Silent Thunder

thing.'

'I can't see how it could get much worse.'

'Pavski's getting ready to set a trap. When you're concentrating on capturing the enemy, it takes the focus away from a possible trap laid for you.'

'And how are we going to trap Pavski?'

'By using his trap against him.' He was frowning. 'But the bait has to be too tasty to resist. He has a possibility of getting the information about how to find the cradle from Danzyl in Moscow. He may want me dead, but he wants the cradle more.' He thought about it. 'We'll have to use the Silent Thunder. If we can lure him to the sub, he'll be out in the open, and we can get him.'

'He'd never risk going down that hatch.'

'We may get to him before he leaves the dock. All we need is to bring him out in the open. Even if he's on the pier, I have a chance at him. Guns aren't my weapons of choice but I'm a very good shot.'

'I imagine you are,' she said absently as she thought about it. 'It would be risky.' But hope was beginning to stir within her. 'We can turn this mess around?'

He smiled. 'And upside down. If we work it right.'

'How do we do it?'

'We pull in all the help we can get from both solid and questionable sources.' He reached for his phone. 'And we start with a few telephone calls…'

She shook her head. 'What would you do without that cell phone?'

'Perish the thought.' He made a face. 'I don't even like to think about it.'

Kirov received a call from Eugenia four hours later. 'I've got it, Kirov. It's all coming together.'

'What have you got?' He put the phone on speaker for Hannah.

'There were two statues given to Russia by the Greek government in 1937,' she said. 'It was supposed to be a gesture of enduring friendship.'

'What does the other statue look like?'

'No photos. It's not here in Moscow. Evidently we're lucky it was even entered into the historical art archives. It wasn't an important art object. But since it was Greek, I searched the Greek art Web sites. I went after the symbol first and hit a bonanza. It's the identifying mark used by sculptors in an artist colony near Athens. They've been signing their work with it since 1924.' She paused. 'And the figure is supposed to be Phineas and the Harpies. According to mythology, Phineas was saved from the harpies by Jason and the Argonauts. He was grateful and told Jason where to find the Golden Fleece. But Jason had to travel to Midia in Thrace to ask Phineas.'

'So?'

'According to the transcript of Heiser's last conversation with his father, he mentions taking his father to the Rioni River when he came back.'

'Eugenia, a hell of a lot of intelligence manpower was spent in that area because of that one casual reference. Including mine. It was wasted effort.'

'Because you weren't looking at it the right way. You weren't tracing a link with mythology. The people in that area claim that the Golden Fleece was based on fact.'

'Fact?'

'For centuries the farmers in that area would wash their sheep fleeces in that river and others to catch the gold washed down from upstream deposits. That's where Jason supposedly found his Golden Fleece.'

'And you think the second statue is there?'

'Maybe. There's a chance. But I'm betting on Midia. I think Heiser was mentioning the Rioni River to give his father a frame of reference to think Golden Fleece. Midia was once the city of Salmydessus in ancient Thrace. Jason had to go there to get the answer to his quest. Everything centers around Phineas and the place he lived.' Eugenia was speaking quickly, her voice vibrating with excitement. 'Don't you see? What other city would be such a likely candidate to get that second statue? I can't find any reference to Midia's receiving it, but I'd bet I'll find it there.' She added, 'I'm on my way now. I'll call the artist colony in Athens and see if they have a record of where the second statue went, but I'm not waiting for an answer. Danzyl is sharp. He'll figure all this out too. I have to get there before he does. I'll call you when I find it.' She hung up.

Hannah shook her head. 'Damn, she's good. But it's still a long shot.'

'Eugenia doesn't think so.' Kirov smiled. 'And she has excellent instincts.'

'Well, her instincts are telling her that Danzyl could beat her to the punch.' She shivered. 'And you said Pavski has already told him to remove her as an obstacle.'

'That won't be easy to do. And I couldn't stop her now if I tried. Didn't you hear her voice? She's alert, excited, on the hunt.'

Yes, Hannah had detected all of those emotions in Eugenia's tone. She had never heard her sound more vibrantly alive.

She just hoped she'd stay alive.

God, he was bored.

Dananka pressed the surveillance receiver firmly against his ear. He hated this kind of wait and watch bullshit. His talent lay in other directions. Someone else should have been assigned to do this crap job of monitoring Cathy Bryson's incoming calls. All he'd been getting was PTA meeting junk and bereavement calls telling her what a great guy her husband had been.

Another call.

He looked down at his ID box. No ID.

Telemarketer?

'Cathy?'

'My God, Hannah. Why haven't you called me before? I've been worried sick. Are you okay?'

Dananka sat up straight in the seat. Fucking jackpot.

'As okay as I can be considering.'

'Considering what?'

'Let's skip it. How are you and the kids?'

'Fine. I'm a little on edge, so I sent the kids to Miriam Frey's for a couple days. Ronnie's best friend is her son, Bobby.' She paused. 'Hannah, you have to let George help you. This Kirov is bad news.'

'Tell me about it,' Hannah said grimly. 'He doesn't care whether I live or die as long as he gets that other plate.'

'What other plate? You told me Pavski had stolen everything you found.'

'It was safer for you that way.'

'Hannah, damn you.'

'It wasn't actually etched on those plates. Evidently Heiser had run out of time or was interrupted or was getting sicker and had to go to his cabin to etch those final coordinates on a plate. I found it behind the desk in the captain's quarters when I went back with Kirov.'

'Then give it to Bradworth.'

'Not possible. I threw it overboard.'

'What?'

'Don't act so shocked. I don't trust Bradworth, and I don't trust Kirov. I wasn't going to let either one of them have it. What if they decided to forget about Pavski and walk away? I can remember and reconstruct the plate if I have to do it.'

'And Kirov knows about the plate?'

'He was on the sub when I found it. He was mad as hell when he saw me toss it into the sea. He's been coercing me to do the reconstruction since he saw me drop it overboard. I told him I'd re-create that plate if he gave me Pavski's head.' She paused. 'But my time's running out. Kirov would as soon break my neck as look at me.'

'Give him the plate. Then we'll call Bradworth to rein him in.'

'Like hell I will. I'm not giving Kirov anything. He could have saved Conner and didn't do it,' Hannah said. 'He's on his way back to the sub to see if he can do some scuba diving and resurrect it.'