The Egyptian (26 page)

“Maybe an anonymous source mails it to me, with a note explaining where it came from, and I make it national news,” Veronica said. “Maybe we’ll have some photo ops to go along with it and some fingerprints from NYPD. The Egyptian authorities will have to do something about it.” She smiled a cold smile. “I rather like this idea.”

“Not sure that I do,” Grey said. “There’s the revenge factor, after we do it. Not to mention we’d have to find and steal more of this stuff, if there’s even any left. I was thinking more along the lines of going to Cairo myself and finding some evidence to put these people away, while you two go on a long vacation at an undisclosed location. I’ll take care of the problem at the source. These men are taking orders from someone, and I think we know who it is.”

Stefan’s smile was hard. “And I know how to find him. Do you remember the man I told you about, the one who delivered the package?”

“You know who he is?”

“He didn’t leave a name, but he left a way to contact him. An email address. He told me should I ever need anything delivered, I could contact him there.”

“Why not just contact that other guy, Dorian?”

Stefan looked embarrassed. “I don’t contact him. He contacts me.”

“I see.”

“This other man, I got the impression he was very good at what he does. I suspect he can lead us to where we need to go, or at least to Dorian.”

“And Dorian can help?”

“He knows the source, at the least.”

Grey compressed his lips. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“There’s a price on my assistance with this man. I go to Egypt with you.”

“That’s a bad idea.”

“I will not live in fear.”

“Just get in touch with him.”

•  •  •

Fifteen minutes after they left Grey heard a soft knock. He approached carefully. “Who is it?”

“Me.”

He opened the door and Veronica stood before him, still in her nightshirt, without the sweats. “I don’t think I’m ready to be alone yet.”

They went to his bed. She lay on her back with her head in his lap, and closed her eyes. Grey’s hand hovered over her head, and then he reached down and stroked her hair.

“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for coming for me.”

“Of course.”

“If you hadn’t, I… I don’t want to think about it. Not ever.”

“It didn’t happen, and it won’t.”

“Unless he comes back.”

“Not if I’m here.”

“What if you’re not,” she whispered. “You can’t always be here. This isn’t some stalker. These men are killers.”

“I’m here right now. We’ll figure this out.”

“I’m terrified.” Veronica’s voice was low and venomous. “I want him to pay. He made me feel like I was…
his
. I thought I was this strong person and then he was standing over me with that knife and I wanted to give him whatever he wanted. I wanted to die.”

“That’s just how he gets off. Don’t think about it.”

She fell silent, and he continued to stroke her hair. She turned over and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m going to kiss you,” she said.

His hand stopped moving. She sat and put a hand on his cheek and drew him to her. She found his mouth and pressed her body against his. He tried to disengage, knew she was emotional from the attack, but she wouldn’t let him. He relented and put an arm around her back, squeezing her close.

She pulled away and gripped his hair. Her tongue flicked across his lips. “God, I want you,” she whispered.

He leaned forward as she took off his shirt. He saw her eyes rise at his tattoos. “We’ll talk about those later.” She ran a hand along his back and felt the scars intertwined with the tattoos. “And these.”

He pulled her nightshirt over her head and caressed her breasts, gently avoiding the shallow crust where the tip of Nomti’s knife had pressed into her. “You have a beautiful body,” he murmured.

She purred and arched as he massaged her. She ran her fingers down his chest. “You’re too skinny,” she said, her voice low. She pushed him on his back and crawled on top of him. She snaked out of her underwear and pulled off his jeans.

They swam and sank and then drifted in the thick hot sea of their lovemaking. When they finished he held her by the dim neon glow filtering through the window, and Grey could see the cop parked outside.

Dawn came much too quickly.

G
rey rose while Veronica was still asleep. He stared at the silken fan of her blond hair on the sheets, her cheekbones, her leanness and milky skin. She was undeniably attractive, but despite himself, he started to think about other times and about another girl. Why wouldn’t thoughts of Nya just go away? Why did he have so little choice in the matter?

