Woman King (41 page)

“That was close, Olivia,” he said. “Too
close. We have got to be careful until this is resolved.” I nodded,
sliding my body closer to his. As the codeine began to take effect,
it registered with me that we still were in grave danger.

****

My name was being uttered in harsh tones in a
room nearby. I struggled to regain consciousness, my head still
fuzzy from all the painkillers. I looked down to find my boiled
wool slippers, the pair from home. William must have brought them
for me. Sliding my feet into their comforting softness, I set off
toward the voices.

My body felt awkward as I tried to move
without putting pressure on my wounded thigh. It was a slow
process; even my uninjured leg was stiff from lack of activity. I
nearly screamed in triumph after I reached the foot of the stairs
without falling or knocking anything over. From the top of the
staircase, I could hear the voices clearly.

“There is no evidence at the blast site,
nothing to tie us to the bombing.” Gabriel said. “The police will
learn nothing from the crime scene.”

“If you’re right, then Nikola will feel
empowered to strike again,” William said. “He has zero risk of
being linked to the bombing. And if you’re wrong, and we left
something behind, a trace of clothing, a drop of blood, then it
would be wise for us to leave town immediately.”

“We don’t know that it was Nikola,” Gabriel
said, exasperation in his voice. “Aidan never had a chance to tell
me about his investigation. We have no idea what he uncovered.”

“Even worse,” Josef said, inserting himself
into the discussion. “Our enemies have no idea what we have, but
whatever it is they fear we know, they were willing to incinerate
all of us to keep it from being revealed.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Gabriel said. “We
don’t conduct criminal investigations at the Council. Whatever
information Aidan found would only have come to me.”

“All the more reason for us to leave town,”
William said. “Do you have access to a private jet? We’ll be more
difficult to locate if we stay out of public terminals.”

I’d been slowly descending the stairs even as
I eavesdropped on their conversation. By the time William asked
about a private plane, I was standing in the doorway of his living
room.

“So I gather we’re all going to Paris then,”
I said, catching the three men by surprise.

“Olivia,” Gabriel said, jumping up to greet
me. “
Ça va?
Are you OK?
Je me suis inquiété de ton
santé.
”

“I’m OK,” I answered, reaching out to touch
Gabriel’s face. His handsome lines had temporarily given way to
dozens of small cuts. A small bandage crossed over one of his
eyebrows, and a faint bruise clung to the side of his jaw. “How are
you?”

“This?” he said, touching his face. “It is
nothing, it will heal. It’s you I’m worried about, and your friend
Lily, her arm.”

“Where is Lily,” I asked, directing my
question to Josef.

“She left a few hours ago at daybreak,” he
said. “She said she wanted to see her family. I expect you will
hear from her when she is feeling better.”

When had Lily ever left without saying
goodbye? She was no doubt horrified that I had nearly gotten her
killed, thanks to my escapades. I hung my head for a moment, trying
to absorb the magnitude of what had happened.

“I blame myself for all of this,” I blurted
out. “Aidan’s death…if I hadn’t pressed him, pressed you about the
robbery, none of this would have happened. Where is Elsa? I have to
apologize.”

“Elsa’s gone,” Gabriel said. “I assume she
jumped back into another time to escape all of this. If she were
here, she would have shown up by now.”

“I think she and Aidan were in love,” I said,
my voice very low. It was difficult to find the air to speak. My
chest felt tight. “She told me they were going to Scotland. I
thought maybe they would be married there.”

“Olivia,” Gabriel said sternly. “You must not
blame yourself. Aidan was
my
deputy. I asked him to
investigate; he acted on my orders. I have always regarded Nikola
and Zoran as buffoons. That was my mistake. I was a fool to be so
cavalier and now I have lost one of my greatest friends as
punishment for my stupidity, and I put you in harm’s way. Please
forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive,” I said,
feeling too drained to say anything more.

I hobbled over to a chair and gently lowered
myself into the seat. William came over and sat on the edge.

“I do have a question,” I said, addressing
the three men in the room. “Was this about Aidan, or will Nikola
try again? Are we in danger?”

