‘I don’t wish to be indelicate or even insulting, my dear Pulcheria, but is this all your own idea?’
‘Of course not. But the method is, and the passion.’ I got up and walked over to the bank of screens, not looking into any particular one of them. After a few moments, I turned to face him. ‘You have the organisation and connections, I have the money and high-earning potential. I think there is common interest here, if we share the same goals. That’s the crux of the matter.’
‘Who are you?’
‘Pulcheria.’ I paused. ‘A citizen.’
‘Straight answer, please. DJ, PGSF or something else?’
‘Something else is probably the nearest I can give you at present.’
‘Hmm. Neither body normally has such resources. You must have some official backing.’
‘I need your agreement before I can say anything else.’
‘Do I need to decide now?’
‘Yes.’
‘And if I don’t?’
‘Please don’t force me to answer that question.’
After a long five minutes, he rose and crossed the room. The open edge of his black coat touched my arm. He stared down at my face. ‘I have to say you do nothing but surprise me, Pulcheria. Very well, I agree, subject to an indemnity for my people.’
He stepped back and we shook hands, formally, like a couple of mafiosi in a movie.
‘So do tell me who your mystery backer is.’
‘The operation is legalised directly and personally by imperial order, entirely independent and covert from other services or operations.’
‘Mercury Esus!’
‘Now you know why I couldn’t say.’
He buttoned up his coat. ‘I’ve just realised what a dangerous place I’ve put myself in. If we get it wrong, I’ll have not only ruthless drug dealers after me, but an imperial hit squad as well.’
‘You’ll have the consolation of knowing I’ll be in jail till the next millennium.’
XLVI
I moved into his house by the river the next day. The first afternoon, Philippus collected me from the club, ushering me into a silver Mercedes with a bow verging on the ironic. We approached the exterior gate of Apollodorus’s house with its graceful stone arch, negotiated the coded entry system and drove over a gravel area, through another gateway with barred gates curved to fit the archway, finials a breath away from the stone. The Venetian scrollwork disguised how solid they were. They shut with little more than a clink, as metal kissed metal.
We stopped under a portico in the interior courtyard where a servant led me through into the atrium. Not as large as at Domus Mitelarum, but more elegant, minimalist even. White upholstered benches ran around three sides, and alcoves placed along their length provided intimate seating areas. I looked up at the large glazed bull’s eye in the roof through which late spring sunlight fell; it made artificial lighting redundant.
Through the glazed doors at the far side, trees bordering a veranda swayed in the breeze casting flickering shadows on the stonework. I glimpsed the river between Scots pines and cypresses that obscured the house from prying eyes on the opposite bank.
Apollodorus was waiting for me in an alcove on the right wall of the atrium. His head was bowed; he was sifting paper in a file, like a public servant sorting health permits. Didn’t they have computers? But when he looked up and focused his gaze on me, I was taken aback again by the power of the man, the concentrated force in him, here, in his own lair. Would I be able to control him? Had I made a huge mistake?
‘My dear Pulcheria. Welcome. Come and sit down.’ He laid his papers to one side and glanced once into the distance, and a servant appeared with two glasses of white wine.
‘Not quite sundown.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘But we can cheat a little.’
I was sure Apollodorus cheated in many ways, little and big.
‘I think we’d better go through a few details together before I introduce you to my associates,’ he continued.
I set my glass down on the table. ‘Apollodorus, one of the most important things I need is for you to run the day-to-day business of the new organisation. Naturally, the financial split will reflect that. I wish to remain in the background as much as possible.’
‘So I’m to be your front man?’ He chuckled, which was disconcerting from such an intense man.
‘I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I want to be completely straightforward with you – I don’t have the time to play games.’
He leaned forward, his head slightly tilted. ‘You must never, ever worry about being truthful with me.’
At that moment, I was sure he had his own agenda for fighting the drugs trade.
