by Alex Archer
She trusted that she gave no outward sign. To the room she was prim and proper. The elegant Versace business suit—with pants, not a skirt—was the foundation of her professional image. Her brunette hair, parted on the left, hung to her shoulders and stayed carefully in place.
“The next item up for bid,” the auctioneer announced, “is a painting by a little-known Venetian artist Virgil Carolini.”
Salome knew that was not true. Virgil Carolini’s brush had never touched the canvas in the antique frame sitting at the front of the room.
“Carolini’s works are starting to find favor with collectors around the world,” the auctioneer said. “Some said he was a madman, that the visions he wrought so carefully on the canvas were merely fever dreams he’d trapped in paint.”
A naked man lounged on a bearskin rug in front of a fire. He was beautiful. The fire warmed the man’s dusky skin and backlit him so that the shadows gave him partial modesty. His black hair gleamed and framed his face in ringlets. He was huge and proportioned evenly, godlike in every way.
“Oh, my,” one of the female buyers gasped.
Salome regained control of herself. During her thirty-six years, twenty-nine of them spent chasing objets d’art beginning with her father when she was very young, she’d only felt this near the loss of control a handful of times. She took a slow breath and let it out.
Another woman laughed.
“He’s rather…large, isn’t he?” the woman asked, but Salome could tell from the woman’s reaction that she hoped this was no fantasy.
“Who was the model?” another woman asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” a man grumbled. “Whoever he was, he’s long dead. And the artist probably embellished that anyway.”
The auctioneer smiled a little, and it was the first emotion Salome had seen out of the man the whole long morning.
“Actually, if the rumors about this piece are true—” the auctioneer couched his terms salaciously “—the model could still be alive.”
Salome’s pulse quickened. She hadn’t expected the auction house to have any of the real history of the painting. The secret was about to be exposed, and she wondered who was responsible. She knew that Roux would never have told anyone. In fact, when she’d let him know how much she knew, he’d nearly killed her.
That was nine years ago. The incident had happened in Luxembourg after an art show. Despite the fact that she’d been checking for Roux’s presence since she’d stepped into the auction house, she looked around again.
There was no sign of the old man. Or of Saladin. She would be doubly blessed.
How did I find the prize before you did? she wondered. Then she admonished herself for feeling so fortunate. She hadn’t made off with the painting yet.
“According to the legend surrounding this piece,” the auctioneer went on, “the figure in this painting is a fallen angel.” He used a laser pointing device to indicate the fireplace. “If you gaze into the fire, you can see tormented souls twisting in Hell.”
At her distance, Salome couldn’t see the figures, but she knew they would be there. The notebooks she’d studied, the ones found in Cosimo de’ Medici’s private collections, had shown sketches of the Nephilim.
“And this shadow?” The auctioneer traced the curved shadow barely visible on the right side of the painting. “This is supposed to belong to the artist who painted this piece.”
“Unless I’m mistaken,” one of the men said, “that shadow belongs to a woman.”
The auctioneer smiled. “You’re not mistaken. Virgil Carolini was actually the pseudonym of a woman painter.”
“There weren’t many of those in the seventeenth century,” someone observed.
Salome was relieved to realize they didn’t know the painting was actually painted earlier than that. No one, except perhaps for Roux, knew the painting’s true origins.
And the old man wasn’t telling.
“No,” the auctioneer agreed. “There weren’t many female painters for a long time.” He let that sink in.
Salome knew he’d expertly moved the piece from art to a definite acquisition for possible investment. Collectors and investors alike treasured the unique in that regard.
The auctioneer moved the laser pointer again. “If you look in the shadows here, you can see what appear to be wings folded beneath the man.”
An appreciative murmur came from the crowd.
“I see them,” a woman said.
Salome did, as well. She slipped her phone from her purse and opened it to the keyboard. She typed quickly without looking at the keys.
“It’s here.”
The response came almost immediately. “It won’t escape us.”
“Make certain that it doesn’t.” Salome put the phone away.
The bidding started gingerly at first. Since there was no real knowledge of the piece or the artist, buyers were hesitant. Salome stayed out of it.
Eventually the painting sold to one of the women in the room.
Salome sat through eight more items. She bid on a few, always stopping short of where she knew the final price would hit. She even purchased a clock handmade by Jens Olsen, the internationally known clockmaker who’d designed and built the world clock in the Radhus, the Copenhagen City Hall. The price was low because most of those assembled didn’t know that it was an original. Salome knew she could sell it to a collector she knew for at least forty thousand dollars more than she paid for it.
Then the woman who had bought the painting got up to make arrangements for the acquisition. Salome did the same. While she was in line, she also rifled the woman’s purse and found her identification without getting caught.
AS SALOME LEFT the auction house, she was met at the curb by a car. The man in the backseat got out and helped her inside.
Riley Drake was a big man. He headed his own private security company and rented his shock troops out to countries around the globe. He’d grown up in England, but he’d learned his trade in the killing fields in Africa. He kept his head shaved and looked deadly earnest at all times. It was a quality that influenced CEOs and heads of state to do business with him.
