“I also need to report a murder on the mountain.”
“A murder? Why did you not tell me this?”
“Doctor, I’m still wrapping my head around everything that’s happened over the past two hours. I want you focused on Agent Caine. I should also tell you she will demand to be released tomorrow. If you refuse, she will simply walk out of here, in a hospital gown, if necessary, so patch her up as best you can.”
“Well then, you can tell the polizia all about this murder and they will get you back to your car. As for Agent Caine, I will get her well enough.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Venice, Italy
The computer dinged, and Adam jolted awake. “I’m up, I’m up. What is it?”
He turned in his chair and saw Louisa stretched on the couch, asleep. In the next second, she jerked up, wide-awake. “Is it room service?”
Adam laughed at her. “You and room service. You were out for almost a full hour.”
Louisa rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Better than nothing. Did you hear any more from Nicholas while I was under?”
“Not a word. But my computer just came through. Take a look.”
Adam handed her his laptop. To the average person, it would look like nothing more than strings of numbers and letters, total nonsense. Louisa, on the other hand, was computer savvy and she saw it was sophisticated code, even though she couldn’t read it.
“Yeah, so what is it?”
“It’s designed to break Landry Rodgers’s financial history and download it to our servers. Remember? He’s the Genesis Group’s crooked wizard broker out of Singapore.”
“I don’t suppose what you’re doing is anywhere close to legal?”
“Nope,” he said cheerfully. “We’re Covert Eyes, remember? I like Nicholas’s motto: it’s easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission.”
“I wonder if Nicholas is a bad influence on you, or vice versa. Will this give us enough ammunition to sink them?”
“Hopefully.”
“And can you cut off their money supply?”
He merely grinned at her.
“Go for it, launch it. Let’s see what you can find.”
“Hold on, I have a few lines of code left to write.”
He tapped away while Louisa got herself a shot of espresso. “I’ve got to joggle my nervous system awake.”
“Don’t drown it in cream and sugar, and use triple the espresso.”
“It’s too small for triple the amount.” Louisa turned the small ceramic cup over in her hands, then set it under the spout of the Nespresso machine and pressed the button. “Are you about ready to nail this Rodgers dude?”
There was a second of furious tapping, then, “Yes. It’s launched. Can we order some food? I’m starving. Sitting around typing drains away the carbs, that, and watching you eat everything in sight.”
Louisa patted her flat stomach. “Gotta keep this fine machine in top working order. Lots of carbs or I lose my RPMs. Room service’s the greatest, give them a call. How long will the program take to work?”
“An hour at most. All we need is for someone at Rodgers’s firm to open the email and it will launch automatically. They’ll never even know we’re in.”
“How does it work?”
“It will download all the transactional data. Which is a ton of stuff, so I wrote a second program that should filter out everything labeled Genesis and Kohath, with variables. Once we have the data, we can reconstruct the last couple of years, see all of Rodgers’s transactions. This Rodgers guy is good, he completely obscured most of it.”
“Explain what you mean he’s obscured most of it.”
“It’s all numerical,” Adam said, picking up the phone and the hotel menu. “From what I can tell, the files are coded both by company and by longitude and latitude. Which is an interesting way to do things, but it’s his way of keeping his clients separate and secure.”
Adam ordered prosciutto and melon with cheese, looked over at Louisa, doubled the order, and added a full Italian breakfast, with extra bacon.
Louisa got up, began pacing. “I wish Nicholas would call.”
Adam hung up the phone. “While you napped—okay, I napped some, too, but for the most part, I kept an eye on the satellite, as he asked. So far, no one has left Castel Rigone.” He frowned. “It’s weird. Either the Kohaths have flying brooms or they’re hunkered down inside that mountain.
“What really worries me is there’s no movement on Kitsune’s tracker, not since Nicholas set off the micro EMP. I can only assume it’s been knocked offline somehow, and isn’t transmitting. I don’t know what else could be happening.”
Louisa said, “I hate to ask this, but will the tracker continue working if Kitsune is dead?”
Adam rubbed a hand through his hair. “Yes, it would continue to work for seventy-two hours. It was originally designed for the military to keep track of their spec-ops people should they be taken or killed in the field.”
“I sure hope Kitsune is all right and she’s found her husband. I like her. She’s tough and smart. A pity she’s a career criminal and we’re FBI. And that’s just bizarre. I’m going to take a shower. Call me when the food gets here or Nicholas calls.”
Louisa headed into the shower, and Adam sat back and watched the four quadrants on his computer screen. The satellite imagery shifted incrementally on one quadrant, the data dump from the hack into Rodgers’s files on the second, a third showed data from the Genesis Group’s files, and the fourth showed Kitsune’s tracker, only it was blank. Adam didn’t like it one bit. What he’d told Louisa was right—he had no clue what had happened to it.
Adam’s feet dropped to the floor when Kitsune’s tracker suddenly came online and started to move.
He sent a thank-you heavenward and shouted, “Louisa! Get in here.” She dashed out, a towel wrapped around her, and her hair twisted up in a turban. “What? What?”
“Kitsune’s tracker lit up. She’s on the move.”
