The Goddess Legacy (8 page)

“Wait,” Allie said. “I still don’t understand. What does Carson searching for lost treasure have to do with the Department of Defense?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Reynolds said. “But I plan to find out.”

Spencer snorted. “You’re going to have to do it without us.”

Reynolds glared at him. “That’s not very smart.”

“Forget it. We’re not going to help.”

“You know what happens when I walk out that door? One of two things: either I run interference for you so you can continue where Carson left off, or the cops pick you up within an hour. They’ve got the city on alert, and there’s no way you walk away from that – in fact, you’ll be lucky if they don’t gun you down on sight. You’ll be taking your chances, with no passports, no knowledge of the country, and every cop within a hundred miles looking to flip your switch. How long do you think you’ll last? Bear in mind that at the point they catch you, you’re of no use to me anymore. Right now, free, you are. So instead of throwing around the attitude, I’d suggest you think things through, because I don’t have all night.”

Allie frowned. “How did you find us at the hostel?”

“I have informants in the police department, which is how I know they want Spencer in the worst possible way. You’re just lucky I got there before they did.” Reynolds let that sink in. “Here’s my offer: if you follow through with Carson’s research and help me, I’ll make all of this go away. Everything. Charges will be dropped, the investigation will go nowhere, and you’ll be free to leave India.”

“We don’t know much more than you do,” Spencer said. “He thought he had a lead on some treasure. That’s it. All I know is he paid someone a deposit – that’s not much to work with.”

“I know all that from his downloads. But I don’t know who he paid, or what for, or whether there was more to it than that. And frankly, I’m not an expert on treasure hunting. However, you are, which is why I’m talking to you.”

“You mentioned your superiors. You can’t ask them for more information, so we at least have a clue what we’re doing?” Drake asked.

“Don’t you think I already tried that? They told me to mind my own business and report back if anything changes.”

“That doesn’t strike you as weird?” Spencer asked.

“Of course it does. Everything about this does.” Reynolds sighed again. “Look. I don’t take losing a man lightly, especially for no apparent reason. This guy was a seasoned field operative – there’s no way he wouldn’t have been in contact by now unless he was dead. So something went wrong. Now I’m out of options, which is why I’m here. So the question is whether you’ll do the smart thing and help or spend the rest of your lives rotting in a fourth-world jail.” Reynolds’s voice softened. “Carson was murdered within hours of my man going dark. They’ve got to be connected, and I need to understand why. Believe me, if I had any other viable alternatives, I wouldn’t be sticking my neck out for a bunch of amateurs.”

Allie held his stare. “You’d turn them in, wouldn’t you?”

Reynolds acted as though he hadn’t heard her question. “I’m going to use the bathroom. Talk it over. When I come out, let me know what you’ve decided. What happens from there is out of my hands.”

“If we agree?” Drake asked. “How good are your contacts with the police?”

“Good enough.” Reynolds rose. “You’ll still need to be careful, but I can run enough interference that you’ll have a better than fighting chance. Files can get lost. Reports unwittingly erased. Evidence misplaced.”

“This is blackmail,” Spencer growled.

“Not at all. I’m giving you the opportunity to clear your name and possibly find treasure in the process. But most importantly, you don’t have a better offer, and we both know it.” Reynolds paused in front of one of the doors. “Take your time. I’ll be back in two minutes.”

When he was gone, Spencer joined Allie and Drake on the couch. “This is BS,” he began.

“You ran. Innocent men don’t run,” Allie fired back.

“Maybe that was a miscalculation,” Spencer conceded.

“I’ll say,” Drake said.

Color rose in Spencer’s face. “It’s a little different when you’re the one who’s been questioned all day on a couple hours of sleep.”

“That’s water under the bridge. Question’s where do we go from here?” Allie said.

“I don’t trust him,” Spencer said.

“He did save your life,” Drake retorted.

“And we seem to be safe,” Allie reminded him.

“If you call being blackmailed safe.”

“Do you see any other way out?” Drake asked quietly.

They sat in silence for several moments. “We can try to slip across the border into Pakistan or Tibet,” Spencer said.

