Mitchell did not doubt it. “Okay, have it your way, old man.”
“I will.”
“Nate, if you truly think you’re up to it, can you dash down to the parking lot at the base of the mountain and find us a car you can hotwire? We’re going to need something to get us to Santiago.”
“Yeah, can do.” Jackson rolled his neck around; the sound of his bones cracking and popping reminded Mitchell of popcorn cooking over a fire. He set his weapon down and walked gingerly to the elevator. With both Jackson and Yuri taking care of important tasks, Mitchell made the call to his mentor.
55
The Aurora
Restful sleep was eluding Sam. After at least an hour or two of tossing and turning, she rolled over and gently nudged Cardinal. He responded by grunting in his sleep. Sam scrunched up her face and shook him harder.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” said Sam.
“Was I snoring?” Cardinal mumbled, rolling over to look at Sam.
“No, I can’t sleep.”
“So you woke me up?” said Cardinal as he reached for his watch on the nightstand. “Do you know what time it is?”
“Yeah, but I just can’t switch off my mind.”
“I wish I could switch you off.”
Sam shook her head. “That’s not even funny.”
“Sorry. What’s got you so bothered?”
Sam turned on a light and sat up in bed. She pulled her legs up to her chest. Anxiety filled her eyes. “I don’t know, exactly. I just have this terrible feeling that something bad is about to go down.”
“Like what?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t know.”
Sam’s cell phone buzzed.
“Who the hell could be calling us this early in the morning?” asked Cardinal. “This can’t be good.”
Sam shrugged, reached over, saw it was from General O’Reilly and answered the call. She had barely managed to greet him, when O’Reilly was already speaking.
Cardinal watched the expression on his lover’s face grow more concerned by the second. “Right, sir, I’ll call you back right away, ”said Sam before she hung up.
“What’s up?” asked Cardinal.
“The general was just speaking with Ryan, and he said that there is a plot to sabotage the conference.”
“Did he say when?”
“No. the only thing he knows is that it is going to happen before the conference wraps up later today. He also claims to have evidence that General Davos is behind the plot.”
Cardinal swung his legs out of bed and stood. “We need to warn Mrs. Milos and alert the ship of the danger.”
A couple of minutes later they arrived outside of Elena’s cabin. A couple of Portuguese special police patrolled the quiet corridor, keeping watch on the sleeping delegates. Sam knocked on the door.
“Yes, who is it?” said Elena, her voice tired and distant.
“Ma’am, it’s Gordon and me,” said Sam. “We really need to speak with you.”
“One second,” replied Elena. The door opened and Elena motioned for them to come in. She was wearing a long housecoat, and her usually stylish hair was a mess.
Elena picked up a phone and spoke to room service. “I’d like a pot of coffee and three cups to be delivered to my room as soon as possible.” She hung up and took a seat.
“So, what is it you’d like to talk to me about?” asked Elena.
Sam took a second to collect her thoughts. “Ma’am, my friends have uncovered a plan by General Davos to seize control of your government.” For the next few minutes, she passed on what she knew and how Davos intended to change the course of Greece’s future.
Elena was poker-faced. Sam had expected her to lose her cool. Instead, Mrs. Milos looked as though Sam had told her nothing more than the weather forecast.
“Are you sure of your facts?” Elena asked Sam.
“I’m as sure as anyone can be when passing on third-hand information,” Sam replied. “However, when you look at all that has happened, there is only one man who could have been behind it. As the clandestine leader of Greece’s neo-Nazi movement, General Davos could have easily orchestrated the killings in Belguim and Cyprus that precipitated this crisis. Please don’t forget the attempts on your life in the States and Canada. When you add in your brother’s and Makris’ mysterious disappearances, it doesn’t look good for Davos and his suspect bodyguard.”
Elena shook her head, her expression sad. “I have never liked General Davos, but to believe that he is behind all of this is hard to swallow.” She closed her eyes. “It appears that my fears have been realized; Stavros is dead.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry to say it, but Sam’s right. There can be no other reasonable explanation,” said Cardinal.
There was a knock at the door. Cardinal turned and looked through the peephole. He saw that it was a young, red-jacketed waiter, carrying a carafe of coffee on a silver tray. He looked back at Elena and said, “Coffee’s here.”
“Please let him in, I could use a cup right about now,” she replied.
Cardinal unlocked the door and ushered the waiter inside.
The server stepped inside and placed the tray on a table. He smiled and turned to leave.
“One second; for your troubles,” said Cardinal, as he reached into his pocket for a tip for the young man.
Like a trap being sprung, the man shot his left foot out and closed the door. Spinning on his heels, he shot out his right hand into Cardinal’s stomach, doubling him over.
Sam leaped from her chair, only to come face-to-face with a pistol the attacker had deftly drawn from a concealed holster behind his back.
“Sit down!” warned the man.
Sam glared at the assailant for a couple of seconds before taking her seat.
“You too,” said the man to Cardinal. “Sit. Now.”
“Who are you?” demanded Elena.
“That’s none of your business,” replied the gunman arrogantly, screwing a silencer to end of his pistol. He grabbed a chair and took a seat by the door, well out of arms’ reach of Sam and Cardinal.
