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took out a bag of coins and set it
on the table. Though he wasn’t tall, his thickset body made him
feel positively huge next to the man who sat across from him.
Livias was small and wiry, with a long narrow head and tapering,
smooth-shaven arms. Streaks of black laced through his silver hair.
His brown eyes were spaced widely apart over his broad nose and he
strongly resembled a ferret. He was, in fact, an excellent
hunter…of men, not rabbits.
    Livias glanced around the dimly lit tavern
and took a long drink of the imported Egyptian beer. “Who is it
this time?”
    Petronius, too, looked around, and answered
in a low voice, “Paulus Valerius Maximus. Do you know of him?”
    Livias was adept at hiding his feelings,
especially surprise. “He is in Rome?”
    “He’s been seen twice.”
    “Who wants him, and why?”
    “The emperor. He left his position years ago
and obviously has been in hiding. According to some of the soldiers
who saw him last, at the Antonia in Jerusalem, he is with the woman
who killed Magnus Eustacius. Caligula wants them both
arrested.”
    “Valerius is a great name in Rome,” Livias
said thoughtfully. “Paulus Valerius was well-loved by his
legion…and admired by the Senate. He probably only disappeared to
protect this woman. The emperor is taking a risk if he seeks to put
Valerius to death.”
    “Bah,” said Petronius disgustedly. “Caligula
doesn’t care about the Senate. And he thinks the army loves him !”
    Livias grinned. Petronius expected to see a
line of sharp, feral teeth, but the other man was actually missing
several. Livias didn’t smile much.
    “I see you have no love for Caligula. I
wonder that he let you go without shaving the back of your head,
Petronius.”
    The soldier’s brows drew together…he saw
nothing humorous in the remark. He was, after all, rather vain
about his thick, curly black hair. Caligula, suffering from
thinning and receding hair, often took his revenge upon men more
blessed than he by ordering a razor to be run down the middle of
their cranium.
    “We are not here to discuss the foibles of
the emperor, Livias. I will tell you where Valerius was last seen,
but that is all I know. Are you familiar with his appearance?”
    “Oh, yes. I saw him many times when he lived
here before.” Livias gestured toward the bag of coins. “How much
more, if I find him, and his wife? They may not necessarily
be together, you know.”
    “I’ll double it.”
    Livias took another slow drink. “That’s quite
a few months of wages—for you. Or is Caligula offering a
reward?”
    Petronius shook his head. “No reward.”
    “Then why pay me …why not search for him
yourself?”
    “I will be searching, but I need help,”
Petronius said shortly. “And you are very good at what you do.” He
didn’t feel the need to add that his life was probably at stake,
since he had vowed that he would find Paulus Valerius before the
end of August. Why he had made such a rash statement he didn’t
know. Yes, he did…he was trying to divert Caligula from the fact
that Valerius had escaped under the very noses of his guards…even
though they hadn’t known they were supposed to arrest him!
    “So, Livias, I may depend on you, then? Of
course, if you find him the credit will go to me.”
    Livias shrugged. “I have no wish to be
thanked by the emperor or, gods forbid, even noticed by him. Unless
he changes his mind about a reward.”
    “I’m sure you will hear of it if he
does.”
    When Petronius had gone, Livias sat for a
while finishing his beer, and thinking. Where would he start
looking for Paulus Valerius and the woman? The guards said he had
headed northeast after passing through the gate. He could have been
trying to throw them off track, but more likely his first concern
was to get the woman and child, his child no doubt, to a place of
safety, and he would have headed for the part of town he was more
familiar with. Although…the former legate and prefect of the