After a brief pause, the person at the other end, his voice similarly disguised, spoke again. “Was your mission successful?”
“Not exactly, but there’s been an important development.”
“Go ahead.”
“Nick Kismet. He’s here.”
Another pause and a strange noise that might have been a sigh. “That’s very interesting.”
“There’s more. Guess what he’s looking for.”
The person on the other end listened in rapt silence as the information was relayed. When the caller finished, he asked, “Do you think he will find it?”
“If it really exists. He may have information that we don’t.”
“This could lead to the Source. We cannot risk letting him get too close. Find out what he knows, and then dissuade him from the search. I leave the question of ‘how’ to your discretion.”
“Does that mean the first order has been revoked?”
The man at the other end laughed. “Are you asking for my permission to kill him?”
“Well, yes.”
The man at the other end thought for a moment, then in a voice that, despite the effects of the modulator, was still icy and grim, said, “Do what you have to.”
Alex Higgins had a lot on his mind.
He stood on the forward observation deck, staring out at the sun-dappled water, trying to make sense of everything that had happened in the last few days.
Nothing was ever certain in a soldier’s life, and despite the fact that he had been retired from the military for more than a decade, he was still very much a soldier. Recent events had, like a well-placed explosive device, completely obliterated everything familiar, but it was a soldier’s duty to regroup and get the fight. The only problem was, he didn’t know what to fight for.
His mind turned over Kismet’s proposal. It had seemed simple enough when he had agreed to it. Tramp around for a while in the United States, looking for a cave that probably wouldn’t ever be found, and some crazy Fountain of Youth that certainly didn’t exist. As he had intimated to Kismet, it might even be fun. He wasn’t that concerned about the project itself. No, the thing was eating at him, like a grain of sand embedded under his skin, was being with Kismet himself.
Seeing the American again had opened an old wound, and he was only now starting to feel it. They had fought together, been captured by the Republican Guard and brutally interrogated, and by some miracle that he had never really comprehended, Kismet had gotten free, rescued him, and hauled his ass across the desert to safety. He owed Nick Kismet his life.
And maybe that was the problem. The life debt was something he could never repay. When you owe someone a debt that can’t be repaid, you feel like their slave.
It didn’t help that Kismet had shagged Elisabeth.
He couldn’t very well blame Kismet for that. Higgins was a believer in the notion that “all's fair in love and war.” If Elisabeth fancied Kismet over him, then so be it. But it was so bloody obvious there was no chemistry there. Kismet could barely conceal his contempt for the former Sultana, while Elisabeth was plainly just using the American for…comfort? Sex? Who knew what she really wanted, but whatever it was, Higgins would have willingly…eagerly given it to her.
Why didn’t anyone care how he felt?
“Bitch,” he muttered, and then instantly regretted it as he spied the source of his turmoil leaving the observation deck in the company of a silver-haired man dressed entirely in black. Higgins had almost missed her.
“Beth!” When he had been her bodyguard, she had insisted that he call her that, at least in private.
Elisabeth Neuell stopped and slowly turned to face him. A quick smile greeted him. “Alex!”
The black clad figure at her side continued moving, never looking back. Higgins felt an almost overwhelming curiosity about the man’s identity, but Elisabeth commanded his full attention. He rushed forward, as if to embrace her, but stopped short an arm's length away. She however did not hold back. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head down to hers and quickly kissed him on the cheek. It seemed an innocent enough gesture, a token of affection between two friends, but Higgins felt the blood rushing to his face.
“What happened to you?” He finally managed to say. “You just disappeared.”
Elisabeth's smile slipped a notch. “Oh, Alex. I behaved so awfully. I realized that I was using you, and Nick, to protect me. When I saw that clearly, I knew I had to stand on my own.”
“But we — I was so worried. I wish you had told me.”
She smiled again, and Higgins felt his volition melt. “Alex, I can take care of myself. In fact, I realized that I had to. You risked so much for me. I do appreciate it, too.” She reached out, looping her arm through his, and tugged him into motion.
“The truth of the matter is,” she continued, in a less serious tone. “I met the most extraordinary man…no, it’s not what you’re thinking.”
“I don't understand. You met someone? When?”
“Right after Nick and I were attacked. You do know about that, don't you?”
“Yes. But—”
“His name is Dr. Leeds. He’s a fascinating man.” Something almost like embarrassment tinged her cheeks. “I know this will sound silly, but he’s a…well, he has these special abilities. Psychic abilities. I didn’t believe it myself at first, but then he proved it.”
Higgins gaped, struggling to process what he was hearing.
Elisabeth seemed not to notice. “Dr. Leeds is looking for something unbelievable, and he has asked me to be a part of it.”
Higgins recalled that Kismet had mentioned that other people might be looking for the cavern — looking for the Fountain of Youth. Was this who he had been talking about? This psychic?
“You must hear all about it. It is wonderful. It could change the world.” She loosened her hold on his arm. “I have to go now, but I will arrange for you to join us tonight for dinner.”
“Beth, I—” Before Higgins could even begin to articulate what he was thinking, the actress slipped away. He watched her until she turned a corner and disappeared from view.
Her presence was too much to digest. After losing her once, he could not believe his good fortune at finding her once again. But had anything really changed?
As Higgins reached the door of Kismet’s stateroom, he tried to figure out how he would broach the subject of his encounter with Elisabeth, and her apparent alliance with the psychic Dr. Leeds. His instincts told him that Kismet would not be pleased by the news, and Higgins wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He was about to knock when he saw that the door was slightly ajar.
A loud thump and the sound of a struggle issued from inside, and his troubled thoughts evaporated in a flash of adrenaline. He burst through the door, ready to join whatever battle was being fought within.
It hadn’t taken long for Kismet to exhaust all legitimate avenues of research. There was plenty of information available about the Fountain of Youth legend, but all of it was either from a historical perspective, written with a view to debunking even the notion that Ponce de Leon had been looking for it in the first place, or so ridiculously fantastic as to further underscore the foolishness of the quest. His thoughts had eventually turned to Dr. Leeds.
He had been surprised to learn that Leeds was almost as much of a celebrity as Elisabeth. He came from old money in the American South and was by all reports comfortably wealthy, though not perhaps beyond dreams of avarice. From a very young age, he had been interested in the supernatural. Eschewing a place in the family business, he apprenticed to a well-known stage magician, and soon was a headlining performer. While best known for mind-reading and hypnotism acts, he was quite adept at illusions on a grand scale.