by D. N. Leo
Tadgh stood up, pulled the keyboard out, and whacked at the computer monitor. “Win, my ass.” He pounded the computer until it was just a pile of scrap metal. Finally, he slumped to the floor, breathing heavily.
Jo waited, then she went over and hugged him. “Okay, there now, tell me what’s going on.”
Tadgh sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. “Just shoot me!”
“You broke the computer. Want to play a more advanced game?”
Tadgh put his head between his knees. “Oh shit!”
Jo waited patiently.
“I’ve only seen my brother like that once. After Juliette died. He didn’t have the answer—and still doesn’t—about her death. It was painful for him. But when he finally accepted her death, he looked just like that.”
“If she’s dead, and he accepted it, isn’t that a good thing?”
“It was. But the other night when he thought he would lose Madeline, he wouldn’t accept it. He would fight for her. He’d never accept defeat.”
“You mean he loves her.”
“I don’t think he’d use the ‘L’ word.”
“So what’s wrong with him?”
“He thinks he’s responsible for Juliette’s death. We all knew she just used him. But he still wants to believe they had a fairy tale, that she at least loved him for real at one time.”
“Okay, once bitten, twice shy. He doesn’t think he can use the ‘L’ word with Madeline. And now Madeline’s told him she doesn’t need him. I know that hurts. But it’s not worth you destroying all of these very innocent computers.”
“I think Madeline loves him, too.”
“Only need half a brain and one eye to see that, Tadgh. I’m not stupid. I saw that in the hologame.”
Tadgh yanked at his hair. “Madeline believes the crucifix kills. It has explosives, poison, or something in it. She wasn’t going to let Ciaran go anywhere near it. But Ciaran is stubborn. If you tell him that the crucifix has explosives in it, he’s definitely going to go looking for it. So if I were Madeline, I’d do my best to help Stefan find the crucifix so he can blow himself up.”
“How did you come to that conclusion?”
“She told me about the crucifix. I think the whole grandfather deal was bogus. The fact that she’s not coming back here, maybe it’s part of a deal she has with Stefan. That guy is a nasty piece of shit.”
“So why can’t we tell Ciaran and try to figure the whole thing out? We can’t let Madeline do it on her own.”
“I promised her I wouldn’t tell. I also want to keep my brother out of danger.”
“You know what Tadgh, if I were Ciaran, I would beat you up.” Jo stood up and marched out of the room.
Tadgh trailed behind submissively and asked, “Where are you going?”
“I’m telling Ciaran. And if you don’t like it, bite me!”
Chapter 64
The real Fountains Abbey greeted Madeline with the magnificence of a place that had housed hundreds of monks who lived and died there centuries ago. Located in the endless and mysterious national park, the history and the beauty of the place attracted so many tourists that searching for a crucifix during the daytime hours was almost impossible.
“Can you ask your men to be a little less conspicuous? All they need are dark sunglasses and people will pick them out as member of the mafia,” Madeline complained.
“They’re not my men,” Stefan said between his teeth, glancing at the five fighters Richard had sent along with them.
They walked down to the valley from the visitor center and recognized the grounds. It was the setting from the hologame they had played the day before.
Madeline looked around—miles of trees, a gigantic manmade lake, and the ruined sites of abbeys and graveyards.
“This is just great. We may have to spend a lifetime here, digging,” Stefan muttered.
“We need more information,” Madeline said.
She turned around, asking Douglas, the head of the group, “Is there anything we can do to speed this up?”
Douglas shook his head.
“Can we at least have a dog to scent something out?” Stefan asked.
“We have a scanner,” Douglas offered. “Would that help?”
“A scanner for what? Metals? Explosives?”
“It doesn’t detect. It just provides visuals of objects up to six feet underground.”
“Great, I’m looking forward to scanning the graveyard,” Madeline muttered. “We’ll start at the far end of the lake and work our way up to the abbeys. There are too many tourists in the abbeys right now. They’d be alarmed if we looked like we were scanning for a bomb.”
