Anna frowned. “Were codes used back then?”
“Codes aren’t anything new. They’ve been around as long as language. People have always sought ways to communicate secretly with others.”
“I see. So what would Alexander the Great have been hiding?”
“Alexander the Great wasn’t doing the hiding. He was the thing being hidden. Or, rather, his body was being hidden. His tomb disappeared centuries ago. No one knows what became of him. On the surface of what I’ve learned in these scrolls, there may be an answer to where he is.”
“You think someone wants him found?”
“Honestly, I don’t know what anyone could think they were going to get.”
“What was special about Alexander the Great?”
“The man nearly conquered the known world while he was alive, and died young.”
“How did he do this? Did he have a large army?”
“He did, but that wasn’t all of it. Alexander the Great had a keen understanding of people and politics. His mentor, chosen for him by his father, was Aristotle.” Lourds hesitated. “You do know who that is?”
She frowned at him over the rim of her teacup. “I was trained in journalism at the Columbia School of Journalism. Aristotle wrote treatises on the art of writing and language. Trust me. I had to read them all. Several times.”
Smiling, Lourds nodded in mock surrender. “Of course. I stand corrected. I had forgotten about Poetics, the work he did on explaining dramatic theory and the literary form.”
“I will not ever be able to. The professor I had was very much in love with Aristotle and his writings.”
“You had a good professor.”
“Perhaps. But continue your tale. Did Aristotle somehow impart the secret of conquering the world to him?”
“No.” Lourds sighed. “But you’d think someone must have from where Alexander got and how fast he got there. He had a habit of holding up on the sword until he learned he couldn’t win over the hearts of a people.”
“Speaking of winning hearts.” Anna pointed at the ring box still sitting on the table. “Who is that for?”
Lourds hesitated for a moment. “Someone very special to me.”
“May I?”
Lourds handed her the ring box. “Be my guest.” He wondered what her reaction would be, and he thought himself foolish for being so concerned. But if Anna liked the ring, surely Layla would.
Anna opened the box and gazed at the ring. She smiled in delight. “Pretty.”
“I thought so, but the question is, will she think so?”
“If she decides she does not, I will be more than happy to take it off your hands.”
“Thanks, but I’m rather hoping she grows fond of it.”
Anna handed the ring box back to him. “So where is this woman? Why has she not called?”
“She’s very busy.”
“Too busy to wonder what has happened to you after today?”
“She probably doesn’t even know.”
“How could she not? The story is all over the news and all over the Internet.” Anna waved to the computer. “I’ve been following it in several places. There are CNN reports. FOX News. Several newspapers and online magazines. YouTube videos from survivors who filmed the attack and did video blog interviews later.”
Curious, Lourds took his cell phone out of his shirt pocket. His phone had been turned off. He powered it up. There were forty-seven missed calls from Layla and several dozen from other people, including both Tina Metcalf and Dean Wither.
“My phone was off. You’ll have to excuse me while I fix this.” Lourds got up from the table and walked over to the low wall surrounding the eating area. He punched redial on Layla’s calls.
She answered at once. “Thomas?”
“Yes. Sorry. My phone was off, and I’ve been busy all day.”
“My god, I’ve been worried sick. I got your earlier e-mail saying that you were joining Boris today. Why didn’t you call?”
“I knew you were busy.”
“Not too busy that I wouldn’t have taken time out to speak with you and find out if you were alive and all right. You are all right, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
“I’m sorry about Boris. It was on the news. I feel terrible. I heard about him, and I kept hoping that nothing had happened to you.”
“Nothing did.”
“Where are you now?”
Lourds gazed out into the darkness and saw the moon’s glow reflecting from the blue temple dome in the distance. “Herat.”
“Why are you still there?”
“Trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do next.”
Some of the worry left her voice. “Come here, Thomas. Come to me and let me see for myself that you are all right.”
“You’re busy.”
“Not too busy for this. If I had known where to go, I would have left when I heard the news. How soon can you be here?”
“It’s a six-hour drive. I’ll have to see if I can find a rental agency that will let me have a car. My last one was stolen.”
“Stolen?”
“Long story.” Lourds watched Anna. She was talking on her cell phone as well. He checked his watch. It was after eight o’clock. “Look, it’s late. You’re tired and I’m tired. Let’s both get a good night’s sleep and see if we can meet sometime tomorrow. I know you’ve got a full day packed with meetings.”
Someone at the other end of the phone asked for Layla’s attention. The person sounded frantic.
Layla evidently covered the phone with her hand because her voice grew muffled. “It will be all right. I will be there in a moment. Just keep making small talk.” Then she was back on the line. “Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“I will clear my afternoon. Get an early start in the morning, and I will see you then. I’m sorry, but I have to go. This fundraiser is very important.”
“I understand.”
“And if anything changes, let me know. Immediately.”
“I will.”
“Charge your phone. Keep it on. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Then she was gone.
Lourds pocketed his phone and returned to the table. He started packing his gear. “Let’s go see if we can find a place for the night. Hopefully there’s a hotel or bed and breakfast close by.” He left money on the table, and they flagged down a taxi in the street.
When the satphone vibrated on his chest, Linko came awake at once and scooped it up. “Yes.”
“We have information.” The FSB SIGINT operative on the other end of the connection spoke in bored tones. The SIGINT unit handled communications intelligence, gathering it from tapped phones and other communication devices.
“Tell me.” Linko sat up on the small bed in the cramped bed and breakfast he’d rented.
He’d searched in vain all afternoon for Lourds. He didn’t have many assets in Herat but did have a few, and he mobilized them all. Unfortunately, several Americans were in the city, and most of them were now interested in what was going on at the dig.
It was like Lourds and Anna Cherkshan had vanished.
“Lourds has contacted the Teneen woman.” Covert mercenaries hired by the FSB had tapped the woman’s phone in Kandahar.
“When did he call her?”
“He only now got off the phone with her.”
“This is the first time he’s called her?” Linko had trouble believing that.
“Yes. According to the communication he had with the woman, his phone has been turned off. He only now turned it on.”
“Where is he?”
“In Herat.”
“Still?” Linko struggled to imagine that. He had expected Lourds to run as far and as fast as he could. And to leave a trail. Linko had gotten information about the truck the American had rented and had been surprised when the vehicle turned up on a police impound lot after boys were caught joyriding in it. Any information Lourds had left in the vehicle would be hard to reach. Lourds had also switched off his GPS signal. The American professor was turning out to be wilier than Linko had imagined.