“Best for last,” the driver said, humorously.
Lily stared at the man. “Do you have to watch me?”
“Fraid so. Don’t worry; it’ll be over in seconds.”
What happened next was like something out of a film. There was a loud beating of wings, and something huge landed in the front yard. It was Persephone on Pegasus. Startled by such an extraordinary sight, the driver jerked around, that’s when Dore stepped in and grabbed his arms. The driver wasn’t a small man, but Dore was bigger, the muscles in his forearms bulging as he pinned the driver’s arms behind his back.
“Now, Kat,” he growled. “Now!”
Slipping past the two men, she snatched the artifact away from Lily, quickly re-programming the date on the screen to 1762, then turned to face the man. He looked terrified, his gaze darting between the flying horse and Kat. He’d given up struggling against Dore’s superior strength and was standing there with his mouth open.
“Lily,” she snapped. “Give me the ribbon in your hair.” When Lily quickly untied it and handed it to her, she reached behind the man and tied his wrists together. “You’re going to thank me for this,” she said, unbuttoning his shirt pocket. “No one will come looking for you. You can start your life again. I’m sorry I can’t give you any money, but the money you gave Lily will be useless in 1762. You’ll have to pick up casual work.”
“But McInnes will k-kill me,” the man stuttered.
“I doubt you’re important enough for McInnes to bother with. Let go, Jock.” Pulling the man further into the room, she pressed the artifact’s Go button and slipped it into his pocket.
Staggering into the middle of the room, the man opened his mouth to say something, but before he could utter a word, he vanished. Silence, the only sound to be heard was Dore’s rasping breath.
She turned to Lily again. “What was the date, Lily?”
“What?”
“The date you programmed into the artifact. What was it?”
Lily stared at her in fright. “August 6, 1866. I can’t believe this just happened. They’re all gone. The artifact really works.”
Kat cocked her head. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
“Holy shit!” Dore exclaimed when he stepped outside and saw the winged horse. “Is that real?”
“Yep,” Kat said. “I forgot to tell you Persephone might stop by.”
Stamping his feet, Pegasus unfurled his giant wings. “Is everything all right?” Persephone called.
“Absolutely perfect! Thank you so much for coming!”
“Not at all. It was a fun ride. What happened to the driver?”
Kat winced. “He’s taking a bit of a holiday. You might have to apologize to Hades for me. But we know where everyone’s going now. With any luck, we’ll catch Grantham in the act.”
Pegasus stamped his feet again. He didn’t seem to like the desert surroundings. “Wonderful!” Persephone called over the loud flapping of wings. “I’ll tell Haddy! Sorry, I’ve got to go. Pegasus doesn’t like it here.”
They watched in astonishment as Pegasus became airborne, Persephone’s hair flying in the wind as she reined the giant horse into a westerly direction and sailed into the distance with surprising speed.
That night, they made camp by a fast-running creek in the mountains. Lily was nervous. She’d never slept in a tent before and was worried about mountain lions. They tried to tell her that mountain lions didn’t exist in Hell, but she wasn’t convinced, so they pitched the tent for themselves and laid out her sleeping bag in the Jeep.
“What did you think of Lily’s dress?” Dore asked once Lily was asleep, and they were snug inside the tent.
“I think it was lovely,” Kat replied.
Dore scratched his unshaven jaw and rolled over in the sleeping bag. He looked tired, which wasn’t surprising, as he’d done most of the driving. “I’m kinda surprised she didn’t do a runner.”
“Don’t worry Jock; she’ll be fine. She was very brave to get involved in all this.
He rolled over to face her. “Okay. Give us a kiss, and we’ll call it quits.”
She gazed at him. She could count on the fingers of one hand how many times she’d kissed Jock since meeting him, and she remembered every occasion. “You want me to kiss you?”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“Are you feeling lonely?”
“Not lonely exactly, just missing what we used to have.”
Propping herself up on one elbow, she reached across and gently kissed him on the cheek. But it was a long kiss and, like all the others, a kiss she would remember.
