Chapter 9

It was late afternoon as Michael walked back to the hotel his first meeting with Valerie had been a revelation.

The feelings Valerie elicited were disturbing and wonderful all at the same time. Michael knew that he needed to move on, that the feelings he had for Valerie were the real thing.

Sasha would want him to be happy, she would never want for him to be tormented by her memory, only to be comforted by it.

Understanding that what they had lives on in him and his life is now an extension of hers. To waste any of it would be to minimize the gift she was while she was in his life.

Walking across the bridge over the Oxford canal he paused to watch a four-man scull slip gracefully over the grey water.

It was getting late; dusk was starting to fall over the city. Michael wondered at the place, entranced by its energy, ancient soul and obvious bright future. Michael could not help to feel his attachments to this place growing faster than he thought possible.

The scull made the turn up the canal, disappearing from view and Michael continued his walk back to the hotel.

...

"I need to know what happened to Michael" Valerie spoke heatedly into the speakerphone.

Almost the instant Michael left her office Valerie was dialing up Aunt Millie's cell, she had to know the whole story.

"Valerie, calm down tell me what's going on." Millie said, surprised at Val's obvious agitation.

"Something or someone really hurt Michael and I need to know what it was, I know that you and Uncle Ian have been keeping tabs on Michael for years now please just tell me what happened." Valerie's voice was getting more frantic by the second.

"Valerie, please calm down, I will tell you everything that I can about Michael but you have to calm down and tell me what happened first." Millie said as she keyed the speaker on her cell so Ian, who was lying in bed next to her, could hear the conversation as well.

Catching her breath and reigning herself in Valerie retold an abridged version of her meeting with Michael, his rush from her office, collapse and eventual return, she did not go into detail about her feelings about the man, only that he seemed damaged in some way and she wanted to help him in any way that she could.

Millie could not hide the smile from Ian as he nodded for her to tell Valerie of Michael's loss.

Ian and Valerie had both been on the conference call when the field team had called in about the possible sniper, both had seen the flash emailed photos of Valerie cradling Michael's head in her lap.

"Michael lost his wife about two months ago." Millie began. "It was very traumatic for him, his wife, Sasha, was pregnant with their first child when she was in a car accident, Sasha and the baby were both killed. It destroyed Michael, its one of the reasons we asked you to offer him the visiting professorship, we hoped that by getting him out of Gainesville, away from all the memories it would help him to recover."

Covering the microphone she asked Ian "Should I tell her about us buying the company to make sure he would take the job?"

Ian thought for only a moment before answering "yes, let her know that we are very concerned for Michael and want to help him any way we can, we hope that she feels the same and wouldn't mind spending a little extra time with him if she thinks it would help." He smiled as Millie's eyes squinted, giving him the 'your up to something' look.

Ian had seen the same pictures Millie had, however he saw a great deal more in them than she.

The photo of Valerie holding Michaels head in her lap clearly showed how their aura's merged when they were in contact with each other, this was a rare bond that few of their kind shared.

It was also in every photo ever taken of Michael and Sasha; the coincidence was just too much for Ian to resolve.

He wanted to see what would develop between the two, for some reason he thought it might be very important that the two of them were together.

"Now Val, im going to tell you something but you have to promise it will never get back to Michael" Millie said.

Valerie paused; her emotions had immediately gone into overdrive at the thought of lying to Michael. "Then don't tell me Millie, if he asks me about something I will not lie to him." The conviction in her voice made Millie stifle a laugh, 'oh my' she thought 'poor Valerie has it bad.' Ian nodded, indicating she should continue anyway.

"One of Ian's holding companies bought out Michael's architectural company, it was our way of ensuring he would accept your offer." Millie said, pausing to see what reaction Val would have to this news.

Valerie was shocked by this admission. "Why, why was it so important that Michael come to Oxford?" Her question hung in the air, Millie looked to Ian and he just shrugged.

Starting slowly, Millie continued "As you know we have been watching Michael's progress for quite some time, he is ... a distant relative of Ian's, being in America he was quite a bit farther a field than others in the extended family so Ian has always paid a bit more attention to him. After the tragedy that befell his family we wanted to try and help him get over it and move on, so..." As Millie trailed off Val considered this new information.

'Part of the family, Ian's family, there's never been any mention of family, extended or otherwise, why now and dam it why him' Valerie was confused and upset.

"Alright, thank you for telling me these things, I'm not sure what I think about all this, and I'm not sure I like the idea of being used. However if you can think of anything I can do to help Michael please tell me, there is something about him that..." Now it was Valerie's turn to trail off.

"I'm meeting Michael tomorrow morning to help him look for a place to stay, I'll see you both in the afternoon I should be there by four." Valerie finished as she hung up the phone.

Ian and Millie simply smiled at each other, both understanding that finally Valerie may have found the one she had been waiting so long for.

Valerie sat staring at the phone, wondering what the involvement was between Ian and Michael. She shook out her hair, picked up her purse and left the office heading for home, her thoughts centered on Michael and the amazing feelings he pulled from her soul.

...

The hairs on the back of Michael's neck stood on end as he rounded the corner, again, like so many times in the past his "sixth sense" was telling him that something was about to happen.

Michael paused at the corner; the quickly gathering darkness threw odd shadows in every direction.

The hotel was just across the street, should he continue on or wait. The questions kept multiplying; Michael was never one to question himself or his actions. The last few days had been harder on him than he thought and the strain was starting to show, cracking through his strong façade he was in danger of loosing control.

'Pull yourself together' he thought to himself as he proceeded across the street to the hotel.

Not ready to go to his room Michael walked through the lobby and out the back door.

