Quantum (26 page)

I shook my head adamantly.

“Arizona, I’m sure they want to be there. But, if they don’t and need rescuing,
we
certainly can’t do it.”

“Well, I don’t think they want to be there at all. Simla even tried to run away. I promised Justin I would go back and get him.”

Kellan nodded. “Okay. We should let Gramadea and the other Wanderers deal with this. They’ll need as much information as you can give them. If you’re ready to be grilled, we’ll go in.”

I wasn’t feeling particularly ready for a
grilling
, but I had to do what I could to help Justin and Simla. I got up, still semi-attached to Kellan and we walked toward the house together. We walked through the unlocked, heavy, wooden double doors into the hall to be greeted by David and Amadea. David came bounding up to me and pulled me in for a hug.

“Sheesh, Arizona. You had me seriously worried. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, David. Thanks for bringing Kellan,” I said, and kissed his cheek.

“No problem,” he said, as Kellan grabbed my hand again.

“Children, let’s go through to the pool. There are a lot of people down there who want to see you.
 
They’ve been waiting patiently for some time. Some you know and some will be new to you. Your parents will be here soon, Arizona.”

“Mom and Rupert are coming?” I asked surprised.

“Yes,” replied Gramadea. “So is Ella.”

“What about Harry?”

“He’s already here. Come on. Let’s go see him and the others.”

I gave Kellan a quizzical look, but he just shrugged as we followed Gramadea through the corridors.

“I didn’t know,” he whispered. “I don’t know what’s going on at all.”

We finally walked down a curved staircase, which ended in a foyer that opened into a finished basement. It was huge. There was a round swimming pool in the middle surrounded by a crowd of people. As I was scanning them, one broke free and walked toward us. I let go of Kellan and met my brother halfway as I flung myself into his arms. “Oh my gosh, Harry! It’s so good to see you,” I said.

 
“Likewise!” he said, and put his arm around my shoulder. “Come on. Let me introduce you to the others. Come on Kellan. David, you, too.”

Harry ushered me to where Gramadea was now standing, which was next to a man who pretty much looked like Rupert, but slightly older.

“Arizona, this is Granddad.”

Granddad
held out his hand. This was clearly Rupert’s dad and Harry’s grandfather, not mine. Or was he? Sort of. I supposed he was my step-granddad. I took his hand and shook it.

“I am very pleased to meet you, Arizona. I can’t wait to meet Ella and your mother. They should be here any moment. In the meantime, let me introduce you to some of the people here. Don’t feel that you need to remember everyone’s names.”

With that, Granddad walked Kellan and me around the pool introducing us to everyone from Katarina to Joel. He was right. There was no way I was going to remember the names, though I may remember some of the faces. They were all wearing Sigma-W pendants clearly displayed around their necks.

I heard a shriek from behind me as we were nearing the other end of the pool and I turned around ready for action. Something launched itself at me with such a force that I tumbled backwards and despite Kellan trying to steady me, I fell into the pool in a panic with whatever it was still attached to me. It let go and splashed about in the warm water. All eyes were on me, all mouths open in gaping guffaws.

“Arizona!”

“Ella, you monkey!” She managed to splash me a couple of times before Rupert and Harry pulled her out the water.

“Can I go swimming? Pleeeeeze?” she begged.

I climbed back out with a bit of help from Kellan, though his arms had turned into jelly as he couldn’t steady himself from chuckling so much. “Sheesh, your face, Shrimp. Priceless.”

I thumped him and stomped off toward Ella, who was now safely in Rupert’s arms or I would have thumped her as well. Seriously annoying.

“She was just excited to see you,” Mom said, stepping between Rupert and me. “We are all excited to see you, and relieved. Have you been harmed in any way?”

“No, I was treated like a princess,” I couldn’t help saying.

“You were?” Ella asked, her eyes wide. “Did you get to wear a tiara?”

I laughed. “Yeah, actually I did. A really nice one, you would have totally loved it.”

“Can I see it?”

“I don’t have it any more,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Aww, that’s a poop,” she exclaimed.

“Yup, anyhow. I’m glad to see you, Ella. You did frighten the bejeezus out of me, though. And we’re both wet!”

Gramadea arrived with some towels for us. “Come with me. I’ve got fresh clothes for both of you. And if it’s tiaras you both are after, we’re not short on those either,” she smiled.

“Awesome.” Ella managed to look awfully like the Cheshire cat, smiling from ear to ear.

~

Olivia was relieved to see Amadea take charge of the two girls. She’d been slightly taken aback by Arizona’s response to Ella, her old Stevens responses almost reappeared–almost. It was a relief when Arizona managed to control them. This would give Olivia some time to talk to Rupert and properly meet her
new
father-in-law.

The decision for them all to come over to Spencer’s house–one of his many residences, scattered all over the world–had been a hasty one. One that was taken in order to keep Ella safe. The scary ability of Potomal’s group meant that it was impossible for Rupert and her to protect Ella. They had no way of keeping Potomal from whisking Ella away from them. The only way was to hide her, and where better to hide her than here?