“Three white people, two without passports?” Allie asked.

“Nothing’s impossible. Maybe we could buy some fake papers,” Spencer tried.

“Compounding your problem if you get caught,” Allie said. “Which assumes you can just knock on doors and find someone who deals in fake IDs that are competently executed enough for international travel.” She shook her head. “And we’d still need to traverse India to get there. Doesn’t sound doable.”

“Allie, you should leave. This is our problem. You don’t need to get sucked into it,” Drake said.

“Seems like I already am.”

Reynolds emerged from the bathroom and waited, one eyebrow cocked. Spencer stood and moved back to his stool. “We don’t really have a choice, do we?”

“Not a good one,” Reynolds agreed. “This is a safe house. You can crash here while I do what I can to call off the dogs. Roland will stay and keep an eye peeled. He can help you with whatever you need.”

“What’s his story?” Spencer asked.

“Former French Foreign Legion. Been here forever. Very resourceful.”

“Trustworthy?” Drake asked.

“What do you think?” Reynolds asked. “You made the right choice.”

“So you say,” Spencer shot back.

Reynolds nodded. “Get some sleep and get to work once it’s light out. In the meantime, I need to spread some money around and buy you some time. I’ll be in touch.”

When Reynolds was gone, Allie turned to Drake and Spencer. “I don’t know about you, but I can hardly see straight. Let’s get some rest while we can, okay? It’ll be tomorrow before we know it.”

“This sucks,” Drake grumbled as he opened one of the bedroom doors and looked inside. “Two beds in here.”

Allie walked to the other and swung it wide. “One here,” she said with a yawn. “See you boys in the morning.”

Drake carried her bag to her and made to kiss her, but she turned at the last second so his lips landed on her cheek. “Good night,” she said, and pulled the door shut behind her.

Drake stared at the wooden slab for a long beat before eyeing Spencer. “I hope you don’t snore.”

~ ~ ~

Chief Inspector Raj Desai felt in his jacket pocket for his cell phone, which was vibrating. He stood to close his door when he saw the number on caller ID.

“Yes?” he answered.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” an angry voice demanded.

“There was a complication.”

“I heard. You managed to lose him not once but twice.”

“It’s not as straightforward as we first thought. Both times he had help escaping. We had no way of knowing he was working with confederates, or we would have approached the situation differently.”

“I thought I made it clear that your top priority was to take him out of circulation. Now I have to hear that he evaded the best minds on the New Delhi police force, first at the hotel and later at a hostel?”

“We couldn’t hold him. I told you that. The judge wouldn’t sign off on it without more evidence.”

The caller’s voice quieted. “Which I provided you with.”

“Unfortunately he’d already been released. But don’t worry. We have his documents, and his likeness is plastered across the city. He won’t get far.” Desai hesitated. “Although it would have been nice to know that we weren’t dealing with a lone man. He apparently had an entourage, including someone with a gun. Which makes this considerably trickier to manage.” The inspector told the caller about the two men and the woman the witnesses at the hostel had seen.

“This is the first I’ve heard of a group. But it doesn’t change anything. Whether just the one or several, they must be stopped. Find him, as well as his associates, and lock them up or finish them off – I don’t care which, although I want to understand what they know before you neutralize anyone.”

“We may not be able to be quite so surgical. If we find them and it’s a choice of trying to take them alive or a kill shot, which would you prefer?”

The caller exhaled audibly. “Dead men tell no tales.”

“Which is as I presumed.”

“What have you learned about the target?”

“American, ex-military, no arrests other than some dropped smuggling charges in South America a few years ago.”

“Smuggling? Drugs?”

“Artifacts.”

“Then he’s an adventurer, not acting in some clandestine capacity.”

“That’s how it appears. As was the other one.”

“At least that’s something. But I’m extremely disappointed at how this has been handled so far. See to it that it’s cleared up quickly.”

“I’ll call when I have more to report,” Desai agreed.

“Do so, whatever the hour.”

The caller hung up and turned to the man sitting beside him. “Events are spinning out of control. I don’t trust the inspector to be able to handle this – our faith in him was misplaced.”

“Shall I arrange for an alternative?”

