JAVIER (13 page)

“Surely we could just shift inside.” Javier avoided
Cassia’s black look. Chronus shook his head;

“Money is no object Javier, we believe he may have an
electronic net. He hates Vampires; he would want to ensure they could not get
at him.”

“You need me. I can get you in and leave no trace.
Don’t you dare try to shut me out Javier of Seville.” Cassia got to her feet
and smiled brightly at LaSalle;

“Excuse me gentlemen, I need to change and I need to
get some tools of the trade. Good thing I packed them.”

As she turned to leave Chronus stopped her;

“Er, Cassia. Is Flavia busy? I have not seen her this
evening.”

Cassia scowled then shrugged;

“She is spending some time in the school room. Giving
guitar lessons. I’m sure she won’t mind if you want to go and say hello.”

Chronus nodded and Cassia swept out throwing a
triumphant look at Javier.

“She reminds me of my Ysabeau.” said LaSalle grinning,
“God help the man who ends up joined to her, at least he will never ever be
bored.”

“She’s absolutely bloody magnificent!” Rafe murmured.

Javier jumped up and headed for the door, he needed to
get armed and he wanted Cassia to be carrying the gun he had picked out for
her. He heard Gabriel following behind and stopped as his name was called;

“Chronus is joining you and Cassia. Come with me down
to Ops and I’ll give you the co-ordinates.” As they descended down to the
underground command centre Gabriel suddenly asked;

“Everything alright between you and Cassia?”

Trust Gabriel, thought Javier. He was sure Hera
wouldn’t have said anything to him; no, Gabriel just had a knack for noticing
things. That was why he was their head of Intelligence.

“Yes.” Javier replied tersely.

“Keep a tight rein on her Javier. You cannot afford a
loose cannon in the field. She is wilful, a maverick.”

“I know my job Gabriel. She will do as she’s told.”

“Really? Good luck with that my friend.” Gabriel gave
one of his rare unrestrained laughs.

Twenty minutes later Javier stood next to Cassia as
they waited in awkward silence for Chronus. He examined her covertly. She was
still all in black but the biker boots had been changed for lighter more
flexible shoes and her hair had been plaited then coiled and fastened at the
nape of her neck. She wore a belted black combat jacket with numerous bulging
pockets and carried a black rucksack.

“Cassia Mathrafal, international art thief. Your
working clothes I presume.” Javier murmured. She looked like a cross between
Cat Woman and Lara Croft.

He reached for her hand to put the gun in it only for
her to draw back sharply;

“I’ll just take that thank you. Please don’t touch
me.”

Javier glanced quickly at the staircase, no sign of
Chronus yet.

“Cass, please. I’m sorry. Can we talk? I need to
explain…”

Cassia cut him off, not meeting his eyes;

“Nothing to explain. You made yourself quite clear. We
are working partners and that’s all. Anything else was a mistake.”

The silence was almost deafening when Chronus finally
joined them. Javier had no doubt he had picked up on the strained atmosphere
immediately as his sky blue eyes rested speculatively on them both. He was
quite certain Chronus was one of those Alpha Empaths.

“You’re shifting with me Chronus.” said Javier as
Chronus groaned.

There was no way Javier could stand another man being
so close to Cassia, even if it was only Chronus who obviously had a thing for
Flavia. What was it about those Mathrafal girls that got right under a man’s
skin?

CHAPTER 11

The shadows beside her shimmered then split as Javier
materialized holding onto Chronus tightly. The moment he let go of the Empath’s
arms Chronus doubled over and heaved, gripping the wall as he swore violently
under his breath.

“Ignore him, shifting affects him quite badly. What
have we got?” Javier murmured.

Cassia turned from where she had been scanning the
front of the house with her night vision binoculars. Passing them to Javier she
bent her knees then jumped nimbly onto the six foot wall she had been peering
over on the tips of her toes;

“Come on up, I’ve checked. The wall’s clear of sensors
and the view is better from up here.”

Javier landed lightly on the wall beside her, checking
out the house and its grounds; suddenly he sniffed the air;

“Oh hell, dogs. Can you smell them? I’m going to have
to shoot the damn things.”

There was a grunt as Chronus heaved himself up onto
the wall then stood up carefully, getting his balance;

“You Vamps are like damned cats, the way you can jump
onto walls and balance without any effort. No wonder dogs can’t stand you. We
Empaths on the other hand, have a way with dogs. You will not need to shoot the
poor creatures. Leave them to me.  Give me five minutes before you get off the
wall.”

 He eased himself down to the ground then set off
across the grass confidently.

Cassia glanced quickly at Javier. She was pleased with
the composure she had maintained on seeing him again. When she had got back to
the guestroom she had gone straight into the bathroom and stripped off. Then
she had turned on the powerful shower, slid down to the marble tiles under it
and cried silently until her head ached. Drying herself afterwards she had
ramped up the feelings of anger inside her because they were easier to deal
with then pain and abject misery.

