other news?”
“Ambassador Harden. He’s been passing on information to Adami. And Adami hinted that Harden was reporting to someone higher up.”
A long stretch of silence on the other end, then finally, “Yes, of course we heard about the warehouse and the bioweapons being destroyed. Everyone here is ecstatic.”
Translation: McNiel wasn’t about to reveal to anyone in that room that he knew there might be a mole. “Unfortunately,” Griffin continued, “Adami got part of the map. A very small piece if that’s any consolation. But it also renders the part we have as unusable. There was nothing we could do.”
“Clearly we know your next mission.”
Recover the rest of the map to stop Adami. Griffin realized the others had grown silent, and he glanced up, saw them all staring at him. Tex had an odd look on his face. “I should go,” he said. “I think we should get Tex to a hospital.”
“Tell him I’m glad he’s safe.”
“I will.”
Griffin disconnected. “What’s going on?” he asked them.
“This,” Sydney said, lifting up the sketchbook, showing him her drawing of the mosaic on the columbarium floor. And then she held up the parchment and what was left of the labyrinth beside it.
The map. There on the columbarium floor the whole time.
Outside, he heard the helicopter starting up. He shook himself, ran from the room. Giustino and the other officer were just getting on. “Giustino!”
Giustino stopped, looked back.
“Any chance we can commandeer that helicopter one more time? There’s something important we need to see in Rome. And time is of the essence.”
The following evening,
en route to Fiumicino airport, Rome
Sydney shifted in the front seat of the car, trying to get a glimpse of the Colosseum, its arches lit against the black night sky. “Are you sure we don’t have time to stop? It’s the Colosseum, after all. When in Rome…”
“Not a chance,” he said. “You have a plane to catch, and I intend to make sure you’re on it.”
“There is no way I’m going to miss it. It’s not as if I have a reason to stay this time. I know who killed Tasha, and you now have a complete copy of the map—though Francesca wasn’t too happy to learn you ripped up the floor of the columbarium after you got your photos. I think she would like to have had her own photos to publish, since as far as she knows, no one has ever seen the floor from that high up to determine the pattern on it.”
“She can’t complain too much, since she will be helping us research the Old French so that we can decipher the labyrinth and find out where the map leads to. Once we have the location secure and stabilized, she can publish the photos anywhere she wants.”
“And the scientists you rescued? Do they get any credit?”
“What they’re getting is new identities to ensure their safety and keep their work from falling into enemy hands. According to Dr. Balraj, Dr. Zemke did more to set back Adami’s plans than Adami ever realized. She was genetically engineering a super-plague that was more of a super-dud. It looked virulent in the lab, but its DNA was faulty.”
“No one ever suspected her?”
“One of his scientists did, but she managed to convince him that the test sample he was viewing had been contaminated. She said it was a matter of days before they would have realized that she was working against them. Regardless, Adami had enough material down there to cause some serious damage, even without creating a super-plague. Her fear is that Adami will find this new source and start over again.”
“Any chance he’ll succeed?”
“Since he has very little of the map, I’d say no. Not that we’re about to take any chances, should he have another lab equipped to pick up where he left off. Thanks to Dr. Balraj and Zemke, we have a fair idea where that lab might be,” he said, slowing behind a bus that pulled out from the curb. “Our next step is to recover the lost part of the map from Adami, before he or his associates attempt to discover the location it leads to. And once we discover that location and what the map leads to, our team of scientists will go in and assess exactly what it is we’re dealing with. In other words,” he said, glancing over at her, then back to the road, “nothing that we can’t handle on our own, which means you are no longer needed.”
“You could at least wait until