Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
ELENA
I hadn’t stepped into this room since that last time. It held both negative and positive memories. It was strange how the body remembered the negative experiences more.
Orion looked at me. “What’s wrong?”
I glanced at the wall where he’d kissed me, but also dismissed me. “Just trying to forget a memory.”
He wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t erase it. Think of it as a critical moment for our relationship. That day was the day I wanted you so badly, but didn’t have the courage to face it.” He drew back. “I’m sorry I hurt you that day. I was a mess too. It was all because I wanted you.”
His confession completely shifted the energy in the room. How could I not feel better with that admission?
Orion was a conundrum that surprised and intrigued me more each second.
I smiled. “So who or what is The Roc?”
“You’re talking to him.” He smiled. “He’s your boyfriend. Other than Ralph, you’re the only person who gets to see this room.”
My heartbeat quickened. I’d never felt so important to a man until now.
Orion took my hand, leading me to a wall with a dark forest mural.The soft sensor lights illuminated the area and the painting. I hadn’t noticed how beautiful it was during my first visit. I’d been too occupied with the starry ceiling. But now I could see and sense the peacefulness that emanated from the forest painting.
With his index finger, he tapped different points on the mural—a red leaf, a green leaf, an orange leaf, a butterfly that blended into the trees until his finger pointed to it. Then his finger moved to a bird perched on a tree branch, a squiggly vine, and a blooming flower on a floral tree. Then he placed his palm onto the trunk of a maple tree. Light radiated around his hand as though reading his palm print.
Something clicked from behind the wall, and the forest painting shifted, looking different. A part of the wall slid to the side, revealing another wall that also moved aside as he stepped in.
I didn’t dare blink or move, fearing I’d miss something important. Orion was showing me his secret room—he was showing me his other self.
As we stepped in, ahallway opened and lights illuminated, revealing a cozy room fully furnished with comfy couches.
Stone statues, marble figurines, and unique abstract art were displayed all over the massive room. I walked around the room and examined the intricate art pieces.
I’d always wondered what was on the rest of the floor because the office only occupied a small portion of the entire floor.
“Is this your collection of fine things?”
“It’s one of them.”
“You’ve stolen these things?”
“Some of them,” he said.
“How many rooms like this do you have?”
He lifted a shoulder. “One or two on every continent.”
“You don’t have one on Antarctica. There’s nothing there.” I laughed.
His serious expression had my mouth dropping.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” My eyes widened with intrigue.
“That could be one of our future trips.” He touched my face gently.
I didn’t know why I was so fascinated that he had something in Antarctica.
“Why there? It’s freezing.”
“There’s an office that nobody knows about. Just because you don’t read about it in the news doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. For safety reasons, it’s kept from the media.” He tipped my chin up and brushed his lips against mine. “A lot of things are kept from the world, and some of them belong to people who have ill intentions.”
“Do you have those intentions?” I asked, trying to piece together this profound man who had captured my heart.
“My intention is to stop the people who are trying to harm us.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“There are things you don’t know, Elena.” He pointed to a black rock on a pedestal. “This is shungite crystal originally from Russia. I took it from a man who’s developing a system to manipulate the properties of water. When ingested, it changes the brainwaves—making it more susceptible to control. The changes are subtle, but over time, the brain gets used to it.”
I made a disbelieving face. “Is that even possible?”
“Of course it is. This crystal is pure, and the frequency it emits is potent. If used in the right way, this crystal can maintain the purity of water, heal the body in miraculous ways.” He looked at me. “But if it’s being used in the wrong way, our society will become mindless, falling prey to those who want to control us. What we eat and drink. How we live our lives.”
“Wow.” I didn’t know what else to say.
He placed a hand on the crystal that was the size of my fist. “My mother told me about it because she read the man’s natal chart and saw his intentions. The man leads one of the largest energy companies in the world and had asked her to delineate a goodtime frame to announce the new project. She told him the wrong dates.”
When my grandmother was alive, she told me that astrologers and even psychics could predict a good day to get married or start a business.
“This man is also part of a dangerous organization called The Trogyn, with members all over the world.”
“You should take everything that belongs to them.”
“I try, but the elite members aren’t easily traceable. They have other members like Samuel Donatello to do the work and take the fall.”
The wheels in my brain turned and turned, making a connection. “So you’re in Antarctica because there’s water there and no one’s around. What exactly are you doing there?”
Orion smiled. “I admire your brain, Madame Sarcasm. You can connect things easily.” He went over to a refrigerator and pulled out two containers. One had a black crystal inside it, the other didn’t.
