INCEPTIO (Roma Nova) (25 page)

LVIII

A uniformed nurse came in to check my vital signs again before lunch. Medics always loved being in charge. She handed me a cup of the same restorative Conrad had given me in New York when I had a hangover. The ginger and malt smell brought it all back. A tear escaped my eye.

‘Are you all right? In pain?’

‘No. Sorry.’

‘For Mercury’s sake, don’t be sorry – you had a hard trauma to your head. The scan showed several impacts, and that’s without the hair root damage and torn tissue.’

‘Juno. Do I have any hair left?’

‘Yes, of course,’ she said. ‘You’re healing well, but you’ll be here for a few days.’

After lunch, I napped. The food on this floor was an outstanding improvement on the basement menu.

I was filling time, looking through some magazines the nurse had found for me, when the door opened. Conrad. He hesitated, uncertain, but came over to my bed and pulled up a chair.

‘I waited until you were settled in,’ he began. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Good, thanks. My head’s as hard as teakwood, I’m told, and even my hair will survive.’

He turned his signet ring around and around his finger, like he wanted to polish away the pores on his skin. I had been thinking through what had happened in the past forty-eight hours. While he’d been so wrong, I’d started understanding why he’d acted as robustly as he did. Maybe after he apologised, I would forget it. I had some news that would cheer him up. The DJ would have checked out the dealers’ identities, and presumably forwarded them to the PGSF liaison team, but did he know Jeffrey Williams was Renschman? Knowing Renschman was in custody would be a great moment to share, a resolution to that tense time in America, and our fight before Saturnalia. And maybe a start to healing the rift between us.

I was so busy playing out my optimistic scenario that I was completely unprepared for what he said next. ‘When you’re up to it, I’ll take you home. Aurelia can get a specialist in to check you out and arrange your aftercare.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’ll want time to recover. Perhaps a few weeks at Castra Lucilla, in the country air.’

‘What are you talking about? I have a pile of stuff to do. The debrief and reports are going to take weeks.’

‘No.’ He did that ‘face set in concrete’ thing. ‘If they want statements, they can come to you while you’re convalescing. I’ll try and get you released as soon as I can. Aurelia knows Aemilia Fulvia. She can pull a few strings.’

‘Now wait a minute,’ I said. ‘Are you seriously proposing I sneak off home as soon as I can? Desert my post?’

He stretched out and took my hand in his. The pleasure of the warm, masculine touch was cancelled by his next words. ‘Look, love, you’ve had a hard time and perhaps you’re not thinking clearly—’

I liked the ‘love’ but screw the rest. I pulled my hand back. ‘Let me explain something, Conrad. I loved this mission. I planned it and trained for it. And I damned well succeeded. I aim to carry on with the job. It’s too important to give up.’ My head was throbbing again. I took a couple of breaths to try and ease it. ‘I’m sorry if you don’t like the idea, but you’ll have to find a way to deal with it.’

‘You don’t know what you’re saying. It’s a brutal life. You’ve only touched the edge.’

I took another deep breath. ‘That’s unfair and you know it. And don’t you quote brutality at me. It’s my decision, and I’ve made it.’

‘You stupid girl,’ he shouted at me, ‘one day you’ll get into something right over your head and you’ll come home in a body bag. What’s that going to do to Aurelia?’ His eyes blazed.

‘Don’t pull that one on me. You don’t have any right.’

I was as cross as Hades. His face began to swim along with rest of the room. The throbbing in my head was shaking my mind. I was going to pass out.

‘For Asclepius’ sake, will you stop shouting?’ The nurse rushed in, fury all over her face. ‘Major, I won’t have you upsetting my patient. Please leave. Now.’

He threw me an incinerating look and stormed out.

What a mess. What was his problem? He knew I wasn’t some delicate flower. Was it guilt? Or something else? I was getting worked up again when Lurio put his head around the door.

‘Can I have a couple of minutes? The nurse said you were a bit tired so not to stay too long.’

I hadn’t realised it was that late. Lurio would never qualify for Mr Sensitive, but he didn’t try and think for me or cocoon me.

‘Hi. Yes, come in.’ I patted the bed. He gave me a curious look, but said nothing.

