“Good call,” August conceded.
“I knew there was a reason I brought you along,” Nina said. “Besides to have someone to constantly doubt every decision we make...”
“Those boys back there might have been violent, but they’ve undeniably accrued quite the collection of valuables, especially given their limited resources. Have to give them some credit for that. I might even suggest recruiting them to the order...”
Nina rolled her eyes. “Let's wait until they're not trying to kill us to drop off that invitation.”
They made their way through the crowded streets of Alexandria, hoping to blend into the crowd to escape any potential pursuers. Odion and his men seemed like the type of people that wouldn't just let them get away after taking from them. If they were giving chase, they still had the numbers and the weapons to beat Nina and her group down and retake the slab.
Nina looked around carefully through the hundreds of faces that passed by. Across the street, she saw the familiar bald head of Odion, who saw her just at the same moment. He shouted, presumably to his friends nearby, and then yelled across the street to Nina.
“Return the slab! Now!”
“Come on!” Riley said, taking Nina's hand and weaving through the crowds. She was a petite young woman who was also quick on her feet, a good combination when they needed to get through a packed street. August and Elijah had a bit more trouble keeping up, especially August, who had to practically knock people over that were in his way.
“Where are we going?” Nina called to Riley.
Riley pointed up at something high up and Nina recognized one of the buildings ahead. It was near the private landing they’d used to land the private jet. Their ride was waiting over there, and a time like this, a private jet would make an amazing getaway vehicle. Riley had spotted their way out of there. The two women shouted out the plan to August and Elijah who kept looking behind them at their pursuers. If they could just make it to the jet, they might make it out of there okay.
August glanced back again and shouted. “I don't see them! I think we lost them!”
There was the sound of an engine roaring and they looked to the road beside them. A jeep was swerving in and out of traffic, coming up right beside the curb. Odion was in the passenger seat, shouting out orders to the driver. Apparently, Odion and his crew had hitched a ride with one of their friends to catch up.
They cut through an alley and watched as the jeep nearly collided with another vehicle, losing it around the corner, though maybe only temporarily. They saw the private landing strip and all sprinted toward the plane as quickly as they could. There was no telling how long they would have before they were overtaken by Odion's gang.
Once they reached the private jet, they hurried up the ramp onto the private jet. Nina was at the back of the pack and watched as the jeep full of angry men came to a halt nearby. Odion and his men leaped out of the vehicle and were running toward the plane.
“Return the slab!” Odion roared as he approached. “Return it now! You won’t take it from here! I won't let you!”
Nina climbed into the jet and closed the door behind her, sealing it shut.
“Get us out of here!” She called up to the pilot as Elijah and August hurried to the cockpit to relay the message and make sure it was heard.
The plane started to move, preparing to take off. Odion and his crew ran up the ramp and slammed their hands against the jet's door but to no avail. There was no possible way for them to get inside. The plane started moving along the runway, pulling away from the ramp. One of Odion's men tried to take hold of the wing, even jumping onto it from the ledge. The man clung to it for a moment before he slipped off the plane and went tumbling to the ground. If he wasn't dead from that, then he would definitely be maimed or very seriously injured.
The private jet rolled down the runway until takeoff, bringing them into the air and far above their imminent graves.
Nina took a seat, looking over the rock that she had taken from the Egyptians. She still had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty over how she pulled off getting the tablet. It wasn't the way she liked doing things. She usually didn't break her word with people, especially people who seemed like they had the potential to be allies, or at least some connection. It would have been nice to have a connection in Egypt given how much history was there but now, there was no chance of that happening.
“Shall I?” Elijah asked, standing over and holding out his hands. Despite his vagueness, she knew exactly what he meant. He wanted to take a close examination of the slab of stone, so he could translate it for them. “It's what we took it for, remember? You almost got me killed for it.”
“I almost got you killed!?” Nina couldn't believe it. “You threw yourself into that situation.”
“Only because I had to,” Elijah said with a shrug. “Your plan wasn't working. Someone had to do something if we wanted any chance of getting that. A distraction was our best option...so I distracted. Simple as that.”
Elijah took the slab and then took a seat, examining it closely. As obnoxious and unfriendly as Elijah Dane could be, Nina always admired how observant he was with pieces of history that he found. She had first noticed it during the time she had spent with him curating in the deep vaults but those were much more in-depth examinations. Still, at a time like this, when he didn't have his equipment, he still made do with what he had and could find clues all the same and rather quickly. He hummed to himself, pushing his glasses up his nose.
For a few minutes, Nina stared at him but then found herself getting up, drawn to the slab like it was a magnet. Riley and August did the same, all of them being pulled in by their own curiosity. It was up to Elijah to figure out the next step. Nina just hoped that this wasn't another dead end. If it was, and this slab wasn't as helpful as she hoped, then she’d feel even worse about what happened with Odion.
They all hovered over Elijah's shoulders as he translated the writings on the old slab.
