Jason jumped to his feet, his face frozen in a snarl. He advanced on Rascher, fists clenched. Rascher moved his walking staff to ward off Jason’s advance. In a flash, Corey stepped between the two of them.
“Settle down! Jason, just hold on a second!” Corey cried, as Rascher backed a couple of paces away.
Jason’s voice was low and clotted with anger. “Get him out. Of my house. Now, before I throw his wrinkled old ass through the screen door.”
Corey looked over his shoulder. Rascher nodded wearily and left. Corey didn’t move from his position, blocking Jason from leaving the room, until they heard Rascher’s car start up and drive off.
Jason gave his brother a sour look. “I can’t believe you let that prick in here. Into my home. Nice call there, Corey.”
“You think I wanted him here?” his brother shot back. “I’ve crossed paths with Henrik Rascher several times. As an expert witness for the District Attorney, among other things.” He took a tissue out of his pocket and dabbed the sweat that had beaded on his forehead. “I hope he’s not as easily enraged as you are. Next time he comes, you want him to take you out of here in a squad car?”
Jason glanced at the stairs, and then jerked his head towards the door. “Come on outside for a second. I want to speak with you privately.”
They went out and stood in the shade of the back porch. The sun had burned off the last of the fog and the day was tinged with gold again. Jason put his hands on his hips and turned to face his brother squarely.
“Look, Corey. Between the two of us, you’ve always been the good son. You’re the one who takes care of Mom, looks out for her well-being, both physically and mentally. I respect the hell out of you for doing that. You won’t let her get shipped off to some nursing home, where they’d just stick her in a corner and forget about her.”
“Oh, come on—”
Jason held his hand up and Corey quieted.
“But the way you feel about Mom…well, imagine if you felt that way about the woman in your life, okay? I didn’t like the way Rascher looked at Sonja, or that last little ‘question’. And I don’t like the way you refuse to talk to Sonja. I don’t know what’s up with you two, but if she won’t try, then you had better.”
“I have to be the one to try.” Corey said woodenly.
“It’s going to have to be. Because ignoring her is insulting her. And when you insult her, it’s like you’re insulting me. So get over it. Understand?”
“Yeah. Believe me, I do.” Corey’s expression was downcast. He turned and walked across the gravel driveway, hands in pockets and head hanging low in defeat.
Jason watched his brother leave, and then went back inside the house. He paused on the first step of the staircase as he heard Sonja running the shower upstairs. He pursed his lips and tapped the banister with his palm in thought.
On impulse, Jason turned on his heel and went back to the study. With a flick of a switch, the Mac’s screen brightened again. His fingers were a blur on the keys as he opened his online account. A new message window appeared.
To: Muriel of the Melusines ( )
RE: Message for Leetah, Mage of the Rose
I am evaluating your situation. There are strange things happening here. Answer me truthfully. Are you in trouble with the authorities?
- Leetah
Chapter Six
The last rays of sunlight turned the incoming fog into a palette of delicate purple. Jason watched as the mist rolled in from the west. The fog was a foamy wave that had crested in the heavens and now fell to earth in dreamy, slow motion.
It was only starting to turn cool, but Jason pulled the shade down anyway. He took out a pack of matches and proceeded to light the votive candles piled atop the dresser.
“Oh, I like this. Very romantic,” Sonja said. She’d slipped into a pair of cotton slacks and a new silk top. “What’s the occasion?”
“Does there need to be one? Perhaps I was just feeling amorous,” Jason replied.
Sonja arched an eyebrow. Warm light from the candles played with the highlights in her hair, making the lighter amber-colored strands glow with a radiance all their own. She sat on the bed next to him, arms crossed.
“The Jason I know doesn’t do this sort of thing when he brings a laptop to bed.” Sonja nodded at the open portable computer that Jason had placed atop a cabinet next to the nightstand. “Unless you’re nursing an addiction to Internet porn that I haven’t known about.”
“Fat chance.”