‘The nurse reckons you’ll be able to have the bandage off in a couple of days. They’ll do some remedial treatment on your skin and probably discharge you in a few days’ time.’

‘Great. So I’ll be starting work on the mop-up?’

‘That’s what would normally happen. But I talked to Aemilia Fulvia about your misgivings. She said we owed you such a debt, she’d respect your wishes if you chose to leave.’

‘No, I want to stay. I want to see it all through. And afterward as well. Permanently. You’ll have to be patient with me if I foul up somewhere. Just say something cutting and sarcastic and I’ll get the message.’

Next time Lurio visited, the bandage was off but my scalp was still sore. I was allowed to shower, but the nurse cut my hair short and washed it with some antiseptic medical stuff that stank. My own red-gold was starting to grow through by the time I left the unit. I was strictly forbidden to colour or straighten my hair for twelve weeks, so basically I had to let it grow out. Fabulous.

I was given three days’ leave, so I went home to Nonna. I had a DJ guard with me as I was a ‘vital witness’. I told Lurio that Domus Mitelarum was as secure as Fort Knox, but he wouldn’t listen.

Nonna fully supported my decision to stay at the DJ.

‘I can’t follow the logic in Conradus’s thinking, Carina. I served in the PGSF for several years and survived. Even through the rebellion. You’re as tough as I am, so I’m sure you’ll be perfectly all right in the DJ. Perhaps he still loves you, and would do anything to keep you from harm.’

‘You’re wrong, Nonna. He treated me so badly when I was arrested.’

‘Probably overreacted from the shock of discovering that you were Pulcheria.’

‘Maybe.’

‘He’ll see the full extent of what you’ve done after the debrief. I know Aemilia Fulvia can’t sing your praises enough.’ She smiled. ‘She asked if I had any more granddaughters like you.’

LIX

I reported to the Department of Justice headquarter building holding my posting letter and with my guard in tow. She vanished once Lurio came down to reception to greet me.

‘Ah, Bruna. Follow me.’

Normal service resumed. We exited the elevator at the fifth floor and crossed a small outer office into a larger one with ‘Insp. Cornelius Lurio’ on the door. He told me to sit and went outside again. After a few minutes, he came back in with an el-pad which he thrust at me.

‘Right, I’ve assigned you to one of the Organised Crime sections, but seconded to my office
pro tem
. It’s best you continue using the name Cara Bruna, at least for the present. The department has a few members of the Twelve Families, but certainly no heirs. It’ll save you a lot of unnecessary personal hassle.’

I glanced at Lurio. Of course – with his name he must belong to the Cornelia family who were nearly as prominent as the Mitelae. He took me to the Organised Crime Division where I was introduced to an inspector, my nominal chief. I was allocated a desk and a minder, Senior Justiciar Sentius.

‘Sentius will get you kitted out and show you round, Bruna. Back in my office at seventeen hundred, please.’

Sentius turned out to be old school, so we had a coffee first. After him asking and me dodging a load of questions, we settled down to get my ID and mail account. At the quartermaster stores, I was issued sets of dark blue uniform, badges and insignia, a belt and pistol holster, and a large duffel to carry it all in. I changed from my civvies into the everyday uniform and caught my reflection in the mirror. I looked like the real thing. I supposed it was a start.

After lunch, we went to the indoor range where the master-at-arms issued me my personal weapon. I shot some rounds down the range. The resulting clusters were a little loose but acceptable. I had only used a pistol occasionally in Nebraska; Uncle Brown had been a rifle man.

I knocked on Lurio’s door promptly at five.

‘Sit down. I’ll be with you in a minute.’

I used the time to look around his office. He had two bookcases, crammed with technical books on organised crime, policing theory, law and order, a full set of the Lex Custodum, some general and biographical books, and business management handbooks. Certificates, commendations and a few photos hung on the walls above a small display case containing tiny artefacts that I couldn’t identify.

‘Had a good look?’ he said, his eyes still focusing on his papers.

I chuckled.

‘Right,’ he said, closing the file. ‘You’re assigned to the PGSF for the next few weeks, as anticipated. Major Tellus advises me that Lieutenant Stern will not be in your part of the debrief team.’

‘Sorry, who?’

‘Work it out, Bruna – the one you call Daniel. He’s Operations, and quite junior, so he won’t see any of the finished reports.’

