The Oracle (Fargo Adventures #11) - Clive Cussler Page 0,11
napkin, looking Remi in the eye. “I don’t know why I didn’t say something sooner, but Hank thinks that Warren’s been skimming money from the dig. I thought for sure Hank was wrong, but when he showed me the pages in the ledger, there was no doubt. Warren denied it when Hank and I confronted him. He was even going to sit down with you and Sam this morning. He promised to straighten everything out when you got here, but then he never showed, the accident happened, and, well, now you know.”
Her words came out in such a rush, it took Remi a moment to process them. “Warren?” She tried to reconcile the man she’d met with what her friend was telling her. “I don’t believe it. He seemed so—”
“Quiet? Unassuming?”
“Well, yes, but I thought that was just a thing. Not that he was a crook.”
“That’s the only thing that makes sense.” She paused as two men walked into the restaurant, standing off to the side, their gaze landing on Remi and Renee a second longer than Remi felt comfortable with. The men looked away and Renee continued on, saying, “When Hank took over the books and found those discrepancies, I was shocked.”
“How long ago was this?”
Renee hesitated, looking distinctly uncomfortable at Remi’s question. Finally, she gave an embarrassed smile. “Two . . . Three weeks before you called.”
Sam was not going to take this well. “You should have said something.”
“I know. I guess Hank and I were both hoping we were wrong. But with Warren taking off on the very day you and Sam show up . . . ? I still can’t believe he’d do this to me.” She gave a ragged sigh. “The biggest reason is, I was embarrassed. All that money you gave us. Gone.”
Before Remi had a chance to comment, the strangers hovering near the entrance started toward them. While highly possible that they were simply two men interested in polite conversation with two women sitting alone at a table in a bar, her gut instinct told her otherwise. She edged her hand toward the silverware, wrapping her fingers around the handle of the knife, and quickly assessed which of the two she’d take down first.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you.
– AFRICAN PROVERB –
I’d hate to see you cut your visit short, Mr. Fargo.”
“I’m just glad you’re both okay, Pete,” Sam said, cell phone to his ear, as he took the stairs down to the lobby. “So we make a little side trip before we drive out. I know Remi will agree. This school is near and dear to her heart.”
“The biggest issue is that it’s going to delay us. The project . . .”
That was something Sam definitely wanted an update on. But he saw his wife in the restaurant just then. “You can tell me about it when we get there. Let me go break the news to Remi.”
He dropped the phone in his pocket, barreling past the two men who were also walking that direction. They took one look at Sam and did an about-face. Sam noticed Remi’s gaze on them as they made a hasty departure. “Did I miss something?”
“Not sure,” Remi said. “Your untimely arrival sort of put a damper on things.”
Renee glanced out toward the men as they pushed through the lobby doors and made for the parking lot. “Honestly, I thought they were merely trying to pick us up.”
Remi casually slipped the knife she’d palmed onto the table, her smile telling Sam she thought otherwise. “Something on your mind?”
He glanced out the window as a dark sedan took off, the car’s tinted windows preventing him from seeing in. While the location of the hotel was fine, they had driven through some sketchy areas on the way back from the hospital. It wasn’t unheard of that guests at hotels were often victimized, especially if they looked like helpless women who’d make easy targets. “Change of plans,” he said. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Why?” Remi looked at her friend, then back at him. “I thought we had at least another day.”
“Something came up,” he replied. “Supply truck for the school never made it.”
“What do you mean ‘never made it’?” Remi asked.
“Highway robbery. I’ll tell you in the car while we drive Renee back.”
* * *
—
Hank stared in surprise when Sam opened the front door, holding it for Renee as she hobbled into the house she shared with the other archeologists. “LaBelle,” he said, jumping up