"You"ll have to let me be the judge of that. The imprisonment of a human being for money is a damnable thing. The kind of mind that plans a kidnapping can be either very sick or very clever. Usually both." Ian shoved the file under his arm and tossed the cassette to Adam.
"From now on, I"ll make the decisions, Night. If you have a problem with that, tell me now. It will save a hell of a lot of trouble later."
"You don"t make things easy, do you, Mr. McCall?"
"That"s the general idea." Ian crossed his arms, waiting.
After a moment, Adam smiled faintly. "You"re right, of course. Very well, you have a deal.
Would you like your fee now? I have found that cash often facilitates things." Adam opened a compartment in his briefcase and calmly began counting stacks of bills. At any moment, Ian expected to wake up and find out this was a very bad dream.
When the crisp pound notes hit his fingers, he knew he wasn"t going to wake up. "I hope you won"t regret this."
Adam made a sharp movement with his hand. "Just see that you keep her safe, Mr. McCall.
Any way you can. We"ll take care of hunting down whoever is making the inquiries into Jamee"s finances and personal life. Our in-house investigators are pretty damned good." He handed Ian the last stack of notes. "One more thing."
"What"s that?"
"My brother William will pay you another quarter of a million when you return Jamee safely to San Francisco on Christmas Eve."
Over the rolling downs a sound rang out, almost like the clang of distant bells.
If he was dreaming, Ian decided now would be a bloody good time to wake up.
CHAPTER TWO.
MIST CURLED OVERthe weathered stone and clung to the dark network of vines that grew over Draycott Abbey"s granite walls. White lace gleamed against black satin as a figure emerged from the darkness of the high, crenelated walls.
"Ihate Christmas." Adrian Draycott"s hard features were tense with irritation as he strode through the night without parting the mist or disturbing it in any way. "Yes, Iknow Christmas is Nicholas"s favorite time of year. I also know that the abbey looks its very best when strung with holly and agleam with candles. And I still don"t care," he muttered. "All this merrymaking makes me feel old."
Through the drifting fog a gray cat moved with imperious grace. In one powerful bound he sprang up to the parapet and perched on the granite edge, ears alert.
The guardian ghost of Draycott Abbey scowled down at his longtime companion and friend.
"Well, of course, Iam old. Nine hundred seventy-one years, by a rough estimate and depending on your definition of time." Adrian frowned at the cat. "No, I willnot be drawn into another discussion of the theoretical anomalies unanswered by current time-space theories." His eyes were brooding as he flicked a ruffle of lace from one cuff with expert skill. "The only problem is Christmas. I have always hated Christmas."
The cat"s tail arched.
"No, I amnot going to change my mind just because a lot of loathsome strangers are descending on my abbey. In fact, I think I shall teach them a lesson about the dangers of invading someone"s private domain with their despicable laughter and relentless good cheer."
Adrian"s gray eyes glinted. "A good manifestation will soon clear them out. Or perhaps I should try something more dramatic this time." He raised his hands and hovered like a shadow against the fog. "Something like this, I think..."
The cat gave a low meow, then curled up in a smooth gray ball.
"Don"t you dare go to sleep on me, Gideon. I can summon a better manifestation than that."
The abbey"s resident ghost frowned as he smoothed the white lace jabot at his neck. Abruptly, he gave a diabolical laugh. His head shimmered and grew indistinct and then his stern features vanished entirely.
Headless, gruesome in black with fluttering lace cuffs, he paced the misty roof. A creature of flesh and blood would have found the sight terrifying, but the great cat did not so much as blink.
"What do you think ofthat? " Adrian demanded, summoning up a ghastly aura of green light around his headless shoulders. "They won"t soon forget this sight," he crowed triumphantly.
The cat showed an utter lack of interest.
"Damnation, what do you mean, you"ve seen better at Windsor? When were you there last?"
The cat"s tail swished.
In a blur of phosphorescence Adrian"s head popped back through the frilled lace at his collar.
"Thatweekend? Of course I remember. Yes, the viscount did an adequate job of representing Draycott Abbey on the occasion of the announcement of the royal wedding. But I saw no headless figures lumbering about the royal corridors."
The cat"s eyes burned purest amber.
