I held my cell out to her. ‘Give me Stella’s tracker code, and your consent, and we’ll find her.’
*
‘All right, Bruna, I apologise. I was wrong,’ Lurio said.
‘Say it to Allegra, and the imperatrix, and I’ll believe you.’
We were about to leave the imperial office area, when Favonius Cotta appeared. He didn’t say a thing, just held out the scanner with my old warrant card sticking out, waited for me to tap my access code in, confirmed it and handed me the card which I stuffed in my pocket.
Lurio, Pelonia and I found a quiet corner in the palace atrium. When I’d seen Nicola captured on Pico’s phone, I thought I was going to throw up. But somehow I knew it would be her.
I told Lurio about Fausta’s discovery that the public feed had been doctored and promised to email them her list of sightings and screenshots.
‘I’ll instruct her to release the hacker into your custody.’
‘Very gracious of you,’ he grumped. ‘Anything else you’d like to share?’
‘I have an idea about where Nicola’s hiding out.’ I told him about our reconnaissance and observation over the past week. I didn’t mention Conrad’s part.
‘I should book you for—’
‘Yes, I’m sure you should but I was trying to figure out how to set a trap.’ I laid my hand on his arm. ‘She’s good, Lurio, she’s very good. You won’t round her up in the usual way. She’ll run, go to ground and we’ll have to start over.’
He grunted, but seemed to accept it.
I hesitated as I held the scanner to activate Stella’s personal tracker code. The tiny tracking device had been inserted into her shoulder tissue when she was a small child. It had never been triggered. Only the head of family could authorise it and in emergencies only. Unlike an external tag that convicted criminals wore, it was designed for protection not control. And she’d always had Praetorians around her.
I entered the code and tapped. The map grid disappeared as the signal zoomed in on a ten metre square at the ruined castle.
Pelonia hurried off to send a deep cover team into the woods and step up the overhead electronic surveillance on the caves. I called Daniel to ask him to release Flavius, Livius and Paula to RV at the far end of the palace gardens in twenty minutes.
‘Very well,’ he said. ‘As it’s official this time, you’ll have proper back up, like it or not. Two squads will be covert in the garden.’
I didn’t argue. Then I called on Conrad for the most dangerous task.
*
In the back of the private palace garden I gave the signal to disable the back sector of the electronic perimeter alarm. I watched as the inspection hatch of the overhead protective canopy opened with a soft hum as the hydraulic support arms were exposed.
The canopy arched away from the cliff over the back five metres of the garden, long struts parallel to the back cliff and shorter ones forming the curved structure. A beautiful piece of modern engineering and style, but lethal; all the edges were razor sharp to discourage interlopers.
I was already kitted up by the time the others arrived. I studied the climb up to the old castle rock. Although it was virtually sheer, it was sandstone and had enough possible handholds. The only risk was falling on to the barrier and getting cut up like salami. But it was the only way up that Nicola couldn’t see. With the custodes in the woods, we couldn’t risk inserting any more people up that road; it was too late for infiltration as tourists. Daniel and Lurio would sit in the PGSF control room and do the hardest part – waiting.
Livius and Paula would climb as a roped pair followed by me and Flavius. I nodded and we approached the base. As Livius set his foot on the rock, my cell vibrated in my pocket.
‘Mama? It’s Allegra.’ Her voice was only just higher than a whisper.
‘Can I call you back, darling, I’m a little busy right now.’
Livius rolled his eyes.
‘No. This is important. I’ve found Nicola.’
I gripped the cell so hard, my fingers ached.
‘Where are you?’
‘Up behind the old castle. I saw Nicola with Stella in the town. I was on my way to visit her again. Nicola was dragging her along by the arm. So I followed them on my scooter.’
Shit.
‘Where exactly are you?’
‘Hiding. Down behind the last buttress on the west curtain wall, near the cliff.’
She sounded super calm. Unnaturally calm. Was Nicola holding a gun to her head? I closed my eyes. No, her voice would be more stilted. Was she in the grip of some trauma after her attack?
‘Mama? Are you there?
