The Persuasion

by Iris Johansen

  “Perhaps he will,” MacDuff murmured. “I’m thinking about it.” Then he strolled across the room and placed his hand on the vault door. “But I guess I should join my friend in this nonsense. Come along, let’s do it, Angus.”

  “As you wish, sir.” Angus Wilson crossed the room and placed his hand on the vault panel beside MacDuff’s.

  The panel lit with a green glow.

  “Satisfied?” MacDuff murmured to Caleb. Then he taunted softly, “But don’t think that you’re off your knees yet. There’s still that retina ID to go.”

  “MacDuff,” Jane whispered. “Stop it.”

  “Oh, very well.” He sighed. “But baiting him is probably the only amusement I’ll receive tonight other than that fine whiskey I brought with me.”

  “I believe you’ll survive,” Caleb said. “And we’re wasting Mr. Wilson’s time when all we need to do is get into that vault. That retina ID has always fascinated me. What about you, MacDuff?”

  MacDuff nodded. “And this one is particularly sophisticated. Not only identification, but the ability to signal an alarm just by blinking twice into the camera. I insisted on it. I understand you did, too, Angus?”

  Angus nodded and strode over to the vault. His fingers played down the complex series of keys, then he stood in front of the vision scan with MacDuff until the green light came on. “It’s as good as it can be, but it has fallacies. I’d prefer not to have the human factor enter into it.”

  The vault door slid open.

  “There it is.” Angus shrugged. “I’ll wait here for you. Then let’s get this foolishness over and get out of here.” He went back and sat down at his desk.

  “I’m in complete agreement,” Caleb said as he and Jane entered the vault. “Whew, close,” he breathed once they were inside. “And by all means we’ll definitely get out just as quickly as we can.”

  “How close was it?” Jane asked. “What happened with Wilson?”

  “Very close. And it seems we got lucky. Angus is susceptible to the persuasion on a minor level, but evidently it wears off after a time and has to be redone. That last reinforcement I did out there should last for a few hours at least before he comes to realize that this whole scenario is bullshit.” He opened the next door of the vault and gave a low whistle as he gazed at several chests overflowing with jewels and artifacts. “Stunning. And tempting. Jane, can you find the Judas coins?”

  “Yes. MacDuff and I discussed vault placement when he first deposited the treasure at the Royal Bank of Scotland after we found it.” She went to the wall units and pulled out the first drawer. “Numero uno importance.” She tucked the coin drawer in her briefcase and fastened it shut.

  “A matter of opinion,” MacDuff said as he strolled toward them from the vault opening. “I’ve always preferred inspiration to betrayal. Do you need anything else?”

  “No, you’ll be relieved to know we leave the rest safely here in the vaults,” Caleb said. “Campbell and Smythe are packing up two chests containing what will appear to be a magnificent collection of gold and jewels identical to the ones here. They’ll carry it out and put it in the van tailing us that you were so suspicious about, MacDuff. It should be parked out in front by now. Then we’re gone and over to you.” He turned to Jane. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded. “I’m ready.” She headed for the door. “MacDuff, you take care of Angus and the others. They only did what they thought they should.”

  “He’ll have no trouble,” Caleb said. “The guards have their orders that will keep them safe and remove any post-command that I inserted in two hours. You’ll only have to worry about Angus, MacDuff. Give him those couple of drinks you promised, and then take him home. That last post-suggestion I gave him may take three to four hours to erase. Stay with him until you’re sure he’s forgotten what happened tonight.”

  “I’ll handle it,” MacDuff said quietly. “I’ve had enough fun putting you through hell for one night. Now I’ll play lord of MacDuff’s Run and do my duty to queen and country for a while.” He suddenly smiled recklessly. “I’m fully capable of making sure Luca doesn’t know that, instead of lying dead in this vault, I’m trying to drink Angus under the table.” He looked at Jane. “You just take care of her. I’ll see you later, Jane.” He strode out of the vault, blocking Angus’s view as Caleb and Jane moved toward the elevator. “Okay, Angus. I gave Jane one of my minor treasures to show security that the theft could be done. Come in and give a glance around to see that nothing else of value was taken.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “Then we’ll lock up and break out the whiskey. Sound good?”

