Veil of Justice, Shadows of Justice Book 3 (22 page)

She rushed into the cabin, half a step ahead
of Daniel and skidded to a stop. Nathan's face was pale, his lips
set and his brow furrowed.

"What happened," she said, rushing forward.
"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's Kristoff. He sent Petra a
message –"

"Dear, God not again. Is she okay?"

"Over the Internet, not in her head."

Cali ignored the bewildered expression on
Daniel's face. She followed Nathan's gesture and took his place in
front of the monitor.

She scrolled up and down the screen, looking
for more details.

"Aunt Cali?"

"You'll have to go home. There's no time to
prepare you for this."

"No!"

Nathan stepped up close behind her. The heat
of his body all but enveloped her and melted the hard chill
gripping her spine. "There's no time for that," he whispered in her
ear.

"
We have to make time
." She wasn't
sure if she meant to put that on their telepathic relay, or if she
was just trying to convince herself. It was all so wrong. "I'll go
alone."

"You can't. You need me," Daniel sputtered
behind her, but it was Nathan, in her mind, with the winning
argument.

"
He's already mobilized his army
."

Nathan reached around her, tapped the screen,
and a flood of images poured forth.

In the short time she'd been Petra's
assistant, she'd learned about Kristoff's deception of both the
military and civilian sectors. Even so, seeing hordes of
combat-ready men boiling up from an underground bunker startled
her.

"I thought it was just a glorified security
detail," she murmured. "That the rumors were an exaggeration."

"Whoa. What country is that?" Daniel
asked.

"That's just southwest of Chicago," Nathan
explained.

"Our Chicago?"

Cali felt as incredulous as Daniel sounded.
"They don't understand who they serve," she said.

"Nope," Nathan agreed. "They just follow
orders now." He tapped the screen again. "Petra specifically
mentioned this shot."

A hologram beamed to life on the small
countertop. Cali and Daniel gasped in unison. "It's the map box,"
she cried, reaching out as if she could snatch it from the three
dimensional imagery. The hologram flickered and then steadied. "Why
does he flaunt this? It should be covered, hidden."

"Is that who killed my father?" Daniel's
voice was flat with his grief.

"Having it out like that – just sending the
image over a secure line – that's begging for trouble he can't even
begin to imagine."

"I don't think he cares." Nathan pointed to
the monitor. "Looks like he's ready to make some trouble."

"He can't possibly know –"

"Did he kill our family?" Daniel shouted.

He had their full attention and Cali's
mending heart broke all over again. Tears glistened in his eyes and
his lip trembled. His hands were fisted and he looked as if he'd
shatter if anyone touched him.

"He ordered the attack, I'm sure," Nathan
said softly.

Cali wasn't as sure. Saying as much had both
Nathan and Daniel turning on her with a terrible, intense
focus.

"That bastard's why I went undercover,"
Nathan gritted. "He's using good men, destroying good men."

"He destroyed our family," Daniel added, his
eyes glinting with rage.

Cali counted it an improvement over the
tears, but she stood her ground. "He's got no reason to come after
the map box. Think," she demanded. "Until Jaden and Petra started
to unravel his support and attack his dynasty, he had everything:
power, respect, money."

They stared at her, still not getting it. She
laced her fingers tightly, trying to find the right words to
explain. "Judge Albertson and Kristoff had a working relationship
–"

"Jaden took down Judge Albertson for
trafficking women," Nathan interrupted.

"Among other things," she continued.
"Kristoff started with a fertility clinic and progressed into
performance enhancing products and headed up regulations
controlling product use and development in those areas.

"How did he make that leap?"

"Well, no one ever called him stupid," Nathan
admitted.

"He was considered cutting edge in his every
endeavor." She waited, watching as the information sunk into their
hard heads. "Embryonic manipulation is just another type of
performance enhancement."

Nathan rubbed his temple and frowned at her.
"A master manipulator would always crave more power."

"That's right. When his tidy empire started
to crumble, what would he do? Where would he turn?"

