The Atlantis revelation

25

Midas stood in what he considered to be his rightful place next to the French president, his wife, and Papa Le Roche at the curb outside Saint Roch as they silently watched pallbearers load Mercedes's flag-draped coffin into the back of the hearse, which would take it to the more intimate burial service at the family's tomb at Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

Midas did his best to look somber before the crowds and cameras, but those next to him had more practice, and he had to work at keeping his chest from swelling with pride from his arrival at the pinnacle of European society. He'd had to buy his way in with the Brits, and even then his acceptance had felt forced. The Parisians were far more accommodating of his violent reputation, which for them only seemed to add a dash of romance to his otherwise mysterious background.

"Mercedes did love her rogues," he heard Papa Le Roche repeat outside, although the plural reference reminded Midas of Conrad Yeats, and the thought that he and Yeats had shared Mercedes disturbed him. He took comfort in the knowledge that shortly, Yeats would be joining the dearly departed in the afterlife. It was all Midas could do to keep from checking his BlackBerry for word from Vadim in Bern.

Papa Le Roche then clasped arms with Sarkozy, Carla, and Midas. To great effect, he upstaged Midas by climbing into the front of the hearse himself-there was room for only one passenger, presumably the most important man in Mercedes's life-to ride with his daughter to the cemetery.

As soon as the black Volvo hearse drove off down the Rue Saint-Honore past the throngs of onlookers held back by police and metal fences, Midas turned to Sarkozy. "Are you going to the burial?"

The French president shook his head. "Rhodes calls. The world is a mess. Turmoil in the markets. War in the Middle East. We do what we can. I am to give the opening and closing presentations at the summit. I am but a bookend."

"I will see you there, then," said Midas, and clasped arms with Sarkozy and then enjoyed a double kiss with Carla before France's first couple climbed into their presidential limousine.

As Midas watched their motorcade drive off, led by police on motorcycles, he felt the pleasant vibration of power in the form of his BlackBerry calling. He picked up the call from Vadim. "So we are rid of Yeats once and for all?"

There was a pause on the other end. Midas didn't like it. "We got Zawas. But Yeats escaped."

Midas felt stomach acid flare up in the back of his throat. "And the contents of the box?"

"Yeats."

Midas dropped the phone and leaned on a loitering pallbearer for support. Several cameras captured the moment, confusing the expression of loss on his face to be one for Mercedes. The Rhodes summit started tomorrow, and Midas needed that coin to join the Thirty. Even the Flammenschwert couldn't help that. All his leverage would be gone by Friday.

Midas scanned the crowds and saw Serena making for the side entrance and her car. He took a breath, stood up, and thanked the concerned onlookers. "I'll be fine. Life goes on. Thank you."

He retreated back to the church and then broke into a run to catch Serena before she drove off.