Flight of the Falcon (Byrdes of York #1)

26. Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

Hugh

H ugh had an uneasy feeling as they entered the tunnels from the entrance in Ogleforth. They had agreed with the police that they would only use that entrance as the others had been closed off to deter Ian and anyone else accessing them. It was early on Saturday afternoon and the uneasy feeling had been with him all morning. He didn’t know the cause; he just knew something was going to happen. He’d spent a lot of time looking around that morning to make sure they weren’t being followed, but he hadn’t seen anyone that looked suspicious.

He reminded himself that there were two powerful vampires with them and that he and Falcon were not without their own skills. He watched as Malik descended the stairs that led from the boiler room to the tunnels. Malik had appeared to take in his stride the traffic around the Minster as they walked over to Ogleforth. But Hugh had seen him jump nearly out of his skin when a car had hooted its horn at some idiot tourist standing in the middle of the road trying to get a photo of the Minster.

Malik had been surprised at how much of York had remained the same since he was last awake. Obviously, they had explained that were new parts of the city, and Robin had shown him maps and photos. But still, the area around the Minster and the Minster itself hadn’t changed that much.

“Watch the steps.”

Hugh heard Falcon behind him, reminding him to keep his mind on what he was doing right now.

Reaching the tunnel, he flipped the switch that had been installed by the police, that lit up a string of electric lights. The area looked a lot less spooky now than it had when they first came this way.

“This is very strange,” Malik remarked. “I have no memory of this part. I was unconscious when they brought me here.”

“The first time Robin and I entered the tunnels,” Falcon began, “we came in through an entrance that we’ve now closed off. The tunnel there was unstable, and I ended up twisting my ankle.”

“I remember that.” Hugh smiled. “I was sitting in the café when you came limping by.”

“Having said that,” Falcon continued, ignoring Hugh’s remark, “we’ve tried to make this entrance as safe as possible. The other main entrance is from the Minster, but that has been blocked off by the staff there for the moment.”

“How many entrances were there?” Malik asked.

“We’re not sure how many there were originally but we found at least five. Though some of those were hardly passable now due to new buildings around them and drains being filled in. We’re still not sure of the age of these tunnels. I think Jarratt was convinced they went back to the Roman Eboracum or maybe the Viking Jorvik.”

“They weren’t here when I first visited Eboracum in the 1st century AD.” Malik stretched his hand overhead and felt the ceiling of the tunnel. “The cut marks here are reminiscent of some Roman tunneling I have come across in the past. But it is hard to say for sure.”

“Which is one of the reasons I want the archaeology department to investigate the area,” Francis put in. “They have staff members who have a lot of experience with Roman archaeology.”

They came to the end of the tunnels and stopped in front of the first door. The one that led into the ‘gentleman’s club’ room. Hugh, who was leading the small group, leant forward and opened the door. Behind him he could hear Falcon explaining to Malik about the spell traps they’d originally found on the doors. He was of the opinion that they had been laid down by Jarratt to stop anyone from entering whilst he and his cohorts weren’t there.

Hugh entered the room first and looked around. He could see signs that the police had been there, but nothing appeared to be out of place. He turned around when he heard Malik gasp.

“It’s just as I remember.” He turned in place, taking it all in. “An exact replica of the York Gentlemen’s Club over near the river. Amazing. How much work this must have taken.”

He wandered off to look at the books on the library wall, but Hugh could tell he wasn’t unaffected by the room. The last time he’d been there he’d been held captive.

“Are you doing alright?” he asked the vampire.

“I… I’m overwhelmed,” Malik admitted after a moment or two. “I remember the place as though it was yesterday, which in some sense it was for me.”

Hugh left Malik to his thoughts and watched as the vampire ran his fingers over the back of one of the wingback chairs. Falcon had his phone out and was continuing to photograph the books so he could add them to the catalogue he was compiling. Francis had disappeared into the other room and Hugh followed him.

The room where the sarcophagus had been looked strangely different from the last time they had been in it. The plinth that it had sat upon looked forlorn without the decorated black marble on it. The walls, however, were still covered in the weapons from all ages. Francis was examining them.

“These belong in a museum,” Hugh said as he joined the vampire near the weapons.

