by D. N. Leo
Jennifer didn’t even blink. She didn’t need to look behind her to see Ciaran’s expression because she could read that on Madeline’s face. Madeline stepped back, tears rolling down her face. She turned around and headed toward the door.
Stephen entered the room just then and saw Madeline. He glanced at the scene before him and gently touched Madeline’s shoulders. “Madeline, what’s the matter?”
“I need to leave. Could you take me out of here, please?”
“You were attacked last night just outside this house. We have to be careful. We haven’t found Jo. We could use some help.”
“We found her. She got away yesterday and is with Detective Adamson. Please take me out of here. We can pick her up on the way.”
“On the way to where? The car was trashed last night. Could you calm down? Stay here for a bit, and we can sort things out?” Stephen spoke gently.
“I can arrange transportation for you right now, if that’s of any help.” Jennifer’s voice was as cold as steel.
“Lady LeBlanc, if you or your boys do anything to hurt Madeline, I will not let it slide,” Stephen growled.
Ciaran turned his gaze from the ruined statue and directed it toward Stephen. Tadgh inched forward. Jennifer knew the sight of her sons would intimidate the hell out of Stephen, so she remained silent.
“They didn’t hurt me or anything, Stephen.”
“So why the hell do you look like this?”
“I just need to leave. Right now.”
“Not until you tell me what happened. What did they do to make you cry?” Stephen threw a lethal stare at Ciaran.
“Nothing happened. It’s my problem. Let’s go get Jo and head back to New York. I don’t belong here.”
Stephen shook his head and stiffened his stance.
Madeline huffed out a breath. “Stephen, if you want to stay and pick a fight, feel free to do so—it seems there’s enough testosterone in the room to do that—but I will leave here by myself.”
The cheery sound of Mrs. Rutherford humming a country song as she pushed her teacart echoed into the room.
“Madeline, please stay a bit longer. The people who attacked you last night might still be out there waiting. If anything happens, I don’t think I’m in any shape to help you.”
Mrs. Rutherford entered the room, the aroma of her famous scones with jam and freshly brewed jasmine tea filled the room. She stood at the door and noticed the tension in the room right away, saw Madeline’s tears.
“Morning tea, everyone.” Her voice trembled a bit and sank into an awkward silence.
“Madeline . . .” Ciaran approached.
“Stay the fuck right there, Ciaran,” Stephen yelled and stopped Ciaran in his tracks.
Madeline continued to head toward the door and had to step around the teacart.
“You, too! I said stay, Madeline!” Stephen growled.
Madeline took one more step and Stephen ran to her. He grabbed her shoulders violently and threw her back into the room. Madeline fell, rolling on the floor. Ciaran rushed to her, and Jennifer stood up from her chair.
Stephen grabbed Mrs. Rutherford, pulled out his gun, and pointed it at her head. “Stay still,” he commanded the room.
Everyone froze.
“Lady LeBlanc, may I ask for your permission to stay thirty minutes longer at your palace?” Stephen asked, a sarcastic smirk on his face.
Ciaran inched closer to Madeline.
“I said, stay still, Ciaran. Or I’ll put a bullet in her head.” Stephen pressed the gun against Mrs. Rutherford’s head.
“Stephen, what’s going on?” Madeline asked.
“I wouldn’t have had to do this if you’d behaved and done what I said. But you preferred to go about it the hard way.”
“Let her go, Stephen. If I did anything to offend you, then take it out on me,” Madeline pleaded.
“I would never hurt you, Madeline.”
“I know you wouldn’t. So let Mrs. Rutherford go. I’ll do whatever you say. If you want me to stay here, I will.”
“You will?”
“Yes.”
“Liar!” Stephen screamed. “She’s a stranger. She’s nothing to you. I’m your friend, Madeline. Have you ever thought of me? Would you do anything for me?” Stephen’s eyes sparked with insanity.
“You never asked for anything. If you’d asked, I’d have done anything for you.” She tried to approach him.
“Stay right there.” Stephen raised his gun, aiming at Madeline now. Tadgh and Ciaran rushed Stephen at the same time. Two gun shots discharged from the silencer on the gun muzzle, and both Ciaran and Tadgh slumped to the floor.