“At this point, we don’t really know,”
William said, placing his hand on mine. “We need a safe place where
we can investigate and to decide what to do next.”

“Then I was right,” I said. “We need to go to
Paris. It’s easy to disappear there. And besides, my mother is
expecting me. If Nikola does find out, he’ll think I left to be
with her.”

“We have a small office in Paris,” Gabriel
said. “It will not look suspicious if I move my team there for a
week or so. We have plenty of issues overseas to justify the
trip.”

“How much time do you need to arrange for our
transportation?” William asked.

“Not long, a few hours at the most. I will be
back in touch shortly. In the meantime, keep Olivia in your sight
at all times. She must not be left alone.”

William and Josef both nodded and I got the
distinct impression that the conversation had started much the same
way before I had entered the room.

****

Later that evening, five of us—Josef,
William, Gabriel, Madeline and I—set out for Paris. Gabriel sent a
car for us at 10 pm, and by midnight we were in the air, traveling
on Levi’s private plane, with one stop in New York for refueling.
Levi was only too happy to send us on what he thought was a
celebratory trip after a successful election.

The flight crew brought several newspapers
onboard, giving me a chance to read about the bombing. The police,
the news accounts said, were baffled by the explosions, which at
this point they were labeling an act of terrorism against the
museum. One journalist theorized that an animal rights group
opposed to the Academy’s collection of reptiles and amphibians had
set off the car bombs in protest. A special team had been brought
in from the FBI. But so far, no human remains had been found,
leading investigators to believe the bombs were detonated as a
warning, a threat of further violence.

Did Aidan know what was coming, I wondered?
Did he see the threat lurking? We’d never know. Hastily, I folded
the newspaper against my chest and sat for a moment, my head down,
contemplating the weight of what had transpired.

“Don’t, Olivia,” Gabriel said, as he sat down
beside me. “This is my responsibility, you understand? Aidan was
not an amateur. He didn’t put himself in harm’s way because of
you.”

I nodded, trying hard to swallow his logic. I
opened the paper back up and pointed to a story. “I lost a lot of
blood at the scene,” I said. “Did you go back and bewitch the
site?”

Gabriel nodded. “
Bien sûr
. Indeed,
there was a lot of blood, and much of it was
not
human,” he
said. “I cast a spell to hide the evidence. The police will look
and look, but never find a trace of DNA.”

“How did you manage to get back there without
being caught?”

“Magic, of course.” He said. “The fog came in
thick that night, but you know how this works, why are you
asking?”

“I guess I needed to hear you say it,” I
said. “Since the moment we met, I’ve felt as if I’ve entered a
world that seems to
defy
logic, or perhaps bend it a bit.
I’m still absorbing it all. I should have died in the explosion.
Instead I’m on a plane to Paris, my leg almost healed. The force of
the car bombs collapsed the front of a major American museum, but
the police will never know why it happened. We, the Council, are a
heavy, but invisible, set of hands.”

Gabriel regarded me for a moment after I
finished speaking. He seemed poised to say something, but then
merely put his hand on my knee, gave it a gentle squeeze and then
got up and walked away. I watched him make his way to the other end
of the plane, take a seat and close his eyes. Exactly, I thought.
Cheating death, misleading a police investigation, the
disappearance of Elsa and Lily. It was difficult to imagine more
dramatic circumstances. It was enough to leave anyone
speechless.

Hours later, the plane landed at a private
terminal at Charles de Gaulle International Airport. Madeline was
the first to depart, promising to quickly open the bureau and
settle the staff. She wasn’t seriously injured in the blast, but
her wounds were painful all the same. The rest of us walked off the
plane a few minutes later in somber silence. As we descended the
stairway, I picked up on the group’s feelings that we were missing
part of our team. No Elsa, no Aidan, and no Lily. Their absence was
palpable, but we had no choice but move forward.

I could think of little but justice, of
catching Aidan’s murderer. I had intended to pressure Gabriel to
develop a plan, but still feeling shell-shocked and grieving, I
couldn’t find the courage to press him while we were in the air.
Later, after a day or so had passed, I would ask what he intended
to do to punish Nikola. All of my instincts told me he was the
person responsible for this calamity.

