Dans le Murs (Part 14)

God help me I slapped her face hard and she fell back into the chair in astonishment, her fingers touching the weal on her cheek. I opened the door and shouted for Therese who, noticing the anger in my voice, came running quickly. She looked at Simone then at me is fear and amazement.
“Therese, get Madeleine here NOW!” I ordered. She hesitated then scurried out of the door.
Simone looked at me with fear and anger in her eyes. “You hit me!” she spat, “You fucking hit me. Don’t you dare touch me again.”
“Simone.” I tried to reason with her, “Simone, you were hysterical. Please listen; I don’t want to hurt you or have you hurt, you must believe me. I shouldn’t tell you this because if I do you could be in even greater danger but I think Henk’s father or sister, or both, belong to an organisation that is trying to destroy us. I know we are not always squeaky clean but neither are they. You must see that we cannot just stand by and allow them to ride over us. I promise you that Henk will not touched if he is innocent; he will never know that I, and therefore you, is involved with his father’s troubles. Please Simone, I need you to be on my side right now and I meant it honestly when I say I loved you still and didn’t want you harmed.”
“But you hurt me.” she rubbed her face where the blow had struck.
“I may hurt you but I could never harm you or do anything that would deliberately place you in danger but, at this moment, you could be in danger.” I said softly.
“You promise?” she looked lost and frail.

I nodded knowing that if Henk was involved or anything went wrong, Simone would have to be dealt with by TP; she would be an out of control loose cannon. I hated myself for deceiving her and for maybe having to hurt her after the fun we had had together but my responsibility was to our chapter and Council.
Madeleine arrived, sweating and panting. She saw Simone and me and gaped.
“Madeleine.” I commanded, “You will find Oscar and tell him to send two sisters here now to keep Simone company until everything is over. He will know what you mean. Go NOW!”
She dashed out again. Simone looked daggers. Company?” she asked, “You mean a prisoner don’t you?”
“For your own protection and that of Henk.” I told her, “Just in case you have any odd ideas. You will be safe and Henk will be safer. Maybe one day I can explain but for now I ask you to trust me. Simone, have I ever let you down?”
She looked mad then, as she thought, her demeanour changed. “No,” she said, “you have always been there for me. Okay, I’ll go along – for now.” At that moment Madeleine arrived with two women. They were dressed in civilian clothes and I reminded myself to congratulate Oscar.
“Don’t let this young lady out of your sight until I say so.” I ordered. “She can do what she likes but may not leave the school buildings or have any communication with the outside world. She is not a prisoner but in protective custody – for her own safety.”
They bowed. “We understand Master.” one said crisply.
Simone looked at me. “Master?” she shrilled. “What the fuck is going on? Who are you?”
“I am still Colin.” I said gently, “Just keep that in your mind and I will see you a little later.” I kissed the cheek that I had slapped before turning on my heel and left passing a gobsmacked Therese on the way. I beckoned to Madeleine to accompany me back to the temple.
“Will Simone be alright Master?” Madeleine asked as we walked briskly.
“I cannot say Madeleine.” I replied honestly, “She is not necessarily in command of her own destiny; that is all you need to know at present.”

Silence prevailed until we arrived at my quarters and I dismissed her. Melanthe was waiting. I asked her where I could find Oscar and was told he was in the blocked tunnel and would return shortly. I waited nervously, not able to concentrate until the door opened and Oscar swept in. He bowed but my hand signalled him to forget it.
“I think you are seeking a Mijnheer Pieter and Mijnfraulin Gerrit van der Pol.” I told him. “He is an administrator at the orphanage and Gerrit is his daughter. Both are religious zealots. There is also a son Henk. I don’t think he is involved; treat him carefully unless and until you can confirm his guilt, as a favour to me please. Obviously, if he gets in the way or tries to protect either of them then you must do what you must. I would prefer him not to be too badly damaged if at all possible but do not endanger any of your people in the process.”
“Thank you for that Master.” he smiled grimly. “I will pass it on to my team; I think they will obey.”
“Good man.” I stood. “Keep me informed.”
He half bowed then left. As he had said, “Now, we wait.”