He took her wrists and gently pulled them away so that her hands rested on his waist. He leaned forward and kissed her below the point of her chin, then slowly and sensuously worked his way up until their lips met.
“Oh, babe…” she gasped.
Sonja pressed her hands into his sides, feeling the sharp crests of his hipbones under the muscle. She let go for a split second, then grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in, pressing her lips against his.
She threw one leg over his lap, and his greedy fingers squeezed the taut flesh beneath the fabric. Her tongue did a hot dance around his as Jason moved his hand up her leg to the swell of her buttocks, then pressed underneath. When he felt her pelvic bone pressing against his body, he rocked her against him so that she gasped again. She was warm, then hot and wet where they touched.
Jason broke the deep kiss and went to nuzzle her neck, seeking the tiny brown scar at the base of her throat, outlined cleanly against her alabaster skin even in the dim light. He moved to kiss it, felt her shudder, but something in her movement made him pause. Her shoulders were shaking, and it was not with passion anymore.
Sonja’s hands felt strangely cool on his skin. He looked at her, and her face tilted forward so that her thick, lustrous hair fell before it, obscuring her eyes.
“Sonja, what’s the matter?”
“I want you so bad,” she said plaintively, “I don’t think you realize how much, sometimes. But right now…I’m scared, babe. Really scared. I feel like something terrible is closing in around us. I’m scared to stay here, but I know that you’re not keen on leaving. And I won’t — I can’t — leave if you plan to stay.”
“Hey,” he said, brushing back her hair. He made sure that she was totally focused on him when he said, “I’m concerned too. But nothing’s going to happen to us. If it comes to leaving here, then so be it. You’re more important to me.”
She smiled, and it seemed to brighten the room. “I think that’s what I needed to hear. As much as what I heard you say to Rascher today.”
“I meant every word then. I mean every word right now. What’s gotten you so convinced that something bad is going to happen?”
Sonja looked away for a moment.
“In a minute. Tell me first why you brought the candles. And why the laptop is propped up next to the bed.”
“Well,” Jason said, “as for the candles, if there is some peeping tom out there, then I want a little less light for someone to snoop by.
“And the laptop?”
Jason stretched out on the bed with a sigh. Sonja curled up next to him and rested her head on his chest. “There’s a pattern in Muriel’s responses I didn’t see at first. She only answers at exact intervals. There’s an eight-hour gap between her morning email and her evening one, then a four-hour gap till the next email around midnight. The cycle repeats around the clock.”
“So she’ll be sending her evening email soon. Very soon. Maybe she can only get on her computer at certain times?”
“That’s what I’m thinking. Thing is, why?” Jason shook his head in frustration. “And that’s where Rascher comes into play. He thinks we know more than we actually do. Did you notice what he said at first, about why he was here?”
“He said a lot of things. But he did say that whatever he thinks is going on, it’s a first. Something that’s attracted the attention of the government.”
“Yeah. So what if Muriel’s messages are the real deal?”
“You mean, what if she an
d her brother really are in trouble…doing something that someone in power doesn’t want. Something illegal.”
“That’s why I have the laptop here. The Mac’s on the land line. The wireless connection on my laptop is more secure. In case someone’s trying to pry.” Jason turned to the side and caressed Sonja’s cheek. “So that’s my answer. Your turn. What’s got you so worried?”
Sonja rolled away and stood at the side of the bed. She stretched her arms out to Jason. “Let me show you.” He got up, and as they went into the second floor hallway, she took his hand in hers. “No lights. Just follow me.”
Together, they went up the set of stairs at the end of the hall. The old wood creaked loudly under their feet as they climbed to the tower room. The chamber was small, but it was comfortably decked out as a little sun room, perched at the highest point of the house. Beyond the windows, the mist swirled like a backdrop of a painting by Van Gogh.
“Out there,” Sonja said, pointing towards the top of the ridge. “Watch.”
Jason looked out into the blackness. Waited. Ten long seconds passed.
Then he saw it.