"I wasnot too busy seducing the lush creature who welcomed us. Miranda was simply being companionable. She was cut down in her prime by a very nasty riding accident, and I thought it rather decent of me to comfort her."
The cat stretched, meowing softly.
"We did no such thing!" Adrian"s hard features burned through the drifting mist. "At least, we didn"t do it in public." He strode to the notched granite edge of the roof. "But that was ages ago, and today I am a changed man. Reformed and absolutely incorruptible." He studied the patterns of fog skimming the dark earth. "By the way, where is Gray? She was supposed to have been here hours ago."
The cat"s paws rustled on the cold stone.
"She"s doing what?" Adrian stopped, an arrested look on his face. "A present for me. Truly?"
The cat eased onto coal-black paws, his eyes unblinking.
"She is making it herself? What can I possibly find for her, Gideon? I haven"t a single thing good enough."
The cat meowed softly.
"She told you that? The very same thing about me?" This plunged the abbey ghost further into gloom. "You see how unworthy I am?" Hands clasped at his back, he disappeared across the roof. Only his voice rang out, melancholy in the mist. "You must help me, Gideon. Watch her like a hawk and discover what she wants. No matter how precious or rare, I will find a way to obtain it for her. She lost so much when she came to the abbey-everything, all swept away for me. How can I ever hope to repay her?"
Somewhere a bird cried from the darkness. The cat eased forward, suddenly alert.
"You are right, Gideon. Our guests approach. Maybe I shall find what I need among their baggage. The people of this noisy century seem to travel with mounds of possessions, even those outlandish objects they use for exercise. In my age, we would have called them instruments of torture." His voice rose, suddenly decisive. "Come, Gideon. The game is afoot, to quote that unpleasant doctor named-" He frowned. "What was that fellow"s name?"
The cat purred.
"Yes, of course that"s who I mean. That Arthur fellow. Conan something. That"s right, Doyle.
A most officious kind of pest. The blasted man actually caught my impression on that ectoplasm device he insisted on trying out during his last visit here." Adrian Draycott stopped in midstride. "Do you suppose a photograph would please Gray? That infernal device of Doyle"s is still somewhere about the abbey, perhaps up in the north attic. The fellow was so frightened when I materialized in his bedroom that he bolted in the middle of a snowstorm. All talk and no action, if you ask me." He tapped his jaw thoughtfully. "Yes, a spectral portrait would do the trick. What do you say, Gideon?"
The cat peered intently at the drive.
"Someone there, you say?"
The cat eased to his feet, his body rigid.
"I do feel something," Adrian murmured, his jaw hard. "Faint but intrusive. And moving toward us." He spun about, staring into the darkness beside a twelve-foot chimney. "I believe we are about to have a visitor," he said coldly.
At his booted feet the great cat swayed, his eyes locked on the darkness at the edge of the vast roof. Something flashed in the silence, more sound than image. To Adrian the sound seemed a mix of birdsong, rain and laughter. "Do you hear it, Gideon?"
At his feet the cat stiffened, listening to a sound like the sigh of a swift creek or the rustle of small, pungent grasses.
Sound became form, slowly, awkwardly. In the space of five seconds, a man walked from the chimney, frowning and looking very lost. "Am I here yet?" he demanded, running one hand through his blond hair.
"Where, my fellow, ishere? " Adrian drew himself to his full height.
The man scratched his jaw. "Some sort of abbey, I think."
Adrian"s features grew even more hash. "Some sort of abbey? Draycott Abbey perhaps?My abbey?"
The man looked impressed. "Yours, is it? Good, then I"ve got the hang of it. Moving from place to place still takes some doing for me." He eased his long legs over the roof with the grace of a long-distance runner, which is exactly what he had been.
Until he died crossing the street to save a pregnant woman from a drunken driver.
He put out one hand, smiling apologetically. "I"m Terence. Sorry to intrude."
Adrian looked him up and down slowly, then sniffed. "Is that name supposed to stir some recognition?"
"Terence Night. Jamee"s brother." He smiled crookedly, his hair picking up sunlight where none existed. "At least I used to be. Before..."
"Yes, before you died. It"s clear enough to see that you"ve moved into spirit. But by the good and powerful Queen Bess, what gives you the right to intrude here?"
