Counterpoint (24 page)

Max and Carla checked the tomb for
anything they might have missed or left behind in fading torchlight
and climbed out of the hellhole for the last time.

Carla turned the truck so Max could
fill in the entrance to the tunnel and tidy the area, lit by the
headlights.

The roof slab and its neighbour just
under the wall of the excavation were easily moved by the excavator
bucket and fell into the tunnel. Max scraped surface sand from the
area, backfilling the hole and consolidating with the hoe bucket.
The amount of sand needed to block the hole was substantial because
much of it slid off down into the tunnel.

It was now 2am, and the music and
lights were winding down; they had to leave now or they might be
noticed, returning to the parking area.

A final sweep with the yard broom
removed all suspicious marks from the area so they could leave,
confident the tomb was hidden, forever.

The drive back with lights to the ramp,
and without them to the vehicle park, was uneventful, much to their
relief. Now the end of the mission was near, they were both dead on
their feet.

They left the truck as instructed and
sneaked out onto the main road from the site. Max phoned Sam and
reported in; all was well, and called for the helicopter as soon as
possible. Minutes later they were on board and heading back to the
Cairo hotel. The pilot had landed close by, to wait for the call to
pick them up.

They slept in their clothes at the
hotel, until they woke at 11am the next morning, to the sound of
the satellite phone. Sam was calling to say they had found Peter
Gibson. “He was found dead, out in the desert, stiff as a board.
Looks like Peter had a fit or something and just kept rolling along
in low gear, for miles. The Land Cruiser drove over a dune, tipped
over and lay hidden until an hour ago. There will be an inquiry,
but according to our man on the ground, there is nothing for us to
worry about. The refrigerated truck has been taken into storage
within the C.N.W.D. Corporation building, and things are being
examined and catalogued as we speak. Rubin has been sorted as well,
fortunately, no family issues to deal with.

Apart from the obvious head trauma, it
looks like he died from a massive heart attack. That is what his
death certificate shows. It also transpires the oxygen content of
his blood was extremely low; he was suffering from hypoxia, most
likely from being in the tomb for so long. The condition would have
impaired his judgement and reasoning, so perhaps he was running
from something in his imagination, straight into the end wall of
the tunnel. Anyway, the body will be brought back to Italy for
cremation.

Lastly, thank you both for all your
efforts; the mission has gone well so far. Take a couple of days
there to recover and we will arrange to get you home.”

Relieved, Carla and Max said goodbye to
Sam and ended the call.

By the time Philippe and his remaining
men landed at Malé, news of the helicopter and its two occupants
was all over the town, though nobody knew where they had gone. In
case Max and Carla had gone into hiding in the town, Philippe’s men
prowled around on the lookout.

It was not long before one of the men
noticed Amy as she did a bit of shopping. The men followed her back
to the yacht. Philippe felt sure his man had made a mistake, but
went along and checked it out, anyway. From a distance, Philippe
saw Amy for himself, thinking it was Carla. He found it hard to
believe Carla would be so blatant as to remain in the town, but
then she was a cunning little vixen, perhaps she thought this would
be the safest place, right under his nose, hiding in plain
sight.

He closed in on her with his men
nearby. No doubt about it, it was Carla all right, he thought.

Amy boarded David’s yacht and went
below to prepare lunch. Philippe waited for a while, looking around
him for some sort of trap. Eventually, he quietly boarded with his
men. Amy and David looked up in astonishment as first legs, then
the body and finally Philippe’s head came into view, as he
descended the steps into the lounge.

David spoke first, indignantly
demanding to know who he was. Philippe’s reply was to hold his gun
at David’s head, as he came face to face with Amy. She looked at
Philippe squarely, a hostile expression on her face, he had seen
that look before when Carla shot Vincent in the runaway Mercedes.
Philippe thought he had at last caught up with Carla, but she was a
cool customer though, almost as though she had never seen him
before. “What do you want?” She demanded, staring Philippe down.
Amazing bluff, HELL she acts as if she does not know me. A flash of
doubt crept into his mind, it went just as quickly; there was no
mistake this was Carla.