The group walked along the lake’s edge to approach the park at the far end. Halfway there, they saw Ciaran, Tadgh, and Jo on the other side.
“Just great. They sniffed this out already,” Stefan moaned.
All the men had their hands in their pockets, ready for necessary action. Madeline knew they were packing the dart guns.
“No fighting,” she said. “No need to fight. None of you will draw a weapon here. Let me talk to them.” Madeline approached the narrow, railing-less bridge that led over the water. At the other side, Ciaran approached. They both accessed the bridge but kept their distance from one another.
“Madeline.” Ciaran nodded an aloof greeting. His raven black hair was tied back, revealing that face graced by God that she had fallen for at first sight. His smoky gray eyes no longer looked at her with passion but with calculated strategies. His hands were shoved his pockets as if he was about to negotiate with an adversary that he considered lesser than him.
“You don’t own this park, do you?”
“No, it’s a public place. A very beautiful historic site that anyone with an appreciation for history and nature can visit.”
“And that’s what you’re doing here?”
“Of course. Jo is going back to New York soon. It would be a shame if she missed seeing this site. She might not have a chance to come back. We would love it to become one of her fond memories.”
Damn his fancy words and damn his fancy accent, Madeline thought.
Ciaran gazed at her. The intensity in his eyes was so strong she thought it could punch holes through her body. There were so many questions in them. Questions that had neither been asked nor answered.
Hadn’t last night’s conversation been uncomfortable enough? Did he have to cause more pain? What had Tadgh told him? He’d promised he wouldn’t open his mouth. But here was Ciaran, standing right in front of her. So best guess, Tadgh had spilled the beans.
Ciaran was here, searching for the crucifix like everybody else. She didn’t think he’d go for the gold. Rather, he was looking for an answer about Juliette. If Tadgh had told him about the possible danger of the crucifix, then that would motivate him even more.
“I have friends with me as well.” Madeline gestured toward the fighters. “So I’m playing the tour guide.”
“I see.”
A small group of visitors went past.
“It’s a big place. There are a lot of things to see here,” Madeline continued.
Ciaran stepped forward. Madeline stepped backward.
“Madeline, we don’t have all day. Our friends are ‘dying’ to see the entire site here,” Stefan called out.
Ciaran stepped forward. Madeline backed down off the bridge.
“Don’t.” She grunted out the word to Ciaran between her teeth. The fighters moved in.
“Ciaran, we’re late. Let’s go. The party is waiting at home,” Tadgh yelled out.
Ciaran grinned. “I invited you to our party, but you declined. If you change your mind, our home is always open for you, Madeline.”
Two tourists walked past.
“That’s enough, Madeline. We’re very late. Our friends need to get home. Their families are waiting.” Stefan grabbed her arm.
Madeline could see Ciaran’s eyes burning with anger. But he said nothing more. Another
group of tourists walked past the bridge.
“Ciaran, I have to go . . .”
Ciaran reached out for her elbow. She saw the men with their hands at their back pockets.
“No.” She glared at them, warning them. “Please let go, Ciaran.”
“All you have to do is to say you’ve changed your mind, and I’ll take you home right now,” he growled.
“Hey!” Stefan came over and shoved Ciaran back. “Don’t you touch her. She said no.”
“She said no to those scumbags over there to stop them from pulling their weapons out in a public place,” Ciaran snarled back.
“You think I won’t?” Stefan grabbed Ciaran’s collar. Ciaran grabbed him back.
“Don’t, you two.” Madeline pulled Stefan back. Another group of tourists ambled past. Stefan grumbled some profanity.
“I want you to leave, Ciaran. Please.”
“You hear that? She doesn’t want you anymore.” Stefan sneered.
Ciaran moved one step forward and swung a punch right at the side of Stefan’s face, knocking him to the ground. Five men pulled their weapons, and Madeline jumped front of Ciaran. “Put your weapons away. I’m in charge. I’ll tell my grandfather.”
Stefan stood up and looked about to charge at Ciaran.
