Temple of the Gods (8 page)

‘I’m only interested in Stikes,’ Eddie said impatiently. ‘Do you know where he is or not?’

Strutter leaned closer. ‘No. But,’ he added quickly, ‘I know someone who does. I put the word out to my contacts, and I heard back from a man in Yemen, who had spoken to another man in Pakistan—’

‘I don’t care who talked to who. I just want to know what they said.’

The sharpness in Eddie’s voice warned Strutter to stick to the facts. ‘Okay, okay. There is an American called Scarber, Madeline Scarber, in Hong Kong. She knows where Stikes is.’

‘So where is he?’

Strutter shifted uncomfortably. ‘Well, the thing is, my friend . . . she would not tell me. She will tell you – but only in person.’

Eddie had never heard of Madeline Scarber, and didn’t like that the reverse was apparently not the case. ‘Why?’

‘I don’t know. But that’s what she told me.’

‘How do you know she’s not working for Interpol? Or Stikes, for that matter?’

Strutter shook his head. ‘People I trust have vouched for her.’

‘The only people you trust are on banknotes, Strutter,’ Eddie said scathingly. ‘You’ve spoken to her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Recently? Like, just now?’

‘Before I came here, yes.’

‘Call her. I want to talk to her.’

The Kenyan wasn’t happy at the prospect. ‘I don’t know if that is a good idea.’

‘Flying all the way to Hong Kong to meet someone I don’t even know on your say-so isn’t a good fucking idea either. Make the call.’

Strutter reluctantly acquiesced. After a brief exchange, he held his phone out to Eddie. ‘She’ll talk to you.’

‘Good.’ He took it. ‘Madeline Scarber?’

‘Speaking,’ came a dry, rasping voice. Scarber was clearly a chain-smoker; she sounded quite old.

‘I’m told you’ve got some information for me. About Alexander Stikes.’

‘You betcha. I know where he is now, and where he’ll be for the next couple of days.’

The silence that followed became long enough for Eddie to think that the connection had been lost, until he heard Scarber cough faintly. ‘So . . . you going to tell me, or what?’

‘Or what, I’m afraid. For now. I’ll tell you how to find Stikes, but I want you to do something for me in return.’

‘My rates are two hundred quid an hour, and you provide the condoms,’ Eddie said irritably. ‘Kissing costs extra.’ Scarber made a sound that could have been a laugh. ‘Whatever you want me to do, I’m sure you could find someone to do it in Hong Kong. All I want is information.’

‘And you’ll get it. But only face to face. And I’d get here pronto, if I were you. When Stikes leaves, I don’t know where he’ll go. Call me on this number when you arrive. See you soon, kiddo.’

‘Arse,’ Eddie muttered as the phone went silent. He noted down the number, then returned it to Strutter. ‘Was she the only lead you had on Stikes?’ The other man nodded. ‘I might have fucking guessed.’

‘What did she say?’

‘She wants me to do some job for her before she’ll tell me anything.’

‘What job?’

‘I don’t know. And I doubt it’ll be anything good, either.’ He blew out a frustrated breath. ‘Looks like I’m going to Hong Kong. Phooey.’

N
ina entered the restaurant with some trepidation. The last time she shared a meal with Larry Chase, the evening had not gone well. Eddie had been estranged from him for over twenty years, the reunion taking place only at Nina’s urging . . . and father and son immediately resumed old hostilities, to the point of almost coming to blows.

And according to Eddie’s sister Elizabeth, when the two men briefly met again shortly after Eddie had gone on the run, their conflict indeed became a physical one.

Nina knew that Eddie had met Larry in the Colombian capital a few days before the fateful night at the Peruvian pumping station. Whatever they had discussed, though, he kept to himself. But despite his closed mouth, it was clearly something Eddie had considered very serious.

In all honesty, if not for this black hole in events, Nina probably wouldn’t have agreed to meet her father-in-law and his second wife at all. While she found Julie Chase pleasant enough, Larry’s arrogance was far less appealing. But there was the possibility of learning what had happened in Bogotá, which might provide new insight into subsequent events . . . and there was also a chance, however small, that Larry could have news about Eddie.

