The Lost Relic

by Scott Mariani

  Ben escaped as politely and as quickly as he could before anybody proposed marriage, and rode the lift to the third floor. The room was small and neat. He dumped his things on an armchair, peeled off the ill-fitting shirt Lario had given him and put on a fresh light blue cotton one from his bag. He turned the lights down low and lay back on the bed, closing his eyes, and rolling over on his side. A lump in his pocket pressed into his leg. It was his phone. He sat up and dug it out. When he tried to switch it on, there was no response. The badly cracked screen and dented keypad offered some clue as to why. Ben guessed his tumble down the fire escape hadn’t done it any favours.

  Another reminder he didn’t need of that day’s events. It was impossible to shut out the constant replays that kept running round and round inside his brain. He tossed away the broken phone. His head was spinning with fatigue, but he knew he couldn’t sleep.

  The mini-bar had two miniatures of blended whisky. Infinitely better than nothing. He poured both into a tumbler, grabbed his cigarettes and Zippo from his jacket pocket and leaned out of the window, watching the lights of the night traffic and the architecture lit up gold across the city. He finished the rough-tasting liquor too fast and wished for more, then thought it was probably just as well the room didn’t come with a litre of the stuff. He kept smoking and staring out of the window. By the time he was properly wound down and ready for sleep, it was nearly four in the morning and the first glimmers of dawn were rising over the seven hills of Rome.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Georgia

  The airstrip was a long straight tongue of concrete running through the middle of the shallow valley on the edge of the isolated Shikov estate. It was deserted except for a black Humvee with tinted windows, and two men. One of the men sat at the wheel of the hulking vehicle, gazing idly into space. It wasn’t his job to be concerned with who they might be waiting for out here, or why.

  The other man had a great deal to be concerned about. Yuri Maisky stood a few metres away from the Humvee with the warm morning sun on his back, and gazed west. The snow-capped mountains were crisp and clear against the blue sky, but he hadn’t come out here to take in the beauty of the landscape.

  Maisky had been working for his uncle for nearly twenty-five years, and in all that time he’d had no illusions about the nature of the business. They were all soaked in blood. If he’d been a religious man, he’d have felt damned to hell.

  But fourteen months ago, things had changed. One of those unexpected events that could turn a man’s life around.

  It had been during a business trip to Moscow that he’d met Leyla in the empty bar of his hotel one night. She was a sales rep from Kiev, there for a conference. One drink together had turned into three. One night together became a week. Two months later, they were married and Leyla had quit her job and moved to Georgia to live with him on the estate. He’d told her that his uncle was involved in government work.

  Within a year, Leyla had given birth to little Anja. The day he’d held his newborn baby daughter in his arms had been the happiest of Maisky’s life.

  But with the responsibility of fatherhood had come the beginning of Maisky’s problems. For the first time in his life, he’d become afraid. Afraid of his uncle’s increasing un predictability. Afraid of what would become of his wife and baby daughter if anything happened to him. He was a new man, and suddenly he was terrified.

  He was even more terrified at this moment.

  His watch read 7.06 as he heard the incoming light aircraft. Just a low buzz in the distance growing steadily louder, before his eyes picked out the white dot in the sky a hundred metres above the forest. He kept his eyes on it all the way as it approached and the pilot banked steeply in to line it up with the airstrip. The landing was perfect. A yelp of rubber as its fixed undercarriage touched down, then the pilot taxied the craft to within a short walking distance of the Humvee. The side hatch opened, and Maisky walked over to meet the man who was getting out.

  Just one man.

  Spartak Gourko’s face was expressionless as he stepped down from the plane. His only luggage was the black rectangular padded case hanging from a strap over his shoulder.

  They didn’t shake hands. No greetings. No explanations. No ‘glad you made it’. No ‘sorry about what happened’.

  ‘Where is he?’ Gourko said.

  ‘In his study. He hasn’t come out since we heard. Hasn’t moved. Hasn’t spoken.’