Revenge fantasies occupied my thoughts during
the drive into Paris. After making our way through the usual maze
of landmarks, we arrived at the 10th arrondissement and the Rue du
Faubourg Saint Martin, where William’s apartment is located. The
driver removed our bags from the car, and we bade Gabriel
á
bientôt
, promising to see him later that evening, perhaps for
drinks.

While I marveled at the stark elegance of the
nineteenth century buildings, Josef stepped under the building’s
awning to punch in the security code. William and Josef’s apartment
was just steps away from the Canal Saint Martin and the Quai de
Valmy, an up-and-coming neighborhood where many of the city’s
fashionable boutiques set up shop.

“Remind me again.” I asked. “What year did
your father buy this apartment?”

“Nineteen thirty,” William said. “A broker,
another vampire, found it for us. This neighborhood was not always
so chic. We needed a place out of the spotlight.”

“Do you visit often?”

“I was here last spring,” he said. “I usually
come in April and leave at the end of June before it gets too hot.
Despite my Southern roots, I don’t care much for the heat. Explains
why I like San Francisco. I’ve also visited in November and stayed
through winter. The time I spend here hinges on where else I need
to be.”

“Where else do you need to be?” I asked,
curious, as we loaded some of our luggage into the tiny elevator
inside the building. Josef had decided to take the stairs. The
elevator door closed and William continued. “I own property in
Paris, Zagreb, New Orleans and San Francisco,” he said. “Some are
long-term rentals, others I advertise as short-term vacation
places.”

“And this apartment?” I asked, as we stepped
into the elevator.

“This is our family home,” he said. “No one
else stays here.”

The family home occupied the top floor of a
six-story building. I counted four bedrooms and three bathrooms on
my tour, as well as a kitchen, a living room, a formal dining room
and a terrace that wrapped around most of the apartment, giving
each of the bedrooms a small veranda. Clearly, a caretaker or
concierge helped maintain the apartment. Trees and plants on the
deck were healthy and lush. The apartment itself was immaculate,
free of any lingering odor that usually accompanies a home that has
been abandoned or closed up for long periods of time. Freshly cut
flowers had been placed in vases in every room.

The shell of the apartment maintained its
nineteenth century bones through original moldings and wood floors.
Beyond that, the space had recently been remodeled to include
modern appliances and conveniences. A dizzying array of art lined
the walls—paintings, sketches, and propaganda posters—all of it
documenting the decades marking the dawn of modern Europe. Antiques
and modern pieces of furniture were paired together in great
harmony, achieving the perfect Parisian salon.

“It’s a magnificent home,” I said, standing
in the living room. “I can see why you keep it private.”

William glanced over at Josef, who’d walked
in with our remaining bags.

“It’s the last link we have to our father,”
William said quietly. “We’ve maintained and updated the property as
necessary to avoid attention from my neighbors. “This
arrondissement
wasn’t always so fashionable. But we wanted
to be away from the center of the city to attend to our needs in
private.”

“It’s beautiful,” I repeated.

“We can live here if you like,” William said,
taking my hand. “At least part of the year. That is, if you don’t
mind Josef popping in and out.”

“I would love to live here,” I said. “I’ll
have to ask Gabriel. Since there is an office here, perhaps he
won’t mind.”

“You don’t have to work,” he said. “Once
we’re married, I mean. I have plenty of money and so do you. We
could disappear and enjoy the surroundings.”

“Are you being romantic, or trying to protect
me?”

“A little of both.”

I confess, it sounded splendid. Paris is a
city of infinite diversions, not to mention a fabulous access point
to the rest of Europe. Wouldn’t it be magical, I thought, to
explore the world with William, lingering here and there as the
mood struck us. It was an attractive offer, and I was giving it
serious thought. That is, until current circumstances brought me
back to reality in the form of a sore, tired leg. I shifted my
weight off the wounded limb, leaning back and forth to reduce the
discomfort. It seemed our long flight was finally catching up with
me.