I hoped not. He really hated Pulcheria. I dreaded the idea of meeting him.

He hesitated. ‘They wanted you to stay in their barracks, as an honoured colleague, of course, for the duration of the debrief. I told them nothing doing. Although it was a joint operation, DJ were leading and you’d be in my custody.’

‘So I can live at home, I presume, or here?’

‘Home’s out – I’m not spending more budget on a twenty-four hour guard for you for goodness knows how many weeks. It’s a bit basic here, so I’ve arranged for you to stay at my apartment.’

‘And you’ll be staying where?’

He gave me that tight-lipped, wide-eyed, exasperated look of somebody dealing with an idiot. ‘What’s the problem? It’s large enough to contain both our egos for a while. I’ll put locks on the doors if you’re worried you may be overcome with desire for my body.’

‘You’re abominable.’

He grinned.

I was still fuming as I sat in his car on the way to his apartment. Just who the hell did he think he was? But, as we rode along, Lurio cursing softly as he peered through the rain, I calmed down; I was overreacting. Firstly, like it or not, he was my superior officer so I had to do as I was told; secondly, he could have left me in the utilitarian barracks dormitory for several weeks; thirdly, he’d saved me from further PGSF hospitality; and lastly, under all that smart-ass gruffness, he was funny and didn’t try and smother me. Nonna would have called him ‘bracing’ like a sharp, but not hostile, wind.

I had called home to send a bag of things. Outside the gate to Lurio’s block, Nonna’s chauffeur sheltered in the Mercedes from the summer storm. He nodded to me and drove in behind us. He lifted two bags out of the boot and carried them into the lobby.

‘Which floor, lady?’

‘Inspector?’ I asked.

‘Leave them here. She can carry them up herself.’

The chauffeur looked shocked and pretended he hadn’t heard correctly.

‘That’s fine, Nic,’ I said, ‘just leave them there. Please thank Junia for sending you.’

He bowed and left, sending a hostile glance at Lurio over his shoulder.

‘How ever are you going to manage without your little band of servants at your beck and call?’

‘Oh, shut up, Lurio. Whatever you think of me, you could at least have the courtesy to treat people who can’t answer back with some dignity. He’s only doing his job, so don’t sneer.’

He said nothing, but picked up one of my bags as we stepped into the elevator. He was right: his apartment was large. The block had been built in the early 1800s, with spacious, high-ceilinged rooms with rich cornicing, double doors and large sash windows. I touched the beaded and recessed panelling as I followed him in. I was surprised; Lurio didn’t strike me as the type to like such romantic architecture.

He showed me to a huge corner room with a connecting bathroom.

‘Perhaps not what you’re used to, but I think you’ll be comfortable enough.’

‘It’s very nice, thank you.’

He raised a sceptical eyebrow. Maybe he didn’t know much about my life before Roma Nova.

‘I don’t suppose you can cook so I’ll do it this evening,’ he said and walked out.

The food was fine, not gourmet, but perfectly acceptable. We ate in silence. I picked the plates up and offered to wash the dishes, but he waved me away.

‘Zero seven hundred tomorrow morning,’ he said.

‘What for?’ I said. ‘Breakfast, leaving here, run, getting up?’

‘Leaving. If you think I’m going out for a run tomorrow morning in this rain, you must be more stupid than I thought.’

LX

Entering the courtyard at the PGSF headquarters wasn’t a problem. Getting out of the vehicle and going into the building was. I couldn’t move from the shelter of the car door. And the summer rain had stopped ten minutes ago.

‘Come on, Bruna, we’ll be late.’

‘I…I just need a moment to balance myself.’

He looked at me sharply. ‘You’re going in the professionals’ entrance this time, not the cells, and you’re not manacled. Let’s get on with it.’

He put his hand under my elbow and propelled me forward.

At the entrance, we had to surrender our sidearms. I swallowed hard as my service pistol vanished into the safe-box, leaving me vulnerable. A guard gave us a message to report to Captain Somna. No. Not the same one I had held in a neck lock, threatening to kill? I looked around, preparing to run. Lurio’s hand clamped onto my elbow so hard I couldn’t have escaped him without injury.

‘Don’t let the bastards have the satisfaction,’ he whispered.

