Praetorian Series [4] All Roads Lead to Rome (40 page)

“Thanks for staying out the way,” he said, brushing my shoulders off
un
helpfully.

I batted his hands away.  “Wow, thanks for that.”

He smiled, nothing ever fazing him.  “Didn’t mean it like that, Artie.  If there’d been
mucho
bad guys around here, that hiding spot would have been the best place for you.”

“Thanks… I guess.”

His smile grew and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, held me tight and led me away.  The rest of the team were milling around the room, some still with their gear on and weapons ready, while the rest were stripping down to more comfortable attire.  I looked away and found the two Romans chatting with Helena and Archer, which is exactly where John led me.

“…is clear,” Gaius said.  “Paullus is gagged and bound in a lower level room where he will be unable to draw attention to us.  This home is used as a place where we often bring captives for interrogation, and would be used as safe haven in a time of crisis.  The storefront is well stocked with provisions, and like the farm, is operated by one Praetorian autonomously, with only monthly reports sent to superiors.  We are in fortunate that his report was last completed only a few days ago.

“A safe house,” Archer mused.  “Handy.”

“Indeed,” Gaius said curtly, having picked up a dislike for the man like the rest of us.  “We will be able to base our reconnaissance and infiltration missions from here with little interference.  Marcus will manage the store during operating hours and there is a rear entrance that leads to the edge of a small park, dense with trees that provide ample cover between here and the road at the base of the hill, perfect for clandestine exits and returns.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought of everything,” Helena complimented.

“This system has been used for a century,” Marcus clarified.  “It will serve us perfectly, unless another Praetorian unit needs to interrogate a resident of the city while we’re here… which unfortunately seems quite likely given the circumstances.”

“What circumstances?”  Helena asked.

Marcus looked at Gaius, who spoke next.  “Before subduing Paullus, we asked for a report on local affairs.  Unfortunately, Praetorian though he is, information is often kept from those on these special assignments to protect his identity, so his knowledge was scant, but he was able to relay to us that the empress returned to Rome recently and is planning an exorbitant affair planned for the day after next.  It seems she has an important announcement to make to the entirety of Rome, and plans to address the city from the imperial palace atop the Palatine Hill.”

“Sounds like an easy target then…” Helena mumbled, and I saw Marcus and John nodding in agreement.

“Helena, wait,” I said, holding out a hand and pulling away from John.  “You can’t just assassinate her.  I mean… at least not yet.  She’s probably the only one who knows what happened to Jacob.  We have to speak to her first.”

“She won’t just talk to us,” Archer said.

John nodded.  “Blondie’s right.  She’ll execute us.”

“Then… capture her,” I said.  “Take her prisoner.  Interrogate her.  Isn’t that what you people do?  Can’t you…
make
her talk?”

John smiled.  “Now you speaking my language.”

“Fine,” Helena said grudgingly.  “You’re right.  John, you’re the expert.  What’s our play?”

He thought for only a second.  “I say we wait until after the announcement.  First of all, I’m just curious, second of all, security will be tight leading up to it – which is why Marcus suggested others may want to use this safe house.  I used to know a few Secret Service guys back when I was with Delta, and they’d often talk about how they’d liaise with the FBI and local police forces to bring in possible suspects for ‘talks’ whenever the president went somewhere outside designated safe zones.  I’m sure Gaius and Marcus’ buddies are at least as thorough…”

“More so,” Marcus quipped, but John ignored him.

“So I say wait,” John summarized.  “Artie and I will scope out the announcement, see what’s what, then we’ll hit her that night.  They won’t even see it coming.”

“Wait…” I started.  “Me?  Why me?  I’m not trained for all that!”

John gave me a funny look.  “You can’t stand around in civilian clothing and watch someone give a speech?”

“Wait, that’s all I need to do?”

“Yeah,” John said, almost annoyed.  “What did you think I was going to have you do?  Stalk Agrippina through the halls of her palace and garrote her with piano wire?  Why would I want to steal fun away from Helena?”

The woman crossed her arms but there wasn’t a smirk this time, which was slightly worrying.

“But what about you?”  I asked.  “You don’t think Agrippina couldn’t pick you out of a crowd?  Or most of her Praetorians for that matter?”

Gaius cocked his head to the side.  “Your face
is
quite familiar to many of our brothers.”

John belted out a laugh and pretended to wipe away a tear that clearly wasn’t there.  “Oh, you guys are rich.  I’m the master of disguise, remember?  And I’ve got an entire day to prepare.  Get ready for magic time…

***

The following day – yesterday – had passed without much of anything occurring to note its passage.  It came, it went, little happened, and I’d spent both nights wide awake, worried about what tomorrow might bring.  I hadn’t seen John since his vague announcement of “magic time”, and his comforting presence was sorely missed, and thoughts of what exactly Agrippina might have to announce kept me awake long into the night.

No one had said anything about Jacob, and the Praetorian in charge of this safe house had never even heard of him.  Did that mean something?  I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something had already happened to him.  That he was dead and buried on the side of a road or perhaps gone completely insane or brain dead because of the orb.  I hated that I was jumping to conclusions, especially ones so extreme, but I couldn’t help but worry.

We could be too late.

I couldn’t remember when I’d finally drifted off to sleep last night.  It must have been not long before dawn had arrived because I’d slept well passed my prearranged wakeup time.  I’d awoken groggy and without energy or enthusiasm, but now that I was finally awake, I knew I’d best prepare for the day – what was left of it.

