by Ciana Stone
Max was tossed back into reality so abruptly that he staggered. Nikki grabbed onto him for support and they stared at one another in amazement.
“Were we just in a tent in a desert?” she asked.
He nodded, then smiled sexily and signed. I’d like to go back.
“You and me both,” she said with a smile, then looked down at the small bag clutched in one hand and the sphere in the other. “It has something to do with this sphere. When you touched it, reality shifted.”
She looked up at him. “But why?”
He frowned and shrugged then signed, let’s go to my suite. Maybe we can find something about through one of the research connections my grandfather has.
“What about this mess?”
He paused and looked around the room. If anyone asks, tell them I did it. At least that way they’ll think you believe it’s me and not suspect that we know there’s a spy in our midst.
“Good idea. Let me check and see if the coast is clear.”
She checked the hall. No one was around. Together they hurried down the hall and up the stairs to his suite.
Max took a seat at the keyboard and starting keying in addresses. Thanks to a program he had installed, he had three computers running simultaneously, all controlled from one keyboard and mouse.
Nikki pulled up a chair beside him as each of the three screens began to fill. “Whoa, Simon has some next level connections,” she breathed appreciatively.
Max grinned and opened a window for communication. His fingers flew over the keys and words began to appear in the window. Put the sphere on the scanner and let’s see if we can run an image comparison with what these places have on file.
“You can do that?” she asked as she pulled the sphere out and opened the lid of the scanner.
Piece of cake, came his reply in the window. He keyed in a scan command and a moment later the sound of the scan starting turned her attention to the scanner. She nearly jumped out of her seat when the scanner suddenly flared with light, made a high pitched buzzing sound then died.
“Holy shit,” she whispered and looked at Max. “What the heck was that?”
There was a deep frown on his face. For a few moments he just sat there staring at the dead scanner. Then he turned his attention to the keyboard. There’s obviously something very unique about the sphere. For such an energy surge to have occurred it would have to be emitting a strong energy field and one that is incompatible with standard electric current.
A strange thrill skittered down her spine. What exactly was the sphere and did Christian have any clue that it was abnormal when he gave it to her?
“So what do we do?” she asked as she gingerly lifted the lid and snatched up the sphere.
Keep searching for clues, was his reply.
Nikki looped the chain around her neck, tucking the sphere inside her top so that it nestled between her breasts. She looked at one of the screens and started to scroll down the information displayed then stopped.
“I wonder if the pendant Christian gave me the day he died is related to the sphere?”
Let’s have a look, Max typed.
She dug the key-shaped pendant from her pocket and when Max held out his hand, dropped it onto his palm. He took one look at what was in his hand and the color drained from his face. His eyes widened then rolled back in his head and he fell over onto the floor.
“Max!” Nikki screamed, not thinking to be quiet. She shook him and called to him but got no response.
Fear had her breaking into a cold sweat. She put her ear against his chest. His heart was beating, but very fast. “Max!” She shook him again, hard this time. “Wake up. Max, please!”
Still there was no response. The only thing she could think to do was to pry the pendant from his hand. He’d reacted to it. Maybe if she removed it, he’d waken.
It didn’t work. She tried slapping him, kissing him, tossing cold water in his face, and even trying to pull him up into a sitting position. But nothing would rouse him. Finally her fear led her to the only logical course of action.
She quickly slipped the chain holding the pendant around her neck, hiding it alongside the sphere, picked up the phone and called Osgood.
The phone rang a long time before he answered. “Maxwell, you should be asleep at this time of night.”
“It’s Nikki. You have to come to Max’s room. Something’s wrong.”
“What? Miss Morgan, what are you doing—?”
“Hurry!” she insisted and hung up the phone.
She returned to sit beside Max, nudging him. “Please wake up. Max, please. Oh god, what’ve I done? Max, please please be okay. Wake up. Wake up, please.”
No matter what she’d suffered in her life, or what fears she’d faced, nothing in her experience had ever scared her as much as seeing Max lying on the floor unconscious. Her heart was pounding, her skin was clammy, and she felt like she was going to throw up at any moment.
What had she done?
Osgood burst into the room dressed in pajamas and a robe, his normally tidy hair mussed and in disarray.
“What happened here?” he demanded, kneeling down beside Max.
Nikki wished she’d thought to come up with a cover story. “I don’t know. He just fell over. Do something, Mr. Gaynor!”
Osgood went for the phone. “I’ll ring Dr. Abernathy.”
“No!” Nikki bounded to her feet and snatched the phone away from him.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You can’t call him. Call Simon.”
“Sim— exactly how do you know Mr. Weston?”
“Call him!” she screamed and thrust the phone at him.
Osgood jumped at her scream but took the phone and dialed an extension. Several long moments passed in tense silence before he spoke. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but we have a situation with Maxwell and Ms. Morgan insisted that I call you rather than Dr. Abernathy.”
He listened for a moment. “Certainly, sir.” He handed the phone to Nikki.
“Yes?” she asked into the receiver.
“What happened?”
