Holdin' On for a Hero (118 page)

Chapter Fourteen

It had been nearly three days and so far Max had not regained consciousness. Nikki refused to leave his side. Louise brought her food and drink, but she had no appetite. All she could do was think about how afraid she was he would not wake. And how she’d failed.

She was so ashamed. She’d vowed that she would do anything necessary to protect the man she was assigned to safeguard. At first she’d wanted to rail against the injustice of fate, that she’d found her dream man in the form of someone damaged and incapable of having a normal relationship.

Then hope had surged when she’d uncovered the truth. That Max was not damaged. Only that had opened a real can of worms. How to save someone who was being imprisoned by his own family, and a family with too much power and money to fight and win.

But she’d held out hope. Especially when Max had started to come into his own again, to become the man who’d been buried inside for so long. She’d started to think that they had a chance. The discovery of the Stones and their magical effect had filled her with such dreams for the future.

Now that hope lay unconscious and she knew no way to save him from the darkness that held him. She’d failed. Failed Max, failed everything.

It tore at her so strong that it nearly crippled her. Another fit of sobbing claimed her. She climbed onto the bed and curled up beside Max. With her head on his chest, she cried until sleep finally claimed her.

Max opened his eyes and blinked. How did he get in bed? A frown creased his brow as he fought to dispel the fog that dimmed his thoughts. Little by little it came back to him. And with the return of the memory of the exchange he’d witnessed between his mother and Mark came the rebirth of other memories, those which had been buried deep.

“Damn them,” he whispered and started at the sound of his own raspy voice.

The start jostled Nikki, whose head lay on his chest. She cried out softly in her sleep. “Max, please wake up. I love you. Please come back to me.”

The effects of the Stones were still with him. He could hear the torment in her mind, feel her fear and grief and pain.

Tears welled in Max’s eyes. What had he ever done to deserve such love? It overwhelmed him. He eased out from under her and turned on his side to watch her sleep.

At length he traced one finger along the side of her face. “Nikki,” he whispered then cleared his throat. “Nikki, baby, wake up.”

Her eyes moved beneath the lids but did not open. “Baby, wake up. Open your eyes and look at me.”

She blinked a couple of times, then fully opened her eyes. “Max!” A smile of happiness claimed her face and she reached up to cup the side of his face. “Oh, Max, I was so afraid.”

“You don’t have to be afraid, my love.”

Her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew round. She shot up into a sitting position as if she’d been catapulted. “Max! Oh god, Max! Did you? You can talk! Max, you can talk!”

“And I remember,” he said.

“Remember?”

“What happened that night. The night Lucien was killed and I lost the ability to speak.”

“Max, we have to tell Simon!” She started to get off the bed, but stopped and threw herself on him, covering his face with kisses. “You’re alive and you can talk!” She hugged him tightly. “Oh god, Max. You’re okay.”

“I’m okay, babe,” he reassured her, and looked at her questioningly as she sat up.

“God, Max,” she breathed. “You have the sexiest voice.”

He grinned and pulled her to him to whisper in her ear “You ain’t heard nothing yet, babe.”

She giggled and pulled back. “Come on, let’s go give Simon the good news. Oh, Max, he’s going to be so happy!

Like a child eager to get to the tree at Christmas to see what treasure awaits, she sprang off the bed. “Come on, hurry!”

Max laughed, exulting in hearing the sound of his own voice. It was like waking from a nightmare. That thought brought another more sobering one. Now that he remembered, there were things to be done that were anything but pleasant.

“Max?” Nikki ran to him in concern. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Come on, let’s find grandfather.”

Together they went in search of Simon, finding him in his study. “Look who’s awake,” Nikki announced as they entered the room.

Simon put his hand to his heart. “Thank the stars. My boy, you had us quite frantic.”

“I’m sorry, Grandfather.”

Simon’s eyes bugged out. “Maxwell? Did you…did I…?”

“Yes, I can talk.” Max went and knelt down in front of his grandfather’s wheelchair. “I remember, Grandfather. What happened that night.”

“Tell me.”

Max rose and held out his hand to Nikki. They took a seat on the leather loveseat. Once seated, Max gave her a smile then turned his attention to Simon.

“The night Lucien came to the estate, I was in my suite. The nurse wasn’t there. I thought that odd. I came downstairs to get something to drink and realized that no one was here. I heard voices from the terrace by the pool.

“It was my mother, and a man I’d never seen before. But I heard her call him Lucien. They were in the pool. Having sex. I saw an odd object lying on a cloth bag at the edge of the pool. It was dark except for candles on the table and sitting in groups along the edge of the pool. A very romantic setting.

“As I stood at the doorway I heard someone walking down the hall. Footsteps on marble. I quickly slid around the corner and hid behind the pool bar.

“My father walked outside and saw them.”

Max paused, blew out his breath, closed his eyes and let the memory take him…

The man held Helen against him. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, their lips crushed together in a passionate kiss.

Richard stopped in the doorway. His face flushed a bright red at the sight of them in the pool. “You treacherous bitch!”

His shout had Helen and Lucien immediately parting. “Richard!” Helen scrambled for the edge of the pool, reaching for a thick towel to cover her nudity. But before she could reach it, Richard had jumped fully dressed into the pool and grabbed Helen.

In those days Richard was a fit and robust man. Helen stood no chance against him. She had time to scream before he shoved her under the water, cursing while he held her under. Lucien tried to stop him.

Richard released Helen and turned on Lucien. Helen surfaced, sputtering and spitting water. Lucien had the upper hand in the fight. He was holding Richard under the water. Richard was thrashing about but his movements started getting weaker.

