“He’s right, amazingly,” Heidi said after a few moment’s thought. “The Illuminati could be forcing Bodie and the others to look for these sanctums. It’s been done before.” She remembered well their mission to find the Amber Secret. “Or... Bodie could be doing it to stop them finding all ten. You know—”
“We need to check all ten,” Butcher interrupted, taking the words out of her mouth. “And see what’s left.”
Pang made a sound of annoyance. “You’re getting distracted again. Stay on the subject.”
Butcher held up a finger. “Not necessarily. We don’t know where Bodie is right now, do we? Ah, here they are. Egypt, done. Algeria, done. Atlantis and Karachi done. Which leaves—the Himalayas, the Buffalo Lake Medicine Wheel in Canada, Easter Island, Stonehenge, Loch Ness and Hawaii.”
“None of which are anywhere near here,” Pang said with a little triumph in his voice. “So use that thing to round up some troops and let’s go hit the Illuminati where it hurts. At home.”
Heidi looked at Butcher, who shrugged. Pang’s logic, this time, was right on the money. If they took the Illuminati out by storming their keep—so to speak—the danger for Bodie would lessen dramatically by default.
“You sure this is their HQ?” she asked.
“As sure as I can be. But check my work if you wish.” Butcher paused for a few seconds. “Look, I was brought here for this. Sent to back you up for this.” He tapped his laptop. “I spend nine hours a day sifting through information, through data, and to help myself I’ve devised quite a few programs over the years. I’m no novice when it comes to tech. Hell, I used to fix bugs for Google. To you, what I do may seem unusually fast, or dumb, or guesswork, but it all comes down to experience.”
“We get it. You’re good at your job.” Pang brushed over Butcher’s heartfelt speech. “Now give us the damn address.”
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
Heidi could tell that Pang was pleased.
On their way to the address in southern Italy they’d made six calls. Some to local assets, which bore fruit, but the one that helped most was to Pang’s direct boss. Men were choppered in from Rome, both Interpol and CIA. Someone high up really wanted the Illuminati and, since Pang had kept the need-to-know so close, nobody outside their tight circle was aware.
Heidi saw their destination and whistled. “Wow, no one’s getting in there without a fight.”
“Bodie and friends did,” Pang said.
“Yeah, yeah, but they were in handcuffs. Maybe.” She was painfully reminded of how little they knew about her old team’s movements and whereabouts and what they might be up against.
Old team.
But they’d run out on her. Left her behind. The scar was deep and it was fresh, and largely unaddressed since the end of their Holy Grail mission. It appeared that hiding out in Mexico was preferable than working for the CIA.
But it was the fact that they’d left her behind that really rankled.
“You ready, Moneymaker?” Pang was staring at her, reading her as they headed into the staging area.
“Yeah, all good.”
“Still thinking about lover boy?”
“There was nothing between Bodie and me.” She spat the words at him, annoyed that he wouldn’t drop it, and in particular that he’d bring it up in front of Butcher.
“We’ll see when we find him,” Pang muttered. “And how fast you take him down.”
Heidi rested her hand on the door handle. As soon as Pang pulled into a parking area overlooking the Mediterranean she surged out of the car, leaving the asshole to his games.
The place was lively, full of agents that had been cobbled together from local areas or cities including Naples, Palermo and even Rome. A chopper was drifting in overhead, rotors thundering as it came in to land. Men were also arriving in vans, stopped by the side of the road.
The home in question sat on the other side of a hill, out of sight and earshot. Heidi had seen it for just a few moments as the road cut through the hills in a series of switchbacks. Perched halfway up a hillside, it dominated its surroundings and was protected by high walls and at least one tower. Its rear side overlooked the sea and was unassailable. Thick shrub and small trees covered the lower slopes that led to the base of its walls, shrub so dense and thorny it too was impassable.
The only way in was through the gate and now, as Heidi approached a cluster of men gazing at a blueprint of the place, she realized the gate was in fact a portcullis. There was a lot of conversation about how to deal with that.
Pang thrust by her. Butcher was at her shoulder. Heidi let the talkers discuss options and the planners strategize. In the end they’d all come to the same decision. There was only one possible choice here.
Storm their keep.
Heidi waited for it and, eventually, it became clear to even the most hard-headed men in the group. The vans would set off first and then the choppers, aiming to arrive at the same time.
Heidi strapped herself into a Kevlar jacket. She ransacked the rear of a car for weapons, coming up with a handgun and a semi-auto. When a worried Butcher appeared at her shoulder, she placed a hand on his arm.
“You stay behind,” she said. “You’ve done your bit.”
He nodded. “Be careful. He does not have your best interests at heart.”
Heidi looked over toward Pang, who was already headed for one of the vans. “Thanks, Jim. It’s odd, you