  Gourko said nothing. They got into the Humvee. As they drove away, the pilot was taxiing the plane around 180 degrees for take-off. Twenty minutes later, the Humvee passed through the gates of Shikov’s complex and pulled up in the concrete yard. The two men got out and walked towards the boathouse. The sun was getting warmer. Clouds of midges floated over the shimmering lake behind the house.

  ‘You’re very quiet, Yuri,’ Gourko said.

  Maisky glanced into the man’s inscrutable eyes. He found it hard to look at Gourko without staring in disgust at the scar on his face. ‘It’s been a difficult time,’ he said.

  Gourko didn’t reply.

  They reached the boathouse. Two guards armed with AKS assault rifles opened the wrought-iron gate for them, and they stepped through into the ante-hall and down a broad, marble-floored passage filled with the scent of tropical plants and flowers. Another armed guard stood at the heavy oak door. Maisky waved him aside and showed Gourko into the study.

  Shikov still had not moved from behind his desk. His face was as ashen grey as the rumpled suit he’d been wearing all night. White stubble coated his jaw and his hair was in disarray. An empty container of his pills lay in front of him, and next to it a whirring notebook computer showing the large, full-colour photograph of the man being hailed as a hero on the website of the Italian paper La Repubblica. On the small TV screen on the sideboard to his left was a muted DVD playback of yesterday’s RaiUno news, playing on a loop. It had been playing all night. Over and over.

  Maisky motioned to Gourko to stay back. He cleared his throat nervously as he approached the desk. Shikov seemed not to register their presence at first; then his gaze came into focus. His breathing sounded laboured.

  ‘Are you all right, uncle?’ Maisky asked hesitantly, glancing at the empty pill bottle. He knew the answer to that. The old man’s illness was growing worse all the time.

  ‘You have it?’ Shikov asked Gourko. His voice was a hoarse whisper.

  Gourko said nothing, just nodded.

  ‘Bring it to me,’ Shikov said softly.

  Gourko stepped over to the desk. He unslung the pouch from his shoulder, laid it down carefully and unzipped it all the way around before stepping away. Shikov shoved the laptop to one side and peeled back the lid of the pouch to reveal the framed picture. He ran his fingers over the glass, and for a few moments he seemed lost in thought. Then his eyes snapped upwards and fixed intensely on Gourko.

  ‘I want to know,’ he said. ‘Tell me everything.’

  And Gourko did, in a flat tone that conveyed no emotion. He described Anatoly’s idea to change the original plan. Said how he’d wanted to honour his father by bringing home the trophy more efficiently. How he’d proved his strength of leadership and his tactical skills. And how the man called Hope had somehow managed to trick him and then murder him.

  As Gourko spoke, Maisky was watching his uncle with growing horror. Shikov’s face seemed to collapse into itself, as if a silent, slow-motion nuclear mushroom cloud was unfolding inside him. The light in his eyes dulled. He faltered, then gradually crumpled lower and lower, inch by inch, until his forehead was resting on the desk.

  Maisky had never seen him this bad. He raised his hand, and Gourko stopped talking.

  ‘Uncle? Are you OK?’

  No reply. For a few seconds, Maisky was convinced that the old man had suffered another heart attack. The big one they’d all been grimly waiting for. Visions of him lying dead in his casket, of the long winding funeral procession, unfolded in his mind’s eye. A hundred b
lack limousines crawling in single file towards the cemetery.

  On the sideboard was a carafe of water and some crystal tumblers. Maisky hurried over to it, poured a glass of water and was about to start opening desk drawers to look for another bottle of pills when he saw the old man raise his head and open his eyes. No tears. No red. Just a depth of silent rage that sent a chill down Maisky’s backbone.

  Shikov drew in a long breath. He held it for what seemed like forever, then let it out, slowly. His lips rolled back from his teeth. He reached down and tore open the middle drawer of his desk, thrust his hand inside.

  And came out with a gun.

  His old Mauser automatic pistol. An ancient nineteenth-century collector’s piece, but still in perfect condition. The weapon gleamed dully with oil. Its barrel was long and tapered. Maisky stared at it, and for one terrible moment he believed the Tsar was going to shoot them both. Gourko, for having failed to save Anatoly’s life. Him, Maisky, for having failed to warn him against sending his son to Italy.

