They put the packages they were carrying in the car and headed into the pub in the village, as old fashioned as any tourist would want. They took a table in the back of the main tap room and Lev took one where he could see them and the entrances, but far enough away that they had some privacy and so did he.
Betty Jo grinned as she settled herself. "He really is a good guy, putting up with all this stuff I do that he must hate."
"He's certainly stoic," Dia said looking at the handwritten menu on the chalkboard over the tap. "The Ploughman's I think," she said "and maybe an ale. How about you?"
"Sounds good to me except for the ale. I'll have some water and a cuppa," Betty Jo said.
"I'll tell them and then I'll be right back."
"Sure," Betty nodded and watched her cross the room to the bar and then head for the ladies room. The place was fairly empty. An elderly couple over in the corner splitting a meal and a couple of farmers at the bar. From what she could see the saloon bar was also empty except for a pair of ladies lingering over their desert. Still it was mid afternoon on a Monday.
Dia arrived back as the server dropped off their drinks and promised their food in a just a minute. They both smiled their thanks and Betty told her she was paying Lev's check as well.
"So we got everything, right?" Dia asked.
"Yes, Edwards whole list as well as Cook's. Plus the things I needed and the stuff you wanted," Betty said. She drank some tea. "God, I think I'm getting more addicted to this stuff every day. But there's nothing like it, I swear, not even Starbucks.
Dia laughed and touched her glass to the mug. "To tea," she said and then sat back to let the server put her plate down. They ate in silence for a few moments.
A man dressed like the typical tourist came into the bar, then got a stout and nodded at Lev. Lev's eyes were on him as he walked toward Betty Jo and Dia. Lev's hand went into his jacket when the man stopped opposite their table and looked down at them.
"Hullo. You're the folks from Avery Manor aren't you?"
Betty Jo gave him an appraising look. "Why?"
Lev had gotten up as if he were going to the gents. He'd stopped and was leaning casually against the doorjamb there. He had a clear shot at the guy and could see his hands from there.
"Well," the fellow said to Betty Jo, "the wife and I took the footpath that goes along your property and thought how beautiful the house was. Not wrecked with, you know, tennis courts and swimming pools. It's beautiful. And Maggie really was impressed with the garden. A real old-fashioned English garden she says. I don't know much about gardens, you understand, but I think it's pretty too."
"Thank you," Betty Jo said. "It's kind of you to say so and I'll be sure to tell the gardener." She smiled and turned back to her lunch clearly expecting that that was the end of the conversation.
"I wanted to give you something, if you don't mind," he added, looking at Dia.
"Give me something?" Dia said, as Betty Jo flicked a glance at Lev, dropped her hands to her lap, and put a foot flat against the rung on Dia's chair.
"Yeah, a note some guy at the hotel gave me. Said he knew you were here and just wanted to send you a note. I didn't see any harm in handing it to you. So here," he said, reaching into his jacket.
Lev tensed, watching this.
He pulled out an envelope. "Here. I don't have any idea what it says. He just asked me to give it to the dark haired woman from the manor, was all he said." He held it out to Dia.
As Dia took it, Betty Jo said, "Could you tell me what he looked like?".
"Nice looking guy, real dresser. Sounded educated, you know, one of those hoity-toity Brit accents."
"Was he staying at the hotel, do you know?"
He frowned. "He was at breakfast today. So I guess so. Look I'm taking up too much of your time. You have a nice day, hear?"
Betty and Dia smiled him on his way and then Dia slit the envelope open with her knife. It wasn't very long, just a few lines. "It's an offer for the book," Dia said, going pale. "Five million euros, cash."
Betty Jo blinked and plucked the letter out of her hand, reading it for herself. "Yep that's what it says."
Lev sauntered over. "Anything I should know about?" he asked them.
"Someone passed her a note offering for the book," Betty Jo said. She was waving for the waitress and fumbling in her bag for money. "I think we should leave," she said, looking at Dia again.
"Fine, let's get you to the car," Lev replied, pulling out a wad of pound notes and tossing them down on the table. "Let's go," he said, as he helped them up and got out in front of them to check the street and get them over to the car and safely inside. He rechecked everything as he walked around the car to get in on the driver's side. "Don't look now, just glance that way as we drive by. There's a man watching us from over by the duck pond. Doesn't look like the sort to feed the ducks." Lev started the car and pulled out.
"No he doesn't," Betty said as they went past. 'The description the guy gave me of the man who gave him the note was pretty vague."
