Shadow Zone

by Johansen, Iris; Johansen, Iris

“Of course. But Vincent . . .” She leaned close to him. “Don’t ever question my loyalty again. I killed a man for you tonight. And we both know it probably won’t be the last time.”

  “Not if you have your way.” He chuckled. “I’m sorry, Anna. To make it up to you, let me tell you how I dispensed with your admirer, Hollis. It will amuse you.”

  Stodwell Airport

  London, England

  “Gadaire knows that we stole the TK44.” Kirov hung up his phone. “Walsh said that Gadaire’s men are questioning everyone on the street about us. Very intense. Sometimes brutal.”

  “Is Walsh angry?”

  “Yes, but not with us. Or he wouldn’t have warned us.” He added, “It was bound to happen, Hannah. It was just a matter of time.”

  “I know.” But it still made her uneasy to know that Gadaire was using all his considerable resources in Dublin to track them down. “What do we do now?”

  “Proceed as we planned. We’re being careful. That’s all we can do.” He paused. “Unless you want to stop.”

  She shook her head. “We can’t do that. Driscoll died. How many other—” She drew a deep breath. “I’m ready. Make the call.”

  “I could do it.”

  “No, I told you, I want to do it. Gadaire’s not real enough to me. He’s a shadow figure who destroys everything around him. I don’t want to think of him as bigger than life.”

  “Then let’s cut him down to size.” He dialed the number. “Three minutes.”

  She took the phone.

  Gadaire answered on the fifth ring.

  “You bastard,” Hannah said angrily. “You killed him. You’re not going to get away with it.”

  Gadaire didn’t speak for a moment. “Who is this?” He answered himself. “Why, I believe it must be Hannah Bryson.”

  “Yes.”

  “How delightful. Is Kirov with you?”

  “Not at the moment. He keeps telling me to calm down. I can’t calm down. She murdered Driscoll in cold blood.”

  “Anna never acts in cold blood. Her blood always runs hot.”

  “Driscoll was a good man. He didn’t deserve to die.”

  Another pause. “Then he shouldn’t have gotten in my way. He was lucky his death was comparatively easy.”

  “Easy. She broke his neck.” She added shakily, “It’s not going to do you any good. We’re not going to give up. We’ll find that trellis. We’ll take every bit of that TK44 away from you.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “And I hear you’re looking for us. You won’t find us. Do you think we’re stupid?”

  Another pause. “No, I think you’re a bitch.” His smooth voice was suddenly vicious. “Yes, I’ve been looking for you. And I will find you. And, when I do, would you like to know what I’m going to do to you?”

  Kirov checked his watch and held up one finger.

  “I’m going to hurt you more than you can dream.” Gadaire’s voice was laden with malice. “I’m going to cut off your breasts and then start on every limb of your body. How dare you waltz into my territory and steal my property.”

  “It’s not your property. Neither the trellis, nor the TK44.”

  “It’s mine because I say it’s mine. Possession is everything. I won’t have you getting in my way. I’ll find you and Kirov, and I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.”

  “Empty threats.”

  “I’ll show how empty they are. You’re nothing. I’ll do whatever I have to do to—”

  “Cut it,” Kirov said.

  She hung up.

  She drew a deep breath and tried to keep from shaking. “Was I on it long enough?”

  He nodded. “He had time to trace. And it was clear he was doing it. There were a lot of pauses while he tried to stretch the call.”

  She shuddered. “Ugliness. I’ve known what a monster he was. He’s always been hovering in the background, but it’s different actually hearing his voice. All that malice . . .”

  “Yes, it must have been very satisfying for him.” He added, “He got very personal with you. It made me angry. I knew it was going to happen but I didn’t realize it was going to cause me to react quite that strongly. It appears I’ve become somewhat barbaric in my attitude toward you. I believe I may have to go back and pay Gadaire a visit.”

  “No, don’t be stupid. Promise me you’ll stay out of Dublin.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Dammit, promise me.”

  He shrugged. “Very well. We’ll just have to try to draw him into a trap on our own ground.”