“Her name is Ilse Danseker,” Salome said. “I got her address.”
Drake nodded. He was also not much of a talker, which many of his employers appreciated. He only spoke when he had something to say.
“She’s having the painting transported to her house,” Salome said. “But I don’t know when.”
“We could take it during transport,” Drake suggested.
Salome shook her head. “Then it looks like we were targeting the painting. No, this will play better if it looks like a home invasion.”
Drake looked at her. “You’re afraid of that old man you told me about, aren’t you?”
Salome considered that. “I’m not afraid. I’m just knowledgeable enough to be wary.”
Reaching over, Drake took her hand. His felt warm, confident and strong. “I could have him removed.”
Salome touched his face and smiled gently. “I would rather that be a course of action we have to follow rather than one we choose. For all I know, Roux doesn’t even know the painting has surfaced.”
“You’re sure this is the one?”
“The painting is right. I haven’t seen it up close yet, but it matches the sketches in Cosimo de’ Medici’s journals.”
Drake nodded. “And this thing is going to give you enough power to do anything you want?”
As she listened to him, Salome’s excitement grew. She couldn’t help herself.
“With what that painting hides,” she said seriously, willing him to believe her even though he seldom believed in anything that he couldn’t see with his own two eyes, “a person will have the power to remake the world.”
“And if it’s just a story?”
Salome refused to believe that. “It’s not just a story. Too many people are chasing after it.”
“You mean the old man.”
�
��More than just the old man,” Salome said.
Drake frowned slightly. “I thought you said not many people knew about this.”
“They don’t.” Salome knew that Drake was upset because she hadn’t trusted him with everything she knew. Men were like that. They got their egos bruised easily. Even big men.
“It’s just that these things can be difficult to control, love,” Drake said as he took her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm.
The kiss sent tingles through Salome. “There’s only one other,” she said. “His name is Saladin. He’s a very dangerous man.”
Drake regarded her with his pale blue eyes. “I’m more dangerous, love.”
Salome silently hoped so. But it wouldn’t matter after they had the painting.
16
Fall chill had settled into New York by the time Annja returned. As the jet came down, she glanced at the cold, slate-gray ribbon that was the East River and tried to convince herself it was good to be home.
She didn’t buy it.
She didn’t get to stay and work on the movie, hadn’t been able to follow up on the King Wenceslas piece she’d planned for Chasing History’s Monsters, hadn’t explored more of Prague’s Old Town and didn’t find out anything about what Garin and Roux were doing.
Or even if they were still alive. Saladin hadn’t struck her as someone who would be easy to deal with. Probably none of the Saladins had been.
She felt incredibly grumpy after the plane landed. Rather than stand in line with the rest of the passengers as they waited to be released, she reached into her pocket, took out her phone and turned it back on.
Her menu showed six missed calls. Four of them were from Doug Morrell, and she didn’t want to talk to him at the moment. Two others had come from Bart McGilley’s cell phone and were only minutes old. Knowing that Bart had called lifted her spirits somewhat.
Detective Bart McGilley of the New York Police Department had been Annja’s friend almost from the time she moved to Brooklyn. One of Bart’s superiors had seen Annja on Letterman and decided to call her in to consult on a case involving artifacts stolen from one of the smaller private museums in the city.
Bart and Annja had hit it off from the beginning. Both of them had been working to get their careers started, and the case had ultimately helped them do that in their respective fields.
Despite the fact that Annja’s relationship with Roux and Garin sometimes caused problems because she couldn’t tell Bart everything that was going on, they’d remained friends.
She punched his number in and listened to the ring.
“Hey,” Bart answered after the first ring. “It’s you.”
“It is me,” Annja agreed. She felt a little happier just connecting with him. “As it happens—”
“You’re back in NYC,” Bart said. “I know.”
“How did you know that?”
“Well, you get kicked out of a country, that country kind of lets your home country know about it. So they can check and make sure you make it home. A guy from the State Department—”
“Walter Gronlund,” Annja said. The little man had been very kind but very firm about her departure. He’d stayed with her until she’d boarded her flight.
“That’s him,” Bart agreed. “Anyway, he called and wanted a background run on you. Locally. I guess the Feds have got a whole other book on what you’ve been doing elsewhere.”
“Terrific.” Annja suddenly felt worse despite Bart’s warm, friendly voice. She stood, retrieved her backpack from overhead storage and shrugged into it.
“Naturally, the captain sees your name, he calls me. I think he figures I’m the Annja Creed specialist.”
“You’re stuck babysitting me.” Annja wasn’t sure, but she felt entitled to be more than a little angry at the turn of events.
“Nope. Not even.” Bart sounded incredibly chipper. “I got to fill out the background check for Walter. Talked to him over the phone. He explained about the dead guys in Prague. I thought about telling him about the dead guys you’ve sometimes left over here.”
“Thanks. Heaps.”
“I said I thought about telling him. I didn’t actually do that. Figured it would have complicated things for you.”
Annja fell into line and followed the passengers out. She even managed a smile for the flight attendants.
“I called to let you know you’re in luck,” Bart said.