“I have caught up with you at last, my
darling daughter. I want the statuette, and then I will pay you
back for all the trouble and pain you have caused me.” He turned
and pointed at the disfigured side of his face.

Defiantly she stood her ground and
said, “Firstly, I am no daughter of yours, you homicidal freak and
I don’t know anything about a statuette.”

Pent up rage swept through Philippe,
and he lashed out at her. Quick though, he was, his temper spoilt
his swing, and she instinctively, threw up an arm to counter it.
She kicked high at his face, and he countered that. The next
instant she turned and ran into the toilet, locking the door behind
her. Reaching up, she released the skylight catches, opening it
fully. As Philippe battered the door down, Amy lithely climbed out
on the deck. Three men advanced towards her along the deck, cutting
off her escape to the jetty.

There were crowds of people about, so
she screamed for help. The men and Philippe ran off into the
crowd.

“What was all that about?” She said to
David.

“I don’t know why you’re asking me?” He
said, “It was you, they were after.”

“Perhaps they were after Carla?” She
said. “And what did he mean by saying, I was his daughter?”

“I don’t know!” Repeated David; “I
think we better get the police.”

The police came but could not throw any
light on the event. They did mention the attack on the Ocean Raider
though, so Amy decided to say nothing more until she had spoken to
Carla.

She called Carla and told her what had
happened. Carla said she would contact her again when she got back
from Egypt, but in the meantime, Amy must get police
protection.

Early next morning, crew from Ocean
Raider towed the launch belonging to Geoff Collins (alias Stan
Peters), to the nearest shore and beached it. They then returned
and the ship weighed anchor, making for the nearest facility that
could repair the damage caused by the shooting. It was here that
Geoff Collins slipped ashore unnoticed. Whilst on board, he had
heard about the message from Sam to Max and their imminent return
to Italy from Egypt. Italy was a big place, and he needed to find
out where they would go. His only lead was Amy, on the yacht at
Malé. He set off at once back to his Hotel in Malé to change his
clothes and pick up some money and equipment. Next, he looked for
the yacht that Amy and David used; it was still there.

He spent the rest of the day loitering
and listening to the conversation between Amy and David as they
went over the attack. Collins guessed the person they referred to
was his adversary, who tried to board the Ocean Raider. Later he
heard Amy refer to the statuette, and wanted to know what the
attacker was referring when he demanded it back. He also heard
David mention Max and Carla, and their imminent return from Egypt.
Collins was now extremely pleased with himself. He was back on
track already, all he needed to know was where to find Max and
Carla.

That night, Amy and David went out to
dinner. Collins went on board and planted three electronic bugs in
key places on the yacht. Now all he had to do was listen, and
wait.

Next morning he heard a mobile phone
ring on the yacht, it was Carla calling Amy. She had invited the
two of them back to her home in Rubiana, Northern Italy and said
she could meet them from the airport if they told her what flight
they could get. David said he wanted to stay with his yacht so Amy
must go on her own. After a brief row, Amy booked her flight and
confirmed the details to Carla. Collins smirked as he muttered to
himself, “On a plate, they give it to me on a plate!”

Collins booked a ticket on the same
flight and continued surveillance in case there were any last
minute changes. The following day Amy made her way to the airport,
dragging her very large pair of suitcases behind her. The row
between her and David had developed to the extent she was leaving
him, though she did not want to say so to his face. She had packed
everything she owned in the cases. She knew it would not be long
before she met some other man, and if necessary, use him as a
stepping-stone to a better life.

The man in the water taxi dumped her
baggage on the jetty and burbled away to his next fare. Amy
orientated herself to the airport, braced herself, and heaved the
cases along behind her.

