Chapter 312
We arrived at the mansion and went inside. Alex and Cassidy were waiting for us in the foyer. Their voices were welcoming, but their expressions were strained.
When Alex and I embraced, he whispered, “Stay calm. Victor will understand.”
I nodded and moved to greet Cassidy. “It’s good to see you home,” I told her.
“It’s good to be home,” she responded.
“Let’s go into the living room,” Alex said. “Benson, have all of the staff left yet?”
“Only myself and the cook are on your property,” Benson replied. “She won’t leave the kitchen while making dinner, and I’ll stand guard outside the living room door.”
“Excellent,” Alex said. “Come, Victor and Daisy, we have much to discuss with you.”
Victor took my hand as we walked back the long hallway. “What is going on?” he whispered.
“Wait for Alex to explain,” I said. “I don’t know nearly as much as he does.”
“You can’t even give me a hint?” he said.
I shook my head and put a finger to my lips. Victor would know soon enough.
We filed into the living room and sat down. Alex organized his thoughts and began.
“Victor, something has been going on that revolves around The Association,” Alex said. “I want to tell you the entire story before any of my staff returns.”
“This information must be sensitive,” Victor said. “How is Daisy involved?”
“I’ll get to that,” Alex said. “But I want you to know that she begged me to let her tell you her part in the story for weeks. Only my insistence that she couldn’t tell you stopped her.”
Victor shot a glance my way, and I cringed. “Why couldn’t she tell me?”
“Let me tell you everything, and you’ll understand,” Alex repeated.
Victor nodded and looked at the floor. His body was stiff, and his expression was alert. I wanted to take his hand, but I was afraid of his reaction.
Alex began telling the story.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the history of The Association Complex, and when I started dating a history teacher, I couldn’t resist her pleas to look for the Ivory Columns.”
“With my permission, Cassidy began exploring the less used and more remote portions of the complex.”
“Are you telling me Cassidy found the seven Ivory Columns, the entrance to the ancient passages?” Victor asked. “I always thought they were a myth.
“They are quite real,” Alex said. “Cassidy found six sets of Columns. She believes Daisy found the Seventh.”
“Daisy? Daisy was in the passages?” Victor shook his head. “Why would she keep the existence of the passages from me? Why would you? As the leader of The Association, I should have been told.”
“I insisted she say nothing to you because while Cassidy was in the passages one day, she overheard men speaking in another language while another man who seemed to be in charge of the others was speaking our language.”
“She overheard part of a plot to take over The Association and then the world,” Alex said.
Victor stood. He was visibly angry. “I needed to know this immediately. You had no right to keep it from me.”
Alex’s voice was stern. “Victor, sit down and listen to the rest. There is no time for arguments.”
Victor took a deep breath and sat in the chair again. He wouldn’t look at anyone in the room. “Proceed.”
“Your office is being spied on constantly,” Alex reminded Victor. “We need to know the names of everyone involved in this plot. If you knew what was happening, they would have quickly known everything you knew and maybe went into hiding.”
“Do the passages have anything to do with them successfully spying on me?” Victor asked.
“Yes,” I said. Alex nodded at me, and I continued my part of the story. “The day Findley gave me a tour of the complex he had to hurry to a meeting after leaving me at your office.”
“You were busy with Chloe, so I decided to leave,” I explained. “I got lost on my way out. When I saw Cassidy go into a bathroom, I followed her to ask her where the front entrance was located.”
“But she wasn’t in the bathroom, and I became curious about where she went. That’s when I noticed the Ivory Columns set into one wall, and I found an entrance to the passageways.”
“Of course, you went into them,” Victor said with a hint of a smile. “That was the day I couldn’t get you on your cell phone.”
“Yeah, there’s no cell reception in the passages,” I admitted. “Anyhow, I tried to follow Cassidy and got more lost. I stopped to rest and fell into a dark passage that sloped downward.”
Victor’s eyes were huge. He had heard the legend of the Seventh Passage, too.
“I heard whispering in the darkness. It seemed to be coming closer, so I looked for a way out. I found a room with gravestones set into the floor and cardboard boxes with writing in a foreign language.”
“I found a ladder in the corner of the room. It led to a trapdoor in the ceiling. I climbed out, and after wondering some more, I heard voices again. That’s when I found the spy’s passage.”
“The spy’s passage?” Victor repeated.
“It’s a hallway where grates are set into the wall. When you open the grate with a lever, you can hear everything happening in the different offices …even yours.”
My words sunk in, and he leaped to his feet again.
“She couldn’t tell you,” Alex insisted. “Cassidy’s and my life depended on it while we were away in Virople.”
“Your trip wasn’t a vacation, was it?” Victor’s voice was cold.
“No, and the language on the cardboard boxes Daisy found in the Seventh Passage was written in Viroplese.”
Victor turned to face us. “What was in the boxes?”
“I didn’t look inside them, but I took a photo of the boxes and looked up the words when I got home,” I explained. “The words were fresh lemons.”
“That makes sense,” Victor said. “Virople exports a great deal of lemons, but not to our country, and they shouldn’t be stored beneath the complex. What else do any of you know?”
“I believe those boxes contained something other than lemons,” Alex said. “It must be something valuable because the faction is very well-funded and organized. The bribes they offer are large enough to test anyone’s loyalty.”
“Who are the leaders of the faction?” Victor asked.
“We know John Cameron is involved, and I suspect his old friend and Association Councilman Kirk Sanders is also. Kirk has regularly been in contact with someone in Virople.”
“If Kirk is involved, The Association and our world are in real danger,” Victor said. “He will be able to persuade others to follow him and John.”
“Exactly,” Alex said. “We must stop them from taking over. They think you don’t know what’s happening, but they watch you closely. You must continue to act normally.”
“We need to know everyone involved in the faction,” Victor said. “I want names. I need to know who I can trust.”
He looked at me. “How did you get out of the passages that day? Did anyone see you?”
“Cassidy found me and showed me the way out,” I said. “But I went back twice more.”
“Why?” he asked. “That was incredibly dangerous, Daisy.”
“Since I couldn’t tell you about the passages, I had to find a way to help you,” I said. “I went back in to install cameras in the spy’s passage and then again to see what the cameras caught.”
Victor’s eyes gleamed. “What did they record?”
“We can’t make out their faces. Maybe you can.” Cassidy handed him the printouts from the memory cards.
Victor studied the images. “Where is this?”
“It’s in one of the passages,” I said. I pointed to a small square in the wall. “That’s the grate in the wall of your office that enables them to spy on you.”
I sensed Victor was hurt. “Daisy, you should have told me.”
“If she had, what would you have done?” Alex asked.
“I would have ended the spying on my office immediately,” Victor snapped.
“That’s why I wouldn’t let her tell you,” Alex retorted. “You need to think before you act, Victor. Use their spying to your advantage. We can’t let them win.”
“You’re right,” Victor said. “But I must clear my head before deciding what to do.”
He walked out of the room without even a glance in my direction.
I sensed his hurt and confusion mixed with anger, and I started to follow him.
“No, Daisy,” Alex ordered. “Let him go for now.”
My heart began to pound with the fear of losing the love of my life. I sat down on the couch and buried my face in my hands.
