Ooooh five new reviews since my last update. Thankyou kindly, everyone! I'm thrilled you're all liking the story. :-)

Retreat, Regroup

"Good weekend?"

"Yes, thanks. You?"

"Yeah, great."

Bryce and Lara sat opposite each other at the kitchen table, slouched in their seats, legs outstretched with their feet nearly touching, coffee and sandwiches half consumed in front of them.

"'Drive up to Manchester ok?"

"Yes. Traffic not too bad, really. Where have you been today? Noticed your car is outside."

"Oh, just into town."

"Right."

The conversation trailed off again as Lara wondered if Kurtis had made it up to her room ok and Bryce prayed that Hillary had managed to plant the false dagger. Bryce decided to have another stab at communication.

"So – what was all that about a fourth Periapt Shard?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You phoned up last night and said something about another Shard."

"Oh. Yes. So I did." Lara showed no signs of elaborating further.

"So..."

"Oh. Yes. I found a fourth Shard mentioned when I was doing my research in Manchester. I've identified some more sources I need to check, in the University College Library, so I'll be going into London later on. Probably for a few days. It's nothing, really. You might as well take the time off or do whatever it is you want to do, there'll be no adventuring just yet."

"Right." Bryce nodded. "Ok." He took a bite of his sandwich.

Hillary flounced in then, looking happy and not at all like he was trying to avoid Lara.

"Lara! Welcome home! Good weekend? I was just cleaning up the treasure room ready for you to see the new security system. It's all ready." With those last three words he darted a quick glance at Bryce, who understood the double entendre perfectly and let out a surreptitious breath in relief.

"Oh, well, actually, I'm rather tired. It was a long drive. I think I'll just go upstairs and take a nap, if that's ok." Lara smiled tiredly and rubbed an eye for effect.

"Alright," Hillary smiled, and Lara, thankful for her escape, grabbed her plate of sandwiches and hurried off upstairs.

"Thank god." Hillary flopped into Lara's abandoned chair and rubbed his hand over his face.

"I've got good news – she's going into London later and staying for a few days."

At that Hillary looked up, the look on his face one of joyful disbelief. "Really? It's going to be that easy?"

"Hey – finding the bloke who's bought the dagger'll be easy, convincing him to sell it to us probably won't be."

"Well, at least with Lara gone again we have one less thing to worry about. Now all we have to do is worry about everything else."

Bryce stared at Hillary, comprehending the full extent of 'everything else'. "I'll go and get started on finding out his address, shall I?"

Lara took a glance over her shoulder to check the coast was clear and then opened her bedroom door. "Kurtis!" she hissed into the silence, looking around for him. He didn't appear, so she stepped into the room, closed the door, and immediately caught sight of him hiding behind it, a heavy Peruvian vase raised above his head ready for attack.

"Thank god it's you," he sighed, putting the vase back down. Lara only blinked at his extreme tactics.

"I do hope you weren't planning on hitting anyone with that vase. It's one of a kind, y'know."

"Did you get 'em off my trail or what?"

"They were never on your trail, Kurtis. You're safe, don't worry. If anybody comes, just hide in the bathroom."

Kurtis only humphed in reply, casually untrusting. Jumping onto the bed, he took the sandwich Lara offered him and lay down, propping his head in one hand and chewing thoughtfully. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"Well, I'll get us kitted out and then we'll leave again, go back to The Company."

"Yeah, well, we'll need everything. And I mean 'everything'. I have no idea how we're going to steal the Tip so we can't rule anything out."

"Alright, it's no problem, don't panic. I've told Hillary and Bryce I'm going to London for a few days, I'll just load up the Jeep and then you can sneak out the way you came in."

A look of horror crossed Kurtis' face and he stopped chewing and sat up.

"What?"

"Won't they wonder where the Jeep came from?"

Lara's eyes flared in the same horror as she realised Kurtis was right, and then they both bolted for the door.

"Hillary?"

Upon hearing his name being called, Hillary left his preparation of dinner and hurried into the control room where Bryce was busy hacking, wiping his hands clean on a towel as he went.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember the address of the antiques shop?"

"No. Sorry."

Bryce sighed. "I can't hack into their sales records if I don't know who they are. I probably left the receipt for the fake dagger in the car though. Can you get it? I'll stay here and make sure Lara doesn't see any monitors she isn't supposed to."

Hillary nodded and made for the front doors. Opening them, he just missed The Company's Jeep being driven by Kurtis out of its parking spot towards the side of the house and Lara's Bentley, retrieved from the garage, following it close behind, seamlessly taking the space. Lara stepped out of the car and, seeing Hillary frowning at it slightly, said in a slightly panicked tone of voice, "What is it?"

