She nodded. “Yeah, I think I’m more angry than anything else. Just wait until I find out who he is…”
“Okay then, see you downstairs, Katie.”
****
Katie stared back out towards the ocean, glimpsing the surf starting to increase in intensity. She opened the window and heard the waves pound into the cliffs. The caller said something odd. He said I knew of him. Not that I knew him, but that I knew of him. She shivered. A storm was headed this way but was it a weather-related storm or one that hung over her head like a microburst ready to strike at any moment?
Katie headed back to the library to pack up her laptop. She checked her inbox one last time and she saw it, a new email with the subject line TAKE A LOOK AT THE PHOTO. IT CAN GO VIRAL ANYTIME. AND FOLLOW YOU EVERYWHERE. Her hand hovered over the mouse, while her stomach clenched. She clicked to open the attachment and froze. It was her and Alec in his hotel room five years ago. There was no doubt it was them. The picture was exceptionally clear, and there was no doubt what they were doing. And worse, this apparently was a still shot from a video file. She collapsed in the chair.
Another email arrived. DO WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT?
She felt she had no option. This monster could and would ruin her professionally. The hit to the Institute’s reputation might take years to overcome. She’d be famous, or more accurately infamous, for starring in a sex video. The insular, cutthroat, nasty world of research would forever brand her as “Dr. Walsh… the Dr. Walsh… of the sex video” totally ignoring her legitimate contributions to the field. She knew people whose careers were nothing more than a footnote due to far less serious faux pas.
Katie sighed. Worse would be the notoriety should this drop at Dr. Austin’s feet. He’d carefully created and nurtured the Institute into a world-class research facility. While she’d survive the public humiliation somehow, she didn’t want to hurt the Institute and perhaps more importantly, the man she considered a surrogate grandfather. Ultimately she would be leaving the Institute, but she needed time to get her future financing signed off on. What would be the harm? He wasn’t asking her to do anything illegal. It might be somewhat unethical, but certainly not illegal. She dropped her head into her hand. And what would happen to Alec if she ignored this man’s threat? She raised her head, her hands hovering over the keyboard. “God help me,” she whispered as she typed back YES.
****
Dinner was a quiet affair. Alec outlined the itinerary for the next few days, starting with an early morning departure. Katie listened but absorbed little and said even less. I know of him.
She didn’t tell Alec about the video still. This was between her and robo-voice. She had to find a way to discover his identity and turn the advantage to her side. The question was how? She’d have very little access to email over the next few days and her cell phone was kaput, at least until they could secure a replacement. Her biggest problem now was who to trust. Could she rely on anyone at the Institute? The only one she trusted was Laura. She needed to call Laura.
“I think since we’re getting an early start, I’ll head off to bed,” she said.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” Alec replied.
Outside the bedrooms she turned and said, “Good night, Alec.”
Alec quietly replied, “Night.”
She shut the bedroom door behind her and leaned against it. Part of her was disappointed that he made no attempt to touch her, not even a kiss. It seemed that he had blown her off sexually. The other part was glad she didn’t have to make the decision herself. She wanted him but he no longer wanted her. She knew she would have waged an internal war as to why she shouldn’t spend the night with him. But still she wondered what she did to turn him off. He became so cold, so distant after they made love on the cliffs. She replayed it over and over and was at a loss as to why the shove-off attitude.
She pushed away from the door and sat on the bed, reclining against the pillows. Her bags were packed. She was ready to go. Her emerald blade was tucked safely in her clothes. She glanced at the clock. It was just after eight, time to get her plan in motion.
She picked up the bedside telephone and dialed Laura’s cell phone.
“Hello, this is Laura.”
“Laura, it’s me.”
“Katie, where are you? I don’t recognize the number.”
“I’m still at Willowton, but Alec and I are going on a little excursion starting tomorrow. I probably won’t have access to my email for a few days and my phone is… Well, let’s just say I’ll be getting a new phone, hopefully soon.”
“Everything okay?”
“Um, well, I was hoping you could do me a favor. Can you take a walk, say out to the wharf with your cell phone? I don’t want anyone to hear you.”
“Sure. I’m heading out now.”
“Great. I’ll call you in a few minutes. And Laura, thanks.”
Katie waited exactly three minutes and redialed.
“I’m on the wharf,” Laura answered.
“Good. Now what I’m about to tell you and then send via personal email is not to be shared with anyone other than Willie. You have to promise me that. And once you give it to him, please, please delete the email and ask Willie how to make sure that no one can retrieve it from your hard drive.”
“You’re scaring me, Katie. What’s going on?”
Katie explained the robo-caller and his requests and then told her about the video he had.
“Does he really have it?” Laura asked.
Katie exhaled. “Yes, I don’t know how, but yes. The photo you’ll see when I forward the email is from the night when I picked Alec up in the bar. Laura, it’s in the freakin’ hotel room. I don’t know who this bastard is but I’m not going be looking over my shoulder the rest of my life. If that video ever sees the light of day, my career as a serious researcher will be blown to smithereens. Everyone will just remember the sex tape, not anything else I do.” She choked down a sob.
