17

‘Welcome back!’ cried Lola, embracing the newly shaven Eddie as he entered the reception area. Several other IHA staffers gave him a round of applause.

‘Thanks! Thanks, everyone. It’s good to be back,’ Eddie replied. ‘Steady on, the wife’s right behind me,’ he added as Lola kissed him.

A grinning Nina followed him into the IHA offices. ‘It doesn’t take long for word to spread around here, does it, Lola?’

‘I could hardly keep it to myself, could I?’ Lola replied without a hint of contrition as she released Eddie. ‘It was bursting to get out. Like I wish this little guy would.’ She looked down at her stomach.

‘He’ll have his freedom soon,’ Nina assured her. ‘Or she’ll have hers, whichever it is. Anyway, thank you, everyone.’

People congratulated Eddie and shook his hand, then returned to their offices and labs. He and Nina had work of their own to deal with. ‘Mr Penrose is waiting for you,’ Lola told them. ‘And Ms Beauchamp is ready to take your call when you are.’

They went to the conference room. Sebastian Penrose stood up to greet them as they entered. ‘Ah, Eddie! Glad to see you again, alive and well and a free man. It must be a huge weight off your mind.’

‘You’re not kidding,’ said Eddie as he shook hands with the older Englishman. ‘Although let’s make sure I actually am free first, eh? I still keep thinking a SWAT team’s going to burst in at any moment.’

‘I think this will just be a formality,’ Penrose said, smiling. ‘Now, I understand that Renée is ready for us, so let me set this up . . .’

The conference room was equipped for videoconferencing. Penrose tapped at a remote control to switch on a large screen on one wall. A view of another conference room appeared, this one at Interpol’s headquarters in Lyons. Renée Beauchamp looked back at them. ‘Good afternoon, Sebastian,’ said the tall French-woman. ‘Or whatever time it is there.’

‘Good morning,’ Penrose replied, amused. ‘Now, I have two people here who are very eager to hear what you have to say, so . . . I hope it’s good news.’

Beauchamp sighed a little. ‘It is good news for Eddie; not so much for Interpol, I am afraid. Nina, you were right about the number being a Swiss account code. We made a priority check with the bank in Bern, and found that it was indeed registered to Ankit Jindal.’

Eddie noted her formality in using Kit’s full name; she was upset and disappointed in her former friend. ‘When was it opened?’

‘Over two years ago. And a considerable sum of money had been paid into it during that time – over three hundred thousand euros.’

‘Paid in by whom?’ Nina asked.

‘A company in the Cayman Islands, which turned out to be a shell. It ceased trading three months ago – just after Ankit’s death. But I had our financial crimes unit check it, and they found that the company was originally created as a subsidiary of a business owned by Harald Glas.’

‘Glas?’ echoed Eddie, exchanging a brief but knowing look with Nina. ‘He was involved with Kit too?’

Beauchamp tipped her head quizzically. ‘There is some other connection?’

He decided not to let her in on his nocturnal visit to Dalton’s house. ‘His name came up when I was trying to find out who attacked the skyscraper in Tokyo. But I didn’t know he had Kit on his payroll.’

‘Nor did we. It is embarrassing to Interpol; Internal Affairs will have to investigate further.’ She shook her head. ‘Of all people, I never would have believed he would be corrupt. He fought against corruption in India before joining Interpol, and he was always very firm on the need for order. I don’t know . . .’ Another shake.

‘What about Glas?’ said Nina. ‘Are Interpol any closer to tracking him down?’

‘No. It is as if he has disappeared from the face of the planet. Even though Eddie stayed ahead of us, we knew where he had been, and we were catching up.’

‘You didn’t get me, though,’ Eddie couldn’t resist pointing out.

Beauchamp’s lips briefly twitched into a hunter’s smile. ‘We would have. In time. But Glas . . . he has completely disappeared. An international red notice was placed on him, but he has not been seen since the warrant for his arrest was issued. We think he was tipped off. More corruption. But,’ she went on, ‘as for another red notice . . . Eddie, you will be very pleased to know that the one issued against you has been formally rescinded. The new evidence against Ankit proves that he had something to hide – which, with the gun found on the video footage, makes your claim of self-defence more valid.’

‘Thank God,’ said Nina.

‘There will still have to be further investigation into what happened in Peru – and the Peruvian government has outstanding charges against Eddie for assaulting two police officers. But,’ another slight smile, ‘I have persuaded them this is not a matter that calls for extradition.’

