Seeking Crystal by Joss Stirling
Sky’s face drained of all colour. ‘She’s telling the truth—every word.’
‘Karla, your soulfinder is right in this room.’ Saul went on his knees before his wife and took her hand. ‘I’m here.’ He pressed her palm against his chest. ‘Every beat of my heart has been for you since the first day we met.’
Something in Karla snapped: she went from stiff spine to collapse in a second. Reaching out to touch his cheek, she asked plaintively:
‘So why can’t I remember you?’
Tears brimmed in Saul’s eyes. ‘Because your memories have been stolen.’ He kissed the inside of her palm. ‘We’re going to try to reverse it but I swear to you, Karla, that even if we can’t, we’ll make new ones. We’ll start again. I can’t live without my soul.’
Sky curled up on the settee next to Diamond. ‘Who’s mine?’ Her voice seemed to be coming from a very scared place deep inside.
‘Zed. He carried you out of the castle.’ I had to keep this simple for her. ‘He’s amazing—really devoted to you.’
‘And me?’ asked Phoenix. Her tone was angry. Good.
‘Yves. You are going to love him all over again when you meet him, believe me. You’re married.’
‘I’m what? But I can’t be more than eighteen!’
‘My son was very persuasive,’ said Saul proudly.
‘And me?’ Diamond held out a hand to me. ‘Crystal, isn’t it?’
I knew she hadn’t remembered but was just checking she got my name right. ‘Yes, Di. You’re my big sister—you’ve been looking after me since Dad died.’
She closed her eyes. ‘I remember him. The contessa didn’t take that from me but I don’t recall him dying.’ A tear slid down her cheek. I could kill the contessa for making her go through her grief again!
‘You remember the earlier stuff before he died probably because your memories are nothing to do with Trace, your soulfinder. I guess she took anything that has brushed up against the fact that you are getting married next Saturday, including me because I was there when you met.’
‘How can I get married?’ Her question was not one which asked for an answer. Yes, it did seem impossible right now. The girls might have accepted our version of the truth but none of them were fully themselves. The spark had been snuffed leaving a hollowed-out candle behind.
‘What are we going to do?’ Sky asked but I was relieved to see her question now included all of us in the room.
Saul stood up. ‘One of our sons is in hospital, Karla; the others are in jail. We can’t leave Will alone. He was stable when Lily drove him to hospital but I can’t bear the thought of him lying there without a member of the family with him.’
‘My son’s in hospital?’ Karla shuddered.
‘Will. Your fourth son. The contessa shot him.’
Karla sprang up out of her chair. ‘Saul Benedict, what are we doing here if he needs us?’
Saul smiled. ‘Now you sound like Karla. Steve, Crystal, can you help with the others?’
‘We’ll look after them,’ promised Steve. He checked his watch. Two in the morning. ‘I guess we should get some sleep now and go to the station as soon as possible in the morning. I’m sure the movie company will know a good lawyer or two.’
‘Movie company?’ asked Diamond shrewdly.
‘Steve’s an actor in films,’ I explained. ‘Steve Hughes.’
‘No!’ Phoenix’s eyes rounded in surprise. ‘I know you—I’ve seen your films. You’re amazing. God, it’s so good to remember something normal.’
He gave her a salute. ‘Glad I could be of help.’
‘I just didn’t expect you to be here. You’re not as tall as I thought.’
‘I think you’d better stop there, Phoenix,’ I warned. ‘Steve has been a total star tonight and we don’t want to crush his ego now.’
Karla had momentarily been sidetracked by the news that their rescue had been more bizarre than she had dreamed; now she returned to her priority. ‘Mr Benedict—Saul. You have a car and directions?’
Saul patted his pocket. ‘Yes, dear.’
‘Then let’s go. Diamond, look after the girls for me.’
My sister nodded. ‘I will.’
Steve got out his phone. ‘I’ll just text Lily and let her know you’re on the way. She says he’s still in theatre but should be out soon. The doctors are surprised that the wound was beginning to heal so soon after the trauma.’
‘Xav’s doing,’ explained Saul, helping his wife into her coat. ‘Your fifth son is a healer. He’s Crystal’s soulfinder.’
‘A healer? How lovely.’
The door closed on their conversation.
‘I have to say this is the strangest night of my life.’ Steve gave me a hug; somewhere during the adventure we had moved from being chance acquaintances to tried and tested best mates. ‘would you like me to stay or go back to my hotel?’
‘I think we’ll be OK now. Can you be back at seven thirty?’
Steve grimaced. ‘James isn’t going to like that but, hey, what’s the point of being me if you can’t ask for a delay in a shoot from time to time. I’ll get Lily to tell him.’
I had a sudden flash of insight. Steve might not be a Savant but his brain wasn’t so different from ours and a lot of his attention was given to the little blonde costume designer.
‘You know, you should ask her out.’
‘Who?’ He tried to look innocent.
‘Lily. She’s your best friend, isn’t she?’
‘I … I suppose.’
I tapped my temple. ‘I do have a gift and it’s telling me that she’s the one for you.’
