“Cool. Best to stay as far under the radar as possible,” Crowley agreed. “But it’ll be good if he does provide a connection. And I can trust Cameron, so let me see what he can do.” He dialed and it rang several times. He was expecting voicemail any second when a groggy voice answered.
“Y’ello?”
Crowley smiled. “Did I catch you napping?”
“Who’s this?”
“You don’t recognize my dulcet tones? It’s Jake Crowley.”
Cameron laughed at the other end. “Crowley pronounced like holy, sir! How are you, man?”
Crowley laughed with him, remembering the drill sergeant yelling in his face about how the man didn’t care for pronunciation and Crowley could drop and give him fifty pushups and think about what was more important than a name. “Old Sergeant Hopkins! Such a ball-breaker.”
“Saved both our lives in Afghanistan, though,” Cameron said. “More than once.”
“He did that. I hope he’s enjoying his retirement.”
Cameron yawned expansively. “I was napping for what it’s worth. I’m working night shift now.”
“Ah, sorry to disturb you then. What are you doing?”
“Security stuff. We’re not all smart enough to get teaching jobs.”
Crowley laughed again. “Bulldust, my friend! I don’t believe a word of it. You’re still hooked up, right.”
The smile was evident in Cameron’s voice. “Of course I am. What do you need?”
Crowley explained what they had learned of the Devil’s Bible, its supposed history and the facts about the possibility of an original somewhere out in the world. “I’m guessing the general public aren’t privy to the kind of history files you might have through military intel,” he said. “Any chance you might be able to find me a lead?”
“Sounds like quite the history lesson you’re planning,” Cameron said, becoming serious. “You okay?”
“I’m in an interesting situation.”
“That why you’re calling from an unregistered phone?”
Crowley smiled crookedly. “Yeah, that’s part of it.”
“And you’re safe there in Stockholm?”
Crowley had to laugh. “You’re good, I’ll give you that. I didn’t tell you I was in Stockholm.”
“No, but you did tell me you’d been to that library. Besides, my trace has got close enough that I know what hotel you’re calling from. Haven’t narrowed it down to which room yet. Or how many hookers you’ve hired.”
“Don’t bother. You’ve got this number now and you can call me back on it. We’ll be leaving here in the morning, so keep it all to yourself, okay?”
“Sure. I’ll see what I can learn.”
“Thanks, mate. I owe you.”
“No, you really don’t,” Cameron said. “I’ve a debt to you I’ll never repay.”
“I was just doing my job, same as Sergeant Hopkins.”
“You came back for me. That’s going above and beyond. I’ll get you whatever I can. And be careful, okay? It sounds like you’re in something deep.”
Crowley nodded, even though Cameron couldn’t see. “Yeah, it’s pretty messy. But we’ll be okay.”
“We?” Cameron said. “I knew you had hookers in there!”
“I’ll talk to you soon, Cam. Thanks again.”
“You got it.”
Crowley hung up and turned to see Rose sitting on the edge of the opposite bed, watching him with serious eyes. “You sure you can trust him?”
Crowley nodded. “There are few people in this world who I trust more. We have a long history, Cameron and I.”
“It’s nice to know there are people you can really lean on in a bind.”
“It is. Really good friends are few and far between, but they matter. Regardless of how much time or distance falls between, they’ll always be there.”
“You’re doing a good job of acting like that for me right now. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”
“You don’t need to keep thanking me. I’m here for you.”
“And I can lean on you?” Her eyes twinkled, something cheeky in her half-smile. Or was that just wishful thinking?”
“Absolutely. You can lie on me if you like.” Crowley’s cheeks flooded and burned the moment the words were out of his mouth. He’d had no idea he was going to say anything like it and cursed his motormouth. He knew he was a little off-center with how to talk to Rose knowing she liked girls. “Of course, that doesn’t mean I… What I mean to say is…”
Rose laughed, a vibrant, rich sound. “You know, Jake, I do enjoy lying on a good man if the mood is right.”
Crowley opened his mouth once or twice to reply and quickly felt as though he was gasping like a landed fish. “That’s good to know,” he managed at last and his cheeks burned even hotter. For a guy who prided himself on being a fairly accomplished ladies’ man, Rose certainly had him flipped inside out. And she seemed to know that and be enjoying the hell out of it.
“I’m going to get changed and go to bed,” she said. “It’s been a long day and I’m exhausted.”
Crowley nodded and decided against saying anything else in case he sounded like even more of a fool. She slipped into the bathroom and Crowley sighed, more confused than ever.
Chapter 18
Doctor Charles Phelps looked from one printout to the other and frowned. The data all seemed to be in order but the two studies directly contradicted one another. The beauty of science, he thought to himself with a wry smile. They would need to commission more tests and that would require further funds applications, taking more time away from the direct pursuit of research and cataloging. But no matter, that was the job and he couldn’t expect to enjoy every aspect of it.
He tapped his desk intercom, waited for Jaini to respond. When she did, he said, “Can you find me a funding form, please?”
“More paperwork, eh?”
Phelps sighed. “Isn’t it always?”
“I’ll bring you one in a moment… Oh.” Her voice changed, clearly addressing someone else. “Can I help you?”
Phelps heard a man’s voice, but couldn’t make out the words. Then the connection cut as Jaini took her finger off the intercom. She could be easily distracted sometimes, must have forgotten entirely that she had been talking with him.
He rose and went to his office door. In the reception area outside a man stood clutching nervously at a flat cap. Jaini stared up at him from her desk, face a mask of concern.
“…and we can’t find her,” the man was saying. “It’s really very important and now we’re worried about her safety too.”
“Who?” Phelps asked.
Jaini jumped, twisting in her seat to look back at him. The man with the hat moved forward, limping on one clearly injured leg.
“It’s Rose Black,” the man said. “She’s gone missing and we really need to reach her.”
“Missing?” Phelps frowned. That didn’t make a lot of sense, unless Rose simply hadn’t mentioned to this person that she was taking an unplanned break. “Who are you?” he asked the stranger.
“My name’s Yardley, sir, Pete Yardley. I’m Rose’s cousin on her father’s side.”
“And Rose has gone missing you say?”
“Yes, sir, we can’t reach her. She’s not answering her home phone, or her mobile. We went by her place and there’s no one home. Now your secretary here tells me she’s not been into work lately. We’re very worried and we have news she needs to know.”
Phelps looked the man over. He seemed earnest enough, appeared guileless and genuinely concerned. But another man, one far less pleasant, had also come looking for Rose not long ago. Things were awry here, but perhaps this man was telling the truth. Phelps had a duty of care to his employees and was bound by certain confidentialities, but it wasn’t like he was a doctor or therapist. “News she needs to know?” He wondered if it might be to do with the ‘personal stuff’ Rose had been so reluctant to talk about.