House of Cards

by W. J. May

  I should just wear a red bull’s eye on my back and run through a paintball area.

  “Don’t look so skeptical, Rae. I’ll have the alarms and everything turned off for three minutes. You’ve got more than enough time to get in and back out again.”

  Rae blinked and straightened. More than enough time?

  Julian nodded, as if he had heard her inner thought. “Use a speed tatù to get in and out. Just switch to whatever tatù you need. You’ll have an earpiece to hear me or talk to me while you’re inside. You just have to be extremely quiet. There are sound sensors and motion sensors around some of the artifacts.”

  “Does the book have these sensors?”

  Julian shook his head. “No, it’s not something that has a lot of monetary value. It’s more a collector’s item from the past. Other countries aren’t really interested in it.”

  “How do you know that?” She couldn’t help but be skeptical. Her gut was telling her there had to be something important inside and if one page interested the Privy Council, there would be more… like her father’s journal. Shoot, she had to get around to reading that when she got back also.

  “Okay, I don’t know for sure.”

  She leaned toward him, knowing nobody could hear them, but wanting to be on the safe side nonetheless. “If the PC’s are interested in this book, you can be damn sure there are tatùs from other countries that are as well. If King Henry knew about tatùs and Guilder exists because of King Henry, it’s not hard to put two and two together. Do the math, Julian. It’s more obvious than you think.”

  Julian looked at her strangely. It made Rae uncomfortable, but if she couldn’t be blunt with him, who could she share her concerns with?

  “Rae,” he said slowly, “the PC’s are not the only tatù black ops division in the UK. And you are probably right, if they want the same information we do, so will foreign countries. It’s not our concern, though. It’s not our job to take on the worries of the entire country. We do what we can.”

  “You mean; we do what we’re told to do? Don’t ask questions?”

  “No! None of us are doing this blindly. We—”

  “What do you know about the Xavier Knights?” She cut him off, but didn’t care. She was nervous about the upcoming op, and desperately wanted to trust the PC’s. It would make her life so much easier if she could trust them. She just didn’t know how.

  Julian sighed. He sat quiet for a moment. Rae waited and ate a few bites of her hamburger. Maybe she had pushed him too far.

  “The Xavier Knights are the other black ops working for British Intelligence. I’m telling you because you have every right to know. It’s not a secret. However, they work differently than we do… more like the way your father worked.”

  That caught her attention. She had a pretty good idea what Julian meant by the last part of his sentence. She asked him anyways, “They don’t fight fair?”

  “From my experience, no. They will do whatever it takes to get what they want, no matter the cost.”

  Kraigan. Rae didn’t know why he popped into her head, but it made sense when she thought about it.

  “Have they approached you?”

  “What? No! No, not at all.” It was her turn to be surprised by Julian’s question. “I’ve heard about them but never asked anyone before you.”

  “Be careful, Rae.” Julian didn’t say any more. The waitress came by to see if they needed anything else, and Julian turned the conversation to the weather. They finished their lunch in silence.

  When they left, they walked around the museum again, and he showed her the service door that would be her entrance. “You’ll have to be quick. The guard is going to exit for his smoke break and you have to be fast enough to get by him and in through the door before it closes.”

  “What?” There was a single cement path and then the five stairs that led down to the door. “How? Can we wedge the door so it’s unlocked or something?”

  “The door is on a sensor. If it’s opened, the alarm goes off and all the doors to the rooms go into lockdown.”

  Rae flashed on a mental image of the area, and followed behind Julian as he began walking. “I thought you were going to disarm the alarms.”

  “Inside the building, but I can’t override the external doors without triggering the sensors. You’ll think of something. I’m not worried.” He checked his watch. We’ve got a few hours before it starts getting dark. Anything you want to do?”

  “Find somewhere we can sit and go over everything where people can’t hear us.”

  Julian pressed his lips together in a thin line. “There’s an apartment about twenty minutes from here that the Privy Council owns. We can go there.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Julian led the way and they spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening going over everything. Rae covered every detail again and again. She grew confident that once she was inside the building, it would be easy. She had three minutes once inside to grab the required page and then get back to the door where the guard would come back through when he finished his smoke. She would have to get through the door again before it closed. The entering and exiting the building were going to prove the hardest. Julian gave suggestions, but Rae had a feeling she would be winging it when the time came.

  Chapter 14

  Taking Candy From A Baby

  Rae tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear; the soft black material of her long sleeve top brushed against her cheek. Silently, she moved along the grass, avoiding the sidewalks and street lights. She had changed at the apartment, and now wore a tight-fitting black outfit. Not the leather Jennifer would wear, but a soft stretchy material that would move quietly and not restrict her movements.

  She walked at a brisk pace, but her heart raced like she was running a marathon. Her body had the urge to break into a run, but Julian had warned her to act natural on the city streets. His last words before she left him at the café had been, “No trace, no face”; which meant if she blended in and left no evidence behind, she would be home free. She had every intention of doing just that.