He grabbed a long-sleeved shirt and stepped into a pair of dark jeans. He took his cell and padded to the hallway. It should be a good time to catch Viktor. He dialed.

“
Cesc
?”

Grey took a deep breath and told Viktor everything. Grey could visualize Viktor sipping his absinthe, swirling the information around in his formidable mind.

Then it was Viktor’s turn to fill Grey in. Grey put a hand out and leaned on the wall. “What’re we talking about here? Who are these people?”

“I have to confess I’m still uncertain. I have a call pending with an Egyptologist in Cairo. She’s reputedly the expert on Nu.”

“What if I spoke with her myself? In person?”

Grey didn’t think Viktor would approve of the idea of an Egypt trip. He assumed Viktor would advise Veronica and Stefan to report the incidents to the police, and obtain as much personal protection as possible. Grey and Viktor were not in the bodyguard business. But Stefan had saved Grey’s life, and become his friend. And Veronica…

“I can’t just leave them,” Grey said. “I know it’s outside our call of duty, and I don’t expect to be paid. But I’m going to Egypt to try to sort this out. I have to get the hit called off, or put someone behind bars, or expose this. Something.”

“When do you plan to leave?”

“Soon. There’s a contact we’re trying to find, the guy who delivered the test tube to Stefan. Stefan sent him an email last night. I should know something later in the day.”

“But either way you plan to go to Cairo.”

“Yes.”

“Then I shall meet you there.”

“Professor, I can handle—”

“We work together, unless the assignment doesn’t warrant both of us. This one clearly does.”

“This is my side of the game, not yours. You’re not in the line of fire right now. There’s no reason to put yourself in it.”

“Those are my choices to make. And it most certainly involves my expertise. I’ve developed an interest in this Al-Miri. Think of it as a new case. What is the Latin? Pro bono?”

Grey tapped his fingers against the wall, then sighed. “We need to keep as low a profile as possible when we get there. We should stay separate for the time being.”

“Agreed.”

“Don’t poke around outside the museum. We know too little about these men.”

Grey could hear the amusement in Viktor’s voice. “Is my new employee giving me orders?”

“I just don’t want you to put yourself in danger. When do you plan to leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

•  •  •

Grey met Veronica and Stefan for breakfast in the small restaurant attached to the hotel.

“I received an email this morning,” Stefan said, “from our messenger. He agreed to meet.”

Grey poured two creamers into his coffee. “Where?”

“Today, five p.m., in front of Madison Square Garden.

“He’s in New York?”

Stefan shrugged. “Or somewhere close. He told me to come alone.”

“No way.”

“It’s rush hour in the middle of Manhattan. He knows my face, I know his. I’ll have my phone, and you can wait nearby.”

Grey took a long sip of his coffee. Veronica crossed her legs in her seat and said, “What did you tell him?”

“I contacted him as instructed last night, and included my email address. We exchanged a few emails this morning. I told him it was essential that we talk concerning the package he delivered. He asked me where I was, I told him New York, and he told me where to meet.”

Grey stroked his chin. “Let me go in your place. You can describe him to me.”

“He won’t meet anyone but me. He was adamant.”

“Tell him no.”

“I’m going to meet him.”

Grey rolled his eyes. No one wanted to listen to him. “I’ll be around the corner. Put me on speed dial and don’t look around like you know I’m there. For God’s sake stay in the crowds.”

J
ax hated the thought of this meeting with every ounce of his anarchical soul, but he was running out of options. The bikers had followed him south, but somehow those Arab bastards had caught up with him at the Mexican border, and Jax couldn’t risk a scene with border patrol. He had to ditch the bikers and head back north in the middle of the night.

He’d only been a few hours from New York, on his way to a midnight hike across the Canadian border, when he received the email. Maybe this guy knew something, maybe he didn’t. Jax had to try something. He had finally gotten in touch with Dorian, and Dorian didn’t know a thing about these people besides the fact that Siti had been a scientist with New Cellular Technologies. Dorian had no reason to lie, and he certainly wasn’t scared of talking. Dorian did the scaring in Cairo, not the other way around.