Nikki stepped out into the hall before answering. “Max and I discovered something. A sphere Christian gave me. We tried to scan it and it destroyed the scanner. We were trying to find information on it, run an image match. Then I showed Max another pendant Christian gave me. The day he died. He told me to keep it safe. The minute I put it in Max’s hand and he looked at it, his eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious. I can’t wake him and I’m scared. Mr. Gaynor wanted to call Dr. Abernathy but…but Mr. Weston, you can’t trust that man. He lied about Max. Max isn’t damaged. He just can’t talk. Abernathy is up to something. Just like that attorney and that Mark Robinson. They don’t want anyone to know that Max isn’t mental and you can’t trust them. Please, please tell Mr. Gaynor not to call Dr. Abernathy. Please.”
“Have no worries on that front, my dear. I will arrange for trustworthy medical attention immediately.”
“Thank you!”
She ran back inside and handed the phone to Osgood then threw herself down beside Max, taking his hand in both of hers. “Don’t worry,” she leaned over and whispered. “Abernathy won’t get his hands on you. I talked to your grandfather. He’s going to take care of everything. Just please try and wake up. Please, Max.”
Osgood concluded his conversation with Simon and left the room. Nikki paid no attention to his departure. All of her attention was on Max. She sat beside him, gripping his hand and begging him to awaken. When the door to the suite opened and two strange men in white, bearing an emergency stretcher entered, fear spiked up, hard and bitter.
“Who are you?” she demanded, jumping up to bar their way.
“Mr. Weston sent us,” one of them replied.
“Which Mr. Weston?”
“This Mr. Weston,” Simon’s voice came from behind them as he wheeled into the room, followed closely by Osgood.
The men started toward Maxwell and she let th
em pass, hurrying to kneel at Simon’s side. “Where are they taking him?”
“Somewhere safe, my dear,” he replied.
“Can I go?”
“Absolutely not,” Osgood answered from behind Simon’s chair.
Nikki cut him a look. “I wasn’t asking you. Simon, please. If he wakes up surrounded by strangers, he’ll freak. I need to be with him.” She leaned over and whispered into his ear. “Mark Robinson has a spy in the house. Deborah. She can’t find out that Max isn’t here.”
Simon studied her face for a moment when she pulled back, his eyes searching hers. At length he nodded. “Yes, I believe it would be best if you accompanied Maxwell. Osgood?” he looked over his shoulder. “The staff is not to be informed of this event. If asked, Maxwell has been sedated and his suite is off limits to everyone save yourself. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir. Of course.”
“Excellent.” Simon took something from the breast pocket of his dressing jacket and pressed it into Nikki’s hand, leaning close to her. “There is one number programmed into this phone, and this is a secure untraceable line. I want hourly reports from you.”
She nodded and started to pull away but his gnarled hands showed surprising strength, stopping her. “You and I will have a discussion very soon about these pendants.”
“Yes, sir,” she agreed without hesitation. She would have agreed to jump off the roof if it meant she got to be with Max.
“Okay, let’s get him loaded up,” one of the men said from behind her. She turned and saw they had Max on the stretcher.
“Miss Morgan will be accompanying you,” Simon directed.
“Certainly,” the man replied.
Simon maneuvered his wheelchair out of the way and let the men pass with the stretcher.
“Thank you.” She gave Simon a kiss on the cheek then snatched up Max’s iPhone from his desk and hurried to the elevator with Max and the two men. As the doors opened and they pushed Max inside, she looked back to see Simon watching. He nodded and with a hopeful smile she stepped inside the elevator.
Chapter Ten
“What do you mean he isn’t on the estate?” Mark Robinson’s voice rose in irritation.
“Shhhh!” Deborah, the maid, grabbed his arm and pulled him into the conservatory. “No one is supposed to know.”
“Know what exactly?”
She cut a look out of the door then turned to him. “I knew something funny was going on. Two days ago Mr. Gaynor announced at the morning staff meeting that Maxwell had been sedated and everyone was to stay out off his floor.”
“That’s hardly unusual.”
“Yeah, but this time nothing happened to lead into it. Normally Maxwell tears something up, destroys something, or hurts someone. This time everything was fine when I left work the day before and the next morning the announcement was made.
“I couldn’t find out anything from anyone. No one knew what’d happened. Then this morning I overheard Osgood and Louise talking in his office and he said he hadn’t heard a word about Maxwell since he was taken away.”
Mark’s eyes narrowed in thought. Had Charles been withholding information? And what about Richard? He wouldn’t have Maxwell institutionalized without letting Mark know. God only knows the ramifications of that action. No, this had to be something Richard wasn’t aware of.
Which left several possibilities. Either Charles Abernathy had cooked up a way to hospitalize Maxwell, or Simon had entered the game. Neither possibility was appealing. If Charles had Maxwell institutionalized, he could be running tests. And those tests could be used as evidence. And evidence could be very damaging to everyone. If one shred of evidence found its way to the surface, he, Richard and Helen stood to lose far more than money.
“And you’re quite sure Maxwell isn’t on the estate at present?”
She nodded. “I snuck up to the second floor and his door was unlocked. He’s not there.”
“Do you have any idea where he might be or why he was taken from the estate?”
“No. I told you everything I know. Oh, except that Nikki isn’t here either.”
