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“Sorry, ma’am, but do you have any ID?”
“Of course, officer. She opened her bag and fished out her purse, handing him her driver’s licence. He checked it thoroughly then passed it back through the window. He spoke into the radio on his shoulder and gestured to Jack to pull forward as the gates opened for us to get in. Officers crowded around the gates to keep the press out as they surged forward with us.
We drove quickly down the tree-lined avenue towards the house, and Jack swung the car around, parking perfectly next to one of the gamekeeper’s Land Rovers. We couldn’t have got any nearer to the house, and as we climbed out of the car, we all froze in shock. I stared at the house I had been in charge of protecting. The house was built in a classic U-shape, with the front Victorian facade nearly intact. One of the wings, however, had been totally destroyed in the blast. Windows had been blown out, walls had collapsed, and small fires burned everywhere. The fire engines were pulled up alongside, putting out flames, and the police had various sections cordoned off. I looked at Tory. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide. She started moving towards the building, and I grabbed her hand to stop her.
She looked back at me. “Don’t,” she said, her voice cold.
“It’s not safe. Stay here until I can assess the situ—”
She slapped me right across the face. She had to step close and reach up to do it, and yet it still caught me by surprise. I stared down at her in shock.
“My parents were in there,” she argued, her eyes burning gold, her voice shaking. “You fucking stay here.”
She turned away and strode towards the front of the house where the majority of the police and ambulances had gathered. I went to go after her, but Jack caught my arm.
“Leave her. She won’t thank you for it.”
“And if there’s a second bomb?” I countered, peeling his hand off my arm.
“Dawson said the bomb squad had cleared the site. It’s safe, West. Besides, I think you’re needed elsewhere.” He gestured over in the direction Tory had gone, and I looked over to see Wesley heading towards us. His suit and shirt were shredded and covered in black burn marks. Grey ash was in his hair and smeared across his face, and he looked pale.
“Fucking hell, Wesley, were you in there?” I asked, striding forward to meet him. I looked him up and down, and without giving him a chance to reply, I pulled him in for a brief hug. The poor guy was still shaking, but he had a determined look on his face when I stepped back.
“I was. I’d come to check out some of the letters and see if I could find a link to something I was chasing up.”
I nodded. I’d cleared Wesley with his lordship the week before, explaining I had hired him as a consultant and to give him any information he requested. I glanced over at Tory who stood by one of the ambulances. She was talking to one of the paramedics.
“Did you find anything?” Jack asked.
“Actually, I think I have.” That got my attention, and I looked back at him. He nodded seriously. “I sent some of the letters away to get the ink tested, and this morning I received a response. I was surprised by the results, so I came here to clarify something with his lordship. We were in the library when the explosion happened.”
“You were with his lordship?” I asked quickly. “So he’s okay then?”
Wesley shook his head. “Sorry, West, they still don’t know. The explosion ripped through the room so fast. I stood by one of the windows and was blown clean out onto the front lawn. To be honest, if I hadn’t had my healing abilities, I’d have been in a worse state when they found me. I was cut to ribbons. Luckily, by the time the emergency services got here, most of my wounds had closed up and they decided I was just very lucky. I’m not feeling that great though... I was hoping Tory might…”
“I’m sure she will when she hears what happened, but let’s leave her to her parents right now,” I said gently.
“No, I mean, yes, of course,” Wesley replied. “I think she’s sitting with her mother right now. They pulled her out quite quickly from what I heard, but she’s injured. They were trying to get her stabilised before they took her to the hospital, but I think they’ll be leaving soon.”
“So what did you find out?” Zayn questioned. “I thought you’d tested the ink on the envelopes?” he said, turning to me.
“I did. Regular ink, nothing we could narrow down.” I looked at Wesley. “But you found something?”
“Ah yes, the envelope ink was standard to the era and country, but the red and black inks on the letter themselves proved to be very interesting.”
“Now hang on,” I said. “They were cut outs from a newspaper. We did look at them, but we couldn’t find a publication match.”
“Actually, they weren’t. They’d been printed on an old-fashioned newspaper press specifically for these letters. The inks were created from soot and red ochre... and they used a finely ground lead compound to dry the inks.”
I stared at him in shock. “The ink was ancient Egyptian? How is that even possible? Ink manufacturing back then was a closely guarded secret. Only temple priests trained in the art...” A cold feeling fell on me, and I looked over at Zayn. He met my gaze, his jaw set and lips pressed thinly together.
“It’s not looking good for Sadiq, is it?” Jack asked quietly.
I shook my head.“No, it’s not. The question is, how do we find him?”
“And who’s he working for? And why?” Wesley inquired.
“I still think we need to look into this idea of a cult. The reference to the sun indicates a solar deity, but then there are the cats...” I trailed off, thinking.
