“What do you mean?” Dane felt cold all over. “I saw you with her.”
Bones shook his head.
“It wasn’t her. They found a girl her size and coloring, then beat her beyond recognition.” Bones glared out at the water, as if he could take flight and chase down Locke and his men.
“Where do you think she is?” Dane couldn’t remember feeling more helpless.
“Enough!” Tam shouted. “I want to know who the hell this Locke is and why you almost got a whole mess of civilians killed out here.”
“Calm down, girl,” Willis said. He and Tam had fought side-by-side in the Amazon, and were on friendly terms. “Nobody likes an angry black woman.”
“I am not an angry woman, I just have a low tolerance for stupidity.” She glared at Willis until the smug grin melted from his face. “I suppose you can take the cuffs off of these two dummies too, and give them their weapons back. You boys won’t try to run, will you?”
Bones and Willis shook their heads, both looking like chastened schoolboys.
“Even the dagger?” the agent standing behind Bones asked, holding up Carnwennan.
Tam’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the odd weapon.
“What kind of knife is that?” She took it from the agent and held up for a closer look. “You boys have a whole mess of explaining to do.”
“I know,” Dane said. “But not until we go somewhere private, and the sooner the better. We’ve got to find out what Locke’s done with Angel.”
“Fine,” Tam sighed. “I commandeered an office downstairs. We’ll go there.”
“Do you want us to go with you, Ma’am?” The agent who had handed her the dagger looked at Dane and the others like they were about to sprout fangs.
“No. Just take the lead here. You know what to do.” When the agent looked uncertain, she raised her voice. “Agent Paul, as hard as it might be to believe, I owe my life to these three stooges. I’ll take one man to guard the door, but that’s it. I’ll be safe with them. Besides, they just might be able to help us.” She turned back to Dane. “Come on. This sounds like it’s going to be a long story.”
On the way downstairs, Dane remembered something.
“So, when did you become CIA? Last I knew, you were FBI.”
“Oh, right about the time somebody stirred up a branch of the Dominion in Germany.” Her glare left no doubt whom she meant. “All of a sudden our little domestic problem became international.”
“Hey, I filled you in on that right away,” Dane protested.
“Yes you did.” She sounded neither pleased nor upset. “Funny how you keep butting heads with the Dominion, but you don’t want to join in the fight against them.”
Dane didn’t bother to argue. They’d had this conversation before. The previous summer, Tam had asked him and his crew to join her in her work rooting out the Dominion.
When they settled into the small office in the museum section of the Constellation, he wasted no time bringing her up to speed.
“So, we’ve got the dagger and the spear, but Locke still has Angel,” he finished.
Tam looked down at the dagger lying across her lap.
“You’re telling me this thing is…”
“Carnwennan. King Arthur’s dagger. We also have his spear.”
“Oh, holy Lord Jesus.” She rested her head in her hands. “Would it kill you to have an ordinary life?” She sighed for what felt like the twentieth time, and handed him the dagger. “You really expect me to believe not only was King Arthur real, but that thing belonged to him? It doesn’t exactly look ancient.”
“Think about what we found in the Amazon,” Bones said. “Then ask yourself if this seems any more unlikely.”
“I don’t suppose it does, at that, but it’s hard to get used to.” She stood and moved to the window that looked out on the harbor. “You’ve got the spear and the dagger. Aren’t you missing something important?”
Dane, Bones, and Willis exchanged glances. They’d discussed this very subject. The way they saw it, the final map could only lead to one thing.
“We have a lead on one more map,” Dane said. “My sister is looking into it.”
“Avery Halsey?” Tam turned around and grinned at him. “You finally found her?”
“Yeah, she’s… Wait a minute! You knew about her?” Dane trusted Tam, but to find out she’d been keeping a secret like this hidden from him? It was hard to swallow.
“Not until recently. I’ve done my homework on you and your whole posse. By the way,” she turned to Willis, “there’s a stripper in Detroit who said to tell you the baby is yours.”
“What?” Willis gaped at her.
“Don’t worry about it. I checked. The boy’s daddy is a five foot nothing Latino.” She smirked.
Willis sagged, visibly relieved.
“How do you know all this stuff?” Bones asked.
“I’m with the government, sweetie. We’ve got resources you’ve never dreamed of.”
“Any other long lost relatives I should know about?” Dane asked, only half-jokingly.
“Oh no. You don’t get access to privileged information.” She paused. “Unless you’re ready to take me up on my offer.”
Dane grimaced. Arguing with Tam was pointless. She was one of the most focused people he’d ever met.
“You never told us how you wound up here,” Bones said. “What’s the Dominion’s connection to all this?”
“I don’t know how they’re connected. For months I’ve mostly combed through the phone and financial records of suspected leaders in the Dominion, but I haven’t gotten anything solid. Just suspects from every walk of Christendom. And then, after not hearing a peep from them since your Christmas vacation…”
“Shitter was full!” Bones said in his best Cousin Eddie voice.
Tam went on as if he hadn’t spoken.
“…we finally got a hit on Heilig Herrschaft. You know, your German Dominion buddies. Two suspected members, twin brothers, were instructed to be here at one o’clock today and to intercept something the Dominion wanted. We were waiting for them to make their move, so we could get them and whatever it was they were after.”
“And then Maddock screwed it up,” Bones finished.
Dane ignored the jibe. His thoughts drifted back to something Tam had said moments before. She had tremendous resources at her disposal. But would she agree to help them?
“Tam, look, I’m sorry we interfered. You do know we had no way of knowing the Dominion was involved?”
She sat down in an antique wooden chair and drummed her red lacquered fingernails on the armrest.
“I’m sensing you’ve got more to say and, whatever it is, it’s going to make me cuss. I don’t even have my swear jar here.”
“We need help finding Angel. The only clues we have are Locke and the museum. For all we know, they’ve taken her to England. We don’t have a prayer of tracking her down, but you can.” He took a deep breath. “Please?”
Despite her prediction, Tam didn’t cuss. She stared at him for a full ten seconds. Bones and Willis looked on, afraid to break the silence. Finally, her features softened.
“You’ve got a thing for this girl, don’t you?”
Dane couldn’t stop his face from reddening, nor could he keep himself from looking at Bones. To his surprise, both Bones and Willis looked to be on the verge of laughter.
“The lady asked you a question, Maddock.” Bones crossed his arms and smiled expectantly.
Dane couldn’t find his voice.
“Wait a minute!” Willis laughed and slapped his thighs. “You’d take on a whole army with nothing but your bare hands and never flinch, but can’t admit you like a girl?”
“He doesn’t like her,” Bones said. “He loves her. He can’t hide something like that from me.”
“I want to hear it from him,” Tam said, clearly enjoying the moment. “Well?”