  He nodded. “I didn’t mean to be difficult, sir.”

  “You’re not difficult. You’re an honorable man, Angus. I’m sure Caleb appreciates that as much as I do now.” He grinned. “Now, will you look around quickly so that we can have that drink?”

  “Aye, my lord.” Angus smiled back as he stood next to MacDuff at the vision scan and then ducked into the vault. “I won’t be a minute…”

  * * *

  Jane watched Campbell and Smythe as they slammed the rear door of the van after depositing the two chests inside. She was breathless as she turned back to Caleb after the two guards walked back into the bank. “Done?”

  He put his finger on his lips as he took out a small metal box and pressed a button. He waved it around the car and then studied it. “Done.” He put the device away. “I just had to make sure that Luca hadn’t bugged the van.” He pressed the GPS. “We’ll probably be followed by that other van, but I don’t think we’ll be stopped as long as we head for the airport.”

  “It went well, didn’t it?”

  He nodded. “His men saw us with two crates of supposed treasure. They also saw us with no troublesome MacDuff, which presumably means we killed him. We’re on our way to the airport to get our flight plan to go to pick up Tomas and deliver Luca’s booty to him. In short, we’ve given Luca everything he wants.” His lips twisted. “Of course, the major problem might be the check-in of the treasure chests with Luca’s man at the airport.”

  Jane’s gaze flew to his face. “But you said you had it covered.” She frowned. “And I hate it that you wouldn’t tell me how we’re going to be able to do it.”

  “I think I do have it covered. We’ll have to see when we get there. Have a little patience…” He looked down at the GPS. “Ten more miles…”

  * * *

  The GPS led them into the cargo section of Diarmid Airport and straight to a large hangar occupied by a blue-and-cream-colored Cessna twin-engine plane.

  But no one was in the hangar and Jane instinctively stiffened.

  “Trap?” she whispered.

  “Maybe. But I don’t believe Luca would be that stupid. He’d know I wouldn’t blunder into a trap with a cargo full of treasure without making sure I could get out of it.” He opened the driver’s door and got out of the van. “Just in case, stay in the car until I check it out.”

  “Which means you’re doubtful about exactly how stupid he might be,” Jane said. She was opening her door as she spoke. “I don’t believe he’s stupid, but he’s egotistical and likes power plays. He might get carried away.” As she got out of the car, her hand slipped into her pocket and closed on the handle of her gun. “And we can’t let him do that.”

  “Jane, this is not a good—”

  “Be quiet. You’re trying to keep me as far away as you can from all of this. But you’re doing this for me and Tomas. I won’t let you do it alone.” Her eyes were flying around the hangar. “There’s a camera on the wall over there. That’s not a good sign, is it?”

  “No one ever said Luca was a trusting soul,” Caleb said. “I thought that he might want to check up on whoever he sent to verify his treasure. He didn’t disappoint me.” He gave a derisive wave at the camera. “Let’s see if he gives the go-ahead to his person of choice to come out and do his duty.”

  A moment later the utility door in the rear of the hangar opened. “Let’s
get this over. Luca is getting impatient.” Russell Davron strode over to the van and opened the rear door. He loaded the two chests onto a cart and wheeled them toward the Cessna. “Stay away from me, Caleb,” he said nervously. “Luca said that you have a deal and that I was in no danger. But he needs me to check these and he won’t be happy if you interfere.”

  “And we do want him to be happy.” Caleb stepped forward and helped Davron load the chests into the plane. “See how cooperative I’m being?” He stepped to one side. “By all means examine MacDuff’s treasure, which will soon be Luca’s. With a generous portion to go in my own pocket, of course. After all, no one would have been able to claim any of it except for me.” He looked up at the camera and said softly, “You would have been totally helpless, wouldn’t you, Luca? I do hope it’s making you feel totally inferior?”