Apollodorus led me to a black and white room at the back where two men and a woman sat at a dining table, talking; she was gesturing at the others with a sheet of paper from the open file in front of her. The other two looked evasive. I paused in the doorway. Faces swivelled in my direction, three gazes moving as one. A close-knit team, all criminals, yet they were to be my new best friends. Apollodorus ushered me in.
Philippus, his round face neutral, pushed his chair away from the table, stood up and extended his hand.
‘Ah, Philippus you already know.’
I nodded at him as we shook hands.
‘Flavius here,’ Apollodorus gestured toward the quiet one I’d seen with him at Dania’s and Goldlights, ‘has been fortunate enough not to have served you yet for target practice, Pulcheria. I trust his good luck will continue to be unbroken.’
I didn’t know whether to laugh or be furious with Apollodorus. I soon learned he spoke in this ironic way all the time. You had to be most careful when his tone softened to a whisper.
Flavius had a light but nonetheless definite handshake. His mousey brown hair and mid-brown eyes made a pleasant but not outstanding combination, which made a great asset for a criminal or a spook; nobody remembered the average. He stayed quiet as before, but nodded and gave me a half-smile.
‘And lastly, for the moment, we have Hermina, who recruits our team members and looks after their security and welfare.’ She nodded her blond head. I took her outstretched hand.
‘You’ll meet Dolcius, my technical assistant, and Justus, who handles, ah, intelligence, a little later.’ He turned to Hermina. ‘Dolcius is occupied with a project I set him, but I am a little disappointed that Justus is not here. Perhaps you would convey that to him, Hermina.’
The atmosphere in the room chilled by several degrees.
‘Of course, Apollodorus. I’ll see to it immediately.’ She sprang up to carry out his request.
‘One moment, Hermina. Tell him we’ll meet in the atrium at eight o’clock for drinks before dinner. No exceptions.’
Apollodorus gave me a tour of the house. Quite a number of the rooms were undecorated. Three upper-storey rooms were being converted.
‘It was built approximately five centuries ago, and updated twenty years ago, quite sympathetically. Sadly, they ran out of funding. I acquired it two years ago in settlement of a debt.’
‘What will you use the outhouses for? Manufacturing, workshop areas, offices?’
He looked at me with an inscrutable air. ‘Nothing is planned as yet, but if you have any suggestions, I should, of course, be delighted to hear about them, my dear Pulcheria.’
Was that yes, he would be interested or no, keep your nose out?
We progressed to a bedroom on the first floor looking out over the garden and river. It was pale blue, simply furnished; a vase of tiny yellow roses and rosemary stood on a small table under the window.
‘I hope you’ll be comfortable here. There’s a bathroom through there,’ he said, indicating one of two almost invisible doors to the side, ‘and a wardrobe cupboard next to it. I’ve had your things unpacked. I’ll leave you to get settled in and see you in a short while.’
He nodded and was gone.
I stayed in the black leather jacket and skirt I was fast adopting as my sign
ature outfit. I checked out the closet, washed my hands and face, and dragged a comb through my curls. With one last glance in the mirror, I took a deep breath and went out into the corridor. Closing the door behind me, I turned and saw Flavius. He hadn’t changed from his casuals.
‘Walk down with you?’ he said.
He had a voice to suit his plain appearance but, when he smiled, his whole face was transformed.
‘Sure.’
‘I want to see Justus’s face when we walk in together.’
‘Why?’
He grinned. ‘He likes to put one over on everybody, to show how superior he is. He enjoys making others feel uncomfortable and inferior. I don’t know why he does it. He’s good at his job – he doesn’t need to prove anything.’
I looked at him. ‘Are you trying to protect me?’
‘Of course not. What do you take me for?’
Poor Justus. He really shouldn’t have. Flavius and I crossed the atrium to where Apollodorus, Hermina and two men I hadn’t seen before stood, relaxing over drinks. As we approached, Apollodorus broke off his conversation with one of the men. He watched my last few steps, and I kept my eyes locked on his. Maybe I was on probation, but no way would I let a nanoparticle of my anxiety show.