“No, Stefan,” she said then turned around, looking at Ciaran. “How much more do you want to punish me, Ciaran?”
“I don’t . . .”
“Then go, please.”
Ciaran looked at her one last time, then left. She wasn’t sure who was hurting more when they parted, but she had to move on and finish this.
There was a killer crucifix to find.
She shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, and they hit something.
“You lose something?” Stefan frowned, looking at the expression on her face.
“No. I just need some tissues.” She sniffled.
Stefan rolled his eyes and walked toward the fighters. “Anyone have any tissue?”
Chapter 65
A moment later, Ciaran drove out of the national park, headed toward Mortlake. Both Tadgh and Jo sat in the back seat.
Ciaran glanced at Tadgh in the mirror. “Okay, if you have anything on your mind, speak now.”
“You couldn’t refrain from punching Stefan? What if those guys had actually shot at you?” Tadgh scolded.
“They didn’t.”
“Is that all you have to say? I thought I was the reckless one in this family!” Tadgh exclaimed.
“It’s done. There’s no point arguing about it. Where did you plant the bug, Ciaran?” Jo asked.
“In Madeline’s pocket. I slipped her a pocket knife, too.”
Tadgh shook his head. “Why didn’t you give her a gun?”
“The biggest compromise I made was to agree to go along with you two and let Madeline handle this by herself. I can’t offer more than that.”
Tadgh grumbled some profanity and then shut up, looking out the window.
Mrs. Hanson’s house still wore the police security banners. Apparently, nothing much had been done here by the police since their last visit. Ciaran walked straight in, peeling the police seal off.
“Are you going to be okay going in there?” Tadgh asked Jo, concern filling his eyes. Jo smiled, and her green cat eyes almost glittered.
“Very sweet of you to think of me, Tadgh. But Stefan didn’t do anything in here that traumatized me. Plus, I don’t get scared easily.”
Ciaran looked around, pulling some projectors and leftover computer equipment together.
“How did Stefan have it set it up, Jo?”
“He didn’t exactly set anything up here. He gave me a piece of junk called a computer and asked me to decode the disk. I think he knew this was a communication center for whoever he was working for, but he really had no idea how to operate it.”
Ciaran nodded and concentrated on a couple of broken wires.
“What medium do you think they’re using?” asked Jo.
“The most primitive holocast model uses sound frequency. Why don’t we try that?”
“You think we can get a frequency in here?” Tadgh asked.
Ciaran nodded. Jo approached a computer. “I’ll work on this one,” she said and sat down in front of the monitor. Tadgh stood behind, rocking back and forth from his heels to his toes. Ciaran put in the code, and the computer screen popped up an authorization box.
“Okay,” Jo smiled. “Stefan always asked me to type in this key he had written on a piece of paper. 524HJUP12.653.212.OZR.”
The computer flashed, “Authorized.”
“How did you remember that?” Tadgh asked.
“Photographic memory.” Jo grinned.
“Did you get it working for Stefan?” Tadgh asked.
“No! I always seemed to call up a wrong authorisation box for Stefan. What a shame!”
“All right. Let’s start the search,” Ciaran said and took over computer duty. A while later, there was a diagram on the computer monitor and a needle hitched up. “That’s it!” Ciaran said and pointed at the diagram.
Both Ciaran and Jo typed lines of codes and commands into the computer.
“Stupid lightwaves,” Ciaran muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.
A moment later, Jo yelped in delight.
And then, “Got you, bitch,” Ciaran muttered.
Tadgh cocked an eyebrow, amused by the fact that Ciaran did not realize that he was streaming profanity as he worked.
They heard static on the speaker. Then a robotic female voice spoke. “Verification affirmative. Ciaran LeBlanc. This is TK5467.23.7 channel authorized by Sciphil Central.”
“Sounds friendly,” Tadgh said.
“I’d like to talk to Sciphil Two,” Ciaran directed.
“Sciphil Two is not available. I am authorized to give you necessary assistance.”
