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Though it was late afternoon and much later than the doctor had intended to fly out, I wore no blindfold.
I smiled and peered out the chopper’s window again.
Once he’d revealed that he was immortal, the doctor had sat me down and told me I was allowed to go out into the world again. I was free. Yet he held my shackles, and we all knew it. If he were to send me away, I would beg to be allowed to return.
The reverse was also true. I was certain that if I expressed the wish to leave, Cassius and the doctor would be begging me to stay.
Would he ever tell us how he became immortal? I would like to know the answer, but I could wait. I’d rein in that curiosity of mine. I nestled my head into the seat headrest.
The helicopter blades massacred the air above us, but I was smiling despite the loudthwop-thwopin my ears. I closed my eyes and thought about all the centuries of life he had experienced. I would get him to talk about those, with my head on his lap, perhaps, or at the dining table on the island, or on the beach while lounging and listening to the waves roll in. If it took years to listen to whatever he wished to say, I would be there.
* * *
The limo took us to the first house, eating up the roads in elegance and comfort, while the doctor drove. Cassius had sat in the front, so I unpacked a book I’d found at the CNC mansion and read. We passed through a security checkpoint at the edge of the land the house resided on.
“Is that normal?” Cassius asked as the car surged forward.
“No. I set it up last night, after Jacob made threats. I’ll have to deal with him soon. I may not tell you how, but as you can imagine I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with men like him in my lifetime.”
“I bet you have.” Cassius looked back at me, then continued, “You know, identity is harder to spoof or change now. Technology and all. You can’t just vanish then reappear as a new person.”
“This is true. It is becoming difficult. I have to set things up decades ahead.”
Interesting. I sank back into my novel. Decades meant nothing was happening right now.
We passed through the gate in the wall that surrounded the house and garden. The guard I’d seen before was there. He opened the limo door for me.
The gate shut behind us with a smallthunkas it slid home.
Night was falling.
I looked around. This was not the same garden, where I’d sat with the doctor. There was a garage ahead and what I assumed was the front of the house—an arched trelliswork covered a path leading to an arch-shaped door. It was a match to the rear door—white paint and a brushed steel handle.
The guard ushered us in. The house was mostly dark, except for a few hallway lights, and the doors to the rooms we passed were shut.
“Only Estelle is still here?” the doctor asked the guard. “I texted her to say we were coming but forgot to ask that.”
“Yes, sir. The gardener and housekeeper come in twice weekly and only during the day, while you’re away.”
“Good. Where is she?”
“In the Angel Room, here, sir.” He opened the door beside me. “I believe she thought we had some vermin and was checking.”
As the door swung wider open, I remembered this room with the black-and-white tiles. It had the grand window with the stained-glass tableaux of angels and demons. This was where I’d lain on a table to be probed by the doctor.
“We’ll stay for a meal,” the doctor said, ushering me in first. “I have to decide on whether to shut the house down for a while.” He followed me in. Cassius and the guard were last.
“Where are you, Estelle?” the doctor asked.
I believe I saw it first—the table with her body on it. It was the same table I’d lain on, and now a dead woman was there, tied down at wrists and ankles, and with blood leaking onto the floor. Jacob must have just pulled the red-stained sheet from over her, as it was floating down. A dagger stood up between her breasts. I couldn’t say what expression was on her face, but Jacob had a triumphant sneer on his.
I was too slow, I thought, in those few seconds while I stared.I should have looked faster.
If it’d been Cassius through the door first, or even the doctor, we might have been saved.
They’d moved the table, so it was to the left and in the far corner, as well as flush against the wall the door was situated in. Jacob stood behind the table.
They must have known we were coming, was one of my few coherent thoughts, as the shock washed through me.
