The Romanov Ransom

13

While Sam drove, Remi read the logbook to them, ending with, “Casablanca, January nineteen forty-six. No cargo. Very odd…”

Sam checked his rearview mirror, then glanced over at Remi. “What is?”

“Those were the last entries. Didn’t the plane go down six months after that date? Or did I misunderstand?”

“You’re right,” Karl said. “At least that’s the way we heard it.”

“Then why no entry?” she asked.

“Good question. Karl and Brand can take the book and talk to Selma about it,” Sam said as his phone rang.

It was Ruben Haywood, a case officer for the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, returning Sam’s call. They’d met after Sam was recruited by DARPA and attended the CIA’s Camp Perry training facility during covert operative school.

The two had clicked during the six weeks of intense training in weapons, fighting, and survival skills. They’d been fast friends ever since, never mind that Rube was the closest thing they had to a concierge international law enforcement connection. “Where are you now?” Rube asked.

“Driving back to Marrakesh,” Sam replied. “We’re heading to the hotel where Karl and Brand’s uncle is waiting. They’re here with us. On speakerphone, by the way.”

“Okay. I’ll get in touch with one of my contacts out there and start a quiet investigation into the shooting. If we’re lucky, we’ll find something in the background on the dead guy that’ll help lead to the kidnappers. Does Zakaria have any family in the area?”

Sam glanced at the brothers in his rearview mirror.

“A cousin,” Brand said. “Lina.”

“You catch that?” Sam asked.

“Got it,” Rube said. “What about talking to her in the morning? See if she knows anything that’ll help?”

“We’ll do that.”

“In the meantime, try to get some sleep. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something.”

“Likewise,” Sam said.

The next morning, Sam, Remi, Karl, and Brand drove straight to the riad where Zakaria had been staying with his cousin. They got out of the car, Karl staring at the salmon-colored walls of the three-story home. He turned to Sam. “What are we supposed to say? Lina’s going to know something’s wrong the moment she realizes he’s not here with us.”

If Zakaria’s cousin was overcome with worry, chances were that she’d be too emotional to give them the information they needed. “Let’s take it slow. See what, if anything, she knows.”

They walked up to the blue keyhole-shaped door, and Sam knocked.

The man who answered the door spoke only Arabic, but he recognized Karl and Brand and stepped aside to let them in. Like many of the grand houses in the area, the residence was built around a wide courtyard, this one paved with blue and white tiles in a beautiful mosaic pattern and shaded by palms. In its center, a fountain bubbled. An open arcade hall surrounded the courtyard, each arch framing a door or window that led into the house.

Sam thanked him, then said, “Is Lina home? We need to speak to her.”

Remi repeated his question in French.

He replied something unintelligible, then lifted his hand slightly as though directing them to wait. A few moments later, Lina walked in. About a head shorter than Remi, she wore a white sefsari. Sure enough, when she saw Karl and Brand, she looked toward the entry, searching for her cousin, her smile fading when she didn’t see him. “Zakaria’s not with you?”

“No,” Sam said. “Have you heard from him?”

“Yesterday. Just before he left with Mr. Kahrs on this expedition. He told me they’d be home today.” Her gaze landed on Karl and Brand. “Zakaria was very worried about you both. You’re okay, then?”

They nodded, Brand replying, “Yes.”

Sam stepped in before either of them could say a word. “Do you know anything about what Durin and Zakaria were working on together?”

She glanced at the Hoffler brothers, then back at Sam. “Only what Zakaria told me. That Durin was a friend of theirs. He was helping them search for an old plane from World War Two, I believe. Zakaria invited Durin to stay here on a couple of occasions because there were times he had to leave very early in the morning — to see his sister — and staying here was much more convenient…” She looked at each of them, in turn, before focusing on Sam again. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“Did either of them mention anything about a messenger bag? Or a courier bag?”

“No. Why?”

He realized then there was no way to avoid the truth or lessen the shock. Not if they wanted to get to the bottom of this. “Durin Kahrs is dead, and Zakaria was kidnapped.”

Her face turned pale, and her hand went to her throat. “I–I think I need to sit.” She sat on a bench near the fountain, taking a few moments to gather herself. “The police? You called them?”

“Not officially.”

“I don’t understand.”

Sam explained about Durin’s part and the warning not to call the police.

“Thank you. Not that our police aren’t trustworthy. But what if the kidnappers found out? They might kill him if they’re crossed.”

“Our thoughts exactly.”

“There must be something I can do to help?”

“Would you mind if I had a look in Zakaria’s room? And Durin’s when he stayed here?”

“Please.” She turned toward the door she’d come through. “Kadin?”

The man who’d let them in stepped out from the shadows of one of the arches. She spoke to him in Arabic and he nodded, indicating that Sam should follow.

Zakaria’s room was on the third floor. There wasn’t much to look at. A bed, a small table, and a wardrobe. It took less than five minutes to search the room, and nothing to show for it. Durin’s room was the same. Sam returned to the courtyard, where Remi and the others were sitting by the fountain.

Remi smiled at him. “Anything?”

“Unfortunately, no.” It occurred to him then that if Durin had conned Brand and Karl, he’d probably done the same to Zakaria, and even Lina. “I don’t suppose you know anything about Durin Kahrs?” he asked her.

She glanced at the Hoffler brothers. “Nothing, other than he visited a few times after he and my cousin began working together.” She gave a pained smile. “I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. He was always polite, but there was something about him that I didn’t care for.”

“Such as?”

“My only interaction with him while he stayed here was when Zakaria was present. To me, though, he always seemed too secretive. Especially after Karl and Brand thought they had possibly found the area where this plane might have crashed. Zakaria told me that Durin argued with them about it.”

This was news to Sam, and he turned to the boys. “What argument?”

Karl said, “About going out to the plane. We wanted to leave the very next day, but he wanted to go after he visited his sister.”

Brand nodded. “That’s when he told us she was dying of cancer. He just needed a couple of days to go see her, so we promised to wait.”

“Durin was with you when you thought you’d discovered the location of the plane?” Sam asked.

“Yes,” Brand said. “Or, rather, the location of Camel Rock. So after this big guilt trip about waiting for him, when we do get all the way out there, he suddenly announces that he can’t go across the gorge. He has to get back to his sister.”

“That,” Lina said, “was what Zakaria told me as well.” She stared at the fountain, giving a tired sigh. “I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you about him. Perhaps Kadin might know something.” She called his name, and once again he stepped out from the arcade behind her. She asked him a few questions, listened as he answered, then translated. “The last day he saw Mr. Kahrs he had just returned from a two-day trip visiting his sister. As usual, he was holding a backpack, but this time, when Kadin offered to carry it for him, he declined.”

She looked at Kadin, who continued with his story, before turning back to them. “In fact,” she said, “Mr. Kahrs was very protective. He went up to his room, gathered the few things he’d left here, then departed. One thing Kadin did notice, though, was that Mr. Kahrs’s boots were covered in red dust, the same as he saw on their shoes after he, Karl, and Brand returned from their trip to the mountains after first discovering the location of Camel Rock.”

That certainly fits with the time line, Sam thought, as Remi asked, “Have any of you ever met his sister?”

“No,” Lina said.

Karl shook his head. “Looking back, it’s so obvious. We only first heard of her after he tried to get us to put off hiking out to Camel Rock.”

“What about where he lives?” Sam asked Lina. “Do you or Kadin know?”

She asked Kadin, who shook his head. “No.”

With nothing further to learn, they thanked her and Kadin, then left, driving Karl and Brand back to their hotel. The moment Sam dropped them off, he got a text from Rube: Have an ID on your DG.