Free The Chaos Code by Justin Richards Page B

in his spare time.
    â€˜Probably doesn’t have any,’ Robin said. ‘These people work all the hours God sends. And then some. Obsessive. That’s why they’re so successful of course. That and intelligence and good business sense.’
    â€˜And luck,’ Matt said.
    â€˜And arrogance,’ Robin added. ‘We’ve got a helicopter pad behind the house, but he still landed on the lawn. He obviously likes to make an impression.’
    â€˜Like, in the grass you mean?’ Matt joked. Robin smiled.
    Harper’s interest in archaeology seemed always to have been there, beneath the surface of his corporate work. They found a brief biography from a respected history journal that mentioned that Harper had insisted his companies donate funds to several research projects in the 1980s. Since then he had taken a more active – and financial – personal interest. He had funded archaeological digs and projects all over the world as well as donating to libraries and institutes.
    â€˜Look at this,’ Matt exclaimed in surprise at one web page, though he knew Robin was reading it with him.
    She laughed. ‘If it’s true.’
    Matt was still impressed. ‘He tried to buy Stonehenge. Wow.’
    â€˜He owns loads of ancient sites,’ Robin pointed out. ‘Most of them not so high profile though. There’s that Inca village, and the prehistoric caves in the south of France.’
    â€˜Yeah, I know. And he’s saved loads of others by personal intervention in out-of-the-way countries where they could have been destroyed. It’s more than a hobby – it’s an obsession. He collects old stuff from coins and trinkets to castles and estates … Hey!’ An idea had occurred to Matt.
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜I bet that’s why he’s here. He wants to buy you out.’
    â€˜No way.’ Robin closed the browser and shut down the computer. ‘Dad would never sell. We’ve been here for …’ She stood up. ‘The family’s lived here for centuries. We’d never sell.’
    He was teasing really. He didn’t think that was why Harper had come, but he was amused to see how it unsettled Robin. ‘He might offer your dad millions.’
    â€˜Dad’s got millions,’ she said. She said it quietly, matter-of-fact. So probably, Matt thought, it was true.
    â€˜Maybe some particular relic then,’ he suggested. ‘Plenty of those round the place, after all.’
    She was still serious. ‘They’re not for sale.’
    â€˜Not even the pictures?’
    The half-smile was back. ‘Don’t tease me.’
    â€˜Sorry. But I bet he wants something.’
    â€˜Everyone wants something,’ she told him. ‘I’m going for a walk. Coming?’
    Matt paused in the corridor, beside the table with the photograph on it. ‘I saw some old pictures yesterday,’ he said.
    â€˜How interesting,’ Robin said sarcastically.
    â€˜It was, actually. Aunt Jane’s got a scrapbook. There’s pictures of her and my Dad, when they were kids. About our age, I suppose.’
    â€˜Yes?’ She sounded bored. Or wary.
    â€˜There are pictures of them playing in the grounds.’
    â€˜They grew up here. In the village.’
    â€˜I know that.’
    They had reached the hall. The sound of Julius Venture’s voice was a low murmur from the other side of a door that wasn’t quite shut.
    â€˜They were playing with another girl,’ Matt said. He felt the blood go to his cheeks as he said it, though he wasn’t sure why he should be embarrassed. ‘I think it must have been your mother.’
    â€˜Why do you think that?’ There was no emotion at all in her voice.
    â€˜Because she looked just like you.’
    Robin nodded. ‘Yes. Yes, she would have done.’
    â€˜Sorry.’ Matt turned away. ‘I guess maybe you don’t like to talk about