“They do. Hopefully that is what will happen to them. Maybe this will become a museum itself.”

Hugh nodded. He was just about to join the others when he heard a whisper of a sound that shouldn’t be there. He stopped, listening. It sounded as though someone was shuffling their feet and it was coming from the room that had the flagstone floor. He raised his eyebrow at Francis as he pointed towards the other room. Francis closed his eyes a moment, before opening them and mouthing ‘someone’s in there’.

Malik entered the room just then and shuddered. “This is where I was kept?” he asked.

“It was,” Francis answered, as he gestured for them to be quiet. He whispered their concerns about the next room to Malik and gestured for them to return to the club room.

Falcon was still photographing books and looked up when they entered. Hugh held his finger to his lips, letting his lover know not to say anything. Falcon put the book he’d been looking at down and joined them.

“What do you think?” Francis whispered, stopping as a shadow fell into the room from the tunnel outside.

Ian Swales stepped nonchalantly into the room. He was holding a gun. He was not alone. Tucked against his side, with a gun to his head, was Robin.

They all started forward and Hugh could swear his heard hisses from Malik and Francis. He wanted to move, but was worried about upsetting Swales and causing him to hurt Robin.

“Finally,” Swales began. “I was beginning to think none of you would show up. I was just about to follow you when this youngster turned up. Good timing.”

Swales grinned and Hugh could see that instability in his eyes. He looked at Robin who was defiant and glaring at Swales.

“Ian,” Hugh acknowledged the other man as he subtly moved to stand in front of Falcon and the others.

“McHughes. Still hanging around with these losers, I see. You should have stayed with my agency.”

“The agency was never yours Ian, it was Robert’s,” Francis said.

Ian turned until the gun was trained on Francis. “Francis Byrde. It’s been a few years.”

Hugh could see Robin tensing to move and he shook his head at him. It would be too easy for Ian to lose control and begin shooting. That was the last thing they needed.

Think McHughes! Think!

“The treasure,” Ian said. “Where is it?” “It’s not here,” Francis assured him.

Ian’s eyelid twitched and he took a step forward, dragging Robin with him. “You’ve removed it!” he shouted.

“It was never here,” Malik spoke up.

Hugh could hear the coldness of the vampire’s voice for the first time. He realised he was trying to use his charm on Ian, but it didn’t appear to be having any effect.

“Who are you?” Ian barked out, startled. Hugh realised he hadn’t registered Malik and had not been expecting him.

“Who I am is irrelevant,” Malik replied. “What treasure do you seek?”

Ian took a step backwards as he eyed them up. Then he stopped stock still and Robin darted from under his arm and ran across to join the others. He was pulled into a rough hug by Malik who whispered something in his ear.

As Hugh watched Ian, he noticed movement behind him. An armed policeman moved out of the shadows, aiming his gun at Swales.

“Give me your weapon,” The man barked. Ian jumped and the gun went off.

Falcon

Falcon ducked as Ian’s weapon discharged. He could hear the police shouting at Ian to get on the ground now! Quickly looking around, he could see that no-one had been hurt when the gun went off. Everyone else had ducked too and were now hauling themselves up off the ground.

DI Matlock entered the room just as the armed police support officer was putting Ian into cuffs and hauling him to his feet.

“Ma’am,” the officer acknowledged Matlock.

“Take him down the station, Tate. Thank you for your assistance today.”

The man nodded and began leading Ian away, who was still shouting about the treasure and that he’d get them one day. His noise gradually faded, and they turned to face Matlock and the other police officers.

“You set us up!” Hugh almost shouted at Matlock. “When you came by the bookshop yesterday to let us know we could come back here, you knew then you were laying a trap for him.”

Matlock held up her hand at Hugh and stopped him in his tracks. “It was a tactical move. I couldn’t be sure Ian would come here, but we caught sight of someone hanging around Ogleforth yesterday who matched Ian’s profile. Unfortunately, we were too late to arrest him. It was thought there was a good chance he’d return again when he could. “

“You could have warned us, Deidre.” Hugh slumped into one of the chairs and Falcon went over to him to give him his support.

