Pello Island: Cassia (8 page)

Since Agatha had been drunk, the authorities would find Quintus perfectly within his rights.  Novia had raised Agatha as she had Cassia.  She had always felt pity for her, even though she’d found her treatment of Cassia abominable.  She looked down at the 27-year-old Agatha and cried; then she went to find Flavius.

Flavius had closed the shop to take his midday meal and was eating when Novia knocked on the door.

“Quintus has killed his wife,” she told him.

Flavius rolled his eyes.  It had been Flavius’ job to keep her in the house when she was drinking, and she would often put her hands on his body trying to humiliate him.  He loathed the very sight and smell of her.  He thought Agatha was a stupid cow.  But now he’d have to deal with the authorities, and Flavius hated doing that, too.

“So, I’ll have to deal with this now,” Flavius said, as he continued to eat.  Novia sat on the bed.  

“Why did he bring Cassia back?” she asked.

“Someone slit the old fat bastard’s throat,”  Flavius said between bites.

Novia knew instantly that Flavius had done it.  She smiled inwardly, and her affection for Flavius grew.  She stood up, put her hand on his shoulder, and then she left the room and made her way back to Cassia.

Schuylerville, New York

Cassia woke up in the wingchair.  The fire was gone, leaving charred pieces of blackened wood.  It was light outside, and she got up to see where Darius had gone.

Cassia found him in the kitchen with Sara, the housekeeper.  Sara was a middle-aged widow whose children were grown.  She lived in the mansion in a small apartment.  Sara was privy to the strange metamorphosis of her employers and kept their secrets.  Like Laurie, she enjoyed her job.

Sara was flipping pancakes and Darius was cracking jokes.  He turned when he saw Cassia out of the corner of his eye.  He smiled and she smiled back.  Cassia sat down at the island and asked Sara if there was any coffee.  Sara filled a mug and passed it to Cassia.

“So, what’s on your agenda?” Darius asked her.

“I’m heading for the spa,” she said, “and you?”

“I have a meeting this afternoon, then I plan to find out what kind of job this body had.”

“He had a job?” Cassia was surprised.  They usually didn’t have jobs.  Finding bodies with no ties was part of the normal routine.

“Apparently he did.  He also had a family.”

“What kind of family?”  Cassia asked.

“A wife, a kid, that kind of family.  Something happened to them,  I have to find out.”

“You seem very casual about it.  How are you going to…” She almost spilled the beans.

“How am I going to what?” he asked.

“To…find out?”

“Janus is arriving later today.  He has the intel.”

Sara put a plate down in front of him.

“I just love that Janus,” she said with a smile.  Cassia grinned.  All the ladies loved Janus.

“He looks forward to seeing you, too, Sara,” Darius said.

Sara was a large woman with gray hair and twinkling blue eyes.  She had dimples in her fleshy cheeks and when she laughed her whole body shook.

“Yeah, if only,” she said.  She held a plate out to Cassia, who declined.

“You’re awful skinny, Cassia,” she said.

“I’m going to the spa and it’s better if I don’t eat.  I have no idea what they’ll do to me.”

“I assume it’s the usual.” Darius said.

The usual was a tubal ligation along with a thorough detox of her body.  The three always took care of their birth control upon arrival in a new body.  They couldn’t risk bringing a child into the world that would otherwise have not been born.  It would upset the balance of things, or so they were told by Morta and Janus.

“Yup.  I arranged it before I came here.  I’m going to leave around noon.”

Darius ate with relish.  He loved to eat, and he never gained an ounce, no matter what body they put him in.  Amatus, on the other hand, always had to watch his weight.  It was another thing he held against Darius.

“When will you be back?” he asked between bites.

“Two weeks.  I should be all cleaned out by then.”

“I don’t know about that stuff,” Sara said.  “My daughter does that stuff, but it sounds weird to me.”

“They run vitamins and minerals through my body to clean out whatever crap is left over from the previous owner.”

“Like I said, it sounds weird.”  Sara cleaned up the pans and took Darius’ plate.

