Justus gave me another sceptical look.
‘I know one when I see one, Justus.’ Why was I explaining this to him? He was that undermining sort – I didn’t need to rise to his bait.
‘He’s going to be hard to find again, but I’ll see what I can do. He and Sextus were released without charge along with three others arrested at the same time. It would help if we had some images, but even Albinus can’t penetrate the PGSF net.’
‘I can help you there.’ Six pairs of eyes focussed on me. ‘With the pictures,’ I emphasised.
Cassia went next, her hard features showing little animation. ‘I’ve started enquiries about this group’s financing. You say they’re ideologically driven, but they must have considerable undeclared resources to have funded their actions to date.’
She even talked like a tax form.
‘Creativity always costs,’ she continued. ‘There will be an audit trail somewhere. Once we have some more names verified, we can go through their tax files. If there is anything hidden, I will find it.’
I twitched at her hard tone and empathised with Junia.
‘Now, the two names we do have…Trosius, your librarian, I’ve found his return. All appears in order – he’s paid the proper tax due on what he’s declared. But I conclude he must engage in some undeclared self-employed work as his expenditure is high for his reported income. The other known name, Sextus, has no tax history, but his bank account shows quarterly credits from PFPP, whatever that is. I’ll let you know when I have identified the source.’
‘Well, that’s a reasonable start.’ High praise, from Apollo. ‘Report back at five this afternoon.’ He concluded the meeting and dismissed them all. He ushered me out to the veranda.
‘How did you feel that went?’ he asked. He smiled pleasantly, but not warmly. His voice was at its most urbane.
‘Well, I thought.’ I wondered what was coming.
‘Justus is looking into the two disconcerting incidents we discussed earlier,’ he continued. ‘I am unhappy that Dania had a visit from the custodes specifically looking for you. I have had a little talk with Pollius.’
I shivered.
‘He assures me he said nothing – I believe him. Now, we’ve identified the two plain clothes – Department of Justice Organised Crime Unit.’ He looked me right in the eye and asked, ‘So how are they involved, do you think?’
I took a couple of breaths. Did he think I had instigated a sting? Hades, I hoped not. I was coffin-fodder if he did.
‘Not a clue – really,’ I assured him. ‘The only DJ custos who I know has been anywhere near this case is Commander Cornelius Lurio, at the XI. He was there when we mopped up after the Hirenses extraction. I’ve known him for years.’
‘Slightly better than in a comradely way, I think?’
‘Correct.’ I knew my colour rose as the heat flushed through my face.
‘Hmm. Well, we found two cases from the shooting here, and they turned out to be standard custodes service issue.’
I digested this slowly. ‘So you think the DJ is involved? Maybe it’s a small group or just one or two with access to situation reports and/or sensitive information,’ I speculated. ‘Yes, and they must be able to direct more junior officers to do the legwork.’ I pushed further up the path. ‘Which means we can narrow it down to a small number. So we have to search through the organisational charts. Do you still have access to the DJ database?’ Seven years ago, I’d been appalled to discover he had. Now I just needed it.
He handed me an el-pad. ‘Your account has been reactivated, full access. You’ll find what you want on there.’
Juno only knew what else I’d find.
‘Philippus will arm you – he’s probably working on it now, and Albinus will update your mobile. I suggest you discuss your personal security requirements with Hermina this morning.’
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and then looked him straight in the eye. ‘Apollo, I am not slipping straight back into my old role.’ I indicated my clothes. ‘I think I should like something else to wear.’
‘My dear Pulcheria, how can you be so distrusting?’
‘Oh, come on. I know a trap when I see one.’
‘Do you really?’
XVI
Apollodorus’s organisation started to deliver. Despite the name – The Pulcheria Foundation – it was his. I’d made everybody a lot of money through it, but I’d relinquished control when the old structure had been dissolved. Despite his hard exterior, Apollodorus was a romantic. He felt he owed me for “saving” him from a squalid existence at the edge of the criminal world. Personally, I was sure that a man of his talents would have thrived anyway, but maybe I’d given him his break.