I rose to my feet unsteadily and took care of my morning rituals, and sought out a meal once all was taken care of.  The villa felt empty, its large, open rooms with ten feet high ceilings only adding to its sparseness.  I passed through a number of these empty rooms and found my way to the pantry, where I pilfered a jug filled with olives and a small plate of nasty smelling cheese that I knew didn’t taste nearly as bad as it smelt.  Scooping them up, I went in search of someone, anyone, to talk to, but the entire building no longer felt empty because I quickly ascertained that it simply
was
empty.  There was no one in the kitchen, the random bedrooms I peeked into, the dining hall, the lounge, or even in the central atrium that separated the shop out front from the rest of the house.

With nowhere else to search, I pushed through a curtained entryway and into the shop, finding two men standing at the counter.  One was either Gaius or Marcus, their dark, curly, short hair unique among the group, but the other was bald and his scalp glowed a bright red.  I cleared my throat, causing both men to turn, which caused the simple act of clearing my throat to turn into a series of violent coughs when I finally identified the bald man.

Once the coughs subsided, I gasped and held a hand over my mouth in utter shock.  “What the hell did you do to yourself, John?!”

His beardless face smiled, the act confirming his identity as much as anything else.  “Got a haircut.  Like it?”

“No!”  I exclaimed, but then felt sheepish at the outburst when he frowned.  “I mean, it’s going to take some getting used to, but… but what happened to your skin?”

He held his chin with a hand and turned his glowing, bright red head side to side.  “I took in a little sun yesterday.  Figured I could use some color.”

“A
little
sun?”

“Okay, maybe a lot.  Don’t worry, I’ll turn golden brown and delicious in a few days.  I’m blessed like that.  Sun-kissed, you know…”

I scowled at him.  “So this is your idea of a disguise?”

“Whatever it takes, right?  Nobody’s ever seen me bald before.  Hell… I’ve never even seen me bald before.  Thank God my skull isn’t all lumpy.  And I generally always have some amount of facial hair, so no one will ever suspect it’s me when I’m as slick as a baby’s butt like this.”

Now that I’d taken it all in, I frowned at him.  “You look horrendous.”

“Good.  That’s the point.  Besides, being a sex object all the time gets quite tiring…”

I rolled my eyes but then something caught my eye, a lack of something more precisely.  “Where are your scars?”

He traced a finger across his cheek.  “Still here, but the sunburn hides them pretty well.”

“You’ll be lucky if only melanoma kills you.”

“Mela-who?  She pretty?”

“You’re insane.”

“Probably a little.  Now, are you ready to go?”

I looked at the food in my hands, but my stomach churned at the sight of it, so I looked up and nodded.  “Just need to get my scarf.”

He gestured toward the entranceway behind me.  “Go on ahead and grab it.  Everyone else is already in position, either in the crowd as well or covering us.  Nothing to worry about.”

I nodded slowly but wasn’t comforted very much.

“Nervous?”  John asked before I was gone.

I turned slowly at the threshold and didn’t bother trying to hide the fact that I was.  “Very.”

“Don’t worry,” he said with his usual smile that still made him look so dashing despite his current appearance, causing Marcus to roll his eyes.  “I do this stuff all the time.  We’ll be fine.  Now hurry up, I want to get there early so we can get a good spot right up front.”

***

The crowd gathered for Agrippina’s announcement could quite possibly have been the entire population of Rome.  From as far as I could see, people stood shoulder to shoulder, chest to back, crammed along the narrow space between the
Circus Maximus
and the Palatine Hill.  Children climbed trees and adolescents scaled temples, monuments, statues, and any other building they could find, while thousands of others filled the old stadium itself.  The sun was beaming, the crowd restless, and security heightened, but all John could grumble about was that he hadn’t quite found the location he’d hoped for, as we had to settle for a spot near the back of those gathered between the
Circus Maximus
and Palatine Hill, basically against the wall of the structure.

Which was fine with me. 

From our vantage point, I could see the fortress like structure that was the imperial palace atop the Palatine.  It seemed to stretch from one end of the hill to the other, running parallel to the stadium behind me.  It had been recently rebuilt and expanded by Agrippina, at least according to Gaius, and it was impossible to ignore the woman’s lavish excessiveness simply by looking at it.  It was a formidable hill to begin with, but the structure itself was even more impressive with its numerous arches, pillars, and viewing booths that dominated its façade.

I took a deep breath as I observed the immediate area, using what little observation skills I had to gauge whether I thought we were safe or not.  I hadn’t the slightest clue what I was looking for, but John seemed as calm as ever, even though it was difficult to read him considering he was wearing another man’s face.

I nudged him with my elbow to get his attention.  He didn’t react, keeping his attention elsewhere, but he spoke out of the corner of his mouth.  “What’s up?”

“Are you sure about this?”  I asked nervously, my eyes still flitting about.  “There are Praetorians everywhere.  What if they recognize you?”

He shrugged almost imperceptibly.  “I barely recognize myself.  Besides, I don’t recognize any of them, and believe me, I’m seeing more of them than you are.”

“You are?”  I asked, confused.

“How many plain-clothes Praetorians have you spotted?”

“Plain what?”

He sighed.  “Just a term we use for military types wearing civilian clothes to ‘blend in’.  They’re easy to spot.  Back home they often stood out like really sore thumbs.  All Ray-Ban sunglasses, multi-pocketed cargo pants, ripped muscles, Gucci-flage, etc…  And these Praetorians seem worse than Navy SEALs, even – gotta make sure their hair is gelled, their nails are trimmed, and their pants are pressed before heading out on an op.”

“He’s not kidding,” another voice said from beside me.

I whirled around but was relieved to see Helena’s tall form standing there.  For some reason, her presence was even more reassuring than even John’s.  I thought to hug her in greeting but then thought better of it.  She’d pulled down her head wrap so that I could see her face, but now that I’d seen it, she covered herself again.  Interestingly, it was common practice for many, but not all, women here.