“So I’ll be here alone for two weeks?” he said.

“Unless your family has a place.  Then I imagine you would be there.”

“I think he’s divorced.  Besides, if he isn’t now, he soon will be.  I can’t be married.  Not anymore.”

Cassia remembered what Morta said and inwardly sighed.  So much for his flaming desire for her.  She really didn’t want to work at gaining his undying devotion.  Hopefully, Janus would work his magic on Darius, causing him to propose upon her return from the spa.

“What time is Janus arriving?” she asked.

“He called earlier and said around 10 this morning,” Sara said with a smile.  She really did have a crush on Janus.

“Good, then I’ll see him before I leave.  I’m going to shower and change,” Cassia said as she left the kitchen.

Darius finished his coffee and teased Sara.  When she left him alone in the kitchen, he also went upstairs to shower and change.  He hoped to find Cassia toweling off and in the mood for another tumble in the hay, for old time’s sake.  But when he got to her room, her door was locked.  

Janus breezed through the door around ten thirty.  He was greeted by Sara, who giggled and jiggled as he hugged her and told her she got better looking every time he saw her.  As Cassia descended the stairs, Janus did a double take.

“Morta wasn’t kidding,” he said.  She walked up and put her arms around his neck.  “You look just like, well, you.”

“Wait till you see Darius,” she said.

“I saw Amatus, no wait, Barnaby, in Aspen.  He’s a great match too, although I don’t know why they wanted him to look that way.  You and Darius, that’s a different story.”

Janus was tall with sandy blond hair and blue eyes.  He, like Sara, had dimples and always smiled.  Janus could charm the birds from the trees if he wanted to, and he knew how to keep women happy.  When Janus gave you a compliment, you believed him.  He just had a way about him.  They walked into the living room and sat on a sofa.

“So why are we a different story?” Cassia asked.

“Because you have to be together this time, and Morta thought it would bring back memories.  You guys were really together back then.”

“Janus, that was two thousand years ago.  We’re not the same people.”

“Maybe yes, maybe no.  You’ve had some interesting memories though, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, we were talking about that.  You did do something, didn’t you?”

“Not me, but the powers that be decided it would move things along in the right direction, if you get my drift.” Janus smiled.  The skin around his eyes crinkled and Cassia smiled back.  He was just so damn cute.

“He doesn’t want to get married.  He said so this morning,” she said.

“Well, I’ll have to work on that, won’t I?  I’ve been told he might be a little disinclined.  We’ve got it covered.”

They heard Darius coming down the stairs.  He found them in the living room and sat down on the sofa opposite them.

“Yeah, they really did their research,” Janus said as he stood up and shook Darius’ hand. “How are you doing, buddy?  You look great!”

“Not too shabby,” Darius said.  “It feels comfortable, like my own skin.”

“God, I remember when you first hit the island.  You looked so scrawny.  You look a lot better now, buddy.”

“Have you got our papers?” Cassia asked.

“Of course I do.  Just let me get my briefcase and I’ll be right back.”

Janus went to the foyer to retrieve his briefcase.  Cassia looked at Darius and felt a twinge of desire; he looked so good to her.  When Janus returned, he put the briefcase on the table and took out their driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and birth certificates.

“Yours were easy, Darius.  You have to use the name and birth date of the guy you inhabited.  You, Miss Cassia, can be whoever you like.  We chose to use your first name, Cassia, with a common last name, Johnson.  If you’d like another last name, just let me know.  Any questions?”

“Yeah, am I married?” Darius said.

“No, not anymore.  You have one kid, a daughter.  You also have a job - get this, a professor of ancient history at a local college.  Right up your alley, bud.  You have a house somewhere in Bloomington, but I suggest you stay close to this one,” he pointed to Cassia, “because she is really hot.”

Cassia laughed, but Darius looked serious.

“I want to travel this time, Janus.  I want to be alone for a while.”

Janus’ smile faded.  This was going to be more difficult than he’d thought, and they didn’t have a lot of time to make things work.

