She savoured that idea, rolled it around in that brilliant mind of hers.
‘D’or? If it was French, that’s gold, sure. But the locals speak Breton, or used to…’
The other place names were Breton, or based on Breton words. Why not this one? Because he didn’t want it to be. Not now. He swallowed on his suddenly parched throat. ‘It means an entrance.’
‘Or gates? Like the gates of Ys?’
‘That’s a leap,’ he murmured dubiously.
She wasn’t listening. ‘We need to go back. I need to see a map. And those scans of the seabed. And the photos we took.’
‘Ari, I think you might be making some assumptions here that—’
She grabbed his hand, pulling him after her as she headed back towards the bridge. ‘You wanted me to look into all of this, to work for you, didn’t you? Well, try to keep up, Rafael, because this is exactly what we’re doing. I mean to make sure you get your money’s worth. Like it or not.’
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
‘Good God, Ari, it looks like a bomb went off in here.’
Jason was one to talk. She’d seen his workspaces and the debris he left in his wake. He made a mess wherever he went. The outrage in his voice broke the spell of concentration surrounding her. She’d been completely immersed, the printouts spread across the floor in the living room. Alix and Lina, who had been relaxing there, had taken their tea and fled. She’d zoomed in on the sonar images on the laptop and didn’t remember the last time she had even blinked. Rafael had dropped her back, but she hadn’t invited him in. It might be his money, but he was distracting, and right now she didn’t need to be distracted. If he wanted answers, he’d have to let her do this her way. Work was good. Work let her ignore the madness. It stopped her thinking about Rafael. And Ankou. And Simon.
Lunch with Rafael had been a revelation. She’d seen another side of him. When he talked about Tristan and Iseult, about the legends of this coast, and his family history…there was a passion in him she had not expected. He’d inspired her.
The only person who had ever understood her so well, who had made her feel that way, was Simon. At least, he had once. Before she left him here and he found someone else. When Simon had been the one to tell her stories.
She couldn’t invite Rafael into that space. It was Simon’s still. Rafael could tell her all the tales he wanted about Ankou and Death incarnate, but she knew who she had seen. He had been real. If only for a moment.
Simon loved to watch her work. He’d let her get on with it. Or worked alongside her, silent and just as enthralled as she was.
Jason, not so much. She was aware of him now, pacing, watching, looking for her attention.
‘Where have you been?’ she asked, blinking at him. She had no idea what time it was or how long she’d been at this. Her body ached from sitting in the same position.
‘Driving back from Brest. We stopped for lunch. We were celebrating. Are you here on your own? Where’s everyone else?’
The house was deserted. So was the garden. The washing machine hummed away somewhere in the utility room. She hadn’t realised everyone had gone.
‘Out, I think. Surfing or something… Jason, what happened? You said they didn’t believe you.’
‘Well,’ he replied with a laugh which always heralded the start of a story with him. Nico came in behind him, his face altogether more solemn. ‘They thought we were trying to pull a fast one, of course. They wouldn’t even look at the evidence. Just the mask itself. They said it’s clearly modern, wouldn’t deign to examine it properly. The prof told us the coin is a fluke and we ought to stop messing around like amateurs.Amateurs!’ To her surprise, he shrugged. ‘But then I got the phone call about Rafael’s cash. It was glorious.’
Carefully, Ari circled a point on the sonar and deliberately avoided making eye contact. ‘Rafael’s money came to the rescue in the nick of time then?’
‘It certainly makes things much easier, doesn’t it? And think about it, Ari. We don’t need to have them breathing down our necks anymore. He’s promised to take care of everything. He can stand there and let them insult him, if they dare. University or not, they have blinkers on. They don’t care, and they won’t care until we find something they cannot refute. Damn, I’m hungry. Do we have anything for dinner?’
‘I thought you’d eaten.’ But she knew the answer to that. Her brother was always hungry. He could go out for a six-course meal and still stop for chips on the way home.
‘That was ages ago. I’ll lock this up first.’
He stalked off with the box containing the mask.
She glanced at the clock. It was almost eight. When had it got so late?
Ari looked over at Nico, met his concerned gaze. ‘Was it that bad at the university?’
‘It was awful,’ he groaned. ‘I actually thought he was going to punch someone. Their head of department told him, to his face, mind, that he’s a charlatan. And then, right in front of her, he got the call from du Lac’s people. All he could wish for. Then their legal team phoned her and the shit really hit the fan. We had a front-row seat. It was horrible.’
Ari gave him a solemn look. ‘But gratifying?’
