Eyes followed them all the way to their car. Nicholas got inside before calling Adam in Venice.
“You hear all that?”
“Yes, I did. They were fast, Nicholas, throwing the blame immediately on Lilith.”
“Adam, let’s treat her as a missing person. Look for a cell phone, credit card usage, the works. Maybe you’ll find her. Maybe she’s still alive.”
“Or not,” Mike said.
“Will do.”
“Adam, what else have you discovered?” Nicholas asked.
“Gray is running a complete forensics analysis of the Kohaths’ investment portfolios. He’ll have a report ready shortly.” He yawned, mumbled, “Sorry.”
“You need sleep, Adam,” Mike said. “Or a Snickers bar.”
“No, I don’t. We’ve been having heaping plates of carbonara—you know Louisa never stops eating—and expensive bottles of wine and charging it to your suite. Well, okay, one thing I did see that was interesting, the Genesis Group owns an insurance index. You have any relatives at Lloyd’s of London?”
“Sorry, no relatives, but my dad knows one of the directors. What about them?”
“Well, in addition to providing insurance for large-cap stock companies, I discovered the Kohaths are using the markets to trade on other insurance companies. Lloyd’s is one of them. It’s very risky, very speculative stuff, since you never know when a disaster is going to hit and an insurance company is going to go out of business and take your whole investment down with you. Right now, they are making a lot of money on it.”
“Is it illegal?”
“No. Not at all, if you’re playing it straight and assuming the risks. I’ve not seen anything so far that isn’t completely aboveboard, but that doesn’t mean anything. The best Wall Street thieves know how to hide their tracks. Like I said, it’s going to take more than a couple of hours to dig through everything we pulled.”
“Mike and I are going in the tunnels beneath the palazzo to rescue Kitsune and Grant. We’re not notifying the local cops. The Kohaths could have some control there, and no calling the Carabinieri, either, for the same reason.”
Adam said, “One more issue, Nicholas. It might not happen, but if you’re taken, what do we do?”
An excellent question, but he said aloud, “We won’t be. Turn on Kitsune’s tracker, it will help us locate her quickly.”
“I see,” Adam said. “So you and Mike will pop in, grab her, locate Grant, and pop back out.”
“That’s right. On with the tracker, Adam, and thank you. Keep plugged in, all right?”
Mike said when he’d punched off, “You know they’ve very likely doubled their guard count?”
He grinned down at her. “Entirely possible, but I have a plan.” And he dialed up Adam again.
“Adam, one more thing. Agent Caine rightfully pointed out they’ve probably beefed up security, so get together with the folks at Aviano and have them retask whatever satellite is closest. I want you watching every move they make.”
“And how do I convince them to do that?”
“Simply tell them the American FBI is in trouble, remind them about the shootout in Venice, and they’ll move fast, you can count on it.”
“All right, I’m on it. I’ll be watching. Be careful. And find Kitsune.”
Nicholas punched off the cell, arched his brow at Mike. “I find myself wondering if Adam cares more about Kitsune than us.”
Mike said, “Yes, of course he does. She told him if she weren’t married, she’d marry him. Now, we need to get moving.” She pointed to the palazzo. He looked up and saw a flash of curly blond hair in the second-floor window.
“Ajax.”
“Yes. He’s watching. Tell me you were able to plant the bug on one of them.”
“Yes, indeed, I managed to bump into Cassandra, stuck a very tiny mic under her collar.” He turned it on, listened. “Yes, it’s already up and working fine. My, my, in addition to being barking mad, it appears Ms. Kohath is mightily pissed off.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Nicholas said, “Let’s take a walk, go over to that café, let the locals see how harmless we are, and we’ll listen to our two psychopaths.”
They sat down at a small table outside the café, ordered espresso from a suspicious waiter. Nicholas handed Mike an earwig, watched her discreetly place it. And they listened.
Cassandra: It’s time to move the storm. It’s time to get the FBI agents out of here, and this will do it. You know Drummond didn’t buy for an instant Lilith was behind all of this. It was a good idea, but he looked like he wanted to laugh, didn’t buy it for a minute.