Helen was screaming at Lucien to stop but he didn’t stop. Helen looked around and spotted the object on the side of the pool. She grabbed it up and came up behind Lucien. Twice she hit him on the back of the head with the object.

The sound was sickening. Like a melon splitting. Once she’d started she didn’t seem to be able to stop. Long after Lucien had released Richard and fallen face first into the water, she continued to beat on him with the object.

Blood blossomed in the water, spreading out like a red halo, Richard grabbed her and she jerked away…

Max opened his eyes. “They started screaming at one another, each hurling obscenities. My father tried to grab her arm and she screamed and threw the object at him. It missed him by a mile and hit me as I watched from the side of the bar.

“I knew it was going to be a mess. The only thing I could think was that I had to get rid of the object. Hide it. I grabbed it and ran upstairs. Once in my suite I wasn’t sure where the safest place would be. If the estate was searched where would be the least likely place to look for it?

“It hit me. One year while I was at the Citadel, Grandfather had sent me a collection of the entire Beatles’ library on tape. The case was a hand crafted wooden affair, with a false bottom, ample room for the object. I hid it there and left it in plain sight beside the stereo system.”

“Is it still there?” Nikki asked.

“I don’t know.”

“I’m going to find out,” she announced and jumped up.

“No!” Max bolted up and grabbed her arm. “You can’t take a chance on being discovered.”

“I won’t be,” she argued. “Max, I can do this. Trust me, okay?”

“Let her go,” Simon encouraged.

Max hesitated for a moment then released her. Nikki hurried from the room.

“Do you remember anything after that?” Simon’s voice prompted him to turn from the door.

“Yeah, I do, but if it’s okay with you I’d rather not talk about that just yet. I’m still trying to get a handle on this.”

“I cannot believe that at long last you can speak. You have no idea how much I have wished for this day, Maxwell.”

“About as long as I have, I imagine,” Max replied. “And would you mind calling me Max?”

Simon smiled. “Ah, it seems our Miss Morgan’s influence is rather profound.”

“That’s one word for it. I love her, Grandfather, and I plan on marrying her. If she’ll have me. But before that can happen we have to sort out this mess.”

“Yes, we do indeed. Have you any ideas?”

“I think I might. But let’s wait to see what Nikki finds.”

* * * * *

Nikki’s heart was beating triple time as she closed the door to Max’s suite behind her. She ran to the cabinet housing the stereo system. Sure enough, there it was, a boxed collection of the Beatles music, sitting on a shelf in plain view.

She grabbed it and sat down on the floor with it, dumping out all of the tapes. Even empty it had substantial weight, far more than its composition would provide. Excitement welled inside her. Could it be that she was about to view a piece of history that until now had been regarded as myth?

Max had said it had a false bottom. She fiddled with the box, pushing and pulling on every corner and panel. Nothing. She frowned and studied the box. There had to be a way to open it.

A few more minutes in which she had no success had her cursing under her breath. She slammed the box on the floor and pressed down on it with both hands, wishing she had the strength to just crush it.

And felt the box give. Her eyes widened and she released the pressure. Sure enough the release mechanism was pressure activated. The entire shell rose from its base, revealing the hidden compartment.

Nikki pulled it open and inside lay an old cloth bag. Her palms grew damp as she removed the bag, feeling the heavy weight within it. A vibrating hum emanated from the pocket of her shorts the moment her hand closed on the bag.

The sound was coming from the small pouch containing the stones. She’d been carrying it on her at all times, loath to part with it. Fortunately neither Simon nor Max had any problem with her keeping the Stones.

She longed to open the bag to see the device, but sitting in Max’s room wasn’t the most secure location. While no one should bother to enter, knowing he wasn’t there, she didn’t want to take a chance.

She quickly replaced the tapes into the case and returned it to the shelf where she’d found it, then went to the door and eased it open a bit. There didn’t seem to be anyone around.

As fast as she could, she left the room and raced to the stairs at the end of the long corridor.

She was breathing hard by the time she reached the landing on the top floor and tapped lighting on the door.

A few moments passed before it swung open to reveal Simon in his wheelchair, with Max standing beside him.

“I found it!”

“Then let’s have a look,” Simon said.

“Here?” Nikki asked. “I don’t have any gloves. And if this is what was used to kill Lucien…”

“Smart,” Max commented. “Let’s take it to Grandfather’s work room.”

They all hurried to Simon’s work room. “Top drawer of the armoire,” he directed. “A box of gloves. And get a cloth to place beneath it. There’s a stack of specimen cloths beside the gloves.”

Nikki quickly got the disposable gloves, slid on a pair and passed the box to Max. While he and Simon gloved up, she grabbed a specimen cloth and spread it on the table in the center of the room. She turned on the lamp above the table and placed the bag holding the device on the cloth.

Simon and Max joined her at the table. Nikki took the pouch holding the Stones from her pocket and placed it beside the device bag. “The Stones vibrated and hummed when I removed the device from the case.”

“Fascinating,” Simon commented as she carefully undid the worn cord holding the bag closed.

“Oh my god,” she whispered as she carefully removed the device, and placed it on the table. It was incredible. A work of art. Highly adorned with symbols that predated even the earliest form of written language, it was fashioned with a stout hilt that fanned out on both sides at the top, in a shape reminiscent of a crescent moon.

A dark stain covered one side of the crescent and was splattered on the handle. She shuddered to think that something so rare and beautiful had been used for so violent a purpose, for surely the stain had to be blood.

There were three holes in the crescent, one at each tip and the third at the top of the curve, which was slightly larger than the other two. Nikki dumped the Stones from the pouch into her hand, and carefully placed the Stones into the depressions at the tips of the crescent.