Steve Berry - The Venetian Betrayal

“None of this is good,” she whispered to Henrik.

“I can’t see an upside.”

Ely appeared calm. But he’d lived under a threat for the past couple months, probably still confused as to what was happening, but willing to trust Henrik. Or, more realistically, Cassiopeia, who he knew was nearby. It was obvious the younger man cared for her. But any reunion was not going to happen soon. Stephanie hoped Malone would be more careful than she’d been. Her cell phone remained in her pocket. Curiously, though she’d been searched, they’d allowed her to keep it.

A click attracted her attention.

She turned to see the Oriental cabinet rotate inward, stopping halfway and revealing a passageway. A small, impish man with balding hair and a worried face emerged from the darkness followed by Irina Zovastina, who held a gun. The guard gave his Supreme Minister a wide berth, retreating to the windows. Zovastina pressed a button on a controller and the cabinet closed. She then tossed the device onto the corpse.

Zovastina handed her gun to one of the guards and gripped the man’s AK-74. She walked straight to Thorvaldsen and rammed the butt into his stomach. The breath left the Dane as he doubled over and grabbed his gut.

Both Stephanie and Ely moved to help, but the other guards quickly aimed their weapons.

“I decided,” Zovastina said, “instead of calling you back, as you suggested earlier, to come in person.”

Thorvaldsen battled for breath and stood upright, fighting the pain. “Good to know…I made such…a strong impression…”

“Who are you?” Zovastina asked Stephanie.

She introduced herself and added, “U.S. Justice Department.”

“Malone works for you?”

She nodded and lied, “He does.”

Zovastina faced Ely. “What have these spies told you?”

“That you’re a liar. That you’ve been holding me against my will, without me even knowing.” He paused, perhaps to summon courage. “That you’re planning a war.”

ZOVASTINA WAS ANGRY WITH HERSELF. SHE’D ALLOWED EMOTION to rule. Killing Vincenti had been necessary. Karyn? She regretted killing her, though there was no choice. Had to be done. The cure for AIDS? How was that possible? Were they deceiving her? Or simply misleading? Vincenti had been up to something for sometime. She’d known that. That was why she’d recruited spies of her own, like Kamil Revin, who’d kept her informed.

She stared at her three prisoners and made clear to Thorvaldsen, “You may have been ahead of me in Venice, but you’re not anymore.”

She motioned with the rifle at Lyndsey. “Come here.”

The man stood rooted, his gaze locked on the gun. Zovastina gestured and one of the soldiers shoved Lyndsey toward her. He stumbled to the floor and tried to stand, but she cut him off as he came to one knee, nestling the barrel of the AK-74 into the bridge of his nose. “Tell me exactly what’s happening here. You have to the count of three. One.”

Silence.

“Two.”

More silence.

“Three.”

MALONE’S BAD FEELING WAS GROWING WORSE. THEY WERE STILL hovering a couple of miles from the house, using the mountains for cover. Still, no signs of activity either inside or out. Without question, the estate below cost tens of millions of dollars. It sat in a region of the world where there simply weren’t that many people who could afford such luxury, except perhaps Zovastina herself.

“That place needs checking,” he said.

He again noticed the trail leading up the stark mountain and the ground conduit. Afternoon heat danced in waves along the rock face. He thought again of Ptolemy’s riddle. Climb the god-built walls. When you reach the attic, gaze into the tawny eye, and dare to find the distant refuge.

God-built walls.

Mountains.

He decided they could not keep hovering.

So he slid off the headset and grabbed his phone.

STEPHANIE WATCHED THE MAN KNEELING ON THE FLOOR SOB UNCONTROLLABLY, as Zovastina counted to three.

“Please, God,” he said. “Don’t kill me.”

The rifle was still pointed at him and Zovastina said, “Tell me what I want to know.”

“Vincenti was right. What he said in the lab. They live in the mountain behind here, up the trail. In a green pool. He has power and lights there. He found them a long time ago.” He was speaking fast, the words blurring together in a frenzy of confession. “He told me everything. I helped him change them. I know how they work.”

“What are they ?” she calmly asked.

“Bacteria. Archaea. A unique form of life.”

Stephanie heard a change in tone, as if the man sensed a new ally.

“They eat viruses. Destroy them, but they don’t hurt us. That’s why we did all those clinical trials. To see how they work on your viruses.”

Zovastina seemed to consider what she was hearing. Stephanie heard the reference to Vincenti and wondered if this house belonged to him.

“Lyndsey,” Zovastina said, “you’re talking nonsense. I don’t have time-”

“Vincenti lied to you about the antiagents.”

That interested her.

“You thought there was one for each zoonosis.” Lyndsey shook his head. “Not true. Only one.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the room’s windows, toward the back of the house. “Back there. The bacteria in the green pool. They were the antiagents to every virus we found. He lied to you. Made you think there were many countermeasures. There weren’t. Only one.”

Zovastina pressed the gun barrel harder into Lyndsey’s face. “If Vincenti lied to me. Then so did you.”

Stephanie’s cell phone jingled in her pocket.

Zovastina looked up. “Mr. Malone. Finally.” The gun swung her way. “Answer it.”

Stephanie hesitated.

Zovastina aimed her rifle at Thorvaldsen. “He’s of no use to me, except to get you to answer.”

Stephanie flipped open the phone. Zovastina came close and listened.

“Where are you?” Malone asked.

Zovastina shook her head.

“Not there yet,” Stephanie answered.

“How long?”

“Another half hour. Farther than I thought.”

Zovastina nodded her approval of the lie.

“We’re here,” Malone said. “Looking at one of the biggest damn houses I’ve ever seen, especially out in the middle of nowhere. Place looks deserted. There’s a paved lane, maybe a mile or so, that leads in from the highway. We’re hovering a couple miles behind the place. Can Ely offer any more information? There’s a trail leading up the mountain into a cleft. Should we check that out?”

“Let me ask.”

Zovastina nodded again.

“He says that’s a good idea.”

“We’ll have a look. Call me when you arrive.”

Stephanie clicked off the phone and Zovastina relieved her of it. “Now we’ll see how much Cotton Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt really know.”

CASSIOPEIA FOUND THREE GUNS IN THE WEAPONS CABINET. SHE knew the make. Makarovs. A little stubbier than a standard-issue military Beretta, but all in all a fairly good weapon.

The helicopter descended and she noticed the ground rising fast out the windows. Malone had been talking to Stephanie on the phone. They were apparently not here yet. She wanted to see Ely. Badly. To know he was all right. She’d grieved for him, but not fully, always doubting, always hoping. Not anymore. She’d been right to continue the quest for the elephant medallions. Right to zero in on Irina Zovastina. Right to kill the men in Venice. Even though she’d been wrong about Viktor, she felt no remorse about his partner. Zovastina, not she, had started this battle.