“What do you want?”
“I want all of you to shut up and just sit there.”
Elena sat up in her chair. “Young man, I don’t know who you are used to dealing with, but I won’t be bullied by you or anyone else.”
The assassin brought up his pistol and aimed it at Sam’s head. “One more word out of any of you and I’ll kill the Asian woman, followed by the man.”
A tense silence gripped the room.
“That’s better,” said the man. “Now, Miss Chen, I’d like you to ever so slowly reach into your pocket and pull out your cell phone.”
Sam did as she was ordered and dug out her phone.
“Toss it to me,” said the gunman.
Sam reluctantly threw her phone to the man, who snatched it out of the air.
“Now you,” said the killer to Cardinal.
With both phones in his possession, the man said, “Now, sit tight. Any attempt to get up will result in death, so don’t try it. I couldn’t possibly miss from here.”
Sam and Cardinal exchanged a look. They were at the mercy of a cold-blooded killer; how long they lived was out of their hands.
56
G650 Gulfstream Jet
Over the Atlantic
Mitchell looked around the luxurious interior of the plane in which they were seated, and wondered just how much it had cost Yuri—or, more accurately, the Russian government—to rent. Flying in the fastest civilian jet ever made, the flight from Santiago to Lisbon was going to take just over ten hours; much faster than if they had taken a commercial flight.
As they were still technically wanted men, Mitchell had asked Lieutenant O’Higgins to look the other way for a few minutes while they vanished into the night. The Lieutenant had been more than happy to oblige, after all Mitchell had done for him and his men. To ensure that Davos still thought his plan had succeeded, Mitchell had made Karras cal
l his boss and tell him that the treasure had been taken, and that it would be moved to Argentina without delay. As the trucks arrived in the hotel’s parking lot, waiting to be loaded with treasure, the drivers were all detained. A complete news blackout was now in effect until the Chilean government could take stock of what they had found. It would be days before an official announcement was released.
Yuri and Jackson were both fast asleep. Ryan stared at the Russian. Yuri really should have gone to the hospital to be checked over, but he refused. He was going nowhere until Sam and Gordon were safe, and frankly, Ryan couldn’t blame him. Mitchell sat back in his plush, white-leather chair and stared out the window. He was still too wound up to put his head down and rest. He looked into the darkness outside, and knew that somewhere, far below, were the cold, gray waters of the Atlantic Ocean. His stomach rumbled. Mitchell had eaten before takeoff, but he was still famished. He got out of his chair and walked to the galley, where he found an apple. He took a bite and savored the taste.
Mitchell knew that he would have to try to sleep before too long, or he would be no good when they arrived in Lisbon. There was, however, one last thing he wanted to do. He returned to his seat and picked up a phone that was built into the armrest. He dialed Sam’s cell phone and waited for her to answer. After a few rings, it went to voicemail. “Hey there, Sam. It’s Ryan, just checking in on you. You must still be fast asleep. I’ll try back in a few hours.” He placed the phone down. It was unlike Sam not to answer her phone. He decided to try Cardinal’s as well, and got the same response.
Something wasn’t right. He could understand one not answering, but both? Mitchell called Donaldson’s number. Mike groggily answered on the second ring.
“Mike, It’s Ryan here. I can’t reach Sam or Gordon. Could you try? There could be that there’s a problem with the plane’s communications equipment. I’d feel better if I knew someone could reach them.”
“Yeah, sure. Hold on,” replied Donaldson as he tried their numbers on another line. “I’m not getting them, either. This is really odd.”
“Mike, please keep trying. If you don’t get hold of them in the next thirty minutes, call the head of security at the conference and ask them to check on Sam and Gordon. I’ll call you back in an hour and see how things are.”
It looked like sleep was going to have to wait. Mitchell stood and began to pace.
An hour later, when he called Donaldson, the news could not have been any worse. Mike had still not managed to reach either Sam or Gordon, and the head of security would not waste the manpower to go and check on a couple of private security guards.
“Did this pompous jackass give a reason for not bothering?” asked Mitchell.
“He said he and his men are too busy,” explained Donaldson. “It would appear that there are a fair number of private bodyguards on the ship, and as far as he’s concerned, they’re all on their own.”
Mitchell’s temper was brewing. “Well, when I meet this idiot, I’m going to have few choice words with him.”
“Ryan, there’s nothing you can do from ten thousand meters, so leave this with me for the time being,” said Donaldson. “I’ve got a few contacts with the State Department that owe me the odd favor. I’ll call them and see if the security detail with the Secretary of State can swing by their room and check on them.”
“Thanks, I’d appreciate that.”
“Try and get some rest.”
“I’ll try,” said Mitchell, knowing full well that he would be unable to sleep until he knew that his friends were all right. He checked his watch and saw that it was still six hours before they landed. They were going to be six very long hours.
