by Steve Berry
So he smiled and led her away.
———
ALLE WAS UNSURE ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING, ONLY THAT her father seemed to be leaving Prague. He’d apparently decided to press on without her, but what choice did he have? He had no way of finding her. And she was glad. She preferred being with Zachariah. She had a purpose here. Felt a part. Like she had with her grandparents.
They were making their way back toward where she and her father had left their car, worming through traffic and thick streams of pedestrians.
“We followed you from Vienna,” Zachariah said as they walked, “and parked nearby. Illegally, so I hope the car is still there.”
He motioned left.
“We have to avoid the town square. This route will take us where we want to go, away from there.”
They kept moving.
Interesting how her father leaving actually bothered her. Like another slap in the face. A rejection. For all he knew, she was looking for him.
Yet he’d decided to leave.
“Does my father know that I’m with you?” she asked.
Zachariah nodded. “The rabbi told me that he saw us earlier, together on the street.”
Which explained some.
“Where’s he going?”
“That’s what we have to find out. I am assuming he will head to an airport. I am hoping it will be the one in Prague.”
———
TOM DROVE WEST SIX MILES OUT OF TOWN TO PRAGUE’S RUZYNE airport. He left the car with the rental agency and found the British Airways ticket counter, thinking that might be his best bet to get to Jamaica. There was a flight leaving for London in two hours with seats still available. After a two-and-a-half-hour layover, another flight would take him to Kingston. The ticket price was outrageous but he could not have cared less. He paid with his credit card and obtained a day pass for the airline’s lounge.
Before settling down inside to wait, he bought a few toiletries. He should call Inna and see what she may have discovered, but what did it matter anymore? Everything he needed to know was here, inside the black leather bag. He looked like crap. He needed a shower and a shave, just like in the old days while on the hunt. Thankfully, appearances mattered little to a print reporter. The byline. That’s what counted. And where the story was positioned. Front page, above the fold, the Boardwalk and Park Place of the newspaper business, and he’d owned that real estate.
But those days were gone.
Never to return?
He thought of the woman in the car. Find the treasure. Then we will talk.
Was it possible?
He was actually tired, but he’d sleep on the plane. Once in Jamaica he’d rent a car and head to Falcon Ridge. A lot was at stake here. For himself and for others.
A war?
Was that Simon’s intent?
Something came to mind he read once while in the Middle East.
From the sacred Midrash Tanchuma.
As the navel is set in the centre of the human body
,
so is the land of Israel the navel of the world …
People believed that to the point of fanaticism.
Plenty enough to start a war.
———
ZACHARIAH WAITED WITH ALLE IN THE BAGGAGE CLAIM AREA. They’d made it to the car, where Rócha had been behind the wheel with the engine running, watching from across the street as Sagan found his car and climbed inside. They’d followed him out of town, his destination immediately obvious.
The airport.
So he called Vienna and told the charter service to fly the jet to Prague. The flight time was less than an hour. All he needed to know was Sagan’s destination.
Which Rócha had left to find out.
He spotted his man on the down escalator and watched as he walked over. He caught Alle’s apprehension.
“Not to worry,” he told her. “I spoke to him. He will not bother you again.”
Rócha approached.
“It cost me £500 but the ticket agent told me Sagan booked the three o’clock flight to London, then on to Kingston, Jamaica. I have the flight times.”
Jamaica.
Why was he not surprised?
Rócha faced Alle. “I want to say I’m sorry for what happened in Vienna. I took things too far. I was only trying to do my job.”
He watched as Alle accepted the apology. He’d told Rócha what to do in the event that she was back with them and was pleased that his man had followed directions.
She seemed more at ease already.
“Our jet will be here soon,” he said.
“Sagan went through Customs, then security,” Rócha said. “He’s gone, waiting for his flight.”
Zachariah’s mind was on a greater problem.
Sagan would beat them to Jamaica. They’d have to refuel at least once, probably twice. Even with a layover, Sagan would arrive first. Which meant he had to have someone there, on the ground, ready and waiting.
And there was only one candidate.
“I have to make a call,” he said.
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
BÉNE WAS AT HIS ESTATE, THE LONG NIGHT OVER, THE JAMAICAN morning barely beginning. Halliburton had returned home, too, and Frank Clarke was back in Charles Town. He’d changed out of his wet clothes, now outside at the kennel, where his dogs waited. They were glad to see him, Big Nanny especially. He petted them all and accepted their affection.
He thought about Grandy Nanny herself.
She’d managed to escape not long after arriving in Jamaica and took her five brothers with her. One set of siblings came east and became the Windward Maroons. Nanny and the others traveled west and became the Leewards. She built Nanny Town, clearing 600 acres of raw forest. She fought the British and, while her brothers and most Maroons sought peace, she merely signed a truce. Legend said that immediately afterward she asked the British to shoot her. They obliged, but Nanny spun around, then straightened up, walking to a British officer and returning the bullets that had been fired her way. She pointed toward the sky and told him, “Only one can kill me.”
