of errands and told him to pull the door to behind him as he left. “I haven’t had a chance to tell Karl any of this, so I’ll tell you both at the same time. Let’s go in his office.”

  “Before we do that,” Kevin said, “I need to ask you something. Will you be at home Saturday morning?”

  “As far as I know. Why?”

  “I need to send you a message. When you get it, I want you to open it, read it, and tell whoever brings it that it’s fine.”

  “Okay,” Joan said slowly. “And what do I do then?”

  “Nothing. That’s it. And you can ignore whatever’s in the message. I just need for it to be delivered and for you to go along with what it says.”

  “You’ll explain this to me one day, right?”

  Kevin nodded. “I need to send a message to Jana too, same instructions. Can you let her know?”

  “She needs to be home, say whatever’s in the message is fine, and then forget the whole thing?”

  Again, Kevin nodded.

  “She’ll want to know what it’s all about, too,” Joan said as she stood up. “I’ll go out there later this afternoon. Anything else?”

  “No, that’s it.”

  “Okay. Let’s go see Karl.”

  Once they were seated in Karl’s office, Joan said, “I went to see Debra yesterday afternoon. You both know Tonnie has scars that aren’t the result of typical childhood mishaps. Well, they were caused by a hot fire poker.”

  When both Kevin and Karl’s jaws dropped, Joan shook her head. “Hang on. Not what you’re thinking. Tonnie was a slave in Malcolm’s castle, but she never laid eyes on him as far as she knows. Before you get angry with him, other than keeping her as a slave, he never did anything to her.” Joan looked hard at Kevin.

  When she felt sure he’d heard her, she went on. “She and four other little girls worked from midnight to mid-morning clearing out the fireplaces, scrubbing down the hearths, and getting them ready to be lit again the next day. An older woman, one who was sort of feeble and, from the sound of it, half-blind, went with them to supervise. She’d use the fire poker to break down the fire and scatter it so the girls could put it out and clear out the ashes, which means the poker was hot and covered with ash. Then, while they worked, she’d use the poker to show them where coals were still glowing, to point out spots they’d missed, and so on. Only she wasn’t too good at getting the poker from one point to another without hitting someone. Since Tonnie was the oldest, she tried to keep herself between the poker and the other girls to keep them from getting burned, but in the process she got burned, a lot. Some left scars, some didn’t, but she ended up with fresh burns on a daily basis.”

  For a couple of minutes, no one said anything. Then Kevin said, “I hate it happened, but at least she wasn’t tortured.”

  Karl nodded and looked at Joan. “But how does that explain her behavior? The way she always tried to take over with the younger children in the playground, telling them what to do and how to do it.”

  “Tonnie was the oldest of the four, so she was the lead. When they were off duty, they shared a bedroom and Tonnie was held responsible for seeing to it they went to bed when they were supposed to, got up when they were supposed to, and so on. She was in charge. So when she came here and found herself the oldest in her group, she took charge. It’s what she was used to. She’s been fine since she’s been at Debra’s. She’s relaxed a lot. She’s not nearly as nervous as she was, not as jumpy.”

  “That’s good,” Kevin said with a nod. “Is Debra willing to keep her long term? Or do we need to find a permanent home for her?”

  Joan shook her head. “I don’t know. I know Debra won’t kick her out, but we didn’t talk about long-term plans. I’ll find out and let you know.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  It was 11:00 before Kevin made it to his room Friday night. He’d been swamped with castle business since dinner. Cryslyn wanted to make some personnel changes, Miranda wanted to make some menu changes, and Neiven wanted to change a few of the stable routines.

  Kevin had no idea why they felt it necessary to ask him when they wanted to make changes. He didn’t know what they did to start with. The only thing that affected him was the menu change, but he doubted he’d have noticed the changes if she hadn’t said something. Next time he’d suggest she talk the menu over with Chris. At least he’d be interested.

  As Kevin dragged himself into his room and over to his couch, he mentally ran through the plans for the next day. He needed to leave before sunrise and he’d be lucky to get back to his room before midnight tomorrow night. It would be one long day, but if he knew the identity of Rolan’s spy by the end of it, it would be worth it.

  He hadn’t been seated more than a minute before the door between his room and Chris’s opened and Chris walked in carrying two mugs of scog, one half empty.

  “I got these when I came up,” Chris said as he handed Kevin the full mug. “I thought you were right behind me. What happened?”

  “Neiven happened.”

  Chris frowned as he sat down. “What did he want?”

  “I’m not sure. Something about having Marshall come in a little later in the morning, clean out the stable first, and leave exercising the horses until afternoon during the winter months. I wasn’t really listening,” Kevin admitted. “I wouldn’t begin to tell him how to manage the stable, and what’s more, I think he knows it. Same with Cryslyn and Miranda. I don’t meddle in their business any more than I’d meddle in Neiven’s, but technically I’m in charge, so they ask before the
y do it. And since they ask, I say fine, even though most of the time I have no idea what I’m approving. So, if there’s no coffee tomorrow morning, you know who to blame.”

  “Right,” Chris said with a laugh. “Haven’t you noticed? Everything’s your fault.”

  Kevin cut his eyes at Chris as he drank some scog.

  “Is everything set for tomorrow?”

  Kevin nodded. “The spotters need to be in place before dawn, so it’s going to be an early start. You don’t need to get up though.”

  “What time are you getting up?”

  “I told Rupert to wake me at 3:30.”

  “He’s going to wonder why.”

  “He may wonder, but he won’t say anything. He never does. But I did tell him I won’t need a bodyguard tomorrow morning, so not to expect either of them to show up.”

  Chris nodded. “What’s your first stop?”

  “Warren and Torrey’s. I told him I’d be there a little before four to take them to Shadron’s. I thought I’d get everyone there, and then, when it’s closer to daybreak, I’ll take the six spotters to their posts.”

  “Torrey will have coffee for you.”

  “I told her not to, that Kayla would have plenty.”

  “When do you plan to get back here?”

  “Hopefully before dawn so I can go out back and run through my routine before I go get Landis.”

  “For show?”

  Kevin nodded. “But if anyone’s paying attention, I want tomorrow morning to look like the start to any other Saturday.”

  “So, I’ll go down while you’re out there and get coffee and something for breakfast, although you’ll probably be ready for lunch.”

  Kevin laughed. “Just get me more cheese than anything else. You can have the pastries.”

  “Fine with me.” Chris stood up to go. “If you’re getting up at 3:30, you better get to bed.”

  Chapter 60

  To Catch A Spy

  Kevin was sleeping so hard when Rupert knocked on his door at 3:30 Saturday morning, he didn’t hear a thing. Rupert opened the door and called him, but that didn’t work either. After a couple of minutes, Rupert gave up and knocked on Chris’s door.

 

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