Beauty and the Beast (16 page)

Chuck explained the plan. “I had Peter set up an account with your Helpers who own the Ocean View Bed and Breakfast,” Polly and Curtis Walker. He pulled a receipt and a brochure out of his pocket and handed them to Diana. “This is where you were registered last night, because you needed a break!”

Diana giggled and took the receipt and brochure from him. “I sure did!” She looked at the colorful brochure. “Wow, you can send me there anytime!”

Chuck laughed and went on. “I had our people check on how many have been assigned to watch your loft.

Right now there is only one car with two people in it. Central Park is not being watched at all, so I can safely transport you to and from there when you need to come to the tunnels. That is where I am parked now ready to take you back to your loft. We have set up shifts of Helpers to watch those who are watching you, so they don’t get any ideas about doing more than just watch.” He took a business card out of the breast pocket of his coat and handed it to Diana. “I am now your personal cab driver. Just call me if you need for me to come somewhere we haven’t already scheduled.”

Diana nodded her head. “Thank you so much, Chuck.

This is all such a relief! There is one more thing I need to discuss with Father and Vincent before we go, though.” She looked from one to the other and then said, “You two are not going to like this, but I need help in my world from someone who will need to know about your world. I need Joe Maxwell’s help. Now that he has been elected as the official District Attorney permanently, he is the only one with the resources available to help us take down this new madman, and he can’t help us if he doesn’t know about whom Adrian is a danger to and why. I can’t even tell him about the dirty cop, Steve Palmer, without explaining why I was in Gabriel’s mansion alone. I need for you to hold a Council meeting and see if you can get permission for me to bring him down here and solicit his help.”

Vincent asked her, “Do you trust this man, Diana?” Diana answered him emphatically. “Vincent, I would trust him with my life! Besides, he loved Cathy too.” Father also spoke to Vincent. “Vincent, the only question he asked me when I took Diana’s drawing of the tile pattern from Gabriel’s mansion to him was why he should listen to me. When I told him because Cathy would have wanted him to, he didn’t ask anything else, and he trusted me. I am also certain we can trust him. Diana, we will call a Council meeting and then send a message to you with the results. When will you see Mr. Maxwell again?”

Diana answered him. “I’m going to type up my report tomorrow at my loft. I then plan to give Joe my official report that there was nothing to continue investigating, and to return the envelope of keys and codes he gave me for the mansion, the day after tomorrow. I should be able to be there about 1:00 in the afternoon at his office.”

Father nodded his head. “Well, you will be receiving a couple of delicious sandwiches delivered by our courier, Benny, promptly at 1:00 in the afternoon two days from now then.”

Diana giggled. “That sounds delightful!”

Chuck stood up, went to Diana’s chair, and offered her his arm. “Your chariot awaits Miss!”

Diana smiled, took his arm, and stood up. Vincent and Father stood up as well. Chuck helped her with her coat. She giggled again. “I feel like a princess surrounded by Knights-of-the-Round-Table.” Father’s table was round, and the men all laughed at the comparison. She said, “Well, gentlemen, I bid you adieu! Oh, and before I forget, Vincent, you need to keep this.” She handed Vincent Dr. Vlas’journal.

“Thank you, Diana. I can’t begin to tell you what this means to me.” Vincent smiled down at her.

Diana smiled back at him. “I know that, Vincent. I have a feeling we will all get to meet your people in the not-to-distant future.”

Father said, “Good-bye, Diana,” and she smiled at him. Then Diana and Chuck walked out of the Council chamber arm-in-arm. After they left, Father looked at Vincent and shook his head. “I guess Narcissa isn’t such

a superstitious old woman after all!”

Vincent chuckled. “She must have been the only one in our community with a mind open enough to receive Uncle Tanimus’ telepathic message. I need to go and see her to find out exactly what happened from her perspective.”

While Vincent was talking, Mary came into the chamber with a freshly-bathed-and-fed Little Jacob. Vincent smiled and took him from her. The baby smiled up at his father.

Mary looked at Father. “I just saw Diana leaving with Chuck Johnson. Was he able to fix her problem at her loft?”

