The Pharaoh's Secret

57

“Go faster!” Gamay shouted.

The outboard motor was open full-throttle, but the boat was not breaking any speed records.

Paul tried letting off the gas, twisting the throttle to full again in hopes that they would pick up some more speed. He found the choke and pulled it open halfway. It was a cold, damp morning and he thought that might help. But the motor sputtered instead.

“That’s not faster,” Gamay pointed out.

“I don’t think this boat does faster,” Paul said. He jammed the choke shut once again and focused on weaving around impediments and boats tied to either side of the canal like an obstacle course.

The small boat following them was doing the same and catching up in the process. Around a sweeping right-hand turn, the bow of the chase boat banged the back corner of Paul and Gamay’s boat. The bump sent them surging forward and they scraped the stone wall.

As the river straightened, the other boat pulled up beside them. One of the men raised a knife and was about to fling it at Paul when Gamay swung an oar she’d found and clubbed the attacker. She caught him across the side of the head and he went over and into the water, but a second man — a man she recognized as Scorpion — grabbed the end of the oar and yanked it toward him.

Gamay was almost pulled into the other boat. She let go and fell back as Scorpion flung the oar aside.

The boats separated once again and she saw him ready his knife. “Closer,” he yelled to his compatriot.

“Make it hard on them,” she shouted to Paul. “Drive this thing like it’s rush hour.”

Paul took her advice and the two boats came together twice, banging their metal sides each time and bouncing off of each other. An oncoming barge forced them to separate again and they spread out to either side of the channel. But once they’d passed it, their pursuers came veering toward them once more.

This time, the boats hit and locked together awkwardly. The larger and faster boat won the battle for control and forced Paul and Gamay’s smaller boat toward the wall of the canal. They hit the wall and scraped along it, sending out a shower of sparks.

As they came off the wall, Scorpion lunged across the transom and seized the painting at Gamay’s feet. She grabbed the edge of the frame and held on, but the man reared back and the old wooden frame gave way.

Gamay was left holding a splintered piece of red oak while Scorpion fell back in his boat with the rest of the painting. His partner immediately angled their boat back out toward the center of the canal and accelerated.

“He’s got it!” Gamay yelled.

The roles reversed for a moment and Paul turned as sharply as he dared. The boats crashed together once more, but they didn’t link up and the impact knocked Paul’s hand from the grip of the throttle.

By the time he’d grabbed it again, the small outboard was sputtering. He twisted it open, but all that did was flood the motor with fuel, killing it. The boat’s pace slackened with a terrible sinking sensation.

Paul grabbed the starter cord and yanked on it with great ferocity.

“Hurry!” Gamay shouted.

The other boat was speeding off. Paul jerked the starter cord a second time and then a third. The outboard sputtered to life and they picked up speed again, but the other boat was far ahead and leaving them behind. They soon lost it in the mist.

“Can you see them?” Paul asked.

“No,” Gamay replied, straining to look through the fog.

A few minutes later, they came upon the boat. It was empty and abandoned, floating beside the right bank of the river.

“They’re gone,” Paul said, stating the obvious. “We’ve lost them.”

Gamay swore under her breath and then looked at Paul. “We need to call the police and the paramedics and send them to the museum.”

“And have them check on Madame Duchene as well,” Paul said.

He guided the small boat ahead until they found a flight of stairs and a landing by the canal’s edge. They got out together and ran to the first open business they could find. Gamay was soon on the phone and the police were on their way.

There was nothing they could do now but wait.