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BEYOND THE SHADOWS

CHAPTER 3

Meg met her exactly as she had said she would, they each had a cappuccino and a donut, and then headed out in Christine's smooth, metallic blue, 2006, Audi TT Roadster.

The drive was a little hectic, the traffic leaving New York was horrendous, but they made it to Mt. Vernon by 10 a.m., and found themselves escorted in by the same young woman. She showed them down the vast hallway and to a room painted and decorated in yellow. The room was airy and bright, making its inhabitants feel at ease.

They sat silently for a few minutes; the only tangible sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall. The woman had never bothered to introduce herself, which both Christine and Meg found bewildering. They exchanged why-don't-you-say-something looks; but the young woman broke the silence.

"I spoke with Mr. St. Clair last night – I told him of your interest in him." The woman announced.

That was something Christine had not counted on; she had a sinking feeling that Mr. St. Clair was not going to take kindly to being pursued.

"I wish you had not done that." Christine stressed with concern written all over her face.

The young woman smiled, removing the stern, apprehensive look off her features. "Your plight intrigues him." She stated, "And he is an admirer of your work, Ms. Daae."

Christine cocked her head sideways and frowned, "How does he know of my work?" She asked, interested. "I have only been featured in obscure periodicals and journals…except for one time, when National Geographic featured one of my articles."

The woman nodded, "Erik is a very well read man…he gains his knowledge from many sources." She raised one brow, "How long have you been looking for him?" She asked.

Christine gave a slight, embarrassed smile, "Six months."

Christine always trusted her instincts, and they were screaming that there was more to this mystery than meant the eye; this woman was hiding many secrets.

Another smile covered the woman's face, "Allow me to introduce myself," she reached her hand out to Christine, "I am Rachel St. Clair, Erik's youngest sister."

Okay, that was one secret. This woman before her was the sister of the very man for whom she was searching? She would have never figured that out.

"You're his sister?" Christine and Meg said in unison.

"Why the surprised looks?" Rachel asked.

Christine finally recovered enough to answer, "I had assumed we were looking for a much older man."

There were still unmentioned secrets hidden behind Rachel's eyes, but Christine would bide her time…all would come out in the long run, she was sure of that.

"Erik is eleven years older than I am." Rachel's sea foam eyes took on a faraway look, "I was a child of six and my sister was nine when he rescued us from the home we were held prisoner in."

So…there was another sister...this just kept getting better and better. She turned to Meg, and noticed she was writing as fast as she could, obviously caught up in the story, also.

"Rescued you?" Christine inquired, "From what?"

Rachel lifted thankful eyes, "Not from 'what'; from 'whom'."

Christine was not sure she wanted to know the sordid details about the "whom" Rachel was referring to. To Christine, it sounded as though Erik St. Clair was a real life hero.

She looked deep into the young woman's eyes and saw deep fear dwelling in their depths. She offered a friendly smile, allowing Rachel to relax and finish her story.

"Erik ran away when he was ten…ran away and hid in the depths of the forest." She was, again, lost in another world, "After several years, he learned that his father had, once again, reproduced." Rachel allowed silent tears to flow, "Erik risked his life to come back for us." She wiped the tears away, "Our father never abused us like he did Erik, but he did make verbal threats towards us and mother was a different story."

Rachel visibly trembled, engulfed by the memories that were flooding over her. She closed her eyes and willed her body to quiet down. She had hoped and prayed that by the time she reached this age, she would have escaped the nightmare…she had been wrong.

Christine's head shot up, "What happened to Erik and your mother?"

Rachel shook her head, "That is a story for another time." Rachel stood up and headed for the door, "Gather your things, including your passport, and meet me at the airport tomorrow afternoon at 4 pm; our flight leaves at precisely 4:30."

"Flight?" Christine asked, "To where?"

Rachel smiled, "Ms. Daae, you are the one person, in over ten years, that has sparked my brothers interest." She patted Christine on the arm, "You have been granted an audience with him."

"He's agreed to do the interview?" Christine exclaimed. She was ecstatic; but something just seemed too easy about the whole thing. He had gone to all this trouble, why make it so effortless at this point in the game?

Rachel chuckled, "Yes, he is sending his private jet here to pick us up tomorrow."

She headed out the door and down the hall. Just before Christine and Meg reached the outer doors, Rachel turned to them, "Ms. Daae," She waited until Christine turned to her, "dress warmer than usual….where we are going, it is a bit cooler than New York."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Christine and Meg went out to dinner that night, to celebrate their success.

"Yes, but if Rachel had not chosen to reveal her secret and tell Mr. St. Clair about us, I have a feeling we would not be looking forward to this meeting." Christine admitted. "Besides, something just doesn't feel right."

Meg rolled her eyes, "Christine, you're letting your imagination run wild." She smiled at Christine and agreed with her, "I still think it was your skill as an investigator that got us this far."

"We'll find out soon enough." Christine sat still, contemplating for a few minutes, "I really expected Mr. St. Clair to be much older." She looked up at Meg's big, brown eyes, "Rachel can't be more than nineteen or twenty, which puts him right around thirty."

"So…what's wrong with that?" Meg asked.

"Nothing, I just…thought….he…would be older, that's all." Christine stammered.