Father assured her. “He set things up perfectly so she will be safe. Stay here and 111 tell you about everything Diana found out. Vincent needs to go and visit Narcissa. Wherever she is, the round trip will probably take him too long to take Little Jacob with him. Do we have plenty of babysitters available to take care of him for Vincent while he is gone?”

Mary gave him an exasperated look and shook her head. “Father, you know perfectly well that is a very silly question! There isn’t enough of Little Jacob to go around for everyone who wants to babysit him!”

Father chuckled. “I know that. I just wanted to see what you would say.”

Father stepped over to Vincent and took Little Jacob from him. “Come to Grandfather. Well take good care of you.” He looked at Vincent. “As soon as you get back, please come and tell me what Narcissa said. I am really curious to know the rest of the story.”

Vincent kissed Father and his baby. “I will, Father.”

He looked at Mary. “Thank you for taking such good care of Little Jacob, Mary. Ill be back as quickly as possible.” Mary laughed. “Don’t hurry, Vincent!” It seemed like everyone was always telling him that when he handed his son over to them, and he chuckled.

When Vincent finally located Narcissa not far from the burial catacombs, she acted surprised to see him, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she was never surprised by anyone’s visit. She liked living apart from the rest of the community, but she welcomed the occasional visitor. Her favorite visitor, though, was always Vincent. Narcissa was an African-American woman with an ageless beauty. The only evidence of her advanced age was the formation of cataracts on her eyes which nearly blinded her. She could navigate as well as any bat, however, and she had an amazing sixth sense about people and a spiritual wisdom which Vincent enjoyed drawing upon.

Narcissa greeted him with, “Vincent, child! What are you doing here now? You know I am still a crazy old woman! Surely Father has told you so.”

Vincent laughed. “Father is in the process of readjusting his thinking, Narcissa. Why didn’t you ever tell me that you were the one who rescued me when I was

left in a window-well in the alley behind St. Vincent’s Hospital?”

Narcissa was clearly surprised. “I wondered if you would ever remember that terrible day when you were left helpless there and all alone in the bitter cold. I never knew who prompted me to find you, but whoever it was had a very powerful mind which I couldn’t ignore. It was clear in my mind, as I was prompted, that the matter was most urgent and I must hurry. I ran out of here and knew exactly where to go every step of the way. Then I found you in the window-well just where I was led. I was also prompted to look at the sign on the back of the building which told me it was St. Vincent’s Hospital. I suggested that name to Anna when I laid you in her arms, and I told her that was where I found you. I always thought that was really your name, though. The last prompting I received from that powerful mind was to get you out of there and into Father’s world as fast as I could go, and then I took you to Anna. I’ve never felt that presence again, and I never told you about it, because I couldn’t figure out how to explain it to you. Anna had just suffered her miscarriage, so I thought it was perfect to give you to her. I was so wrong! I wish that I had given you directly to Father, and then perhaps Paracelsus wouldn’t have poisoned Anna when she worried for your safety with him, and she gave you to Father.”

Vincent comforted her. “Narcissa, you were in no way responsible for Paracelsus’ actions. Your act of kindness toward Anna brought her great comfort after the loss of her baby. I want to tell you about the source of the telepathic message you received to go find me.” He pulled the journal out of his pocket and read it to Narcissa.

When he had finished reading, Narcissa shook her head. “This good man’s wicked son is not done yet! He wants to finish what he started! Beware, Vincent! There is more at stake here than you are yet aware of!”

Vincent reassured her. “Please don’t worry, Narcissa. Thanks to Diana, we are aware of Adrian’s intentions. We have taken steps to stop him, and we will be careful.”

On the way back up to the community chambers, Vincent puzzled over what it was that Narcissa had seen and didn’t tell him. Her cryptic warning held a deeper meaning, which she apparently didn’t think he was ready to hear yet. He had learned to never ignore anything she said, and decided he had better try to be more vigilant about things going on around him.

While Vincent was gone to see Narcissa, plans were made to reassign responsibilities in order to free up the members of the Council for the meeting. Jamie had gone to Father and volunteered to sit with Catherine while the Council was in session because Mary, Sarah, and Rebecca were all on the Council. Brooke was thrilled to take Little Jacob to care for while they discussed the solution to this new threat to their world. Fourteen-year-old Zach, with his brown hair and eyes and very serious attitude, showed

up in the pipe chamber after word of the Council meeting spread like wildfire through the community. He took over on the pipes, so Pascal could attend the meeting. Angela turned the children over to Olivia for the day.

