The Goddess Legacy

Chapter 32

Spencer’s new phone rang and vibrated on the hard surface of the computer station where he was working, and he snatched it up and held it to his ear, looking around the crowded Internet café as he did so. The place was filled with teenagers gaming or fiddling around on social media, and nobody seemed interested in a male twice their age doing historical research.

“How’d it go?” he asked, his voice low, ignoring the din in the background on Allie’s end of the line.

“Good.” Allie gave him the rundown on Divya’s revelations and their thinking. “What about you?”

“I’m about halfway through my list of mosaics and going cross-eyed from staring at them. They all start looking the same after a while.”

“Sorry to hear that. I’ve got another idea, though. Pull up all the information you can on the Shiv Khori cave. I want to understand the best way to get there, any legends surrounding it — photos, if you can find them, the works.”

“Will do. When you want to meet up?”

“Where are you? I just left a message for Indiana,” Allie said.

“About four blocks from the hotel.”

“Are we missing anything?”

“The pleasure of my company and some of the worst coffee this side of Zimbabwe.”

“Sounds charming. What’s the address?”

“I don’t know. But I can tell you how to get here from the hotel.”

“Shoot. We’re in a taxi.”

He described the route he’d taken and she repeated it to the driver, who sounded less than confident in his assurance he could find it.

“What’s the name of the place?” Allie asked.

“Lotus Lightning Café.”

“Catchy. Be there in a few.”

“Congratulations on getting the script translated, Allie. That’s a major win,” Spencer said.

“Thanks. But it only raises more questions.”

“Yeah, only now we know that the path starts at the cave.”

“Assuming she’s right. She qualified that it was her opinion, not that it was a lock.”

“It fits with what Carson told me.”

Allie’s voice lowered. “He had to know it was the Shiv Khori, Spencer. Why do you think he didn’t just tell you?”

“Maybe he enjoyed the suspense. Or maybe he was holding stuff back in case I flaked or couldn’t deliver. Who knows?”

“Not exactly reassuring, in any case.”

“Nothing we can do about it now but keep plugging away. I’ll see you when you get here.”

“Don’t hold your breath. You know what traffic’s like.”

Allie hung up and her phone immediately rang, catching her by surprise. She looked at the screen and frowned, the number a new one.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Why are you so interested in where it came from?” Singh asked, his voice tight.

“Just because. There’s a reward in it for you if you can tell me.”

“I’ll give you some free advice. Leave on the first flight out, and never look back. I’m serious. You don’t know what you’re mixed up with.”

“Right, you already said that. Curses. Spooky mystery bad guys. But I’m still willing to pay to know where you got it.” Allie paused. “If nothing else, for its historic value in the chain of possession.”

“That sounds like bullshit to me.”

Allie sighed. “All right. We know that it came from another statue. We’re trying to track it down.”

“You’re out of your minds. Really.”

“Crazy enough to pay you to tell us. From there, what do you care?” She hesitated. “Unless you can get us the other relic, in which case the payday could be much larger.”

“Not a chance. I won’t tempt fate twice.”

“Then sell us the information.”

“It’s worth a lot.”

“It’s worth what we’re willing to pay. I’m thinking twenty-five thousand. Easiest money you’ll ever make.”

She could practically hear the wheels turning in Singh’s head. No hassles, just free cash for a few words. “Fifty, and I’ll meet you and tell you. Same mechanism as before. Bitcoin, and I’ll watch to ensure you aren’t followed.”

“How soon can you meet?”

“That’s a function of how long it takes you to get the payment together.”

“I already have it. You’re cleaning out my bank account,” Allie lied.

“I’ll call you back. I need to figure out a safe rendezvous spot and create another private key for you to send this payment to. You should do the same. You don’t want to use the same key twice — it increases the chance of you being traced, as you discovered with mine.”

“How did you know how we found you?”

“Your new friend at the magazine gave me a heads-up. I’m a valued customer. Apparently there was a security breach. At least, that’s how he framed it.” Singh paused. “How long have you been using this phone number?”

“I just got it… yesterday.”

“Who else have you called on it?”

“Why?”

“You can be tracked,” Singh said derisively.

“Only you… and a couple of other people.”

“Twenty-four hours is about the outside of how long I’d hold onto a burner phone. Toss it and buy another, and then call me back at this number,” he said.

The line went dead. She pocketed the phone and turned to Drake. “You heard the discussion. He’s pretty skittish.”

“As long as he’s willing to play ball, who cares?”

“I know. But… he still sounds scared. Greedy, obviously, but worried. And not about us. He’s terrified we’re going to lead someone to him inadvertently. I think he trusts us, as much as he trusts anyone. He’s afraid we’re being tailed.” She called out to the driver over the radio music he was humming along to. “Make this left, please,” she said, and turned to watch the vehicles behind her.

“This will take us out of the way,” the man protested, eyeing her in the rearview mirror.

“Just do it.”

The cabbie twisted the wheel and made a sharp turn, and both Drake and Allie turned to stare at the traffic, searching for any hint of pursuit. Several rickshaws made the turn, and then a white SUV swung into the lane behind them.

“Now take this right,” Allie said.

The driver pumped his brakes to slow, having to cut across oncoming traffic in order to follow her instructions. The rickshaws and SUV slowed behind them and much outraged honking ensued at the driver’s maneuver. The cabbie ignored the protests and careened ahead of an oncoming van, which missed taking off the taxi’s rear fender by a hairsbreadth. The taxi driver exhaled tensely and then accelerated away.

The SUV continued straight, as did the rickshaws. Allie and Drake exchanged a relieved look. “Would you care for some extra paranoid with your paranoid?” she whispered.

“No way we’re being followed after that.”

“I need to get rid of this phone and buy another one. He thinks it’s a liability. He may be right — we gave Helms the number, remember?”

“Damn. That’s right. Maybe he’s not so dumb after all.”

She pulled a pen from her purse and jotted down the numbers for Singh, Reynolds, and Spencer, as well as the professor’s office phone so she could give Divya her new contact info, and then removed the battery and SIM chip from the little phone and pocketed them.

“You should keep your regular phone off at all times, too. Just in case.”

“I’m way ahead of you. I’ve been taking the battery out when I’m not using it.”

“What now?” the driver asked, easing off the gas as he approached an ocean of brake lights.

“Change of plans.”