“How does that fit with the claim of power to rule the world?”
Lily shrugged. “Maybe the stone enables its owner to commit the perfect murder.”
“Most times it takes more than one murder to rule a country.”
Mass murder, she thought and shivered.
“That’s quite a legend.” Robert said.
“Makes you wonder about the guy asking for your hand.” Lily wasn’t superstitious, but she couldn’t keep the gooseflesh from raising on her arms. She listened to the rain ping against the tin roof and thought about the legend and tried not to let it trouble her.
“You put on a good front, Lily. But it’s pretty clear to me that you’re more afraid than you’re letting on.”
The statement jolted her, and for a moment she wasn’t sure how to answer. She didn’t like admitting to being afraid—it made her feel somehow diminished—but she didn’t think Robert would believe a lie. “Only a fool wouldn’t be afraid of a man like DeBruzkya.”
“How did you get close to him?”
“I let him think he was in control of the situation. That he could use me to get what he wanted.”
“To write his autobiography?”
She nodded. “I led him to believe I was a hungry young writer with big plans for my career. His ego made it easy to deceive him. All I had to do was let him think I was going to tell the world that he is not the evil man the mainstream media have portrayed him to be, but a misunderstood leader with a brilliant mind and ambitious ideas for his country and the rest of Europe.”
“Ego,” Robert muttered.
“That makes him predictable.”
“To a degree.” He rubbed his left thigh. “Do you know where his headquarters is located?”
“It’s supposed to be secret, but during one of our meetings he hinted that it’s in the mountains to the north.”
“Rugged country,” Robert said. “Hartz Forest area?”
She nodded, debating whether to tell him the rest. She knew he wouldn’t approve, but then she’d done a lot of things in the last twenty-one months he wouldn’t approve of. She suspected there was something more going on with him than he was letting on, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what it was. She supposed both of them were keeping their fair share of secrets.
“One evening after one of our meetings, I followed him,” she said.
Quick anger flickered in his eyes. “You what?”
“I said I fol—”
“I heard you the first time,” he snapped. “What I want to know is how you could do something so foolhardy.”
Annoyed that he would raise his voice to her over risking her life for something she believed in vehemently, she rose abruptly. “If I were a man you’d be slapping me on the back and telling me how brave I was.”
“Or maybe I’d deck you. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”
“Of course I do.”
“And of course you did it anyway, didn’t you? For God’s sake, Lily, if the soldiers had found you—”
“They didn’t.”
Leaning forward, Robert put his elbows on his knees and stared at his boots. “Damn it.”
“This is exactly what I’m talking about. If you can’t deal with me as an equal—”
“What I can’t deal with is your taking stupid risks—”
“There’s nothing stupid about trying to stop a madman.” She started to turn away, but he stopped her.
“Sit down,” he growled.
Lily stood her ground.
Scrubbing his hands over his face, he looked at her. “Please,” he said. “I’d like to finish this.”
Slowly, she sank into the chair.
“Where’s the headquarters?” he asked.
“It’s the old Veisweimar Castle.”
Robert’s head snapped up at the mention of the old castle. “That place is barely standing.”
“Not anymore. It’s a fortress replete with luxury suites, gargoyles and a moat.”
“A moat?”
She nodded. “DeBruzkya brought in heavy machinery and had a moat dug.
“Have you been inside?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve only seen it from a distance, but DeBruzkya bragged about it in great detail.”
“What else do you know?”
“I know he hired a small army of stonemasons to build a wall around the entire grounds. An interior design firm from Paris installed four luxury suites.” Lily had seen the structure that one and only time, and it had left quite an impression on her mind. Since, she’d dug up everything she could get her hands on and read about it. The Veisweimar Castle was a behemoth structure built in medieval times. A century later it fell to ruin, then became a prison during the nineteenth century where prisoners were routinely tortured and executed.
“What kind of security has he got?” Robert asked.
“DeBruzkya’s fanatical about security. There were too many armed soldiers for me to get close, but I got within a hundred yards of the outer perimeter. From what I could tell he’s got a hundred or so armed soldiers guarding the place. Then there’s the moat, of course.”
“Alligators?”