“Maddie? Hi, it’s Erik. I’m alive.” He paused and scowled. “Chief, are you still there?”
Directing his comment to Daniel, he said, “It sounds like the line went dead.” He listened a few more seconds. “Uh oh, she’s crying.” He paused to listen again for half a minute and then held the phone at arm’s length, flinching. “And now she’s yelling.”
From halfway across the room, Daniel could hear an angry female voice blaring from the phone even though it wasn’t in speaker mode.
Erik tried to intervene. “Maddie... Listen... If you’d just... I can...” Eventually, he gave up with a good-humored shrug and placed the phone on the arm of his chair while the voice continued to berate him.
“Oh dear, that can’t be good,” Daniel murmured.
“Actually, it is,” Erik told him brightly. “We have a saying in my organization. When Maddie’s yelling, that means everything is OK.”
“It does?” Daniel felt puzzled by the strange behavior of his new allies.
Eventually, the angry torrent gushing from the other end of the line stopped. Erik hastily placed the phone next to his ear again. “Maddie, are you done? Yes, it’s me. I’m OK. Well, sort of. I’m full of bullet holes, and a mad scientist just tried to kill me with plague germs, but otherwise I’m fine.”
Daniel waited patiently while Erik updated his superior on events of the past three weeks. Then he told her about Daniel’s quick thinking to keep him as a hostage, thus protecting him from further harassment by Leroy Hunt. He explained his current predicament and Hannah’s proximity then asked for back-up to extract them both from the compound.
Erik listened to his boss’s comments. A perplexed scowl formed on his face. “Hold on,” he told her and directed his attention toward the scion. “I thought she’d want me to get out of here no matter what I told your father during our meeting.” His voice held a note of disbelief. “Instead, she wants me to stay put.”
“Why on earth would she want that?” Daniel was as baffled as the thief. “Frankly, I didn’t expect you to keep your promise and stay here either.”
“Well, for starters she said that I’m in no shape ‘to pull any more half-assed commando stunts.’ That’s a direct quote, by the way.”
“She isn’t wrong,” Daniel agreed. “You can barely stand much less outrun a security team.”
“She also said that Hannah and I are both safe here since Metcalf needs us if he ever hopes to get his hands on the Sage Stone.”
“Also true.” The scion nodded.
“Maddie seems to think I can be more useful inside the compound than out.”
“But how?” Daniel was at a loss to see the logic of her plan.
Erik raised a hand to postpone any more questions as he picked up the phone again. “Yeah, I’m back. You want me to do what now?” He listened for several more seconds, presumably to a lengthy explanation. “How am I supposed to manage that?” he protested. Another lengthy explanation followed. The thief inexplicably broke into a grin as he listened further. “Uh huh. Got it. OK, I’ll tell him.” He ended the call.
“What was that all about?” the scion asked.
Erik sat forward. “Can you get me a duplicate key for this room and a blueprint of the compound?”
“Yes, of course, I can but what do you need them for?”
Erik smiled cryptically. “A game changer.”
Chapter 18—River Dance
Daniel idly scanned the menu as he waited for his friend Chris to arrive. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and the weather had finally warmed up enough to allow a meal outdoors. The librarian suggested they meet for lunch near Marina City at a terrace cafe perched above the Chicago River. The location offered a panoramic view of the downtown bustle, the opposite bank, and pedestrians strolling across the Michigan Avenue bridge.
The scion surveyed the restaurant’s other patrons. The usual crowd of high rise office workers had been replaced by weekend shoppers and sightseers. He glanced down at the river shimmering with reflected sunlight. It wasn’t as busy as it would be later in the summer. For now, a lone cabin cruiser was making its way toward Lake Michigan while a water taxi churned westward to Union Station. A tour boat, moored at a dock below the restaurant, was taking on passengers.
“Hey, Danny Boy.” Chris slipped into the chair across the table.
Daniel gave a welcoming smile. He studied Chris’s attire intently, making a mental note to ask where the librarian had bought his sapphire blue polo shirt. It matched the color of his eyes exactly. The scion felt an urge to reach out and touch the silk-blend fabric but realized such a gesture might ignite another awkward moment between them.
“Not that I mind meeting you on my day off, but what’s so important that it couldn’t wait til Monday at the library?”
“I won’t be at the library on Monday. I’m leaving for Japan tonight.”
“Japan?” The librarian’s eyebrows shot up.
“Well, adjacent to, anyway. Sakhalin Island is just north of Hokkaido.”
“First Australia. Now northeast Asia. You’ve become quite the globetrotter.”
A waiter arrived at that moment to take their orders.
Since this was one of Chris’s favorite haunts, he didn’t bother to check the menu. He asked for a glass of pinot grigio and ordered the house club sandwich. Noting the iced tea next to Daniel’s plate, he asked, “No pale ale today?”
“I need to keep a clear head. Too much is happening right now.” The scion handed the waiter his menu after ordering the same sandwich as Chris had chosen.
“For a world traveler like you, it shouldn’t burn up too many brain cells to pack a suitcase.” The librarian took a sip of water.
“That’s not the problem. There have been some new... uh... developments.”