Jax tossed his coffee cup. It was time for something stiffer.

He preferred to meet in the city; it was far easier to get lost in a megalopolis than in the countryside, unless one knew the countryside intimately. And he had yet to be approached in a crowd. These people, whoever they were, preferred the shadows.

He watched as the well-heeled man he’d met in Bulgaria approached the entrance to Madison Square Garden. Tight clothing, no jacket, no visible weapons, as Jax had requested. The guy didn’t try to glance surreptitiously at a certain spot off to the side, as most people do if they have backup nearby.

What was he doing here? Maybe it was a chance email, an unrelated job. Not likely. Jax lowered his Mets cap and strolled to the entrance. He passed behind Stefan and whispered, “Wait two minutes, walk down Thirty-first to Sixth, head south, wait inside the first pub you see.”

Jax kept walking, hid amongst the crowd on the far side of Sixth and Thirty-First, then waited for Stefan to pass by the intersection. Stefan continued on to the bar, and Jax waited fifteen minutes for signs of surveillance. When he was satisfied, he followed Stefan to the bar.

Stefan had chosen a booth in the rear, out of the way but with a view of the door. He left Jax the side of the booth against the wall. Good. He wanted to establish trust.

Jax slid into the booth and showed his teeth. “We meet again. What’re the odds?”

Stefan extended a hand. “Stefan Dimitrov.”

“I remember your name. I found you, remember?”

“And you are?”

“Why’d you contact me?”

A waitress approached. They both ordered draft beers. After the waitress left, Stefan said, “My associates and I need your help. We’re willing to pay whatever it takes.”

Jax stared at him for a moment, then began to chuckle. The chuckle turned slightly hysterical. “My help? Good God man, I couldn’t help a virgin into adulthood at the moment. That little package of yours has proven to be the worst decision I’ve ever made. I was hoping you could tell me something about it.”

The waitress returned. Jax took his beer and ordered another.

Stefan cocked his head. “Tell you something?”

“I want to know how to get these crazy bastards off my back. I have no idea how they’ve been following me. It’s got to be some kind of bug, but hell if I know how they’re doing it.”

Stefan blanched. “You think they’re tracking you?”

“Have to be. No one’s that good at a tail. I’ve been all over the eastern half of this god-forsaken country and they find me every other day. Tried to head south, and they were at the border. I headed back this way, got your email and fuck it, I’m at the end of my rope. I’m going to have to take my chances with a plane. Don’t worry, they won’t bother us in the middle of a city, not during the day.”

“When did this start?”

“The night after I met with Al-Miri.”

“Have you checked your person, your belongings, your vehicle, for a tracking device?”

“Of course. I’ve changed everything three times. Trust me, they’re not using GPS. It’s got to be something new.”

Stefan looked behind him, then said, “Lean over.”

“Sorry?”

“Lean over. Let me see the top of your head.”

Jax moved his hand to the gun under his jacket. “If this is some kind of trick, you’re a dead man.”

“I need to look for something. Watch for the waitress.”

“I’ve already checked my head.” Jax felt ridiculous, but he bent over. Stefan moved his hair aside and ran his fingers across his scalp. He stopped as the waitress walked by, then resumed. Stefan pulled Jax’s head even closer and rubbed at a spot on Jax’s scalp. “You don’t feel anything, do you?”

Jax’s voice was tight. “Like
what
?”

Stefan released him. “A tiny pinprick from the implantation of a miniscule tracking device. Nearly impossible to detect.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“It’s a new technology, applied with a syringe. As far as I know, no military has implemented it. The right biotech could have access to it.”

“What the hell is it?”

“A remotely activated transmitter that sends a signal through the nearest cell tower. It bounces off satellites and then sends the signal to the source device through another cell tower. Think of it as the world’s tiniest cell phone, constantly in use.”

“Don’t cell phones need batteries?”

“Power is generated electromechanically through muscle movement.”

“Now you’re shitting me.”

“No.”

“And where is this source device? Does it have to be close?”

“It could be anywhere in the world within range of a cell tower.”

“How can you be sure this was what they implanted?”