He smiled. That was the thing about legends.
You wanted to believe them.
He stared out at the mountains, packed with a profusion of lush vegetation, a sea of green, the morning sun casting the thick slopes in a purple glow.
What beauty.
He gathered the dogs and opened the gate. The animals fled the kennel, stretching their legs, readying themselves for a hunt.
He was still bothered by the attempt on his life.
Being born Maroon was an initiation into a secret society. His mother taught him as a child “never tell more than half of what you know. That’s not lying,” she would add. “That’s smart.” His father had been more practical. Hammering into him more of Maroon culture. Secrets shared become secrets betrayed. “Go to your grave,” his father said, “with your secrets.”
That was how he justified not telling his mother about his life. A betrayal? Sure. Was he a hypocrite? Probably. He resented Frank Clarke keeping things from him, but his friend had been right in the cave. He’d done the same toward his mother.
And the colonels?
Those men he resented.
That was the thing about Maroons. They’d never been able to stick together. Grandy Nanny herself led 300 of her people from the west to the east in what was known as the Grand Trek. Her goal was to reunite the two Maroon factions into one, then attack the British with a full force. But her brother, Cudjoe, who headed the east, refused. He wanted peace. So she retreated to the Leeward side and resumed the fight. And though she eventually made a truce, she never made peace.
Smart lady.
The dogs seemed anxious.
Two of them tangled.
He yelled and halted their dispute.
Both retreated, and he petted each, letting them know that everything was okay.
Maroons were taught early in life to not speak of their ways. Any knowledge d
ispensed should come in small increments. Trust was fragile. To reveal all of what you knew made yourself vulnerable to betrayal. Speaking freely of “Maroon things” ran the risk of incurring the ancestors’ wrath.
Best to say nothing.
That was what he’d been taught. Frank Clarke, too.
So why was he bothered by Frank’s withholding?
Simple. He was not an outsider.
He was Maroon.
Frank’s statement that he was not trusted by the others—that hurt him. Who the hell were they to judge?
And to decide to kill him?
“Ungrateful bastards,” he whispered.
What to do now. The mine was nothing and, according to Frank, no one knew what had happened to the gold and silver objects.
Then again, he had no way of knowing if any of that was true.
Always guard your knowledge.
Was Frank Clarke still protecting?
The dogs continued darting in all directions, always circling back to where he stood. Clouds had rolled in off the peaks, the sky the color of ashes.
His phone rang.
The display read UNKNOWN.
He decided to answer.
“Zachariah Simon,” the voice said.
He steadied himself.
“I understand you want to talk to me.”
“Actually, I’d like to kill you.”
And he meant it.
“I did what I had to do. The same you would have done. We’re both successful men, Béne. To remain that way, we make hard decisions. Just like you did when you pointed the Americans my way.”
Interesting. Simon had become informed. “I had no choice.”
“I doubt that. But it doesn’t matter. Jamison is dead. It is just you and me now, Béne.”
Which explained why he’d heard nothing more from Brian. He hoped the Americans were out of his life for good. “What do you want?”
“Let us call it even between us.”
“Would there be a point to that?”
“There’s a man named Thomas Sagan on his way to Kingston.”
“The man from Florida?”
“That’s right. He’s flying in late tonight, your time. I am on the way, but I will not arrive before he does. I need you to follow him and see where he goes.”
“And why would I do that?”
“He will lead you to the location of a great treasure. I lied to you, Béne. I am not after Columbus’ grave or even the lost gold mine. Whether or not there were crates of gold from Panama hidden somewhere on the island, who cares? I want something far more valuable that does exist. Four objects. The Jews’ Temple treasure.”
Now he was interested. Simon was telling him things he knew to be true. “This man, Sagan, knows where that treasure is?”
“I think so.”
But Frank had made clear that the objects were moved. Did this man Sagan know their current location?
He decided to hold that nugget and discuss it with Sagan.
“Since you already know about Sagan,” Simon said, “find his photo on the Internet, then find him. He will be on a British Airways flight from London that arrives around eleven tonight, your time. He may have with him a small black bag. What is inside is important.”
“Why call me?”
“Because you want another shot at me.”
That he did. Like Grandy Nanny and the British there might be a truce, but no peace would pass between them.
“Do this,” Simon said, “and you will get that chance, because you will have something I want.”
But Béne knew something else.
Thomas Sagan was Simon’s enemy.
And that he liked.
“There is one other point,” Simon said. “Something for you to consider before you act. I have a piece of the puzzle that Sagan does not. Without it, you will find nothing. I need to be there, with Sagan, and I will provide that piece for us all.”
He chuckled. “Always an angle.”
“It is the way of the world.”