“Do you think it’s Alec? He could’ve set up a hidden camera in his room in the event he got lucky.”
“It doesn’t make sense.” It can’t be him. I won’t let it be him. “We’re going to Skye together. We’ll find the runes together. He’ll be beside me when I translate the missing runes, assuming we find them.” She shook her head. “No. I’m convinced he’s not involved.”
“Katie?”
“Yes?”
“Does he know about this, the video?”
“I told him about the robo-caller’s demand initially, but no, I didn’t show him the email and the photo.”
Laura’s sigh echoed into Katie’s ear. “I don’t like this, Katie.”
“Neither do I, but promise me you’ll tell Willie what I need. He’ll know what to do or who to contact.”
“Call me as soon as you’re able, Katie. That’s not a request. That’s an order.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Be safe, Katie.”
“Thanks, and Laura, be careful.” Katie hung up the phone and then logged on and made sure the full headers on the email were included before forwarding the email to Laura’s private account. “Come on, Willie, do your magic,” she prayed.
R
Chapter Fourteen
Shortly after six a.m. Katie laid her laptop on the floor behind her seat in the SUV. Alec had packed their belongings in the rear after taking a final inventory of the delivered gear. He held out a bag. “These are for you.”
She rustled through the contents. “Oooh, just what a girl wants, cold weather clothing.”
He smiled. It was a tight, tired smile but right now, she’d take that if that was all she could get. “Personally I’d have rather gotten you some lacy underwear, but…”
“Um, thanks for the offer, but I don’t think you’re interested in me modeling it, so why bother?”
“Katie, I—”
“I got the message, Alec, loud and clear. You don’t want me.” She shook her head. “Let’s hit the road,
” she said as she slid into the front passenger seat.
A couple of hours of easy listening music and she was ready to pull her hair out. Two hours down, eight more to go, Katie groaned inwardly. “Want to listen to something else?”
“See if you can find a Red Sox game.” Alec glanced over at her. “If that’s okay?”
“Fine. I actually like listening to the ball game on the radio. My dad and I used to listen to the games instead of watching them on TV. We would pretend we were two of the ‘Bleacher Creatures’ at Fenway, regardless of where we might be.
“I like hearing about you when you were younger. I can tell you were very close to your father,” Alec said.
She nodded. “Yes, I guess you could say I was a daddy’s girl. While I loved my mother, my world revolved around my dad.”
He smiled.
She shifted slightly and faced him. “You know one time we were outside throwing a baseball back and forth. I remember after the third throw missed my dad’s mitt, he told me to stop throwing like a girl. At first, I got really mad at him. I mean, I was a girl, but he was criticizing me for it.”
He laughed.
Katie pouted. “It wasn’t funny, Alec. I was trying my best, only I was so far off base, and all I did was disappoint him.” She crossed her arms. “It hurt.”
“But he wasn’t trying to hurt you, Katie.”
“I know that now, but when it happened, I got mad and walked away.”
“Is that all you did?”
She grinned. “No.”
He chuckled. “Why am I not surprised? So tell me, what did you do?”
“I waited two days and then said, ‘So show me how to throw a baseball like a boy.’ He taught me how to aim my throw and control the release. I’m proud to say I have a decent throw and I’ve never thrown like a girl since.”
A deep laugh spilled out of him and she quickly joined him. He reached over and laid his hand over hers. “I’m glad we met again.”
She raised her eyes to meet his. She laced her fingers between his. “So am I.” She loved it when Alec was like this, easy-going, open. He definitely seemed more comfortable than last night. She was tempted to ask what she did that caused him to distance himself emotionally from her but starting an argument while he was driving just didn’t seem the right time. He was clearly at a disadvantage and he could easily lose focus and have an accident. She’d try to get him to open up when they stopped. She needed him to tell her what she did. Until they cleared the air, this car trip was going to have her nerves mostly on-edge.
It was early afternoon when they crossed the border into Scotland. They stopped for lunch and gas, or petrol as it was correctly called. The bulk of the miles behind them, they strolled through the village to stretch their cramped legs. Alec stopped and rolled his shoulders.
“Let’s find a place to sit for a few,” Katie said.
He spotted a bench next to a bus sign. “How about there?” he asked, as he pointed.
As he sat, she walked around behind him and massaged his neck and shoulders. She pressed deep into his muscles, trying to release the tension. “Mm,” he said, “don’t ever stop. You definitely have magic fingers.”
“It’s the least I can do considering you’re doing all the driving.” She leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m not.”
“You became very distant after our adventure on the cliffs. What did I do? What did I say that pushed you away? It’s like the modern version of Hadrian’s Wall was erected in record time. I feel like you’re deliberately trying to keep me out.”
He leaned forward, and her hands slipped down his back. “You didn’t do anything. I just have to sort out some things and I don’t want to be distracted.”
She walked around the bench and sat next to him. She deliberately brushed her knee against his. His leg snapped away, almost as if he’d been electrocuted. “Is that what I am, a distraction?”
Alec faced her. “No, that’s not what I meant. I just need you to keep your distance because when we touch, all I want to do is make love to you.”