Chapter 39
The sound of the two bullets tore at her heart. Madeline turned around slowly. She knew Ciaran couldn’t be dead, but she had to see with her own eyes. Ciaran and Tadgh pulled themselves up from the floor. A bullet had hit Ciaran’s left shoulder and Tadgh’s right leg. Madeline looked again at Stephen. He shrugged.
“I warned them to stay still.” Stephen smirked. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Madeline.”
“Whatever it is that you want, we can talk about it. Let the women go,” Ciaran said.
An insane peal of laughter came from Stephen. “Let the women go? What a gentlemen you are! So why didn’t you give Juliette that chance?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Tadgh asked.
Stephen released Mrs. Rutherford, but still held on to her hair. “You don’t even know your brother-in-law, Stefan? What kind of husband are you?”
“Juliette never mentioned your name. She must have been embarrassed by your very existence,” Ciaran said with scorn.
“She told me enough. How do you think I knew about your technology and was able to get my weapon past it?”
Ciaran smiled. “It’s obvious she didn’t tell you enough. There is nothing here. You wasted your time and effort to get in.”
“You think my sister married you for love?” Stefan laughed.
“What Juliette and I had, a scumbag like you could never understand. If she had married me for our family secrets, you wouldn’t be here, threatening women to get what you want. You’re pathetic!” Ciaran taunted.
Stefan angrily thrust the gun in Ciaran’s direction. Madeline could see he was provoked enough to pull the trigger at any time. Despite the look of insanity on his face now, his eyes were still the same. They were still the eyes of the Stephen who fumbled his words whenever she smiled at him.
“What about me? What about us? Did you ever have any real feelings for me? I have nothing! I don’t have any gold or secrets you could profit from.” Madeline stepped toward Stefan.
Stefan’s eyes softened a bit. “Of course I have feelings for you, Madeline. It took me years of digging around to find the last line of the Kelleys.”
“Me? I’m a Kelley?” Madeline frantically searched in her head for a Kelley in her life. No, it rang no bell.
“Oh yeah! You’re powerful when it comes to that. Don’t you have any idea where your psychic ability comes from?”
“If you planned this whole thing, then tell me what you want from me.”
“You got me inside Mon Ciel. That’s all I needed.”
“If that’s all you needed, why bother with the kidnapping?”
Stefan laughed. “That was Zen’s stupid idea. I paid him to design the kidnap and create a scare big enough so that you would call for my help. But then he got fancy. He wanted the stupid hologame program and White Knight and all of that crap. He got tips from the wrong people and did everything except getting me what I’d paid him for. Then I had to pay someone else to get Jo off him so that he got nothing to give you at Rufford Abbey…”
Madeline cut in, “You wanted me to call you for help. I did. Now you are here, so do you want me to help you find the crucifix?”
“Oh no, sweetie, you stay right there. You’re falling too deeply for that guy.” He pointed toward Ciaran with the gun. “Just like Juliette. My feelings for you p
retty much guarantee that I won’t shoot you . . . unless you provoke me. Now, let’s go and get the crucifix. You, come here.” Stefan pointed the gun at Jennifer, waving her over.
“Oh, no, no! Don’t do that to the lady,” Mrs. Rutherford cried out. “Take me.”
“Don’t provoke him, Mrs. Rutherford.” Jennifer walked toward Stefan.
“No, Mother.” Ciaran and Tadgh walked toward Jennifer to stop her.
“Don’t make me prove myself again!” Stefan yelled out.
“Please don’t hurt the lady.” Mrs. Rutherford charged toward Stefan. Madeline tried to grab her.
Stefan waved the gun. “Step back! Step back, you two.”
A voice on the intercom announced, “Doctor Thomas has just arrived at the gate. He is on his way in.”
Stefan was distracted momentarily, and Mrs. Rutherford charged toward the intercom corner and hit the panic button. Madeline tried to pull her back, but it was too late. Stefan fired his gun. The single bullet pierced Mrs. Rutherford’s chest. She fell back into Madeline’s arms, dead.