“Last week, there was a troop helping me at the creek in Henley on Thames. Did Sciphil Two send them?”
“Affirmative.”
“Can I have access to them?”
“Affirmative. How many do you need?”
“As many as you can give.”
“The direct contact will be sent to you. This channel can only be used for three minutes, Earth time. What is the next task?”
“Earth time? Where are you exactly?” Tadgh asked.
“Aphiemi, AKA Aphi, satellite station of Eudaiz.”
“How far from here?” Jo said.
“We’re not in the same dimension. There is no available data on physical distances.”
Ciaran nodded. “Dimensional travel,” he muttered. Then he asked, “The people attacking us were using dart guns that could turn organic objects into thin air. Any idea who they are and where they come from?”
“That weapon is used exclusively by the Kelleys.”
Ciaran paused. “What’s the relationship between Madeline Roux and the Kelleys?”
The computer monotoned the answer. “Madeline Kelley, age thirty-three, the only daughter of Thomas Kelley and Diana Kelley. Lost on planet at four weeks of age. Recently found by grandfather Richard Kelley . . .”
“Yet she doesn’t have green skin and a big malformed head,” Tadgh said.
“You are referring to extraterrestrial creatures in your dimension. Eudaizian’s complexion is . . .”
“That’s enough.” Ciaran cut the computer off. “Is Juliette one of yours?”
“Please elaborate on the term yours.”
“Is she like Madeline?”
“Negative.”
“So she is human?”
“Negative.”
“Damnit, so what is she?”
“Please elaborate on the term damnit.”
“What is she?”
“That information is not available.”
“What about Stefan Dubois?”
“Stefan Dubois is not in our database.”
“Why does Richard want the crucifix?”
&nbs
p; “We cannot identify an association between Richard Kelly and the object crucifix.”
Ciaran shook his head. “Why did Sciphil Two’s troop tattoo a crucifix on my arm?”
“Negative. We do not have the record of them performing such task. You have three seconds left.”
Three loud beeps were emitted by the computer, and the voice died out.
Silence.
Ciaran paced, contemplating the plans.
“This is so fucked up. So the grandfather deal wasn’t bogus,” Tadgh said.
“Ciaran, do you think the crucifix at Fountains Abbey is fake?” Jo asked.
Ciaran shook his head, still circling the room.
“You’re make me dizzy, Ciaran. Say something,” Tadgh said.
Ciaran deduced aloud. “All right, we have too much information about one thing and not enough of another. Let’s tackle this one thing at a time. I think Richard Kelley, Madeline’s grandfather, is onto something bigger than a crucifix. But I think the crucifix is real.”
He pulled his left sleeve up and studied at the tattoo the robotic soldiers had inked him with at the creek. Jo and Tadgh looked at it, turned their heads sideways and upside down to look at it from all angles.
“It looks like a key from this angle,” Jo said.
“Yeah!” Tadgh agreed.
“Key? To what?” Ciaran muttered the question to himself. His phone buzzed. On the screen, a line of text appeared, “Your troops are ready at Henley on Thames. Specific locations will be indicated on maps.”
“Let’s go.” Ciaran said.
In the car, the device Ciaran had in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and gave it to Jo. “Okay, the bug in Madeline’s pocket has received signals,” she said and adjusted the speaker volume.
They heard voices at the other end.
“How much further have we got to go?” a male voice asked.
“Douglas, we’ve only scanned halfway and on one side. This isn’t going to work,” Stefan said.
“Then ask for more scanners and get them to do the scanning,” Madeline said.
“Call Richard,” Stefan commanded.
Stefan continued, “Ten more scanners . . . give me the phone . . . Mr. Kelley, if you were online this morning, you heard Ciaran. They’ve sniffed this site out. That means we can’t stop now. Do you think he really went home to dance at a party? I need more men here to sweep the site fast. As many as possible. They have to be able to fight, if necessary. I don’t know what sort of manpower Ciaran has access to. But we have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario if you don’t want to lose the crucifix . . .