Nathan opened his mouth, but Daniel answered
first. "He'd go back to the source of his power."

"Exactly," she said, beaming at her nephew.
Making shooing motions she got them out of the tiny kitchen and
back to marginally roomier front room. "Kristoff couldn't have done
all this alone."

"He was a brilliant scientist, Cali," Nathan
insisted.

"When?"

"Huh?"

"How long has he been a brilliant scientist,
Nathan? How long has he been perfecting his formulas or
experimenting on people?"

While Nathan was mentally reviewing the case
file, she turned to Daniel. "How much did your father impart of our
ancestors before the attack?"

"Everything. I memorized our entire history –
oral and written."

His proud declaration put a halt to the
chaotic whirl in Cali's mind. Her entire body seemed to forget how
to do all those automated functions. Breath, heartbeat, eyelids,
even logic simply…stopped.

It took a supreme, conscious effort not to
stay in that surreal limbo of shock.

"Aunt Cali? Did I say something wrong?"

"No. No, of course not."

It wasn't Daniel's fault he'd been born male
and therefore privy to all the knowledge she'd worked so hard to
learn. From a small, raw corner deep inside herself she heard the
echo of Petra's voice reminding her she had been loved. That her
'unintentional' exile had turned out for the best for both her and
the secrets guarded by her family. How she'd been protected rather
than shunned.

Daniel's voice sounded so far away. "I know
the legends of how the map box came into our keeping."

It was the very core of the family values,
everyone born into the guardian clan was expected to know – and
expected to keep it quiet. With a stiff nod, she prompted Daniel to
continue.

He swallowed. "I know there was more than one
map box."

That hurt. She rubbed at her sternum. "Tell
me more," she demanded. "Pretend your own son is of age." She felt
so alone in the moment it was a shock to feel Nathan's touch,
inside and out. She leaned on him just a little and told herself to
stay open minded. "Nathan can know. In fact, he needs to know in
order to help us."

Daniel swallowed again, his eyes darting from
Cali to Nathan and back. "We aren't the only clan who guards
treasures. Secrets and treasures must be kept separate in order to
remain safe.

"The Gairden clan is the most solitary of
all. We were commissioned by Sir Galahad to maintain the sanctity
and security of God's greatest treasures. Our role is to keep any
maps or texts under lock and key so no one can disrupt the balance
of power or safe progression of knowledge."

Beside her Nathan flinched and she realized
she was crushing his hand. She whispered an apology and motioned
Daniel to go on.

"The treasures were hidden around the world
and a map box was crafted to hide all documentation of their
whereabouts. Copies of the map box were also made and scattered to
protect the treasures and secrets, especially the greatest treasure
of humanity."

"What is the greatest treasure?" Nathan
asked.

"Humanity," Daniel announced dutifully.
"Humanity is the greatest treasure of all.

"About twenty years ago, the original map box
was threatened, so it was moved, under Gairden supervision to a
more secure location."

"
The Field Museum
?" Nathan looked
stunned by the recital.

She shrugged and massaged the hand she'd been
holding too tightly. "If the legends are true, the maps show the
locations of items of power – or at least where their guardians
are."

"Like the real map box wasn't in the cave,
but the guardians were."

"Exactly," she said, though it was a painful
admission. "That precious information couldn't be left for just any
thief who wandered by."

"So it's like a list of operatives has fallen
into enemy hands." She smiled, pleased that he put it in terms he
could best relate too. "So what kind of items?"

She didn't need telepathy to know what he was
thinking. She exchanged a knowing glance with Daniel, letting her
nephew answer.

"Well…yeah, of course, the Holy Grail is one
but…"

"Humanity is the greatest treasure of all,"
Nathan finished for him.

"You're a good student." Daniel shrugged.
"Seriously, though, items of historical and religious significance
have been hidden – unnamed – for centuries for a reason."

"So the Hitlers of the world can't abuse
them."