"I want you to tell me everything he said to you once we get back home, okay?" Lev asked, meeting Betty Jo's eyes in the mirror.
"Sure, but it wasn't much," she said, holding Dia's hand. "Just he and his wife like the garden, what they saw of it from the footpath and that some guy at the hotel gave him the note to give to us."
The gates swung open as Lev drove up to them and he pulled around to the main entrance, pulling up for them. He shut the motor off and looked around. "Are you two all right?"
Dia nodded. "Fine, just a bit surprised. I wasn't expecting that."
"Yeah, well, they aren't dumb. They know you have a bodyguard so got someone to approach you rather than doing it themselves. So I guess we need to talk with Ian and figure out what we're going to do from here on out."
A few minutes later, having dropped off the packages where they belonged Betty Jo slipped into the study just ahead of Edwards with a tea tray and the cats. She smiled at Ian and kissed his cheek before taking her favorite armchair, leaving Lev and Dia to sort themselves out. Then she told Lev and Ian word for word what had happened.
Ian paled as he listened. "Obviously others know you've received the Book. I suppose it was too much to hope no one knew of it."
"The transfer must have resonated through the magical world or at least parts of it. Or else someone knew Elihu had it and died and that he sent it to me. I think my mother was trying to protect against that with the way she sent it to me," Dia said.
Ian nodded, looking thoughtfully at Lev. "Well, I don't see where we have a lot of options.
Lev nodded his agreement. "The same factors will be in place no matter where Dia goes."
Dia shook her head. "I don't want anyone at risk because of me. I can go back to Tel Aviv."
"And accomplish what exactly?" Ian asked softly. "Tell me, what sort of security did Elihu have in place? Were there attempts to take it from him? To buy it from him?"
"Elihu emulated the Essenes in their asceticism. He lived for most of his life, that I knew him, in a cave on Sinai. The things he had of value that he wished to protect, I assume he kept them in the spaces between. If there were attempts he never told me. The only one who might know is my mother."
Ian nodded. "Do you want her here to help you? Or... what do you think is the best way to handle this? And I'm not talking about looking at it through a prism of keeping Betty Jo or anyone else safe. I'm talking about the best way to protect it and you. Is being here helping you with that, or do you honestly believe you can accomplish that better elsewhere?"
She paid him the compliment of thinking about it. "Frankly I am sure I'm safer here than in Tel Aviv. Safer here than anywhere except perhaps at my father's. I can't see anyway to refuse the burden of this that is congruent with my ethics. So I am left with no other option but to try to unravel the mystery of it. I wrote to Israel last night to my mother asking her to send me all of Elihu's papers, his working notes and his journals for the last few years. It is possible there will be a clue there to what he was thinking when he passed it on to me and what he intended me to do with it."
She looked at Betty Jo their eyes meeting and then she turned back to Ian. "As for having her here, I can't imagine inflicting her on you unless it were the last option remaining in a life and death struggle. We are not there yet."
Lev snorted. He got up to refill his drink and brought one for Betty Jo and Dia.
Ian, lost in thought, took awhile before he replied. "Your mother is welcome here if she can help us. I can deal with her quite effectively, I think. At least I don't believe she can manage to manipulate me that easily. I look forward to hearing what you find in Elihu's papers. It may be though, that we will simply have to wait out the interest. Surely they will realize you are not about to sell it, and that attempting to steal it is futile."
"Well, there is still the more subtle warnings like the one today," Lev said. "The comment about seeing the house from the footpath. Knowing that I can't just pull out a gun and start shooting in the middle of an English village without a very obvious reason."
Ian nodded unhappily.
"Are we safer here or in London?" Betty Jo asked.
Ian looked over at Lev.
"Here we can watch approaches to the house. There it is more contained. Depends," Lev replied finally.
"Why do you ask?" Ian asked Betty Jo. "Anything beyond the obvious?"
"Depends on what you consider obvious. In London it's easier to pull a gun. Dia was planning several weeks at the British museum, Blackheath owes you a bunch of favors and the R&C is there and they could help with solving the puzzle if you wanted." She smiled. "Just off the top of my head. Or you could set things up here to lock the place down like Stephen and Marc do at the Refuge. I'm sure they'd help."
"Dia? Do you like the idea of moving to London? We can port from here to the British Museum or from the townhouse to the British Museum. True about Blackheath. I can push them to help protect you. Of course then they'll want to know all about what is going on." He made a face. "Of course they probably already know."
"For me, as you say I can port back and forth. But if you're protecting me who's protecting Betty?"