“Well?” Riley asked, fidgeting around with her fingers and looking anxious. “Does it say anything helpful, or did we just almost die for no reason?”
Elijah just mumbled under his breath and kept looking it over. After a few more minutes of inspection, he started gently bobbing his head.
One word left his mouth, one name. “Commodus.”
“Commodus? That was the emperor that traveled to Egypt?”
“According to this, yes,” Elijah said. “There's no way of knowing how reliable the scribe of this slab was but if they are accurate, then yes, Commodus came to Egypt during his reign. It was secret and hidden from the public but he went to Egypt looking for a Roman treasure that had been lost.”
“The sword!” Riley exclaimed happily.
“It doesn't specify,” Elijah said. “But if we take into account the message that Santino has at the museum and this...there's a high chance that the treasure Commodus found was indeed Caesar's sword.”
It was great news to hear. It wasn't a guarantee yet, but it was better than finding nothing at all. Now they just needed to determine where this treasure Commodus found in Egypt ended up. Hopefully it wasn't any place too difficult to find.
“So we're going back to Rome then?” August asked.
“That would be our safest bet,” Elijah said. “If he went to Egypt to locate a specific treasure, then he most likely brought that treasure back home.”
They all nodded in agreement. It made enough sense but it was hard to know for sure, considering they were analyzing decisions made nearly two thousand years ago.
Nina couldn't stop smiling. “I'll call Santino and give him an update.”
8
THREE AGAINST ONE
Santino hung up the phone. He was very happy to have Nina’s help to find the sword of Caesar. Her experience in tracking down artifacts was already proving to be incredibly beneficial to him and his cause. The sword had been lost for thousands of years, but somehow
he knew that Nina would be the one to locate it. And once the fabled sword was recovered and she succeeded, that discovery would be celebrated in the museum for everyone to see. There was no better way to honor the dead than to preserve their possessions and make sure the rest of the world didn't forget them. Also, naturally, it was a nice way to bring in some more guests to the museum.
A door somewhere nearby creaked open and Santino turned in the direction of the sound. There were quite a few entrances to the Palazza Nuovo but most of them were locked this time of night. Monica had already locked up and gone home for the night so it wasn't her. It wasn't anyone expected. But the museum had had a late night visitor recently—and that meant bad news for Santino.
Santino cautiously stepped in the direction of where the sound had come from, trying to keep quiet and kept listening for more sounds. Nothing came, not at first.
“Beautiful night, isn't it?”
Santino nearly jumped out of his own skin in surprise, but managed to swing around to find three figures standing side by side nearby. They all had masks that shrouded their identities but it was hard to make out any details in the dimly lit room. Santino felt fear creeping up his body.
It was them—the Third Triumvirate. Why had they come back? They’d already hit the Palazza Nuovo. There was no good reason to return, but this was the first museum that they’d revisited. It was the most recent one that they had robbed, too...so why come back so soon? He would have preferred that they go back to one of the other museums that they’d already hit, one where he wasn't working. Why couldn't they give him a break?
Santino straightened his tie, and bolstered all of his courage, trying to muster all of it despite his trembling limbs. He wasn't going to let a couple of thieves intimidate him. This was his museum and they were trespassing.
“The museum is closed for the evening,” Santino said, trying to sound commanding. “I’m going to have to ask you all to leave immediately. We’ll be open tomorrow morning at ten o'clock.”
“But we’d like to visit now,” the masked man in the middle said. “There’s just too much to see. We wanted to get here nice and early to make sure we had a chance to see everything.”
Santino took a step back. “Leave now. I'm calling the police.”
“We won't stay for long,” the figure with long hair said. Despite the masculine face of the mask she wore, it was evident that she was a woman. “Just long enough to get what we came for.”
“And what are you here for?” Santino dropped the pretenses. “What do you plan on taking this time? Hmm? A set of armor? A spear? Or will you be upping your game and taking an entire war chariot?”
“No, no, no, nothing as valuable as those. We’re just here to take your pathetic life.”
Terror pooled through Santino's blood and he found himself retreating back a few steps. They were serious, but why kill him? They hadn't murdered any of the other museum workers. Why him? It wasn't fair.
“We hear you’ve sent some friends to look for the sword of Caesar,” the masked man said coldly. “Dr. Nina Gould, isn't that right?”
“So?” Santino tried to bite back his fear but he wasn't doing a great job of it. Beads of sweat were rolling down his cheeks. It was getting harder and harder by the second to keep trying to be brave. “The sword isn't here yet if that's what you're after. They haven't even found the blade.”
“We know,” the masked man said. “We’ll get it in due time. We already told you what we're looking for tonight and it's not the sword...”
Santino ran. He didn't know where he was going, just that it’d be as far away from those masked lunatics as possible. If they were really here to take his life, then he wasn't going to make it easy for them. He’d too much to lose and way too much to live for personally and professionally. And he wasn't going to let them ruin one of his favorite suits. He refused to go down, not like this.