“What are you talking about? We’re on a mission that could get us both killed. It’s just like old times.”
Kat could smell bacon cooking when she came back from having a pee. Dore was leaning over the primus stove and shuttling the tiny frying pan back and forth. She’d never been able to work out where things like bacon and eggs came from. There weren’t supposed to be any animals in Hell. Possibly it was all an illusion, but it didn’t smell like an illusion.
She looked at Lily, who was sitting on a rock, watching him. She was still wearing her long dress. She’d been forced to leave her contemporary clothes at the hotel.
“Morning, team. Wow! That smells fabulous, Jock. Have you got eggs as well?”
“Fraid not, but I’ve got bread; you can have a bacon butty.”
“Wonderful,” she said, crouching down next to him.
Kat asked, “How’re you feeling, Lily? Did you sleep okay?”
“Like a log. It must be the mountain air. By the way, I can drive the Jeep, if either of you needs a break.”
“That’d be great, Lily,” Kat said. “Once we’re out of the mountains, we’d love you to drive for a while.”
Lily looked up at the sky. “Wow, is that an eagle?”
Kat followed her gaze. High above them, a shadowy silhouette was circling, but it wasn’t an eagle. “No, it isn’t, it’s a bloody helicopter, and it might be one of McInnes’s men. We should get out of sight.”
Grabbing the bacon butties Dore made, they packed up the tent, piled into the Jeep, and then waited, watching the helicopter as it circled. There was no way of knowing if it had spotted them, but it was looking for something, and McInnes would have sent someone to check when the bus didn’t return. By now, he would know that the driver was missing. Kat doubted if it was unusual for people to disappear at West Fork. It might not be the first time that one of his people had thrown in with the escapees. And what would Grantham have said? He couldn’t exactly telephone McInnes. He would probably just accept that there was an extra person to deal with.
The helicopter began to descend, all the time, circling the area. They could see its markings; it was a McInnes helicopter. There seemed no point in waiting any longer. So Dore started up the Jeep and drove off, keeping the jeep at a nominal speed. Once they were out of the mountains, for reasons of fuel, the helicopter would have to give up.
“Is there any way they can find out who we are?” Lily asked. “You know, like, where you got the Jeep from?”
Kat shook her head. “No. The guy we collected it from was organized by Pernass. I wouldn’t worry about it though, if I were in McInnes’s shoes, I’d think the bus driver disappeared with the escapees. By the time he finds out that he didn’t, we’ll probably have Grantham and McInnes in custody.”
“You think it will be that easy?”
Kat laughed. “Nothing ever goes as planned. I think it’s going to be a bitch. Grantham’s a clever guy, and he’s been doing this for a very long time. We think he has a time machine, so he could be very hard to follow.”
“What will you do if you find him and discover he’s a really nice person?”
Kat glared at her. “HELLO! Hell calling Lily… Did you happen to forget where you are? We’re here because we’re ALL assholes. My job is to be a bigger asshole than Grantham. If I find him, I’m dragging him back to Hell
, and if he gives me any crap… I’ll vaporize his ass!”
CHAPTER TEN
I t was six in the morning when they reached the drop-off point at Thompson Springs, and the place was deserted. There was no sign of Kelsea and no helicopter. Not that Kat was surprised. They’d told Kelsea to expect them at any time between 8:00 AM and lunchtime, but they’d found an off-road track, and Lily had driven surprisingly fast. So they set up the tents and went to sleep.
Kat dreamt she was in London. She was walking down Baker Street with Harry Stewart, and it was raining. Harry was complaining about exactly that. He was saying that it only rained at night in New Zealand, which was untrue, Harry was just having a moan about not being in his own country. She was trying to argue with him, but her words refused to come out. And then something strange happened. Rostock was walking towards them, the horn that Persephone promised to damage, glinting in the rain. He was holding a gun, and suddenly she was begging Harry to shoot the demon.