He offered me the container with the black crystal. “Try it. This water has been purified by the shungite crystal and energized by sunlight.” He pointed to a table with light beaming down into an indoor pool. “You’ll taste the difference.”
I sipped the crystal-infused water.“Wow. I can taste the freshness. My body also feels more energized.” Then I tried the container without the crystal. “It’s tasteless. I didn’t feel anything.”
“I’m trying to preserve the true healing powers of water. Because if I don’t, there are people who will start charging a lot of money for water, which should be free. Before you know it, they’ll start charging you for grass, trees, and for the air that you breathe, which should always be free to everyone.”
“Can people do that?”
“Of course they can.”
“How?” I was trying my best to understand everything, but having a tough time.
“By creating a circumstance where you will need their products or services.”
I still didn’t understand.
“If you want to sell clean air, then you must first pollute it. If you want to sell clean water, then you must first contaminate it. And you need to do this slowly by creating catastrophic scenarios that seem natural. There’s equipment that can alter weather. And Mother Nature is a powerful force.”
I stood there, speechless.
“How can you alter weather?”
“Operation Popeye. You can read about it online, but most people dismiss it as irrelevant.” He looked at me. “Weather manipulation is real. Arrow was in the military. He knew about it and the other programs they had. Operation Popeye extended the monsoon season for Northern Vietnam during the Vietnam War. They created more rainfall, flooded rivers, disrupting supplies to soldiers, and so on. There are machines that can create extreme moisture in the sky. Militaries around the world have this equipment. It’s just not talked about.”
I couldn’t fathom what he was telling me. People had time for that shit? I should know better from all the inhuman stories I’d encountered over the years. Despite that, I believed there was goodness in the world. I wanted to believe that.
Perhaps he was being paranoid? There were shows on the internet about conspiracy theories and other weird stuff, but I’d never paid any attention to them.
“I’m not trying to dismiss anything. It’s just hard for me to grasp what you’re saying.” I looked at him. “Is there proof?”
“I have that equipment, Elena. But I choose not to use it. Not in those ways. My company, SIGMA, is more advanced than NASA and NOAA. I have the technology because I want to understand it, learn its complexities and capabilities. This way I can plan and anticipate the enemy’s next step and how to stop them.”
“You have enemies?”
“Of course I do. People who disagree with what I do are enemies. There are a few of them, and they’re extremely wealthy. Wealthier than me. You don’t hear about them, but they run the show behind the scenes.”
Who could be wealthier than Orion, who was a quadrillionaire? Amazed, I glanced around the room, pondering on the eclectic collection.
He knew what I was wondering and said, “Yes. Everything in this room—and all the other rooms around the world—is stolen from those who have hurt people and plan to do worse. Sometimes I take things that aren’t tangible—ideas, formulas—and make them better. My version. Does that make me a bad person?”
I waited a beat, letting the question hang between us. Did he believe I saw him that way? Did he see himself that way?
“No,” I said with conviction, touching his face. “It makes you an extraordinary person. You care in your own way. I understand you better now.”
His anxiety had stemmed from so much more than what he’d told me. It wasn’t just the stressful childhood crammed with tough classes and strenuous activities. It was also his innate ability to foresee dangerous things and gathering all the data to create an action plan to protect and defend what he believed in. He had a good heart.
“That was the intention.” He smiled, looking more relieved. “I have more to share with you, but I think this is enough for now.”
Orion had resources most of us didn’t, and I was so proud he was using them to better the world. I’d always considered those with privilege didn’t do enough. Or care enough. But today, this man who filled my heart with love proved me wrong.
He was so brilliant, shedding light on things I had never even considered. It blew me away.
With emotions filling me, I embraced him, hugging him so tightly, he muttered, “I think my liver just moved to the other side of my body.”
Loosening my embrace, I laughed. “Can I come into this room whenever I want?”
“Yes, I’ll give you the code.”
A light bulb flashed, reminding me of the question I’d wanted to ask earlier, but had forgotten when all this wonder took over.
“You were tapping at little bits on the wall. What were you tapping? Was that the code?”
He nodded. “The seven major stars that outline the hunter in the Orion constellation.” He tallied them with his fingers. “Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka—those are the three stars that make up his belt—Meissa, Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Saiph, and Rigel.”
Amused, I stared at him. “You’re such a nerd. No one is going to decode that.”
“Good. That’s the idea.”
There was no way I’d remember the code. I’d need him to sketch out a map for me to enter this room. I spun and studied the room, realizing I could spend all day here and not get bored.