"Didn't you go to Manchester in the Rover?" Hillary regarded the car with a puzzled look.

"No. I was just getting my sunglasses out of the glove box, that's all." Lara planted her feet slightly apart in front of the Bentley and spread her arms out along its body almost as if she were trying to hide it.

"But didn't you say that taking the Bentley to the Manchester student quarter would be suicide?"

"No, no, I said that it would be a crime not to. I like to inspire youth. Show them what they can get if they work hard. Encourage them to study."

Hillary opened his mouth as if to protest, but thought better of it and instead leant over into the open topped StreetKa and began rummaging around for the receipt, leaving Lara to sigh in relief and give Kurtis a thankful look as he crept back around from the side of the house and darted back into the house and up the stairs, Lara close behind. "The parking fine on the Rover will be through the roof by the time I get back to Manchester for it," she muttered angrily.

"Digital watch?"

"Check."

"Weapons?"

"Full portable armoury."

"Infra red goggles?"

"Check."

"Electronic lockpick?"

"Check. Not road-tested though, it's one of Bryce's newer toys."

"Smoke canisters?"

Lara shot Kurtis a look that clearly said, "Why would I have any of those?"

"PDA?"

"What on earth for?"

"C4 explosive?"

Lara folded her arms, offset her weight to one leg and gave Kurtis a withering stare. "Now you're just being unrealistic."

"Fine, fine!" Kurtis pushed himself off her bed from where he'd been reviewing the equipment she'd packed and moved to the dresser where his cell phone sat. "We'll just have to get some of my own stuff from my quarters back at The Company." He dialled a number and waited as it rang.

"You carry around smoke canisters and C4 with you?"

"Doesn't everybody?" and then, "Target acquired. En route. There was a chase so I'm off previous position, ETA now four hours." Flipping the phone shut he looked to Lara to check that she was ready. "Time to go?"

Lara nodded her assent and opened her bedroom door, peeking out to check the coast was clear. "Ok," she whispered, "come on. I cannot believe I'm sneaking out of my own mansion, this is ridiculous."

At the same time as Lara and Kurtis were creeping along the upper landing, Bryce was creeping along the hallway underneath in the opposite direction with a print out in his hand, heading towards Hillary who was in the kitchen packing food for their trip.

"Ok, come on. You can leave that, we'll eat on the plane. I take it you didn't take our travel bags out of the car yet? We're going to need them."

"Why, where are we going?" Hillary turned, his voice and face equally puzzled.

"The buyer of the dagger bought it over the internet because they couldn't go in person. They live in Tokyo."

"Oh dear." Hillary took the foil wrapped sandwiches and slammed them in the refrigerator.

"Flight's already booked, I got us a last minute deal leaving in five hours. Check in's in two, so we'd better get a move on."

"Lara!" At the sound, instinctively, Kurtis threw himself behind a bush. Lara, following him towards the side of the house to the hidden Jeep, turned and smiled dazzingly at Bryce who was running over the grass towards her, apparently oblivious to her partner who was by now near hyperventilation only two feet away behind a terrifyingly well pruned back rododendron.

"Bryce! What is it? I'm rather in a hurry. To...er...check the wood rot on the obstacle course."

Bryce, too busy thinking up his own excuse, didn't even blink at Lara's horrendous attempt at deception. "Hillary and me are going to the cinema."

"Alright." Lara nodded as if she didn't know why Bryce had just bothered to tell her that. "Well, I'm going to London soon so remember your key."

"Sure." Bryce turned and jogged back to his StreetKa, parked a few hundred yards away with Hillary checking everything they needed was packed.

Once he was out of earshot, Kurtis let out a long breath he'd been holding and looked up at Lara. "Can we please get out of here? Before I get caught or have a coronary?"

Lara smiled, amused, and continued round to the side of the house to back up her ridiculous lie that she couldn't believe Bryce had bought. For a moment she wondered just why he hadn't bought it, but quickly decided she couldn't be bothered with paranoia at that particular moment and instead hid around the corner, peeking out to wait for Bryce and Hillary to drive off.

They jumped into the car, Bryce at the wheel, and sped off at a rate of knots, tyres squealing. 'Must be late for the screening', Lara thought to herself. "Ok," she said to Kurtis, stepping into view, "you can come out now, they're gone."

He got slowly to his feet and double checked the driveway then, when he was satisfied she wasn't lying in a sadistic ploy to get him into the clutches of Bryce, trotted off to the Jeep. "Sometimes, I wonder why I do this job."