Lisa was Dr. Lisa Cummings, an experienced medical doctor with a PhD in physiology. She was also the director's girlfriend. Captain Kat Bryant was
Sigma's expert in intelligence services and coordination. She would oversee the field operation.
But first, Painter said, his eyes on the skies as he ducked into the backseat with the child, we have to break this cordon.
Off to the side, one of the Ford SUVs shot straight down the street with its headlights off; the other swung sharply around and flew in the opposite direction, zipping past Painter's idling Toyota.
Let's hope this works, Gray said.
Before leaving, Painter had Luca bring in one of the Cobra receivers that they'd used to track the girl at the national Mall. As the director had hoped, the devices were actually transceivers capable of both receiving and transmitting.
Painter had showed Luca how to switch the radios from receiving a specific signal to broadcasting it. Luca had all his men do the same. They were now scattering in all directions, transmitting the girl's signature signal, creating a dozen different trails to follow and most likely broadcasting louder than the girl's small microtransmitter. Under the cover of such confusion, Painter hoped to escape with the girl to the subterranean bunkers of Sigma's central command.
There, he could isolate her signal and protect her.
Gray stepped in the other direction, toward the waiting Town Car. Kowalski already was revving the engine, impatient. They were headed for Reagan
International Airport. Gray pictured the charcoal sketch of the Taj Mahal. The famous mausoleum was located in India, the very country where Dr. Polk had last been seen. Even before the girl's arrival, Gray had decided to extend the investigation to India, to follow Dr. Polk's trail out there. The mysterious drawing only added to his determination.
In India, there remained one person who could cast a better light on Archibald
Polk's research and his whereabouts prior to his disappearance.
Elizabeth stood by the open door, studying the skies nervously. She clicked her cell phone closed as Gray reached her side.
I was able to reach Dr. Masterson, she said. My father's colleague at the university of Mumbai. But he wasn't in Mumbai. He was in Agra.
Agra? Gray asked.
The city in India where the Taj Mahal is located. He was there when I called.
At the site.
Gray stared over at the Toyota as it swung from the curb and glided down the streets. What is going on?
Overhead, the helicopters wavered. The birds began to drift in opposite directions, drawn off by decoys.
Gray tried one last time. Elizabeth, you would be safer staying here.
No, I'm coming with you. As you'll find out, Dr. Masterson is not the most forthcoming. But he knows me. He's expecting me. To get the professor's cooperation, I'll need to be there.
Elizabeth's gaze met Gray's. He read a mix of emotions in her face: determination, fear, and a bone-deep grief.
He was my father, she said. I have to go.
And besides, Kowalski called over from the driver's side of the car. I'll keep an eye on her.
A shadow of a smile dimmed the raw edge of her emotion. That's not a good thing, is it? she mouthed to Gray.
Not by a long shot.
He waved her into the car. He didn't argue too firmly against her coming. He suspected they would need her expertise before this was all over. Her father had specifically gone to her temporary office at the Museum of Natural History. He had gotten her that position at the Greek museum. Somehow all this tied back to
Delphi but how?
Luca had joined them by now. He had heard the last part of the conversation. I am coming, too.
Gray nodded. Painter had already made that arrangement, to buy Luca's cooperation with the girl's escape. Which was fine with Gray. He still had a slew of questions for the man, mostly concerning his relationship with Dr. Polk.
The Gypsy leader also seemed dead determined about something. Gray saw it in the shadows behind his dark eyes.
With the matter settled, Gray slid into the front passenger seat. Luca and
Elizabeth piled into the back.
Hang tight! Kowalski called to them as he hauled the car into reverse, pounded the gas, and sent them squealing out of the driveway and into the street.
Overhead, the thump-thump of the helicopters receded into the night.
Gray's thoughts drifted to questions about the girl.
Who is she? Where did she come from?
Monk followed the three children. They were trailed by another who joined them at the lower hatch.
But she was not a child.
Monk felt those dark eyes on his back.
As a group, they climbed a spiral staircase drilled through raw limestone. The rock walls dripped with water, making the steps slippery. The stairway was narrow, utilitarian, plainly a service stair. It had proved to be a long climb.
Monk half carried Pyotr now.
Earlier, while the siren blared, the kids had led Monk down a path that skirted the cavern and ended up at a small hatchway. The door opened into the stairway they were now climbing. Down below, Monk had been introduced to the last and strangest member of their party.
Her name was Marta.
Here! Konstantin called from ahead, bearing their only flashlight. He had reached the top of the stairs. Monk gathered the other two children and joined him. The older boy folded his lanky form and crouched beside a pile of packed gear. Ahead, a short tunnel ended at another hatch.
Konstantin pushed a pack into Monk's arms. Monk carried it toward the hatch and placed his palm on the door. It felt warm.
He turned as the last member of their party climbed into the tunnel from the stairs. Weighing eighty pounds and stooped to the height of three feet, she knuckled on one arm. Her body was covered in soft dark fur, except for her exposed face, hands, and feet. The fur around her face had gone a silvery gray.
Konstantin claimed the female chimpanzee was over sixty years old.
The reunion between the children and the ape at the lower hatchway had been a warm one. Despite the siren's blare and the wincing sensitivity of the children, the chimpanzee had taken each child under her arm and given them a reassuring squeeze, motherly, maternal.
Monk had to admit that her presence had helped calm the kids.
Even now, she shuffled among them, leaning, subvocalizing quietly.
The youngest, Pyotr, was the one who got the most attention. The pair seemed to have a strange way of communicating. It wasn't sign language, more like body language: gentle touches, posturing, long stares into each other's eyes. The young boy, exhausted by the climb, seemed to gain strength from the elderly ape.
Konstantin crossed to the hatch. He held out a small plastic badge toward Monk and showed him how to attach it to his coverall.
What is it? Monk asked.
Konstantin nodded toward the sealed doorway. Monitoring badge for radiation levels.
Monk stared over to the door. Radiation? What lay beyond that door? He remembered the heat he'd felt when he'd laid his palm on the hatch. In his head, he painted a blasted landscape, a terrain turned to ruin and slag.
With everyone ready, Konstantin crossed to the hatch and yanked hard on the lever that secured it. The door cracked and opened.
A blinding blaze of light flooded in, like staring into a fiery blast furnace.