They may have outnumbered him three to one, but this was his museum. He knew the Palazza Nuovo better than most people ever could; certainly better than three thieves who had only been there once before.
If the doors really were locked like they claimed they were, then he’d have to make due with a good hiding place within the museum. There were plenty, and some were only known to the staff of the museum. The Third Triumvirate had no idea about some of the most concealed places in the museum.
He just had to get to one of those secret spots without bumping into his pursuers.
Just as that crossed his mind, something collided with his left side, sending him skidding across the floor. When he looked back, the enormous member of the Third Triumvirate towered over him. The man looked strong enough to crush Santino under his boot with ease—and he probably wanted to annihilate him. Santino rolled out of the way and scrambled to his feet, nearly falling back down onto his face as he frantically tried to get away from the masked behemoth.
He wouldn't be able to go that way; he would never get through that brick wall of a man. He would have to go to another one of the hidden spots that was tucked away.
Santino hurried down the corridor but came to a sudden stop when he saw the silhouette of a long-haired woman standing in the center of a doorway. It was her, the only female in the Third Triumvirate. He wasn't sure if he could knock her out of the way or beat her in a fight. It was hard to know much about an enemy when you didn't even know what they really looked like. It didn't help that he wasn't sure where the other two were. Even if he could get past her, they could pop up and intervene. Then he would really be in trouble. His best bet was to avoid her altogether.
He quickly dashed to his left, hoping that she didn't catch sight of him in the dark. He sprinted down the corridors that led straight to the formation hall, where dozens of costumed models were in their testudo formation. It was one of his favorite new additions to the museum and he hoped that it liked him just as much, enough to save his life. It might be a fairly good hiding place now that he was that museum's power was turned off. The Third Triumvirate's strategy of cutting the museum's power might turn out to be a blessing for him in the end. The darkness could be an effective cover to stay hidden from his masked assailants.
He hurried into the large room and ducked behind the first row of mannequins that had their shields held in front of them, covering most of their bodies. The rows of men behind them had their shields over their heads to protect themselves from attacks from above. The testudo was an effective defensive position to take against ranged attacks. It was difficult to break or penetrate the formation's shell. Santino just hoped that it would be a good defense against his enemies too, even if they weren't trying to pepper him with arrows or catapults.
In the darkness, it was hard to make out the lifeless details of the models' faces. It really did feel like he was surrounded by a contingent of warriors. It was like they were putting their lives on the line to defend him. It was slightly reassuring—but it wasn't like they’d actually be able to fight for him if he was discovered. He just had to pray that he wasn't found.
Footsteps echoed down the hall, and he heard a loud groan. It was the biggest of the three Triumvirate members. “I can't believe that little bastard managed to get away from us!”
Santino felt some pride swell in his body. It was nice to know that he’d upset someone trying to kill him. It was the least he could do in return. The unfortunate part, was that making the behemoth of a man angry would probably just hurt Santino more in the end.
“Will you relax?” The woman was apparently close by, too. “He hasn't gotten away. All of the doors are locked. There's nowhere for him to go. So calm down.”
“What if there’s some secret way out? A trap door or a hatch or--”
“There’s not,” the woman said. “Trust me on that.”
The woman sounded very sure of herself and Santino really wished that she was wrong. If he somehow made it through the night in one piece, he would be sure to have at least ten top secret emergency exists installed into the mu
seum. That way, he would never have to be skulking around and hiding. He could already be long gone and on his way to the police, out of harm's way and not at risk of being murdered at any moment.
The footsteps came closer. Santino made a pose, trying to match the life-sized models beside him. He tensed up, trying his best to remain perfectly still. Hopefully, this way, if anyone tried to look around the room, he’d blend in with the soldiers beside him. He’d be just another frozen silhouette performing the testudo.
His eyes had adjusted well enough to the dark that he saw the two figures enter the room. Neither of them moved with much caution. They weren't intimidated by him being somewhere nearby at all. Of course they weren't; they could probably beat him into submission if he tried to ambush them. They walked casually like they were just taking a late night stroll in the moonlight. Santino kept as still as he possibly could. He could feel beads of sweat rolling down his face and was terrified that one would drop to the floor and make an enormously loud splash. It was irrational to think that it would be that loud but it felt like even the tiniest sound would be enough to alert them in the darkness. He was surprised that they hadn't heard his rapid heartbeat yet. He thought it was thumping so loudly that it was shaking the whole world around him.
The large masked man threw one of the soldier models onto the floor. The mannequin's metal props crashed down so loudly that Santino almost jumped up and yelled from being startled so bad. That would have been the end of him if he hadn't caught himself and prevented himself from making a sound. Another model was knocked over and then another.
The big man let out a deep booming laugh like this was the most fun he ever had. “Look at them! I guess they weren't ready to deal with an attack from the sides. They should’ve remembered to always watch their flanks!”
Operation Rubicon Page 8