A deep and pleasant voice called out to
her from behind. She stopped and turned to face the man. He was
immaculately dressed, shaved head, a craggy face, probably in his
early Fifties and physically, supremely fit. He looked like a man
of authority, wise and quick-witted, his warm smile made her feel
at ease.

He offered to help her with her
cases.

No harm in that; saves me lugging them
around, she thought.

“That’s very kind of you,” she said in
her best posh voice. He whisked them onto a trolley, placing his
small bag on top.

“My name is Geoff Collins, I’m going to
Turin Caselle Airport,” he said.

“Oh!” Said Amy, “So am I, hope we will
be on the same flight. It will be delightful to have someone
friendly to talk to.”

Still chatting away, they booked in
together and then went for coffee in the departure lounge.

Amy found Geoff so easy to talk to, it
was just as if she had always known him. She skilfully explored his
situation and circumstances. She was delighted to discover he was
unattached, and had a successful company manufacturing high-tech
medical equipment. Apparently, he had business to attend to in
Italy, and then planned a break, exploring the area for several
weeks.

“It gets better and better,” thought
Amy.

Collins listened attentively to Amy and
appeared intensely absorbed in what she was saying, but he was
actually looking out for the tall man who had been following Amy,
ever since she got off the water taxi. The man had no luggage, but
joined the check-in queue behind her and disappeared to make a
mobile phone call when his turn came to check-in, now he had
disappeared.

Collins might have done something
similar himself, if he was following someone, and wanted to know
more about them and their destination. He supposed it was his
adversary or one of his henchmen, reporting back and arranging a
tail at the other end of the flight.

Wilson, the tall man Collins had
spotted, had made his report to Philippe. The girl believed to be
Carla was indeed going to Turin Caselle Airport as expected.
Philippe had already gone ahead to follow her back to the hideaway
where she lived. Once he knew where she was, he could deal with her
in the comfort of her own home and not only retrieve the statuette,
but probably the Project Oracle, as well.

Geoff Collins and Amy became extremely
close friends on the flight, and exchanged mobile phone numbers so
they could keep in contact, after they landed, then went their
separate ways. If possible, they planned to meet up again at the
earliest opportunity. Amy apologised for not being able to say
exactly where she was staying, explaining she would be met at the
airport by her sister, then taken back to her sister’s home in the
mountains.

Geoff mentioned he was in no better
position because he had not booked anywhere yet. Amy seized the
opportunity and invited him back with her; she was certain Carla
would not mind.

She was disappointed when Geoff said he
could not stay with her just yet, because of his business
commitments, and thought it was just an excuse to stop seeing her.
Geoff, on the other hand, wanted to find out where Carla lived, but
did not want to be recognised by her or Max. He would spring his
surprise meeting with Carla when it suited him.

Geoff slipped away for a few minutes at
the baggage carousel to order a taxi, arranging for it to meet him
at the airport. He took the registration number and agreed where to
find it. He planned to follow Amy to Carla’s home.

With the excuse that his bag had not
circulated yet, he said goodbye to Amy. He kissed her gently on her
cheek, gave a warm smile and a lingering look, deep into her blue
eyes.

Amy set off alone, through Customs, to
find Carla in the arrivals hall. Geoff hung back out of sight; bag
in hand.

The two girls met, they were more than
sisters, he thought; they were identical twins. Max was there as
well dealing with cases. Geoff was surprised when they went through
to another section of the airport and not to a taxi or to the car
park.

They made their way to a waiting
helicopter.

“Damn!” He swore to himself. He had not
anticipated that, never mind he still had a good line of contact
with Amy, but noted the index number of the aircraft just in
case.

Geoff made his way to the nearest
luxury hotel with the help of his taxi driver.

Amy was a bit awestruck when she
boarded the private helicopter; she had never flown in one
before.

Amy deliberately selected the best
labels to travel in, to show Carla she had style. Carla chose to
dress down today, hoping to make Amy feel more relaxed and welcome,
knowing the private helicopter ride, the Duke’s home in the
mountains, and her hideaway, would be rather intimidating.