Seeking Crystal (24 page)

‘You OK, Crystal?’ asked Zed, taking my arm.

‘Xav is not pleased with me.’

‘Tell him to butt out. We’re rescuing ourselves here.’ Zed yanked the rope they’d thrown over the stone wall to check it was still secure.

Count the seats, Xav. It was me or Will and you. How is he?

Working on him now. We’re using Steve’s Winnebago dressing room as our ER. Bullet caught him high on the right shoulder.

Concentrate on that. I’ll be out of here shortly.

Uriel, Victor, and Trace emerged from the trees, coming from a slightly different direction to the one we had taken. Now we were all gathered, Zed swarmed up the rope and dropped down out of sight. This was going to be so humiliating. I was slowing everyone down.

‘You next, Crystal,’ said Trace, doubtless wondering why I was staring at the rope as if it were a python dangling before my eyes.

I jumped, hauled myself a few metres up, felt my arms give and I dropped back to the ground. I tried again and this time only succeeded in banging against the wall like an incompetent bell ringer lifted off the floor by her rope.

‘I’m sorry: I can’t do it. I’ve never aspired to be an action hero, never developed the upper body strength for more than lifting my coffee cup.’

Trace climbed the rope as nimbly as a monkey. ‘Vick, tie the rope around her.’

Sweet of them not to tease as I was hauled up the side like a sack of potatoes. Tears of fury at my own incompetence stung my eyes but I was too annoyed to allow them to fall. I swiped them away instead.

‘Sorry,’ I muttered when I reached the top.

‘It’s OK, Crystal.’ Trace untied the rope and threw it back down to the next brother. ‘Can you manage now?’

I swallowed as I glanced at the hefty drop. Fortunately the snow had piled up against the wall so there was a soft landing. ‘Sure. I’m a ninja. Just didn’t want to embarrass you all.’ Doing an ungainly bottom shuffle on the ledge, I took the rope leading over the other way and half-fell half-let myself down. I landed with a jolt on my butt in the snow. Zed plucked me out of my hole and gave me a hug.

‘Ninja, hey?’

‘You heard that?’

‘We all heard that. Must tell Xav.’

‘I’ll kill you if you tell him how I let you down.’

‘You haven’t let us down, Crystal. You’re doing fine.’

His brothers dropped lightly beside us—each elegant landing a reproach for all those PE lessons I’d avoided. All six of us were now gathered outside the castle grounds and I began to feel a little less anxious.

‘Dad says Will’s going to be OK,’ Trace reported. ‘Lily’s taking him to hospital by road—Xav’s with them—and Dad’s taking the girls to the villa with Steve. Asks us to meet him there.’

The car was parked just down the track, hidden behind a tangle of brambles. We piled in. I had to practically sit on Trace’s lap to fit. Uriel reversed and headed back to the main mountain road.

‘Phee looked OK, didn’t she?’ Yves asked his brothers.

‘Yes, they were all fine—on the surface at least,’ confirmed Uriel.

‘Sky can sure fight,’ added Victor admiringly. ‘She wasn’t going to let me encourage her to fall sleep when she didn’t want to.’

‘Probably saw your colours—knew you were fibbing when you said you just wanted to check she didn’t have a fever.’ Zed tapped the window beside him restlessly, itching to get back to her.

Victor shrugged. ‘That sleep message works best when I can touch someone’s forehead.’

‘Surprised Mom let you get away with it,’ said Uriel. ‘She hasn’t fallen for that since you were ten.’

‘Yeah, but she didn’t remember, did she? Didn’t know any of us.’

No one had anything to say to that.

The road wound to the right, coming in sight of the fork in the road. A police car was parked across, blocking our exit, blue lights flashing against the sentinel pine trees.

‘Suggestions?’ asked Uriel lightly. ‘Vick?’

Victor shook his head. ‘Can’t manipulate their minds. Too many—and it wouldn’t be right. They’re just doing their job.’

‘Then we stop and talk politely.’ Uriel slowed. ‘Things not to mention, guys: our girls, Steve and Lily, anything to do with the castle. We’ve just been for a moonlit drive.’

A policeman stood in the centre of the road and raised his hand. Uriel wound down his window as he drew alongside.

‘Problem, officer?’

Yes, there certainly was a problem, as the man explained in rapid-fire Italian as his colleagues surrounded the car, me as his translator. They were all to get out and consider themselves under arrest. No, he wasn’t impressed by Victor’s and Trace’s law enforcement credentials: this was Italy not America. No, we were not to talk to each other. The only phone call we would be allowed now would be to our lawyers.

So he didn’t know about telepathy then.

The charges? Breaking and entering the contessa’s castle. Assaulting her staff. Arson.

Lined up along the side of the vehicles we were patted down. No weapons or even a match were discovered. One by one the brothers were handcuffed and put in the back of a police van. I was left standing on the roadside. I could see that the Benedicts were far from happy to leave me alone with Italian police officers.

‘What about me?’ I asked the man in charge, a hard-faced public servant who looked sincerely tired of dealing with out-of-control tourists, the main source of crime in this holiday destination.