‘Do allow me to present two other members of my team. Firstly, Dolcius, our technical wizard…’
I shook hands with an older man, bearded, the type that ‘harrumphed’ and saw the world as one big laboratory. He didn’t wear a white coat, but he scrutinised my face with intent. After all of two seconds, he set his sharp eyes off darting all over the place, as if his brain cells were in hot pursuit of some idea, but he seemed friendly enough.
‘…and Justus, our informer, who finds out all kinds of interesting things for us.’
In Latin, ‘informer’ doesn’t mean ratty little sneak that American cop shows feature, but more like intelligence agent or detective. Looking at Justus, I went with the cop-show definition. A smooth, knowing half-smile glided across his lips, leaving no trace on the rest of his unremarkable face.
‘I must apologise for not meeting you earlier, Pulcheria,’ he said.
I bet Apollodorus had given him hell for that.
‘I’m intrigued by your story and find it strange that I haven’t heard of you before.’
I said nothing.
‘Surely you’re not from the sticks?’
I laughed in his face and carried on sipping my wine.
‘So where are you from?’
‘C’mon, Justus,’ interrupted Flavius, ‘just relax, for once. Pulcheria doesn’t need the third degree.’
‘Oh, I’m only on the first,’ he sneered.
‘Never mind, dear,’ I said, looking through Justus’s irises direct into his eyeballs and patting him on the back of his hand, ‘we all have to start somewhere.’
I spotted the tiniest quiver on Apollodorus’s lip. Justus looked furious.
‘Don’t think you can get round me like that. I’ll find out anyway.’
I gave a tinkling laugh. ‘My dear Justus, I’m sure you’ll find wonderful ways to keep yourself occupied. But if you get anywhere near me or mine, I will tear you apart without a shred of compunction.’
The silence fell like a sharp January frost on a cloudless night.
I smiled sweetly at him. ‘I do hope, now that’s clear, we can be good friends.’
At that moment, dinner was announced and Apollodorus took my arm by the elbow and led me in.
‘You do like a risk, don’t you?’ he murmured.
‘I like to be unambiguous.’
Whatever the temper of the diners, the food was excellent. Justus continued to dart angry glances at me and Philippus kept ragging him about it. After a while, Apollodorus became bored.
‘Enough. This is not a playground. Pulcheria is my honoured colleague. That is all you need to know.’
XLVII
After dinner, I asked Hermina about access to and from the house. She planned to provide me with an ID wristband the next day.
‘Oh, that’s fine, but I need to go for a run first thing in the morning.’
She gave me a wary look. ‘You could go with the twins.’
‘The who?’
‘Flav and Phil. They’re always together, except when Phil was sick recently and Flav had a temporary partner.’ She paused. ‘Ah, of course, you met him, the temp. The doctor says that although the knife wound has closed, the wrist bruising will take ages to disappear.’
An awkward pause hung between us.
Hermina cleared her throat. ‘Well, generally, they set off from the kitchen at about six thirty. Tell one of them tonight and they’ll wait for you.’
Next morning, I waited in my jogging suit and sneakers at six twenty-five. By six thirty, they still weren’t there. I was getting annoyed by six thirty-five. Just as I was giving up, they ambled in. I couldn’t resist looking at my watch.
‘Oh dear, are we late?’ said Philippus, smirking.
‘I am not accustomed to waiting.’
He was about to make a joke of it when he must have seen what Conrad called my ‘Aurelia face’. Flavius made no comment and put his wrist to the door scanlock to release it, but I caught a half-smile breaking up his solemn expression.
We got going and, inevitably, it turned competitive. They were male, young and fit. I played along, happy to trot a step behind as they upped the pace. After four kilometres, I became irritated with the testosterone display so, about half a kilometre out from the house, I accelerated. When they joined me by the back door, I stood there, fully composed, foot tapping, looking at my watch.
‘D’you know something, Pulcheria?’ wheezed Philippus. ‘I’m amazed nobody’s strangled you yet.’
