Steve Berry - The Alexandria Link

“Your mother and father are on their way to Lisbon.”

“That’s what the call in the room was about?”

He nodded and smiled at the decisive manner in which the boy handled news.

“Why is Mom still with him? She didn’t say a word about staying when she called last night. They don’t get along.”

“I have no idea. We’ll have to wait until one of them calls again.” But he desperately wanted to know the answer to that question, too.

Ahead, he spotted their destination. A circular pavilion of colored marble topped by gilded iron. Its open balustrade overlooked a crystalline lake, the silvery surface quiet in the shade.

They entered and he approached a railing.

Massive vases packed with aromatic flowers dotted the interior. As always, Hermann had made sure the estate was a showpiece.

“Somebody’s coming,” Gary said.

He did not look back. He didn’t have to. He saw her in his mind. Short, dumpy, exhaling loudly as she walked. He kept his gaze toward the lake and enjoyed the sweet smell of grass, flowers, and experience.

“Is she coming fast?”

“How did you know it’s a woman?”

“You’ll learn, Gary, that you cannot win a fight if your enemy is not, in some ways, predictable.”

“It’s Mr. Hermann’s daughter.”

He continued to admire the lake, watching a family of ducks paddle toward shore. “Say nothing to her about anything. Listen, but speak little. That’s how you discover what you need to know.”

He heard soles slapping the pavilion’s stone flooring and turned as Margarete marched close.

“They told me in the house that you’d come here,” she said. “And I remembered this was one of your favorite places.”

He smiled at her evident satisfaction. “It has privacy. So far from the château. The trees provide tranquility. I do like this spot. A favorite of your mother’s, if I recall.”

“Father built it specially for her. She spent her last day alive here.”

“You miss her?”

“She died when I was young. So we were never close. But Father misses her.”

“You don’t miss your mother?” Gary asked.

Though the boy had violated what he’d been cautioned, Thorvaldsen didn’t mind the inquiry. He was actually curious, too.

“Of course I miss her. It’s simply that we were not close-as mother and daughter.”

“You seem to have acquired an interest in the family businesses and the Order.”

He watched as thoughts dialed into her mind. She’d inherited more of her father’s rugged Austrian looks than her mother’s Prussian beauty. Not a particularly attractive woman-dark-haired, brown eyes, with a thin, high nose. But who was he to judge, considering his crooked spine, bushy hair, and weathered skin? He wondered about suitors, but decided this woman would never give herself to anyone. She was a taker.

“I’m the only Hermann left.” And she added a smile that was surely intended to be comforting, but instead flashed with annoyance.

“Does that mean you will inherit all this?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea what your father thinks. I have found, though, that there are no guarantees in this world.”

He saw that she did not like his implications. He gave her no time to react and asked, “Why did your father try to harm this boy?”

His sudden inquiry inspired a baffled look. She clearly wasn’t a master of the stoic, either-not like her father.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He wondered. Maybe Hermann had kept his plans from her.

“Then you have no idea what die Klauen der Adler is doing?”

“He’s not my responsib-” She caught herself.

“Not to worry, my dear. I know of him. I only wondered if you did.”

“That man is a problem.”

Now he knew she was not a part of anything. Too much information flowed far too freely. “I wholeheartedly agree. But as you say, neither of us has any responsibility for him. Only the Circle.”

“I was unaware the members knew of him.”

“There are many things I’m aware of. In particular, what your father is doing. That, too, is a problem.”

She seemed to catch the conviction in his tone. Her chubby face flashed a nervous smile. “Remember where you are, Henrik. This is Hermann land. We command what happens here. So you shouldn’t concern yourself.”

“That’s an interesting observation. One I’ll try not to forget.”

“I think, perhaps, you and Father need to finish this conversation.”

She turned to leave, and as she did he raised an arm in a quick gesture.

From thick cypresses, heavy with age, three men materialized, dressed in camouflage fatigues. They trotted forward and arrived just as Margarete stepped from the pavilion.

Two of the men grabbed her.

One clamped a hand over her mouth.

She resisted.

“Henrik,” Gary said. “What’s Jesper doing here?”

The third man was his chamberlain, who’d flown in earlier and infiltrated the estate. From other visits, Thorvaldsen knew-contrary to Margarete’s boast-that the heaviest security was confined to the house. The remaining hundreds of acres were neither fenced nor patrolled.

“Stand still,” he said to her.

She stopped struggling.

“You’re going with these gentlemen.”

Her head shook violently.

He’d expected her to be difficult. So he nodded and the hand over her mouth was replaced with a cloth, one he knew contained enough anesthetic to induce a deep sleep. Only a few seconds were required for the vapors to work. Her body went limp.

“What are you doing?” Gary asked. “Why are you hurting her?”

“I’m not. But I assure you, they would have hurt you if your father had not acted.” He faced Jesper. “Keep her safe, as we discussed.”

His employee nodded. One of the men draped Margarete’s stout body over his shoulder, and all three retreated into the trees.

“You knew she’d come out here?” Gary asked.

“As I said, it’s good to know your enemy.”

“Why are you taking her?”

He liked lessons and missed teaching Cai. “You don’t drive a car without insurance. What we’re about to do has risks, as well. She’s our insurance.”

WASHINGTON, DC

STEPHANIE FROZE. HEATHER DIXON WAS ARMED AND ON guard. Cassiopeia’s eyes raked the bedroom, and she knew that her cohort was looking for anything that could be used as a weapon.

“What is it?” she heard Daley ask Dixon.

“Your alarm is off. That means somebody’s here.”

“Big leap in logic, wouldn’t you say?”

“Did you arm the panel before you left?”

A moment of silence passed. Stephanie knew they were trapped.

“I don’t know,” Daley said. “I may have forgotten. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Why don’t I take a look just to be sure?”

“Because I don’t have time for you to play soldier, and that gun in your hand is getting me hot. You’re some kind of sexy.”

“A flatterer today. That’ll get you everything.”

More silence, then a protest with a half-smothered moan.

“Easy on my head. That knot hurts.”

“You okay?” Daley asked.

A zipper released.

“Toss that gun down,” Daley said.

Footsteps thumped up the stairway.

She stared at Cassiopeia and whispered, “I don’t believe this.”

“At least we know where both of them are.”

Good point, but little comfort. “I’ve got to check this out.”

Cassiopeia clamped a hand onto her arm. “Leave them be.”

Contrary to the past twelve hours where she’d made, at best, questionable decisions, she was thinking clearly now. She knew what needed to be done.