  “It was worth it?”

  “Red herrings are always worth the effort. It will buy us time and security.”

  “I take it the trace won’t lead him here.”

  He shook his head. “The call will be traced directly to the University of Edinburgh.”

  “How is that going to happen?”

  “It’s an old spy trick. Tape two telephone handsets together, mouthpiece to earpiece, earpiece to mouthpiece. It’s a hard relay. If they try to trace the call, it will only lead to the office where you have two phones fastened to one another. These days, the poor audio quality is a dead giveaway, so it’s important to temporarily hardwire the earpieces and mouthpieces together. I have a contact in London who does very good work.”

  “Of course you do,” Hannah said. “And I guess he owed you a favor?”

  “No, actually I now owe him one. Especially since he’ll want to be reimbursed for his time and travel expenses.” He smiled. “And those of two look-alikes who resemble us who will make sure they’re seen and noted in those hallowed halls of learning. They should keep Gadaire’s men busy tracking them.”

  “So now we’re free and clear.”

  “For the time being. I’ve contacted some friends in Athens, and they assured me there was no sign of a Gadaire presence there, but I always believe in safety measures.” He turned away. “Come on. It’s time we got on the plane. Eugenia and Charlie are waiting for us.”

  She nodded and moved toward the small jet waiting by the hangar. It had been worth it, she told herself. All that ugliness had purpose.

  Kirov glanced back at her. “You did well,” he said quietly.

  Just a few words, but they made some of the ugliness go away. “Sure I did. Now let’s get on that plane to Athens and forget that bastard.”

  “You got it?” Gadaire asked. “Dammit, I held her on the line long enough.”

  “Yes, I think we got the trace.” Ames had a phone pressed to his ear. “Though it was close. You shouldn’t have threatened her and made her—”

  “Are you telling me it’s my fault if you screwed up?”

  “No, sir. I wouldn’t do that.”

  No, Ames knew better.

  Gadaire’s hand slowly clenched on the desk. He hadn’t played it as well as he should have done. He had just been so angry when he’d heard Hannah Bryson’s voice. He was so close to making the biggest score of his life, and Kirov and that woman were standing in his way.

  Okay, calm down. Go on with what needed to be done.

  It was only a matter of time until he had both of them in his sights.

  “We’ve got it,” Ames said. “Edinburgh University. Edinburgh, Scotland.”

  And the university that had one of the finest botany departments in the world. He’d initially been considering sending the TK44 to Professor McDaniel instead of Lampman to research.

  Now it appeared McDaniel was going to get his chance at it after all.

  But not for long.

  “Go,” he told Ames. “Get a team up to Edinburgh right away. I want those samples and Bryson and Kirov brought back here.”

  “You want them alive?”

  “That’s what I said, didn’t I?”

  Oh, no, don’t kill them. I have plans for you, Hannah Bryson.

  CHAPTER

  14

  Marinth Science and History Museum

  Glyfada, Greece

  “That’s
it, isn’t it?” Kirov pointed to a large white building built atop an oceanside bluff. “The Marinth Museum?”

  He drove the rental car along the coastal highway with Hannah sitting beside him and Eugenia and Charlie in the backseat.

  “That’s it,” Hannah said. “I’ve never actually been there, but I’ve seen enough pictures to know what it looks like. There’s nothing else quite like it.”

  “It’s not open to the public yet, is it?” Eugenia asked.

  “No, the official opening is still a few weeks off. But the research labs have been in operation for over two years. Melis and her team are anxious to get a look at the TK44 alga samples we’re bringing.”

  “Does she know where we got them?” Kirov asked.

  “No, and it should probably remain that way. Plausible deniability, you know.”

  “Right,” Kirov said as he drove the winding road that took them to the museum’s back entrance. After passing through the security gates, they were met on the driveway by a tall young man obviously of Middle Eastern descent. He shook Hannah’s hand as she climbed out of the car. “Good to see you again, Ms. Bryson. I’m Dr. Aziz Natali.”