So we waited; nothing happened that day nor did it the following day. The two Council members bade their farewells and, I assumed, departed for home, which I discovered, was the mid-west of the USA. I had clearly made two friends; something that would prove useful sooner than I thought. I was able to contact Nahdya for a few minutes discovering that she was still having minor problems with Wizard Maladin. I vowed to fax a very stiffly worded note to Ceres drawing his attention to my influence with High Council and asking him, politely but pointedly, to curb Maladin’s obstructive attitude. Or else! Melanthe was attentive and it was so difficult not to let the situation get out of hand and enjoy her. I visited Simone who was grumpy but accepting of the situation. I managed to spend a little time with Anne-Marie as we walked near the lake once more although summer was rapidly fading. She reminded me of the boat, the piles of stones and the grassy island. Her friend, Anna-Lise had moved to Paris plus Anne-Marie had long passed her birthday. Very conveniently Anne-Marie could not have sex but she did all she could to try to get my penis out for her to play with. Thinking of Nahdya I managed to resist but it was a close call. Anne-Marie was a very attractive and persistent young lady! We returned to the orphanage where Madeleine was waiting frantically saying that I was needed immediately. Extending apologies I followed her at quite a pace down into the caverns and to the ‘offices’ of Oscar and the TP. Here Oscar was pacing to and fro. As I entered he rushed over, almost tumbling in his anxiety.

“Master!” he shouted, “We have them, we have them!”
“Whoa, slow down!” I held my hand up. “Have who?”
“The van der Pol family, all of them.” he shouted excitedly, “They are all part of it.” I swore under my breath hoping that he had made a mistake about Henk.
“Tell me slowly, all of it.” I tried to quieten him but he was fired up with his success.
“We heard a noise in the cellar, waited and then fired the gas. After a few minutes two of my team went in and found the brother and sister there – out cold. They have been brought here but won’t wake up for a while. I and one of the team went up and into the van der Pol house where we found Mijnheer van der Pol on his computer preparing e-mails to various places, including we think the Vatican, about our chapter. We stopped him quite quickly.” I winced as he continued. “Unfortunately Minjheer van der Pol had a weak heart and the Taser charge was a little fatal …!”
“A little fatal?” I screeched, interrupting him, “What is a little fatal?”

He looked at me with a wrinkled brow. “He seemed okay at first,” he said, “but then his heart stopped and we couldn’t revive him.”
“He’s dead?” I asked.
“I’m afraid so.” he replied, “Don’t worry Master, we have a procedure for such occurrences.”
“But surely you can’t ‘vanish’ the whole family?” I shook my head. “Somebody will be bound to notice.”
“Master.” he said authoritatively, “The case was handed to TP so TP has to clear up any untidiness. Please be assured that once we have all the information from the brother and sister there will be nothing remaining to implicate the chapter. That is our duty; to fail in that duty is not acceptable; all TP personnel understand and acknowledge that. Do I have your permission to continue?”
“I’m not sure you need it Oscar.” I said grimly, “But, yes, you must resume your duties immediately.”

“You are right Master;” he said, standing, “we do not require it, but I ask out of courtesy. I will advise you of any development. We shall be in C02 if you require us.” He turned and left.
The whole family implicated! How would I tell Simone that she would be unlikely to see her beloved Henk again? I hoped that she would be reasonable but realised that was unlikely. My fear was that she would become irrational and suffer the attention of TP. In that I could not protect her; even High Council cannot interfere with TP once they transfer a case. All I could anticipate was that Henk simply accompanied Gerrit down the cellar but I knew that was wishful thinking. I made a flying visit to the school to order the release of Simone but made certain I did not see her. On my return I deliberated whether to visit C02. One part of me said to return to Delhi while the other said that I must appear to have the interests of the chapter at heart especially as I am on a shortlist of one to become the next Grand Master. I turned towards C unit, a fortified section cut out of the living rock. On my arrival I was shown every courtesy and taken to see Oscar. He looked flushed and stretched as he greeted me with a bow.

“Master.” he welcomed me, “It is good that you visit us. We are progressing well. The woman is obstinate but the boy has a sense of self-preservation and is beginning to assist us. So far we know that Pieter, the father, was indeed a senior figure in Opus Dei and the children were brought up to adhere to the teachings. Gerrit was very obedient but Henk had many doubts. Gerrit was the contact and mentor for Catherine. The mother died some time ago – fortunate woman in my opinion. It seems Henk targeted Simone as a contact within the orphanage so that he could use her to get to us. Luckily she wasn’t a member and knew little but through her he was able to make friends with others; some of whom might have seen something especially with the film unit there. Fortunately for us he fell under Simone’s spell and lost sight of his objective. Gerrit, on the other hand, was dedicated and nurtured Catherine before setting up the ‘little girl lost’ scenario. I suspect she knew about the tunnel to the mill so Catherine may not be the first. We are following up on that. Whether Gerrit knew the others or whether the information came from her father we will discover. We are also examining Pieter’s computer to find out how much has already been transmitted to the outside and to whom. I suspect the boy has little more to tell us; it is the woman we must break.”
“So what happens to the boy now?” I asked.