“There’s so much to explore here,” I said. “Unique and magical things that could make this world better. Inspiration, innovation, new technology, and concepts that haven’t been introduced yet.” I looked at him. “It’s like I’m wandering inside your mind. It’s beautiful and scary. Thank you for inviting me.”
“You’re welcome.” He took my hand—a gesture I loved—and swung it back and forth as we wandered around the room some more.
I’d held hands with my previous partners, but it didn’t seem as intimate as it did with Orion. Everything done with him was amplified tenfold. His presence alone heightened my senses.
We walked by sculptures, a dagger with various gems on the handle, a necklace that looked really expensive, a book encased in a glass display, and so much more. It was like a curated Orion museum, and I was a child in awe.
“Don’t tell me those are ancient scriptures.” I stopped at a stone tablet with hieroglyphics etched on the surface.
“From the Great Pyramid of Giza,” he said casually, as if it was normal to have something that had been inside a pyramid.
“From the Great Pyramid of Giza,” I repeated, gawking at him. “I can’t believe it. You’re lying.”
“I don’t lie.” He eyed me. “Not to those who matter to me.”
I was going to ask why he had the tablet and how he had retrieved it, but it didn’t matter. I was in love with the best thief who ever existed. If he showed me a royal crown from some dynasty from the seventeenth century, I’d shrug it off as though he’d just told me the weather for the day.
My goodness. I’d come a long way. I’d always wanted to uncover the truth to a mystery, and Orion Reimann was the biggest mystery in this lifetime for me.
“What’s the gemstone?” I walked over to a purple gemstone sitting by itself inside a glass display. I saw it sparkle from afar.
“It’s the purple taaffeite gemstone, rarer than diamonds.”
“It’s so pretty.” The light purple with a flicker of pink called to me. “And who did you steal this from?”
“I actually bought this at an auction years ago.”
“Oh.” At least I got to see one item he’d purchased. “It’s going to take me some time to absorb all of this, okay? I have a lot of questions.”
“Take all the time you need.” He smiled, looking as though he knew I’d react this way. “Ask away.”
“What’s the significance of The Roc? Who gave you that name?”
“It’s a mythical bird that represents power, freedom, and transcendence. Stories link it to myths from the Middle East and Madagascar. The giant bird has powerful claws large enough to fly away with an elephant. The Condor had a fascination with birds. He thought I had qualities of The Roc.” He shrugged. “He was an interesting man who saved me from myself. I think thievery saved him too.”
The sadness in his voice pricked at me. I kissed him on the cheek. “We’re getting close to finding his killer. He’ll get the justice he deserves.”
“Sam hired an assassin to kill The Condor. But I want the man who directed Sam to do it.”
He knew so much more than me. “When did you find this out?”
“Just recently. You can focus your research on the life insurance scam. I’ll cover The Condor.”
“Okay,” I said, then teased him, “so it was just you and The Condor taking over the world back then?”
“The Raven is my brother-in-arms, but he’s been retired for a while.”
“When do you plan on retiring?”
He considered me, and his pupils darkened. “Not sure yet. But I haven’t felt the urge to steal anything lately. I’ve got what I need and want with me.” He squeezed my hand.
We arrived at a wooden coffee table with a leather loveseat facing it. The table had intricate etchings around it. A gunmetal box sat on the table.
“Have a seat.” He nudged me down, sitting beside me. He reached for the box the size of a shoebox and slid it in front of me. “Of all the things I’ve stolen, there’s one thing that’s the most precious to me. You can’t forget your first.” He tapped the box. “I’ve never shown this to anyone but The Condor. I want to show you how it all began. How The Roc was born.”
Orion didn’t know what this moment meant to me. To see the very thing that created him was . . . sacred and indescribable. I didn’t know why but tears filled my eyes. I did my best to hold them back.
He typed in a code into the lock. When it clicked, he nodded for me to lift the lid.
I placed a hand on the lid, and my hand trembled for no reason. Meeting his eyes, I smiled. “I feel like a thief looking into another thief’s treasure chest.”
“You’re no thief.” A chuckle escaped him. “Not yet anyway.”
Inhaling a breath, I lifted the box to see a black velvet box inside of it. I took the box out, removed the top lid that didn’t have a lock, and gasped. For a moment my heart stopped—and then it galloped.
“Isn’t it beautiful? That leaf brooch was my first steal when I was a teenager. I accompanied my mom to Providence that year.”
Tears streamed down my face. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I met his eyes. “It’s not a leaf. It’s an abstract wing.” I choked. “It’s my brooch.”
“What?” His eyebrows furrowed, looking perplexed.