Larry and Julie were already seated, and the maître d’ guided Nina to their table. ‘Nina, hi!’ Julie chirped. ‘Great to see you again.’

‘Hi, you too,’ she replied as Larry stood to greet her. She somewhat awkwardly accepted his kiss on the cheek, then sat facing the couple. Even the restaurant’s low lighting couldn’t hide the age gap between them; Julie was over twenty years younger than her husband. ‘This is, uh . . . kind of a surprise.’

‘We’re here on holiday,’ Larry announced. ‘Doing a quick tour – New York, New England, San Francisco.’

‘Sounds like fun. Though I’m not sure you picked the best time of year for it. September would have had much better weather than November.’

‘Well, to tell the truth,’ said Larry, leaning closer in an exaggeratedly conspiratorial way, ‘I’m attending an international logistics conference in Frisco, but I’m claiming the whole trip as a business expense. Just don’t tell the taxman, eh?’ He laughed, Julie joining in with a giggle. Nina put on a thin smile.

‘But I’ve wanted to come to the States for ages,’ added Julie. ‘We’re going skiing in Vermont, which sounds lovely.’

‘I’m flying us to the lodge,’ Larry bragged.

Nina was surprised. ‘You’re a pilot?’

‘Oh, yes. Helicopters. Tremendous fun.’

‘He’s
not
a pilot,’ said Julie, teasing. ‘I bought him a flying lesson for his birthday last year, and now he thinks he’s Airwolf. He’s only done it four times.’

‘Five times,’ Larry corrected.

‘No, I’m sure it’s – wait, did you go on a flight without me?’

‘Yes, when I took Jim and David from the golf club up for a spin last month. I told you about it.’ Julie’s slightly hurt expression suggested to Nina that he hadn’t. ‘Anyway, yes, I’ll be flying us up there.’

‘I’m sure it’ll be great,’ said Nina, not especially caring. ‘But you came to New York first?’

‘You have to see New York when you visit the States, don’t you? I think it’s mandatory now, like having your fingerprints taken at immigration.’ He shook his head. ‘The stories I’ve heard from American immigration officers about how useless that whole system is . . .’

‘I’m sure Nina’s not interested in talking shop, love,’ chided Julie. She turned to the redhead. ‘So what have you been doing since we last saw you?’

Despite her best efforts, Nina couldn’t hold back her sarcasm. ‘Well, I discovered the lost city of El Dorado, and then my husband disappeared and is now wanted for murder.’

There was an awkward silence.

‘I’m . . . I’m sorry,’ Nina eventually said. ‘It’s just that the last three months have been . . . stressful. To say the least.’

‘No, no, don’t apologise – I shouldn’t have asked such a silly question,’ Julie said sympathetically. ‘It must have been horrible.’

‘It still is. But thanks.’

‘Have you . . . have you heard from Eddie? Or anything about him?’

‘No. Not directly,’ Nina replied, the sudden angry bitterness behind the words surprising even her. ‘According to Interpol he’s alive, but beyond that I don’t know.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Julie looked at her husband as if expecting him to follow up her question, but he offered nothing.

A waiter glided over to the table, asking if they were ready to order. Larry shooed him away. Nina turned her gaze to her father-in-law. ‘You actually last saw Eddie after I did, in England. Elizabeth told me about it, but . . . what about you? Why did Eddie hit you?’

Larry was annoyed to be reminded. ‘He caught me off guard,’ he said, unconsciously raising a hand to rub a long-faded bruise on his jaw. ‘Unbelievable. Right after Catherine’s burial service, too. I can’t believe he was so disrespectful.’

Nina knew that was the last thing Eddie would have wanted to do; of all his family members in England, he had been closest to his late grandmother by far. ‘He must have had some reason to be so angry at you.’

‘God knows what,’ Larry said huffily. ‘He shows up out of the blue, starts ranting on at me, and then
pow
! Smacks me in the mouth.’

Nina raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘Ranting? About what?’

‘About some friend of his who’d died.’

‘Do you mean Mac? Jim McCrimmon?’

