The Heretics Treasure

Chapter Forty-Five

The Claudel Residence, Cairo

Claudel walked slowly towards where Ben and Kirby sat. ‘Stay in your seats, please. I’ll shoot if you make me.’

The gun wavered slightly, and Ben could see the man wasn’t used to handling one. But, looking down the barrel of a high-powered assault rifle from across a room with no chance of disarming his enemy, that knowledge was little comfort.

Beside him, Kirby was gripping the arms of his chair in desperate panic, his face tight and pale.

Claudel took another step forward and stopped and looked keenly at Ben. ‘You see, Mr Hope, I know who you are.’

‘Really.’

‘My associate, Kamal, told me all about you.’

There was a long silence in the room. Ben was assessing his options. There wasn’t much to choose from. If Claudel took five more steps in the right direction, there was an outside chance that Ben could launch himself out of the armchair with enough speed and force to take the weapon away from him, or at least deflect its fire until he’d subdued him and got him to the floor. The rest would be easy. But the problem was that Claudel wasn’t coming any closer. At this range, any attempt at disarming him would be pure suicide. He’d be running headlong into a bullet.

‘So what happens now?’ he asked. ‘If you wanted us dead, you’d have done something about it by now. That means you want something else.’

‘Maybe I just don’t want blood all over my furniture,’ Claudel said.

‘Then you wouldn’t have brought us here. You’d have picked a better spot for it. Somewhere the neighbours wouldn’t hear rifle shots going off. So, what do you want?’

Claudel paused for a few moments before replying, and Ben could see there was a lot of intense thinking going on behind the man’s eyes. He looked as if he was under immense pressure, and just about ready to crack. The AKS muzzle was trembling now, and Ben guessed that it wasn’t just because of the gun’s weight in the man’s hand.

Then Claudel did something very strange. Keeping the gun aimed straight at Ben, he took a deep breath and said, ‘Please, I need your help.’

There was another silence. Kirby was glancing frantically from Ben to Claudel, gaping in confusion.

‘You have a strange way of asking for it.’ Ben pointed at the weapon.

‘I’d put it down,’ Claudel replied. ‘But I’m rather concerned about what you might do next.’

‘You think I’d kill you a second later.’

‘It crossed my mind.’

‘You’re wrong. I’d be too curious to hear what you have to say.’

Claudel bit his lip and hesitated. ‘I want you to get rid of Kamal for me.’

‘Get rid of?’

‘What’s the preferred terminology in your profession? Eliminate. Take out. Or do you just say kill?’

‘That’s a very peculiar request.’

‘This is a very peculiar situation. Will you let me tell you about it?’

‘You’re the one holding the gun,’ Ben said. ‘You have the floor.’

‘If I put it down, will that make you feel better?’

‘It usually does.’

‘No tricks?’

‘No tricks.’

Claudel went to lay the assault weapon down at his feet.

‘I’d maybe apply the safety first,’ Ben advised. ‘That’s the little pressed steel lever near your right thumb. Push it until it clicks.’

Claudel did it, then hesitantly put the gun down.

‘Now let’s hear it,’ Ben said.

For the next few minutes, Claudel told his story. He described what he did for a living, and the day in the desert when Kamal had offered him the chance to make a lot of money fencing an incredible antiquities find.

‘The smaller treasure,’ Kirby breathed. ‘The stash that Wenkaura put away in a hurry when he was found out. Then we were right. It’s all real.’

Claudel nodded sadly. ‘Yes, it’s all real. Kamal found it in the Western Desert, purely by chance. He was very quick to figure out that there was a great deal more, hidden elsewhere.’ Claudel went on, explaining how he’d become so inexorably dragged into Kamal’s affairs. ‘He’s a maniac. A reckless, brutal killer. I’ve never feared nor hated any man so much in all my life, and I bitterly rue the day I ever became involved with him.’

‘Who is he?’