  The museum facade loomed over her like a dreary castle against the starry night sky. The entrance had loads of pot lights to shine down on it, but on the side and around the back there were only a few sparse, dim lights. She climbed a fence and landed silently on the grass. Switching on Riley’s tatù, she sprinted across the lawn, dropping down into a roll when she heard a noise.

  Crouching by a tree for cover, she carefully surveyed the area for the source, and nearly laughed out loud when she realized the sound had come from a pair of squirrels scurrying up an old tree nearby. She tried her watch, but needed her other hand to hold her wrist steady. Nerves!

  It was nearly eight. She inhaled a deep breath, and let it out slowly, her body switching from Riley’s cheetah tatù to Devon’s fennec fox. The shaking and high strung feeling left, and she sighed in relief. No wonder Riley is always such a pain in the arse. His tatù mixed with adrenalin seemed impossible to manage. Devon’s tatù gave her better night-vision, and she was able to check her watch without having to turn on the backlight.

  Nearly eight o’clock. She had about a minute to get to the stairs and have something planned. She could shift into a bird and wait on the stairway’s bar. Dumb idea. She threw caution to the wind, racing as fast as she could to the stairwell, and diving down behind it as she heard the door open. She peered over the railing and held her breath.

  The guard stood leaning against the door as he lit his cigarette. His heavy weight pushed the door back as far as it could go. The door hinges groaned in protest. He pushed himself off and started up the stairs.

  Rae swung herself over the metal bar, landing soundlessly on the cement below. She slipped through the closing door and flattened herself against the wall. When the door clicked shut, she jerked, the noise jarring her strained senses. Biting her lip, she stood frozen expecting the guard to come tearing back inside. He never came.

  “Y
ou in?” Julian’s voice echoed through the small earphone plugged into her ear.

  “Yes,” she whispered back.

  “Good. I knew you could do it.”

  “Easy peasy.” She giggled, probably more out of nervousness than anything.

  “Okay… give me one sec… alright, go!”

  She burst into a fast sprint running up the darkened stairwell to the main floor.

  “Alarms are off. You’ve got about two minutes forty seconds.”

  Rae nodded, and sprinted down the marbled floor of the main room the moment she pushed open the stairwell’s fire door. She had never pushed herself this fast, and could feel her heart and body protesting the strain. She reached the room with the book in no time. Rae didn’t even pause, pulling the little contraption Julian had given her out of her back pocket. She went to work, setting the little round stickers where they needed to be, and exhaling a quick breath as she wiped her hands over her black tights.

  “Here goes,” she mouthed to herself. She closed her eyes, and lifted the front end of the glass case.

  It didn’t budge.

  She opened her eyes and tried again. “It’s not moving!”

  She heard nothing in reply. There was only radio silence on the other end from Julian.

  Crap! She knew the seconds were ticking away. Rae scratched her eyebrow, wracking her brain for a solution. She went through the motions again, as she had practiced them in her head over and over, and in the process, noticed the pen-like object inside the little case of stickers. Of course! How could I forget? She grabbed it and twisted. A sharp wedge appeared. She pushed it between the wood and glass and then put her weight on top of it.

  The glass lifted, but not enough. Rae switched to a strength tatù, and held the case up. With her left hand, she turned the book two pages back. What was revealed was another one of the weird drawings like the one from the page on display. She couldn’t quite tell what it was, but it didn’t look like anything special. Is this the right page? The pages weren’t numbered, but it had to be the correct page. She pulled gently, but the book twisted, all of it preferring to come instead of just the single page. Seriously? Why can’t this be easier? She wedged her bicep against the glass, groaning from the weight of it against her muscle. Crap! This thing is heavy. What is it made out of? Oh yeah, now that I’m stuck in this situation I think of all the good questions I should have asked earlier. Fabulous.

  Using both hands, she steadied the book with one and pulled the sheet out with the other. It finally came free, and she quickly put the book back as close to the original spot as possible. Rae pulled the paper out of the case and lowered the glass.

  Switching back to Devon’s tatù, she let her eyes readjust to the darkness as she pulled a plastic sleeve out of the small pouch on her hip. She unrolled it and slipped the paper inside of it. Almost out of here. Tick tock Rae. She shoved it under her shirt, tucking it into the waistband of her tights.

  Pulling the round stickers off as fast as she could, she stuffed them back in the little pencil case, along with the pen-object, which closed with one simple twist.

  “One minute, Rae. The guard’s heading back.” Julian whispered calmly in her ear.

  She double-checked that she was leaving nothing behind, before sprinting out of the room and back to the stairwell. Rae flinched when the door clicked shut behind her, but by that point the thundering of her heart would have drowned out the sound of an alarm going off.

  She nearly fell on the second to last step of the stairs, just barely catching herself, and using the railing for balance. Back near the door, Rae frantically looked around for a place to hide.

  Nothing! Nothing! Where’s a handy pile of boxes when you need them?