Alarm bells rang all over the building, and Madeline deduced that it would alert the central security system and all related parties in the LeBlanc’s security network.
Stefan laughed. He pointed the gun at Jennifer.
Ciaran and Tadgh stood up to protect their mother. But they stood at a distance, and Stefan could take them down, one by one.
Ciaran stepped forward. He looked as if he could grind Stefan into dust with his bare hands. Stefan pointed the gun at Ciaran. “Don’t be foolish.”
Suddenly it felt as if a whole army of security guards was charging toward the Great Reception. Madeline could feel the motion of many approaching people. She was sure Stefan knew it, too.
Jennifer cried out and slumped down, gasping for air. She was as white as a sheet. Ciaran ran over and held his mother. “She has asthma. She needs her medicine.”
“I’ll get it.” Tadgh stood up.
“No one goes anywhere.” Stefan waved his gun. “The faster you give me what I want, the faster she’ll get her meds. Now come here.”
“She can hardly stand Stefan,” Madeline scolded.
“Then you ought to help her.”
Madeline went toward Jennifer. “Can you hold up a little longer?” Jennifer was gasping but nodded. Madeline helped her up. “Now what?” Madeline asked.
“All right, the crucifix was in one of the statues. Given that you have so many in this house, where do you want to start? Be strategic, as Lady LeBlanc here doesn’t look as if she can last long,” Stefan said coldly.
“Right here, then,” Ciaran responded.
The Great Reception was at the far end of the old section of the house. Madeline knew the old statues were marble or stone, and it would be really hard to hide anything in there. It would more likely be in the new extension of the house. Ciaran said it had been built around ten years ago. That must have been when he had married Juliette. So Ciaran was hoping to bide some time, Madeline thought. She took Jennifer to the chair.
“Well, then.” Stefan signaled a go ahead. “Lead the way.”
“What do you want me to do? Hammer the statues?” asked Ciaran.
“That won’t be necessary. My little sister was a smart cookie. She would have tagged it with electronic chips. Do a scan. And do it carefully.” He put his portable scanner on the floor and kicked it toward Ciaran.
Stefan was standing very close to Jennifer and Madeline, his back against the wall. That way, he had a full view of the entire room, the door, and the security team in the hallway.
The team apparently didn’t know what to do, Madeline thought. She doubted Ciaran had had any time to replace Robert, and now with both Ciaran and Tadgh in this room, security clearly didn’t have any leadership.
The warm and friendly voice of Doctor Thomas came across the room from the door. “Stephen, this is Doctor Thomas. I examined you this morning.”
“Yes, I remember you. And it’s Stefan. What do you want?”
“Could I please bring some water and medicine in for Jennifer, and check the bleeding on the boys’ gunshot wounds?”
“Water and meds for the woman is okay. Nothing for the boys. Don’t try anything silly, Doctor Thomas. See for yourself.” Stefan nodded toward Mrs. Rutherford’s dead body. Madeline could see the doctor’s eyes waver with pity and sorrow for a fraction of a second, then he was calm again.
“Yes, Stefan. I can see clearly. May I come in now?”
Stefan waved his gun to signal Doctor Thomas to come in.
By the time they had finished scanning all the statues in the old quarter, the sun had begun setting, and the lights in the building had illuminated. They moved on toward the new quarter.
As soon as they entered the long corridor where the twelve statues stood, including the one with the missing toe, Madeline knew that what Stefan wanted was there. She shifted and felt the broken toe still in her jacket pocket. She swore to herself that if there was truly the spirit of a god in that statue, and if he helped her solve this disaster, not only she would put his toe back, but she would also name her first son after him.
The first statue Ciaran scanned resulted in a positive beeping signal. Stefan’s face brightened. Ciaran slid his fingers along the edge of the marble base where the signal was the strongest. It was one solid piece of marble—no handle, button, or compartment of any kind. Then he stopped at a small copper plaque. That had to be it.
Stefan grabbed Jennifer and pulled her with him. Using a hunting knife, he gave the edge of the plaque a nudge. Nothing. He stabbed hard into the niche around the plaque until the copper piece gave way and dropped to the floor. Inside was a computer disc, neatly tucked away in plastic.
