COME UNDONE
by
PiperMerlyn
Chapter 18
The Chapters
22 May 2003
Cairo, Egypt
4:23 pm
Michael stood there, trying to ignore the spurt of jealousy as he watched Ariel—Casi—lean close to the man and talk. A few moments later, he watched them walk to a phone koisk.
“Michael?”
He glanced back, saw Quinn. “I’m fine. I’m tough. I’ll get over it.”
Quinn arched an eyebrow and glanced at the couple in the distance, then back at Michael. Michael grunted and gestured to the barge. “So what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
Quinn frowned. “Michael—“
“Don’t, damn it. I didn’t go all gooey on you three years ago.”
Quinn winced. He didn’t like being reminded of his brief marriage. It had gone wrong almost from the start and had ended rather disastrously. Thank God Charlene no longer worked at Hathaway Shipping. If she had stayed on, it would have been far worse than embarrassing.
“You know you two do really good with traffic jams,” muttered Alethea, trying to pass by Quinn and Michael. “Move.”
Both men moved slightly to let her pass and she grumbled the whole time she had to squeeze past them. She dumped her luggage on the ground and looked around. “Where’s Ariel?”
Quinn pointed to the phone koisk. “Over there.”
“With the hunk? Hmm, he’s much cuter than the other guy.” She started to walk over toward them but Michael grabbed her arm. She shot him a glare. “Let go.”
“I don’t think walking over there is such a good idea.”
Alethea pulled her arm free and grunted. “Whatever.”
Sheldon Reeves walked over to them. “What are you doing here so early? You weren’t supposed to be here for another two hours or so.”
“It’s a long story,” said Quinn. “We found out who Ariel is.”
“That’s wonderful.” Sheldon glanced through the group standing around, then frowned. “Where is she?”
“Calling her family,” muttered Michael.
Sheldon glanced in the direction Michael pointed. “Ah...well, since we’re all here, we might as well load up and head out.”
Michael gave a sharp nod. “Fine.” Then he saw Ariel—Casi—walk toward them, one hand holding the man’s. Again, that jealousy tried to overcome him.
She flashed everyone a smile and Quinn stepped around Michael and smiled back at her. “I’m glad everything worked out.”
“You know then.” She tugged on the man’s hand, pulling him forward. She glanced at Quinn, then Joe. “You’ve met?”
Quinn nodded. “Yes.”
Joe took a deep breath and nodded to the group in general. “Hello.”
There was an awkward silence for a long moment. Sheldon cleared his throat and smiled at Casi. “I’m delighted you’ve regained your memory...” He paused a moment and arched an eyebrow.
Casi grinned. “Casi MacFairlaigne, nice to meet you, Sheldon.”
“Nice to meet you...Casi.”
Her grin widened. “And this is Joe MacKensey.”
Sheldon shook the man’s outstretched hand. “Nice to meet you too.”
“Same here...”
Casi blushed. “I’m sorry.” She went through all the introductions, so that no one else would feel awkward. She looked around, suddenly. “Where’s Thane?”
“He’s taking a nap.”
“Oh...I wanted to say good-bye.”
Sheldon’s smile faded slightly. “I see.”
Joe glanced around the group, then looked at Casi. She seemed so in her element right now, among al these people. He’d learned on the train trip that they were all archeologists or in related fields. He took a step back, then another. He had to go to Bulgaria anyway...
As if sensing he was leaving, Casi spun around. “Joe..”
He grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled her close. “You heard what I told your father,” he said softly, searching her eyes for tears or anger.
“Yes...I heard.”
“I should go.”
“Joe—“ She grabbed his shoulders and shook her head. “No.”
“I need to. It’s a job. I’ll be back.”
She stood there, searched his face, his eyes for a long moment. “Did you have to make a Terminator joke?”
“I did?”
Casi took a deep breath. “That’s the first time you’ve told me you’d be back.”
“Casi—“
“Where are you going?”
“Bulgaria.” He let out a sigh. “Casi, if it weren’t necessary, I’d stay here but I have to go. Jack has already started things. I can’t back out now.”
Casi gave a jerky nod. “All right. We can go back to Cairo together though.”
“No.”
“I need to get back to Paris.
“True. But you also want to go with them, find out what they’re searching for.” Suddenly, he remembered something and pulled a chain out from under his shirt. “Here.”
Casi’s eyes widened. “You found my pearl.” She stared at it, remembered where she’d put it. “You found it,” she whispered.
Joe nodded. “I found it.” He placed the necklace around her neck, then kissed her gently. He placed his hands on either side of her face. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Casi took a deep breath and glanced briefly at the group starting to load onto the barge. “You really think I should go?”
“Yes. You do like to finish things.”
Casi sighed and looked back at him. “I should go back to Paris...”
“As soon as this little trip is done.”
“Why?”
“You’ll regret it. And your dear cousin Melia reminded me that regrets are not fun.”
“So...you met Melia.”
Joe found himself smiling. “Yes.”
“Be nice.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Casi grinned wider and hugged him. “I love you anyway.
Joe tightened his arms around her and rested his cheek on her head, felt himself choke up. God, he’d just found her and now he had to leave. But this time was the first time he found himself reluctant to walk away from her. He’d almost lost her by a foolish mistake. “I’ll be back soon. Maybe before the Fourth of July.” He pulled back, looked down at her and smiled. “Definitely before your birthday.”
“I should hope so. That’s way in October.” She bounced up on tiptoe and kissed him. “I could go for a nice little haunting Halloween, just the two of us.” Her smile turned into a wicked grin. “The Addams Family, maybe.”
“You are hardly Morticia and I am hardly whatever his name is.” Joe frowned a moment. “Tell me you don’t have an Uncle Festor haunting a basement somewhere.”
