The Darkest Day

THIRTY-FOUR

They walked across the roof to the elevator. She headed that way and he let her. He kept her close — but not too close — and in his peripheral vision at all times. She did the same. They waited to allow a chubby family out and stepped inside. They faced each other from across the car. No one else was inside. Victor didn’t blink as she extended her arm to knuckle the button for the ground floor.

Her fingers were long and slender but he could see the strength in her wrists and exposed forearms. The wrist flexors were defined and the brachioradialis had uncommon prominence.

She saw him looking and made a fist to greater emphasise the muscles. ‘Would you like to arm wrestle?’

‘You should wear long sleeves.’

‘I tell people I climb.’

‘I tell people the same,’ he said. ‘But I do climb.’

‘Sure you want to go through with this?’ she asked.

He said, ‘I haven’t survived this long by ignoring threats.’

‘I’m no threat to you.’

‘You tried to kill me.’

‘What’s the significant part of that statement?’

He studied her face. Her skin was smooth, and freckled over the cheekbones. ‘Are you saying you no longer want to kill me?’

‘I never wanted to kill you.’

‘Games don’t work on me, Constance,’ Victor said. ‘You can’t manipulate me. Playing sweet and innocent is a waste of your time. You can’t appeal to my humanity. I have none left. I traded the last of it in a long time ago. I’m here to kill you before you kill me. There’s nothing more to it than that.’

Her eyebrows raised at the use of her name. ‘You know a lot about me then.’

‘Of course.’

‘Of course,’ she repeated. ‘It’s not sexy, is it? Constance. Sounds so old-fashioned. My parents were hippies. My American mother and Indian father wanted to celebrate their uncommon bond. At least, it was uncommon back then. They wanted a name for their first child that encapsulated the bringing together of East and West. Have you ever heard anything so corny?’

‘Constance for Constantinople, where Europe and Asia meet.’

‘I guess they couldn’t make a name from Istanbul.’

‘I like Constance,’ he admitted. ‘I like names that have meaning.’

‘I guess I’m used to it by now. But I feel at a disadvantage,’ Raven began. ‘If you know my name then you know everything about me. I, on the other hand, know nothing about you.’

‘Which is the way I prefer it.’

She said, ‘What’s your name?’

‘I don’t have one.’

‘Everyone has a name.’

‘Not me.’

‘Fine. Be like that. But what happened to sportsmanship?’

‘Do I look like I play by a set of rules to you?’

She examined him, a groove between her eyebrows. ‘Actually, you do. You look like a gentleman. You look like someone who believes in fairness.’

‘Then I’m a better actor than I thought.’

‘When we act,’ she countered, ‘there is always a part of ourselves in the role we play.’

Victor remained silent.

‘Don’t you agree?’ Raven said.

‘I didn’t come here to chitchat,’ he replied. ‘And I’m getting bored of this now.’

A small smile played on her lips. ‘No, you’re not.’

The elevator doors opened on the subterranean parking garage.

‘After you,’ she said.

Victor smirked and stepped out backwards. The ceiling was low, only four inches above his head. Raven followed him.

‘How do you want to do this?’ she asked.

‘I’d prefer to keep that to myself for now.’

She said, ‘What I mean is: should I start running yet?’

‘I’m not fooled by your passivity, Constance. We both know you’re not going to let me kill you. You’ll fight to the very end.’

‘And how do you know that?’

‘Because that’s what I’d do,’ Victor said. ‘You’re just like me.’

She frowned. ‘I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.’

‘It’s neither.’

‘I think it was a compliment,’ she said with a teasing smile. ‘I think you like me.’

‘Then you have an inflated opinion of yourself. And you’re stalling for time. Don’t think I don’t know that. What are you waiting for? Your employer? Backup? Is that who you had arranged to meet at four p.m.?’

‘I’m not meeting anyone,’ she said. ‘Besides you.’

‘Why bother pretending?’ Victor asked. ‘I tracked you here, didn’t I? How do you think I did that?’

She smiled at him, incredulous. ‘You tracked me?’

He looked at her lips and eyes, open with surprise and mirth and disbelief.

He regarded her for a moment. Her expression looked genuine. He thought about the book and the code and how he had come here thinking he was following a lead when maybe it had been nothing more than bait. He had realised in Prague she could predict his actions as he could hers. He should have remembered that lesson.

Victor said, ‘You left the book for me?’

‘What are you talking about?’ She frowned. ‘What book?’

He stopped himself answering. He reminded himself that manipulation was as powerful a weapon as any gun. He saw she was regarding him as he had regarded her.

Then her expression hardened as she looked over his shoulder. Victor didn’t look too. He wasn’t about to fall for such an obvious trick.

‘Did you come here alone?’ Raven asked.

‘I work alone.’

She absorbed this, then said, ‘Could anyone have shadowed you? Don’t look back.’

‘I’m not going to look back. You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to take me by surprise.’

‘It’s not a trick.’

Something in her voice made him believe the enquiry could be sincere. His mind flashed back to the man he’d seen reflected in the pool in the Temple of Dendur. But she could still be lying, hoping to convince him to look away and give her the window to draw a knife from her bag and slip it between ribs and into his heart.

Victor said, ‘If he’s tall and slim. About thirty. Balding. And wearing a black suit, then yes.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘Blue suit.’

Victor’s back straightened. ‘That’s him. But if he is interested in me he’s nothing more than a watcher. I’ve already crossed paths with some of his teammates. He won’t get in the way of our business. In fact, he might even offer to help me.’

‘He’s no watcher. He’s a hitter.’

‘That makes no sense. What does he want?’

‘What do you think? He doesn’t like me very much. Well, the people he works for don’t. I’m not very popular.’

‘Then he and I are on the same side,’ Victor said.

‘That’s where you couldn’t be more wrong,’ she replied. ‘He’s after me, not you. But now we’re together he’s after us both. Just by talking to you, I’m afraid I’ve marked you for death.’

Victor shrugged. ‘Perhaps, if you’re telling the truth. But even if that is the case, it’s two to one against him.’

She shook her head, but was smiling, acting as if she were lost in a happy memory. ‘He’s brought friends.’