“Of course. Everybody who knows anything about him knows what he was looking for.”
“We were wondering if he succeeded.”
“Oh.” She broke into a spasm of laughter.
“You think it’s funny?” Alex said.
“I think it’s hysterical, Mr. Benedict. If you knew the man, you’d understand that if he found anything like what you’re suggesting, he’d have told the world. Within twenty-four hours. It’s all he cared about.”
“Did he care about it even more than he cared about you?”
That hurt. I saw it in her eyes. “Yes,” she said after a moment. “He didn’t care about me that much. We were friends. That’s all.”
Alex’s voice shifted a notch. “Is the tablet here?”
Her eyes widened. “I’d invite you to look, Mr. Benedict, but I don’t think you’re entitled to that privilege. And I think prolonging this conversation will simply be a waste of time.” She got up. “I really must be going.”
The condo had a kitchen, a dining area, and, if my guess was right, two additional rooms. “Ms. Bannister,” Alex said, “I’m prepared to make a substantial offer if you would simply allow us to examine the stone.” He named a figure. It would have bought a luxury skimmer.
Rachel looked at me. “Chase, you need to find a more rational associate. I do recommend you look into a position at Survey.”
“Let us see it,” Alex said, “and we’ll say nothing to anyone. If that is what you wish.”
She walked over to the door and told it to open. “I wish I had it, Mr. Benedict. So I could take your money.” She smiled pleasantly. “Good evening.”
“Good evening,” Alex said.
As we passed out into the corridor, she lingered in the doorway. “I’m disappointed, Mr. Benedict. After everything I’d read about you, I had expected more.”
Alex faced her. “You understand, Ms. Bannister, that you’ve taken unlawful possession of an object that is covered under the General Antiquities Provision Act?”
“What are you talking about?”
“If the tablet is what we think, it can’t be acquired by a private individual. It’s protected.”
“You’re being silly, Mr. Benedict. You just finished telling me that Somerset owned it.”
“In a presumptive sense. In fact, an object like that belongs to everyone.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“If you refuse to cooperate, you’ll leave me no choice but to notify the authorities.”
“Do as you like. I’m not sure what it will do to your reputation when they get here and discover you’ve been making it all up.”
“What’s the General Antiquities Provision Act? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Actually, it exists, but I don’t think it outlaws private ownership—”
“Then why—?”
“Use your imagination, Chase.”
“Alex, don’t you think she’ll look it up? She’ll find out quickly enough you, um, weren’t being truthful.”
“I don’t think we need worry about that.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a law, Chase. It’s a hundred pages of fine print written in legalese.”
I shrugged. “I think she’s telling the truth,” I said, as we rode the elevator down.
“That brings us back to the original question.”
“Which is—?”
“Why isn’t the tablet in the river? Does Doug Bannister strike you as a guy who would be interested in artifacts?”
“His wife might.”
“I don’t think Doug’s wife is in charge here.”
“So what’s next?”
“You feel like doing a stakeout?”
“A stakeout? Here?”
“It shouldn’t take long.”
EIGHT
We can never say that anything is lost beyond all chance of recall. In the end, even the sea gives up its secrets.
—Eskaiya Black, Lost in Aruba
We didn’t have a decent view of Rachel’s building from the parking area, so we went airborne. Alex didn’t want to tell me what we were waiting for. Instead, he got that smug look and said I should just sit tight.
So I let him enjoy his moment. Then I asked whether he really believed she was sending for Doug again.
“Sure,” he said with that big grin. “What choice does she have?”
We drifted around and watched. After about twenty minutes, the white, split-wing Sentinel came out of the western sky, homed in on the Square, and descended onto what was probably Rachel’s private pad behind the building. A door opened, and Doug popped out, followed by Brian. They climbed up onto the covered walkway, out of our view, and must have gone in through a rear entrance.
“We going down to confront them?” I asked.
“And do what? Let’s just watch.”
They’d been inside about ten minutes when they reappeared, carrying what might have been a packing case. It looked big enough to contain the tablet.
The case was obviously heavy. They struggled with it but got it to the Sentinel. A door opened and they pushed it into the backseat. Then both climbed on board, and the skimmer rose into the night.
“Where do you figure they’re going?” I asked.
“Don’t know. I assume a more secure place to stow the tablet.”
It was dark by then, the last vestiges of the sunset lost in the lights of a thousand airborne vehicles. The sky was full of moving stars. The Sentinel surprised us by entering an eastbound lane. Outbound, toward the ocean. We remained with them, but stayed far enough back to avoid discovery. I hoped.
We moved across the city and arced out toward the beaches. The traffic turned north and south along the coast, but the Sentinel kept going.
Just offshore and south of the city, a large brightly illuminated emporium, the Majestic, occupied a quarter of Liberty Island. Its upper deck provided landing pads, and I thought for a moment that was where they were headed. But they maintained altitude and kept going as the remaining traffic peeled away. “Alex,” I said, “if we stay with them, they’ll know we’re here.”
“Can’t help it, Chase.”
“Where are they going? You think there’s a boat out here somewhere?”
“They’re going to dump it.”
“Why on earth would they do that?”
“I have no idea, Chase. For whatever reason, Rachel wants to keep it out of our hands. If that means dropping it in the ocean, that’s what she’s prepared to do.”
“What do you suggest?”
He shook his head. “Damn. Open a channel to them.”
We got a quick blip of static. Then Doug’s voice. “Go ahead, Benedict. That is you back there, right?”
“What are you guys doing?”
“I think you can guess.”
“Why?”
“None of your business. The thing’s taking up space, so we’re getting rid of it.” He growled. It was a thin, almost pathetic sound. “Go the hell away.”
“Listen, guys, that thing is worth a lot of money. I’m willing to pay for it.”
“How much?”
The notion suddenly broke over me that this whole thing was a con job. That we were being set up.
“I’ll give you a thousand. And match it for Brian.” That would be considerably more than either of these characters could earn in a year.
“That’s pretty good money. Why’s it worth so much, Alex?”
“I’ve told you why. The engraving uses symbols nobody’s seen before. We don’t know the source.”
“It was probably just somebody screwing around.”