"I can"t say." Terence shrugged, and the movement sent light dancing over his worn blue jeans and white T-shirt. There was a glow of muted gold about his face and hands. "I was simply told to come."
"And you can just as simply leave." Adrian moved closer, his face threatening. "Right now."
"I"m afraid I can"t do that," Terence said, his smile sweet and infinitely apologetic.
Adrian simmered. He fumed. Smoke coiled and billowed about his body. "Then I guarantee you will be very sorry, Mr. Terence Night, who is brother to Jamee Night, who is someone I have never met nor care to meet. Hear me well: Draycott Abbey ismy territory. Go find your own humans to guard."
The new arrival"s eyes widened. "Are you one, too? Who would have thought it, to see you dressed that way."
"Dressed," Adrian said coldly, "inwhat way?"
"All satin and lace. Very impressive, especially the boots. But it"s just not...helpful. I mean, anyone would think you were some kind of hallucination rather than a spirit sent to assist them."
The smoke positively boiled around Adrian"s head. "So I am a hallucination, am I?" He seemed to expand, his shadow growing longer. "Let us see how it feels when a hallucination pitches you to the ground."
Gideon meowed once, low and sharp.
Adrian looked down, frowning. "You know this...this creature, Gideon?"
Terence smiled as he crossed the roof. "Oh, we"ve met before." He bent and stroked the cat"s smooth fur, and with each movement, light flickered from his hands. "Your friend helped me out when I was in the process of making a complete mess of my last assignment."
"Somehowthat doesn"t surprise me," Adrian said crossly. Then he froze. "Wait one minute.
Him? You helpedhim, Gideon? I refuse to believe it."
The cat blinked, purring beneath Terence Night"s stroking fingers.
"Traitor."
Terence glanced up. "Helps you, too, does he? You must be very lucky, for this fellow is special. Gideon, is that your name?"
The cat blinked. His amber eyes burned with pure, restless light.
"It"s a pleasure to meet you, too." When Terence Night laughed, the sound was also image, pinks and greens and perfect blues shimmering over the old granite. "I could use your help again," he said ruefully. "This one is important. I"m frightened because it"s someone I love, and I couldn"t bear to bungle things. I left so much undone when I died. So much unsaid, especially to Jamee." He sighed. After giving the cat a final stroke, he stood up. "Now I"ve been sent, and I don"t know why. I only know that she needs me."
Adrian"s brow rose. "Your sister?"
"Jamee. She always knew how to cut through our worries and find a way to make us laugh, all of us."
"How many of youare there?" Adrian asked warily.
"I have three brothers. All still alive," he explained quickly, seeing Adrian"s frown. "They won"t be around to bother you. At least I don"t think they will."
Adrian studied the great cat purring by Terence"s leg. "So I have no choice, is that it?" He toyed with the lace at his cuff, his eyes narrowed. "There was something about those men who came to visit Nicholas today. I"m beginning to wish I had listened more carefully. But then Gray and I had to visit Lyon"s Leap after the rabbits were caught in the weir."
When Adrian turned, he saw Terence Night begin to shimmer and fade. "What are you doing now, you incompetent? Hasn"t anyone taught you how to hold your shape?"
"Something...wrong," Terence said unsteadily. "Got to find Jamee."
"Wait," Adrian commanded. "You"re not ready to help anyone yet. In fact, your inexperience is utterly appalling. Since Gideon insists, I suppose I might be able to give you some assistance."
"...Appreciate...advice. Later." With a last burst of color, Terence Night"s image blinked away into darkness.
"Damned fool. He should have let me help him."
Gideon"s tail flicked from side to side.
"He"ll be back, you say?" Adrian turned, sniffing the air. "What is that peculiar smell?
Something sweet-like chocolate." He shrugged and smoothed his elegant black waistcoat as lights swept over the abbey"s winding drive. "I hear them, too, Gideon. Let us be gone." White lace fluttered. "Ritual demands that we be on hand for the arrival of our guests."
Behind him, the great cat uncoiled. His amber eyes fixed unblinkingly on the road twisting over the dark landscape, while Adrian"s tall form shimmered, then vanished in the mist.
"Gideon, where the devil are you?"