Francis was having a low-voiced conversation with Robin, making sure his youngest son was okay. Robin had been late as he’d had a meeting at his shop that he hadn’t been able to put off. It had just been bad luck that he’d turned up at the same time as Swales.

They, along with Malik, came to join Falcon and Hugh near the chairs and faced Matlock and her team.

“What now?” Falcon asked.

“Now we question him and determine his fitness for standing trial. He faces a string of charges from kidnap to murder.”

“Deidre.” Francis moved forward and shook the DI’s hand. “I would say it’s good to see you, but perhaps not under these circumstances.”

“Francis,” she acknowledged. “I really am sorry that I was unable to warn you all.”

Falcon watched his father frown at her. He wasn’t sure he agreed with her assessment of the situation but knew that she’d done what she thought was right. “And who is this?” she asked as she turned towards Malik.

“An old friend of mine,” Francis said. “Detective Inspector Deidre Matlock, this is Malik Lord. He is visiting York for the first time in a few years. We were discussing the book collection with him, as he has an interest in antiquarian books.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Matlock shook Malik’s hand before stepping back. Malik was looking at her as though she was an oddity. Falcon guessed she was to him. He’d last been up and around in the Victorian era when women had not even been involved in policing, let alone as officers in charge.

“I’ll be in touch.” Falcon looked over as Matlock spoke to Hugh. “Let me know when you’re back in Manchester.”

“I’m not going back,” Hugh answered, standing up. “Well, only to get my things. I’m moving here to York. The Swales Agency is no more. I’ll be working with Francis from now on.”

Matlock was surprised, Falcon could see that. She didn’t say anything though, just nodded. She left the room followed by the remaining officers who had been with her.

After the police had gone, they didn’t stay in the underground rooms for long.

Malik, it seemed, had lost his appetite for seeing where he’d been held captive all those years. He’d been interested in the weapon wall, but Falcon could see that he was weary of it all now.

“Time to go home,” he said.

Hugh grinned at him. “Home. I like that idea.”

Falcon took his hand and they walked with the others out of the tunnels and into the bright sunlight of an early June afternoon. As they headed towards the Minster and away from the underground rooms, Falcon felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, for the first time since Father McKenzie had visited him. It felt like their place in this story had ended and they needed to move on now with their lives.

They agreed to meet up with Francis and the others for dinner at Francis’s house in the countryside. He was going to take Gil there for the last couple of weeks he’d be in plaster. The idea was Gil could work for Francis from the house. Hugh had already texted Imogen to let her know it was safe to come home. He’d got a big thumbs up back from her and a note to say she’d be back in the UK in couple of days.

By the time they got back to the bookshop, it had already closed for the day.

Abbie was just in the process of locking the doors and the young plainclothes officer DC Turner was there once more. It looked as though they could become an item. Falcon shook the other man’s hand, warned him he better treat his niece well, then led Hugh into the shop and through to his study at the back of the building.

Turning, he pulled the other man into his arms. “Here we are,” he said, before leaning in and kissing him. What started out slow and sweet ended up heavy and possessive. Hugh clung to him and pushed him towards the stairs and the bedroom. Going eagerly, Falcon tried to keep kissing him as they made their way up the stairs. Bits of clothing littered the area before they’d even got as far as the bedroom. Before he knew it, he was on his back on the bed and Hugh had taken his entire length down his throat.

He groaned. He’d found out his boyfriend gave great head, and this was no exception.

“Yes!” he ground out and thrust up to meet the other man’s mouth. It wasn’t long before he came.

Feeling relaxed and sated, he turned to Hugh, who grinned at him. He laid back and pulled Hugh into his arms. They lay there for a moment, coming down from their high, before Falcon rolled over to face Hugh. He stroked the other man’s face as he held his breath and stared into his eyes. He really was beautiful.

“You know I love you,” he stated.

Hugh grinned. “I do.” He pulled Falcon in for a kiss. “I love you too, Fal. I can’t imagine my life now without you in it.”

“Fortunately, you don’t need to.” Falcon pulled him back into a bruising kiss and lost himself in the moment.

Finally, it felt as though he was finally home. It was time for him to live his life, with Hugh by his side. Time for Falcon to fly.