Eddie counted names on his fingers. ‘So that’s Zimbabwe, Syria and now Peru I can cross off my holiday list, then. And Monaco, too.’

Beauchamp’s look of curiosity returned. ‘What happened in Monaco?’

‘Uh, nothing,’ Nina said quickly, not wanting to remind Interpol of the couple’s involvement in the crashing of a multi-million-dollar yacht into the middle of the wealthy principality’s annual motor race. ‘But we’ll be happy to cooperate with Interpol to make sure Eddie is fully cleared. Won’t we?’

‘No arguments here,’ Eddie assured her.

‘For now, though,’ Beauchamp continued, ‘Eddie, you are a free man.’

Eddie let out a long sigh of relief. ‘I’m bloody glad to hear that, Renée. Thanks.’

The Interpol officer nodded. ‘I will speak to you again, no doubt. Goodbye.’

She disconnected. Nina turned to her husband. ‘How do you feel?’

‘Relieved. As. Fuck.’ He slumped in his chair. ‘Being on the run really bloody takes it out of you.’

‘Well, now you can stop running,’ said Penrose. ‘So, they found a connection between Jindal and Harald Glas? Interesting.’

‘You knew Glas,’ said Nina. ‘Can you think of any reason why he might have been paying Kit to obtain the statues?’

He shook his head firmly. ‘I wouldn’t say I was exactly a close friend – I knew him through the United Nations, that’s all. But no, I can’t think of anything.’

‘Kit was on his payroll before we even found the first statue in Egypt, though,’ Eddie noted. ‘So Glas must have been looking out for the statues even then.’

‘I suppose having someone inside the Cultural Property Crime Unit would give you a heads-up if they turned up on the black market,’ Nina said thoughtfully.

‘But how would he even have known about the statues in the first place?’ asked Eddie.

‘I wish I knew,’ said Penrose. He stood. ‘I have to go and brief the UN bigwigs on all this; Nina, I’ll forward you the minutes. And Eddie . . . congratulations.’

‘Thanks.’ The two men shook hands again, then Penrose departed. ‘So,’ said Eddie, ‘now what?’

‘First of all, before anything else . . .’ Nina leaned over, placed both hands on Eddie’s cheeks and kissed him deeply. ‘That.’

He was startled – but appreciative. ‘No tongue? Ah,’ he added as she returned for a second helping, this time with an open mouth. He was slightly breathless when she finally released him. ‘No sex on an office table?’

She grinned. ‘Don’t push your luck. But I just wanted to show that now I’ve got you back, I’m not letting you go again. From now on, we stick together, no matter what. You and me, always and for ever. Okay?’

He pretended to give the matter deep thought. ‘I can cope with that. So we’re back?’

‘We’re back, baby.’

‘And we’re not going to have any more arguments?’

‘Well, let’s not say anything crazy.’ They both smiled. ‘Anyway, second of all—’

‘Bollocks! I knew you’d be straight back to work.’

‘Second of all,’ she repeated, touching a finger to his lips before becoming more serious, ‘we need to decide how we’re going to deal with all this. Glas and the statues.’

‘The statues are safe, for the moment,’ Eddie told her. ‘I left them with a mate of mine in Chinatown. But if Glas wants ’em destroyed, maybe we should just do that and get him off our back for good.’

‘Maybe. But he might still want me dead, no matter what. We need more information; we need to find out why the statues are so important. The Brotherhood had some, but it was incomplete.’

‘Who else’d know?’

‘A very good question. And . . .’ Realisation lit up her face. ‘I think I know who could have the answer. Popadopoulos told me that the only organisations that might have more information than the Brotherhood would be certain powerful governments. And which is the most powerful government on the planet?’

‘Liechtenstein?’

‘No, they’re number two. Come on.’

They left the conference room and headed back to the reception area. Lola did a mild double-take. ‘Eddie, are you wearing lipstick?’

‘Damn, the secret’s out,’ he said, wiping his mouth.

‘Lola, I need you to contact someone for me and put them through to my office,’ said Nina.

‘Sure, no problem,’ the blonde replied. ‘Who?’

Nina paused before answering. ‘Victor Dalton.’

‘Mr President!’ said Nina with a big fake smile. ‘So good of you to agree to see us.’

Victor Dalton waited until the Secret Service agent who had just searched the two visitors – and made sure they were not using any recording equipment – left the study before replying. ‘It seems I didn’t have any goddamn choice,’ he said, giving Eddie a glare of deep hatred. ‘But I’ll warn you right now – I don’t take well to attempted blackmail.’