“No. No Uncle Festor, but you’ve met Aunt Lyra.”
Joe rolled his eyes. “Casi...”
“Well, come on. She unnerves everybody.”
Joe sighed. “I really have to go.”
Casi’s smile faded. “Yes.” She stepped back a small step, still able to reach for his hand. She clasped it in both of hers, felt the calluses on the fingertips and felt a little bit of the fear sweep over her. No, she told herself. He’s coming back this time. He said so. “So I’ll see you at the Fourth.”
“If not then, definitely by your birthday.
She nodded slowly. “Halloween, then. I’ll be waiting.” She forced herself to smile again. “I’ll be waiting with spooky music, candles and lots of candy.”
Joe took her hands in his and kissed her. “I thought that was for the trick-or-treaters.”
“Hey, you show up in costume, you win first prize.”
“And what would that be?”
Casi fell against him, rested her head on his chest so he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes. “Me,” she whispered.
Joe wrapped his arms around her and felt his heart break. God knew, he couldn’t walk away this time. And yet, damn it, he had to this time or all of the plans Jack had already laid out would be completely trashed and the months, years that they’ve been looking for the Hadads, tracking down each rumor, each little tidbit would be lost. He kissed the top of her head, drinking in the smell of her. Finally, he forced himself to let her go. “I’ll be back.”
“No more Terminator jokes, please.” She raised her head to look at him for a long time. “Be safe.”
“Always.”
Slowly, she stepped back until they couldn’t touch each other without moving. Joe regretted it the second she moved away. He cleared his throat. “You be safe too. Stay away from kidnappers.”
She made a sound that was half-sob, half laugh. “I’ll do my best.”
Joe took a step back, then another. “I love you. I will be back. I promise.”
Casi decided not to throw the other promise he’d once made—and broken—back at him. She nodded. “I’ll be waiting.”
Joe took a deep breath, turned his back on her and walked away.
Casi told herself she wouldn’t cry. It was different this time. Dear God, let it be different this time.
“Casi..” Sheldon touched her shoulder carefully, as if afraid she’d shatter if he touched her too hard. “Are you all right?”
“I’ll be fine.” She turned to look at him, saw the worry in his ice-blue eyes. “Really. He has work to do.” She nodded. “He’s coming back.”
“Good. Do you want me to call a taxi, so you can return to the train station?”
“No. I’m going with you.” She saw Michael walk up behind Sheldon, followed by nearly the entire group.
“Why?” asked Michael rather rudely. He gestured to the man walking away. “What about him?”
Casi took a deep breath. “He has business he has to take care of. And to answer your first question, I like to finish things. This is all too curious to just walk away from.” Hesitantly she touched his arm. “I’m sorry, Michael. I really am.”
Michael sighed and realized he was being worse than a selfish old brat. He patted her hand. “It’s all right, Ariel---“ He shook his head. “I mean, Casi.”
She flashed him a smile. “Casi MacFairlaigne. Nice to meet you, Michael Radcliffe.”
He couldn’t help but smile. A sudden thought made him frown. “Your name—it sounds familiar.” Michael heard a snort and glanced to his right, to see Quinn shaking his head. “What?”
“We went through this already. William MacFairlaigne’s daughter? He owns MacFairlaigne Software Incorporated?”
Michael shook his head. “Not that. Something else.” He pointed a finger at Casi. “Now that you can remember, are you an historian? An archeologist?”
Casi blushed. “Not exactly. I write fantasy novels.” She glanced down at the deck, almost shyly. “The l’Anthia series.”
Alethea stepped forward. “You’re kidding. You’re C.M. Fairlane?”
“Ah-hah,” said Michael loudly enough to make everyone around him jump. “That’s it. Fairlane.” Suddenly, he took a step back from her. “You write the l’Anthia series?”
Quinn recognized his friend’s tone. “We’re not even on the barge yet. Don’t start on her.”
Casi arched an eyebrow as they started toward the barge. She looked from Quinn to Michael. “What?”
Alethea grunted as she reached the barge. “Only that Michael thinks your stories are more fact than fiction. Ever since he read the first one years ago.”
Casi frowned. “My stories true? They’re not. They’re just based on my grandmother’s fairytales...” Her voice trailed off. “Oh my...” She remembered now—the book. Oh my God...
******
22 May 2003
Washington, D.C.
3:29 pm
“Well?”
Ethan sighed. “He took a little detour to Egypt. He’ll be in Bulgaria in plenty of time.”
Jackson Wilder snorted. “He’d better. I need the information soon.”
“Why?”
Wilder sat back in his chair. “Because if they get the feeling they’re trapped, they’ll run.”
Ethan frowned and studied the man for a long moment. “You’re still after the Hadads, aren’t you. All this time. Damn it, Jack—“
“As long as even one of those people are alive and able to run the smuggling operation, we’re in deep shit, Ashworth.”
“They’re all dead.”
Wilder shook his head. “I don’t believe so.” He made a shoo-away gesture. “But none of this concerns you. You have a bride waiting for you at home. Go.”
Ethan grunted. “One of these days, Jack...”
“Idle threats.”
Ethan shook his head and left the man’s office. He took the stairs to the lobby and walked out of the building. He climbed into his rickety old Ford F-150 truck and got settled behind the wheel. He sat there a moment, wondering why after all this time, Jack was still after the Hadads. He and Joe had managed to cut the major smuggling operation to the quick back in India several years ago. He tried to remember and nodded as he switched the ignition on. Seven years ago. What the hell was Jack up to?
He backed out of his parking space and headed home and promptly forgot to worry about it all. Home—Ethan grinned. Home and Cathy. Sometimes the fairytale does come true.....
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.