We bypassed the business offices and the family’s private apartments but walked along the battlements to look in on the rest of the guest suites, which were located in the other towers. As we moved from room to room Sir Percy kept up a running commentary on the improvements he’d made in the castle, and the engineering feats that had made the improvements possible.
Although the tour was fascinating, it left me feeling unsettled. Rooms not needed for our immediate use had been left under dust sheets, and the hearths had been cold and bare. The corridors seemed to go on forever, and the thick stone walls deadened even Sir Percy’s oversized voice. A scant handful of guests wasn’t enough to fill a place designed to entertain dozens, and a staff of twelve was hardly adequate to guard it. As our footsteps echoed hollowly in the stairwells, I began to wonder if the castle was as secure a refuge as it had at first seemed. Abaddon might have trouble getting through the gate, I thought, but once inside, he’d find no end of hiding places.
I glanced at Damian and felt a little better. He was, without doubt, the most humorless, paranoid, cold fish of a man I’d ever met, but even so, it was comforting to know that he was watching my back.
Seven
The castle tour lasted long enough for me to be glad that I’d worn comfortable shoes. We met up with Andrew, Will, and Rob in the parlor for tea, and after surveying the substantial repast Cook had provided, I decided that it would also serve as the twins’ dinner. They’d been far too enthralled by their new surroundings to settle down for naps, so an early night was in order.
After they’d eaten their fill and told me every detail of their fabulous afternoon, I returned with them to the nursery, stopping on the way to show them the Cornflower Suite. I wanted them to know where to find me in case homesickness struck before morning.
Damian remained in the sitting room while Andrew helped me to get the boys bathed, in their jammies, and in bed. I answered their questions about Daddy, Annelise, Stanley, Thunder, and Storm as best I could, listened while they took turns reading a chapter of The Black Stallion to me, and stayed by their sides until they fell asleep.
When I thanked Andrew for taking such good care of the twins, he thanked me in return for raising them properly.
“They’re fine lads,” he told me. “Bright as buttons and good as gold.”
Andrew Ross, I decided, was a young man of great discernment.
It was half past six when Damian and I returned to the Cornflower Suite. As I crossed the foyer to enter the sitting room, Damian’s cell phone rang. He answered it, murmured a few terse words, then held it out to me.
“It’s your husband,” he said.
I snatched the phone from his hand, ran with it into the sitting room, and closed the door.
“Oh, Bill,” I exclaimed, flopping onto a soft armchair, “if I’d known you were going to call, I would have let the twins stay up.They fell asleep five minutes ago.”
“Don’t wake them,” he said. “I’m sure they’re tuckered out.”
“Where are you calling from?” I asked.
“Chief Superintendent Yarborough would rather I didn’t tell you,” he replied, “but it’s quite comfortable.”
“Good,” I said. “Any progress on the . . . case?”
“Not yet,” he replied. “Yarborough and I have examined about twenty client files today, but no outstandingly suspicious characters have revealed themselves so far. Please tell me that you and the boys are having a good time. I need to know that at least one part of my plan is working.”
I spent the next half hour telling him about the helicopter ride, the nursery, the excellent food, and the grand tour. I also told him about Damian and Andrew, but they weren’t news to Bill.
“I asked Percy to hire bodyguards for you,” he informed me. “We’ve worked out a system of daily passwords.Your man won’t put me through unless I give him the right one. Now,” he continued, “on the home front: Annelise is fine if still a bit irritated with us for leaving her behind, Ivan Anton reports that all is well at the cottage, and Emma Harris says that our menagerie is thriving, so you can tell the boys not to worry about Stanley, Thunder, or Storm.”
“I will,” I said. “We miss you a whole bunch, by the way.”
“I miss you even more.” Bill sighed dejectedly. “I just want this to be over.”
“It will be,” I soothed. “One day we’ll look back on this and . . . Okay, we’ll probably shudder and shriek, but at least it’ll be over.”
Bill’s chuckle brought a smile to my face. After we’d said our good-nights, I sat for a moment, curled around the phone, replaying in my mind the sound of his laughter. We’d been apart for less than twelve hours, but it seemed much longer. It wasn’t fair, I told myself. Bill and I were good people, or at least we tried to be good. We’d done nothing to deserve Abaddon.
The puddle of self-pity was ankle-deep and rising by the time I pushed myself out of the chair and knocked on the foyer door. Damian called for me to come in, and I found him sitting in the leather armchair next to the elevator, a laptop computer open on his lap.