Chapter 3

7/27/2006

After he leaves, Raven asks, "Why did you have to kick me so hard."

"This is the first man I really like and I want to get to know him without you."

Cal starts laughing at both of them. Then he turns serious, "I like him Lilly, but you be careful. He is extremely intelligent. He doesn't walk like a normal man does. The way he moves reminds me a lot of the way Nick did."

"Maybe, that is why I thought I knew him from some place."

He continues, "Maybe, he has the grace of a dancer and I wouldn't doubt he has hidden skills. I think I need to check him out. I will work on that tomorrow. Let's go see Petra and Christina. I want to know what Father and Brother has found out."

They start to leave the restaurant. Cal throws some money on the table.

Fred yells at them, "Hey Cal, I told you your money isn't any good here. Take this back."

"Fred you need it more than I do. Buy the kids an early Christmas present with it."

Fred sticks the money in his shirt pocket and grumbles about people not listening to him. The three of them laugh at Fred. Raven tells them she has to go check on her new team. She heads off to the elevators. Cal and Lilly proceed on to Petra's. Petra is restocking one of the clothes display.

Cal, "Petra I need to find out if Father or Brother has found anything."

Petra, "Come on upstairs. Christina went to see Brother this morning." They follow her upstairs to her suite. "Cal you haven't been staying here much. What is going on?"

"Raven is insatiable. Every time I try to leave, she comes out nude and begs me to stay. I really love her. So, I do what I am told." They all laugh at him even he chuckles. Before they reach the top of the stairs, Cal's cell phone rings. He answers, "This is Cal."

Christina yells, "Hey Cal, what you doing?"

"I am waiting at Petra's for you. And don't yell so loud. They probably heard you across the street."

"Sorry, Brother said Father wants to see Lilly, you and me in an hour at the pavilion."

"Ok, I am bringing Petra with us. Let them know so they don't do anything stupid."

"I will tell them. Tell Lilly to bring my gear just in case."

"Ok, I'll see you in an hour." He hangs up the phone and looks at Lilly. "Well, Father wants to see us. Petra will you go with us?"

"I guess. I will have to let Roxanne know to close up tonight."

Lilly says, "I will go tell her. You two go get ready." Lilly still has not conformed to proper society lifts her dress. "I already have my gear. Petra will you grab Christina's?"

"Ok, now put your dress down. I am sure Cal was hoping to get a look at your goodies when you did that."

He laughs, "No, it sure would have been funny if she had done it in front of Bill though."

Lilly hits him in the arm, "That's not funny."

"Who is Bill?" Petra wonders.

He says, "While I am getting dressed, I will tell you all about him."

Lilly in mock anger says, "Don't you dare. I will tell her later."

He is getting a good laugh at seeing her blush, "That will be fine and then I will tell her the truth." She hits him again.

Petra is laughing hard, "All right you two, enough. We need to hurry and get ready. Lilly hurry up and meet us at the truck." She rushes inside her suite to her bedroom. She changes in to some slacks and a dark t-shirt.

Lilly gets to the SUV first. She hops in the driver's seat. She turns the radio to an alternative station she likes. Cal and Petra arrive at the same time.

He says, "No you ain't. I am not riding with you. You're crazier than Nick was. Scoot your ass over."

She flips him off and rolls the window up.

Petra says seriously, "Children, we don't have time for this, lets go." She climbs in the front passenger seat. He grumbles something about female drivers and gets in the backseat of the SUV. Lilly starts the elevator and the motor. The elevator gets to the top and she guns the motor. As soon as the door opens, she stomps on the gas. The SUV's tires smoke and squeal out of the elevator. The backend gets loose and for a few seconds the vehicle goes sideways. He holds on for his life, yelling at her to be careful. She hits the highway at sixty miles an hour. The vehicle fishtailing down the highway. He finally is able to buckle his seatbelt. He decides he does not want to see his death, so he covers his face with his hands. She flies down the highway passing cars and weaving in and out of traffic like a maniac. When she gets to the turn off, she does not slow down. They fly past the guards at the entrance.

As they get near the pavilion, he says, "Lilly stop." She laughs at him and steps on the gas. They are within fifty feet of the pavilion. She stops on the brakes and cranks the wheels real hard to the left. The vehicle's rear end slides around it hits a rock and tips up on two wheels. He lunges to his left trying to put all of his weight on the rise. Lilly is screaming like a maniac in enjoyment.

Petra sits there saying, "Oh my God," repetitively. The vehicle comes to a stop and falls pack on to two wheels. He is not happy. She could have killed them with that stunt.

She turns to him still laughing, "How was that?"

"One of these days, I am going to beat you with in an inch of your life. Look at Petra."

She turns and looks at Petra. Petra is sitting in the seat shaking harshly still scared to death.

"Petra I am sorry I didn't mean to scare you like that."

She replies still visibly shaken, "It's ok dear. I think we need to send you to driving school again though."

He says, "She would pass with flying colors. That won't do any good. However, a good beating might."

Lilly, "You wouldn't dare. Besides, your like Nick you promise me a lot. You just never follow through with it." She breaks the tension in the vehicles with her comment. He turns red and they all laugh.

Father meets them at the door of the pavilion.

"Lilly that was a wild display of driving skills. My guards were fixing to shoot until they saw it was you. You need to be more careful. I am sure Ms. Petra would like for you to."

"Yes I would. But, I know she won't. Nick has taught her to be too much like he was."

He bids them enter. He sits down in his favorite chair.

Cal asks, "So, Father what is going on?"

"Let's wait on Christina. I have some good news and some that disturbs me." They do not have long to wait. Christina comes in like a whirlwind. She rushes to the bathroom first. Then she stops and grabs herself a glass of water and plops down next to Lilly. Everyone watches her laughing.

Finally, she speaks, "Hi, what have I missed?"

Lilly smacks her on the thigh, "Not a thing, we are waiting on you."

"We have found where spider will be in two weeks. We think he is already there." Father tells them. "He is going to a meeting at L?n Cheà Chateau in the south of France. The peculiar thing is L?n Cheà and Lanchea are spelled the same. I think that there is more of the family out there. The owner of the chateau is named Damién Devlin L?n Cheà."

Lilly slinks down in her seat. Shocked at what she just heard. She remembers the envelope that Devlin Lanchea gave her and the information on the inside. What does she do? Can she tell them what she knows? She ponders these thoughts while they continue discussing the situation. She ignores the conversation

Cal tries to get her attention, "Lilly what's wrong?"

She decides to tell them, "I have something to tell all of you." She hesitates a few seconds

Petra asks her, "Lilly please tell us?"

She begins slowly, "The night Nick died, we split up. He went after Spider and I chased Devlin in to his office. I talked with him a few minutes before killing him that is why I was late helping Nick out." Tears come to her eyes.

Petra sits next to her, "It wasn't your fault liepshun."

"I know it wasn't," she sniffles. "Devlin started calling me sister. I laughed at him thinking he was joking. He gave me an envelope and I killed him. I grabbed the envelope and followed Nick to the laboratory. After that night, I completely forgot about that stupid envelope. Mom found it a few days later when she cleaned up my gear. She gave it to dad. He waited until he felt I could handle the information inside. It was two years after that night. My real father's name is Damién Devlin L?n Cheà." Everyone gasps.

Cal flips out and yells, "What?"

Petra already knows and admonishes him, "That is enough Cal. I think Lilly has more to tell. Go on Lilly."