It was to be an exception, no commitment. No ties that would interfere.
Then why did she feel that the bonds were there? All the stronger and more enduring for the denial of their existence. Ignore it. Tavak had given her an extraordinary night that was off the charts on the sensuality scale. But he had also thrown in freedom, and that was a priceless gift.
Accept it. Don't ask for anything more.
She threw back the covers, got out of bed, and headed for the bathroom. The night was over, fading into the past. Shower and start the new day.
Forget about anything but that blasted mastaba wall.
* * *
"Wiley's on the move!" Tavak strode into Demanski's suite four hours later. Rachel, Allie, and Demanski were already gathered in the large living room.
Allie pointed to the wall. "We know. We're watching it on TV."
Tavak turned to see a wall-mounted plasma television connected to Demanski's laptop. A Chicago street map was displayed on the screen with a pulsing yellow dot indicating Professor Wiley's position.
Demanski picked up his phone and jacket. "I've already called down. They're bringing the Escalade up to the main entrance. I figure we can set up somewhere on campus and keep an eye on him there. He only has one class today, right?"
Tavak nodded. "A morning lecture class, then he has office hours until one. After that, it's anybody's guess."
Demanski turned to Rachel and Allie. "If you two would like to stay here, we can call you once he begins to move again."
Rachel clucked her tongue. "Oh, I see. The boys will take care of the cloak-and-dagger stuff, and the girls will eat breakfast on the terrace, hang out at the spa."
"Have a facial, then a massage," Allie added. "And then, if we're not too exhausted, maybe some shopping."
"Forget I suggested it," Demanski said.
"I'm already trying to forget it," Allie said. "Because I'd hate to have to—"
"Wait a minute." Tavak suddenly moved closer to the television screen. "Are you seeing this?"
"What?" Rachel said.
"Wiley." Tavak studied the screen for a moment longer. "He just turned onto I-90 heading east."
Rachel nodded. "He's heading away from the college."
"And away from the city," Tavak added. "Now where are you going, Professor?"
Demanski was already heading for the door. "Let's move!"
Two minutes later they were buckling up in the rented Escalade and seven minutes after that they were on the Chicago Skyway heading out of town. "How close are we to Wiley?" Rachel asked.
Tavak checked his GPS. "Probably another seven or eight miles. Keep an eye out for that gold Toyota."
Ten minutes later, Demanski suddenly pointed ahead. "That's Wiley's car, isn't it?"
Rachel could see little more than a speck of gold in the distance.
Tavak eased off the accelerator. "Yes."
She turned toward him. "Why are you slowing down?"
"We're in farmland now. It's practically deserted out here. We can't let him know he's being followed."
Allie leaned forward. "You have a file on him, Tavak. Does he have family out this way? A girlfriend? A lake house or something?"
"Not according to any information I have on him."
Demanski checked the map screen on his phone again. "Tavak, we need to talk about what's going to happen if he leads us to the pot of gold."
"What's there to talk about? If we see the mastaba wall, we figure out a way to take it back."
"I already have a way."
Tavak's gaze narrowed on his face. "I can hardly wait to hear what it is."
"I set up a private security force on standby back in Chicago."
"You what?"
"One phone call, and they're on the road. They'll secure the location until the police can get here."
"We'll see."
"We' ll see? Dammit, Dawson took that mastaba wall away from me. I want to take it back. Do you have any better plan?"
"It depends on where we end up."
"Tavak, there's no way we could pull off a military operation like that one on the bridge in St. Petersburg. We don't have any razzle-dazzle weaponry, and in case you haven't noticed, none of us is exactly Green Beret material. We need help."
"We'll see."
"Will you stop saying that?"
"Okay. I'm just telling you that this game doesn't always go to the one who plans every move. Try going into a third-world military base with no weapons and making off with an eighty-million-dollar fighter jet without getting captured or shot out of the sky. It helps to go in with an idea how you're going to pull it off, but mostly it's about instinct and thinking on your feet."
Demanski threw up his hands. "I wouldn't need to sneak into that base because I'd hire qualified people to take care of it."
"People like me. So relax."
"You're making that very difficult."
Tavak sped up to keep Wiley's car in view. "I'm not going to do anything stupid. I just want to see where Wiley is going and reconnoiter the area to see the possibilities. I'm leery of involving the police until we get some quality time alone with that wall. The Russian government has made it clear that you're no longer the official custodian of anything you were given from their museum. Once the police are involved, we may not be able to get near it."
"He's right," Rachel said. "We don't know how much time we're going to need."
Demanski looked at her in surprise. "You, too?"
"I'm just saying we should keep an open mind. And I agree we have to know what Wiley is up to." She shrugged. "Anyway, this could all be moot if Professor Wiley is just skipping work to spend the day at his favorite fishing hole."
Demanski nodded. "Okay, we'll play it your way for a while, Tavak."
But they'd only driven another few minutes when Demanski began to curse.
"What is it?" Allie asked.
"I've lost his signal."
"The GPS tracker transmits through the cell phone towers," Tavak said. "The coverage may have just dropped out."
"Do you still see him?" Rachel asked.
"Possibly." Tavak grimaced. "Look."
Up ahead, a beige-and-cream Gulfstream jet lifted into view and soared into the sky.
"I don't believe it," Rachel said.
"You'd better start." Tavak pointed to a road sign that read MCCOY AIRFIELD I MI. "It's a private airport. Wiley may have had a plane waiting for him."
"Shit!" Demanski cursed. "Shit shit shit!"
"That would explain why his signal dropped out of range," Tavak said. "It's a damn bad break."
"A bad break?" Demanski said. "That's all you have to say?"
Tavak nodded. "Yes. If he's on that plane, it's a bump in the road, nothing more."
"Will the tracking signal start up again once he lands?" Rachel said.
"It should, but I'd rather not count on that. I'll talk to the people at the airstrip. The pilot of that jet would have filed an itinerary, but that's no guarantee of where the plane is really heading. Still, it's a good place to start." He glanced at Rachel. "Let me go in alone."
She shook her head.
"There's no reason for any of you to tag along. I'm not used to having to work by committee."
She shook her head again. "Together."
Tavak muttered a curse as he pulled off at the tiny airstrip, which was no more than a single runway, an open hangar, and a small tower. There were no planes in the hangar; only an eighteen-wheel tractor-trailer stood inside.