that much ground. Our task is a bit easier.” He smiled. “It’s why I had you meet me in Tralee. Just five kilometers south of here is where we need to be.”
“Not in the mountains?”
“No, just a picturesque glen. Glenscota, it’s called. The historic burial place of Queen Scota.”
40
Pitt returned to the manor well after dark. He nosed the battered Mini against a stone wall to conceal the front-end damage, then strode to the estate’s entrance. McKee’s guardian, Rachel, stood just inside the door and gave Pitt an unfriendly nod. The rotunda was otherwise empty. Pitt made his way to his room, which was dimly lit by a small table lamp. He found Loren in bed, asleep.
He sat on the edge of the bed and brushed Loren’s hair from her face. Her eyes nudged open with a struggle.
“There you are,” she whispered. “I couldn’t stay awake. Must be the jet lag. I had some dinner brought to the room, if you’re hungry.” She motioned toward a covered platter on a side table.
Pitt kissed her on the cheek. “Get some rest. I’ll join you shortly.”
She smiled, closed her eyes, and drifted back to sleep.
Pitt stepped to the tray and lifted the cover, revealing a plate of grilled salmon and potatoes. He took a few bites, poured a glass of wine from an open bottle, and sat by the picture window.
The loch appeared as a black ribbon unfurled across the landscape. A handful of yellow lights twinkled from the low gray hills on the opposite shore. To the south, Pitt found a dark smudge on the water, the outline of the tanker. Sipping his wine, he stared for a long time at the tanker and the invisible facility behind it.
* * *
• • •
IN A LOW-LIT ROOM on the second floor, Evanna McKee watched his every move on a color video monitor. An entire wall of monitors captured the live feed from a dozen security cameras around the manor, including a handful concealed in select guest rooms. She watched as Pitt finished his meal, undressed, and climbed into bed.
“He doesn’t appear to be a ghost,” she said in a hard voice.
At a desk across the room, Audrey looked at her mother and shook her head. “Irene reported that while she tried to run him over outside the lab, he slipped by her and escaped.”
“Did he penetrate the facility?”
“He got no farther than the front gate.”
McKee came over and sat across from her. Heavy makeup she wore for her earlier speech made her face look thick and pasty under the fluorescent lights.
“I watched the video of his interview with Richards.” She frowned. “I think Pitt knew he was not speaking to the real Perkins. Why did the fool rush back to the lab so quickly? He should have known better.”
“He was anxious to test the water sample Pitt gave him.”
“And?” McKee leaned forward, her face a tightly wound spring.
“There’s no reason to worry, Mother. There were zero concentrations of our biological products. Richards thinks Pitt just took some water from the loch.”
“He knows something, or else he wouldn’t be here.”
“Professor Nakamura indicated that he’d received all the El Salvador water samples taken by the agriculture scientist. They were recovered from his office. Pitt is only guessing—but, I agree, he is dangerous.”
“How long are they staying?”
“Even though the seminar ends tomorrow, I extended Loren’s invitation for an extra day, along with the World Bank director. Both are new this year, and represent very influential positions. I thought we could work the two of them together.”
“Very well,” McKee said. “But keep a close eye on Mr. Pitt. If he approaches the lab again, kill him on the spot.”
“That may jeopardize our influence with his wife.”
McKee’s eyes burned with malice. “Then we’ll just have to amplify the treatment.”
The door opened, and Riki Sadler stepped in holding a cup of tea, which she presented to McKee. She sat down beside her.
“Mother, I just received a call from the NUMA pair that disrupted our tomb recovery operation in Amarna.” Riki spoke slowly and with reverence, not wishing to stir her mother’s temper.
“I thought they were dead.”
“I did as well. There was no sign of them when I left the dive site in Lake Nasser. I don’t know how they survived.”
“They proved to be quite an annoyance in Egypt.”
“When I arrived in Amarna, I didn’t realize Dr. Stanley was so close to uncovering the tomb. Their presence was unexpected.”