I didn’t like this building, I didn’t like these people. But I’d promised Lurio.
And
I’d chewed Conrad out for thinking I couldn’t do it. I braced my shoulders and took a deep breath.

Captain Somna received us with neutral formality and introduced us to her staff. I didn’t take it in. Her grey eyes locked on me and tracked every move I made. They were as cold and disconcerting as before.

‘Your team has just arrived, Inspector. Shall we go through? We’re using the main conference room.’

Amidst the pack of blue and beige uniforms, I saw Sentius sitting at the main table and half-smiled at him; he winked back. At least I had one friend here. Three seats had been left for us. Lurio placed himself between Somna and me.

‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,’ said Somna, tapping a water glass to compel silence. ‘This is the first plenary session of the debrief for Operation Goldlights.’

They had even stolen my club’s name.

‘We’ll proceed as follows: each participant will write up their diary and report one day, and discuss it with appropriate DJ and PGSF specialists the next. Some of you will obviously have more to report than others. We’ll have an interim plenary this time next week.’ She looked around the dozen or so faces in the room. ‘Support will be available from the specialists in my service and their DJ counterparts. The aim of this debrief is to draw out the most information in a neutral and technical process, not to condemn or commend anybody in particular. Lieutenant Murria has schedules and assignments which she is now distributing. Please let her know if you have any problems. Questions?’

Nobody dared.

‘Then I’ll let you get on with your work.’

I watched them read their schedules and sort out their teams, a low-level hum of voices replacing the cold silence. Nobody had given me anything. I was happy being unobtrusive.

‘SJ Bruna?’

I looked up to see Lieutenant Murria hovering over me. I stumbled up.

‘Yes, ma’am?’

‘You’re to come with me.’

I swallowed hard and glanced back at Lurio, but he was busy talking to Somna. I picked up my notecase and followed her to a small office. Everything was square straight and nothing superfluous.

‘I expect it feels a bit strange, but you’ll get used to it over the next few weeks. It’ll be an easier start for you to use my office today. Back to the conference room tomorrow. One of your colleagues, Sentius, will be sitting in with us. He’ll be along in a few moments.’

She was friendly enough. Slightly shorter than me, with black hair and brown eyes. She looked very fit but slouched in her chair like a normal person.

‘We’ll chat informally at first and record it as we go along. You can edit and amend it from the printscript. Okay for you?’

‘Fine. Thanks for making it easy.’

She laughed. ‘You may not thank me in a week’s time when your voice is hoarse and your eyes are on stalks after reading reams of double-space printscript. Or would you prefer on-screen format?’

We talked casually for a few minutes – I’m sure it was one of their techniques. By the time Sentius knocked at the door with a tray of coffee and pastries, I was reasonably relaxed.

‘Sentius, a man after my own heart. Twice welcome.’

‘No problem, ma’am.’ He grinned. ‘I know Bruna can’t start the day without coffee.’

Lurio had ordered me to tell them everything except my true identity, but I left out other things he didn’t know about like the BI supermobiles, my redundancy packages for my colleagues, and the phoenix plan. I didn’t consider them relevant. Sentius handed me a glass of water now and again. After a while, I noticed that neither Murria nor Sentius were taking notes; they were staring at me, listening intently. Three hours after I started, my stomach made a loud rumble. The heat flushed across my face as I looked away in embarrassment.

Murria looked at her watch. ‘Jupiter’s balls. We’ve overrun. My fault. Let’s get to the mess room before it’s all gone.’

Sentius and I followed her. He was here once before and knew where we were going, but I was wary of everything. Swing doors opened into a huge dining room; the noise was stunning. I noticed a large hatch to one side and a raised area in one corner. Everywhere was full. Murria sailed through the sea of beige-covered bodies, aiming for the far side, through more doors and into a smaller room where we found the rest of the debrief team and a buffet with plenty of food. I piled my plate high.

Sentius and I ate in silence. Murria had gone to sit with some of her colleagues.

‘You know, Bruna,’ Sentius said, bringing his knife and fork together after he’d finished, ‘I knew you were impressive, but not that much. You’re quite an operator, aren’t you?’

‘Am I?’

‘And scary with it. In fact, you’re like that lot out there.’ He jerked his thumb back toward the dining room we had passed through.

‘Juno, don’t say that.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t like them.’