Stefan grabbed the disc and mumbled to himself. “What the fuck?”
“Do you want to read the disc?” Ciaran asked.
“You think I’m stupid? You want me to use your computer so you can copy it?”
Ciaran shrugged. “I’m curious, of course.”
Stefan swung a hard kick at Ciaran’s abdomen. Ciaran slumped to the floor, heaving in pain. His shoulder bled.
Jennifer cried out, “What else do you want? The crucifix apparently isn’t here.”
“I know!” Stefan screamed, giving Jennifer a hard push so that she fell into Madeline’s arm.
Stefan pulled Ciaran up from the floor. As Ciaran was much taller than Stefan, he made a nice human shield. “I need to go now, and your master will escort me to safety.” Stefan addressed the hopeless security team. “One wrong move from you, and he will eat my bullets. Now get out of my way.”
The security backed off. Madeline could see that they have absolutely no idea how to handle the situation.
Stefan pulled Ciaran with him, backing out the door.
Madeline followed. “Stefan, you’re a smart man, and you know better than anyone that your sister would have coded the disc, and that Ciaran might be the only person who can decode it for you.”
Stefan laughed. “You’ve definitely fallen head over heels for this guy. You just don’t want me to kill him, do you?”
“They were married, Stefan. You might not want to hear this, but their marriage was far more important to her than your brother-sister relationship. Otherwise, she would have given you the information. If she coded something in that disc, who do you thing she would let read it? You can barely turn a computer on.”
“You’d better stop talking and stay right there.”
“That’s enough. You want to go, let’s go,” Ciaran cut in.
“I hate to repeat myself, but don’t move. You won’t like the consequences.” Stefan threw out his last threat, addressing everyone, and pulled Ciaran away into a waiting car.
At the entrance of the house, Madeline watched as the car zoomed into the darkness. She heard a rumbling, chaotic movement behind her. Then there was a click and a humming sound, and a blue wave of light flashed outside and blanketed the entire Mon Ciel estate. Then
the light disappeared, and Mon Ciel returned to its normal magnificence.
Jennifer cried out and slumped to the floor. Tadgh held his mother, a tear rolling down his face. Madeline could see his body shaking with emotion, but he tried to remain calm, perhaps to hang on to a thread of hope.
There was nothing in Jennifer’s eyes but devastation.
Madeline approached and crouched next to Jennifer. In front of her was a desperate mother. “What was that blue light?” she asked, knowing that whatever the answer was, it wouldn’t be good news.
“Ciaran put Mon Ciel in lockdown mode.” Tears streamed down Jennifer’s face.
Madeline frowned and looked at Tadgh.
“That means all weapons and machinery will be neutralized at the contact point outside the protective shield. No one can attack us from the outside,” Tadgh explained.
“Can we take weapons out from the inside?” Madeline asked.
Tadgh shook his head. “You can’t even drive a car out.”
“Can you unlock it?”
Tadgh shook his head again. “Ciaran coded the lock. No one has access.”
“Does that mean none of us can go out and help him if we need to?” Madeline asked.
“The shield doesn’t stop human passing,” Tadgh said.
They saw a flash flare up in the distant darkness and the sound of an explosion which was muffled by the thick foggy air. Jennifer was pale and numb with pain.
“I’m going after Ciaran,” Madeline said and stood up.
“I’ll go with you,” Tadgh said.
“Not with that leg,” Madeline snarled and strode to the kitchen. She grabbed a couple of knives and tucked them into her belt. When she returned to the hall, Tadgh had already patched up his wound. He had a combat knife tucked at his waist.
Seeing Madeline enter, Tadgh grinned. “If you can go out there in the dark on foot with those kitchen knives, I can do it with one good leg. Doctor Thomas patched up this stupid wound—and Ciaran’s kick-ass painkillers will come in handy.”
Madeline nodded. When she walked past, Jennifer grabbed her arm. “I’m in debt to you for this,” she said. The tears had dried on her face, but the worry and exhaustion haunted her eyes.