  “I remember you from the expedition.” She smiled. “You’re the one who never sleeps.”

  “Not when I’m on a project I love. But when I finish here, I’ll probably sleep fourteen hours a day.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Hannah introduced him to Kirov, Eugenia, and Charlie. “So where is Melis?”

  “She has a visitor and said she’d be late. She entertained him on the boat last night.” He motioned down to the coastline almost a mile below, where Fair Winds was docked next to a tram that connected the waterfront area to the museum.

  “The fund-raising never ends,” Hannah said.

  Aziz smiled. “In any case, she should be here soon.”

  Hannah was still taking in the spectacular vista before her, with the miles of the Greek coastline giving way to the breathtaking blue waters of the Aegean. “Not a bad place to come to work every day.”

  “I’d rather be out on the ocean, but this will do.” Aziz shrugged. “Melis tells me you have some special TK44 samples that should go straight to the lab.”

  Hannah lifted the portable cooler. “Right here. Just lead the way.”

  Aziz motioned for them all to follow him through the automatic sliding glass doors of the museum laboratories. “We’ve only been back a couple of days, but we’ve been working nonstop to try to crack this.”

  “Any success so far?” Hannah asked.

  “A little. We know that exposing these particular alga to high concentrations of nitrogen causes them to grow at an incredibly accelerated rate. They spread like nothing we’ve seen. But as far as we can tell, they wouldn’t represent a danger to local populations. There has to be something we’re missing.”

  Kirov pointed to the cooler. “The answer may be in there. Professor Lampman produced these in his lab. If you can analyze what he did, it might yield a solution. Some of his notes are also in there.”

  Aziz’ eyes lit with eagerness. “We’ll get right on it. Melis has made it our top priority.” He swiped his badge on a wall-mounted scanner, and the doors opened to reveal a large lab that literally gleamed with brushed aluminum and polished glass on almost every surface.

  Hannah looked around in amazement. “I can see why Melis is always fund-raising. This is incredible.”

  “It’s a dream,” Aziz said. “We just don’t feel like we’re studying history here. We feel like we’re making history. Melis Nemid has ruined me for every other job I’ll ever have.”

  “That’s not necessarily true,” Hannah said. “But you might have to go out and make your own amazing jobs.”

  “I guess you’re right. It worked well enough for you, didn’t it?”

  Hannah nodded. “And Melis.”

  Aziz took the portable cooler from Hannah and handed it to a lab assistant. “Prep these for the bioscanner, please.”

  “May we take a look around the museum itself?” Eugenia asked.

  Aziz nodded. “Of course. The tech people are still working on the interactive exhibits, but almost everything else is in place. I’ll take you down there.”

  Five minutes later, they entered the museum’s grand atrium, framed by half a dozen massive pillars that had been brought up from the ocean floor. Between the pillars were striking multicolored mosaics that Hannah remembered seeing in National Geographic after Melis’s first Marinth expedition.

  Eugenia spun completely around, trying to take in everything. “This is incredible. It makes me wish I’d lived in Marinth.” She looked at Hannah. “I had no idea they’d created things of such beauty.”

  “Most people don’t. It’s one thing to see a relic in a book or magazine, but another actually to stand in front of it. The Marinthians were technologically savvy, but they also took pains to make things aesthetically pleasing. They felt it would stimulate their creativity.”

  Charlie stood in front of a series of mosaics depicting a massive fishing party on the open sea. He shook his head in awe. “My father would have loved these. We went fishing together once. It was kind of nice.”

  Kirov stepped toward the mosaics. “Your father would have already planned how to walk out of here with them.”

  Charlie managed a smile. “That he would’ve.”

  “I’m sorry I’m late.” Melis was hurrying toward them. “It took me longer than I thought it would to get through breakfast and get up here.”

  “Forgiven.” Hannah gave her a hug. “Aziz told us you were wheeling and dealing with a guest.”

  “Wheeling and dealing? Yes, you might call it that.” Her gaze had zeroed in on Kirov. “You must be Kirov. I’ve heard about you. I’m Melis Nemid.”