She was woken by the loud chopping of a helicopter. Clouds of dust were pirouetting across the yard, and dead leaves were drifting down from a clear blue sky. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Instead of using the highway as he did when they arrived, the idiot pilot was landing in the yard, kicking up clouds of fine sand.
“Jesus,” Dore grumbled. “First, he’s late; then he covers us in crap. Why the hell is he landing in the yard?”
“Beats me,” Kat replied.
The helicopter’s rotors slowed, and after a while, the dust settled. There was no sign of Kelsea, but it didn’t matter. He’d been paid in advance, his Jeep was returned, and the equipment was all in order. They may as well just leave it in the yard and board the helicopter.
Kat glanced at Lily as they climbed aboard. Now that they were back in civilization, if one could call Thompson Springs civilization, she looked very out of place in her mid-1800s dress.
“You okay, Lily? Sorry about the dress, but there’s not much we can do about it… unless you want to travel in your underwear.”
“Are there any clothes shops in Grand Junction?”
“Of course there are, but we’re taking the helicopter straight to the airport, then we’re flying back to New York City.”
“But I look ridiculous.”
“You look terrific, Lily, and DC-3s are bloody cold on long flights. I’ll happily swap with you if you’re too embarrassed.”
“You will?”
“Yeah, sure I will. We’re about the same size, and Jock will fall in love with me all over again.”
But as the helicopter became airborne and headed east, Lily gave an embarrassed giggle. “I was going to ask you about that.” She glanced shyly at Dore. “Are you… and Jock...”
“Jock and I are just old friends.”
“I just noticed you sharing a tent with him.”
“I can’t sleep unless I hear her snoring,” Dore remarked.
“Yeah. And I can’t sleep without his bitching about it.”
Lily giggled. “Are you two making fun of me?”
Kat patted her on the knee. “Not at all. Jock and I went through the war together. We were part of a commando team. We’re old friends.” It took less than an hour to reach Grand Junction, by which time Kat and Lily switched clothes, no mean feat in a jet ranger. Dore thought it was hilarious and was still cracking jokes when they disembarked. It didn’t bother Kat. She was used to Dore’s odd sense of humor, which seemed to have gotten worse since they arrived in Hell.
The first thing Kat did when they reached the terminal was to find a public phone. She wanted to know if Giselle was all right and whether there’d been any news from the Gypsies. There was no hurry to intercept the escapees; they could easily program their artifacts to any date they wanted. They knew the escapee’s arrival date now. If they programmed their artifacts to arrive on August 5, 1866, they would have 24 hours to prepare, but she was worried about Harper’s time machine only taking one person. If she had to go into the future to hunt Grantham down, she’d have preferred Dore to go with her.
Giselle answered the phone on the first ring. “I’m glad you called. I’ve had Persephone on the phone. She wanted to warn you. Rostock’s been flown back to New York City. She thinks he’s been sent there by McInnes to hunt you down. She also thinks that Grantham and McInnes have been in touch with each other.”
“Really?” Kat exclaimed. “You think McInnes has been teleporting?”
“Persephone thinks he has. She also thinks one of Grantham’s spies contacted Rostock when he was in hospital. McInnes knows who you are now, which means you could be in danger. McInnes had three helicopters combing the area when the bus driver disappeared.”
“Yeah, we saw one of them. But no one can know what really happened. There were no witnesses.”
“Yes, but McInnes probably keeps records. If he’s been in touch with Grantham and Lily didn’t arrive, then the bus driver disappeared, it’s highly unlikely they ran off together.”
“How does Persephone know all this?”
“Oh, believe me, Haddy and Persephone have spies everywhere. They don’t rely just on the Elites for their intelligence. So you should watch out for Rostock. He’ll probably disguise himself as a regular cop.”
“We won’t be here for very long, and Rostock can’t exactly follow us.”
“He could track you down before we leave. We might have to plan this more carefully, Kat. If Grantham knows we’re onto him, who knows what tactics he’ll resort to.”
