Russell Blake - The Goddess Legacy

“We’ll get attorneys to fight it,” Drake countered.

Reynolds smiled sadly at him. “This isn’t the U.S. Here, they stick you in a mudhole that makes a Russian gulag seem like Club Med, while you fight the system. I’m talking something that makes a Turkish prison look like a five-star luxury cruise. And Mr. Ramsey, there’s no question that you aided and abetted Spencer, so you’re also provably guilty. In other words, doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it, they have you dead to rights, so you’ll be spending years in hell before you’re even sentenced. They take it personally when foreigners come here to help murderers escape justice — and I get the feeling they’ll want to make an example of you to show how honest the system is: that even a rich, privileged white man can’t weasel out of a felony in India.”

“But he didn’t kill Carson!” Drake said.

“You know that, and I know that, but they believe Spencer did it — or rather, they believe they have enough to pursue the case, which for our purposes is the same thing.” Reynolds eyed Spencer. “You’re not in Kansas anymore. If the locals want to put you away, they’ll find a way to do it.”

“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.”