“Yes. The more eyes on the street, the better. But the troublemaker has help, apparently.” The caller gave a short summary. “We need to learn who they are and ensure that anything that could compromise us is contained. Whether one or four bullets, it’s all the same to me.”

“I have a specific contractor in mind, someone we’ve used before. He’s discreet and reliable.”

“Make the call.”

Motes of dust floated in a spangling of sunlight that streamed from the window near Drake’s head. He watched their dance with blurry eyes before sitting up and glancing at Spencer, who stirred at the rustle from Drake’s bed. The sound of distant honking filled the room as Drake pushed himself to his feet. The clamor was a constant melody in a country where leaning on one’s horn was customary for virtually any reason. Drake glanced at his watch and yawned.

“Wonder if there’s anything to eat,” he said.

Spencer rubbed his face and sniffed the air. “God, that’s foul.”

“Don’t blame me. It’s the river.”

“Half the toilets in New Delhi must flush directly into it.”

“I suddenly lost my appetite,” Drake said, and moved to the door.

Allie was already awake and sitting on the couch, watching television with the sound muted. She looked up at Drake when he emerged from the bedroom and managed a small smile. “Morning,” she said.

“Good morning. You sleep okay?”

“Like the dead.” She gave him a sidelong glance and returned to the television. “Spencer was on TV this morning. Looked like his passport photo.”

“Damn. I wonder how long it will take Reynolds to pull a rabbit out of his hat?”

She shrugged. “Spencer up yet?”

“He should be right behind me. Any food in the kitchen?” Drake asked, padding to the refrigerator.

“A few odds and ends. If you’re a big fan of lentils and curry, you hit the jackpot.”

Drake made a face as Spencer walked from the bedroom and sat in the easy chair. Allie switched off the television and gave him a once-over. “You look like crap.”

“It’s the new homicidal maniac thing – all the best serial killers are doing it.” He felt his back pocket and withdrew Carson’s iPhone. “I don’t suppose you know how to unlock this?”

“It isn’t hard,” she said, holding out her hand.

“This one might be. It requires Carson’s fingerprint.”

She took it from him. “Oh. Then in that case, forget everything I said.”

“Carson showed me what he’d found so far. It’s all on there if we can get to it. Wonder if we can find someone who can crack it?” Spencer said.

Drake opened a plastic bottle of water and poured himself a glass. “Is that even a thing? iPhone cracking?”

“I have no idea.”

“Why don’t you tell me about the meeting you had with him, Spencer, and how you wound up with his phone? So far all I’ve heard is Drake’s summary.”

“He was really secretive. Picked an out-of-the-way restaurant in the old part of town. He took me through the story of the treasure and how it had been lost to history, and then showed me some satellite images and maps of northern India. He was convinced that was where it was located, but it was a pretty big area, and he was hoping to narrow it down.”

“How?” Allie asked.

“He found some guy who was offering a relic for sale that he was sure had a vital clue. Paid him something and promised to have the rest by Friday. That’s why he needed me – he was basically broke. Anyway, I agreed and told him I would get you guys to join in the hunt, which he was excited about. We had a few too many drinks, and then we went our separate ways. He stuck me with the check, and by the time I paid, he was gone. He was kind of hammered, and he forgot his phone. I went looking for him to return it, but no love. The next thing I know, the cops are banging on my hotel door, and then I’m dragged to the station and interrogated for way too long.” He paused and offered a halfhearted grin. “And here we are.”

“What was this relic?”

“A dagger. Made out of gold. He agreed to a hundred grand, so it must be heavy.”

“And he believed it was the key to locating the treasure?”

“That’s what he said. Guess we’ll never know now.”

“Did he mention any danger? Give you any reason to believe he feared for his life?”

“Not overtly. He was super melodramatic after a few drinks, though. I asked him why we were meeting in a poop hole, and he gave me some cryptic nonsense about the walls having ears. I interpreted that to mean he was afraid somebody would steal his find or beat him to the treasure.”

“Do you remember the area of India he showed you?” Drake asked.

“It was big – like about a hundred-mile square shot from Google Earth. Someplace in Kashmir.”