She would get over it, she told herself because there
was absolutely nothing to get over. Javier was just a passing fancy and she had
probably joined a long line of women who had fallen for his beautiful face and
those eyes and the way his hair never seemed to lie neatly and that damned
smile. She had brushed her teeth and dried her hair calmly so that when she
emerged into the bedroom she was able to drink the cup of tea Flavia had poured
for her from the tray the maid had delivered and chat about the house and the
Island as if nothing had happened.

Except it had. Something had happened between them;
something had happened to Javier and he had rejected it completely. He had
rejected her completely. And it hurt, it hurt desperately.

“My god, will you look at that. Another new thing we
have learned about Empaths today.” Javier said beside her.

Cassia dragged herself back to the present and looked
in the direction Javier was pointing. Chronus had his hands on the heads of two
huge Dobermans and they were slowly subsiding to the ground in front of him. As
they lay down and stretched out he gave them both a pat then turned and ran
back to the wall;

“Alright, you can get down.” he said.

As Cassia and Javier landed lightly on the grass
beside him Javier asked;

“What did you do? Are they dead?”

Chronus looked horrified; “No! I like dogs. I made
them go to sleep. They’ll be asleep for a long time; they are very
comfortable.”

“Who knew?” murmured Cassia. The more she found out
about Empaths the more surprised she was.

“Come on, are we getting into this house or not?” she
asked as she skirted round the edge of the grass towards the door.

“Stay behind me if you don’t want your pretty faces
showing up on their recording.” Cassia pointed at the camera aimed over the
porch.

The two men fell in behind her then peered over her
shoulder as she knelt down and extracted something from her rucksack;

“What are you doing?” asked Javier

“Step back, you’re crowding me. It’s my laptop, I’m
just running a little programme Harry and I cooked up. Yesssss…voila!  Camera
is now on a loop. Now let’s see what I’m facing inside…”

“You and Max’s Katie should get together. There is
nothing that woman doesn’t know about hacking into computers, nothing she can’t
hack.” Javier said, back at her shoulder;

“Javier, will you stop breathing down my neck. It’s
distracting me. If I get distracted all hell is going to break loose.” Cassia
hissed. Not only was his breath on her neck distracting, so was his scent.

“Sorry. We’ll just wait back here.”

Cassia ignored them, concentrating on the schematics
flashing up on the screen. She’d have two minutes once the door was open.
Stashing the computer back in the rucksack she got out her picks then turned to
Chronus.

“I don’t suppose you can will a lock open?”

Chronus grinned and shook his head. Cassia bent to the
lock with her picks; that was Empaths for you; they could stop someone’s heart
with one of their deadly energy blasts but they couldn’t get a locked door open
quietly. Nice set of evolutionary priorities.

She heard the final click and focused her mind
completely. The next two minutes were crucial. Taking a small device out of one
of her pockets she turned the handle and entered the hallway. Shifting across
to the panel in a nanosecond she scanned it with the machine. Alright, she
entered the first set of possible numbers. Nothing. Quickly with the next.
Incorrect. Again; the panel still flashed. Her mind was clear, like ice. This
was a date, so predictable. Dion, not so clever Beta son of an Alpha Empath.
Not daddy’s favourite then. Instinctively she asked;

“Chronus…Dion’s mother…do you know her birthday?”

Of course he did. Alpha Empath and very clever. The
date fitted one of the possible sequences; thirty seconds left. Cassia entered
the new combination. The lights on the panel stopped flashing.

There was a whoosh as she turned to Javier and
Chronus. They had both been holding their breath and seemed to have let it out
at the same time.

“Is it always this nail bitingly tense?” Javier asked.

Cassia laughed as she shouldered her rucksack;

“This? This was nothing. Some of these museums and
galleries nowadays have lasers, gas, armed security guards, lockdown, things
you can’t imagine. That’s tense Javier. Not that I’m admitting anything, just
speaking hypothetically you understand.”

Damn it, she’d made him smile. That smile would be her
undoing. It made her heart flip. Luckily he turned to Chronus and was suddenly
all business;

“You search upstairs, Cassia and I will have a look
down here. Anything you need unlocking, you know who to call.”

As Chronus started up the stairs Javier called after
him;

“Chronus, Dion is in Venice but you have not told us
where Draco Erebus is. Obviously not at his house, he was not one of the bodies
was he?”

Chronus screwed up his eyes;

“No, not one of the bodies. We do not actually know
where he is at the moment but we will find him.”

