Smoke filled the small car, and Simon tried to open the door, but it was stuck. Pushing it with his shoulder, he tried to force it, but incredible pain split through him when he touched the metal. He was coughing. With one of his hands he waved the smoke away and crawled over to the other side. All he saw was burnt plants, slivers of glass, pieces of the car lying around. The smoke burnt his lungs.

"Lara?" he said but his voice only sounded like a groan. Simon fell on the ground, trying to breath, filling his lungs with oxygen. When he attempted to stand up, the world spun around with him. His head was pounding, he felt pain everywhere. Stumbling a few steps forward, he fell to his knees again. No, he repeated again and again. He must not faint, no matter what. He had to find Lara, had to keep her out of trouble. His vision blurred for a moment, he pressed his hand on his eyes.

How could it be that Lara disappeared? Why had she left him there? It did not make sense. Simon forced himself to his feet again, feeling the bitter taste of worry in his mouth. It could not be that the damn book was more important to her, he thought frantically and felt ashamed for the idea at the same time. The small car behind him was burning, flames licked its body, the crackling sound of it filling his mind. His left knee gave in and buckled under him. Simon felt faint. Pain fumbled with his mind, fighting with his will-power to stay conscious. Something warm ran down his neck. When he touched his fingers there, they became red and sticky. The image of the manor before him whirled, the darkness came closer again, but Simon fought it back. He had to get in, had to find her.

When he reached the gate, he breathlessly leaned against it, but it opened under his weight and Simon fell into the hall. It was all calm. The heavy silence almost hurt him. All he could hear was his own blood throbbing in his ears and his ragged breathing. For a moment Simon thought to lose consciousness again, but he managed to struggle to his feet once more. The stairs in front of his seemed endless when he ran his exhausted eyes over them.

"Lara?" he shouted again that made him cough. The smoke he had breathed in, still burnt his lungs. With great efforts, he grabbed the banister and pulled himself to the first step. All kinds of terrible pictures were floating in front of him. Lara lying on the floor of the study, soaked with blood. Being threatened by someone. Being shot, hurt. Dead. No, his mind screamed and he fell to his knees again. It was only his mind playing games with him, Simon tried to convince himself anxiously. Pain blurred his vision again, he crawled two more steps on the stairs and against his will fainted to the floor.

...

When Simon opened his eyes, he jerked upright. The soft pillow under his head confused him. Had it been all just a dream? But the throbbing pain in his head was still there, reminding him ruefully of the reality. A thick bandage covered his forehead. He realised he was lying on the sofa in front of the fireplace in the manor.

"Mr Hanningham. Good to have you back." He heard a voice talking and he needed a long second to realise it was Winston. The old man looked confused, painful expression on his face.

"What happened?" Simon looked around a bit lost. "Where is Lara?"

"I reckoned Lady Croft was with you." Winston answered softly, his face growing more anxious.

"She was. Where is Lara?" he repeated the question in a desperate voice. Jumping up from the couch, he wanted to run upstairs, but the room swirled with him for a moment. It did not stop Simon. He sped to the stairs, raced along the corridor and burst the door of the study open. The view that welcomed him deepened the despair in his face. Suddenly no word came out of his mouth. A black hole messed up the wall where once the safe had been. The explosion swept away almost everything, burnt sheets of paper were lying everywhere, furniture overthrown. The smell brought vicious memories of the burning car back to his mind. But Lara was nowhere. No sign of her. And no sign of the golden book that should have been in the safe. Simon groaned in anguish.

"I'm sorry, Mr Hanningham. I could do nothing against it." Winston talked behind his back in a low, sad voice.

"Where is Lara?" It was the third time that Simon asked the question and did not get an answer to it. "Winston!" he turned to the old butler. "Where is Lara?" he grabbed the lapel of his suit, but immediately let his hands down again.

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't know. I wish I did," he said almost pleadingly.

"Tell me what happened." Simon walked into the destroyed room and tried to force himself not to think of all those terrible images that returned to his mind. Lara was strong, Lara could take care of herself. He should have been there, he kept repeating inwardly. He should have been there. His fingers touched the surface of the wide oak desk that was standing in the room. It was covered by dust and ashes. A thin line stayed behind where he had touched it.

"I heard a rumble early in the morning and the alarm went off. By the time I reached the hall, the explosion shook the manor and I hurried to the study where the noise came from, but I was too late. They took the book with them. So I immediately called Lady Croft."

"Did you see them?" Simon pressed his hand on his temple to think. It was painful.

"No. I'm afraid I didn't. When I stepped out of the room, someone hit me. The next thing I know is that I found you on the stairs and Lady Croft was gone." Winston was standing stock-still, showing very little emotion, but Simon could see it in the old man's eyes that he was worried to death.

"And Lara was gone," Simon repeated his last words, only mumbling under his breath. The thought hurt him. How could he have let it happen? They had come in, blown up the whole study not caring about the alarm. Why? It did not make sense. They had found the book, no one had seen them and still they had not disappeared. Again, why? And suddenly he understood it. They had let Winston call Lara because they knew she would return right away. They had been waiting for her. The book was not the only thing they had wanted. They wanted Lara together with it. Thoughts were spinning around in his head making him dizzy again.

Despair and fear overtook him. This damn booked had caused so much trouble by now. He cursed the day he had first heard about it. And everyone who had dragged Lara into this. Were they doomed to be unhappy? Torn apart whenever they would find a moment of peace? He had to find her.

When Simon let the despair unveil his mind for a moment, he could see it all so clear. The golden book. There was only one person in the world he had known about it. Who had known where to find it and how to get it. Who had known that Lara was the only person to solve it. But could it be? Could he have survived that doom in the cave? There was no other possible explanation. Kowalski was alive and he took Lara. Again.

"I'm going to find her if it's the last thing I do in my life," he said and turned to face Winston. There was resolution in his eyes even if he looked tired and in pain. Lara was his and he would not let a crazy guy take her from him.