“Thank goodness. Where is she heading?”
“West. Fast. Look at this.”
He pulled up a green screen overlaying a map of Europe. The GPS locator representing Kitsune’s location was a small, flashing dot of white. “I have no idea how they got out without my seeing the tracker. The satellite’s been watching and no one’s left the mountain.”
“Then they have a way out of the mountain that no one can see.”
“I know they absolutely did not take the road down to the lake. And they must be on a plane, no way a car could be moving that fast.”
“Why do you think the tracker came back online?”
“Maybe it rebooted itself once it was free of the EMP zone? Maybe she hasn’t been moving until now. Either way, go finish your shower. It’s probably the last chance you’ll have for a while. I’m calling Nicholas.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
The Kohath Letters
Tunguska, Siberia
July 6, 1908
My dearest Genevieve,
I will try to be home before our baby is born, but I don’t know that the storm will ease enough for me to leave this dacha anytime soon. Think of me with nothing but vodka and a fire as my companions.
Tesla left in the dead of night, a week ago, right after the storm hit. He was devastated by what he calls our failure. I told him over and over it was a great success, but you know Nikola, he’s as big a pessimist as he is brilliant—nothing is ever right for him. It is an incredible sight—the trees were blown down for miles, the skies were as bright as day. The Coil harnessed immense energy, and the explosion was unlike anything I have ever witnessed.
Now I know—it will work. The Coil can be used to draw the earth’s energy into a contained field. I must simply find a way to harness the power to send it straight into the sky and bring down the heavens with it.
I will return home as soon as the snows clear and allow me passage. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
With ardent love a
lways,
Appleton
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Castiglione del Lago, Italy
The Italian police were suitably concerned when Nicholas debriefed them, especially at the news of Lilith Forrester-Clarke’s murder. The officer he was riding with, Dr. Sienza’s deputy inspector brother, Nando, explained that the homicide team had been dispatched to the mountain, and offered to allow Nicholas to tag along while they did their investigation.
But this was the last thing Nicholas wanted to do. He convinced Nando to let him off at the Škoda. His backup gear and the go-bags were in the boot, along with his spare mobile. He got it out immediately and saw four missed calls from Adam.
He called him back. “What’s wrong?”
“Kitsune’s tracker was off, and suddenly, it just came back on. I’d swear no one left the mountain so they must have another way out. Sorry, Nicholas, I can’t think of any explanation. All I know is that somehow, undetected, they managed to get to either a helicopter or a plane.”
“Bugger all. All right, keep watch. Now, back to the Kohaths’ planned attack on D.C. Adam, do you see any weather system on the radar?”
“There is a storm in the Atlantic, yes. It’s been on the news because it’s such an early storm, out of season. Hold on, I’m pulling up the latest track—here we go. All the meteorologists are saying it’s no threat to the eastern seaboard. It’s supposed to move into the Gulf. But you believe the Kohaths can really change its course, strengthen it somehow into a hurricane?”
“Yes, I do, and imagine a tsunami in front of it inundating Washington, wiping out the entire city, killing thousands. They have to be stopped.”
“Nicholas, I’m not sure even you and Mike can stop a hurricane once it’s on course to landfall.”
“We’re going to have to figure out a way. If these two psychopaths can start storms, then Mike and I can stop them. And to have a prayer of doing that, we have to find out where they’re going.”
“With Kitsune’s tracker, I’ve got their coordinates. They’re moving fast—they’re already out of Italian airspace.”
“What’s their heading?”
“West by southwest. Toward Spain.”
“Keep on them. Watch it closely. How much time do we have left on Kitsune’s tracker?”
“Just under twelve hours.”
“There’s no chance you can pick up the signal off that bug I planted on Cassandra’s clothing, is there?”
“Sorry, it only broadcasts to fifty yards.”
“All right. I’m going to need the plane. Get Clancy and Trident in the air and to the airport in Perugia. Tell them to gas up for a nice long trip. In the meantime, I need you to call Gray in New York, and the two of you lock down the financials. We need proof that the Kohaths have been manipulating the markets with their weather attacks.”
“The plane will be ready when you are,” Adam said. “Oh, Nicholas, I did some checking on Grant Thornton’s employer, Blue Mountain, identified myself as FBI and reported Grant was missing. They’d already run a kidnap-and-ransom assessment on him since he hadn’t checked in since his last operation. They’re smart and have a lot of resources. Do you want their help?”
“Normally I’d resist, but right now, honestly, the more the merrier. Call them, tell them we’re tracking Grant and his wife, and Adam, keep them in the loop. We need all the help we can get. Thankfully, we’re sure they’re not on the Kohaths’ payroll.”
“Will do. Take care of Mike, okay?”
“You can count on that. Thanks, Adam. You and Louisa hang tight, gather proof that will nail these two nutters.”
He punched off, started to call Zachery and Savich but decided against it. There was simply too much to explain, and too many questions, too many uncertainties. And too many ways for them to say no, no way, he’s in over his head, this is way above his pay grade. When he knew more, he’d fill them in.
Cassandra and Ajax had to know he’d be looking high and low for them, but they’d also think he’d have no way of knowing where to look.