How easy it would be to slip back into this life, this parallel existence. I would have the power of total command, a complete lack of legal restraint, the ability to have an untrammelled, instant effect on people’s lives. Seductive. I consoled myself that I was only “borrowing” the organisation until the crisis was over. But I wondered if this was what an addict says to herself when confronted with temptation to indulge in an old habit? Only a little? Just one last time?
These unhealthy thoughts were interrupted by Philippus bringing me a personal armoury. I selected one firearm, a couple of knives and some gas pellets.
‘That’s a bit bare, isn’t it?’
‘Not all of us like clanking along setting off every metal detector.’
He grinned and shrugged.
‘These are nice,’ I commented on the military-issue pellets. ‘Where did they come from?’ I looked up at him, all innocence.
‘Don’t ask questions like that, and you won’t get disappointing replies.’
I said a very rude word as he collected up the surplus weapons and strode off laughing.
I escaped to the veranda for some fresh air. Bordered by tall, waving trees casting flickering shadows, the back garden stretched down to the river edge where Scots pines and cypresses obscured the house from any prying eyes from the other bank. A cool drink appeared on the table the instant I sat down. Really, Apollo’s staff was even more efficient than Junia’s team.
Crap.
I had told myself not to think about home. My palms hurt from my fingernails pressing into them. I could do nothing. Nonna would hold them together, but the children would be so frightened. And my strange, sensitive Allegra – how would she get through it?
After lunch, Albinus took forever personalising my supermobile with some mind-altering update.
‘If it doesn’t detect your biosignature after a set time, it’ll shut down and melt the insides into a lump of metallic plastic.’ He showed me how to vary the trigger time. Hermina fidgeted nearby waiting him to finish. She had her schedule and hated it being disrupted. She never actually said anything; she just kept looking at her watch. As Albinus left, she unclipped a punched sheet from her diary folder with the schedule of my personal security detail.
‘It’s a waste of resources. I can look after myself.’
‘Sorry, no. These are strange times. The last thing we need is you to be picked up by some over-eager DJ scarab or, worse, PGSF.’
‘Why do you think PGSF is worse?’
‘They always seem to be one step ahead. You know yourself how single-minded they are. Look how they dragged you off last time.’ That had been Daniel, leading the raid on the Goldlights Club and arresting me as a major drug dealer, not knowing I was an undercover DJ custos at the time.
‘The scarabs give us plenty of hassle, but the PGSF are more dangerous. I don’t want to meet trouble halfway up the street. At the moment, they’ve been hijacked by this Petronax and have that idiot Mitelus Superbus as nominal head. The other Mitelus was tough but professional. This one is a total prat. They’re unpredictable at present, so we’ll keep you well clear of them.’
‘Got anybody inside them?’
‘Be serious. Nobody has enough of a suicide wish to volunteer for that job.’ She thrust th
e sheet into my hand. She wasn’t going to give way.
‘Thank you, Hermina,’ I said formally.
‘My pleasure.’ She gave me a full-on smile and patted my upper arm. ‘It’s lovely to see you back. I miss the buzz of the old days.’
As I watched her bustle off, my mind started to sketch out a few objectives. Firstly, it was crucial that I take some positive action instead of sitting here waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Secondly, the imperatrix and her family had to be secured and guarded. Thirdly, we had to stop the rot spreading into civil organisations. How deep did these patriarchalists’ influence go in, say, the Senate, Curia, the media? Where did the people’s tribunes stand? Fourthly, that having restored the situation, my colleagues – wherever they came from – and I would hunt down the traitors with extreme prejudice.
‘Report.’ I looked at Justus first.
‘The palace is quiet, no outward sign of any disruption. I understand a large detachment of PGSF has replaced the regular Praetorian guards. They marched in, completely unexpectedly and sealed it. They’re headed by a Major Stern from their Operations branch. We rate him as dangerous, gives no quarter. Is he that good?’ he queried.
‘Yes.’
Justus waited for me to elaborate. He was disappointed.
‘Well, to continue…Your pictures were very helpful – we think we’ve found Caeco.’ He sounded smug. I ground my teeth. How?