‘Yes. Yes, I’m here.’ I swallowed hard. I wanted to shake her hard for plunging into this, but now was not the time to let my temper out. ‘Now listen, Allegra, and don’t mess with me. I want you to stay there. Do not move. If you get cramp, too bad. Do not sneeze – grab your nose and bury your head in your clothes. Do not fidget. Don’t peek around the buttress even if you hear a scream. Set your cell to low vibrate only and put it next to your skin, but within easy reach. I won’t call you unless it’s crucial. Do you understand?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good. I’m on my way. Don’t react if you see me, or Flavius or the two other soldiers. Nicola may have spotted you and be leaving you there as bait. I don’t want to frighten you, but you have to understand why you must not react.’
‘I understand.’
‘Can you manage that, do you think?’
‘Yes.’ Determination sounded through her thin voice.
‘One last thing… Where did you leave your scooter?’
‘Oh! Behind the kiosk.’
‘Okay. That’s fine.’
‘No, it’s not, is it?’ Her voice trembled at last.
‘It’s fine, Allegra. If she comes up the road, she won’t see it. Promise,’ I lied and cut the call.
‘Fucking Pluto in Tartarus.’ I leaned back against the cliff and closed my eyes for a few moments. All three soldiers looked at me with concern on their faces. I shook my head to clear it.
‘Let’s get up there stat.’
It only took twenty minutes. It was hard work but not fatiguing. Livius and Paula climbed five metres to our right. The temperature was dropping, but wasn’t cold enough to plume our breath. Half a metre below the crest, I eased my night periscope up, a centimetre at a time. Sure, we were out of sight line of the caves, but this was Nicola we were dealing with, a trained and experienced reconnaissance expert.
‘Bruna, Livius. Anything?’
‘Zero. Wait five.’
After five minutes of seeing nothing, I eased myself up over the edge and crawled forward on my stomach, using my elbows to propel my body forwards. The curtain wall loomed and I saw the first buttress and the dark shadow of a figure slumped against it.
Unless Nicola had learned to see around corners, Allegra was safe. I let a breath out slowly and relaxed my shoulders. I unclipped my climbing harness and crept along the crest very slowly. I knew the fabric of my fatigues dimmed my heat signature, but I assumed nothing. It was only ten metres to the protection of the wall, but they seemed like a hundred.
Halfway there, the figure stirred and cast around with anxious eyes. It was my Allegra. She didn’t make a sound, but gave me a little smile. Then her face crumpled and I saw tears, reflecting like drops of moonlight. But she kept still.
I covered the last metre and pulled her into my arms.
She sniffed. ‘Don’t suppose you’ve brought anything to eat with you?’ she whispered.
XXXVI
A tiny movement behind me.
‘Bruna,’ Livius whispered, crouching down. The barrel of his sniper rifle stuck out above his shoulder like he was some bandit in a Balkan movie. He winked at Allegra. She stared back, wide-eyed.
‘Livius, you and Paula go to the kiosk,’ I whispered. ‘Flav and I will go for the side of the entrance steps. When the diversion appears, move to the base of the ri
sing cliff, left of the first cave as before.’ I glanced at my watch. ‘You have seven minutes.’
He turned and murmured into his mic and Paula appeared seconds later. He studied the far cliff with his binoculars for about half a minute, nodded at Paula and the two of them loped off. My arms triangulated in support, I zoomed my own scope to max and watched the caves while they deployed but saw nothing through the green light world.
‘Bruna, Livius. In position.’
‘Livius, Bruna. Noted. Cover us. Out.’
I smiled at Allegra. ‘We have to go and do stuff. I need you to stay here and wait. You can move a little, but don’t stand up. You may hear gunshots or other noises, but stay here. I or one of the others will come back and fetch you when it’s over.’ I searched her face, but she seemed calm enough. ‘Can you do this?’
She nodded. I wrapped a cam survival blanket from my backpack around her and left her munching on a super-cal chocolate fruit bar.
My heart left by the buttress, I turned and crept after Flav.
*
Four and one half minutes later, the noise of a car engine broke the silence. As it grew louder, we readied ourselves. A compact, but sporty convertible, silver in the moonlight, came into view and parked up on the other side of the entrance steps where Flav and I were hunkered down.
A tall man pulled himself out of the driver’s side, stood in the shelter of the open door and looked around casually, his hand and forearm resting on the soft roof. Seeming satisfied with what he saw, he stepped back and slammed the door. His shoes crunched on the gravel as he walked around the vehicle, leaned back against the other side and crossed his arms.
Beside me, Flavius took a sharp intake of breath. He’d recognised Conrad’s features in the orange light from the floodlights. Before I could say anything, my earpiece pinged.
‘Bruna, Livius. In position at the base of the caves. Nothing yet.’
‘Maintain position and observe.’
Conrad looked at his watch in a very deliberate manner then started to walk around in a random pattern as if to relieve the boredom of waiting for the person he was meeting to turn up. We didn’t know if Nicola was there or if she’d take the bait of Conrad. But she had to know we’d come for her when she’d abducted Stella.
I was getting a crick in my neck looking through the binoculars pointing up at the caves when I saw a tiny disturbance in the entrance to the middle cave. A thin line was let down the right edge. Spaced about a foot apart along the length were large loops for hand and footholds.
Conrad jerked upright when he saw two figures descending the rope. With my binocs, I saw Stella, clinging on to the line as it swung around, struggling to find loops for her feet. She missed one and slipped down the cliff face.
Juno.
I covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself crying out. Then she grabbed on to the next one with her flailing arm. I thought she was going to plunge all the way down. Nicola followed, her hands and feet finding the loops without any problem like it was a stroll through the park.
I swallowed hard then whispered into my mic, ‘Livius, Bruna. Track target at twenty metres.’
At the base of the cliff, I saw Stella, hands stretched out towards Nicola, as if begging for something. Nicola’s hand came up and struck Stella’s face. Stella fell and disappeared from sight. Conrad ran forward but froze when a short volley of shots rang out. Nicola had a micro-bullpup rifle in her hand and had fired over his head.
‘Bruna, TAC-1. We heard live fire. Report status.’
Pelonia.
‘TAC-1, Bruna. All well. Stand by until further notice. Out.’ I didn’t want Pelonia’s scarabs rushing in with their flat feet all over the site.
Nicola reached down and hauled Stella to her feet. She gave her a strong shove in the direction of the castle. Stella’s figure wavered as she stumbled through the wild shrubs and brambles eventually reaching the grass area in front of the castle ruins. Her arms and legs were covered in scratches; unlike Nicola’s sturdy jeans and blouson, Stella’s thin dress and sandals might as well not have existed. She was trembling violently.
Around ten metres from Conrad, Nicola grabbed Stella’s arm and jerked it hard. ‘That’s far enough.’
Through my binocs I saw her eyes dart around, pause for a second at the steps Flav and I were concealed behind, and then fix on Conrad.
‘Well, isn’t this nice,’ she said. ‘Quite the family reunion.’
‘Let her go, Nicola,’ said Conrad. ‘Your quarrel is with me, not any of the children.’
‘She’s not a child. Mind you, she’s as dopey as a child, a bit thick. Must get it from her mother’s side.’
Conrad’s figure became very still but he didn’t say anything. I’d seen this reaction hundreds of times – he was concentrating his strength ready to launch himself.
‘Come on, then, Father,’ she said, beckoning him with the bullpup. ‘You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Sacrifice yourself nobly and all that. You lot make me sick, with all that service and honour crap. This is the twenty-first century. Get real.’
‘Then why did you come back if you hate us so much?’
‘Your dear wife was starting to really piss me off. After you, she’s up the top of my list. You are such a bunch of losers, pussy-whipped every one of you.’
‘Yet you took advantage of the system when you came to live with us. In every way. You destroyed me, personally and professionally, and nearly killed two of my other daughters. Why, Nicola?’
‘You deserved it, deserting my mother without a penny after screwing her like some town tart for a few weeks. You deserted her when you found I was on the way.’
He moved his lips, but nothing came out. I could only see the side of his face, but the shock on it was obvious. Stella stared at him like he was Cerberus from Hades.
That was it. I was done with listening. I stood up, took two long strides away from Flav who looked at me like I was crazy, and stepped forward.
‘You have that so wrong, Nicola.’
I kept to the right extreme of her vision, trying to divert her attention away from Stella on her left. She couldn’t watch all of us at once. She swung her weapon towards me.
‘Your mother tells it differently,’ I said. ‘She refused to write and let your father know about you. She didn’t think it was fair to burden him, she told me. Sounds pretty noble and honourable and a sacrifice on her part.’
Nicola stared at me. The mirror of Conrad’s face. I realised she didn’t know about Janice’s decision.
‘And she didn’t exist on benefits,’ I continued. ‘She’s a trained teacher and doing well in her profession. No thanks to you, though.’
Crap, I shouldn’t have said that.
‘Shut your mouth,’ she shrieked, grabbed Stella and jammed her weapon against Stella’s head. Stella screamed.
Conrad threw me a death look.
‘Okay, Nicola, try and calm down’, he said. ‘We don’t want anybody getting hurt. Let Stella go and we’ll talk about it.’
‘Is that the best you can do?’ She made a pantomime of thinking, putting her head to one side for a few moments. ‘No, I don’t think so.’ Nicola’s eyes flowed with antagonism. She shook Stella, causing her to whimper and dragged her over to the far side of the ruins, towards the cliff edge in the shadow of the curtain wall. Stella tripped over a large block fallen from the crumbling wall and fell, her shoulders and head landing over the edge. She stared down the hundred metres to the palace garden where she’d played as a kid. And screamed.
‘What are you doing?’ Conrad shouted at her. He started towards the two girls.
Keeping her eyes and weapon on us, Nicola bent and yanked Stella to her feet in one fluid movement. She swung the bullpup up to Stella’s temple. ‘Stay exactly where you are unless you want me to blow her head off.’
I’d managed to get a little nearer, but didn’t want to get in Livius’s sight line. I had to leave him a clear shot. If it came to it.
Neither Conrad nor I could get to Nicola before she could kill Stella – we were just too far away. Stella was too terrified to do anything. She hung in Nicola’s grip like some rag doll. And she was coming unstitched. Her eyes were all over the place, she sobbed and her whole body trembled.
‘Livius, Bruna.’ I mumbled into my mouth mic. ‘Can you make the shot? To take her out?’
A pause.
‘Affirmative.’
‘Standby.’
Thank Juno, Conrad was too far away to hear me. But when it came to it, Stella was the one to save.
‘Bruna, Paula,’ the voice in my earpiece whispered. ‘I’m circling round cliff base to vegetation perimeter. ETA three minutes.’
If Paula could get to the edge of the brushwood, she’d be only three metres from Stella. Snatchable distance. But Nicola was getting more agitated. She had to wonder what we were doing.
‘Okay, Nicola. You have us where you want us,’ I said and sighed. ‘What now?’
She said nothing as if she’d run out of ideas.
‘You’ve given your life to your revenge over these past months. Now you’ve got it, what are you going to do?’
Conrad sent me a warning look, but I signalled him that I had it under control.
‘Oh no, I’m not there yet,’ she said and gave me a tight smile that pushed a chill through my veins. ‘I’m going to start with my dear father. His daughter can watch me execute him.’ She gave Stella a shake. ‘Ever seen a head explode, little sister? Pink bits and blood spraying everywhere.’
Stella stared back at her, hiccupped, fell to her knees and threw up.
‘He’ll do as I say because he thinks there might be some slight chance I might think his death is enough and stop there.’ She stared straight at Conrad. ‘Your gamble.’
He took a step forward, like a robot. Nicola placed her weapon on Stella’s neck and her finger extended to curl around the trigger.
He froze.
‘Not yet.’ She looked at me. ‘I can’t see a red dot, but you’ve no doubt got a marksman somewhere with his sight on me. Believe me, my reactions are good. She’d be dead within the same second.’ She tilted her head up at me. ‘Stand your sniper down and let’s all listen while you do it.’
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