Ian ignored the comment and finally said, "I've got better wards and alarms in place in London. I'd feel less exposed there."
Betty Jo nodded. "I'll speak to Edwards and Tatiana. We can move back to town tomorrow, say early afternoon, if that works. Now answer her question."
Ian shook his head. "I'm protecting the both of you. Between Lev and me, you'll be fine."
Lev grinned. "Don't forget the cats."
"I wasn't worried about me being fine, darling. I know I will be. I was worried about you," Betty Jo said.
"Don't be. I'll be fine," Lev said with a grin as he got up and added, "I'll see to security for the move."
Ian watched him saunter out. "Smart ass," he muttered. Then he turned his attention back to Betty Jo. "No need to worry about me, Betty. I'm not sure why you are."
Dia grinned and stood. "I'll go start packing," she said.
Betty Jo watched her leave before saying. "You tend to worry. Now you've more reason to worry, or so I imagine you believe."
He smiled. "She's your sister. I'm going to do all I can to keep her safe. Just as I'll do everything in my power to do the same for you, Billie, and Bobbie. It's not a function of worrying. It's ... duty. An old fashioned word, I know. But it's the best I have to offer."
She went and sat on his lap, her arms around his neck. "I love you," she said.
"You're a very strange woman, Betty. I suppose that is why I love you."
"Now why am I strange this time?" she asked.
He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose. "Because you worry about me worrying. Will you mind going to London?"
She shook her head. "You'll be there, so I'll be fine. I can help Dia with her research and Bobbie and Simon should have news on the notebook soon, so I imagine we'll be in DC for a few days as well. Plus maybe I can get you take me out on a date or two, just the two of us, while we're there."
"That last sounds like heaven. I don't mind your family but they do tend to keep us busy."
"Then I shall be sure to make it happen. If it comes to it will you want to go with Dia to find Solomon?"
"If she wants me along, I'd go."
"But will you want to go?"
He grinned. "Sounds like fun."
"I think so too. Are we going to argue about me going too?" she asked.
"Would it do me any good?" he asked with a grin.
"Probably not," she said kissing him. Then she leaned back and looked at him. "You know you look a little tired, like you need a break, maybe even a nap."
"Hmmm. I could be talked into that if you go to bed with me."
"I was hoping you'd say that," she said.
Betty Jo grinned as she settled herself. "He really is a good guy, putting up with all this stuff I do that he must hate."
"He's certainly stoic," Dia said looking at the handwritten menu on the chalkboard over the tap. "The Ploughman's I think," she said "and maybe an ale. How about you?"
"Sounds good to me except for the ale. I'll have some water and a cuppa," Betty Jo said.
"I'll tell them and then I'll be right back."
"Sure," Betty nodded and watched her cross the room to the bar and then head for the ladies room. The place was fairly empty. An elderly couple over in the corner splitting a meal and a couple of farmers at the bar. From what she could see the saloon bar was also empty except for a pair of ladies lingering over their desert. Still it was mid afternoon on a Monday.
Dia arrived back as the server dropped off their drinks and promised their food in a just a minute. They both smiled their thanks and Betty told her she was paying Lev's check as well.
"So we got everything, right?" Dia asked.
"Yes, Edwards whole list as well as Cook's. Plus the things I needed and the stuff you wanted," Betty said. She drank some tea. "God, I think I'm getting more addicted to this stuff every day. But there's nothing like it, I swear, not even Starbucks.
Dia laughed and touched her glass to the mug. "To tea," she said and then sat back to let the server put her plate down. They ate in silence for a few moments.
A man dressed like the typical tourist came into the bar, then got a stout and nodded at Lev. Lev's eyes were on him as he walked toward Betty Jo and Dia. Lev's hand went into his jacket when the man stopped opposite their table and looked down at them.
"Hullo. You're the folks from Avery Manor aren't you?"
Betty Jo gave him an appraising look. "Why?"
Lev had gotten up as if he were going to the gents. He'd stopped and was leaning casually against the doorjamb there. He had a clear shot at the guy and could see his hands from there.
"Well," the fellow said to Betty Jo, "the wife and I took the footpath that goes along your property and thought how beautiful the house was. Not wrecked with, you know, tennis courts and swimming pools. It's beautiful. And Maggie really was impressed with the garden. A real old-fashioned English garden she says. I don't know much about gardens, you understand, but I think it's pretty too."