They were in for a big surprise.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Over the Atlantic
Kitsune opened her eyes to darkness. Her first thought was Grant’s dead. And she couldn’t bear it, couldn’t accept it. Because of her, he was dead. Then she thought about killing Cassandra with her bare hands, and that made her realize she had to stay alive to do it. Oh yes, she’d get out of this, then she’d kill the crazy bitch.
She was cold, she was dying of thirst, and she had a splitting headache. Her whole body hurt and she realized she couldn’t move.
She was alive, though, and she would do anything to stay that way. Where was she? Focus, Kitsune, focus.
She was tied tightly, arms and legs, propped against something, hard and soft, and wasn’t that strange. It was a man’s leg—Grant’s leg. He was alive, he was right beside her. She listened to his every breath, and nearly wept. Together, they had a chance. She thought about strangling Cassandra and her palms itched.
She leaned close, smelled his own unique scent. Alive, he was alive, and he was here, with her.
“Grant?”
No answer. They’d drugged him again, as they had her. She supposed they’d given her less. Why? Because she wasn’t such a danger to them? Kitsune felt a moment of insult.
She was surrounded by a loud, intense roar, rhythmic and steady. They were on a plane. It wasn’t entirely dark—she saw a small red light blinking on the wall and in that blinking light, she saw the pulse beating in his neck. Why had they left them alive? Because they wanted something, but what?
Then she remembered the tracker. How much longer would it last? Still, she felt a bit of relief. Nicholas and Mike would follow, she was sure of it.
Grant moaned. She rested her chin against his thigh, more to comfort herself than to comfort him. At least they were finally together.
She needed to think, to plan. And once they’d survived this, she’d consider retiring. Well, maybe.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
The Kohath Letters
Lake Michigan
November 11, 1913
Dear Nikola,
The machine works. If only you’d stayed, you would have seen our monstrous storm rip through the Great Lakes region of the United States. Twelve ships sank, at least thirty were disabled. The damage is astronomical, the investments I made in anticipation of this will turn a pretty profit.
The problem, Nikola, is that you are too much of an idealist to understand how useful the Coil will be to us. You are too concerned with the collateral damage. I’ve promised you we will find ways to mitigate the risk, to stop the machine from damaging human life. It will simply take time.
I know Edison’s men did a thorough job discrediting you, but you cannot give up, you cannot fall into your depressions. You must understand that what Edison says about you is unimportant, you are the brilliant one, the one whose name will live forever. You must believe me.
I know you have sworn to leave for good, to cut your ties to me and our machine. I know you’ve said society is not ready for this level of manipulation. But surely you understand that you can’t invent without first understanding how society will be changed by your advancement. Do not be lost to me, Nikola.
You needn’t worry about money, thanks to my father-in-law’s generous funding. Of course we will need more money in our next stage of development, and the only way to get enough money is to set the Coil to work for us.
Think of the power we will have, how we can bring about change, good change, to help humanity. Who knows what the future holds, what we can do with this in the years to come?
Please reconsider, Nikola.
Appleton
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Castiglione Del Lago, Italy
Nicholas found Mike asleep when he stepped into her hospital room, carrying a prosciutto panino and a Coke Light from the vending machine. Between bites, he called Ben in London.
“I do, more than something. You aren’t going to believe what I have. I’ve been combing through a treasure trove here. St. Germaine has a letter from Appleton Kohath to Nikola Tesla, dating back to 1901, when he found a folio in a junk store he believed was a lost set of papers by Leonardo da Vinci.”
“Da Vinci? What’s that all about?”
“Give me a minute. Okay, so Kohath found this Da Vinci folio in Venice and sent it immediately to his good buddy Nikola Tesla, and the two of them married Da Vinci’s ideas to Tesla’s Coil and started cooking up a machine to control the weather.”
“You’re saying the Kohaths’ weather machine is originally a design from Da Vinci?”
“Yep. Didn’t you tell me Savich spoke to you about Tesla and his electricity experiments?”
Nicholas chewed on his final bit of panino. “Yes. When I asked Savich to research anyone early in the century who could possibly have done groundwork on weather control, he gave me Tesla, and reminded me about the Siberian devastation. I didn’t see it being any use at the time, but maybe he was on the right track. What did you learn about Tesla, Ben?”
“Since I’m not an expert on Tesla, I looked him up. Like Da Vinci, he was a man ahead of his time. He believed the earth could be used to create power, believed he could create energy from the earth’s crust. And go figure this: Tesla believed he could signal other planets.
“In addition to all his electricity experimentation, he did a number of experiments with the ionosphere, traveled all over the world messing with it. That Siberian explosion in 1908 was so large it knocked down sixty million trees across eight hundred and thirty square miles. Pretty intense for a couple of twentieth-century scientists.”
“But even knowing this,” Nicholas said, “how does it make sense that the Kohaths can control the weather?”
“I found another letter to Tesla after the 1913 Great Lakes Storm that killed many people and caused so much damage. Kohath was basically begging Tesla not to be such a wuss and a pessimist, and leave him high and dry. But, of course, Tesla did just that. Kohath even wrote about his wife’s father funding his work.
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