57
The Aurora
Sam and Cardinal sat up the instant they heard the door unlock, but their hopes of rescue were instantly crushed when Davos and his bodyguard, Drakos, entered the room. Both men had an arrogant swagger in their step. Davos wore his full-dress uniform, while Drakos was clothed in a loose-fitting blue suit. Elena Milos had been dozing on and off in her chair. She woke and looked bitterly at Davos.
Drakos pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Cardinal. Next, he threw a pair of handcuffs at Sam. “Secure his hands behind his back.” She glared back at him. “Do it, or I’ll kill your boyfriend right before your eyes.”
“Do as the nice man says, Sam,” said Cardinal. Sam cuffed him and sat back down. Within seconds, she was also in handcuffs.
“Mrs. Milos?” said Drakos, holding a third set of cuffs.
“No, she may need to answer her door throughout the day,” said Davos.
“General, you disgust me. You soil the very uniform you wear,” said Elena.
“There is no need for you to be angry with me, Elena,” responded Davos, as he took the seat vacated by the man who had been guarding the prisoners.
“How should I be, then, General?” retorted Elena. “You can kill me like you did my brother if you wish, but you will never get away with your plan to depose the Prime Minister. The people will never allow the army to take control of the country. This isn’t the nineteen-sixties.”
Davos smiled. “My dear, that is where you are wrong. We sold our country’s soul and independence to the European Union bureaucrats in Brussels. The nation needs a man who can lead them out of this crisis in the Aegean and restore our national honor, and I will be that man.”
“You are delusional. There are far too many security personnel on this ship to let you get away with whatever you are planning.”
The lights in the room flickered for a few seconds before plunging them into darkness. A few seconds later, the lights turned back on.
Davos looked down at his watch and said, “Six-fifteen; precisely on time.”
“What is on time?” asked Elena.
“Please, Elena, I have no intention of telling you or anyone else what is coming. It would spoil the surprise. Suffice to say, none of you are going to leave this room alive.”
“Then why even bother to come in here and talk to me? Your goon could have killed us all hours ago.”
Davos stood. “Because I hate you, Elena, and everything that you stand for. It is precisely because of people like you that I am forced to do what I must today to save our country from ruin. Democracy is a failure. Only a man with an iron will can save our nation.”
“Listen to what you are saying. Blaming me won’t absolve you for your crimes.”
“Your brother foolishly thought the same way. That is why I had him eliminated.”
Tears welled up in Elena’s eyes. “You’re a monster.”
“No, I’m a patriot,” countered Davos. “Now, you might as well make yourself comfortable, as you’re going to be here all day. Unfortunately, you came down with a nasty stomach bug during the night and won’t be able to participate in the final day’s work.”
“Your plan won’t work,” said Elena. “Alya Elmas and I have been working on a joint proposal that we were going to present to our respective delegations this afternoon.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. Miss Elmas received a call last night that her sister was in a car accident. She was flown off the ship by helicopter nearly two hours ago, to catch a flight home.”
“The Prime Minister needs me.”
“The Prime Minster needed your advice the first two days. Today, he meets one-on-one with his Turkish counterpart and the U.S. Secretary of State. Trust me, no one will be looking for you.” Davos turned and left the cabin.
Elena felt crushed. Davos had clearly thought through every possible turn of events.
Drakos placed his pistol back in its holster. He looked at the gunman dressed as a waiter. “You have their cell phones?”
“Yes,” replied the killer, as he handed Drakos Sam’s and Cardinal’s phones.
Drakos pocketed the phones. He glanced down at his watch. “At precisely twenty-one-hundred hours tonight, when the U.S. Secretary of State is addressing the delegates, you can kill the two foreigners. Don’t s
hoot them in the head. I want you to make them suffer for all of the trouble they have given us to date.”
“What about the traitor?”
Drakos’ voice turned cold. “Shoot her in the leg and leave her to burn with the others.”
The gunman smiled. “It’ll be my pleasure.”
Drakos looked at Sam and Cardinal.“Before I leave, you should know that this room is bugged. I placed the listening device myself the day after Mrs. Milos arrived. I’ll be listening in, so don’t try anything stupid. It will only accelerate your executions.”
Drakos opened the door and exited the room.
Behind her back, Sam twisted her wrists. After a few seconds, she gave in. It was no good. They had secured the cuffs tight around her wrists. She let out a deep sigh and sat back in her chair. For now, she was trapped.
In the engine room of the ship, a sweat-covered, overweight technician in blue coveralls stood and shook his head. In his hands was a fried circuit board. “I told them to replace these before we took on this assignment,” said the technician to the ship’s engineer.
“We can’t stay on batteries for the rest of the day. Can you fix it?” asked the engineer.
“Sure, but I’m going need some new boards to be flown over right away.”
“I’ll speak to the captain and arrange for whatever you need to be brought over as soon as possible.”
“How long do you think it will take to get everything up and running again?”
“Once I have everything, it shouldn’t take me more than an hour to do the repairs. It’s actually a fairly simple job.”
“That’s good news,” replied the engineer, sounding quite relieved.
“Since there is nothing I can do right now, with your permission, I’m going to get some breakfast and meet the helicopter when it brings over the spare parts.”
“Yes, of course. Enjoy your breakfast. You’ve earned it.”
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