Jake put on the cross. He thought it was Marco’s but wasn’t sure. They looked alike in the dim light.
They checked the castle, searching the rooms that were open, but she wasn’t there. “She must be outside,” Jake said. “I did tell her it was fine to explore.”
“You’re supposed to be watching over her.”
“You’ve got a damned army here. What could go wrong? The way you worry about her makes me wonder if you’re in love with her,” Jake said.
“She works for me. That’s all. I protect my employees.”
“Bullshit. It’s more than that.”
“You’re the one who’s all over her, trying to get her in bed. Maybe you’re in love with her.”
“I don’t know the meaning of love,” Jake said.
“That’s why I’m telling you to stay the hell away from her.”
“You’re the one who keeps putting us together.”
“You know what I mean. You’re supposed to protect her. That’s it. Not that you did this time.”
“I didn’t know I needed to keep an eye on her in the middle of dozens of guards and all these damned statues. By the way, she knows you’re watching her apartment.”
Nathan frowned. “How does she know?”
“I told her. I saw the camera.”
“There’s a damned camera in her apartment?”
“Not inside. On the building facing hers. It’s not yours?”
“No. I’ve got guards keeping an eye on her place, but that’s it. I’ll have someone check it out.”
“Maybe her neighbor is spying on her. He’s trying to get in her pants.”
“Which neighbor?”
“Dark-haired guy. Looks like one of those cologne models.”
“The new one? I’m still checking up on him. She told you he’s after her?”
“She didn’t need to. I watched him talking to her.”
“She needs to stay at the mansion where I can protect her.”
“Good luck convincing her of that.”
“Someone with her talents isn’t safe. If anyone finds out what she can do…” Nathan trailed off, his tone worried.
“I can’t argue with you there. Speaking of keeping tabs on people, I don’t suppose you sent someone to spy on me yesterday? I caught someone outside my window, and Kendall said there was a woman in my bedroom.”
“What was Kendall doing in your bedroom?” Nathan growled.
“Trying to save me from the intruder. You’ve got it so bad for her, it’s eating you up inside. I’d fight you for her, but I’m afraid you’d go Hulk on me and win. She probably went to check on the treasure. She wanted to when we first got here. I told her no, but you know how well she listens.” They walked outside. The guard at the front door said he hadn’t seen her.
“She probably used the secret passageway,” Nathan said.
Jake started walking toward the graveyard. “She’s the only woman I know who’d go wandering alone in a graveyard in the middle of the night.”
“Yeah,” Nathan said, but his voice held a hint of pride.
As much as her independent streak irritated Jake, he also admired it. “There’s the path,” he said, shining his flashlight on the stones leading to the chapel. But when they reached the chapel, the door was locked. “I don’t think she’s here.”
“She’s got to be somewhere. Let’s look inside to make sure.”
Jake put his cross—the secret key—in the opening and heard a click as the door unlocked.
The chapel was dark inside. “Kendall?” When she didn’t answer, Nathan said, “We should look underneath the floor in the treasure room to make sure she didn’t get locked in.”
“How could she be down there? It took all three crosses to open it.”
“We don’t know that it was necessary,” Nathan said.
“That’s true. And Kendall does have a tendency to get trapped in strange places.”
“She’s smart,” Nathan said, sounding defensive. “But she’s too brave for her own good. Let’s try one of the crosses and see what happens. What can it hurt?”
“You forgetting about booby traps?” The beam from Jake’s flashlight hit the center stone at the front of the chapel. It had been pushed back, exposing the steps to the secret room. “I guess we won’t need the keys after all. Kendall?” Jake hurried down the stairs with Nathan right behind him. He pushed the button on the wall, and the torches flared to life.
The room was empty.
“What the hell?” Nathan looked at Jake.
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t take it, and there’s no way Kendall could have moved it that fast.”
“It wasn’t Kendall,” Nathan said.
“Who could get in here with those statues and your security guards?”
“Someone who knows this place inside out could.”
“Marco? He’s a strange little man, but I doubt he can move things with his mind.”
“Not Marco,” Nathan said. “Raphael.”
“Raphael’s dead.”
“No he isn’t.”
“I saw him,” Jake said. “He was dead.”
“Was is the key word. He was dead when my men found him in the room where the round table is. Then he woke up.”
“He woke up? There’s no way.”
“I’m telling you he’s alive.”
“How?” Jake asked.
“That’s what I wanted to know.”
“Did he tell you?”
“He didn’t tell me anything.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. He escaped.”
“Escaped? Hell, is that what all that roaring was about? You had Raphael in Virginia all this time and didn’t tell us?”
“I couldn’t. You should understand that.”
“How’d he get out?” Jake asked.
“We’re still trying to figure that out. I wouldn’t have believed anyone could get past my security.”
“Actually, one of the cameras on the north side of the mansion makes a three-second sweep. If you’re fast, you can run behind the storage building and from there hide behind the other buildings until you reach the gate.”
“You walked out the front gate? I’ll fire all the guards.”
“I jumped the fence about two hundred yards north.”
“It’s got cameras and razor wire,” Nathan said.
“That camera has a four-second span, and razor wire doesn’t cut through boots and fireplace gloves.”
“That’s where the bloody gloves went. Fergus accused me of losing them. He builds a fire every night.”
“I’ll buy him a new pair,” Jake said.
“Raphael didn’t hide from the cameras. He didn’t need to.”
“How’d he get past your guards?”
“They fell asleep.”
“All of them?”
“They either fell asleep or he tossed them out of his way. You want to know how he got past the locks?” Nathan asked.
“Ripped them off with his bare hands?”
“Walked through the walls.”
“No one walks through walls,” Jake said.
“Raphael did. Or he made it look like he did. Except he wasn’t exactly walking. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast.”
Jake looked at Nathan. “I suspect I have.” Outside an inn in Italy. “So he just ran away?”
“No, he drove my Mercedes.”
Jake laughed. “Did he take Marco with him?”
“No, but he talked to him. He told Marco he was going to move the treasure and get his cross back from Kendall.”
Jake’s stomach dropped. “He’s going after Kendall?”
“Yeah. Now you know why I pounded on your bedroom door in the middle of the night.”
“She just wanted to examine the crosses.”