“Yeah, well, that’s great, buddy, but remember, if you don’t answer the phone, you die.”

“Why isn’t she here, Janus?” Darius asked.

“She’s where she needs to be, buddy.”

“Screw that buddy crap and tell me where she is?” Darius was getting angry.  He knew that something was up or she’d be here.

“I can’t tell you because I don’t know, Darius.  They’re keeping her under wraps.”

“Why?  What are they trying to pull?”

“Take it easy, buddy. Jeez, look at the time - I gotta go.  You all take care and we’ll all meet back here for Christmas.” Janus looked from Darius to Cassia.  Cassia nodded her head.  Darius got up off the sofa and grabbed his IDs.  

“I have to go to a meeting,” he said and left the room.

“That went well,” Cassia remarked. 

“It will work out, Cassia.  It has to.  They’re serious about locking us out.  So, what are your plans again?”

“I’m going to my spa.”

“Oh yeah, the one you bought, what life was it?”

“The one before last.”

“That’s right.  How’s that cute doctor, what’s her name?”

“Patricia Morgan, M.D.” Cassia smiled at Janus.  “She remembers you, too.”

“They all do, Cassia, they all do.  So, you have a good time washing out your blood and I’ll see you in a few weeks.  We’ll turn him around.  Maybe we’ll bring Amatus, I mean Barnaby, gods I hate that name, back.  He always brings out the competitor in Darius.”

“He lets me call him Amatus,” Cassia teased.

“Of course he does.” Janus stood up.

“I wonder where he’s really going,” Cassia said.

“Who?”

“Darius.   His meeting isn’t until later.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.  He’s going through some stuff.”

“Aren’t we all?”

Cassia stood up, too, and walked Janus to the front door.  

“You have my number if you need me.  Tell Sara I’ll be back at midnight for our rendezvous,” he said as he opened the door.

“I heard that,” Sara said from the kitchen.

Cassia climbed the stairs to see if Darius went to his room.  She found him brooding on one of Amatus’ couches.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked.

“It’s like home,” he said.

“So, what’s your name?” she said.

“Ian McAllister.  I had a wife, Maureen, and a daughter.  It doesn’t give her name, though.  That’s weird.  I don’t know what happened to Maureen.”

“Janus must know.  Maybe he didn’t want to talk in front of me.”

 “Never stopped him before.”

“Well, I have to get ready.  You have my number if you need me.”

Darius got up with her and grabbed her.  He kissed her, hard and deep.  She responded in kind and didn’t want to stop.  Finally, she pushed him away.

“You know I have to go.” She paused.  “But don’t forget what that felt like.”

She ran her finger down his chest and stopped just short of his zipper.  She walked away slowly so he could watch her, and felt like such a fraud.  She knew how to play him, and she hated doing it this time.  Darius was in for a bad time, and she had a part in it.  Cassia had never liked hurting anyone, and she felt this time the damage would be ruinous.  

She walked into her room and packed a small bag.  She dialed Manuel’s number and he said he would meet her at the door.  As she walked to the stairs, she peeked into Amatus’ room and saw Darius still sitting on the couch, looking lost.

“I’ll see you in two weeks,” she said, trying to sound cheery.

“I’ll be here,” he replied and smiled wanly.

“It will all work out, Darius, you’ll see.”

“You take care of yourself, Cass.”

She met Manuel at the door and got into the limo.  Manuel knew the way to the spa, and it took an hour to get there on the thruway.  She was greeted by the receptionist, Candi, who didn’t blink an eye when Cassia told her who she was.  Soon she was hooked up to the IV drip that would cleanse her body and lift her spirits.  

She tried to put thoughts of Darius out of her mind, but she couldn’t help remembering the first time she met him, in her father’s house, two thousand years ago.

Rome - Cassia's Fifteenth Birthday

Cassia stretched.  She was so cozy that she wanted to stay in bed forever, but she and Novia had to go to the market.  She looked toward the window and saw that the sun was already up.  She knew she had no time to waste.