Javier smiled tightly then turned to Cassia;

“Let us search the obvious first, there is bound to be
a study or library in a house like this.” As they tried various doors till they
found a room fitted out like an office Javier murmured;

“Chronus always has his own agenda. There is something
he has not shared with us, just you wait and see. I feel it in my bones.”

For the next thirty minutes the two of them worked
quietly and efficiently together. They made a good team Cassia reflected as she
unlocked the safe; each of them seeming to know instinctively what the other
needed. Javier rifled through the few items in the wall safe then returned them
carefully to their original positions.

He stepped back for a moment and raked his hand
through his hair. That was why it was always untidy, thought Cassia, he had a
habit of doing that when he was thinking.

“Nothing. Nothing of significance. We have checked the
desk, cupboards, safe. This is a waste of time.” he said quietly; “Where else
Cass? Where would people hide stuff?”

“It would help if we knew what we were looking for,
what Chronus is looking for. Let’s go back into the hall and look again.”
Cassia answered.

They stood in the middle of the hall and Cassia
examined the walls and doors. No wood panelling in this house, not even many
paintings and the one over there was displayed in an odd place. Very odd.

She walked over to where it hung by one of the doors.
Javier followed her and slowly pulled the door open as Cassia moved the
painting.

She yanked him back by his T-shirt so hard he almost
lost his balance;

“What the hell…Cass?”

Cassia pointed;

“This picture is hiding a biometric security panel
Javier. See? Finger print entry only.”

They both peered into the room from the doorway;

“It is practically empty.” said Javier, “Just a small
table and chairs, some kind of breakfast room. The panel is obviously not in
use.”

“Oh yes it is Javier. It’s armed. Stand right back
would you?”

Reaching into her rucksack Cassia took out a small
aerosol can then stood carefully at the entrance to the room and sprayed.
Javier gasped in surprise at what was revealed;

“Lasers. The room is crisscrossed with laser beams. I
wonder what would have happened if we had gone in.”

Cassia examined the room;

“At the very best an alarm would have gone off but
nowadays, well, it could lock down the room and flood it with gas or we could
have bullets or even a detonation. The possibilities are endless. The thing is,
what could be so important in this room?”

“A very good question Miss Mathrafal.” Chronus had
come up silently behind them and was peering into the room.

“The painting on the far wall? It looks like a
Rembrandt.” said Javier pointing;

“Hmm, very good Javier. I’m not close enough but in my
opinion it is not by Rembrandt himself but from the workshop of…valuable but
not valuable enough for all this.” Cassia gestured at the panel.

“Therefore the painting is a decoy to distract from
whatever the painting is hiding.” said Chronus.

“Yes, we need to take a look.” Cassia agreed, lost in
concentration as she surveyed the room.

She was glad she had come fully equipped she thought
as she reached into one of her jacket pockets and donned her special goggles
making sure the strap was firmly secured.

“These enable me to see the beams clearly.” Cassia
explained as she inwardly digested what was revealed; making quick mental
calculations. “I’ll go in and see what’s behind that picture.”

Javier grabbed her arm; “It’s too dangerous Cass. I can’t
let you go in. There must be another way.”

Cassia snatched her arm angrily out of his grasp.

“Don’t touch me! Do you have another solution? Perhaps
you’ve got the relevant finger stashed away somewhere because that is the only
thing that will dis-arm this system.”

They glared at each other and Javier shook his head
despairingly and raked his hand through his hair again.

“I think she has a point Javier. I do not know what’s
going on between you two but you need to keep it away from the workplace.” Chronus
said smoothly;

“Keep out of this Chronus. You know what is hidden
don’t you? What you are looking for has got nothing to do with what’s going on
in London has it?” Javier asked angrily.

Cassia watched the confrontation then turned back to
the room and checked the coverage of the beams carefully. She estimated she had
about a metre and a half clear in front of the painting. Concentrating her mind
she fixed on the target area; she had done this many times before. Not for her
the risks of negotiating a laser field. She was a Vampire. Ignoring the
continuing war of words behind her she shifted into the small space in front of
the picture.

As she focused on the painting then lifted it
carefully down, propping it against the wall she heard Javier’s startled shout;

“Cassia! My god…you damned crazy woman. Why don’t you
ever do as you are told?” There was panic in his voice.

Turning tightly within her space Cassia smiled. Of
course neither of the men could see the beams though Javier would be able to
see the faint shadows if he concentrated.

“I’m not disobeying; you didn’t give me an order.
Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. You two just make sure you don’t set foot
over that threshold; if you do, I’ll be in serious trouble.”

The safe was small and simple to open which made
sense; the lasers were the real deterrents in this room. Lifting out the single
item she made a controlled turn and held it up;

“It’s a book. Old.” She laid it carefully on the floor
then bent from the waist and opened it, turning through the pages.

“It’s a journal. Written in Italian. We have dates,
events, names…mostly Empath.”