"Thank you," Betty Jo said. "It's kind of you to say so and I'll be sure to tell the gardener." She smiled and turned back to her lunch clearly expecting that that was the end of the conversation.
"I wanted to give you something, if you don't mind," he added, looking at Dia.
"Give me something?" Dia said, as Betty Jo flicked a glance at Lev, dropped her hands to her lap, and put a foot flat against the rung on Dia's chair.
"Yeah, a note some guy at the hotel gave me. Said he knew you were here and just wanted to send you a note. I didn't see any harm in handing it to you. So here," he said, reaching into his jacket.
Lev tensed, watching this.
He pulled out an envelope. "Here. I don't have any idea what it says. He just asked me to give it to the dark haired woman from the manor, was all he said." He held it out to Dia.
As Dia took it, Betty Jo said, "Could you tell me what he looked like?".
"Nice looking guy, real dresser. Sounded educated, you know, one of those hoity-toity Brit accents."
"Was he staying at the hotel, do you know?"
He frowned. "He was at breakfast today. So I guess so. Look I'm taking up too much of your time. You have a nice day, hear?"
Betty and Dia smiled him on his way and then Dia slit the envelope open with her knife. It wasn't very long, just a few lines. "It's an offer for the book," Dia said, going pale. "Five million euros, cash."
Betty Jo blinked and plucked the letter out of her hand, reading it for herself. "Yep that's what it says."
Lev sauntered over. "Anything I should know about?" he asked them.
"Someone passed her a note offering for the book," Betty Jo said. She was waving for the waitress and fumbling in her bag for money. "I think we should leave," she said, looking at Dia again.
"Fine, let's get you to the car," Lev replied, pulling out a wad of pound notes and tossing them down on the table. "Let's go," he said, as he helped them up and got out in front of them to check the street and get them over to the car and safely inside. He rechecked everything as he walked around the car to get in on the driver's side. "Don't look now, just glance that way as we drive by. There's a man watching us from over by the duck pond. Doesn't look like the sort to feed the ducks." Lev started the car and pulled out.
"No he doesn't," Betty said as they went past. 'The description the guy gave me of the man who gave him the note was pretty vague."
"I want you to tell me everything he said to you once we get back home, okay?" Lev asked, meeting Betty Jo's eyes in the mirror.
"Sure, but it wasn't much," she said, holding Dia's hand. "Just he and his wife like the garden, what they saw of it from the footpath and that some guy at the hotel gave him the note to give to us."
The gates swung open as Lev drove up to them and he pulled around to the main entrance, pulling up for them. He shut the motor off and looked around. "Are you two all right?"
Dia nodded. "Fine, just a bit surprised. I wasn't expecting that."
"Yeah, well, they aren't dumb. They know you have a bodyguard so got someone to approach you rather than doing it themselves. So I guess we need to talk with Ian and figure out what we're going to do from here on out."
A few minutes later, having dropped off the packages where they belonged Betty Jo slipped into the study just ahead of Edwards with a tea tray and the cats. She smiled at Ian and kissed his cheek before taking her favorite armchair, leaving Lev and Dia to sort themselves out. Then she told Lev and Ian word for word what had happened.
Ian paled as he listened. "Obviously others know you've received the Book. I suppose it was too much to hope no one knew of it."
"The transfer must have resonated through the magical world or at least parts of it. Or else someone knew Elihu had it and died and that he sent it to me. I think my mother was trying to protect against that with the way she sent it to me," Dia said.
Ian nodded, looking thoughtfully at Lev. "Well, I don't see where we have a lot of options.
Lev nodded his agreement. "The same factors will be in place no matter where Dia goes."
Dia shook her head. "I don't want anyone at risk because of me. I can go back to Tel Aviv."
"And accomplish what exactly?" Ian asked softly. "Tell me, what sort of security did Elihu have in place? Were there attempts to take it from him? To buy it from him?"
"Elihu emulated the Essenes in their asceticism. He lived for most of his life, that I knew him, in a cave on Sinai. The things he had of value that he wished to protect, I assume he kept them in the spaces between. If there were attempts he never told me. The only one who might know is my mother."
Ian nodded. "Do you want her here to help you? Or... what do you think is the best way to handle this? And I'm not talking about looking at it through a prism of keeping Betty Jo or anyone else safe. I'm talking about the best way to protect it and you. Is being here helping you with that, or do you honestly believe you can accomplish that better elsewhere?"
