Seti would not, upon his life, make that same mistake again.
But at the moment Logan did not need to be protected. He needed succor, distraction from his worries, and ease of the tension that knotted his shoulders and knit his smooth brow. On the eve of battle in his old life, Ashai would have seen to Seti’s needs, easing the stress that tightened his muscles. Today, Seti could give Logan that same care, although it would take from Seti something he had never before offered to give anyone, including Ashai.
Not once, since he was a child playing with colorful stones at his father’s feet, had Seti lowered himself to kneel before anyone.
And yet for Logan, he didn’t need to think twice. Seti placed himself in Logan’s path and dropped gracefully to his knees. Looking up into Logan’s questioning eyes, he smiled and reached for the zipper of Logan’s jeans.
“Seti! What are you doing-”
“Let me do this for you, Logan. Let me ease your mind,” Seti said softly, when Logan pushed his hands away.
“No! Seti, I can’t. I’m too worried,” Logan said. “Come on. Stand up.”
“I kneel before you, Logan. I have never prostrated myself before anyone else. I do this because you need me,” Seti confessed. He felt himself blush, something he couldn’t ever recall doing before. Still, he couldn’t, wouldn’t let Logan suffer. He watched as Logan lowered himself to the floor, facing him.
“Seti,” Logan said, placing his hands on Seti’s cheeks. “I appreciate the thought. Really, I do. And I think I understand how difficult it is for you to make the offer. But the last thing I need right now is a blowjob. If you really want to know what I need, it’s just to be held for a while.”
Seti nodded, not quite understanding, but willing to give Logan what he asked for. Pulling Logan into his arms, he quietly held the man, both still kneeling on the floor.
After a while, Logan began to squirm. “My knees are killing me, big guy. Can we at least sit on the couch?”
Seti chuckled, nodding. They moved to the sofa. Seti put an arm around Logan’s shoulder, and Logan rested his head against Seti’s chest. Together, they watched the clock and waited to hear from Logan’s friends.
***
Across the street, in an empty apartment facing Jason’s building, a man sat in a lawn chair. He trained a pair of powerful binoculars out of the window, watching the inhabitants of apartment 509.
“Oh, man. Tell me I don’t have to watch this again.”
“What’s going on in there, Joe?” A second man, Harry, sat nearby, working over the remains of a Philly cheese steak sandwich. A long, twisted string of mozzarella cheese dangled from his bottom lip and there was a smear of ketchup on his cheek.
“I think the big one, that Seti guy, is about to go down on the other one. He’s trying to unzip Ashton’s pants.”
“Shit. Again? That’s fucking gross,” Harry said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and belching. “Goddamn faggots. Can’t keep it in their pants for more than five minutes.”
“Oh, wait. No, they moved to the couch. They’re just sitting there now. Man, I thought I was going to have to watch the whole fucking freak show again.”
“There’s only the two of them in there now. Why don’t we move in? What are we waiting for?”
“The boss said that we gotta wait until we can get Ashton and Seti away from each other. Then we’re only to take Seti.”
“Why wait?”
“I don’t know why. I don’t ask questions. I say, ‘Yes, sir,’ and I do as I’m fucking told. And so do you,” Joe said, snagging one of Harry’s fries. Popping it into his mouth, he returned to his surveillance of the apartment.
Chapter Ten
Jason, Chris, and Leo raced up the stairs from the 79th Street subway station, dodging professionals with briefcases, upper crust housewives with frou-frou poodles, students lugging backpacks, and sightseers snapping cameras, turning onto Central Park West. The museum loomed up before them, a steady stream of tourists threading in and out of the front doors.
Stopping only long enough to purchase tickets, they made their way through the crowds and into the Museum.
“Where should we look first?” Leo asked, craning his head to see over the throng of people that filled the Main Lobby. The boys pushed their way through the crowd, heading toward the exhibits. “The cafeteria?”
“Maybe we should split up,” Chris said, as they paused at the entrance to the Hall of Mammals. “We could cover more ground that way.”
“No, something tells me that we should stick together,” Jason said. “I’m getting some pretty nasty vibes in here. I don’t like it.”
“Please tell me you’re not going to do the Amazing Karnak schtick again,” Chris said. “It’s really getting old, Jase. When are you going to admit that you don’t really have any psychic-”
“He was right about Logan and Seti, Chris. After what we saw Seti do in the apartment, how can you still doubt Jason?” Leo demanded.
That gave Chris pause. “Well, that could have been a lucky guess.”
“Yeah, and I could be the Tooth Fairy, but it’s highly doubtful.”
“Not the ‘fairy’ part. You’ve got that down pat,” Chris grumbled, earning himself a half-hearted punch in the arm from Leo.
“Let’s head down to the labs. We need to find a familiar face who knows what scuttlebutt is going around the Museum,” Jason said, ignoring Chris and Leo’s banter. He led them toward the stairs, keeping an eye out for security. Seeing no one looking in their direction, he opened the door and the three of them slipped into the stairwell.