  Through the little glass window, she could see the guard walking down the steps outside. She pressed herself tight against the wall on the left side of the door. I am so screwed. Oh man! Think! There has to be something. She thought back to when the guard had lit his cigarette, and, in a flash, realized he was left handed and the door opened left to right. He would come through with the left side of his body first. He would be just slightly angled, but his left eye would skim the room. She bent down and twirled over to the right side of the door, and pressed her lips tight together. She spun around so her face was against the cool wall. She shut her eyes tight and froze. Please let this work.

  She heard the key in the lock, and felt the door open. A moment later, the guard stepped in. Go! She slipped right behind him, and using Jennifer’s tatù, tore up the stairs and across the small field of grass. She heard the door click shut, but didn’t stop. All Rae wanted at that point was to be done with it. She ran as fast as she could till she reached the fence. Without slowing, she leapt into the air, hurdling the six-foot metal barrier. In a single bound! Ha!

  Rae landed on the grass outside near the sidewalk, and slowly stood. She let out the breath she had no idea she’d been holding, and let her hands fall to her knees. After several big gulps of air, she forced herself to calm down and began walking. She stayed in the shadows until the sidewalk met up with a street. She stepped under the street light and hit the pedestrian crossing button.

  As she waited for the light to change, she heard someone calling her name. She turned around, but didn’t see anyone.

  That voice…Julian? Why can’t I…?

  She felt her ear, realized the earpiece had wiggled out, and pressed the earpiece back in, realizing that she was lucky it hadn’t fallen out. “Hey, Juls.” She could feel herself grinning, but didn’t care.

  “You okay? Where are you?”

  The panic in his voice made her smile more. She couldn’t help it. She had just broken in and stolen something for the Privy Council without getting caught. What a rush! Holy bloody smokes! “I’m almost at the café.” She crossed the road and quickened her pace, making a conscious effort not to use one of her tatùs. “Look out the window, toward your left.”

  She waved at him and gave him the thumbs up. Julian grabbed his computer and iPad, stuffing them into his backpack. He threw it over his shoulder, and grabbed Rae’s backpack before racing out of the café, and grabbing her to hug her tight. “Thank goodness you’re alright.” Julian quickly stepped back and straightened, his face turning into a mask to hide his feelings. “Sorry. I knew you could do it. Just glad you’re alright.”

  Rae ignored his awkward reaction and grinned, too excited to care. She patted her stomach. “I got what we came here for.”

  “Then we’re good to go?”

  “No trace, no face.”

  He glanced at her sideways as they began walking back to the subway. “We can stay tonight or if you want, there’s still a last train out of town. We can be back at Guilder just after midnight.”

  “Sure. Let’s go home. Back. Let’s go back to Guilder.” Sometimes Guilder felt like home. She just wished she hadn’t said it out loud.

  “You did good, Rae.”

  She punched him in the arm as he handed her bag back. “Do you want to see the paper?” She glanced at the near empty street. “No one’s going to see us and if they do, it won’t mean anything.”

  He looked around and shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  Rae pulled the paper out from under her shirt. The plastic reflected the light of the street lamp above them so she held it up toward it to get a better view.

  Julian’s gasp sent prickles down her spine. “What’s wrong?” she asked him. He pointed to the paper and she followed his finger. “It’s like a module of some kind. Do you know what it is?”

  Julian shook his head. “Look at the light through the paper. You can see the other side.

  Rae moved slightly so she stood under the picture and did as he told. She froze when she saw what had made him gasp.

  There was a drawing on the other side of the page. The reflection of the street light showed it through the old paper.

  It was a picture of her mother.

  Chapter 15

  More Qu
estions

  “That’s impossible.” Rae flipped the paper over and stared in disbelief. The hand drawn image was a portrait of her mom.

  Oddly, she thought of her mother’s note. The one in her room at the back of the Whimsie case. A memory surfaced about building blocks or puzzles she remembered doing as a child. It’s a link to the past. She had no clue how, but somehow the note and this five-hundred-year-old drawing were connected.

  “How can that be?”

  Julian’s question brought her out of her deep thoughts. “I have no idea.” She decided to go with the truth. “I’m pretty sure it’s my mother.”

  Julian looked skeptical. “It looks...” He tilted his head. “I don’t know, I’ve never met your mother.”

  “The picture’s hand drawn and super old.”

  “No wonder the Privy Council wanted you to get it.” Julian reached for the picture. “Let’s put this in your backpack and get out of here.”

  She nodded and stood still as he unzipped the bag on her back, waiting as he stuffed it inside and closed the bag.

  They walked in stunned silence to the subway.

  “I should probably change,” she said as they passed a public washroom. She slipped into the ladies and switched back to her “street” clothes.

  Julian handed her a sandwich when she came out. “Grabbed these from the deli over there.” He began eating his.

  They couldn’t sit next to each other on the subway as it was crowded with people. There were only two separate seats, one near the front and one near the middle.

  She sent him a text from her phone:

  Rae: What time do we get in?

  Julian: Just before midnight. We debrief with PC asap.