Chris leaned forward, a gleam in his eye. “Really? How much could have happened in a week? You already gave me the scoop on your Australia trip—the armed satellite compounds and your brother’s nefarious schemes. Last I heard you and your flying monkey Leroy were going to tattle on Joshua to your dad.”
“We did. At first, Father didn’t believe us. But then, something happened to change his mind.”
The waiter returned with Chris’s wine.
Daniel paused to drink some tea. “The doctor who runs the secret lab arrived with a test subject who survived his experiments. It was Erik.” The scion waited to let that bit of news sink in.
Chris did a double-take. “You mean Erik, the artifact thief? The one who was killed trying to rescue Hannah?”
Daniel nodded gravely.
“But how is that even possible?”
The scion launched into a recap of Erik’s injuries, the doctor’s pneumonic plague experiments, and Daniel’s quick thinking in securing the thief’s safety by holding him hostage until the Sage Stone was found. As he was finishing his tale, their food arrived.
Chris barely noticed. He was staring open-mouthed at Daniel, trying to process this barrage of information.
“Why don’t we eat something and talk afterward,” the scion suggested. He wisely concluded that Chris needed time to digest the facts along with his lunch.
The librarian didn’t argue. Instead, he directed his attention to his plate.
Neither one spoke for several minutes.
Half a sandwich later, Chris stopped chewing and fixed Daniel with an earnest gaze. “So, now what? Is Erik going to rescue Hannah and escape again?”
Daniel shook his head. “He’s in no shape to rescue anybody right now. The head of his organization instructed him to stay at the compound. She wants him to engage in surveillance to see what my father is up to.”
Chris broke into a radiant smile. “That’s terrific! You’ve got an ally on the inside now.”
“Hannah is certainly relieved to have someone watching out for her,” the scion equivocated. “Late last night I was able to sneak Erik into her room to introduce
them. Their chambers are adjacent. Hannah had been fretting about her isolation in the guest wing. Now she feels more secure just knowing a friend is within earshot.”
“How is Erik supposed to surveil anything if he’s locked up?” Chris objected as he began working on the second half of his sandwich.
Daniel had lost his appetite and pushed his plate away. “I made a spare key for him today and also copied a set of blueprints that contain the security camera set-up. While I’m out of the country, he’ll find a way to get into my father’s office and search it. I gave him a phone, so he can communicate what he finds to his superiors.”
“You must be relieved,” the librarian observed. “I know I am. I thought it was going to be just the two of us against the Nephilim.” He frowned as he noted his friend’s expression. “You don’t look relieved. Why is that?”
Daniel sighed. “I’m relieved that Erik is alive. I’m more than relieved that Hannah has someone besides me to watch out for her. It’s just...” He threw his arms up helplessly. “I don’t know if I can fully trust his associates. I don’t know if they intend to harm the Nephilim when this quest is over.”
The librarian raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I’m having a bad case of deja vu right now, Danny Boy. We’ve been over this before. Your problem is you don’t want anybody to get hurt on either side of the conflict. It’s inevitable that somebody will. You need to stop dancing around and take a stand once and for all.” Chris tapped the tabletop impatiently. “Between the relic thieves and the Nephilim, I’m more inclined to side with the thieves. Your father’s weaponized plague is going to hurt a lot of people—thousands, if not millions. Is that really what you want?”
“Of course not!” Daniel exclaimed hotly. “But you keep forgetting that my family is involved.”
Chris paused to consider before he spoke. “Family loyalty is an admirable thing. Blind devotion to a mass murderer simply because he’s your father isn’t! Do you want the deaths of all his victims on your conscience?”
Daniel grimaced with pain at the impossible choice set before him. “It isn’t simply my father I’m defending. The lives of my daughters and wives are at stake too. The relic thieves work for a formidable organization. We’ve recently learned that their reach and resources may well exceed our own. How do we know that they won’t want to take revenge on the Nephilim? How do we know—”
The librarian cut him off. “We don’t. We can’t know if we bet on the right team until this scavenger hunt is finished. But actions speak louder than words. Your father aimed Leroy Hunt at those thieves and gave him orders to kill. They never retaliated in kind. Your father abducted Hannah and is holding her hostage. These thieves have risked their lives to free her. Your father is creating a weapon of mass destruction. The thieves are trying to stop him.” Chris halted a moment to study Daniel’s reaction.
The scion’s internal conflict must have been written all over his face.
The librarian continued in a softer tone. “You need to trust your own instincts instead of the dogma your father drummed into your head.”
Daniel cast his eyes downward. “In order to trust my own instincts, I need to have a clearer view of what lies ahead. As you said yourself, somebody is going to get hurt no matter where I place my loyalties. I just need to be sure I’ve minimized the damage by choosing the right side.”
“Then I guess you’ll keep dancing til doomsday because what you’re asking is impossible. Nobody can foresee every possible bend in the road that lies ahead of them.”
The scion continued to stare down at the floor.
“Hey, look at me.” Chris tried to capture his friend’s unwilling gaze. “If you don’t take a stand on your own, circumstances will eventually force you to choose. When that day comes, all you can do is make your best guess given what you know at the time.”
