The Alexander Cipher Page 0,101
have made a Roman weep for joy. When he saw two four-by-fours and a container truck approaching, he stood, brushed the sand from his trousers, and climbed back into his cab. The vehicles slowed as they drew alongside. An interior light came on in the four-by-four, and Nicolas leaned out its window and motioned for Mohammed to fall in behind them. Mohammed gave him the thumbs-up and pulled out behind them. He followed the convoy a few more kilometers along the road to Siwa, then across the sands and deep into the desert.
GAILLE WAS OUT WALKING when she saw Knox and another man glugging bottles of ice-cold water under the awning of a café. It was a profound shock to see him, not least because she had been thinking of him all day, about his role in her father’s death and the letter he had sent her afterward. She hesitated but then walked over. He looked up, startled to see her. “Gaille,” he said awkwardly.
“Daniel.” She nodded.
“This is Rick,” said Knox, nodding at his companion.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
She turned back to Knox. “Can we talk? In private?”
“Sure.” He gestured at the road. “Want to take a walk?” When she nodded, he turned to Rick. “You don’t mind, do you, mate?”
“Take your time. I’ll get something to eat.”
Knox and Gaille walked off side by side. “Well?” he asked.
“I went out there today.”
“Out where?”
“To where my father died. Mustafa and Zayn took me.”
“Ah.”
She turned to face him. “I want to know what happened, Daniel. I want the truth.”
“I’m sure they told you the truth.”
“I think they told me what they saw,” replied Gaille, walking on again. “But that’s not quite the same, is it?”
He gave her a sideways glance. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You stuck with my father when no one else did. You wouldn’t have done that unless you cared about him. So why did you let him fall?”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. And you must have had a reason. And I think I know what it was. He was already dying, wasn’t he?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What was it? AIDS?”
“It was an accident,” said Knox.
She shook her head. “Mustafa and Zayn told me you snarled at them when they offered to help you with his body. All that blood. That’s why I’m thinking AIDS.”
“It was an accident.”
“And then, of course, you had him cremated so quickly.”
“I told you, it was an accident.”
“You’d have to say that, wouldn’t you, or you’d be complicit in insurance fraud.” Knox opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. In the darkness of the back street, it was tough to read his expression, but she persevered anyway. “He made you promise to write to me, didn’t he? To tell me he’d been thinking of me? Please. I just need to know.”
Knox was silent for a while. “Yes.”
She nodded several times. Although she had known it in her heart, it still took some effort to assimilate. “Tell me,” she said. “Tell me everything.”
“It wasn’t just AIDS,” sighed Knox. “His whole body was in meltdown. He had cancer; his organs were failing. It was just a matter of time. Time and pain. He was never the kind of man to eke things out in a hospital or be a burden. You should know that. He wanted to go on his own terms, in a place he loved. And he wanted to do something for you, to make up for being a bad father.”
“A bad father?” asked Gaille bleakly. “Is that what he said?”
“Yes.”
“And you just let him… go ahead with it?”
“He didn’t give me a choice. At least, my choice was to be there or not to be there. He was my friend. I chose to be there.” Then he added mulishly: “I’m sorry if you think that was wrong.”
“I don’t,” she said. “I just wish I could have been there, too.”
“You had your chance. He tried often enough to mend fences with you.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “You don’t need to tell me I’ve behaved badly. I know that. And I’m sorry.”
They had looped around in a circle. Rick saw them and waved, so they went to join him. “Cracking chicken and fries,” he said. “So you’re this famous Gaille, then?”
“Gaille, yes,” she acknowledged. “I don’t know about famous.”
“You are to me. Your man Knox here talks about you nonstop.”
“Shut it, Rick,” said Knox.
Rick laughed. “So how you getting on with your search?”
“What search?”
“Come on, love. Goods fit for the son of Ammon. ”
She looked back