She paid him the compliment of thinking about it. "Frankly I am sure I'm safer here than in Tel Aviv. Safer here than anywhere except perhaps at my father's. I can't see anyway to refuse the burden of this that is congruent with my ethics. So I am left with no other option but to try to unravel the mystery of it. I wrote to Israel last night to my mother asking her to send me all of Elihu's papers, his working notes and his journals for the last few years. It is possible there will be a clue there to what he was thinking when he passed it on to me and what he intended me to do with it."
She looked at Betty Jo their eyes meeting and then she turned back to Ian. "As for having her here, I can't imagine inflicting her on you unless it were the last option remaining in a life and death struggle. We are not there yet."
Lev snorted. He got up to refill his drink and brought one for Betty Jo and Dia.
Ian, lost in thought, took awhile before he replied. "Your mother is welcome here if she can help us. I can deal with her quite effectively, I think. At least I don't believe she can manage to manipulate me that easily. I look forward to hearing what you find in Elihu's papers. It may be though, that we will simply have to wait out the interest. Surely they will realize you are not about to sell it, and that attempting to steal it is futile."
"Well, there is still the more subtle warnings like the one today," Lev said. "The comment about seeing the house from the footpath. Knowing that I can't just pull out a gun and start shooting in the middle of an English village without a very obvious reason."
Ian nodded unhappily.
"Are we safer here or in London?" Betty Jo asked.
Ian looked over at Lev.
"Here we can watch approaches to the house. There it is more contained. Depends," Lev replied finally.
"Why do you ask?" Ian asked Betty Jo. "Anything beyond the obvious?"
"Depends on what you consider obvious. In London it's easier to pull a gun. Dia was planning several weeks at the British museum, Blackheath owes you a bunch of favors and the R&C is there and they could help with solving the puzzle if you wanted." She smiled. "Just off the top of my head. Or you could set things up here to lock the place down like Stephen and Marc do at the Refuge. I'm sure they'd help."
"Dia? Do you like the idea of moving to London? We can port from here to the British Museum or from the townhouse to the British Museum. True about Blackheath. I can push them to help protect you. Of course then they'll want to know all about what is going on." He made a face. "Of course they probably already know."
"For me, as you say I can port back and forth. But if you're protecting me who's protecting Betty?"
Ian ignored the comment and finally said, "I've got better wards and alarms in place in London. I'd feel less exposed there."
Betty Jo nodded. "I'll speak to Edwards and Tatiana. We can move back to town tomorrow, say early afternoon, if that works. Now answer her question."
Ian shook his head. "I'm protecting the both of you. Between Lev and me, you'll be fine."
Lev grinned. "Don't forget the cats."
"I wasn't worried about me being fine, darling. I know I will be. I was worried about you," Betty Jo said.
"Don't be. I'll be fine," Lev said with a grin as he got up and added, "I'll see to security for the move."
Ian watched him saunter out. "Smart ass," he muttered. Then he turned his attention back to Betty Jo. "No need to worry about me, Betty. I'm not sure why you are."
Dia grinned and stood. "I'll go start packing," she said.
Betty Jo watched her leave before saying. "You tend to worry. Now you've more reason to worry, or so I imagine you believe."
He smiled. "She's your sister. I'm going to do all I can to keep her safe. Just as I'll do everything in my power to do the same for you, Billie, and Bobbie. It's not a function of worrying. It's ... duty. An old fashioned word, I know. But it's the best I have to offer."
She went and sat on his lap, her arms around his neck. "I love you," she said.
"You're a very strange woman, Betty. I suppose that is why I love you."
"Now why am I strange this time?" she asked.
He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose. "Because you worry about me worrying. Will you mind going to London?"
She shook her head. "You'll be there, so I'll be fine. I can help Dia with her research and Bobbie and Simon should have news on the notebook soon, so I imagine we'll be in DC for a few days as well. Plus maybe I can get you take me out on a date or two, just the two of us, while we're there."
"That last sounds like heaven. I don't mind your family but they do tend to keep us busy."
"Then I shall be sure to make it happen. If it comes to it will you want to go with Dia to find Solomon?"
"If she wants me along, I'd go."
"But will you want to go?"
He grinned. "Sounds like fun."
"I think so too. Are we going to argue about me going too?" she asked.
"Would it do me any good?" he asked with a grin.
"Probably not," she said kissing him. Then she leaned back and looked at him. "You know you look a little tired, like you need a break, maybe even a nap."
"Hmmm. I could be talked into that if you go to bed with me."
"I was hoping you'd say that," she said.
The Seal of Solomon
Chapter Fifteen