said Kit, alarmed. ‘You tried to set off a nuclear bomb in New York!’
Stikes’s frown deepened. ‘You’re also, if I remember correctly, supposed to be dead.’
Sophia smiled, coming fully into the light at the foot of the stairs – revealing that her beautiful face was marred by a deep, crooked scar that ran from an inch behind her left eye down her cheek and on to her neck, disappearing beneath a black scarf. The rest of her outfit was also black, including a pair of expensive leather gloves. ‘Gentlemen, I’m all those things, and more,’ she said. ‘But right now, I’m the person you wanted to meet’ – she turned away from Stikes and looked at Kit – ‘and, like it or not, your superior. So shall we get to business?’
‘As you wish, Lady Blackwood,’ said Stikes. There was a faint tinge of mockery to the word; the British government had stripped Sophia of her title following her failed attack on the United States. She gave him a cold look. ‘I assume Jindal told you what I want in exchange for these.’ He held up the case.
‘I know what you want,’ said Sophia. ‘However, the people I represent are more curious about why.’
‘It’s simple, really. When I first met Jindal in Venezuela, I knew something wasn’t right. Interpol division heads don’t go out and do fieldwork – and they certainly don’t do fieldwork that’s only tangentially related to their job. He gave me some cock-and-bull story about the archaeological expedition being connected to a smuggling investigation, but he obviously had some other motive for being there. So I had a little chat with him, and learned about your organisation. The Group.’
If Sophia’s look at Stikes had been cold, the one she directed at Kit was positively icy. ‘Funny. He somehow forgot to mention that.’
‘I was tortured!’ Kit protested. ‘If I hadn’t said anything, he would have killed me. And I didn’t tell him why the Group need the statues. How could I? I haven’t been told myself.’
‘You told him more than enough, apparently.’ She turned back to Stikes. ‘So, you have some idea of the Group’s objectives. What do you want from them? Your wanted status with international law enforcement to disappear, perhaps? Or is it just about money?’
‘Only indirectly,’ said the Englishman. ‘I’m actually offering them my services.’
Sophia arched a perfect eyebrow. ‘Are you now?’
‘Yes. I have the experience, the connections and, frankly, the ruthlessness to be a great asset. From what Jindal told me, what they’re planning will genuinely change the world. I want to make sure I’m on the side that benefits when it happens.’
‘Everyone will benefit. Or so they say.’ There was a glint in her eye that suggested she had a different opinion.
‘They will,’ insisted Kit. ‘I wouldn’t be a part of this if I didn’t believe it would help the world.’
Stikes rattled the case. ‘But they need these first, don’t they?’
Sophia glanced back at the blond man watching from the top of the steps. ‘There was a suggestion – not mine, I’ll point out – that we should take them from you by force.’
Stikes gave her a lupine smile. ‘That would be a bad idea.’
‘I know. We used a thermal scanner to see who else was here before landing. Mikkel is very good, but I doubt even he could pick off all three of your men before they killed us.’
‘He’d be lucky to draw his—’ Stikes broke off abruptly. ‘Three men?’
Sophia responded in kind to his sudden concern. ‘What is it?’
‘I only have two men.’
‘Then who’s the third?’
‘Ay up,’ said a Yorkshire voice.
The trio whirled to see Eddie climb on to the catwalk, carrying a SCAR. Mikkel’s hand flashed into his jacket to draw a gun – but Eddie had already whipped the rifle up and fired. The blond man collapsed, two bullet wounds in his chest.
The SCAR came back to the three people on the walkway. ‘So,’ said Eddie, advancing, ‘interesting little meeting. My ex-comrade, my ex-wife, and,’ a searing glare at Kit, ‘my ex-friend.’
‘Eddie, this isn’t what you think,’ said Kit, raising his hands. ‘Interpol authorised me to make a deal with Stikes for—’
‘Shut up!’ Eddie roared. Kit flinched. ‘Don’t give me any more of your fucking lies and bullshit. You’ve been working with him the whole time to get those fucking statues – and you killed Mac for them!’
Silence, Kit frozen with an expression of shocked guilt. Stikes finally broke it. ‘McCrimmon’s dead? What a shame.’
Eddie’s mouth tightened with anger. He