Ajax: You’re right. It’s time to move. I’ll kill the thief and her husband.
Cassandra: No, I’ll do it. You handle the storm and our transport. You told me there was only so much you could do from here and that means we have to go to the island and face Grandfather down.
She paused, and Nicholas heard the vicious excitement in her voice.
Cassandra: We’ll make the old fool move the storm to hit Washington. If he doesn’t, we’ll kill him and do it ourselves.
They heard a manic laugh.
Cassandra: It’ll be fun. Imagine the destruction we will bring to D.C., their precious FBI headquarters, and the White House. They thought Beijing was hard hit? That was nothing compared to what we will do. We need to move fast. You know they’ll be back, and probably before tomorrow morning.
Ajax: If they come, Harry and his men will kill them. They’re not like those idiots in Venice.
Cassandra: I wish I could believe that, but I doubt it, because . . .
Nicholas said, “Sorry, Mike, no more, they’re out of range.” He threw some euros on the table and they headed back toward the car.
They drove away, past the square and the palazzo, back down the mountain road.
Mike said, “Nicholas, she’s going to kill Kitsune. We need to go in and get her.”
“We will.”
“I hope your plan is good. You heard them—they’re going to position a storm to wipe out Washington, too.” Mike felt equal parts fear and anger. “But first they’re going to have to go to this ‘island’ where their grandfather is. Is he the mastermind? He’s the one who controls the storms? Evidently so. He’s turned against them?”
“Possibly. Whatever. Now they hate him and they’re going to kill him.”
“Nicholas, where are you going? Oh, I see, we’re going into the palazzo the same way Kitsune did.”
“We have her tracker. We’ll find her. Now, it took less than half an hour for her to get into place before you heard the fight and saw her captured.”
“Right. So all we have to do is get in there, grab her and Grant, and get out before they realize we’re even there. We can do it.”
He cupped her face in his hand, kissed her fast and hard. “You’re my grand girl, you know that? Now we need to hide the car, it’s too open here, and we don’t want anyone coming down the mountain to see it.”
While Nicholas drove, Mike pulled her vest and tactical gear from her go-bag, started getting into them. “You and Adam deserve a medal for the way the Faraday bag worked. We’re going to have to remember that little trick. It’s very convenient.”
She watched him as he turned a hairpin corner. The last of the sun shined briefly on his face. He needed a shave. She laid her palm on his thigh, felt the muscles tighten. “You’re pretty grand yourself. Wait, Nicholas, you just passed a small dirt road, looks like it leads into an olive grove. It might work for the car.”
He backed up and turned onto a dirt path rather than a road. “Yes, perfect. Good eye.” The car rumbled over the small track until he was sure they were in far enough not to be seen from the road. Unless, of course, someone was looking for them. He looked over his shoulder and nodded, satisfied.
The sun was setting as they climbed out. Nicholas put on his tactical gear and hit his comms.
“Adam, are you ready? You have eyes on us?”
“It takes more than five minutes to redirect a satellite,” Adam said. “Hang on, we almost have it.”
“Kitsune’s in imminent danger. We have to go in now. Do it as fast as you can.”
Adam’s excited voice came across the comms. “We’ve got Kitsune’s tracker live, I’m sending the coordinates to your phone. She hasn’t moved since we turned it on. She’s definitely still in there. You should be able to use the phone to locate her.”
There was a moment’s silence, then Adam said, “We’ll be online in one minute, watching from the sky.”
“Good. Shout when you’re ready for us to move in.”
They set off at a jog, through the brush of the olive grove, angling up the hill, back toward the tunnel.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Cassandra left Ajax at the computer screen, talking to himself as he tried to figure out how to move the storm’s trajectory. She went to Lilith’s rooms and grabbed her laptop. She already had her cell phone. She’d get rid of them, then she and Ajax had a long flight ahead of them. They’d depose the old king. Her mother would approve, she would, Cassandra knew it to her soul. She knew Grandfather wouldn’t be willing to do what was necessary. He was old; he was fearful. She and Ajax would right the ship.