"Sort of." Daniel leaned forward, resting his
elbows on his knees. "Items have power, sure, but faith and belief
enhance that power. For centuries the guardian clans have kept
relics safe to prevent abuse, but more to prevent distortion."

Nathan wasn't getting it and he was relieved
when Cali took over. "If Kristoff uses a powerful relic for his own
gain, that's one thing. Eventually it backfires but no one would
really know the details. If he uses that relic to
correct
,"
she made air quotes, "the known histories, then faiths could
crumble."

"Is history so wrong?" He knew the winners
wrote the text books, but usually you could find a dissenting
opinion somewhere.

"Perceptions change with time and motive. If
you could wield the sword of Judgment, or drink from the cup of
Christ, what would you expect?"

"The guardians prevent the
rubber-meets-the-road problem." He laughed suddenly at the utter
confusion stamped on both Gairden faces. "If I drank from the
grail, expecting one thing and it didn't happen, I'd be
disappointed. I'd destroy it, or what's probably worse, I'd
disprove the value of the item."

"Exactly!" She beamed at him and he felt
ridiculously accomplished as she continued. "Rewriting history is
dicey at best. Legends are often more powerful – for humanity as a
whole. But think if something got hold of a relic of faith and used
it to enslave, or undermine what makes people humane…" She trailed
off. He was perfectly able to fill in the blanks and he felt cold
at the implications.

"Who could do that?" he asked.

Daniel answered, "We're taught legends no one
else can know. There are dark things, ugly creatures stripped of
power that will stop at nothing to reclaim influence and
worshippers."

"Kristoff doesn't want worshipped. He created
an army for power," Nathan pointed out. "He abused his talents to
corrupt good men for his own gain and personal protection. No one's
been able to get through that wall."

"Which means he wants the map box for someone
else," Daniel agreed.

"Payment I'd bet," Cali said.

"So who benefits? Who ordered Kristoff to
strike? You're sure it was his army that stole the box? How did he
know to look…wherever it was that you lived?"

"He must have divined something about me when
he was connected to Petra."

Nathan rubbed his head again. That pesky
headache in his temple was back with a vengeance.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Just allergies or something," he replied.
"
Not enough sleep last night
," he added mentally.

Her immediate blush was gratifying, though
the comment didn't quite banish the worry from her eyes. He
silently promised to behave so he wouldn't embarrass her in front
of Daniel.

"As I was saying," she began again.

"I don't think so, Aunt Cali. You couldn't
have been the only source of information. Before I, umm, left for
here, there was a lot of reminiscing going on."

She cocked a brow at him. "And?"

"Grandma mentioned Uncle Darius had a
girlfriend. Outside the system."

TEN

Every betrayal contains a perfect moment, a
coin stamped heads or tails

with salvation on the other side. Barbara
Kingsolver

Alarm filled Petra when the next command
flowed onto the screen. "What is it?" Gideon asked from the
opposite side of the table.

"We have two days to surrender Kelly in
Monument Valley."

"Who the hell thinks we'll do that?"

"Dr. Leo Kristoff."

"Never had a sane moment in his life," Gideon
groused.

Petra didn't disagree. "We're missing
something. If I've learned anything it's that Kristoff protects
himself." She pushed back from the desk and pressed her hands into
her aching back. "I warned Nathan his mind might be compromised.
Kristoff has to be in his head. I've done my best to shield my own
thoughts, to take precautions. And my brother is just so – so
cavalier!"

Gideon thought, not for the first time, that
she was cute when she was mad, but he'd learned not to mention it.
While he wanted to put the crazy old doctor down, he didn't have
any intention of letting his wife risk her life again. "Kristoff is
still troubling you?"

"Oh, not like when he was really in my head.
But it's foolish to think he's forgotten his failure. There's
something big going on. We have to stop him."

"I'll call Jaden and Brian," he offered.

"Already done. You should call the
Commandant. We'll need some help meeting this deadline."

Gideon drew Petra into his arms. "We'll beat
this, Petra. This time he'll go down for good."