  He stepped forward and took her hand. “And I’ve heard about you. You must be extraordinary for Hannah to feel such loyalty for you.” He introduced her to Charlie and Eugenia. “And your museum is magnificent. We dropped the TK44 samples in the lab but couldn’t resist a look around.”

  “Good. I want everyone to appreciate Marinth as much as I do.”

  “Not possible,” Hannah said. “But we can come close.”

  “Go ahead and look around. I have something to do, then I’ll meet you back at the lab.”

  Kirov nodded and started down the corridor with Eugenia and Charlie following behind. Hannah was about to go after them when Melis’s hand grasped her arm.

  “Wait. I have to speak to you alone.”

  Hannah looked at her in surprise. “Alone? There’s nothing about the samples that Kirov and Eugenia shouldn’t hear.”

  “It’s not about the samples. It’s personal.”

  Melis’s expression was grave. Hannah gazed at her in concern. “Is it Pete and Susie? Are the dolphins okay?”

  “I suppose they are. They didn’t come with me when I left Marinth.”

  “I’m sorry, Melis. I know that worries you.”

  “It does, but that’s not the problem.” She was moving down the corridor. “I got a phone call yesterday afternoon.”

  “Your Jed?”

  “Jed is fine. Will you stop making guesses and let me talk?” she added ruefully. “Though it might be easier if we made it questions and answers. It’s not about me, Hannah.” She opened a paneled door. “It’s about you. Someone is here to see you.”

  Hannah gazed at her in bewilderment. “What is this—”

  “I had to come, Aunt Hannah.” Ronnie stood up from the chair where he had been sitting. “Please don’t be angry.”

  She stared at him in shock. “Ronnie?” She couldn’t take it in. “What . . .”

  “I had to do it.” His dark eyes were desperately earnest in his thin face. “You need me. Please don’t be angry.”

  “Of course I’ll be angry.” She crossed the room and hugged him close with all her strength. “Later. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” He clung to her; his voice was muffled against her.
“I tried to stay, but I couldn’t. I had to know you were all right. I have to help you.”

  “The telephone, Ronnie.” She tried to steady her voice. “All you have to do is call me, and I’ll be there.”

  “You’re too far away. I have to be close, so I can take care of you.”

  She drew a shaky breath. “We’ve got to talk about this.” She pushed him away. “After you tell me how you got here. Did your mother bring you?”

  He shook his head.

  “Then how—” She was trying to get it straight, and what she was suspecting was not good. “Your mother does know that you’re here?”

  He nodded. “I wouldn’t worry Mom like that. She thought I was spending the weekend with my buddy Mark. I called her last night after I got here and told her where I was and that I was safe.”

  “And she didn’t know before? Ronnie, how could you just take off and leave your mom and Donna?”

  “They have each other. You don’t have anyone.”

  “I don’t need—” She ran her hand through her hair. “And how did you get here? You’re twelve years old and an unaccompanied minor. How did you get from Boston to Athens by yourself? Surely they wouldn’t let you on a plane without all kinds of signatures and an adult to give permission.”

  “It’s not that hard,” he said casually. “I checked it out on the Internet. I had a passport from that time Dad brought me to London to visit you at that Titanic site. I had money in my savings account from working at soccer camp last summer.”

  “But how did you get on the airplane by yourself?”

  “I wouldn’t have been able to do it on a U.S. carrier. But Europe an airlines are cooler about it. Unaccompanied kids travel all the time with no red tape at all. I just walked up to the ticket counter as if I knew what I was doing and got on the plane.”

  “Unbelievable,” she murmured.

  “That’s what I said,” Melis added from behind her. “You automatically think children are going to have volumes of rules and strictures to keep them safe.”

  Hannah had forgotten Melis was standing there. “And how did you get involved? How did you find him?”

  “He found me.” She smiled at Ronnie. “Though I was second choice. He came to the museum asking for you. When the receptionist told him that you weren’t here, he asked for me. He said that you told him that you were coming here.”