The Granite Key (Arkana Mysteries) (14 page)

Chapter 23
– In Security

Cassie knew that déjà vu meant you had the feeling you’d already done something once before. She wondered if there was a French expression for something you’d already done twice before. Deja deux? She shrugged and knocked at the front door of the schoolhouse.

This time there was no Griffin popping out to greet her. The door opened slowly to reveal a young man in his mid-twenties with shaggy blond hair. Cassie decided that he was much too good-looking and since he probably owned a mirror he already knew that. She tried not to stare.

“Come on in,” he said laconically. “I’m Erik.”

“I’m C—”

He cut her off. “Yeah, I know. This way.” He turned his back and started walking, assuming she would follow.

Cassie stood in the doorway, shocked by his rudeness. Who did he think he was?
 
She wasn’t sure whether to fall in line or turn around and go home. Finally curiosity won out over resentment and she hurried to catch up.

He was already at the hidden elevator door, swiping his key card.

She peered at his profile for a few seconds until recognition dawned. “You’re the guy from my sister’s apartment, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, that was me.” The elevator doors opened and they entered.

“Why were you there? Were you following me?”

Erik punched in his code and the elevator descended to the vault level. “Faye wanted me to keep an eye on you. We weren’t sure if the guy who went after Sybil would go after you next.”

“So what were you supposed to be? My secret bodyguard?”

He shrugged. “I guess you could call it that.”

Cassie had known Erik for less than five minutes and she already disliked him intensely. His good looks were only exceeded by his bad manners. “Are you always this chatty?” she asked pointedly.

He looked down at her impassively and then gave an infuriating grin. He had perfect teeth too. Dislike was rapidly turning to loathing.

The doors opened and Cassie found herself once more in the Central Catalog. Several people looked up from their work as the pair entered. They waved at her cheerily.

Erik jerked his head to the left. “This way,” he said and once again turned his back, expecting her to trail along.

She complied but made a mental note to complain to Faye about him the next time she saw her.

Erik walked through the door marked Security Division. The interior was a large space carved up into office cubicles which were staffed by about twenty people. Some were staring at security monitors, others were working at computers, still others were reviewing paperwork. In contrast to the scribes outside, nobody looked up when they entered.

Her guide didn’t bother to introduce Cassie to anyone. “Over here,” he said offhandedly.

She followed him into one of the offices against the back wall. There was no lettering on the door. Inside was a desk, computer, phone and fax machine. Stacks of paper were piled on filing cabinets and scattered around on the floor. Half a dozen Styrofoam coffee cups were parked haphazardly on top of the cabinets. A greasy paper plate with a stale half-eaten piece of pizza sat on the desk. Because of the mess, Cassie immediately concluded this must be Erik’s office.

“Nice digs,” she observed sarcastically. “Do you do your own housekeeping?”

He shrugged. “Neat is for wusses.” Picking up a stack of papers that had been parked on a chair, he dropped it unceremoniously on the floor. “Have a seat.”

“Great filing system too,” she added.

He threw himself into the swivel chair behind the desk. “I hate reports.”

“I would never have guessed,” Cassie mumbled to herself as she took the offered seat. “So what am I supposed to learn from you?”

Without a word, he selected a sheet from a pile of papers and shoved it across the desk toward her.

It was a photograph of a face that Cassie knew only too well. “It’s him!” she cried. “The cowboy. You found him!”

Erik remained unmoved by her enthusiasm. “Are you sure that’s the guy you saw?”

“I could never forget that face. It’s him, absolutely. Who is he?”

“His name is Leroy Hunt. He got a dishonorable military discharge after the first Gulf War. Too bad nobody checked his psychiatric profile before giving him weapons training. He parlayed that into a career as a pricey hired gun. Somehow he’s managed to stay out of prison because anybody who could place him at a crime scene conveniently disappears.”

Cassie became lost in the photo. She still couldn’t believe her nightmare had been that accurate. The man she saw in her dream was staring right back at her and he had a name. She looked up to find Erik studying her intently. “What is it?” she asked.

The young man kept silent for several seconds before asking, “Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?”

The girl was taken aback. “I…uh…of course. That is…what do you mean?”

“This guy is bad news. He isn’t somebody you should be messing with.”

Cassie decided it was time to return his stare. His eyes were an odd shade of green. There was a hint of gold mixed in, like new spring grass. Brushing that thought aside, she shot back, “My sister is dead! You forget I caught the whole show in 3-D. Do you think I need a lecture from you about risk?”

His face was an unreadable mask. “I think maybe you do because so far nobody has pointed out how dangerous working for the Arkana can be.”

“I made my choice,” she said with more bravado than she felt. She was still deeply ambivalent about her involvement in the organization but she wasn’t going to let him see that.

“You only think you made a choice,” he contradicted her. “A choice is only a choice if you can actually understand your options.”

“And you’re convinced I didn’t deliberate carefully enough before I agreed? Gee, it must be nice being omniscient,” she scoffed.

He refused to rise to the bait. His voice was dead calm. “I think you acted on impulse. You figured this might be fun because you’re just drifting and you didn’t have anything better to do.”