Steve looked as if I’d just taken a plank to the back of his head. ‘How do you know about that?’
‘As my friend would say, it’s my special spidey sense.’ Xav, I wish you were here for this.
What’s that, Crystal? I got a glimpse of a concrete cell and a hard bed. The boys had been processed and locked up for the night.
I’m matchmaking. Steve and Lily.
Yeah … yeah, that’d work. Anything to get rid of my rival. How are the girls?
On our side but not yet recovered their memories.
Well done.
‘Crystal.’ Steve snapped his fingers in my face. ‘I’m talking to you.’
‘Sorry. Can’t do this telepathy thing without checking out of the here and now. You and Lily—it’s obvious. You’ve just not gone there because your publicist has been running your life and Lily’s too real.’ I remembered what he had said about liking meeting people who did something proper, made stuff with their hands; that comment took on a whole new meaning. ‘She may not buff up your image but from where I stand, I doubt you need much buffing.’
He gave me a sheepish grin. ‘Crystal, if you weren’t already spoken for, you’d be in danger of being on my list too.’
‘Yeah, but I’m way down there after Lily. She’ll be good for you—keep your ego in check.’
He zipped up his jacket. ‘I’ll give it some thought.’
‘You’re just worried she’ll turn you down.’
‘No!’ He sighed. ‘Yeah. She knows me, you see.’
‘A life of bimbos in awe of you or a real woman who sees through the razzmatazz? I rest my case, m’lud.’
‘Jeez, you’re sharp. I hope Xav’s got some good defensive moves.’
‘Believe me, he gives as good as he gets.’
With a nod to the others in the room, Steve left for his hotel, hopefully in the right frame of mind to download his weird experience on to Lily—forging another link between them.
The girls were looking at me with quizzical expressions.
‘Have you always been like this?’ Diamond asked.
‘Like what?’
‘Does my sister sass movie stars and order them about?’
I had been doing that, hadn’t I? ‘Not until today.’
I showed the three of them where they could sleep but I doubt if any of us got much rest that
‘I’ll sort this out, Di. I promise,’ I whispered.
‘Crystal, I may not remember yet, but I want you to know that you are the best sister anyone could have. Thank you for coming to rescue me.’
I hugged the compliment close. ‘Anytime you need me, I’ll be there.’
The next morning, Steve and I accompanied Diamond, Sky, and Phoenix to the police station so we could make our statements together. None of them had wanted to keep on the old lady clothes the contessa had given them. Wearing jeans, jumpers and T-shirts borrowed from Lily, the girls seemed subdued, still piecing together what they could from their memories.
‘It’s like trying to make a whole cloth from cobwebs,’ confided Diamond as we followed the others along the sunny pavement edging the lakeside. A chill wind ruffled the grey-blue water; pastel-painted villas made a cheerful frill to those cold depths. ‘Threads kept pulling away leaving great holes where there should be, I don’t know,’ she sighed, ‘just much more stuff.’
‘Trace sends his love.’ Xav and I had had a long talk that morning. His brothers were keen to use me as their intermediary but he was being strict with them not to weigh me down with too many messages. Their priority was to get bail so they could see if something could be salvaged face-to-face now the girls understood who they were to them.
‘That’s sweet of him. But what if I never remember him?’
‘Then you’ll have to start again, like Saul told Karla.’ One of us had to resist the sheer panic that threatened at that prospect.
‘Yet how can I live with him if the soulfinder bond is only one way? It’s like I’ve lost a limb and keep trying to walk on it.’
‘People survive extraordinary things, Di. You’ll get through this.’
The police station was in a bright yellow building that looked more like a primary school than the local centre of law and order. Only the discreet sign ‘Carabinieri’ on the black gate attested to its more serious function. Having a movie star with us certainly helped get us seen: no waiting around in reception; we were ushered straight into the interview room. Overnight, Trace’s and Victor’s contacts had been working behind the scenes and the report of missing persons in Venice tied together with the rescue. It certainly helped our case having Diamond giving a clear account of how her hen night had turned ugly, mainly gleaned from what I had told her as her own recollection was missing. She could give no information as to who had carried out the kidnapping, other than asserting that the contessa had been present in Venice and at the castle and that Diamond had had no desire to go there, having planned to spend all her time preparing for her wedding at home.
‘You were held against your will?’ asked the officer. It was the same man as the one who had arrested the brothers the night before: Inspector Carminati, according to the label on his door.
Diamond frowned. ‘It is hard to say exactly what happened. I believe something was given to us to make us cooperate.’
‘A drug?’
‘Perhaps.’ This was the closest she could get to explaining why she and the others had appeared before many witnesses to be contented guests of the old lady.
‘We should arrange a blood test then.’ The officer made a note. ‘That’s if there are any traces left in your system. Mr Hughes, what is your part in this?’
I translated the question for Steve.
‘I was just helping my friends here rescue the ladies from the castle.’ Steve folded his arms, betraying not a hint of regret for his part in the adventure.
‘Why did you not stop to ask us to intervene?’