Meg rolled her eyes, "There you go thinking again, without the proper equipment!"

Christine walloped her on the arm and they both broke out in a laugh.

"How could a man get that rich, that quick…to be able to afford private jets, and who knows what else, at the age of thirty?" Christine asked.

"He's an architect, Christine…he makes millions of dollars off each commissioned design, not to mention the money he makes from his hobbies – like music, painting, sculpting…you name it, he does it." Meg stated.

The thought of it all was overwhelming. Christine had never been around anyone who had that kind of money…he was probably some stuck-up snob with an attitude who thought himself above everyone else. That's probably why he was a recluse.

'I sure hope there are some redeeming qualities that will allow me to like this guy…I hate to think that I will dislike him and will be unable to tolerate his presence.' Christine thought to herself.

"Well, I just hope that he's a nice person…that's what matters." Christine stated to Meg.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The following day, Christine paid a visit to Ms. Barnhouse; giving her an update on the progress; she was pleased.

"Finally, some success…this is amazing!" The fiery businesswoman exclaimed. "He has eluded every other attempt I have made at finding him." She looked directly at Christine and grinned, "I should give you an award."

Christine shook her hand and they parted ways; neither of them sure of when they would meet again.

She picked up Meg, who had taken a leave of absence from her editing job, and they went shopping. They had no idea where they were going, but Rachel had said it was cooler than New York, and it was late March, so they picked up nice jeans and slacks, long-sleeved blouses and sweaters, accessories – hats, gloves, scarves…everything a girl could want.

When four o'clock rolled around, they were at the airport where Rachel had told them to be and she was there waiting on them. The jet had just landed and was being fueled and checked before the flight.

"Our flight time will be about ten hours, maybe a little longer." Rachel said.

"Ten hours?" Christine exclaimed. "I'm going to look a fright when I meet him."

Rachel just shook her head and giggled, she was really beginning to like Christine and Meg. They were unassuming and genuine…she only hoped they would be this way around Erik.

The flight finally got underway, and before she gave into the dreaded sleep monster that was threatening to close her down, Christine had a couple of questions to ask Rachel.

"Mr. St. Clair's family…do they live with him?"

Rachel regarded her with a strange look, "Family?"

"Yes, wife…kids, you know…family" Christine stated with a grin.

A look of deep sadness crossed Rachel's eyes, "Erik has never married." She replied, with very sad eyes. "He probably never will."

Christine found that hard to believe, "Come on, a man of thirty…talented…gifted; many call him a genius." Christine smirked at Rachel and nodded her head, "He's probably under the impression that women want to be around him because he's filthy rich…" She pursed her lips in disgust, "…and I'm sure it's probably true of most women."

Rachel looked even more remorseful than she had earlier, "Erik has only been 'involved' with one woman." Rachel's voice had taken on a menacing tone, "Erik met Lana Simmons when he lived in New York. She lived in the same apartment building; and one evening, she pushed Nadeesh to the side abruptly, and manipulated herself into Erik's life."

The bitterness in Rachel's voice was palpable, "She pursued him relentlessly, but would never allow him to touch or kiss her…she felt that Erik should have been honored to be in her presence." Rachel knew she needed to explain, but was not going to go into detail.

"She sounds dreadful….how could a woman treat a man like that?" Meg asked, not believing what she was hearing. "Most women love to be touched and kissed….what was her problem?"

"There are some things you will learn on your own…then you can draw your own conclusions." Rachel wiped a tear off her face, "All I ask, is that you not hurt him any more." She smiled sadly, "He is not used to being around any people who are not family…and he may not be approachable at first."

Christine did not respond, but sat thinking about what could cause a man, in his prime, to shut himself away from the rest of the civilized world; this was going to be an interesting journey. Something inside her began calling out to this young, wounded man. What was it about him that caused such pain in his life?

Christine almost hated to ask, but she had to know, "What did she do to him?"

"She used his lack of sexual experience against him…she would make him promises and then never carry through with them after she got her way." Rachel was fighting hard to keep the nausea from coming up, "The final straw came when he had finally decided to ask her to marry him, knowing that to make love to her before marriage was not appropriate…" Rachel snorted angrily at the memory, "…she laughed at him…threw his ring and his love right back in his face."

Rachel wiped more tears and then lifted her mournful eyes to Christine, "He is very leery of women, now…not that he has ever had a reason not to be." She looked Christine over, from head to toe, "He will be captivated by you, Christine…don't abuse that."

Christine raised her eyebrows and cocked her head, "Why would he be captivated by me?"

Rachel smirked and shook her head, "Because you're an intelligent, capable, confident, and very beautiful woman…these are all traits that Erik finds very attractive." She reached over and placed a restraining hand on Christine's arm, "Don't worry, he will never let you know of his attraction, but everyone who watches him will know."

Rachel leaned back in her seat and prepared to rest.

Christine tried not to create images in her overactive mind, 'He's never known the love of a woman; he will find me attractive…he's a genius and a hero…' She thought to herself. '…the only thing that comes to mind that would make a woman with her shallowness act as she did…would be his looks.' She determined.

Christine drifted to sleep with images floating around in her head; images of a dark headed boy helping her pick up her books, then his secret being exposed under a full mask, and then being viciously beaten…it was a restless sleep, indeed.

TBC