The Hunters

the rail workers went on strike. Soldiers from the front were sent to force them back to work. Instead, the soldiers joined the railway workers.’

‘So the lines of defense are disintegrating, the enemy is at the gate, and the capital is in ruins. Time that out with the shipment.’

‘Two months after the second Romanian shipment arrived “safely” in Moscow’ — she emphasized the irony of the word safely with air quotes — ‘Nicholas the Second abdicated. The provisional government which preceded Lenin and the Communists was ineffective, to say the least.’

‘What was the mood in Moscow?’ Cobb asked.

‘Confused. Unhappy. Desperate. They had to burn furniture to keep from freezing. They were starving. Finally, in December 1917, there was an armistice with Germany.’

‘Who did or did not know about the Romanian treasure?’

‘I’m sure the Germans knew there were treasures,’ Jasmine surmised. ‘If not from their extensive spy network, then from the Romanovs or the Communists who were pawing at power and infiltrating government offices one after the other. Even after the armistice, the Germans kept coming in a classic nineteenth-century-style land grab. They marched into the Ukraine unopposed. The Russians ceded that territory and other contested or coveted regions to protect themselves, to give themselves a geographical buffer.’

‘Where?’ Cobb wanted to know.

‘The Baltic Provinces. Finland, parts of Poland-’

‘Which the Russians could never have held,’ Papineau reminded her. ‘Even absent the Germans, the war had not left them with the necessary manpower.’

‘Very true,’ Jasmine said. ‘That’s when the Allies invaded Russia, just to stop Germany from getting their hands on Russian resources.’

‘Okay,’ Cobb concluded. ‘So let’s say you’re Russia. You’ve got Germany in your face and France, Britain, and America breathing down your neck. What would you do with — let’s round it off to a nice, round number — a hundred tons of gold?’

He watched the group ponder the question.

Even Garcia was still. His fingers had nothing to check.

‘I’ll make it simple,’ Cobb said. ‘Would you keep the gold where it was?’

‘No,’ Sarah decided.

‘Neither would I. So the question is: where did they move it?’

Papineau smiled. That was the billion-dollar question.

‘Indeed, Mr Cobb,’ Papineau said. ‘That is exactly what I would like you to determine.’ He paused, letting it sink in. ‘I want you to find it, secure it, and transport it to a safe location of my choosing. The gold and any other valuables you find along the way.’

‘Ohhhhh,’ McNutt drawled. ‘Is that all?’

Sarah leaned forward in her seat. ‘And what if we fail?’

‘If you fail, I’ll pay you for your time, but you won’t get the five-million-dollar bonus,’ Papineau said flatly. ‘Your bonus comes from the treasure, not my pockets.’

Sarah nodded her acceptance. That seemed fair to her.

Intrigued by the mission, Cobb turned to face the group. ‘All right, everyone, listen to me. If I’m going to lead this team, here is what I require. First, what I say goes. I’ll accept short discussions on anything and everything except in times of danger. Agreed?’

He looked to each team member for an answer. McNutt and Jasmine nodded. Sarah didn’t object. Garcia shrugged in submission. Cobb turned to the Frenchman. ‘You’re responsible for all of our expenses. You’ll pay for everything we need.’

‘That is a given,’ Papineau said.

‘I don’t think you understand,’ Cobb replied. ‘Your bank account is now my bank account. You’re going to trust me not to take anything more than we require. If I say we need something, we need something. You can ask me why, and if I have time, I’ll tell you. But if you decide against it, even once, I’m out.’ He let that sink in for a second. ‘Are we in agreement?’

Papineau nodded.

‘Okay, Sarah,’ Cobb said, ‘let’s start with you. Jean-Marc, will you bring up the map of the area?’ With a click of the remote control, the wall became a modern map of Eastern Europe. ‘I want you to study the transportation routes and modes throughout the areas we’ve discussed — then blow it out, mile by mile, until you find a viable location for the cache.’

‘Sure, but do you have any suggestion on where I should start?’

‘I do,’ Cobb said, ‘but I want you to tell me what you think. That will vet my own findings. If we reach different conclusions, we’ll have to talk. Just put yourself in the position of a Russian politician when the tsar was the rock and Lenin was the hard place. Where would you put a hundred tons of gold?’

‘Damn good question,’ she said.

‘A gold filling for every Russian peasant!’ McNutt suggested. ‘Then have them spit ‘em out after the war.’

‘That’s just stupid,’ Garcia said.

‘Welcome to me,’ McNutt replied.

‘Where can she work?’ Cobb asked Papineau, ignoring the exchange.

‘Right here, if she likes,’ he said. ‘Mr Garcia can set her up with a laptop.’

‘Fine,’ Cobb said. He turned to McNutt. ‘While Sarah does that, and assuming you’re through joking-’

‘For the moment,’ McNutt said.

‘-make a list of the transport and armory requirements you think we’ll need once we’re on the ground in that region. We should be okay in the cities. It’s the rocky or watery countryside that we need to worry about.’

‘Artillery? Heavy as well as light?’

‘Whatever you think, as long as you remember that we’ll need to transport it once we’re there. Give me a wish list.’

‘I’ll do that on the terrace,’ McNutt said. ‘I think better in the open.’

‘That’s good to know,’ Cobb remarked.

McNutt shrugged. ‘It’s where I’ve done most of my heavy mental lifting, though usually with people looking to kill me.’

‘I’m sure that can be arranged,’ Cobb said with an accusing glance at Papineau. He turned next to Garcia. ‘Hector, I want to know a couple of things. When Sarah and I have our target, you’ll have to become familiar with the police and military of every force in every village we might find ourselves up against. In the meantime, I want the specifications of all the communication systems we might require in terms of both hardware in-country and satellite access above. Finally, you’ll need to make all the security systems of all the companies in that region an open book for Sarah.’

‘Is that all?’ Garcia joked.

‘For now,’ Cobb said.

‘You can do that before dessert,’ Papineau remarked.

‘We should make him do it for dessert,’ McNutt suggested.

Cobb looked at Jasmine. She was the team member he knew the least about. ‘Quick question: if I were to punch you in the face, what would you do?’

She shrugged. ‘Probably cry.’

He laughed. ‘That’s what I figured. There’s no doubting your skills as a historian — you’ve just demonstrated them. But I need to be sure that you can take care of yourself in the field. Starting early tomorrow morning, I want you to learn the rudiments of self-defense. Preferably judo or jiu-jitsu.’

‘Why Japanese?’ she asked.

Cobb smiled. ‘Good question. Those styles are directed outward, designed to use an opponent’s attack against him. The Chinese forms use inner strength and four-point movement from center. They take longer to master.’

‘I understand,’ she said. ‘I’ll find a good school.’

‘No, find a good sensei for private lessons,’ Cobb said. ‘Eight hours a day. You won’t have a lot of time. Don’t