Weapons of the Gods

CHAPTER TWENTY

Drake wouldn’t listen to the old man until they’d reached a quiet destination, parked the car, and were seated on concrete benches at the edge of a small park. Swings moved to and fro in the distance and the happy sounds of children playing drifted like delicate blessings on warm streams of air. Mai, cooler now, and Luther, having volunteered to watch the perimeter, split up, and wandered off. Drake watched them both go with a substantial question in his heart.

How do I feel?

The place he was at now, with Alicia, had not been of his making. Mostly, it had been of Mai’s. And perhaps here was a chance for her to make a fresh start. Luther too.

Alicia interrupted his thoughts, deciding to play team sweet-talker. “Let’s hear the pitiful confession, Doukas, every scrap. Remember, me believing you is how you get to survive.”

The old man placed a hand on each temple and studied the ground between his feet. “I acquired the chain like you said, from the old tomb. I escaped without detection, by the skin of my teeth. Felt lucky. Took the chain to my home and then began to wonder what the hell to do with it.”

“You didn’t steal for gain?” Drake asked.

“Didn’t even enter my mind.”

“Weird,” Kenzie whispered. “It’s in mine all the time.”

“I kept it and kept it and, like all first-time thieves I guess, grew so paranoid that I had to do something about it. I thought — what would be the best place to hide it? That question overlapped a memory of an old enemy of mine, bringing the perfect place to mind.”

“An old enemy?” Kenzie asked.

“Yes, yes. Lars German. He is the police commissioner around here.”

Drake did a double-take. “Come again?”

“You heard correctly, sir. He is the police commissioner and a childhood antagonist of mine. The man was a bully.”

Drake didn’t like the sound of where this was going. “Doukas — how the hell does your enemy, the police commissioner, tie in to the whereabouts of the Chain of Aphrodite?”

“That is where it gets tricky,” Doukas admitted. “I figured out long ago that the chain didn’t set metal detectors off. Just like half the scientists working inside those tombs. I swathed them in bubble-wrap and tape, then came up with a plan to get inside the station. I walked them right in. I pretended to meet with German to bury the hatchet and, after a cup of coffee, excused myself to go to the toilet. I left it hidden right there, with my enemy, because what better place can you think of to hide it?”

Drake had to admit that Doukas’ plan was bordering on foolproof, but he was furious with the old man. Time was passing and they’d already put their lives on the line. Now they were being told the chain was hidden inside some old police station?

“Is it still active?” Alicia asked.

“Yes, yes, I’m afraid so. Though not terribly.”

“Not terribly? What does that mean?”

Alicia gazed over at Drake. The Yorkshireman stood up and kicked the overgrown grass at the base of the bench. “Does anyone else know?”

He expected a negative reply and received one.

“On the one hand it doesn’t sound like a hard target,” Alicia said. “But on the other, what’s our response if the cops resist?”

Drake stared with sad eyes into the graying skies. “The response will be as light as can be,” he said. “But we have to get that chain and it has to be tonight. Tempest could be scouring this entire town right now with a GPR like ours. We have no time.”

Kenzie squinted then. “Hey, why did our GPR think the chain in the museum was real?” she asked.

Drake shook his head at Doukas. “I have an idea about that,” he said. “Why don’t you tell them, mate?”

“I scraped flecks from the chain,” he admitted. “Added some paint scrapings, coal and water. Made a good paste. You see, I still wanted the chain. Couldn’t help myself. So I kept a small portion of the links.”

“Weirdo,” Kenzie glowered at him.

Drake called in Mai and Luther and then told them the bad news. The team gathered to make a plan.

“A shame we don’t have Yorgi,” Drake said. “The kid makes a fine cat burglar.”

“He was a cat burglar,” Alicia said, “who got caught.”

“Not through his profession,” Drake said. “That was something else.”

“Yes, I know. Family. He should go back there.”

“I could do the job,” Kenzie said. “I’ve carried out similar operations before. But I’d feel safer with someone like Dahl at my back.”

“That’s a much different operation,” Alicia said bluntly. “It’s called doggy-style. Let the grown-ups talk, bitch.”

“I do love a cat fight.” Luther looked between the two of them. “You two ever get it on?”

“Once or twice,” Alicia responded. “Almost as many times as your girlfriend and I.”

“My girl…” Luther raised a hand. “Now, whoa. I’m not part of your little life-experiment and never plan to be. I have a job, a calling, and as soon as this Tempest mess is sorted out I’ll be getting right back to it.”

Mai didn’t look happy. Alicia saw it but decided to let it go. There were too many broken hearts already in this team. Kenzie moved next to Drake.

“Do you want me to do it?”

“Not on your own, Kenzie. You shouldn’t have to take on that kind of risk. We’ll all go in together, including Doukas here. Let me tell you this, mate, if you’re still lying I’ll put you in one of those overnight cells, straight through the goddamn bars.”

“I’m telling you the truth.”

“Move out and prep,” he said. “We go in just after midnight.”