‘It’s only a sixty-five per cent match, mind you, and I have to admit it was pure fluke.’
I felt a lot better.
‘If this is the same man, he originates from Folentia, near Aquae Caesaris and his family name is Apnia. His father was a self-made man who married into a middle-class family. Lovely dysfunctional family, this. The mother’s brother did a stretch for embezzling his sister’s investments. The father felt unaccepted by the mother’s snooty family so started blackmailing them for, let’s call it, personal misdemeanours.’
I hated to think what that meant.
‘Caeco, or Apnio, whatever you want to call him, has form for running a numbers game as a kid and later for two counts of aggravated assault. He disappeared from the radar after his release. Possibly radicalised in prison?’ he ventured. ‘He met up with a Pisentius in Castra Lucilla the other day. One of our outliers was visiting this Pisentius because he’s been a naughty boy, not paying his gambling debts. Our man got warned off by a heavy, possibly Caeco.’
‘Has this outlier been shown the images Pulcheria provided?’ Apollodorus said.
‘Yes, and he reckons it could be the same man.’
‘Good. Try and increase beyond sixty-five per cent. Now, what about Petronax and his monthly visits?’
‘We can squeeze two of the three, and I’m working on the third.’
‘Soon as you can, Justus.’
Cassia looked smug, so I invited her to go next.
‘Interestingly, PFPP turns out to be a short form for Paterfamilias Patria Potestas.’ She let that hang in the air.
Albinus broke first and murmured, ‘Each to their own.’
Philippus snorted derisively.
Flavius looked grim.
‘Who in Hades are they?’ I asked. I knew it wasn’t going to be good.
Justus chipped in like the know-it-all he was. ‘They’re a fundamentalist group, believing literally in the original Roman tribal values. They’re only two and a half thousand years out of date, stupid bastards.’
‘So they live like retards – is that a problem?’ Cassia asked.
‘There’ve been rumours,’ Justus said, ‘but there’s been no court case recorded for killing or selling children. One or two battered women have turned up in refuges, and slightly more than the average number of young girls between twelve and nineteen have committed suicide, but nothing too far above the radar. It’s all in the countryside. The scarabs report they’ve looked into these cases, but they don’t push it. According to their records, these people are law-abiding and behave impeccably – no drunkenness, no thieving, so no problem.’
Cassia seized the limelight back. ‘The PFPP is registered as a charitable group to help children, particularly male, abandoned by their mothers’ families. Their funds are considerable, but the number shown as given financial support is low. My conclusion is that it’s a front organisation, albeit an unsavoury one.’
‘What’s the source of their income?’ I asked.
‘Credits are shown as a lot of monthly amounts, so subscriptions I would say. There are just under two hundred and fifty. There are one or two larger donations, which I am tracing.’
‘Anything else?’
Heads shook.
‘Thanks for the progress report. Same time tomorrow, please.’ As they filed out, I glanced over at Flavius.
He nodded and kept his seat.
I turned to Apollodorus. ‘I have an idea I want to run past Flavius – he knows the personalities involved.’ Apollodorus’s black stare fixed on me. I held it with my own. After a minute, he rose and left.
‘That took balls, biting the hand that just took us in.’
‘Yes, I know,’ I said. ‘But you’ll see why in a moment.’
I fished out the crystal pyramid and plunked it on the table.
Flavius couldn’t stop his mouth falling open. ‘How in Hades did you smuggle that out?’
‘Wrapped it in aluminium foil.’
‘That simple?’ He grinned in appreciation.
‘Have you anything for me?’
‘Yes, some good. Major Stern has indeed sealed the palace. They’ll have arms, food and water for a few weeks plus their own power supply. No comms though as Petronax has cut the lot.’
I fished my supermobile out of my waist bag, grinned at Flavius and dialled.
A pause. ‘What do you mean, who is this? Who in Hades do you think it is, Daniel?’ I growled into the mic.
Another pause. ‘Taped under your top desk drawer.’
Daniel had no imagination about where to hide stuff.