“Miss Morgan left?”
“I guess. No one has seen her since Maxwell disappeared.”
Mark nodded and forced a smile. “Thank you, my dear. Richard will be quite grateful that you came to me with this. As am I. You’ll find a token of our gratitude arriving via mail shortly. In the meantime, keep your eyes and ears open and if you hear anything more, call me immediately.”
“Oh, I will,” she agreed with a grin. “And you’ll tell Mr. Weston that it was me that let you know?”
“Absolutely. Now you’d best be about your duties before anyone discovers us.”
“Oh, yes. Yes, sir.”
Mark watched her hurry from the room then headed for Osgood’s office.
Louise was in the kitchen taking a pie from the oven when Mark entered. “Mr. Robinson, what a surprise. I didn’t know you’d arrived.”
“I need a moment of Osgood’s time if he’s available, Louise.”
“Oh, certainly sir. May I serve you a cup of coffee?”
“No, thank you.”
“Very well,” she removed her oven mitts and hurried to the door of the household office. “Osgood? Mr. Robinson would like a word with you.”
She turned to Mark. “Would you like to speak in the office, sir?”
Mark crossed the room to her. “That’s fine. Thank you, Louise.”
She stepped aside for him. He entered and closed the door behind him. Osgood was standing at the desk. “How may I assist you, sir?”
Mark took a seat in the chair in front of the desk. “Osgood, I’m quite concerned about the security at the estate.”
“How so, sir?” Osgood asked as he reclaimed his seat.
“Apparently people are missing from the estate.”
“Sir?”
“Come now, Osgood. We’re both too old and too far into this game to play cat and mouse. I know that Nikki Morgan and Maxwell have been missing from the estate for at least forty-eight hours. The question is why and for what purpose?”
Osgood’s eyes never wavered, a credit to his stalwart nature. “That is not for me to say, sir.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I have no knowledge of Miss Morgan’s whereabouts, or Maxwell’s for that matter.”
“So you do acknowledge that neither of them are currently on the estate.”
“No, sir, I cannot.”
“And you don’t know where they are.”
“Correct again, sir.”
“Why did either of them leave the estate, Osgood?”
“To my knowledge they have not, sir.”
“Then just who can tell me their whereabouts?”
“I’ve been directed to inform you that you will need to speak with Mr. Weston about that, sir.”
“Richard?”
“No, sir. Mr. Simon.”
Mark’s inner alarm went into red alert at Osgood’s reply. If Simon was involved then the fat had definitely hit the fire. He had no choice but to consult with Richard. Going to Simon would be fruitless. Simon had disliked him for years and the likelihood of Simon telling him anything fell into about the same percentage as hell freezing over.
“Thank you for your time, Osgood,” he said as he stood. “I’ll let you get on with your business.”
“Yes, sir.” Osgood rose as Mark turned and crossed the room.
He nearly ran over Louise, who was eavesdropping on the other side of the door. She watched him leave then hurried into Osgood’s office. “You can take it to the bank that he’ll be telling Mr. Richard about this before he makes it to the gate.”
“I would imagine so,” Osgood replied.
“And that doesn’t concern you?”
Osgood sighed heavily. “Louise, everything about this place and these people have concerned me for thirty years. Ever since you…”
Louise walked on into the room and took a seat. “Ossie,
I know the sacrifices you’ve made, and don’t think for one moment that I don’t appreciate it. When the two of us left home all those years ago, we both had such dreams, didn’t we? We’d find good homes to work in, find someone to love and make lives for ourselves. And here we are, all these years later, both still unmarried and having spent most of our lives serving people who have the morals of alley cats.
“Would that I could go back in time and make another choice—”
“No, don’t say that, Louise. And don’t count my sacrifice any larger than your own. You’ve been a wonderful sister to me, and have done what you had to do. You’re right that we had no idea what life held in store for us when we left home”
Louise nodded. “I’ve tried to fulfill my duty, Osgood. To protect him. But I couldn’t have done it without you and I want you to know that. And to know how much I love and appreciate you for it. It’s cost you so many opportunities and chances. Chances for love.”
“Better to never have known it, my dear, than to have spent a lifetime loving someone you could never share a life with.”
It was Louise who sighed heavily then. “It wasn’t in the cards, my dear. And besides, our work is not yet done. So best we put on our coats of armor and ready ourselves for battle, for as sure as I live and breathe a battle is brewing. And in this one, I fear there will be casualties.”
“As do I,” he agreed. “As do I.”
For nearly an hour Mark Robinson had paced his penthouse suite, considering his next move. Richard and Helen would have to be told that Maxwell was missing. The question was, how to spin the disappearance?
Did he lay the blame at Nikki’s feet? She was, after all, missing as well. Or did he reveal to them that Simon’s hand was at play in this development? Moreover, how did he explain that despite his best efforts and those of all the people he’d called in favors from, could he not discover Maxwell’s whereabouts?
Nothing about the situation spelled a win for any of the players. Except of course, Simon. But then regardless of their best efforts for years, he and Richard had not yet found a way to one-up the old man. Not even Helen and her foiled attempt at seducing Simon years ago had made a crack in that ancient armor.