“I’ll have a man waiting for you at the airport with a car,” he said. “In the meantime, I’ll find Thomas Sagan.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
TOM ACCEPTED HIS PASSPORT BACK FROM THE WOMAN BEHIND the counter. He’d traveled all over the Caribbean and Central America as a reporter, but never to Jamaica. His trip had started with an hour flight from Prague to London, then another nine and a half hours east across the Atlantic. To his body it was after four o’clock in the morning tomorrow. Here, it was 11:15 P.M.
The transatlantic flight had not been packed, so he was able to stretch out and sleep. For the first time in a few days he’d relaxed, safe thirty thousand feet in the air. He’d even eaten a meal. Not much, as he’d never cared for airplane food, but enough.
The tropical air was thicker and warmer than Prague’s. More like Florida. Like home. Funny he would think that way. He hadn’t considered the concept of home for a long time.
He headed for the rental car counters, which placards said were in the Ground Transportation Hall. Construction was evident everywhere, the terminal undergoing renovations. The gate they’d arrived at appeared new, as did the concourse. Few vendors were open this late, but a fair number of passengers came and went.
He should be jet-lagged, but he wasn’t. He’d never suffered much from that malady, adrenaline both then and now an effective countermeasure. He spotted the Hertz counter, which was lit and manned.
Two men suddenly appeared beside him.
“Need a ride?” one of them asked, an eager look on his face.
He shook his head. “No thanks.”
“Come on, man,” the other one said. “We can take you wherever you need. Quickie quick. Low cost. No problem.”
He kept walking.
They stayed with him.
“We have good car,” the first one said. “Fast. You like.”
“I said no thanks.”
The man to his left hopped in front of him. The other dropped in behind. The one in front reached beneath his shirt and produced a gun, which he nestled close to Tom’s belly.
“I think you do come.”
He now realized the seriousness of the situation. The black leather bag was tucked into his back pocket. He wore the jacket from Europe, but had left the gun in the Czech Republic. The bag was freed from his pocket.
He turned.
The man behind him carried a gun, too.
“Now, now, be cool. You in Jamaica now.”
They herded him away from the rental car counters toward the exit doors. Outside, he raked the night with his eyes trying to spot any police or security.
He saw none.
People flowed in and out of the terminal. Cars came and went. The two men kept him close. One hid his weapon and led the way, the other kept his tucked close to Tom’s midsection, shielded from view.
A pickup truck waited at the curb.
The driver’s door opened and a man stepped out. He was short, black, and trim, his hair cut close, the face clean-shaven. He wore a light-colored shirt, open to a colored T-shirt beneath, and cotton trousers. No jewelry adorned his hands, arms, or neck. From the way the men reacted at his presence, this one was in charge. A smile formed on his lips and revealed pearly white teeth.
“I’m Béne Rowe.”
A hand was extended for him to shake.
He did not accept the offer.
“I understand that we have a mutual enemy. Zachariah Simon.”
No sense being coy. “That we do.”
“Then shake my hand and help me stick it to that sorry, no-good SOB.”
———
BÉNE SHOOK THOMAS SAGAN’S HAND AND SAW APPREHENSION in the man’s eyes. Good. He should be cautious.
His man handed him a black leather bag, just as Simon had predicted. Inside he examined an assortment of odd things, including a circular brass object with Spanish and Hebrew on its face.
“What is this?” he asked.
> “An astrolabe.”
“I assume you know how to use it.”
Sagan shrugged. “Not really.”
He pointed a finger at his guest. “Playing stupid with me?”
“Just like you’re doing with me.”
He flicked a hand and dismissed his two men. He assumed Sagan was going nowhere without the black bag. He needed this man to trust him so he handed over everything. “You’re not a prisoner. Leave. Go. But if you want to stay, I’ll help you. Simon tried to kill me. I owe him. If helping you hurts him, then you have my help.”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“Simon told me. He knew exactly where you’d be.”
He saw the concern on the other man’s face.
“I’ve been honest,” he said to Sagan. “I have no reason to lie. He told me that you know where the Jews’ great treasure is hidden on this island. I know some about that.”
“And what is it you know?”
———
TOM WAS MAKING DECISIONS, THE KIND HE ONCE MADE IN THE field when sources appeared out of nowhere. You had to judge words, actions, and make a call. Sometimes you were right, others times not so lucky.
Like in Israel, eight years ago.
Not now, he told himself.
Focus.
He knew Falcon Ridge was located somewhere northwest of Kingston, in the mountains, toward the center of the island. Once there, he had no idea what to look for, and Simon knowing he was here was of great concern.
How was that possible?
His parents and his ex-wife were dead. His daughter was gone. All he had left was the woman in the car.
Find the treasure. Then we will talk.
But he needed help.
And though this congenial black man of obvious power had said he was free to leave, he doubted that was the case.
Take a chance.
He asked, “Do you know a place called Falcon Ridge?”
Rowe nodded. “It’s not far from my estate.”
An estate? Of course. What else?
“That’s where we have to go.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY
