by Nancy Madore
“They’re being held without bail.”
Gordon and Clive…in jail?
Nadia stood up. “I’m going to them!”
“You’re not leaving this room,” said Will. Something in his voice made her stop in her tracks.
“You can’t hold me here, like a…like a prisoner!” she exclaimed.
“You are a prisoner, Nadia,” said Will. “It’s either me or a prison cell.” When she just stared at him in disbelief he asked—“Do you have any idea how many strings I had to pull to have you put in my custody?”
A violent shudder shook her. It went from her head to her toes, and left her weak and speechless.
“You’re going to stay with me until the trial,” he went on, “at which point you’re going to testify.” His tone left no room for argument.
“Testify?” Nadia’s eyes filled once again. “Against Gordon and Clive?” Her voice sounded shrill.
“They got you in way over your head,” he said. “I’m trying to save your life here!”
Nadia knew that this, at least, was true. Will was trying to save her life. What must it have cost him to plead on her behalf—especially considering how betrayed he must have felt!
Nadia approached him slowly and, when he didn’t stop her, she sat down on the floor on her knees in front of him. “Please let me explain,” she begged.
“I know why you did it,” he said. “You wanted your father back—that’s who was in the ring, right? You figured out how to get him out of it?” When Nadia didn’t reply he went on. “We’re going to find out the truth soon enough.”
“This isn’t about me or my father,” insisted Nadia. “It’s about T.D.M.R. creating earthquakes! That night that Lilith changed the formula—T.D.M.R. was about to wipe out an entire area of Japan!”
“Really?” asked Will. “Because I saw the formula that had been entered into the system before it was changed, Nadia. I saw it with my own eyes.”
This brought Nadia up short.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. “You didn’t think I would follow up on the things we saw at T.D.M.R. that day?”
As a matter of fact, she hadn’t thought that he would do that.
“Well, I did,” he told her. “And do you know what the formula was for? Do you even care to know?”
The most Nadia could manage was a small nod.
“It was a test, Nadia. A test to see if redirecting energy in the ionosphere might actually help prevent earthquakes by relieving the pressure certain faults are under. I’ve had it looked at by a half dozen experts, and they all agree that that formula was more likely to prevent an earthquake than to cause one.”
Nadia was aghast. “But…Gordon and Clive—”
“Gordon and Clive should’ve known better,” he said. “They know first-hand how manipulative these souls can be, and they let themselves fall for it anyway.”
Nadia didn’t know what to say. Could what Will was telling her be true? If so, why hadn’t he just come out and told her earlier, when he first suspected her?
“So you’ve been working against us all this time,” she observed bitterly.
“No,” he said. “I’ve been watching and taking precautions, just in case, but I could never quite bring myself to believe that you would actually take part in something like this.”
“How’d you get your men in?” she asked, suddenly curious. She had gone to such lengths to ensure that every person entering that ballroom was accounted for.
“We got them hired on as body guards for some of the performers,” he said, adding with a little shrug—“With their credentials, they sailed through all the background checks.”
Nadia couldn’t contain a bitter little laugh. “Body guards,” she murmured. She hadn’t even thought of that. She met his eyes. “So I’m your prisoner now.”
“Until the trial,” he said.
There was a long silence while the two of them just stared at each other.
“I didn’t want to lie to you,” she said quietly.
“Is that why every other word out of your mouth was a lie?”
Nadia sighed. He was so close—and yet so distant. She wanted it to be yesterday again—before the masquerade ball, before his eyes turned so cold. A peculiar feeling came over as she very slowly moved up off her knees and drew herself nearer to him. He just watched her approach, his expression blank. She paused when her lips were within hair’s breadth of his. She waited for him to come the rest of the way.
“Don’t,” he said.
The rejection stung. Nadia retreated quietly, getting up and moving back over to the bed. She was painfully aware of the skimpy covering that left little to the imagination.
“What if I refuse to cooperate?” she asked.
“You’ll go to jail,” he replied simply.
“Don’t I even get a phone call?”
“You can call your lawyer,” he said. “I’ve taken the liberty of contacting him on your behalf already. He’s waiting for your call.”
Nadia supposed she should be grateful that it was Will she was dealing with, and not some callous guard in a top security prison. She thought about Gordon and Clive and she could’ve wept.
“I want to take a shower,” she said.
“I’ve boarded up the window in the bathroom,” he warned her. At her look he added—“It was either that or accompany you in there.”
“Any other surprises?” she asked.
“You’ll be fitted with an electronic bracelet later today.”
Each word he uttered left Nadia feeling more afraid. The enormity of the situation was finally hitting her.
Something in her expression must have gotten to him. “You don’t have to wear the bracelet,” he said. “That was actually my idea…I’ve been up all night trying to think of how to help you get through this without destroying your life. The bracelet will give you the freedom to come and go…within reason. It’s a way for them to track you without making you stay in one place. It means you can work at BEACON.”
Nadia was amazed by how composed she was. She supposed she was still in shock. She went into the bathroom and closed the door. Then she turned on the water, making it as hot as was bearable.
She had to find a way to get in touch with Gordon and Clive. Maybe she could send them messages through her lawyer.
Her thoughts went back to Will. In her mind’s eye, she could see his cold, determined eyes staring down at her as he covered her face with the chloroform cloth. That image, by itself, had the power to send her running into the prison system. But there were other images too.
I’ve been up all night trying to think of how to help you get through this without destroying your life.
In that hallway outside the masquerade ball, when Will told her it was ‘over,’ Nadia really thought that her life was over. Her job, her freedom, her love—everything she had cherished seemed to be lost in that moment. But then Will had taken her home, to her father’s house, and undressed her. He had carefully removed every pin from her hair. Then he had spent the rest of the night trying to negotiate a deal for her while she slept.
And if what he said about T.D.M.R. was true, he had saved her from making a terrible mistake.
But could it be true?
Nadia didn’t know what to believe. All she knew for certain was that she loved Will. And he still loved her. His actions made that abundantly clear.
Nadia closed her eyes and let the warm water wash away the horror of the last few hours. She was well aware of the risks when she signed on with Gordon and Clive. She could not let her courage fail her now. Gordon and Clive needed her, and she still believed their motives were pure, whatever the truth about Nasterson and T.D.M.R. might be.
As she turned off the water and reached for a towel, Nadia forced a small smile.
Life goes on, she reminded herself.
Nancy Madore achieved enormous critical acclaim writing ‘female friendly’ erotica in her Enchanted series. Now, inspired by her
life-long interest in history and mythology, she’s writing historical - speculative fiction. Masquerade is the third installment of her Legacy of the Watchers series.
You can read more about the Legacy of the Watchers series by visiting Nancy Madore's website at www.nmadore.com.
BOOK 4
The Fourth Trumpet
Spring 2015