Out in the distance, a tiny dot of red punctuated the darkness. It blossomed into existence, and then slowly faded out again.
“Now turn to the right,” Sonja said. “Lower down. Closer to the road.”
This time he didn’t even need to count to ten before he saw the bloom of red. Jason felt a jab of pain on the inside of his hand. He looked down, and saw his fist clenched so tightly that the nails dug into his palm.
“How long?” He asked, his voice harsh.
“I don’t know,” Sonja replied. “Maybe they’ve been out there all day.”
“The way these watchers are placed…it has to be related to Rascher. They’re not just observing. They’ve got us bracketed. Penned in.”
“If they have us penned, what are they waiting for?” Sonja asked.
As if in answer, from the floor below they heard the chime of the laptop. They returned to the bedroom and Jason immediately pulled up the new message. It was terse, but it made Jason’s breath whistle out of his lungs.
Re: Message for Leetah, Mage of the Rose
From: Muriel of the Melusines ( )
>Answer me truthfully. Are you in trouble with the authorities?
Yes we are.
Will you help us?
- Muriel
Jason paced the length of the bedroom. Sonja watched him, her face alternately bathed in light and hidden in shadow by the flickering candles. He kneaded his temples with his knuckles, and then turned to her. His eyes were fierce and bright.
“We have nowhere to retreat. And I’m sure as hell not going to surrender. I say we attack this head on. If Rascher’s watching us, then we’re going to throw some sand in his eyes. What do you think?”
“I think I’m damn proud that I share your bed, Jason Summer,” Sonja said, hugging him close. “What’s your plan?”
“We find out where Muriel’s located, and then we go help her.”
“So we reply to her, and then—”
“No, not quite. There may be a way to kill all of these birds with one stone.” He gave her a wicked smile. “We’re going to do a little cross-country trekking.”
Quietly, they changed together in the light of the candles, swapping light clothing for sweatshirts, faded work jeans, and hiking boots. They went downstairs, where Jason pulled an automatic lamp timer out of a kitchen cabinet. He groped his way through the darkness, hooked it into a floor lamp on the opposite side of the house, and set the timer for two minutes. Sonja gave his hand a loving squeeze as they waited in the darkness near the screen door.
Jason had counted to just over one hundred when he heard the creak of a hinge outside. He peered over one of the window ledges and saw Corey come out on the front stoop of his house. His brother headed towards the garbage cans on the side of the property, an empty pizza box in hand.
The timer went off with a buzz and the lamp switched on. Sonja and Jason were out the door in a flash. Corey did a half-turn, looking with puzzlement at the light. Jason stopped and hesitated.
“Jason!” Sonja hissed. “Look out!”
He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, when suddenly bright headlights winked on along the road. Gravel crunched and tires squealed as three black sedans pulled onto the Summer property and accelerated towards the houses. Sonja pulled him into the shadow of the first row of grapevines.
Men wearing dark overcoats clambered out of each of the automobiles. To Jason’s horror, he made out a voice amidst the clamor and bustle. A harsh voice, one that carried a German accent.
“Find him!” Henrik Rascher’s bellowed. “Search the house. Tear the place apart if you have to. I want Jason Summer cuffed and in the back of my car!”
Chapter Seven
“Make a run for it?” Sonja asked. Her voice was a whisper in his ear.
“Get your flashlights,” Rascher called. “Search the fields! He may have gone out the back!”
“Yeah, running sounds real good right now,” Jason said.
Together, they took off into the vineyard. Every fallen leaf they stepped on crackled menacingly. Every trailing vine threatened to snarl an ankle and send them sprawling. A shout rang out in the distance behind them. Sonja glanced back. She skidded to a halt and motioned urgently to him.
“There’s a gap! Come on!”
They plunged through the break, entering a section of the vineyard where the grapes had been trimmed back. Jason and Sonja ducked under or between the tautly strung wires. They moved between the rows of musty-smelling grape leaves as quietly as they could.
