The Spiders screeched across a wide boulevard which dissected the park in half and then mounted the opposite kerb to rejoin the gravel path leading to the world-famous tower.
Caleb was undeterred and ripped across the boulevard in pursuit while Zara opened fire once again. Her aim was low, and the rounds slammed into the gravel a few meters behind the rear Vespa, blasting clouds of dust and chips into the air.
“They’re too damned fast!” she cried out.
“They have the asset, Zara,” Ella said. “We are not letting them out of our sight.”
“River’s approaching,” Caleb said.
Zara leaned into the cab. “They’re not slowing down.”
“Are they in Seine?” Virgil yelled.
“For fuck’s sake, Virgil,” Zara muttered.
The Vespas pulled together and raced under the Eiffel Tower, scattering crowds of tourists and forcing two armed gendarmes to draw their weapons and open fire. One of the policemen hit Iveta’s arm and they all saw her crumple over in pain, releasing Mason’s bag and crying out in agony.
Molly Cruise never stopped, and now she followed the others through the narrow path leading out to the Quai Branly. Seeing the bikers slow down to drive through the gridlock on the busy road, the gendarmes vaulted over the low fence which divided the road from the tower and fired more shots.
Zara said, “Can’t believe they turned Paris into a warzone to try and snatch the asset,” she said. “It’s that sort of commitment that’s so sadly lacking in today’s youth.”
“Did they get any of them?” Ella asked.
“No,” Caleb said. “They drove right onto a boat and they’re already half a click down the river. All planned. Total pros. If it hadn’t been for those cops they’d have the asset.”
“The bag!” Mason yelled out. “Iveta dropped it — get it before the cops!”
“Already on it,” Caleb said, and slowed the cleaning truck as he steered it over to the bag Iveta had dropped when she was wounded. Pulling beside it, Zara hopped off the running board on the side of the truck and strolled to the bag.
A small crowd of bemused tourists had gathered, but they took a step back when they saw the American ex-cop stuffing a Glock in her belt before she stooped to snatch up the bag.
“What the hell’s going on?” said an Australian tourist, staring up at the cleaning truck and then back to Zara. “You nearly killed those guys!”
Zara’s face turned to a frown. “You got a problem with the city’s cleaning policy, bigshot?”
“No,” he said hastily, glancing down at the pistol. “Not at all.”
“Good.”
Zara waved the bag at Mason, and he nodded with relief when he saw the steel tube still safe inside it. “Thank God.”
“You want to deliver right now?” Caleb said.
“No time,” Mason said firmly. “We’ve got to get to Rome as fast as we can.”
Virgil’s upside down head appeared in Caleb’s window. “So what are we waiting for?”
Caleb pushed his face away, closed the window and put the truck in first gear.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Gaston Majerus picked up the telephone in his office and moistened his lips as he dialled the number. Outside his window, police were swarming around the museum in response to the shootout, and yet more were driving in the direction of the Champs de Mars where the Raiders had last been seen chasing the Spider crew.
“Shelto?” he said in a solid, single tone, coldly spoken.
“Yes.”
“Your life has been saved by serendipity.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Guess who walked into my museum a few moments ago?”
“Mason?”
Gaston could almost hear his Lion thanking God. “Yes. Turns out I know one of them. When he called me I simply couldn’t believe it, and they seem to have more enemies than just us. They were attacked in the museum by a team in riot gear.”
“Who?”
“Could be anyone, but it wasn’t us. No point in catching them until they have what we desire.”
“Do you know where they’re going?”
“Yes. They’re heading to Rome.”
“Leave it to me,” he said. “This time, they’re mine.”
“No. They have run rings around you too many times. This time you are to order Kiya and the Raven to hang back and trail them. No more interventions. When they know precisely where the Book of the Dead is, I will give the order to kill them, and not before.”
“Yes, Amadeus. As you wish.”
“Good hunting, Lion — and don’t let me down again.”
“No, Persian.”
Gaston cut the call and considered reporting to Benedict, but instead he lit a cigar and watched the police as they crawled over the museum in search of the Raiders and their attackers. He knew they would never find them — they were too good for the gendarmerie, and he didn’t want them to find them either.
They were going to lead Kiya all the way to Thoth’s Book of Spells.
Kiya felt her skin crawl as the man rubbed her shoulders and gave her what was supposed to be a reassuring smile. Schelto Kranz, or the Lion, as he was more properly known, was a weak but greedy man. These were two qualities that never mixed well and she always felt unnerved in his presence.
“Please, Kiya — take a seat.”
Kranz released his sweaty grip and indicated a low, leather couch running beneath a window in his office. When she sat down on the soft, worn leather, she prayed he would not sit beside her. Her prayers were answered when he took one of the chairs opposite the couch, behind a small, glass coffee table.
“You’re my third in command, Kiya. I trust you. I admire your skills, but you have let me down on this mission.”
“I know.”
“I’m covering for you as best I can, but Amadeus the Persian is starting to ask awkward questions about your performance. Tekin’s failure to deliver for OM has also not gone unnoticed.”
Kiya maintained her composure as she felt the sweat from Kranz’s grip cooling on her shoulders under the ceiling fan. “I will not allow them to beat me. I have never failed a mission and I’m not about to start now.”
He nodded but her words of reassurance had failed to lift the concerned frown on his face. “In Amadeus’s eyes, Dariush is not seen as a hero, dying for the Order in a brave way, but a fool who lost us Napoleon’s note. This is also how you and Tekin are being judged, and you have only one chance left before I will be forced to cut you loose. Without my protection, it will not take the Order long to hunt you down and have you neutralized.”
“I understand, but I will not fail. What are my orders?”
“You are to go to the Vatican Secret Archives and wait for Mason there. The Persian believes the codex is somewhere in the archive, but we do not know its exact location. He forbids you from engaging with the enemy until they have found the tomb and the Book of Thoth. Only then are you to execute them and secure the Book. Is that clear?”
Kiya listened carefully to the Lion’s words as he spelled out the Persian’s orders. She felt a wave of disappointment that she was not trusted to take the codex from them in Rome.
But orders were orders.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Thirty-eight thousand feet over the Swiss Alps, the Raiders, plus Eva Starling and Ben Speers were watching the worried face of Ezra Haven on a plasma screen on the partition wall. The American former NSA man dropped down into his seat and rubbed his neck. He looked troubled and tired. “It’s great news that you know the Nectanebo Codex is in the Vatican, but I just got some bad news.”
“What bad news?” Caleb asked his old friend.