One floor below the Main Lobby and one above the Dungeon lay a maze of laboratories where acquisitions were carbon-dated, x-rayed, and put through a battery of other tests to determine authenticity and age. Here was where the boys had their best chance of finding an acquaintance that could fill them in on what Perry had done – or had not done - about the break-in.
Peering into the window of each lab as they passed it, Jason finally spotted a woman who he’d taken several classes with while in school. She was bent over a Bunsen burner, watching a blue liquid bubble in a test tube.
Jason knocked on the door, cracking it open and sticking his head inside the lab. “Hey, Sheila!” he called, smiling when she looked up and returned his grin. “Got a minute?”
“Sure. What are you doing down here, Jason?” she asked, waving them inside the lab. “I didn’t know you had a position with the Museum. What department do you work for?”
“I don’t,” Jason replied. Noting her raised eyebrow, he quickly continued, “I’m here looking for Logan. You remember Logan Ashton, right?”
“Of course. He works for Perry now, doesn’t he? He’s probably down in the Dungeon.”
“Oh, um…yeah. Thanks. We’ll head down there next. Oh, hey, did your Department lose anything in the break-in last night? I heard that Perry lost something really valuable and-”
“Oh, my God! There was a break-in? What did they take?” Sheila exclaimed.
“Didn’t Perry mention anything to anyone about it? It’s really just a rumor that I’ve heard.” Jason said.
“Oh. You should know better than to listen to rumors, Jason. Did Logan tell you that? He must have been pulling your leg. Perry hasn’t said a word to anyone about a theft, and you know I would have heard about it if he did. Everyone would have heard about it. Perry is absolutely anal about the Dungeon – he would be screaming bloody murder if someone had broken into his sanctuary.”
“Damn that Logan,” Jason said, trying to keep the elation out of his voice. “You’re right, there must not be anything to it. I should have known better than to trust Logan. He probably just wanted to see how far he could yank my chain. He can be such a dick wad sometimes. Thanks, Sheila.”
“No prob.”
Outside the lab, Jason looked at Chris and Leo. “Well, my money says that Perry hasn’t said a word to anyone about Seti going missing.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder
toward the lab. “Sheila was always one of the first ones to know about gossip in school. Stands to reason that she’d keep her ear to the ground here, too.”
“So, what do we do now?” Leo asked.
“Now? Now we go have ourselves a little chat with Perry,” Jason said, turning toward the stairs.
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Chris said, grabbing Jason’s sleeve. “Are you sure that’s such a good idea? What do you plan on asking him? Hey, where’d you put the golden sarcophagus and the missing mummy? You know, the two things no one is supposed to know about?”
“Don’t be stupid. We can go down there looking for Logan. See what kind of a reaction we get from Perry when we mention him,” Jason replied. “I want to know whether that scumbucket really thinks Logan took the mummy, or if he knows more about Seti than he’s letting on.”
“You don’t think he knows about Seti rejuvenating, do you?” Leo asked.
“I’m telling you, I’m getting really weird vibes about this. I think there’s a lot more going on than Perry hoarding an artifact as a nest egg.”
“All right, then. After you, O Psychic Wonder,” Leo grinned, bowing and gesturing Jason on toward the stairs with a flourish.
Jason shook his head. “You’re such a drama queen. Let’s go,” he said, brushing past Leo.
He led them down the stairs to the level that housed the Dungeon. They threaded their way between the rows of ceiling-to-floor shelves, making their way to the back to Perry’s office. The door was closed and the lights off. There was no sign of Perry anywhere.
Leo pointed to the only other door in the room. “That’s got to be the room where Perry kept Seti’s sarcophagus!” he said. Walking over to the door, he examined it, peering at the smooth wood and bright, shiny metal hinges. “This is new. Perry must have had the old one replaced.”
“Is it open?”
Leo grabbed a latex glove from the dispenser on the wall and snapped it onto his hand. He jiggled the handle, and the door swung open easily. He felt for a switch along the wall and flipped it, turning on the single light fixture. The room was empty.
“He must have gotten rid of it,” Chris said. “Why would he get rid of the sarcophagus after keeping it hidden for fifty years?”
“Maybe he didn’t want any evidence laying around,” Jason finished. “If Perry had said anything to anyone about the break-in, Sheila would have known about it, or at least heard a rumor. But, overnight, Perry had the sarcophagus removed and the door replaced. I’m convinced that Perry had Seti’s sarcophagus in here illegally.”
“Now what do we do?”
“Now we check Perry’s office for evidence.”
“Might I remind you that we’re not Sam Spade and Company? We’re a trio of grad students who don’t know their legal asses from their litigious elbows. What you’re talking about doing is breaking and entering!” Chris said, frowning.
“It’s only a B&E if the door is locked. If it’s open, then it’s only trespassing,” Leo grinned. “Come on. We’ve come this far. Nobody’s home – what can it hurt to take a peek and see what we can find?”
