The Treasures of Saint Germain

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Tyler Webb was finding that the last few days of running had started to give him a new lease of life. Ignore the cramps and the pain, the shin splints, the knee jabs and the black spots dancing wildly before your eyes, and it really wasn’t too bad. Overcome the agony, and he felt he could probably run forever. Outrun an Olympian. Take on one of those new-fangled mud sports.

In any case, I can shake off Drake and his cronies.

Not that he wanted to shake off all of them. Hayden Jaye — she still had possibilities which he longed to be in a position to explore. Maybe later. Maybe after.

For now, Webb escaped the stadium with only Beauregard close enough to worry about. Only Beauregard. Bit of a contradiction there; he knew the Frenchman’s capabilities. Almost on a par with his own. Little to choose between them. But still, he’d best evade a fight. He laughed out loud.

Webb raced past security men too engrossed in their Bluetooth comms to see him coming. He’d stashed a gun outside the ground earlier, and now felt retrieving it might help slow the pursuit. He headed that way via the big gates, seeing the Frenchman coming closer but more interested in what Sabrina the thief had told him.

She was the best of her kind, a midnight prowler without reputation, rival or equal. The world’s greatest thief that nobody had ever heard of. And mostly, that fact soothed her. Occasionally it infuriated her.

Webb didn’t know her well or call on her often, but the huge retainer he’d deposited in her account every month paid for a short window of loyalty. This was it. The woman — named Sabrina Balboni as far as he knew — was a tall, lithe woman with a fiery Italian heart, moves that made The Flash look sluggish and a temper that could overpower volcanoes. Though appearing blond, she had jet black hair and jet black eyes. Webb had called upon her because the next few steps of his quest were beyond most people — even him. They required entry to some complex places.

The last clue in Paris had been so wondrous, revealing the arts of ancient alchemy to his awestruck eyes and providing pointers to the next stage of his quest, here in Barcelona. The thing that rankled was that Drake and co. had found it after him, and were now no doubt scratching their heads over the discoveries. But never mind, he was still way ahead of them and counting down toward the culmination of all he had ever sought.

The great treasure of Saint Germain.

Webb was roughly snatched out of his dreamworld and catapulted back to the present as Beauregard caught him up. Too desperate to be shocked, Webb barged through the gates and outside the ground, spied a gaggle of tourists and onlookers, and plowed straight into them. Screams sounded as Webb put on a high-pitched dramatic voice.

“He has a gunnnnnn!”

Beau was slowed and Webb accelerated. Something realistic and regular inside told him he stood no proper chance against the Frenchman, so he quickly sought an alternative. Red hot flashes sped from the soles of his feet to his hips as he almost toppled. This running around would be the death of him.

Traffic was heavy and he fancied that Beau might be able to outrun a pushbike, so Webb settled on something else. The motorbike rider was sat astride his red and silver machine, studying a map at the side of the road when Webb barged him aside without warning. The man flew, the bike crashed to the floor.

Webb glanced back and saw Beau breaching the gang of onlookers and locking on to him so fast he might be giving off a halo, or something similar. He struggled with the bike, ignoring the moans of the man who looked like he’d broken an arm in the crash. Webb kicked him in the stomach. That helped untangle the idiot and felt rather good. Webb hefted on the handlebars, hauled the heavy lump upright. The keys were there, the engine just ready for ignition. Webb concentrated on getting it started and then squeezed the throttle. Beauregard couldn’t be too far behind; no time to waste.

He accelerated hard, felt a hand brushing his ribs and an icy flash of fear. No! Not now! The front wheel rose as he twisted the throttle wide open, engine roaring. Beau had no choice but to fall away. Webb arrowed it between two slow moving cars, not caring about a woman trying to pass through, laughing as he almost clipped her shoulders with the raised front wheel. The meek passed in his wake, as they should. He was a whirlwind, born to rule and destined to become their absolute master. They would live and die like weeds before him, unless he chose to cut them down first.

The bike leveled out. Webb swung it past front and rear fenders, in between vehicles, scratching metal where the gap was tight and not caring. A car-free but pedestrian-filled crosswalk provided a chance to open her up again, and to laugh as the weak and the fearful scattered like terrified sheep. No way could Beau or the Drake crew live with this. Webb was a god amongst men yet again, heading for…

He paused the self-acclaim in his head. Crap, where am I heading? Is this the right?

Sabrina had done her research previously, and then told him the location of the place he sought — a deep-rooted, long-standing college that Germain had frequented in his heyday. More important, and led by the clue he discovered, Webb had told Sabrina of the library inside the college, which he sought.

Germain had used this library almost as his own resource room, studying there for days at a time and allowing none within to join him as he worked. Webb had previously known of the library since it was listed as one of the many European haunts the Count frequented, but until now knew nothing of its underlying importance.

The Count had been seen at so many places, his movements so well documented by local dignitaries and kings and queens, it was hard to pick them apart. Sabrina had pinpointed the place and told Webb how to reach it — the doors to use and windows to avoid, passages to use and places through which to creep. He’d thought about making her come along, but remembered she might have the guile to see his brilliance and attempt to steal all his glory. Still, if all went as planned he would need her impeccable services at least once more.

Webb read road signs and tried to make sense of them. The college was at least a half hour from here, but the traffic was so thick it steered even him in but a single direction. He considered cutting across several lanes of traffic, but thought he might end up with something broken. Behind, he saw figures approaching, more than one, and felt just a small niggle of despair.

Tenacious bastards. Why couldn’t they have died at Niagara Falls? Or Tokyo or Arizona? Didn’t they have anything else to do? All he asked for was a nice, quiet life, enjoying the freedom to destroy others. It was his gift, a birthright. Briefly, he wondered if he could talk to them about it. Explain. Surely…

Reality kicked in again as a horn sounded. Webb glared at its owner, then tried to memorize the license plate for later amusements. He shot by, seeing the instruments of his downfall fast approaching. Gaining hard. Nowhere to go. Webb joined another stream of traffic that appeared to be moving faster, leaned over the front of the bike and urged it on. He could hear them shouting now, urging him to stop.

Wait…

To his right came more hunters, these ones terrifyingly familiar. Aboard motorcycles and toting guns they swerved and veered and plowed toward him. Back at the Camp Nou he’d been expecting the group, it was why he’d chosen the crowded venue — more bodies to put between himself and the guns — but out here, in the crawling traffic, he was intensely vulnerable.

Webb gunned the motor, firing forward. Black shapes darted across from the side and shots started to ring out. Pedestrians stared in disbelief, then scattered. The stupid sounded their horns at the passing bikes. Others cracked open their doors and raced for cover, adding to the traffic jam that already clogged Barcelona’s streets.

Webb hunkered down as far as he could, guiding the bike with vigorous abandon and trusting to his inbred, godlike ability to survive. As if by magic the answer emerged from the haze of light ahead.

Webb opened the throttle, taking the bike up onto the sidewalk.