  Unfair. Brutal, even. But then, unfairness and brutality were traits Grigori Shikov was well known for. Maisky waited for the muzzle of the gun to swing his way. Waited for the explosion of the shot, the punch of the high-velocity 7.63mm bullet ripping into his body.

  It didn’t happen. Instead, Shikov flipped the pistol over in his right hand, gripping it like a hammer by its long barrel. He reached out with his left, grabbed the edge of the framed sketch and smashed the rounded wooden butt of the gun into the glass. Kept hitting it over and over again, until the frame was hanging in pieces, the card mount was battered and buckled and the picture itself was a crumpled mess.

  Then Shikov dropped the ruined artwork down on his desk among the broken glass and splinters and dust, breathing hard. The sketch tore in two as he ripped it from the wrecked frame. He shoved his fingers between where the sketch had been and the twisted backing board, and with a deep grunt of satisfaction he drew his hand out clutching a yellowed old piece of folded paper. His hands trembled with excitement as he unfolded it. He hunched over it, studying it intently.

  Maisky had never seen Gourko look baffled before. Only Shikov and his nephew had known what had lain hidden inside the sketch’s frame for more than eighty years.

  Shikov finally tore his gaze from the paper and looked up at Maisky.

  ‘Get the Gulfstream ready,’ he rumbled.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘To a ruined church near St Petersburg, in Russia,’ Shikov said. ‘To bring back the Dark Medusa.’

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Rome

  Ben was up before eight, took a long shower, dressed and sneaked out of the hotel before anyone could collar him. For all he knew, his face was plastered on every news channel and paper in Italy by now. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling. He’d always been able to move around unseen, and anonymity had become second nature to him. All at once, it felt as if a giant spotlight were following him everywhere he went, and planes flying overhead trailing banners saying ‘Ben Hope this way’.

  The sun was already hot, and the traffic was insane as he ploughed the big Shogun across Rome to San Filippo Neri hospital. The hospital reception desk was as chaotic as the rest of the city. Ben beat a path through the bustle and managed to find out that Fabio Strada was in Room 9 in a private ward on the fifth floor. He avoided the overcrowded lifts and used the stairs.

  It was only as he was approaching Room 9 and reaching out to knock softly on the door that he stopped. Until that moment, he’d been driven by pure impulse to see the man. But now that he was here, he didn’t have any idea what to say to Strada face to face.

  Hi, I’m the guy who wasn’t able to save your family. How are you feeling today?

  At the end of the corridor, sunlight was streaming through tall windows into a little sitting area with armchairs and racks of magazines and a dispensing machine. The place was empty. It would give him a few minutes to get his thoughts in order. He slotted coins into the machine and carried a plastic cup of scalding espresso over to a corner. In Italy, even dispensing machine coffee was good.

  He took a seat in the far corner of the room, and sat for a moment thoughtfully sipping his coffee. Someone had left a newspaper on a table nearby, with its front page facing down. He flipped it over.

  The first thing he saw was the paper’s title. It was that day’s edition of La Repubblica. The second thing he saw was his own face looking up at him from behind the wheel of the Shogun, and beside that two more full-colour photos showing scenes of the devastation at the Academia Giordani. He swore, then scanned quickly through the article below.

  It didn’t get any better. His name was printed maybe six times in two inches of text. The media loved a sensational slogan, and the one they’d picked for him was ‘L’eroe della galleria’. The art gallery hero. The article lingered gushily over the unconfirmed reports that the saviour of the hostages was a former British Special Forces operative, before moving on to quote from Capitano Roberto Lario of the Rome police and the Carabinieri officer who had led the storming of the building. Below was a further quote from Count Pietro De Crescenzo, the gallery’s only surviving owner, lamenting the shocking destruction of several irreplaceable pieces of priceless artwork in the robbery.

  Ben wasn’t too interested in the count’s impassioned, outraged attack on the animals who had done this. It was the generic ‘something must be done to bring these monsters to justice’ type of rant he’d heard before, a thousand times. He skipped down a few lines.

