Chris held him at arm’s length, studying the scion’s apparel with a practiced eye. Finally, he gave a nod of approval. “This works. You’re learning how to put a look together.”
They both sat down.
“So, was it a good trip?” Chris grinned, inviting confidences.
Daniel, as usual, found himself dazzled by the brilliance and warmth of that smile. “I didn’t get killed,” he said diffidently. “I suppose that makes it a good trip.”
“You get to travel the world, and all you can say is ‘I didn’t get killed.’” Chris shook his head in disbelief. “You’re a real homebody, aren’t you?”
“Not home,” Daniel corrected gently. Then he added with a shy smile of his own, “Here with you. That’s where I wanted to be all along.”
Chapter 52—A Tame Wild Card
After another pot of coffee and several more cigarettes, Maddie was back to her usual self. The familiar spark gleamed in her eyes by the time she turned to Cassie and said, “So, what about this epic artifact retrieval you were going to tell me about?”
Cassie looked at her teammates. “Who wants to start?”
“I think I’ve said enough for one day,” Erik demurred.
“Griffin?”
“I respectfully decline. Since you risked life and limb, I think the honor should be all yours.”
“Life and limb?” Maddie challenged.
“Yeah, I was hoping to avoid leading with that topic,” Cassie balked. Addressing her question to Faye and Maddie, she asked, “What’s the last intel you got about us?”
Maddie paused to ponder the question. She frowned in concentration. “Wow, that talking softball really did a number on my head. Faye, do you remember?”
“I believe our last communication was from Khartoum. You had just duplicated the artifact and were en route to place it in the cave at Jebel Barkal.”
“You better tell them, toots,” Erik urged.
Cassie sighed. “Well, we were about to put the fake in the ceiling of the cave when something unexpected happened.”
“Define ‘unexpected,’” Maddie commanded.
The pythia recounted the story of the smugglers and her unholy alliance with Leroy Hunt. Without stopping for breath, she forged through the rescue and her trick to disable Hunt a second time. She paused long enough to glance hopefully at Maddie and Faye. They both appeared stricken and, for several seconds, speechless.
Maddie shook her head. “You are the craziest pythia we’ve ever had.”
“I know, right?” Erik looked to his boss for confirmation.
“We owe her our lives,” Griffin reminded him reproachfully in a low voice.
“My goodness,” was all Faye could say.
The chatelaine reached for the coffee pot and poured another serving for everyone. “Well, this certainly complicates things.”
“The Nephilim know you’re all alive,” Faye observed.
Cassie shrugged. “But we still have a couple of advantages. They think they’ve got the real artifacts which will give them a false sense of security. Besides, if they assume we’re depending on them to figure out the clues, they’ll be watching their backs pretty closely. They’ll expect to find us behind them.”
“All we have to do,” Erik added, “is get far enough ahead of them so our paths don’t cross.”
“Of course, we’ve never yet succeeded in accomplishing that goal,” Griffin remarked dryly.
Faye and Maddie exchanged concerned glances.
“You’ve upped the ante for the next retrieval, that’s for sure,” the chatelaine said.
“My dears, you’ll need to exercise even more than your usual vigilance from this point forward,” Faye agreed.
“It might not be as dire as you think,” Cassie offered.
They all stared at her, waiting for an explanation.
“We’ve got a wild card in the mix now,” she said. Realizing that none of them understood, she elaborated. “Daniel. That dude is seriously messed up. He’s inches away from the brink.”
“How so?” Faye asked.
“He sure didn’t seem happy to be working with Hunt,” Erik answered. “In fact, he didn’t seem to want any part of the mission.”
“I see.” The memory guardian nodded her head and lapsed into silence.
“See what?” Maddie peered at her.
Faye smiled. “His ambivalence is a weakness in the Nephilim armor. I’m sure their diviner has no notion that his son isn’t fully invested in the scheme. Before our quest is over, Daniel’s ethical crisis may work to our advantage.”
“The only problem with moral epiphanies is that they rarely operate on a schedule,” Griffin said. “We have no guarantee that Daniel will see the light in a timeframe that’s convenient for us.”
“Maybe we can give his conscience a push,” Cassie suggested. “Hannah could help us. I’ll talk to her. She knows Daniel pretty well. She was even married to him for about ten minutes. If I can find out from her what makes this guy tick, we can figure out a way to motivate him to do the right thing.”
“It’s certainly worth a try,” Faye agreed. “But do proceed gently. Don’t badger the poor child. She’s been through so much.”
“Kid gloves, I promise,” Cassie said. “No pun intended.”
“Now that that’s settled, maybe we better get on to the main event,” Maddie suggested. “Where’s the relic?”
“I’ve got it right here.” Cassie retrieved her backpack which had been stashed beside the sofa. “It was sitting on your desk in the vault. That’s where we told our operatives in Sudan to send it. I thought it might be a good idea to bring it with us today.”
Erik stood up and gave the chatelaine a quizzical look. “Before we talk about that, do you have anything to eat around this place? Interventions can work up a man-sized appetite.”
Chapter 53—Clean Getaway
Now that the doodad was stowed away somewhere in Abe’s compound, Leroy was eager to get back on Hannah’s trail. The day after his meeting with the preacher, he decided to have his long-delayed chat with Miz Rhonda. He’d been monitoring the feed from the antique shop remotely while he was overseas. At least as often as he could find an internet connection in whatever hellhole they happened to be staying. His ability to connect was patchy, but he was able to get through often enough to reassure himself that