That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? So much of this didn’t make sense unless we exposed the Savant dimension, which we were reluctant to do to any but the senior officers in international law enforcement who were already aware of our existence on a strictly confidential basis. Unfortunately, most of those were in Rome and had very little influence here in the north.
Steve shrugged. ‘It was the fastest way to resolve the situation.’
‘The contessa has not complained that you trespassed in your helicopter so I am not going to press any charges but, let me tell you, Mr Hughes: in Italy, we do not like vigilantes who take the law into their own hands. This is not one of your movies.’
Steve looked supremely unimpressed. ‘No, what this is, is much weirder. You need to lock that old woman up—she’s totally out of control.’
I chose not to translate that particular comment. ‘He says thanks and that he understands.’
The officer had more English than he let on for he sniffed scornfully at my very free interpretation of Steve’s words. ‘If the local mayor wasn’t so impressed by having a film made in his area, I would not hesitate to send your friend packing, celebrity or no celebrity.’
I gave him a helpless smile as if to say, what could I, a mere girl, do to rein in an A-lister?
‘There is clearly more to this situation than I understand.’ The officer tapped his papers straight. ‘I can’t, however, do anything further for you as your associates are already on the way to Verona where they are going to be interviewed and where they can apply for bail. If this is granted, they may be out by this evening.’
‘What about Will Benedict?’
‘The one in hospital?’
I nodded.
‘He is also considered under arrest but matters are complicated by the excessive force used against him. We’re looking into that. I suggest his name be included in the bail application.’
‘What about the allegation of kidnap?’
‘One step at a time, signorina. We need evidence to support that. So far we only have witnesses to testify that your sister and her friends were willing guests and appeared to arrive under their own volition. It was the forceful departure carried over the shoulders of their family members that was suspect.’
‘But can’t you see that it doesn’t add up? They don’t know the contessa—why would they want to stay with her and ignore their own family? She abandoned me on an island in the lagoon, for heaven’s sake! I was lucky not to get hypothermia.’
His hard face softened for a moment. ‘You have a witness to that?’
I remembered the banker from Milan. ‘Yes! I’ve left his business card back in Venice. A very respectable witness. He said we were to contact him if we needed his statement.’
‘Then I suggest you do that. But in Venice. The contessa has already returned to her home there as her castle is damaged by fire. If a crime was committed against you, it appears that was where it took place. There is little point pursuing it with me.’
I hadn’t been expecting that suggestion, or his tone. ‘So you believe me? I thought you’d side with her.’
Inspector Carminati stood up, signalling the end of the interview. ‘I may be only a policeman in an obscure corner of this country, but I am not an idiot, Signorina Brook. I too read the papers. If these men were part of the operation that brought about the arrest of the Count of Monte Baldo as you claim, then I can imagine that his mother might be out for revenge. We all know the count around here—he has always been bad news. I’m not surprised justice finally caught up with him.’
‘So you’ll … ’
He held up his hand, interrupting me. ‘Whatever my personal thoughts may be on the subject, we must obey the law. So far the only offences that have been substantiated with anything approaching evidence are those committed by the Benedicts. I suggest you hurry up and prove that they had a sound reason for their actions.’
We left the office to find Lily and James Murphy waiting for us in reception.
‘Lord Almighty, Steve, what have you got yourself mixed up in?’ the director fumed. ‘We have the press camped out there. One whiff of Steve Hughes visiting a police station and they’re arriving in their droves. Not to mention what you
‘Calm down, James,’ said Lily, patting the Irishman on the chest to remind him to get a hold of himself before he had a coronary. ‘Everything all right, Steve?’
The actor held out his arms. ‘I need a hug.’
Blushing slightly, Lily obliged. At least something had been settled last night then.
‘W … what?’ James shook his head as the two exchanged a kiss. ‘I won’t ask.’
‘Crystal and her family need to get back to Venice.’ Steve dug out his sunglasses, preparing to avoid the cameras. ‘Can we provide a driver?’
‘Yes. But you are staying here, aren’t you?’ asked James suspiciously.
‘For the moment. I don’t think I can do anything but attract unwelcome publicity to them. Is that OK, Crystal?’
‘More than OK. You’ve been amazing. A real hero.’
Steve gave a self-mocking grin. ‘Nice to know I do have it in me.’
Lily squeezed his waist. ‘I’m proud of you.’
‘We’ll go out the back way.’ James made some rapid arrangements on his phone. ‘I’ll get my driver to help take Crystal and her friends home.’ Poor James was hurrying to get me out of Steve’s orbit as I was so clearly a disruptive element. ‘You, my dear movie star, have got to get your butt up the mountain and do the stunt before the weather changes.’
Steve slipped his hand into Lily’s back pocket; she put hers in his. ‘Thanks, James. And sorry about this. Lily and I will explain on the way up—but I warn you, you aren’t going to believe a word.’
The director groaned. ‘Just tell me I’m not facing an expensive law suit.’
‘I hope not.’
‘Is there someone I can shoot for this?’
‘That’s already been done—and it’s not a joking matter.’
James wagged his finger at me. ‘Crystal, remind me why I ever let you near my film?’ He wasn’t really upset with me, just exasperated by the situation into which I had dragged him.