The large back patio had been converted into a bar area with high tables around the patio railing overlooking the carefully manicured lawns. Finding a table, Michael sat under the shelter of the large umbrella that kept the now falling mist from soaking him through.

"What can I get you?" the pretty little barmaid asked as she sat in the seat opposite him. "Whiskey please, neat" Michael replied. She gave him a dazzling smile and moved off towards the bar. 'What is it with the women today' he thought to himself. He was surprised when a feminine voice from behind him answered.

"Most women rarely encounter someone like you Mr. Dane, finding oneself in the presence of your ilk can be likened to seeing a UFO or Nessie" she spoke with a heavy German accent and Michael was shocked by her apparent ability to read his thoughts.

"I have a bit of a talent, she said as she seated herself across from him, I can sometimes pick up peoples thoughts or emotions, it can be quite disconcerting at times."

She was, in a word, dangerous.

The waitress scowled when she saw the woman sitting with the handsome American. "Can I get you something?" she asked the woman in a not so friendly tone. Smiling she answered, "Ill have the same as the gentleman" waving her hand at the waitress with a dismissive air.

"Now then Mr. Dane, my name is Selene and my ... employer has given me the honor of taking care of you," Selene began, her tone of voice friendly, as if talking with an old friend.

"Now, I could have simply been done with you in front of the hotel, you stopped so conveniently at the corner it would have been simple, however, I thought it more appropriate to have a little chat first." Selene stopped as the waitress brought her drink.

The waitress placed the drink in front of Selene not saying a word to the other woman; facing Michael she asked, "is there anything else I can do for you?" there was an offer hidden in her tone, however Michael just wanted her to leave, trying to be sure that whatever was about to happen that no innocents were hurt. "Nope, we should be fine for now, Ill give a yell if we need refills" he said. Another brilliant smile and she was gone.

Selene picked up her drink and downed it in one smooth swallow. The rain had increased from a simple mist; the sound of the drops hitting the umbrella formed a sort of cadence that reminded Michael of a funeral dirge.

"So, here we are then, I don't suppose you even know why I'm here, probably for the best that, I'll make it quick and painless you probably won't even feel a thing." Selene finished as her eyes went glassy.

Michael felt pressure, like someone was trying to close his head in a very large vise. It was similar to what had happened to him on the plane, this time however it was not nearly as strong.

Looking across the table at Selene he watched her concentration increase, he felt the pressure increase as well but it was nothing he could not handle, it seemed that whatever had happened on the plane had rewired him a bit to automatically defend against this type of thing.

Finally the pressure built to a crescendo, Michael could feel the pressure build to its peak then fall away.

Selene was noticeably drawn, all of the color had washed out of her face, her eyes reflected nothing as they had gone to all pupil, opaque. "I guess we will have to do this the old fashioned way" she said as she went to pull the trigger on the gun lying in her lap trained at Michael's chest.

"I don't think so, Michael said flatly as her finger froze on the trigger. For the first time fear played across her features as Michael regarded her with cold eyes. "Now, lets start again, I'm Michael, your Selene, sent by someone obviously to kill me, I'd like to know why, you can tell me or I can look for myself, which would you prefer?"

In that instant, when Selene's subconscious registered that yes, this man would be able to see all her secrets her conditioning kicked in.

What the autopsy would show would be a massive stroke that killed her instantly.

The cause was interesting, a deep seated control in her mind that triggered a quick and deadly rise in her blood pressure, it was placed there while she slept one evening, after being thoroughly used by Nickolas, all of his field personnel had these little switches, just in case.

Michael watched as she seized, he was lucky that his control of her finger was stronger than whatever was naturally occurring in her body.

Her eyes held his for that instant of understanding, she knew she was done, she saw her life flash before her eyes then just as quickly as it began it was over, and she slumped over the table.

"Lady friend can't hold her liquor"? the waitress said after she walked over to the table, taking a bit too much pleasure in the ladies distress.

"I think you should call an ambulance it seems she had a seizure" Michael said finishing his drink and ordering another as he was sure he would have to be here for a while.

After the ambulance arrived and he had spoken to the constable he was dead tired, not even taking the time to undress he fell into his bed, his only thoughts of Valerie.

...

"I just can't sleep" Valerie said to no one in particular. She had been pacing around her flat for the last three hours not being able to get Michael out of her mind.

The bottle of chardonnay had not helped; the Mozart had not helped nothing seemed to dull the keen edge of him that held such tenacious purchase in her mind.

Walking back to her bathroom she thought a bath might be just the ticket.

Valerie turned on the water and began filling the big Victorian claw foot tub, 'perhaps a good soak will get me wound down enough to sleep' she thought as the steam began to rise from the slowly filling tub. Lighting the few candles in the room Valerie turned towards the large wall mirror opposite the tub.

Looking in the mirror Valerie absently began to undress, she regarded herself wondering at how the American with the flashing eyes saw her.

'I'm being a silly git, how could he even think of being with me' she admonished herself for the umpteenth time.

Shaking out her long flaming red hair she unbuttoned her shirt and let it slide to the floor, unhooking her white silk bra it slid down her long elegant arms landing next to her shirt.

Her hand lazily traced from her throat to her navel, her pale skin dotted with freckles, her own green eyes looked back at her as she unbuttoned her skirt, pulling it and her panties off in one swift motion.

Standing naked in front of the mirror all the old insecurities came back, too short, 5'5, too red, her red hair with the streaks of auburn and blond were the envy of almost every woman she met, too flat, at 35B her breasts were firm and taught, another envy item. Her flat belly led to her long elegant dancers legs, she saw giraffe legs. Shaking her head she turned off the water and stepped into the tub.