After the storm had flattened Washington, D.C., she and Ajax would come back to Italy. They’d find the Ark. And then what? Then, they would own the world.
She was humming when she went to her room to pack. She buzzed Harry on her cell as she walked down the back stairs, through the storage area, to the basement. The lights were back on, thankfully.
Harry met her at the basement door. “This way,” he said. She kicked off her stilettos and stepped into a pair of Wellies.
They went into a small tunnel off the main cavern. Only the workers’ foreman, Giovanni, was waiting for her.
“She’s in there.” He pointed toward his office. “She’s not going anywhere. You want me to put her with the other one again?”
“Not yet. I want to talk to her first.”
“At last we have lights again, but the computers are not functional, signorina.”
“Yes, I know, and what are you doing about it?”
Giovanni shrugged. The witch was in a temper, something he was used to. Occasionally he wanted to break her neck, but not with Harry standing right there. “We have new routers and new computers being driven in from Perugia, but it will be another forty minutes or so before we can get them in place and online. We don’t know what happened to them. It is like someone hooked them up to an electrical charge and they all shorted at once.”
“I know what happened. Now leave me. I need to talk to the prisoner alone.”
Harry and Giovanni left. Both knew she was going to kill the woman.
Kitsune was tied to a set of metal lockers in the corner of the office. Her face was bruised, her nose and jaw bloodied. Her eyes were shut.
Cassandra kicked her hip. “Stop faking, wake up.”
The pain from the kick was nothing compared to the pain in Kitsune’s head. She managed to stay silent.
“Come on, you bitch, open your eyes and talk to me, or I’ll have your precious husband killed while you watch, then you, and we’ll bury you along with Lilith. What a loss that one was.”
Kitsune stared up at Cassandra Kohath. She’d seen photos of her, so beautiful, perfect, really, except for her eyes. Her eyes were as mad as a hatter’s. “Those Wellies look pretty stupid against that Dior dress you’re wearing.”
Cassandra kicked her again.
Kitsune didn’t make a sound.
“Now you will tell me what the FBI plans to do next. I mean Drummond and Caine, of course.”
Kitsune studied her face. She said very precisely. “I’ll be glad to tell you. They will come back very soon and blast your palazzo into small bits of stone and bury you beneath it.”
Kitsune watched Cassandra’s face as she spoke. She didn’t see any fear, but she did see rage, and it was building. Would she kill her right now? She closed her eyes.
Cassandra came down on her knees beside her. “Drummond doesn’t have proof of anything. Besides, soon it won’t matter what he believes or what he knows and can prove. Won’t matter at all.” And she snapped her fingers. “All gone.”
What did she mean, all gone? Kitsune opened her eyes again. Cassandra’s face was close to hers. She whispered, “Be afraid, Cassandra, be very afraid. Drummond will snap your neck like a chicken’s. Even if you and your mad twin run, he’ll find you. And Agent Caine? That one never gives up, she’ll keep coming and coming until she puts a bullet in your brain.”
Cassandra slapped Kitsune. Another hit of pain, enough to make her eyes water. She wanted to kill this insane woman herself.
“Drummond and Caine? They left, defeated because they know they have nothing at all. They’re like toothless hounds, all rules and regulations. Our friends in the Carabinieri will protect us.”
“You mean like that incompetent idiot, Major Russo? I doubt he was in one of the cars he sent after us, but he was listening, wasn’t he? Do you think he’s coming to help you now? I doubt it, Cassandra. I’ll bet he’s already on a plane out of Italy.”
“You have a cat’s nine lives, don’t you? But soon, you’ll have none left.” Cassandra rose, dusted off her skirt. “I suggest you tell me what they’re planning now or I will have Harry and Giovanni drag your husband in here and let you watch them torture him.”
Kitsune whispered, “I’ll tell you, but not until you release Grant.”
Cassandra sneered down at her. “You want to negotiate with me? You can’t. Tell me or he’s a dead man.”
Kitsune closed her eyes, leaned her head back.