I laughed. ‘You want to try?’
‘No way.’
Later that morning, Apollodorus briefed his team on our operation. I sat back and studied my fingernails in detail.
‘Pluto, it’s a risk, isn’t it, playing with these drug people?’ said Philippus. ‘I mean, I’ve heard about some of the vicious retaliation handed out if you cross them.’
‘Yes, it’s a bit different from what we do, isn’t it?’ Hermina shuddered. ‘Perhaps I’m being romantic, but we don’t get involved in anything so…so sordid.’
No, Hermina, I thought. You do theft, protection, gambling and financial scams flavoured with a little blackmail. All clean fun, of course.
‘Two experienced DJs, no, one of them was PGSF, were dragged out of the sewer, stuffed with heroin, burst eyes and faces. Not that I’m going to cry myself to sleep over that,’ commented the ever-charming Justus. ‘But my information shows there’s already some systematic small-time activity approaching the tipping point where it snowballs into mass application.’
I stared at Justus, jamming my lips together to stifle my laughter. Had he swallowed a 1990s management manual?
Apollodorus avoided looking at me. ‘Flavius?’
‘On balance, it’s a risk, a big one. We could end up in a nasty war.’ He looked down at the table and played with his papers. ‘Strategically, we need to make a decision soon. If, on the one hand, we delay making connections and setting up partnership arrangements with these people, we could miss out on profitable deals. We risk being sidelined. Our income proportion will diminish if they succeed in getting a foothold here. We might even be forced out of business altogether. On the other hand, if we decide to stop them, we have to do it now or it’ll be too difficult. At least with Pulcheria’s help, we have the financial resources to do it.’ He glanced around the table. ‘Personally, I think it’s a disgusting thing to force on people and destroy lives.’
Justus snorted. ‘You’re a soft fool, Flavius. Do forgive me for being obvious,’ he said, fixing me in his sights, ‘but how do we know it’s not a sting against us?’
‘You don’t,’ I said, looking up through my eyelashes.
They all stared at me except Apollodorus who smiled.
J
ustus threw his hands up in the air. ‘I rest my case.’ He looked at Apollodorus. ‘I think it’s highly likely to be a trap, so we should stop here and dump her. Preferably in the public sewer. Unless we get something much more satisfactory about her motives and the reason she’s so graciously giving us the money to do this, I vote no.’
‘Thank you, Justus, for your usual graphic comments,’ said Apollodorus. He paused for a few seconds and locked eyes with Justus. ‘I generally value your contributions very highly. You may, perhaps, have forgotten that this is not a democratic organisation – I merely invite you to comment. You have no vote. It would be a pity if you were to forget that.’
Justus’s face took on a faint pink tinge. He dropped his gaze, chagrined.
‘Pulcheria?’
‘I respect what everybody has said, but I think Flavius has the crux of the matter. It is about timing. Justus was correct, also, in one aspect.’
Philippus and Hermina looked at me as if I was crazy.
‘I agree the tipping point is approaching. My information is that it’s gone beyond personal use and casual dealing. A dangerous moment.’ I looked around at all of them. ‘You question my motivation. I’ve discussed this with Apollodorus. He’s satisfied. The subject is closed. The finance? This may come as news, but I intend using my investment to make a profit out of your organisation.’
Philippus chuckled.
‘If you don’t object, Apollodorus, people may like to discuss any issues one-to-one with me.’ I panned around the table. ‘I’ll be in my room after lunch until six, so please feel free to come and talk with me.’
Apollodorus looked at me, raised an eyebrow but didn’t say a word. The meeting broke up. As the others left, he gestured me to stay with him. ‘An interesting invitation, Pulcheria.’
‘If they’re to buy into this, Apollo, then it has to be a hundred per cent.’
He looked at me with a blend of hauteur and disbelief, like I’d stepped on his cat or stubbed a cigarette out on his favourite leather couch.
INCEPTIO (Roma Nova) Page 19