has seven or eight bodyguards,’ said Baker, going to a laptop and tapping its keyboard. The freezeframe was replaced by an aerial photograph of a small island. Shaped somewhat like a kidney bean, it was cut off from the high cliffs of the mainland by a narrow, curving channel. The island was a sea-worn stack, sides almost vertical; its flat top was slightly lower than the nearby land, a bridge sloping down to it across the channel’s narrowest point. The island itself, however, was completely dominated by a palatial Spanish-style white house. ‘But the bridge is the only way on or off the island, apart from a jetty on the seaward side. So he either stands and fights, which means he’ll die, or he runs. And these drug lords ain’t big on self-sacrifice. So we think he’ll get his men to try to hold us back while he runs for a boat.’
‘What if he gets away?’ Nina asked.
Baker snorted faintly. ‘Doesn’t matter if he’s got the fastest boat in the world, Dr Wilde – it won’t get far with a fifty-calibre hole through its engine block. We’ll have snipers on the cliffs. Like I said, he ain’t going anywhere.’
Eddie had another question. ‘What about his bodyguards? What’s their armament?’
‘Based on the information we have,’ said Probst, ‘most likely assault rifles and shotguns, handguns, maybe grenades. But we will have superior numbers, snipers, tear gas – and the advantage of surprise.’
‘And when were you planning on doing all this?’ Nina demanded.
The Colombian official answered. ‘We are getting the warrants signed by judges now. The operation will take place tomorrow.’
‘Great,’ said Eddie. ‘You know, I was hoping for a bit of recovery time. Like a month. In Antigua.’
‘You’ll still be going to the Caribbean,’ Kit pointed out. ‘So will you come? Having the IHA there to verify the identity of the stolen artefacts will be very helpful.’
Nina looked at Eddie, who gave her an ‘I guess’ shrug. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘But we’re not going to be involved in the actual SWAT raid, okay? I’ve had enough of that kind of thing lately to last me a lifetime.’
‘We’ll take care of all that, Dr Wilde,’ said Baker confidently. ‘Don’t you worry.’
‘Famous last words,’ Eddie muttered.
After the Interpol meeting Nina and Eddie returned to the hotel, where Osterhagen was waiting.
‘I am glad you are back,’ he said excitedly, following them to their suite with a wad of papers clutched in his hand. Macy, who had been helping the German with his work, tagged along. ‘The khipu – you said you thought the knots are connected to the map at Paititi. I believe you are right. Loretta’s camera was recovered from Callas’s headquarters, and I have been examining the pictures of the map. I think the khipu is the key to deciphering the markings on it. With the map and the khipu, we can find the lost city!’
‘Well, that’s a bit of a problem,’ said Nina as she entered the suite. ‘A Colombian drug lord called de Quesada bought the khipu off Callas. Paid two million dollars for it.’
Osterhagen was horrified. ‘What? But – surely he couldn’t know its importance?’
‘He doesn’t,’ said Eddie. ‘The only reason he bought it was to piss off one of his rivals.’
‘Pachac,’ Nina added. ‘The guy who brought the helicopter to the military base.’ The German’s grim look told her that he remembered the murderous Peruvian all too well. ‘Seems that there’s bad blood between them. De Quesada bought the sun disc because he knew it would drive Pachac mad to know that he owned a symbol of the Inca empire. Same with the khipu.’
Osterhagen flopped down glumly on a sofa. ‘Then we cannot decipher the map.’
‘Not so fast, Doc,’ said Eddie. ‘That’s why we were just at Interpol. They’re going to raid his home – partly because he admitted to being a drug smuggler on national TV, but also because Suarez wants those Inca treasures back. I think he’s a lot more bothered about getting his hands on two tons of solid gold than the khipu, but they’ll be a package deal. We’ll get them both.’
‘ “We”?’ said Macy, surprised. ‘You’re going too?’
‘So it seems,’ Nina replied with a faint sigh. ‘They want someone from the IHA to take charge of the artefacts once they’ve been secured. Specifically, me.’
‘Huh. You’re not going to have to get all dressed up in body armour, are you?’
Eddie smirked, giving his wife’s body an exaggerated once-over. ‘I dunno, some women look really