The Mayan Codex

37

Abi watched his twin brother climbing back into the rental. ‘You’re filthy. What have you been doing all this time? Rolling around in a midden?’

‘What’s a midden?’

‘A shit heap.’

‘Then why don’t you say it the first time, instead of showing off how clever you are?

‘Answer my question, Vau.’

‘The answer is no. I haven’t been rolling around in a shit heap. If you want to know what I’ve been doing all this time, I’ll tell you. I’ve been lying underneath Sabir’s car, in the parking lot of the motel, listening to his cosy late-night conversation with Lamia.’

‘You’re kidding me? You’re not serious?’

‘Deadly serious. Plus she recognized Dakini earlier on today, while we were transiting Houston.’

‘Christ.’

‘It’s all right. She’s managed to convince herself that she was seeing things. Your trick with the baseball cap and the dark glasses worked a treat. It was so unlikely a disguise, that Lamia thinks she was simply imagining the vision from hell that Dakini represents, and not really seeing it.’

‘She is plug ugly, isn’t she?’

‘That’s the understatement of the year.’

Abi laughed. ‘Did you plant the tracker?’

Vau shrugged. ‘Of course I did. What do you think?’

‘Where?’

‘Where? In the tyre well of course. Where I usually plant them.’

‘Which key did you use to get in?’

‘Why do you want to know?’

‘Because I’m not stupid, Vau. You got surprised on the job and you were forced to hide. Then you were constrained to listen to the pair of them yakking on about Dakini for half an hour. You’re lying under the car, at this point, pissed off to the nines. Don’t tell me it didn’t occur to you to take a shortcut?’

Vau hesitated. He was briefly tempted to try and compound his felony. Then he aimed a frustrated punch at the stowaway compartment. ‘Okay, Abi. Okay. You got me. As you always do. I slipped the fucking thing underneath the chassis, not in the tyre well. Between you and me there was no way in hell that I was going to break into that car with the pair of them wide awake inside their bedroom fantasizing about each other.’

‘What are you talking about? Fantasizing about each other?’

‘I heard Lamia’s voice. She’s my sister, remember. I’ve never heard her speaking like that to a man before.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like she gives a damn about what he thinks of her.’

‘You’re serious?’

‘I’m convinced she’s got the hots for Sabir.’

‘I can’t believe it.’

‘Yes, it does stretch the imagination a little. When you think of all the millions of women with unblemished faces out there. I mean, why take second best when you don’t need to? Anyway, either she’s kidding herself, or Sabir must have detached retinas.’

‘Seriously. Does Sabir have the hots for her?’

Vau made a face. ‘Sabir hides it better, but I wouldn’t be surprised.’ He grinned at his brother, pleased that he was contributing something of value for once. ‘Can you use that knowledge in some way, Abi?’

Abi shrugged reflectively. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. But I’m sure as hell going to give it some thought.’