The ground sloped upwards. The fog rolled in lower, blotting out the view beyond the nearest rows of vines. At the crest of the hill, they stopped to look back.
Jason could hear nothing over the pumping rush of blood in his ears. In the distance, bobbing, weaving flashlights surrounded the house. The lights slowly moved closer, fanning out into the adjacent fields.
“Aren’t you glad,” Sonja said, between breaths, “that I helped keep you in shape? A better one than ‘round’?”
“I plead the fifth,” Jason said, as his chest continued to heave. He pointed upslope. “We should keep moving. Road’s that way.”
A diesel engine sounded in the distance. They sprinted to the side of the road and saw a red and white Napa city bus approaching. Jason stepped out from the side of the road and waved.
The bus pulled to a halt with a hiss of compressed air. The doors, which had been painted to look like a cork exploding out of a bottle of champagne, slid open and admitted them. The driver took the barest of glances at Jason’s license and waved them to the back.
“Locals ride free,” Jason explained, as they slid into a pair of empty seats.
“Lucky us. Luckier still that they stopped in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s still August. Plenty of drunk European tourists stumbling around out here for them to pick up.”
“Then I’m glad that we didn’t have to pretend to be drunk. Or European. What’s our next move?”
“We get off downtown, and I rent an Internet connection. Make a call to a hacker friend of mine and see if we can put a pin in Miss Muriel once and for all.”
# # #
The main room of Bean There, Done That was filled with a mix of coffee and computer addicts. The smell of freshly brewed espresso and grilled Panini sandwiches wafted through the combination java house and cyber café. Sonja warmed her hands around a cup of cappuccino as Jason logged into his account from the pay-by-the-minute computer terminal. He brightened as he saw one of the icons light up yellow.
“Good. Tad’s online,” Jason said. “Remember me pointing him out to you?”
“Thaddeus? Yes, at least from the photos. Heavyset kind of guy, glasses with tape on the nose bridge?”
“Thought you’d remember the ‘nerd glasses’. It’s a source of pride for him.” Jason flipped open his cell an
d dialed the number. “He’s still one of the alpha geeks at my alma mater. Should come in handy.”
The phone picked up on the fourth ring. “Jase! Long time no hear,” a friendly voice said. “Getting tired of writing about wizard babes and magical horsies? ’Cause I can put in a word with the Dean, land you a nice respectable job replacing printer paper here in the lab.”
“I’m crying uncle, Tad!” Jason said, laughing. “Hey, I’m giving you a ring because I need your help. Got a network mystery that needs your special touch.”
“All ears, if you can answer me one question: what are the odds of that smokin’ hot girlfriend of yours going out with me instead?”
Jason relayed the question to Sonja. She snorted hard enough to almost spill her drink. “Tell him that it’s one in one million.”
“Well,” Jason said into the phone, “she says one chance in a million.”
A pause.
“Yes!” Thaddeus cried. “There’s hope!”
Jason rolled his eyes. He tapped a few keys and then said, “Just sent you all the emails I’ve been getting from someone named Muriel. She says she needs help. What do you think?”
“What do I think?” Jason heard the clatter of Tad’s keyboard for a while. Then silence. “Jase, what did you kluge together here? Looks like you lopped off the frame headers with a machete. How’d you get this to fly over the net?”
“I didn’t, Tad. I just want to know where the hell it came from.”
“I’m putting a packet sniffer on it. Give it some time to do its thing.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Jason turned to Sonja. “This could take a few minutes. Tad’s tracing the route the email took to get here.”
“Ladies’ room for me, then,” Sonja replied. She made her way across the crowded room, and pushed through the restroom door. As she did so, a ‘ping’ echoed from over the cell phone’s receiver.
“That was faster than it should’ve been,” Tad said with surprise. “Working backwards…looks like your message got to a local Napa server from your old account at Caltech, which was handed it from the University of Arizona. U of A got it from some server junction near Tucson…and that’s all.”
I Got Some Bad Muse For You Page 6