Heat flamed in her cheeks. He still wanted her. He wasn’t rejecting her. He just needed to battle some inner demons. She understood that, having battled her own. She smiled. “And that’s a bad thing?” she asked.
Alec’s gaze met hers for the briefest moment, but it was enough. She could see pain, indecision haunting his soul. She wouldn’t force the issue for now. She’d give him some space. If she’d didn’t hound him, he would talk to her when he was ready.
“I won’t pretend to understand, Alec, but I’ll respect your wishes and keep my distance. For now.”
He stood, planted his hands in his pockets, and shrugged his shoulder. “Shall we go?”
She followed him back to the car and they headed north to Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to Skye.
****
Alec pulled the car to a stop in the village of Kyle of Lochalsh. Katie hopped out and snapped some pictures of Loch Alsh with one of the half dozen disposable cameras she purchased when they stopped for lunch. The sleek bridge framed the flowing water, the new intertwined with the ancient waterway.
Water was sacred to the Druids and later when the Celts had arrived, they’d incorporated the reverence into their culture. Water was ever flowing, a source of energy both tangible and intangible. There was a reason public water displays were common outside, and sometimes inside, buildings. Moving water produced negatively charged ions and these ions made people feel energized, in a good way. She’d be interested to see the overlay project in action and see how much Loch Alsh had changed during the millennia, and then use it to find ancient waterways in Duntulm.
She strolled over to where he was standing, looking across the loch to Skye. “I can understand why it’s called the Enchanted Isle. There just seems to be something ethereal, mystical about it. Look at the mountains, how they rise up almost like sentinels.”
Alec reached for her hand. “It’s also called the ‘Isle of Mists.’ I can’t help but feel this is connected to Avalon.”
Katie slipped her hand in his and moved to stand next to him, leaning into him. “I think you’re beginning to understand why I need to uncover the origins of the myths. They’ve survived and come down to us through centuries and millennia. Why? Because there is something we need to know, to understand. Something our ancestors never wanted us to forget.” She exhaled. “Though we did in a way. We lost the meanings behind the legends.”
Alec put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest. He rested his head on hers. “I never put much faith in the god-legends of the Titans and the Norse. I thought they were just fanciful stories meant to occupy people in the time before television. But you’re right. Why did they survive?”
She sighed. “Maybe we’ll be able to uncover one. And once we have the understanding to interpret one, the others may start to unravel too.”
“Do you really think Josh was close to uncovering Norland?”
Katie laid her hands over his. “It’s a strong possibility. The Hebrides could have been a landing point for the survivors of Atlantis, since it’s believed they were a seafaring civilization. I have this gut feeling that some people escaped the destruction and fled outwards, ending up at various locations on both sides of the Atlantic and maybe even the Pacific.”
“You think they were capable of rounding the Horn?” Alec shook his head. “Ships today don’t look forward to that trip where the Atlantic and Pacific meet between South America and Antarctica.”
Katie leaned back against him. “Some believe Atlantis is buried beneath the ice of Antarctica, across from the Straits of Magellan, at the Horn, but since it occurred over ten thousand years ago, it’s almost impossible to prove it.”
“I saw the Piri Reis map, the one that shows a fairly accurate layout of the land mass of Antarctica. The map features reveal an ice-free continent, believed to be about 9,600 BCE,” Alec stated.
“Yes, and that would place the Earth’s position close to galactic center, about twelve thousand years ago, both about the time that Plato assigns to the destruction of Atlantis and the end of the last major ice age.”
“You think it’s all related, don’t you, Katie?”
“Well, I don’t believe in coincidences. I think there’s something there, something big that once we discover it, may very well rewrite our history.”
“We make an excellent team. You find the probable location of ancient myths and legends and then I can excavate them.” Alec pulled her tighter and kissed her forehead. “Ready to head to the Isle of Mists?”
Katie nodded. “I think this will change us forever.”
****
Alec decided they’d stay the night in Portree. He was tempted to get separate rooms, but he couldn’t take the chance that Katie’s robo-caller wouldn’t make another kidnap attempt. He did make sure there were two beds.
“I think I’m going to take advantage of the bathtub. I have a feeling it might be awhile before I get a chance to soak in hot water. This one has aqua-jets,” Katie said before turning to face him. “May I borrow your cell phone? I need to call Laura.”
He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Do me a favor when you’re done. Just plug it in and charge it.” He placed the charger on the small desk. He stretched out on the bed. He looked exhausted.
“Alec, why don’t you use the tub and get a nice massage with the water jets while I call Laura? I might be on the phone awhile. Besides, you look beat.”
“I won’t argue. I could use a nice relaxing soak,” Alec said.
“I can come in when I’m done with Laura and wash your back.” She smiled.
“Katie, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She frowned. “Just wash your back, Alec, nothing else, nothing sexual.”
He half-heartedly shook his head.
He headed to the bath as she booted up her laptop to see how fast the in-room Wi-Fi was. As she waited she called Laura.
Trove (The Katie Walsh Mysteries) Page 20