Then, those six Council members all met informally in William’s kitchen to talk the situation over while they were waiting for Vincent to return. William had bowls of fruit on the tables for anyone who was hungry between meals, and they all took a fruit, started nibbling, and then looked at one another.

William finally spoke up. “Do any of you really think this decision needs discussing?” Everyone shook their heads. He continued. “If Diana says we need Joe Maxwell then, I say bring him down here. If he balks, 111 just feed him. That should fix him!” They all laughed, and that was the end of their “discussion.”

When Vincent walked into Father’s chambers upon his return, Father was happy to see that he was much more relaxed than he had seen him since Catherine was taken. “Well, Vincent, did Narcissa confirm what the journal said?” Father asked him.

Vincent smiled. “She did indeed, Father!” He related to Father the events as Narcissa remembered them.

Father shook his head with wonder. “If it wasn’t for her spiritual sensitivity and open mind, you probably would have died of exposure or been killed by Adrian and his men. Our world would have been a terrible dark place

without you. We owe Narcissa a great debt for our continued existence, which she made possible by saving you.”

The Council members had heard the message on the pipes that Vincent had returned, and they filed into the chamber ready to discuss Diana’s proposal to bring Joe Maxwell to the tunnels as a prospective Helper. The eight members of the complete Council were Father, Vincent, William, Pascal, Mary, Sarah, Rebecca, and Angela. This was more of a formality than a serious Council meeting, because they had already come to an unanimous decision before ever entering Father’s chambers.

After they were all seated at the table, Father began. “Well, I think we all know why we are here. You have all heard about the new danger to our world, and to Vincent and Little Jacob in particular, which Diana has uncovered. It is well to be forewarned, but we must now come to a decision about whether to add Joe Maxwell to our list of trusted Helpers. Diana says that it is imperative to include him, because he is the only one with the power and resources to help her stop Adrian Vlas.”

Pascal spoke up. “Father, I think we are all in agreement that Diana should bring him down here. If she trusts him, then I think we can also trust him. You trusted him once too. If it hadn’t been for his help, you and Diana wouldn’t have been able to rescue Vincent and Little Jacob.”

Father agreed. “That is right, and I do trust him.”

Sarah then spoke up. “Vincent and Little Jacob would have been killed by Gabriel if Diana hadn’t found and stopped him. Her profiling skills saved your life too, Father. If she thinks we need Joe Maxwell, then we must trust her judgment.”

Mary agreed. “Sarah is right. If it had not been for Diana, Vincent would not have been able to find you buried alive by Gregory Coil. Diana would never suggest bringing Joe Maxwell down here if she wasn’t sure he could be trusted and that he would help us.”

Everyone looked at William, and he said emphatically, “You won’t find me disagreeing with anything Diana suggests! We would all be dead or scattered if it wasn’t for her. I say bring Mr. Maxwell down here! We obviously need him if Diana says that she needs him too.”

Rebecca chimed in. “I’m in complete agreement.

Diana is our shield in the world above just like Vincent is our shield down here. We need to follow her advice, so she can continue protecting our world.”

Vincent looked at Angela. “You haven’t said anything yet, Angela. Would you like to add something?”

Angela smiled at Vincent and then looked around the table at the other members of the Council. “Diana loves all of us, and I have watched how she is with all of the children and with Little Jacob. She is a very smart and a very good woman. I think we would be extremely foolish not to bring Mr. Maxwell into our circle of Helpers.”

Father finished up the meeting. “Well, then it is

decided in favor of bringing Mr. Maxwell down here. She will be meeting with him at the District Attorney’s office tomorrow afternoon. William, would you please wrap up two sandwiches to send up to Benny to be delivered to Diana in Mr. Maxwell’s office at 1:00? Ill prepare the note to put into hers. We will have her bring him down here the next day, Saturday morning. He won’t be reporting to his office on the weekend. That should give us time to convince him to help us.”