‘You, signorina? You are not under arrest.’ He signalled for the van doors to be closed. ‘Those men we know about but the contessa said nothing about a young female being present at the time of the break-in.’

It would be foolish in the extreme to talk myself into being arrested. ‘Where are you taking them?’

‘My police station is not big enough for so many. I expect they’ll be transferred to Verona in the morning. You can call the station at eight when the office staff go on duty. I would like you to come in and give us a statement. They will tell you then where your friends have been taken.’ He headed for his vehicle, leaving me alone with our car. The keys were still in the ignition where Uriel had left them.

‘But, signor, I can’t drive!’

He looked sorely tempted to abandon me there. ‘Officer Fari will drive you down to the station and park the vehicle there. You can send someone to collect it in the morning.’

I could feel Yves tapping on my mind, having worked out how to reverse the mental pathway I had built to him.

I’m OK.
I assured him.
One of the policemen is driving me back to Malcesine. Worry about yourselves.

I’ll tell Dad what’s happened. You tell Xav, OK?

OK.
Not a conversation I was looking forward to.

Just tell him not to do anything stupid, like get arrested alongside us. He needs to stick with Will.

There was a spurt of radio noise from the officer’s receiver. I deciphered the message amid the static.
I think it’s too late. The contessa knew they’d be heading to a hospital. Xav’s been picked up already. Lily and Will are continuing to the hospital under guard.

Yves swore.
Any news of Dad?

No one has mentioned him—or Steve. If they thought a Hollywood star was under suspicion, surely that’d be flying across the airwaves? I think the contessa is just not interested in him—like she disregards me.

I suppose we should be grateful for that. We’ll see you soon as we raise bail. Do your best with the girls.

‘Ready to go, signorina?’ Officer Fari, a man in his early twenties and more disposed to be friendly than his boss, had noticed my ‘out to lunch’ expression.

I ran my fingers over my forehead. ‘Sorry. I’ve had a bit of a shock.’

He nodded. ‘Let’s get you home then.’

I climbed in the passenger side and watched him familiarize himself with the controls. We slowly set off after the police car. The van had long since departed.

‘What were you doing out here, signorina?’ the officer asked. The implication was why was a nice girl like me hanging out with five suspicious characters?

‘Just taking in the sights. One of them is my future brother-in-law.’
Xav, are you all right?

No.
I felt rather than heard his cursing.
They wouldn’t let me stay with Will. Apparently I’m under arrest for assaulting the contessa’s guards. They are taking me to join my brothers. What about you?

Not under arrest—not yet. A policeman is driving me down the mountain and then I’m going to meet up with your dad. Yves is confident you’ll all make bail but I’m not so sure. The contessa is a powerful person round here.

Know any good lawyers?

I’ll get on to it.

What would help most is getting our girls back. None of this makes sense unless they can testify that they were kidnapped.

I suddenly felt immeasurably drained. Would this horrible day never end?

Not so horrible. You found me, remember?

Yeah, and you’re ending it in jail. Way to go, soulfinder.

Love you too.

How was that a declaration of love?

Wasn’t it?
I could feel that Xav was amused, despite everything.
You can’t hide the fact that you care what happens to me.

Of course I care!

See. Love you too.

OK fine, you’re right. I love you, you infuriating menace who promised me that he would come back. I warned you that I’d kill you if you didn’t.

I look forward to it.

I don’t want to spend the best part of my life visiting you in jail.

Crystal, there ain’t no jail that can hold the Benedicts when we put our minds to it.

Nor do I want to spend it on the run from the law.

Aw, you, me, obscure tropical island: what’s not to like?
He projected a picture of him in Hawaiian print shorts and me in a grass skirt and a strategically placed garland of flowers. I could feel my cheeks heat.

Xav!

What?
he asked all too innocently.

You’re embarrassing me, you muppet!

I can’t help your imagination, darlin’.

I shot back a picture of me, fully clothed, placing a boot on his rear and propelling him into a rock pool.

Yeah, that could work for me too.

The boy was … what was that word my old teachers loved? Incorrigible.

Why, thank you, fair maiden. I take that as a compliment.

‘Are you sure you are all right, signorina?’ asked the officer, perplexed by my silence.

‘Fine. Just upset.’
Got to go, Xav. My driver is getting suspicious.

Speak soon. Over and out.

‘Don’t worry: if they’ve done nothing wrong, they’ll soon be free,’ said Officer Fari cheerfully. ‘I can’t see my chief wanting to keep so many American visitors locked up. Not good for tourism and, in this financial climate, I can’t see that being popular with the local authorities.’

He was a kind man, this officer. ‘Thanks. I’ll hope for the best then.’

‘Then again, if they are guilty, you might want to keep your distance.’ He turned into the police car park. ‘You wouldn’t want to find yourself dragged into a tussle with the contessa in the courts. Her cousin is the chief prosecutor around here.’

With that sobering assessment, I hurried back to the villa we had spent so little time in that afternoon. The lights were blazing, confirming that Saul and Steve had already arrived back, hopefully still with the girls. I rang the bell. Saul answered and at first said nothing, just pulled me into a wonderful, all-encompassing hug.

I realized then how much I missed my father, but an embrace from Saul was not a bad substitute.