Cassie could feel her face flushing to the roots of her hair. He had hit a nerve. “That’s it.” She stood up. “This conversation is over!”

He sprang out of his chair and reached the door before she did. He wedged himself in front of her, blocking the exit. “Wait a minute. You can’t just wander around the vault.”

“What are you going to do? Handcuff me? Shoot me?” She glared at him. Her eyes challenged him to lay a hand on her. “I want to talk to your boss. No, on second thought, I want to talk to your boss’s boss!”

Erik considered the demand. “That would be Maddie.” He stepped away from the door to let her pass. “Maybe she can talk some sense into you.”

“Maybe she should talk some sense into you instead,” she muttered over her shoulder as he escorted her from the Security Department.

***

About ten minutes later, Cassie was seated in the Operations Director’s office venting to Maddie about Erik’s insufferable behavior. “He was just impossible! I mean, what did I ever do to him?”

Maddie had remained silent during Cassie’s tirade. Her voice was uncharacteristically soft when she finally spoke. “You need to cut him some slack, kiddo. He was closer to Sybil than any of us. It’s his job to coordinate security for the Pythia when she’s in the field. He went with her on half a dozen recovery missions.”

“Yeah, that’s just great. Did you ask him why he wasn’t there when she actually needed security? The night she died.”

He was there the night she died,” Maddie corrected mildly. “He just got there five minutes too late. I think he’s been beating himself up for that mistake ever since.” She sighed. “There isn’t anything that you could say that would make him feel any worse.”

“But why attack me?” Cassie protested.
 
“I’m her sister for crying out loud.”

Maddie paused to consider the question. “Maybe that’s the reason. It’s because you’re her sister and our new Pythia. He’s afraid the same thing might happen to you and he couldn’t stand to have that on his conscience.”

Cassie relented slightly. She wasn’t any more well-disposed to like Erik but at least she was ready to move on to a new topic. In a less angry tone, she asked, “So what was I supposed to learn from him?”

“Did he show you the photo of Leroy Hunt?”

Cassie nodded. “Yeah, he said the guy was known for eliminating anybody who could identify him.”

Maddie gave a half-smile.
 
“Then I guess you’re safe until dreams are admissible in court.”

Cassie grew thoughtful. “If this guy has a track record as a gun for hire, then that means he didn’t want the key for himself. Do you have any idea who paid him to find it?”

“It was the Nephilim,” the Operations Director said matter-of-factly, “though I never would have figured them to tag somebody like that to do their dirty work.”

“The Nephilim? It sounds like a disease.”

Maddie barked out a laugh. “Between you and me, kiddo, that’s how I like to think of them. As a disease. The name Nephilim is Hebrew and depending on who you listen to, it either means fallen as in cursed or wondrous as in superhero. The cult plays it both ways. Since I’ve only got a nodding acquaintance with the Bible, my facts may be a little bit sketchy but here goes.

“Way back when in Genesis, the Hebrew god appointed some angels to watch over humankind. After a while, these particular angels got tired of watching and took a fancy to the local tootsies. They started to date them if you know what I mean. The result was a hybrid race of giants known as the Nephilim. The Hebrew god was so mad at this abomination that he started Noah’s flood just to wipe them out. Well, a few of them survived and their god allowed them to live as demons to tempt humanity. That’s the last time they’re mentioned in the Big Book of Begats.

“Now this is where it gets interesting. Around 1800, a New Englander named Jedediah Proctor had a vision. Jesus came to tell him that because of his death on the cross, he had redeemed not only the souls of all mankind but the souls of the Nephilim, too. The reason Jesus was giving this intel to Proctor was because Proctor, himself, was a descendant of the Nephilim. Although the Christian god decided to give the half-breeds a second chance, he attached a few caveats.

“Proctor was to go around and gather together the descendents of the Nephilim who by this time were scattered all over the world. They were to band together in communities and behave themselves until the Second Coming. If they were all good boys, when the big day came the Christian god would restore them to the rank of angel first class in heaven. If they weren’t so good, not only would they go to hell but they would be transformed into demons and join the ranks of
 
Lucifer’s satanic minions for all eternity. So no pressure there.”

“You said boys,” Cassie noted. “What about the girl angels?”

“No such animal,” Maddie stated flatly. “The Nephilim is strictly a boys’ club. They believe only males carry the angelic bloodline. The girls are descendents of their human mothers
—
breeding stock and nothing more. This creates a little bit of a problem for the cult. Hard to get a date when the girls don’t get any special perks come Judgment Day. It’s an even bigger problem because the Blessed Nephilim are expected to breed in a big way. Jedediah Proctor was told that the Christian god was so disappointed in humans that he wanted the Nephilim to multiply and build up an angelic kingdom on earth. That’s one of the reasons they’re polygamous. They have huge families. The women aka brood mares are called Consecrated Brides to distinguish them from you and me aka Fallen women. They get a pat on the head for being the wives and mothers of angels and that’s how they get a guaranteed ticket to heaven. By building up the angelic kingdom. The more kids they crank out, especially males, the higher their status upstairs.”