Finn and Lucas exchanged glances. They knew that neither of them had killed the guard. What was more, they knew that D'Artagnan hadn't done it, either. The Gascon didn't have a laser.
Old Pierre took charge of the chest, dragging it away and showing a great deal more energy than his appearance would have indicated. Andre glanced at Jack with some concern.
"Don't worry," Bennett said. "He won't look inside. He won't even inquire as to why it stinks so much of perfume. Pierre's been with me for years and I trust him implicitly."
"What will he do with it?" Andre said.
"Incinerate it."
"Incinerate?"
"Burn it."
"But how? Surely it is too… damp to burn?"
"I have a fire that is more than sufficient for the task," said Bennett. "It's hardly a proper burial or even a proper cremation, but
… Would you like to say some… words for Hunter or…" he trailed off, lamely.
"Prayer, you mean?" said Andre. She shook her head. "I do not think that Hunter was a man of God. And I do not think that any prayers from me would do much good. I have left behind too many bodies unattended and unprayed for."
Jack stared at her. "Yes, I believe you have," he said. "And so, for that matter, have I."
"What will happen now?"
"I don't really know," said Jack. "They'll be looking for me. They'll probably be looking for you, too. They've had me watched. They'll try to kill us now. We can't stay here for long; this will be the first place that they'll look. I am not without defenses here, but still, the sooner we leave, the better."
Simon Hawke
The Timekeeper Conspiracy
"Why did we come here at all, if they know this place?"
"Because there are things here I can't leave unattended," Bennett said. "Things that don't belong to this time. I must see to it that they're all destroyed. That will take some time. Meanwhile, I have to get you out of here to where it's safe. There's a way out of here the Timekeepers don't know about. I've kept it a secret for just such an emergency. It will take you out under the street. You'll go with Marie; Pierre and I will join you as soon as I've taken care of what must be done here."
"What about your machine for traveling through time?" said Andre.
"They've taken that, I'm afraid." His eyes suddenly lit up. "Hunter's chronoplate! My God, I'd forgotten all about it! Where.. " his voice trailed off when he saw the expression on her face.
"It was gone when I found him dead," she said. "But it will not do your friends much good. Only Hunter knew the proper way to make it work. If they attempt to-"
"Yes, I know, he'll have failsafed it to self-destruct if it should fall into the wrong hands. Mine works the same way. Unfortunately, I showed Taylor the proper sequence to… God, I was a fool. Taylor will guess that Hunter will have failsafed his chronoplate and he won't tinker with it. It just gives him that much more of a reason to take you alive."
"But I do not know how to operate the machine," said Andre.
"Taylor won't know that. He thinks you're an agent from the future, someone sent to stop him."
"I still don't understand," said Andre. "Stop him from doing what? To what end is all this intrigue?"
"It would take far too long to explain it all now. I must get you to safety. Ah, Marie, this is Andre. We must-"
"Yes, I know, Doctor," said Marie. "Pierre told me that we must flee. What has happened? Who would want to-"
"There's no time for that, Marie. Take Andre and go through the secret passageway. Immediately. Can the two of you manage her chest?"
"We shall manage," said Marie, her wrinkled face grave with concern. "Where must we go?"
"Take her to your sister's. Take care that you're not followed. Have Marcel send word to Moreau asking him to meet us there. Say that there is trouble; Moreau will come. Tell him to take care that he's not followed."
Marie looked frightened.
"It's all right, Marie," said Jack, taking the plump little woman in his arms. "Everything will be all right. Now, go, please."
The two women picked up the chest containing Andre's belongings and went into Bennett's library. Andre was amazed to see so many books. Hunter had had books in his cottage in the forest, but Bennett had hundreds of them, arrayed upon shelves that covered all four walls. Marie had her put down the chest and then she went to one of the shelves and pulled out several volumes. She stuck her hand into the space where the books had been and fumbled around for a moment; then Andre heard a clicking sound and the entire shelf swung away to reveal a door, which Marie opened with a key.
"Come, Mademoiselle," the old woman said, "we must hurry."
"Wait," said Andre. "There is no need for us to be burdened with this chest. I do not need all these things."
"I have a bag," Marie said. "You will need at least a change of clothing. Wait here, I will go and fetch it."
As Marie ran off, moving like a pigeon trying to get out of the rain, Andre bent down and opened up the chest. She removed her rapier and her dagger, laid them down on Bennett's desk, then began to strip. When Marie returned, carrying a bulky cloth bag, she found a young cavalier waiting for her in the library. She took one look at the black-clad swordsman and gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth.
"It's only me, Marie," said Andre.
"Mademoiselle Andre? But how-"
"They'll be looking for a woman," Andre said. "They won't look twice at a gentleman escorting an old woman home. Come, we'll pack just these few things. I will not need the rest."
Moments later, they were descending the stone steps down into the tunnel.
Simon Hawke
The Timekeeper Conspiracy
"Buckingham's away, then," Taylor said. "Good. We can now put our plan into motion. Did you have any trouble with the cardinal's guards?"
"No trouble," Freytag said, sipping from a glass of wine. "In fact, I hardly had to do anything at all. When the guards moved in, two men came to D'Artagnan's rescue."
"Ah, that would be our friends the musketeers," said Taylor.
"I don't think so," Freytag said. "Not unless one of them knows karate."
"Karate?"
Freytag nodded and took a big swallow of wine. He wiped his mouth with the back of his beefy hand. "One of them laid a spinning back kick on one of the guards," he said. "Dropped him with a heel right to the temple. Very pretty. I couldn't have done it better, myself. Their swordsmanship was very interesting. Textbook perfect. Unless I miss my guess, they've both had experience with swords other than rapiers. They showed some interesting variations. I'll lay odds that the big guy would be a mean man with a katana."
"What's that?"
"A large Japanese sword. Used by the samurai."
"Samurai! Are you certain?"
"Weapons are my specialty, Adrian. You know that."
"Do you realize what that means? They've sent in commandos!"
"Well, you did say you liked a challenge."
"Not a word of this to Tonio or Jimmy, you understand? Jimmy already seems a little shaky to me. I think we'd best keep an eye on him."
"What does it matter?" Freytag said. "We don't need either him or Tonio. They were both expendable, right from the beginning, just like Silvera."
"They must never suspect that," Taylor said. "It's essential to the plan that they believe…" His eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment. In a second, they became animated once again and a slow, sultry smile spread across the face of Milady de Winter. "You're quite right, Bruno. It doesn't really matter, does it? The more people they send in, the greater the risk of temporal contamination. That plays right into our hands. Would you know these men if you saw them again?"
"It was dark. I'm afraid I didn't get a very good look at them. I couldn't say if I'd recognize them again."
"Well, no matter. I want you to take a letter to my good friend, the cardinal. After all, he has an interest in the Buckingham affair and it's time to prod him into the next stage of our operation."