Steve Berry - The Romanov Prophecy

Lord did not move.

The gorilla tossed the sweater aside and returned to rummaging the bag.

"You need to come on," the woman said.

"Not without that bag."

The ape tugged and pulled at the stitching, several times sinking long teeth into the exterior. The stiff green cloth held firm and, in obvious frustration, the gorilla slung the bag hard against the rock wall. Rushing over, King Arthur again flung the bundle into the stone.

Lord winced.

The Faberge egg could not withstand such abuse. Without thinking, he lunged forward as the bag fell to the ground from a third throw. King Arthur came with him, but Lord reached the bag first and snatched up the bundle. The female dashed over and moved between him and the male, reaching for the bag herself, but King Arthur wrenched her neck hair, eliciting a belch and grunt from the smaller gorilla. The male pulled her away, and Lord used the moment to dart for the open gateway.

But King Arthur cut him off only a few steps from safety.

The big ape stood not five feet away, his body odor nauseating. An intense stare accompanied a low growl. The animal's upper lip flared, displaying incisors as long as Lord's fingers. The gorilla slowly reached out and fingered the travel bag, caressing the cloth exterior.

Lord stood still.

The ape poked his right index finger into Lord's chest. Not enough to hurt, just enough to test the skin beneath his shirt. It was an almost human gesture, and for a moment Lord's fear abated. He stared deep into the animal's glowing eyes and sensed an acknowledgment that he was in no danger.

King Arthur withdrew his finger and stepped back.

The female had likewise withdrawn after her rebuke.

The big male continued to inch away until the path into the portal was clear. Lord crept inside and the iron gate closed after him.

"I've never seen King Arthur react like that before," said the woman, who locked the gate shut. "He's an aggressive ape."

Lord stared through the bars at the gorilla, who continued to watch him, the sweater now back in hand. Finally, the animal lost interest and headed for the pile of food.

"Now you want to tell me what you were doing in there?" the woman asked.

"Is there a way out?"

"Not so fast. We're going to wait for the police."

He could not do that. No telling how far the reach of those after him extended. He spied a closed exit door with a hallway beyond visible through wire-reinforced glass. He grabbed Akilina and headed that way.

The uniformed woman intercepted him. "I said we're going to wait for the police."

"Look, I've had a rough day. There are men trying to kill us and I just stared down a three-hundred-pound gorilla. I'm not in the mood to argue, if you get my meaning."

The attendant hesitated, then stepped out of the way.

"Good choice. Now, where's the key for that door?"

The woman reached into her pocket and tossed him a ring with a single key. He and Akilina left the chamber, and he closed and locked the door behind them.

They quickly found an exit that led beyond the public viewing areas, toward two large sheds filled with equipment. Farther on was an empty parking lot. A sign noted that the space was for employees only. He knew they could not return to the main entrance, so he headed toward the ocean and a road that paralleled the shore. He wanted to get out of the area immediately and was relieved when a cab appeared. He flagged the vehicle down and they climbed inside, the driver depositing them at Golden Gate Park ten minutes later.

He and Akilina walked inside the park.

A darkened soccer field spread before them, a small pond to the right. The grounds extended for miles in all directions, trees and meadows nothing but featureless shadows. They stopped at a bench and sat down. His nerves were shot, and he wondered how much more he could take. Akilina put her arm around him, then laid her head on his shoulder.

"That was amazing what you did with the ape," he said. "You're a hell of a climber."

"I don't think the animal would have hurt me."

"I know what you mean. The male could have attacked, but he didn't. He even prevented the female from charging."

He thought about the travel bag slamming into the rock wall. He lifted the bag from the damp grass. An overhead streetlight gave off an orange radiance. No one else was in sight. The air was chilly and he wished he still wore his sweater.

He unzipped the bag.

"When King Arthur slammed this thing, all I could think about was the egg."

He withdrew the velvet sack and slipped the egg out. Three of the legs were broken and many of the diamonds were loose. Akilina quickly cradled her hands underneath and caught the precious debris. The egg was cracked down the center of its oval, laid open like a grapefruit.

"It's ruined," he said. "That thing was priceless. Not to mention it may spell the end of our search."

He studied the gaping slit in the masterpiece, a sick feeling grew in his stomach. He dropped the velvet bag and, with his finger, gently probed what was inside the egg. White and fibrous. Like some sort of packing material. He squeezed a pinch and discovered it was cotton, stuffed so dense it was difficult to loosen even a sample. He continued to probe, expecting at some point to find the mechanism that controlled the rising of the three tiny portraits, but instead he struck something else.

The tip of his finger explored farther.

Definitely something hard.

And smooth.

He moved close to the ambient glow from the overhead light and continued to bore with his finger.

He caught a glint of gold with something etched on it.

Writing.

He grasped the sides of the egg with both hands and parted the divide, opening up the thin gold exterior as if it were a ripe pomegranate.

Hayes watched as Orleg and Droopy exited the zoo's main gate and hustled for the car. He and Khrushchev had been waiting patiently in the parking lot for the past ten minutes. The tracking device Hayes had placed on Lord had worked, a tiny dot no larger than a button. The consulate possessed a quantity of such equipment, holdovers from the Cold War when San Francisco was central to Soviet intelligence gathering in the important computer- and defense-oriented California region.

They'd allowed Lord to escape as a means of finding Akilina Petrovna, whom Hayes believed possessed whatever it was Lord found in Kolya Maks's grave and in the safe-deposit box. The ability to covertly track their prey had allowed them to stay back a discreet distance as Lord wove his way through evening traffic. He thought the meeting place odd, but reasoned that Lord had wanted a public locale. Public attention was one thing Hayes did not need.

"I don't like the looks on their faces," Khrushchev said.

Hayes didn't, either, but said nothing. He was still comforted by the fact the LCD screen before them beeped, signifying a lock on Lord. He pushed a button and the rear window of the Lincoln whined down. Orleg and Droopy stopped outside.

"He jumped into the gorilla pit," Orleg said. "We tried to follow, but one of the fucking beasts stopped us. I didn't think you wanted a lot of show, so we came out. We'll just track him again."

"That was wise," he said. "We still have a strong signal." He turned to Zubarev. "Shall we?" He opened the door and they climbed out into the night. Orleg grabbed the handheld LCD display and they all moved forward. In the distance, sirens could be heard approaching.

"Someone has called the police. We need to end this fast," he said. "This is not Moscow. The police here ask lots of questions."

The zoo's front gate was unattended and they quickly darted inside. A crowd had gathered at the gorilla expo. The tracking device Orleg carried continued to signify Lord's presence nearby. "Put that thing under your jacket," he said to Orleg, not wanting any questions from the curious.