‘I don’t know for sure,’ Claudel said. ‘A professional criminal. A terrorist. He and his men have virtually taken over my life. He even keeps a store of firearms in my wine cellar, and ammunition, and boxes of something called PP- 01.’ He pointed in disgust at the gun on the floor. ‘Where do you think I got this? I wouldn’t have such things in the house. I also know he’s working on some kind of plan. He talks about it all the time. It’s what he wants the treasure for, to finance it.’

Ben’s mind instantly shot back to the day in Morgan’s old flat. You’ll find out soon enough, Kamal had said. You all will. The day is coming.

‘What kind of plan?’ he asked.

Claudel shook his head. ‘He’s never discussed it with me. But I’ve heard him speak about it to his men. They’re planning an attack. Something really terrible.’

And this is why you want me involved.’

‘That, but also because I have to be free of this man. He’s like a cancer. I can’t breathe any more. I’m desperate.’

Ben thought for a moment. ‘I understand your predicament, Pierre. But you’re not the only person under pressure. Why is this my concern?’

Claudel wiped sweat from his brow. ‘Because Kamal is after the same thing as you, and that’s a problem for you. And because I can help you find it. I know where Wenkaura’s throne is.’

‘That’s great,’ Kirby cut in.

Ben ignored him. ‘Why would you want to help me find it? I’m a rival. You’re hunting for the treasure, so am I.’

‘I don’t want anything more to do with the treasure. My life is in pieces. No amount of wealth is worth this. I had a perfectly good business before I got into this situation. Now all I want is for things to go back to the way they were. I want rid of this man. So my offer is this. You agree to free me from him, and I’ll tell you where the throne is.’ He looked levelly at Ben. ‘So, can you help me? Are you capable of this task?’

‘You mean, can I kill him?’

Claudel nodded uncomfortably.

Ben paused. ‘Yes. I’ll make your problem go away, if you help me find what I’m looking for.’

Claudel’s face lit up. He suddenly looked five years younger. ‘We have an arrangement?’

‘Yes, we have an arrangement. Now, I don’t have time to waste. Where’s the throne?’

‘In the private collection of a certain Sam Sheridan. Have you come across that name?’

‘No, I haven’t. Who is he, and where do I find him?’

‘He’s easy enough to find,’ Claudel said. ‘He’s the US Ambassador in Cairo. He’s also a millionaire and a passionate collector of artefacts from all over the ancient world.’

‘How can you be so certain he has the throne?’

‘Because I’ve seen it there. His collection is housed within his private apartment at the Embassy. And I happen to know that he’s throwing a big party tonight. It would be a perfect opportunity.’

‘Sounds as if you know this Sheridan pretty well,’ Ben said. ‘I think you should pick up the phone right now and get us all invited over to the Embassy party.’

Claudel shook his head ruefully. ‘I didn’t say I knew him well. I knew his wife very well. A little too well, perhaps. That’s why I could never go there to introduce you to Sheridan. He was the one who caught us. You might say I’m persona non grata in that household.’

‘I don’t care,’ Ben said. ‘I’m going to that party.’

‘How?’ Kirby asked, looking perturbed. ‘Surely not even you would just walk into an Embassy party as an uninvited stranger and demand to inspect a priceless throne.’

‘That’s exactly what I’m going to do,’ Ben said. ‘I’m going to walk right in the front door. But I won’t be asking anyone’s permission for anything.’

‘You’re crazy,’ Kirby said. ‘Raving. Delusional. How the hell do you think you can get in there? There’ll be massive security all over the place.’

‘That’s the whole idea.’ Ben turned to Claudel. ‘Can you provide me with a plan of the building?’

‘I know exactly where you need to go,’ Claudel replied. ‘I’ve sneaked up the backstairs to visit Eloise Sheridan often enough to know my way around the place.’

‘Excellent. Now, here’s what we’re going to do. Kirby, you stay here with Claudel. I have a couple of things to take care of.’

‘Things?’ asked Kirby, cocking an eyebrow.

‘Things you don’t need to know about. But first, I want to visit the wine cellar.’

Claudel looked mystified. ‘Why? You want some wine?’

‘You have very good wine, Pierre,’ Ben said. ‘But I’m more interested in PP- 01.’