‘Yeah, him. He blamed me for it, for God knows what reason.’

She gave him a deeply suspicious look. ‘And why would Eddie do that? Was it anything to do with when he met you in Bogotá?’

Larry said nothing, but Julie rounded on him. ‘Wait, you met Eddie in Colombia? You didn’t tell me about that!’

‘I’m sure I mentioned it,’ Larry said uncomfortably.

Scowling, the blonde turned away from her husband to address Nina. ‘I’m trying to remember what Eddie said – I’m sorry, I was so surprised to see him, and the whole thing happened so fast, I didn’t really get it all. But he said . . .’ Her frown deepened with the effort of mental dredging. ‘He said Larry talked to someone about you, about El Dorado – and then this guy turned up there.’

‘Stikes?’ Nina suggested.

‘Yes, that’s it! Stikes.’

Now it was Nina’s turn to round on Larry. ‘You talked to
Stikes
? About me?’

‘He was a client of mine,’ Larry replied defensively.

‘He was
what
?’ The last word came out as an angry yelp, drawing the attention of other diners. She dropped her voice to a furious whisper. ‘You were working for Alexander goddamn Stikes?’

‘I told Edward the same thing I’m going to tell you,’ said Larry, bristling. ‘He was just a client who asked me to arrange the shipping of some goods on behalf of
his
clients. His company was a legitimate British business, and none of the goods were illegal or on any international watch lists. So I did nothing wrong.’ He slapped both hands down on the table for emphasis. ‘
Nothing
.’

Nina was already putting the pieces together, and not liking the picture they formed. ‘And these clients of his: they wouldn’t have been General Salbatore Callas and Francisco de Quesada, would they?’

The answer emerged with considerable reluctance. ‘Yes.’

‘A murderer who tried to overthrow the Venezuelan president, and a drug lord?’

‘What they do for a living isn’t my business,’ Larry protested. ‘Do postmen carry out background checks before they give someone their mail?’

‘Postmen don’t pick and choose who they deliver to,’ Nina countered. ‘You do.’ She thought for a moment, still fuming. ‘I didn’t know about any of this – but Eddie must have, before he saw you in Bogotá. What happened?’

The waiter reappeared. ‘Not now,’ Larry snapped, before continuing with bad grace: ‘All right, yes, I made a delivery to de Quesada in Colombia.’

‘Let me guess,’ Nina cut in. ‘Two Inca artefacts, one of which was made of solid gold and weighed about two tons?’

‘It was a hell of a job to transport, let me tell you,’ said Larry almost with pride, before the glares of the two women reminded him to stick to the point. ‘But I made the delivery and de Quesada was impressed at how quickly I’d arranged everything, so I gave him my card in case he might put any future work my way. But I didn’t think any more of it – until Edward turned up at my hotel. With my business card. He threatened that if I didn’t give my entire fee to charity, he was going to turn the card – with my fingerprints on it, obviously – over to Interpol and have me implicated in whatever the hell was going on.’

‘That would be murder, robbery, an attempted coup and drug smuggling,’ Nina reminded him. ‘Just to start with.’

‘None of which had anything to do with me! But do you have any idea how much being accused of involvement in that sort of thing could damage my business? Obviously I was worried – and I don’t take threats lying down, especially not from my own son. So I called Stikes to see if there was anything he could do to fix the situation.’

‘And . . . what? You told him that we were searching for El Dorado in Peru?’

A pause, Larry choosing his words with care. ‘It came up,’ he admitted. ‘Stikes asked about you – I didn’t think anything of it,’ he said defensively as Nina’s look darkened. ‘He wanted to know where you were. I assumed it was because he might want to straighten things out with you.’

While for the most part Larry did not resemble his son physically, being taller and thinner-faced, their eyes were all but identical, and Nina knew one of Eddie’s subtle expressions well enough to recognise the same on his father: he was dissembling.

‘But you must have known that Eddie and Stikes weren’t exactly old army buddies.’

‘Not until Edward told me,’ Larry insisted. ‘When Stikes first contacted me, he said he was actually a friend of his, and that Edward had recommended me to him for a job.’