Daniel stared off across the river, an ominous vision forming in his mind. “And what if my best guess isn’t good enough?”
“Then you’ll learn the toughest life lesson of all.” Chris finished his wine and murmured somberly, “Que sera, sera, Danny Boy. Que sera, sera.”
Chapter 19—Let It Ride
Cassie climbed into the back seat of the limo while the driver loaded her luggage. Griffin slid in beside her and pulled the door closed.
The driver shut the trunk and took his place behind the wheel. He discretely raised the glass partition separating him from his passengers, so they could speak privately and then pulled the vehicle away from the curb. They were heading to O’Hare Airport to catch a plane bound for Sapporo, Japan.
“Pretty swanky, huh?” The pythia turned to the scrivener for confirmation.
“I must say, Erik’s resurrection has put Maddie in an unusually benevolent mood,” he agreed.
“Ordinarily, she gives me a hard time if I forget to turn in parking receipts for my trips to the airport,” Cassie said. “This time she booked us a limo. What’s up with that?”
“I say we should enjoy the ride, pun intended, while her good mood lasts.”
“True enough but I give it a week before something new sets her off.”
“Oh, surely longer than that,” Griffin protested. “After all, not only is Erik alive, but he’s ideally positioned to give her exactly what she wants—inside information regarding Abraham Metcalf’s ultimate scheme.”
“Looks like she got her miracle after all,” the pythia observed.
“Daniel has proven to be surprisingly accommodating. First, helping to rescue Hannah and now enabling Erik to spy for us.”
“Maybe he finally figured out that his old man is nuts.”
“No doubt he’s known that for some time.”
Cassie shrugged. “As long as he’s helping us, even just a little, I’m not going to question his motives.”
“It isn’t his motives that trouble me.” Griffin’s voice grew somber. “It’s his uncertainty. Daniel strikes me as deeply ambivalent both with respect to the Nephilim and the Arkana. He may be willing to aid us in some respects and not in others. Taking him fully into our confidence would not be in our best interests.”
“You think he might turn on us before this is all over?” Cassie peered at her partner in the dim light.
“It’s a distinct possibility.”
“Okay then. We proceed with caution.” The pythia cast a glance out the side window. Abruptly changing the subject, she asked, “And what about you?”
“In what sense?”
“You haven’t said how you feel about Erik’s return from the dead.”
“Oh, that,” Griffin murmured. “To be perfectly honest, I have mixed emotions.”
The pythia registered surprise. She opened her mouth, about to speak.
Anticipating her question, he hastened to add, “Of course, it goes without saying that I’m enormously relieved he’s alive.”
“But...” she prompted cautiously.
Griffin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I’m worried about you.”
“Huh?”
He cleared his throat. “How do you feel about his return?”
“Like I’ve been kicked in the stomach and can’t catch my breath,” she stated flatly. “Mainly I feel disoriented. I already came to grips with him being dead. Accepted it. Mourned it. Moved on. And now that he’s back, all those emotions are churning around again.”
Griffin turned to face her with a troubled look. “Which is precisely my concern. It seems to me that losing someone you care about makes that person all the more precious if he’s been restored to you.” He hesitated. “Perhaps it might make you want to rekindle your romance.”
“What?” Cassie stared at him in disbelief. “There’s no way that’s going to happen. Goddess, no!”
The scrivener seemed thrown. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
“It’s a two-letter word. Not much room for misinterpretation.”
“But—”
“What
is it with you and my love life?” she challenged. “Right after we thought Erik was dead, you were wondering who I’d hook up with next.”
“I—”
“Can’t you just give it a rest? I already told you, it will be a cold day in hell before I get involved again. Being an artifact hunter is stressful enough given the high mortality rate. Do you really think I need to add another layer of drama to that?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“Why does this matter so much to you anyway?” She glared at him fiercely, demanding an answer.
He averted his eyes. “It’s because I couldn’t bear to see you hurt again. That’s why!”
Cassie abruptly suspended her tirade. She tilted her head to the side, eyeing him appraisingly.
He stubbornly refused to meet her gaze
She reached out for his hand and squeezed it gently.
The scrivener finally glanced at her in surprise.
Cassie smiled. “I’m used to toughing things out on my own because that’s the way it’s always been. So, when somebody comes along who actually cares how I feel, I don’t automatically recognize kindness for what it is. I’m sorry.”
“I do care, you know,” he murmured. “I find it very distressing to see you injured.”
“When it comes to caring about women’s feelings, most guys are jerks.” She released his hand and sat back. “I guess there are a few good ones left after all.”
Griffin tried to stifle a jubilant smile. “On behalf of my gender, I really must protest though I think there was a compliment buried in that statement somewhere.”
The pythia laughed outright. “You ought to be happy that I think most male-type people are lowlifes. It makes you look like a prince by comparison.”
“Two compliments in one conversation—an embarrassment of riches,” the scrivener observed dryly, his eyes twinkling. “But seriously, I’m very glad that you’re handling Erik’s reappearance so pragmatically.”
“It isn’t only because I’m once bitten, twice shy either.” Cassie’s tone grew solemn. “It’s because, alive or dead, Erik will always be Erik.”
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