Nina’s smile vanished as if a switch had been flicked. ‘And I don’t take well to people trying to kill me. So I think we understand each other.’

Dalton put his elbows on his large oak desk and steepled his hands as his guests sat. ‘All right. What do you want?’

‘Information.’

‘About what?’

‘About why Glas wants me dead. About the three statues I found that Stikes gave to Takashi.’

Dalton made a dismissive sound. ‘I don’t know about any of that.’

‘But you’re working with Glas. How can you not know?’

‘My interest is in getting payback against the Group. I don’t really give a damn what Glas is up to. Parts of our objectives coincided, and we were in a position to provide mutual assistance, that’s all. I already told Chase as much as I know.’ His gaze became piercing, dangerous. ‘You want to know what I said? Just watch his damn recording.’

‘Maybe some more people ought to watch it,’ said Eddie.

Dalton jabbed a finger at him over the desk. ‘I warned you, Chase—’

‘Okay, then,’ Nina cut in, ‘tell me about archives instead. The Group apparently knows more about the statues than anyone else. They found out some of it from the Brotherhood of Selasphoros in Rome – where did they learn the rest? Does the US government have any records concerning the statues? Anything connecting them to earth energy, Atlantis, the Kallikrates text—’

The ex-president’s eyes flicked wide at that last. ‘You know what it is?’ Eddie asked.

Dalton considered his words carefully before answering. ‘I don’t know what it is, but I’ve heard of it, yes. When I was president, the Group would occasionally make requests for information from our top secret archives. That was something they wanted to see, the Kallikrates file. I remembered it because it’s an unusual name. But I have no idea what’s in it.’

‘I need to read it,’ said Nina. ‘How would I go about that?’

‘There’s a facility in Nevada called Silent Peak. A lot of highly classified material is stored there. The kind of material that’s so secret, they don’t let it out of the place – not even for presidents. If you want to read it, you have to go there.’ A faint smile. ‘And they don’t appreciate uninvited visitors.’

‘Well then,’ she said, ‘you’ll just have to get us an invitation, won’t you?’

Dalton shook his head. ‘Out of the question.’

‘I dunno,’ Eddie said, ‘you still had the connections to send assassins halfway round the world to try to finish me off in Japan. So I’m pretty sure you should be able to get me and Nina into some library.’ He reached into his jacket and took out his phone. ‘Unless you want me to make a call that gives the New York Times their next big headline?’

‘Wait, wait,’ said Dalton hurriedly. ‘Let me think. It’s a military facility, so access would have to be arranged via the Pentagon . . .’ He mused for a few seconds. ‘I know some people who might be able to do it – so long as they can arrange deniability. They wouldn’t just be risking their career by doing this. They could go to jail.’

Eddie waggled the phone in his hand. ‘They wouldn’t be the only ones.’

The angry lines on Dalton’s face deepened. ‘You’re asking me to get people who have nothing to do with our differences to risk everything to help you. These are loyal Americans. Patriots.’

‘So patriotic they were the first people you thought of when you needed someone to break the law,’ Nina remarked, voice cutting. ‘Look, I’m not asking to see nuclear launch codes, or the names of our spies abroad, or the damn X-files. The Kallikrates text was written over two thousand years ago, so it can hardly be a threat to national security. That’s the only thing I want to see. If you can arrange that, then I’m willing to . . .’ She looked at Eddie. ‘We’re willing to call a truce. We’ll keep the video quiet and make sure it never sees the light of day.’

Eddie’s expression told her that he was dubious about giving up their leverage, but his silence was sign enough that he was willing to go with her judgement. Dalton’s own visage was calculating. ‘Do I have your word on that?’ he finally said.

‘Yes. If we have yours that you’ll get us access to this Silent Peak place.’

‘Safe access,’ Eddie added pointedly. ‘In and out.’

Another pause for thought, then: ‘I’ll see what I can do – it should be possible.’ He leaned back in his chair, the dismissive shift in his body language a clear sign that he considered the meeting over. ‘You’ll forgive me if I don’t seal the deal with a handshake.’

Eddie stood, returning the phone to his pocket. ‘Damn, I wasted a perfectly good stinkpalm.’

‘Gross, Eddie,’ said Nina as she rose. ‘We’ll see ourselves out. Goodbye, Mr President.’

Dalton watched impassively as they left the room. Once they were gone . . . a tiny but devious smile curled the corners of his mouth.