“Very well. Say goodbye to your precious husband.” She opened the office door and started to walk away. “Kill the man,” she said to Giovanni.
“Wait!”
Cassandra turned back, slowly, a brow raised, arms across her chest. She repeated, “Tell me what you know and I will spare his life.”
Kitsune knew this woman would kill Grant with less thought than she’d give to her dinner, but she had to buy time. She knew Nicholas and Mike would come, if they could. “How can I believe you?”
Cassandra eyed her, said coolly, “I don’t enjoy killing, but I’ve found it sometimes necessary. I am not a psychopath.” She lurched back. Why had she said it aloud? Saying the word made something deep inside her hot and eager. No, no, not eager. She wasn’t mad, she wasn’t. She remembered Drummond had called her crazy, remembered how she’d wanted to rip his heart out.
She got hold of herself. “Tell you what, you talk to me, tell me what they’re planning to do now, tell me what they know, and I’ll let your husband go and call in my own private doctor to see to you.”
Yeah, like that would ever happen. Kitsune looked directly into her eyes. “They are studying your private financials. They know about your broker, Rodgers, in Singapore, how he invests the money you make profiting from the storms you create. As for what they will do, I have no idea. How could I?”
Cassandra was shaking her head, she couldn’t believe it. How could they know about Landry Rodgers? If she’d had any doubts about destroying Washington, she had none now. She heard herself ask, “Do they know about my mother?” Where had that come from? She didn’t believe for an instant the FBI could find her mother.
“I know there’s an FBI agent in London right now, reading all St. Germaine’s notes from her second book on Appleton Kohath. Your great-great-whatever—the mastermind of all this, right?”
Cassandra kicked Kitsune in the ribs again. Kitsune held herself perfectly still, let the pain settle, accepting it, dealing with it. At least she hadn’t broken a rib with that kick. The Wellies weren’t hard enough.
Cassandra closed her eyes a moment, cursed. How had they found out about that bloody biographer? She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Drummond and Caine think it does.”
&n
bsp; Cassandra tapped her fingers along the desk. “Do you know my idiot father gave that woman my great-great-grandfather’s journal? When the original biography came, he read it, saw he wasn’t in it, and so he went back to St. Germaine and gave her our private papers, the sick, vengeful bastard. He was so excited someone was going to write about his contributions, his achievements, but what he really wanted was cash and fame. He even called himself the Kohath heir.
“You want to talk about crazy? My worthless immoral father is certifiable. When we heard what he did—” She broke off, panting now, rage pouring through her. This time she banged her fist into one of the file cabinets. It had to hurt, but she didn’t seem to notice. “I’m glad he’s dead, and now Ajax and I won’t ever have to worry about what he’ll say, never have to see his face again, hear his whining voice. Who could blame us for kicking him out of Genesis? Who could blame us for taking care of him?”
Kitsune didn’t move, watched Cassandra Kohath spin out of control. The woman was shaking now, pacing the small space, hitting her fist against her palm. “If only my mother hadn’t trusted him, if only she hadn’t given him access to the Kohath papers! And look at what he did! He betrayed our family, he betrayed my mother!”
Suddenly, Cassandra became perfectly still. She stared into the distance at something Kitsune couldn’t see. A tear streaked down her cheek. Then she whispered, “If only my mother were here, I know she would have killed him herself.” She was mumbling to herself now, pacing. “At least Lilith took care of that ridiculous biographer and my bastard of a father. But now it’s up to me to get all those papers back. They’re mine, do you hear me? They’re mine.”
She stopped talking, rubbed her hand over her forehead.
Kitsune took it all in. They’d had their own father murdered? And the biographer? And Lilith? At this moment, it didn’t matter. Reality became a red pinpoint light for Kitsune. Cassandra was looking at her, death in her eyes, and Kitsune knew it was all over for her. Still, she had to try.
“So Lilith murdered both your father and the biographer?”
Cassandra smiled down at Kitsune. “You’ve learned a valuable lesson now, haven’t you? No one crosses me or my brother.”