said to Sam and set off after Mapiya, reaching the gates only a few lengths behind her.
She practically jumped down off her horse and removed a Winchester rifle from its holster, before tentatively entering the dark fort.
'Wait a few minutes. If you hear shooting, get on Valour and get out of here,' I said to Sam as he dropped down to the ground. I followed suit and grabbed my own rifle, ensuring it was loaded before following Mapiya once again.
'See anything?' I asked when I caught her up.
She shook her head. 'Can't see a damn thing.'
There was movement from up ahead, past two cannons that lay dormant at the far end of the yard. I raised my rifle. Light flickered on inside the huge main building, and several large men walked out to join us. 'And you would be?' I asked.
The men didn't answer as they lit several torches around the yard, illuminating everything. One man hadn't moved. He was a head taller than I was, with a bare chest and long dark hair that was tied back and stretched down to his waist. He wore a feathered headdress, although the light didn't allow me to tell their colour.
'I am Chief Blacktail of the Crows,' he said, his voice was a low rumble that commanded respect.
'Nathan Garrett,' I said.
'And you are?' Chief Blacktail asked Mapiya.
'My name is Mapiya.'
Chief Blacktail smiled. 'A Sioux name.'
'My father was Chief of the Sioux.'
I pushed aside my surprise at Mapiya’s revelation. “Why are you all here? What happened to the soldiers who should be here?”
The Chief turned his gaze from Mapiya to me. “I don’t think you’re in any position to ask questions.”
I walked toward him and handed over the bloody tomahawk. 'Someone tried to frame one of the tribes for the murder of a ranch owner not far from here. I think we need to have a talk before anyone else dies.
Chief Blacktail glared at the tomahawk. 'I'm afraid it might be too late for that.'
Chapter 11
New Forrest, England. Now.
I hadn't been sitting long, maybe a minute at most. Enough to recline the black leather chair, before Olivia had almost thrown the living room door open in her haste to find me.
'Are you going to explain why you think Amber Moore was the killer's first victim?' Olivia demanded. She would have probably questioned me earlier, but her phone had gone off, giving me time to leave the kitchen.
'I will, but I need to see the body first,' I said.
'If you have information-'
'He's not hiding anything from you,' Tommy interrupted. 'Are you?'
I shook my head. 'I don't want to tell you something if I'm wrong, thus wasting your time and mine.'
Olivia set her jaw. 'Tommy, give us a minute, will you?'
Tommy left the room, presumably to find more food of mine to pilfer.
Olivia closed the dark, wooden door behind Tommy and sat at the end of the leather couch closest to my chair. I pushed my legs down, bringing myself upright and waited for her question.
'Would you consider working for the LOA to bring whoever is committing these murders to justice?'
That was basically what I'd expected to be asked, and I already knew my answer. 'No.'
'Thanks for your help,' Olivia said and got back to her feet.
'I'll work for you,' I clarified. 'Only you, not Avalon.'
She turned back to me with a quizzical expression on her face. 'Why?'
'Don't trust Avalon,' I said. 'This is an agreement between you and me.'
'I can't pay you without putting your name on something.'
'I never asked for money,' I said.
Olivia sat back down. 'What?'
'I've accumulated a tidy sum over the years, I don't need money. But I do want something from you.'
'No,' she snapped. 'I'm not about to jeopardise my career for anyone.'
I laughed, I couldn't help it. 'Bloody hell, Olivia, nothing like that. What do you know about what happened to me a decade ago?'
'Tommy said that Mordred grabbed you while you were helping children escape his experiments. That he had your memory wiped.'
'That about sums it up. But Mordred was getting help from someone, and I'm certain Avalon was involved. So, all I want you to do is call Avalon and ask them to send all the information they have on Mordred, to you.'
'Why?'
'Because they'll either comply, which means they have nothing to hide, or the merest mention of his name will have someone calling you to tell you to stay away from it. In which case, we'll know something's going on.'
'Mordred's fingers were in a lot of pies, was well known within Avalon circles. He had a lot of friends before he decided to cut ties and go it alone.'
'Mordred never went it alone. He just gave Avalon plausible deniability.'
'Did you know that he's dead?' Olivia asked.
I'd been the one looking down on him through a sniper scope in New York several months earlier, the one who pulled the trigger and blew the back of his head off. But I wasn't going to tell Olivia that.
'I'd heard that, yes,' I said.
'But you're still hoping to jog loose anyone who was helping him.'
I nodded, but didn't say what I was thinking. And then I'm going to point out to them how stupid it was to let me live. Preferably over the course of many hours in private.
'That could get me fired, or killed,' Olivia said.
'Be quick then.'
She raised an eyebrow.
'They're not going to just kill you. You'll get warned to stay away long before that. It probably means someone of power is behind it.'
'Tommy told me that you saved a lot of kids from Mordred's filthy hands. That they caught you when you went back to save more. Why'd you do it? You didn't work for Avalon anymore. You haven't worked there for about a century.'
'I did it because no one else would,' I said. 'Because it needed doing. And because I was no longer required to sit by and watch horrific things happen for the greater good of Avalon. They're not always the good guys.'
Olivia dialled a number on her mobile. 'This is Director Olivia Green of the LOA.'
There was a pause whilst someone on the other end replied.
'I need access to Mordred's file.'
Another pause.
'Yes, that Mordred.'
Pause.
'You don't need to know why, just that I want it. How long will it take?'
Pause.
'Excellent, get back to me.' Olivia hung up.
'It'll be a few hours,' she said to me. 'Most of his file isn't computerised.'
'Thank you,' I said. 'I expect you'll get a call before then to telling you to mind your business.'
'What do I say when they ask why I want it?'
I shrugged. 'Make something up. Just make it sound believable.'
'So, do we have a deal?' She held out her hand.