Spencer Darley
–Olivia looked him over carefully and was slightly startled by the uncanny resemblance he had to Rupert. It wasn’t just the physical resemblance; he also emitted a similar
aura
. Rupert took her hand and pulled her over to his father.

“Dad, this is Olivia.”

“I am very pleased to meet you at last,” Spencer said, with the same disarming smile that had drawn her to Rupert. “We should talk. Let’s go to the study. Everyone out here will be fine; they seem to be enjoying themselves. I’ll introduce you to them when we come back.”

The
study
was more like a library. A couple of large oak tables surrounded by leather-clad chairs dominated the center. Spencer led them to one of the tables and they sat down around it. Harry, David and Kellan joined them.

“I’m glad to see you all. You’ll be safe here while we work out our issues with Potomal,” Spencer reassured them. “I will be leaving tonight, but I’ll leave you in Amadea’s capable hands and there will also be a group of Sigma-W staff here to watch over you.”

 
“Please tell me how you got Arizona back? What happened to her?” Olivia asked.

“We haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet. She just returned here with Amadea. What I know from our Intelligence is that she was held briefly in Paris and then moved to London.”

“
Held
? Has she seen a doctor? Is she traumatized?”

Spencer looked to Kellan. “Kellan is the only one who has spoken to her properly since she was rescued. She has just arrived, so we haven’t had a chance to get her to a doctor yet.”

“I don’t think she needs one,” Kellan added. “She seems absolutely fine. She hasn’t shared much about what she’s been up to. Her main concern seems to be Simla and Justin at the moment. She’s adamant that we go back and rescue them.”

Olivia nodded. “Of course, that has to be our main concern right now, too,” she said, looking at Spencer.

“Dad,” Rupert said, “I know that you’re absorbed with sorting out the Potomal issue at the moment, but Justin and Simla need to be made a priority.”

“Son, they are. With Arizona safely back with us, Potomal has lost his bargaining platform. I can’t imagine that he has a backup plan without her as a pawn. He will probably try to find Harry or Ella when he sees that Arizona is missing, which is why I insisted that Ella be brought here. Potomal is not aware that I have any interest in Simla and Justin’s welfare. I would like to keep it like that. It gives us a better chance to rescue them if we catch him off guard. We don’t want him finding out that we are interested in rescuing them so he doesn’t amp up security around them and decide to use them as leverage. As far as we know, for now, they have been brought in to solidify his numbers, so that there are enough of them to make a takeover bid. From what I know, once that is accomplished he was planning to send them home, unless they want to stay and work for him willingly. What I do need to know is whether or not they
want
to be rescued. Will they cooperate if we send in a team? I heard that Simla was unhappy in her present life. So, it is possible that she decided to stay.”

Kellan shook his head. “From what I have gathered from Arizona, Simla doesn’t want to be there. In fact, she even tried to escape.”

“That’s useful to know and be rest assured that we’ll speak to Arizona about this as soon as she gets back from changing out of her wet clothes. I’m sure that we all want to know what she’s been through. Once she’s filled us in, we can decide on a plan. Do you have any other questions in the meantime?”

Olivia had so many questions, but now was not the time, especially with the kids here. It was, as Spencer–she would have to get used to thinking of him as her father-in-law–said, time to get the Potomal mess sorted out. “Can you tell us a bit more about Potomal?”

“Potomal used to be my second in command. I have known him for a very long time. When Rupert decided to renounce his future as Sigma-W leader, Potomal assumed that he would take over instead. I didn’t know this at the time, but I did notice an increased effort from him, his work was impeccable. He busied himself in every aspect of our work, learning as much as he could. I was really pleased with him and encouraged him to educate himself by rotating him through the various groups. It was clear to everyone that Amadea would take charge, should anything happen to me. The chain of command then goes to Morten–who you will meet at some point–after that. Morten is my cousin. Potomal has always resented this link in the command and assumed that through hard work I would see that he was better suited and appoint him my heir. When it was made clear that the chain of command would stay static for now, he was very disappointed and angry. Still, Potomal kept doing his duties, but with much less enthusiasm. We later found out that he’d been trying to gather enough of our members to do a takeover. When we found out, I had no option but to have him expelled from our operations. He is independently wealthy, so he has been living in his various residences with his five children. We do monitor him, as we hear whisperings of a takeover plot from time to time. None had resulted in any action, until now. I am guessing that he has finally accumulated enough staff to be able to run the basic operations, which is why he took action now.”

Olivia noticed Spencer hesitating as the door opened and Amadea walked in followed by two dry girls. Ella was wearing a very expensive-looking tiara. “Ella, my goodness! Look at your tiara!”

“Mom, isn’t it just the most beautiful tiara you’ve ever seen? It’s a bit like the ones we saw at the Natural History museum in DC, isn’t it?”

It actually kind of was, Olivia thought to herself looking at the tiara. This was not purchased at
Claire’s.
It had a definite
Van Cleef
feel to it. She looked over at Amadea.