  “Everything seems to be in order.” Davron was shining a light on the interior of the first chest. “Incredible…This necklace alone is worth a king’s ransom, Luca.” He opened the other chest and shone the light once more on the interior, tilting it toward the camera. “You can see for yourself that it’s all totally amazing…” He suddenly frowned. “It all seems to be in order, but I don’t see the Judas coins.”

  Caleb was no longer smiling. “That was not in our arrangement.” His tone was ice-cold. “Those are mine.”

  Davron shook his head. “I was told to make sure they were included.” His eyes flew pleadingly to the camera. “Unless Luca has changed his mind?”

  “Caleb, no.” Jane was at his side, her hand grasping his arm as he took a step toward Davron. “It’s going so well. Don’t risk Tomas’s life now.”

  “I want them.”

  “Please.” Her eyes were glittering with tears. “Can’t you try to negotiate those damn coins later? Take something else instead?”

  He hesitated and then shrugged. “Give them to him. But I will have them, Jane. I won’t let Luca cheat me. It’s only a matter of time.”

  She quickly took the coin box from her briefcase and thrust it at Davron. “Verify them, and let us get out of here.”

  Davron quickly opened the padded box, took out one of the coins, and examined it closely. “Authentic.” He turned the box around and displayed the coins for the camera. “Age is correct. You’ll need a numismatic expert to tell anything else.” He let it remain on view for another moment and then closed the box. He opened the lid of the treasure chest nearest him and slipped the coin box inside.

  “May we go now?” Caleb asked impatiently.

  “One more thing.” Davron turned to Jane. “Before you board the plane, I’ll need to have your gun.”

  She tensed. “What?”

  “Luca said that Caleb is a rather unique case, and removing his weapons might not be of value.” He held out his hand. “But to have you without any way to defend yourself could be of benefit. Luca said to tell you he not only likes to see you helpless, but it might be the very best weapon he could use against Seth Caleb.”

  She hesitated and then slowly took her gun from her jacket pocket and handed it to Davron. “If Luca keeps his deal with Caleb, then there won’t be a need for weapons. Now may we leave? Tomas must be terrified alone with Luca and his father.”

  Davron jumped down from the plane and was already hurrying toward the door of the hangar. “The flight plan is on the pilot’s seat.” He turned to Jane. “Don’t fight Luca. He might let you live if you don’t make him too angry.” Then he was striding quickly out of the hangar.

  “Let’s go.” Caleb was lifting her into the plane. The next moment he was climbing into the pilot’s seat and taxiing out of the hangar. He didn’t speak until they’d taken off and reached altitude. “I wasn’t expecting him to take your gun. I don’t like it.”

  “Because it proved that you’re not able to completely pull every string? We both should have expected it. I am a weapon against you.” She drew a long, shaky breath. “I just have to figure out a way not to let it matter.” She looked over her shoulder at the chests in the back of the plane. “I take it we don’t have to worry about the plane being bugged? You said that you had it covered, but would it have hurt you to explain that you had Davron in your pocket?”

  “Probably not. But I wanted your every expression to be perfectly natural, and you have a tendency to let your feelings show.”

  “And of course you don’t have that issue.”

  He nodded. “Though I do have my moments. This couldn’t be one for either one of us. Nothing could go wrong.” He glanced at her. “And it didn’t. You handled the Judas coins just right.”

  “It might have gone better if you hadn’t caught me by surprise. All you told me was that you expected a confrontation and you wanted me to distract.”

  “It gave Davron a chance to keep Luca from not thinking of anything but the coins and not demanding a closer inspection of the other treasure chests.” He smiled. “You did beautifully.”

  “And you sound patronizing. How did you know he’d choose Davron to authenticate the treasure?”

  “Davron was as close to an art expert as Luca had among his men. Also Luca obviously had a vast contempt for him and thought he wouldn’t have the guts to ever betray him.”

  “Except when he did,” she murmured. “He was trying to warn me when we were at Fiero.”