Pause. ‘Your cousin Hannah on the orange farm when you were sixteen. Uncle Baruch beat you into a pulp – pun intended.’
Flavius smirked at that.
‘Because I am fabulously clever and well-connected,’ I continued. ‘Need to know, but I’m safe and active. Are you alone?’
I heard footsteps and a door slam.
‘Yes, that’s what we heard.’ Pause. ‘Flavius.’ Pause. ‘No. Yes, probably.’
I let him carry on for a short while.
‘Right, Daniel, here’s the thing. We’re working on it and I have resources.’ Pause. ‘Don’t ask. Tell no one you’ve been in contact with anybody outside or even that you can. Juno knows who we can trust at the moment.’ I gave him my number – the phone’s internal program wouldn’t let it register on his cellphone. ‘I’ll call again in seven hours.’ Pause. ‘Because I am not an idiot who gets their ideas from James fricking Bond! Out.’
XVII
I was sitting in a slatted chair on the veranda, my mind on idle, watching the surface of the river rippling and reflecting the early evening light. I closed my eyes for a few moments and imagined myself immersed in it.
‘Probably be smashed into and sunk by a waterskier not looking where he was going,’ said the cool voice.
I jumped at the sound. Apollodorus was a powerful man, heading a powerful organisation, and I’d snubbed and excluded him. Time to pay. But for all he was an expert manipulator, Apollodorus was fatally weakened where I was concerned. Our relationship was hard to define, but at the crucial point he’d always deferred to me. I thought I’d now regained my touch, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Laughable, if you looked at it logically.
But I smiled as I looked up at him and accepted the glass of wine he held out. He smiled back, humour reflected in his black eyes. A little older now, the creases around the eyes had deepened and multiplied. I’d never known his age or, for that matter, his true name.
‘I’m sorry I couldn
’t include you in that little chat with Flavius. I have to take account of other commitments and I—’
His finger pressed my lips closed. ‘Don’t act like the idiot I know you not to be.’
How could he just accept it? I could deflect most harshness, but this constant understanding was unsettling.
‘Apollo, if we win, I may not be in a position to reciprocate in a way you hope or maybe expect.’ His eyebrows rose. ‘If that’s a factor in helping us, then Flavius and I should go.’
He sighed. ‘My dear, I really should have taken more care not to leave the pomposity pills out where you can find them so easily. I suppose I should feel insulted that you think I expect a quid pro quo, but I can’t make the effort to work myself up to it. The most ridiculous thing you have just said is “if”.’
From his reaction, I must have looked puzzled.
‘Have you so changed that you think you won’t win?’
For once, I couldn’t think of a thing to say.
‘I like having you here. I like having something different and absorbing to work on. Don’t start spoiling my fun.’
Fun?
Yes, in a weird way, it had been fun seven years ago, apart from the grim business of stopping organised criminals from the West pushing drugs on an industrial scale. We’d been comrades who worked hard and achieved something purposeful together. We’d shared danger, some laughs, and we’d survived. We even made good profits.
I gave up on looking at the river and brought my focus back to the cones on the pines, then down to the red petals on the geraniums in pots on the veranda. I kept my voice low. ‘It’s not fun now, Apollo. This attack is on everything, not just my family, my cousin and our children, but on the Imperium and its survival. You know the last rebellion like this killed thousands and nearly destroyed the country.’ I slammed the glass down, just missing the table edge. It shattered on the stone slab. ‘All the time I’m alive, I will not let it happen again. Period.’
Next morning, I was up at four and thinking. It was cold and I sat huddled in a heap of blankets on the grass river bank. The river moved hypnotically in the semi-dark. In the half-light, I saw Silvia and her second child, Darius, almost too good, unlike the atrocious Stella, the eldest, who I could cheerfully strangle. Darius was only ten but already serious, with large, enquiring eyes. And Hallie, only eighteen months older than my Allegra. And their father, Conrad, flowed into my mind. No, he lived in my mind, my heart, my soul. Something in my core knew he was still alive. A blood and bone Roman, he was tough as Hades. What horrors had Petronax prepared for him? I jammed my lips together but the tears fell down my cheeks.
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