Dubois pulled a pistol from the small of his back. ‘Allow me to demonstrate.’
Payne turned around slowly. He was fully expecting to see a gun in his rival’s hand. ‘I admire your confidence, but that’s not going to happen you know, considering the circumstances.’
‘The circumstances? I’m not stupid, Mr Payne. I’m fully aware that Mr Jones is lurking in the darkness. Why do you think I pushed for this meeting to be held inside?’
‘I thought maybe you wanted to cuddle.’
Dubois couldn’t help but smile. ‘Hardly. I did it so we could have a conversation without interlopers.’
‘And you think you’re safer in here?’
‘All the windows in my chateau are bulletproof. They were made by the same company that outfitted the White House. Sniper fire won’t even leave a mark.’
Payne shrugged. ‘Oh well, I guess we’ll have to kill you some other way.’
‘I guess so. In the meantime, tell me about the girl.’
‘Sorry, you’re not her type.’
‘She has no significance,’ Payne lied. ‘The only reason she’s involved is because your men killed her neighbour.’
‘Her neighbour was a
‘Coming from a thief, is that a compliment or an insult?’
Dubois smirked at the comment. ‘I’m getting tired of your insults.’
‘Then why don’t you come over here and do something about it?’
‘There’s no need, Mr Payne. I can silence you from here.’
A moment later, Dubois lifted his gun and fired.
Jones was on the move long before he heard the gunshot in his earpiece. In fact, he had abandoned his position in the yard as soon as he got off the phone with Butch Reed.
Dubois had burned down his house. The bastard needed to pay.
While hiding his sniper rifle in the undergrowth, Jones told Payne what had happened and told him he was on his way to the chateau. It was the main reason Payne had been willing to go
But not soon enough.
The first shot hit Payne squarely in the chest, catching him by surprise and knocking him off balance. But that wasn’t good enough for Dubois, who fired two more times at close range. The second shot struck Payne in his abdomen, and the third tore through his left trapezius, just missing the arteries in his neck. The bullet, after passing through skin and muscle, shattered the display case behind him and imbedded itself in the stone wall.
Payne slumped to the floor, stunned. Blood leaked from his wounds as shards of broken glass fell upon him, cutting his hands and face.
Wasting no time, Dubois reached into his pocket and pulled out a
And from the floor, Payne grinned as well.
The instant Dubois cracked the inner seal of the package, a large ball of flame erupted in his face, and his hair, skin, and clothes caught fire. The homemade explosive, which had been rigged by Jones in the back of the van, was their insurance policy in case something happened to them before they confronted Dubois. They figured if they were dead, it was the only way they could stop him from killing Megan and Ulster.
Dubois howled in agony as his skin blistered and bubbled like cheese on a pizza. He tried in vain to smother the flames by dropping to the floor and rolling around, but all that did was spread the fire. In a flash, one of his bookcases ignited, filling the room with thick, noxious smoke that blinded Payne and made it impossible to breathe.
Alive because of his Kevlar vest, Payne reached his right arm over his head and snatched the edition of
Suddenly, from the darkness behind him, Payne felt a bony hand brushing against his lower leg. At first it felt like a dog nipping at his heel, but it quickly turned into a hound from hell as Dubois latched onto Payne’s foot with all the strength he could muster. The flammable fluid that had ignited the blaze quickly spread from Dubois to Payne’s clothes. Seconds later, his lower leg was engulfed in flames.
‘Jon!’ Jones screamed as he burst into the library.
‘In here!’
Jones ran towards the sound as Payne rolled over and kicked Dubois several times, trying to free himself.
‘Where are you?’ Jones demanded.
‘He’s got my leg!’
As flames climbed the walls and ignited the ceiling above, Jones dived to the floor and crawled towards the screams of his best friend. He blindly grabbed the first thing he could find, which happened to be Payne’s left arm, and pulled it with all his might. The sudden force freed his foot from Dubois’s grasp. It also saved Payne’s life.
Lightning bolts of pain shot through his
Ironically, his search for the future had ended his own.
69
During the long drive to Kusendorf, Megan had pondered everything that had happened over the past seventy-two hours. Prior to Sunday night, she had never heard of Payne and Jones, had never been to Europe, and knew very little about Nostradamus. Now the ex-MANIACs were risking their lives to save hers, she had been smuggled to the Ulster Archives in the Swiss Alps, and she had found out she might be a blood relative of the famous prophet.
Other than that, it had been an uneventful three days.
After unpacking her suitcase and showering, Megan changed into a clean pair of jeans and a sweater. She didn’t know how long she would be sequestered at the Archives, but as Ulster had promised back in Geneva, her stay wouldn’t be uncomfortable — not with a gourmet kitchen, a private suite, and one of the best research libraries in the world. While she was there, she fully intended to do her part, whether that was
With an hour to kill before dinner, she got permission from Ulster to examine the puzzle box in one of the research labs. After lining the table with a sterile sheet of plastic laminate, he placed the box on a soft cloth to protect it. Then he gave her a pair of latex gloves to reduce the fingerprints and oil residue on the wood.
‘Tell me, my dear, why the sudden urgency? As I mentioned earlier, there will be plenty of time to inspect the box after dessert.’
‘Call me crazy,’ she said, ‘but a theory popped into my head while I was in the shower. And I didn’t want to wait half the night before I tested it.’
‘What type of theory?’
‘While turning the knobs for hot and cold
Ulster nodded. ‘And each of them have three numbers.’
‘Exactly! But so far we’ve only discovered