“How’s that?”
“I’m here. Waiting on you. You’ve got me to tote and carry the baggage, give you a ride home, and I’m going to take you to dinner. Sort of a ‘welcome home, glad to have you’ thing instead of ‘sorry you got kicked out of a country’ thing.”
“Thanks, Bart.” In spite of the turn of events, Annja was actually smiling by the time she deplaned.
“Hey, I see you.” At the end of the boarding tunnel, Bart stood outside the ropes. He was six feet two inches tall and solidly built, not a guy to trifle with. His dark hair was razor cut, and a permanent five-o’clock shadow tattooed his jaws and chin. He wore a lightweight dark gray trench coat.
He waved in a good-natured way that didn’t befit the preconceived notions of a homicide detective, and she couldn’t help but grin like a loon. Suddenly it did feel good to be home.
“SO,” BART SAID while they stood in line at the baggage carousel, “what’s it like?”
“What?” Annja kept careful watch for her baggage.
“Getting kicked out of a country. I mean, man, that’s gotta suck.”
“I’ve really missed that sympathetic shoulder you always offer.”
Bart chuckled. “At least they didn’t throw you so far under the jail that they had to pipe in sunlight.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” Annja excused herself and leaned through the crowd to collect a bag. She placed it beside Bart.
“Is this it?” Bart asked.
“No.”
“No?” Bart looked worried.
“Be brave.”
Bart sighed. “Anyway, it looked like you did plenty wrong. There were fourteen dead guys. Some of them were shot, but there were a half-dozen killed when the car you were riding in blew up.”
“I didn’t do that.”
“Didn’t kill anybody?”
“Blow the car up.” Annja snared another bag.
“Is this it?” Bart asked.
“No.”
An unhappy look crossed his face.
“You volunteered,” Annja argued. “I was going to grab a cab.”
“I didn’t know you were caravanning through Prague,” Bart said. “When I saw it on the Travel Channel, it looked like a party spot.”
“I wasn’t caravanning.” Annja pulled another suitcase from the belt. “And I didn’t get to party.” Then she reflected on a couple of the movie soirees she’d been to and amended her answer. “I didn’t get to party much.”
“This much luggage, there shoulda been camels involved.” Bart looked around. “You know, maybe I need to start looking for a camel.”
“You’re a big boy. You can handle this. I got it to the airport.”
“All the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you pack this much stuff. What could you possibly have needed? And is there anything left at home?”
“I was working on a movie,” Annja said. “Not exactly a regular gig for me. I didn’t know what I needed. They make a lot of extras for the DVDs these days. I knew I was going to be in some of them. I wanted to make sure I was dressed right.”
“Were you in the movie?”
“A couple of times when they needed background people. But I worked on three of the features regarding the artifacts they’re using in the movie, as well as the history of Prague.”
“Did you meet the main actor, what’s-his-name?”
“I did,” Annja replied. “Terrific kisser, by the way.”
Bart frowned. “You’re making that up.”
“Yes.”
Bart looked a little relie
ved about that. Annja knew they were attracted to each other. They always had been. But Bart was the marrying kind, the kind who’d want to put down roots and raise a family. That meant his wife couldn’t be out in the field digging through broken Mayan pottery and possibly getting sniped at by grave robbers.
And there was no way he was going to understand the sword and the problems it seemed to bring.
Bart had recently called off an engagement he’d had, or the woman had. Annja wasn’t exactly sure how that had gone down because Bart was busy pretending it had never happened.
“Back to this shoot-out in Prague,” Bart said.
“They were trying to kill us.”
“Us? You mean you and this guy, Garin Braden.”
“No. Me and the Earps and Doc Holliday.”
Bart grimaced.
“Yes. I mean Garin Braden.” Annja hadn’t known what name Garin was doing business under in Prague. Besides, if the Prague police could track him down and make his life miserable for a while, he deserved it for running out on her.
“Well, nobody seems to know who that guy is. I looked him up and didn’t find anyone by that name who fits the information you gave the Prague police.”
Annja pulled her last bag from the carousel. “He’s got a lot of names.”
Bart blew out a disgusted breath. “You know, you really ought to watch who you hang out with. You might not get in so much trouble that way.”
“I’ll try to do better.” Annja looked at the pile of luggage, then looked around the baggage area. “Did you spot a camel?”
“AH, THERE YOU ARE! My movie star! Back from so far away!” Maria Ruiz, the owner of Tito’s Cuban restaurant, threw out her chubby arms and wrapped Annja in a bear hug.
Thankfully it was after eight o’clock and most of the dinner crowd was gone.
Annja hugged the big woman back. A feeling of seriously being home washed over Annja. She hadn’t realized how much she’d been gone lately until that moment. Of course, maybe getting tossed out of a country made her a little more grateful for the old neighborhood.
“I hope it’s not too late to get something to eat,” Annja said.
Maria dismissed the thought. She was short and stout, a pleasant, hardworking woman who drove her son Tito crazy while she managed the restaurant and he ran the kitchen. Together they’d created a restaurant clientele that kept them busy all day long.