‘Okay, they’re a bit arrogant, but they’re professional and get excellent results, so not all bad.’

‘You ever been on the other end of them?’

He gave me a strange look. ‘Whatever have you been up to?’

‘You’ll find out.’

By the time we had gotten to late afternoon, I had a dry throat and a headache, and my words were coming out minced.

‘Right. You’ve had enough,’ said Murria. ‘We’ll get this printed up for you tomorrow and you can revise it in the conference room in the morning. If we get it circulated by lunchtime, the interrogation team can start tomorrow afternoon.’

She must have seen the anxiety in my face. I couldn’t say a thing.

‘Don’t worry. They’ll only discuss your report with you and ask a few questions. They’re not going to beat you up.’

That would make a change.

She was right. The three of them mainly wanted to know why I’d made certain decisions and what my thinking was at the time. But they picked everything apart, in yawn-inducing detail, even the obvious things that I thought everybody knew. I had gotten less nervous about the people coming and going during the afternoon so, when I turned and stretched my hand out to grab another sheet of paper from the side desk, I nearly choked to find Somna roosting right behind me. I leapt to my feet.

‘SJ Bruna.’ She nodded. ‘How is it going?’

‘Very well, thank you, ma’am.’ What in Hades should I say? I looked away, longing to be the other side of the double-paned window overlooking the courtyard entrance.

I hesitated for a few seconds. ‘May I speak to you about something?’

‘Of course. Let’s use my office.’

Somna’s office looked fairly ordinary, furnished with standard desk, chairs and low table, with bookshelves the dominant feature. She seemed to have more books on psychology and philosophy than applied harassment. But she definitely wasn’t into collecting china kittens.

She stared at me and waited.

I cleared my throat and focused on the bridge of her nose. ‘Please believe me when I say I wouldn’t have snapped your neck. I was anxious at the time and needed to strengthen my negotiating position.’

She didn’t say a thing, so I fell into the classic trap of babbling to fill a vacuum.

‘I’m sorry if your neck is sore. I hope there’s no permanent injury.’ Then I stopped. I really didn’t have anything else I could say.

She looked at me with those cold snake eyes. ‘I’m glad we’ve had this conversation, SJ Bruna. Thank you.’ She stood and opened the door, so I was obliged to leave. I didn’t have a clue whether she’d accepted my apology or not.

‘You look fed up. Do you want to go out to eat this evening?’ Lurio asked, as we made our way across the parking lot to his vehicle.

‘Um?’

‘Please yourself.’

‘Sorry, I was miles away. What did you say?’

‘You know, Bruna, I’m not used to people not paying attention to what I say.’

‘I apologise from the bottom of my heart.’

‘Don’t get sarcastic with me. Do you want to go out to eat or not?’

‘Yes, let’s do that. My treat.’

‘Don’t patronise me, Miss Moneybags.’

‘You know, Lurio, you might want to shed those chips on your shoulders sometime. Better sooner than later.’

He glared at me and we rode back in silence.

Once in the restaurant, he thawed out after the first beer. I told him about my conversation with Somna.

‘You’d have been better leaving it.’

‘Yes, I think so now, but I did feel bad. I half-choked the poor woman.’

‘Don’t waste your pity on her – she’s a cold bitch.’

‘I’m petrified of her.’

Lurio took my hand in his. ‘If you get a problem with her, or any of the rest of them, refer it to me. I’m responsible for you.’

‘Thanks, I appreciate it.’

‘I’m not doing it because of your lovely face, Bruna. I’m your senior officer. That’s what I do for my people.’

Was it the alcohol, my insecurity, the natural closeness of sharing, or nothing in particular? When we reached the apartment, and as I turned to say good night, he put his strong arm around my waist and kissed me in his thorough and efficient way. He carried me into my room, stripped the clothes off my body and made love to me in the same way.

The next morning, he got out of bed, went into his room, showered, dressed and started breakfast as usual. We rode to the PGSF in silence but, as we arrived in the courtyard, I turned to him and said, ‘Would you care to explain last night?’

‘What about it?’

‘Has anybody told you that you are totally impossible?’

‘Frequently.’

‘Why aren’t you dead?’

‘If I were, I wouldn’t be able to look forward to screwing the socks off you tonight.’