She glanced at Dore and Lily. They were drinking coffee at the airport bar and looked like a matching pair, now that Lily was wearing Kat’s shorts. It reminded her of their time in North Africa, and it was hard not to smile.
“Well, you’d better stay out of sight, Ellie. If McInnes knows who we are, you’ll be a target as well.” Glancing at the flight information board, she looked at her watch. Their flight was already boarding. “I’ve got to go, Ellie, but before I do, would you mind meeting us at the airport with a change of clothes? I don’t want to wander around looking like this, not with Rostock on the rampage.
“Sure. You want your Elite uniform, or regular clothes?”
“Regular clothes. When we get back, can you remind me to call Cabot? If Rostock’s hunting for us, it could get serious. We might have to send him to the void.”
“But Haddy said you couldn’t.”
“If it’s between that slimy lizard and me, he will lose every time; Hades be Damned.”
Wearing Lily’s dress wasn’t as much fun as Kat thought it would be. She might have looked very elegant, but the other passengers in first class were all wearing business suits and were giving her funny looks, the demon stewardesses were sniggering, and even Dore had a quiet smile on his face. Kat tried to tell herself she didn’t care, at least she was warm, but when the pilot turned on the heating, and the cabin temperature climbed a few degrees, Kat wished she hadn’t been quite so accommodating.
Kat tried to distract herself by thinking about Rostock. Had Persephone managed to damage one of his horns yet? If she was right about the lizard dressing up as a regular cop, it might be the only way of recognizing him. And then Cabot popped into her mind. Was the aging inspector as sharp as he appeared to be? If Cabot was, maybe she should contact him. Cabot might be her first line of defense against someone like Rostock. Making a mental note to call him when they got back, Kat was about to close her eyes and get some sleep, when one of the demon stewardesses came up to her.
“Would madam like a cup of tea?” she smirked. “We have a very nice Earl Gray.”
“Oh, my dear,” she replied, brushing imaginary dust from her lace shawl, “that would be wonderful. Do you have any cucumber sandwiches with the crusts removed? His lordship won’t let me eat anything else.”
The stewardess frowned. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Kat watched her as she wobbled down the aisle, her lizard legs looking very strange beneath her short skirt.
“Is this sea
t vacant?” Dore asked, easing himself down beside her.
“Not now, it isn’t. How’s Lily?”
“She’s very nice. She’s asked me to ask you a question.”
“What, a question she couldn’t ask you?”
He patted her knee. “I’m not the Boss. She wants to know if she can join our team.”
“Tell Lily she did great. She’s officially part of the team, and will be receiving her membership card, decoder ring, and secret handshake later.”
Dore squinted at her, “hey! How come I never got any of that stuff?”
“I still have my doubts about you. You never seem to follow orders.” Kat said, smiling at him.
“Yeah. Look who’s talking.”
A stewardess approached them, carrying a tray, so they stopped talking while she transferred a pot of tea and de-crusted cucumber sandwiches to Kat’s table.
“So we’re runnin’ with the devil?” Dore asked, taking one of her tiny sandwiches and popping it into his mouth.
“Cool Jock… You always had a way with words.”
“Okay,” Dore said, taking another sandwich and climbing out of his seat. “I’ll tell her she’s officially in.”
They found Giselle in one of the coffee bars when they disembarked at Idlewild, and none too soon. People were staring at Kat, and she couldn’t wait to change into something normal.
“Did you bring a change of clothes?”
“Yes, of course I did. How was the flight?”
“Weird. I think they thought I was some kind of duchess. Did you hear any more from Persephone?”
“No, but I got a call from Inspector Cabot. He didn’t say very much. He wanted to speak to you.”
“Fine, but what did he say?”
“As I said, not much, but when I asked him what it was about, he said he thought you might need his help.”
“With what?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Well, I guess I’ll find out. I was going to call Cabot anyway. I’m going to change. I won’t be long.”
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