“You go on. I’ll keep watch,” Chris said, shaking his head. He trotted up the aisle toward the front of the Dungeon.
“You are such a chickenshit,” Jason called after him, chuckling. “Okay, here goes.” He suddenly paused, his hand hovering over the doorknob to Perry’s office. “Something’s wrong. Really wrong,” he whispered. He felt the blood rush from his head to his feet, leaving him dizzy. While Jason had often gotten “flashes” of feelings before, he’d never felt anything like this. This was more than unsettling. There were vibes coming from Perry’s office that were downright terrifying.
“Is it open?” Leo asked.
“I don’t know, but…I’m suddenly not sure that I want to see what’s inside.”
“Then move. I’ll do it,” Leo said, elbowing Jason out of the way. “And you’ve got the nerve to call me a drama queen. Sheesh.” He turned the knob and pushed open the door to Perry’s office. He found and flipped the light switch, instantly flooding the room with light.
Lincoln Perry sat at his desk, head thrown back, his lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling. A single gunshot wound marred the skin on his forehead. Surprisingly, there was very little blood - just a thin trickle down the side of his face and a few spots splattered on the collar of his shirt.
“Holy fucking shit!” Leo gasped, taking a step backwards. “Is he dead?”
“Oh, God. Unless he’s into some really fucking weird body modifications, he is,” Jason whispered, putting a hand over his mouth, his stomach lurching as his breakfast tried to make a reappearance.
“Guys?” Chris called from the front of the room. “I found something,” he said, walking back toward Perry’s office. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the looks on Jason and Leo’s faces. “Oh, shit. What’s happened?”
“It’s Perry. He’s dead.”
“What? Are you sure?” Chris asked, eyes widening.
“About as sure as I can get without performing an autopsy,” Leo said, running his hands through his hair. “What are we going to do? We can’t just leave him here.”
“Maybe he’s had a heart attack or something,” Chris said, stepping past Leo into Perry’s office. “Are you sure he’s…” His voice trailed off. “Oh, man. He’s been shot!”
“No shit,” Jason said. “Any other brilliant observations, Einstein?”
“Did you touch anything?” Chris asked, pinching the bridge of his nose as if he’d suddenly been struck by a terrible headache.
“I had a glove on. I didn’t leave any fingerprints,” Leo said.
“Okay. Then I say that we get the hell out of here. We can stop at a payphone and call the cops. Tell them where to find Perry and hang up before they can trace the call,” Chris said. “Come on. We need to leave. Now.”
“What’s that?” Jason asked, indicating a white envelope Chris held in his hand.
“I found it in Logan’s inbox. I don’t know what it is. I haven’t opened it,” Chris answered as they hurried back toward the stairs.
Forcing themselves to slow down to a walk when they reached the Main Lobby, they made their way out of the Museum. They hit the sidewalk at a run, sped down the block and turned off onto 79th Street, ducking down into the subway.
Chris wrapped his hand in a paper towel snagged from the men’s room, while Jason made the call to the police. It was short, sweet, and to the point. “Dr. Lincoln Perry has been murdered. His body in his office at the National Museum of Natural History.” He hung up before the 911 Operator could say a word other than “911. What’s your emergency?”
None of them breathed a sigh of relief until they were safely seated on the next train leaving the station. It left them six long city blocks from their apartment, but they doubled-timed it all the way back, taking the stairs two at a time and arriving in the living room huffing, puffing, and gasping for air.
“What the hell happened?” Logan asked, jumping up.
“Perry’s dead,” Jason wheezed, bending over at the waist, trying to get his breath. “He was murdered, Logan.”
“Oh my God! Who would want to kill him? Yeah, he was nasty, snooty, and a pain in everyone’s ass, but he was harmless,” Logan gasped, swaying a little on his feet. “They’re going to think I killed him, aren’t they?”
Seti put his hands on Logan’s shoulders, steadying him.
“No. If it comes down to that, you’ve got four witnesses who know you’ve been here at the apartment all night,” Chris said. Looking up at Seti, he amended himself. “Well, three witnesses. I don’t think Seti can take the stand. I’m pretty sure you need to have been born in this millennia to testify.”
“Whoever killed him must have smuggled the sarcophagus out of the Museum, too. It was gone, Logan. And the door had been replaced,” Jason said. Walking into the kitchen, he returned with the half-empty bottle of vodka and took a long swallow before passing it to Le
o.
“Oh, and I found this in your inbox,” Chris said, handing the envelope to Logan.
Logan blinked, as if still in shock. He took the envelope from Chris’ hand, his own shaking badly. Sitting down on the couch, he opened it and took out a folded sheet of lined legal paper. “Oh, my God,” he said, unfolding it and reading a few of the handwritten lines, “It’s from Perry.”
Chapter Eleven
Jason, Chris, and Leo stood close together in a semicircle around Logan, staring down at the letter he held in his hands as if it was a snake that might jump free and bite them. Seti stood slightly apart from them with his arms folded, the look on his face stern.
Seti's Heart Page 9