  “Don’t get all soft. He helped Luca bring you to Tower House. But I knew he was probably ripe for Barza to get him to come over if we pushed hard enough.” He added, “And he did, and that’s all that’s important.” He was gazing down at the automatic pilot. “No, this is more important. That location to give Joe…” He quickly scrolled through the autopilot menus to see the program’s end point. “It’s north, toward the mountains…” Then his eyes narrowed on the screen. “Yes.”

  He swiftly punched in Joe’s number.

  “It’s about time,” Joe said when he picked up. “Where?”

  “St. Giles. How quick can you get there? We’re about twenty minutes out.”

  Joe was muttering a curse. “Not as bad off as we could be. We’re almost to the foothills. But it will be at least forty-five minutes before we can get there. You’ll have to stall.” He paused. “And you’d better do it damn well. I told you Luca is going to want to kill Tomas in front of Jane. And Michael says he’s so eager to do it that he’ll pounce on you as soon as he can.”

  “We’ll stall.” Caleb glanced at Jane and then reached over to take her hand as he saw her expression. “But it might be a trifle difficult to do. So we’d appreciate if you’d put on speed to keep us from looking foolish in front of Luca.” He cut the connection and smiled at her. “Not that we ever would, but I thought I’d light a fire under Joe. Mustn’t let him get too complacent.”

  “Complacent?” She was shivering. “You heard him. Luca wants me as an audience. It would surprise me if he hasn’t rigged up another crucifix for Tomas on the runway.”

  “It’s possible. But we need to give Joe a little time to get there and take the heat off the boy. Let’s see, right now Luca will think he’s on his way to getting everything he wants. He’ll be heady with triumph.” Caleb’s gaze was narrowed thoughtfully on the horizon. “He’ll believe killing us and Tomas will be the icing on the cake, his final act before he flies off into the sunset with his treasure and his great destiny.”

  Jane’s eyes were focused on his intent face; she could see he was thinking, plotting, planning. “Then how can we stop it?”

  He didn’t speak for a moment. Then he suddenly smiled and snapped his fingers. “Why, by pulling that comfortable rug right out from under him.” He released her hand and nodded at her briefcase. “And make him think that fate has taken a nasty hand in spoiling everything for him. Go check your computer and see what you can find out about the St. Giles area.”

  “What am I looking for?” She was quickly flipping up the lid as she spoke, her shaking fingers accessing Google. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe there’s any useful listin
g here under fate, Caleb.”

  “Sure there is. It’s under a subheading of Mother Nature. You know I have a home up here in the Highlands and there’s no territory I’m not familiar with here. Including the countryside around the St. Giles area. I don’t remember any mountains…”

  “No mountains. Though there are foothills a little to the north.” She had found the topographic map of north Scotland. “Most of it looks like flat farmlands right before the foothills start. Is that important?”

  “Infinitely.” He was checking the autopilot and running it to the final destination. “And no lakes near the property.” His gaze went to the darkness beyond the windows. “It should be almost dawn by the time we reach St. Giles House.”

  “What are you looking for?” She reached out and grasped his arm. “Tell me. I went along with you keeping that bullshit with Davron a secret from me. Maybe you were right, and I might have given something away to Luca. You appear to know him better than he knows himself these days.” She held his gaze. “But this is different. This is Tomas, and I won’t be left in the dark.”

  “I wasn’t going to leave you in the dark,” he said quietly. “We have to delay at least forty minutes for Joe to get here. The plan was to have Joe, Tovarth, and his men from the Yard take out Luca’s men before we hit the tarmac. Because if I land this plane on that runway, we’ll probably be surrounded in a heartbeat. If I don’t land it, Luca will go into a rage and kill your friend, Tomas, out of sheer frustration.”

  “I knew all that,” she said impatiently. “But you’re not going to let that happen. You’re smarter than Luca and you’ve already thought of a way, haven’t you? Now I want to know what it is.”

  He was looking at her intently. “I believe you do trust me.”

  “Of course I do. And I always will. How many times do I have to tell you? You can be very obtuse, Caleb.”

  “Point taken.” He smiled slowly. “Permit this obtuse individual to tell you how we’re going to give Joe and Tovarth the time they need to rescue us without raining down fire and brimstone on the boy.”