  Then his eye landed on something that caught his attention. The investigation team had immediately turned up one interesting, and mystifying, detail. At least two robbers had managed to get away clean – whereabouts currently unknown. Which meant, barring some of the larger canvases that would have been impractical for a running man to carry, they could have helped themselves to pretty much any painting they wanted. And yet, the only item that appeared to have been stolen – and the only one, as far as the investigators could make out, the gang had even attempted to steal, as opposed to merely destroying – was a relatively valueless sketch by Goya.

  Ben raised an eyebrow at that one. He raised it higher as he read on: while some of the works that had been irreparably damaged or left untouched were worth tens, even hundreds, of millions of euros, the valuers’ estimate of the worth of the Goya was around the half million mark, maybe less.

  Now that was strange. Ben guessed he couldn’t be the only Repubblica reader that morning to be wondering what the robbers had been thinking. Had they simply panicked and grabbed whatever they could as their plans fell apart and all hell was breaking loose around them? They might have had no idea of the relative values of the pieces of art in the exhibition.

  On the other hand, just grabbing the nearest thing to hand and legging it seemed like the work of opportunists – and these guys hadn’t seemed like mere opportunists. The way they’d managed to get past the security showed a high degree of preparation, of professionalism. They’d done their homework. Then again, Ben thought, professional art thieves didn’t compromise themselves by hanging around the scene of the crime to murder and rape hostages at their leisure. They just took what they wanted in the minimum possible time, then got the hell out of there.

  The crime seemed schizophrenic in nature, a contradiction in terms. It was as though the planning phase had been carried out by exactly the kind of person best suited to the job: someone extremely careful, meticulous and thorough; and then been passed down the line to be executed by someone temperamentally altogether different. Someone psychopathically insane.

  Ben put the paper down, sipped some more of his cooling coffee and thought about the glaring inconsistencies of the case. His photo stared up at him from the newspaper front page. He shoved it away, feeling even more self-conscious and uncomfortable about being here. It struck him that maybe he should just leave a card for Strada expressing his condolences. There had to be somewhere in the hospital he could b
uy one. Even just a sheet of paper would do. He could slip it under Strada’s door, or simply hand it in at reception. Then he could get out of here.

  Art gallery hero sighted skulking away from hospital.

  Just as he was about to get up to go, Ben heard low voices and looked up to see a group of two men and three women shuffle into the sitting area, trailing a couple of sobbing children behind them. All had red eyes. The eldest of the women was sniffing into a handkerchief as they sat down in a circle of armchairs on the far side of the room. One of the men put his arm around her shoulders. Ben watched them from the corner, and saw that one of the women looked like a slightly older, plumper version of Donatella Strada.

  The men were looking over at him. One of them nudged the old lady, and she turned her teary gaze on him as well.

  They all stood, hesitated, and then the old lady stepped over to him. He got to his feet as she approached.

  ‘We saw you on the news,’ the old lady said in Italian. ‘We know who you are, Signore.’ She put out her hand. ‘Donatella was my daughter.’

  ‘My deepest sympathies,’ Ben said. ‘You have come to see Fabio?’ she asked.

  Ben nodded. ‘But I don’t know if he’d like to see me. I was just about to leave.’

  ‘Fabio would want to meet the man who tried to save his wife and child,’ the old lady said firmly, and Ben found it impossible to refuse her as she took his arm and led him back out of the sitting area. She knocked on the door of Room 9. ‘Fabio? It’s Antonella.’ Ben heard a weak voice from inside, little more than a whisper. They went in.

  Fabio Strada lay on the bed with his right arm and leg in traction. His head was wrapped in bandages, his neck in a brace. His face was a mass of livid bruises.

  The rest of the family followed them inside the room. Little was said. The old lady grasped her son-in-law’s hand and held it tight. She pointed at Ben, and the injured man slowly rolled his eyes across to look at him. The old lady whispered in his ear. Fabio Strada gave an almost imperceptible nod. The grief in his eyes was so deep that Ben had to force himself to return his gaze. For a moment they seemed to exchange a silent conversation that went way beyond anything words could say.