Before Lourds could make a reply, a loud rumble came from out of the ground. As he watched, the hill over the passageway crumpled inward.
“No!” Lourds tried to rush forward, impelled by the need to protect his discovery, but Dmitry snaked a strong arm around him and held him back until the earth settled down once more.
Lourds stared in disbelief at the mass of rubble where the well had been.
Standing nearby, Haros looked at him knowingly. “I told you that you weren’t supposed to go in there.”
55
Moskva River
Moscow
Russian Federation
February 25, 2013
General Anton Cherkshan’s boat sat at anchor on the Moskva River. He stood in the stern with a pair of high-powered binoculars. He had been using them for the past hour since the sun had risen. The wind blowing across the water was cold, and chunks of ice still floated with the current. Every now and again, they thudded against the boat’s hull.
From his position, he could see the street that led down from the Kremlin Grand Palace. He thought of his father, of when, as a boy, he had accompanied his father to work on days when he had operated the tugboats. And he thought of Anna as she had been as a child. He also regretted the fact that he had never gotten to know her as the adult she had become. It was a sadness that was almost unbearable. But he was Russian, so he would learn to bear it.
However, he would not allow the man who had killed her to live. He had made the promise to Katrina.
Twenty-three minutes later, he saw President Nevsky leave the building and get into the back of the black ZIL that was his personal car. The vehicle left the compound and rolled down the street.
Cherkshan had been waiting for this moment since Dmitry had called last night. He had been busy himself. He reached into his pocket and brought out a disposable phone. He had already entered Nevsky’s private phone number, the one he gave to his various mistresses. Cherkshan knew the man would answer.
“Hello?”
“President Nevsky?” Cherkshan took a remote control detonator from his pocket and placed his thumb on the button.
“Yes? General Cherkshan? How did you get this number?”
“I was the general of your FSB. I made it my business to know things.”
“Were? Are you going somewhere?”
“You had my daughter killed.”
Nevsky was silent for a moment. “Your daughter died.”
“By your hand. And now, you will die at mine, as my wife requested. She is of gypsy blood, you know, and she has cursed you. You will burn in Hell.” Cherkshan pressed the button.
On the street, the president’s ZIL turned into a fireball. The man’s death was too fast, but it was all Cherkshan could give him and keep his wife safe. For his own life, he didn’t care. But he would protect Katrina.
Cherkshan threw the detonator and phone into the river. Now there were other phone calls to make. Russia had to pull back from the mistakes she had made while blinded by a madman.
Epilogue
Aleria Restaurant
Athens
Hellenic Republic (Greece)
February 28, 2013
“You look beautiful tonight.” Lourds looked across the table at Layla.
Layla smiled, but she seemed somewhat distracted. She had only gotten into Athens a couple hours ago and met Lourds at his hotel.
Lourds was staying there for a time until Captain Fitrat got out of the hospital. From what the doctors were saying, he would be ready to travel in a few more days. During the days, he visited Fitrat and worked on papers with Professor Marias regarding the scrolls they had gotten from the well area. Marias insisted on calling it the Underworld.
Tina Metcalf had let him know the classes were going swimmingly, and Dean Wither was already negotiating her contract for the coming semester. She’d also wanted to know if Lourds had popped the question yet.
Tonight, Layla was dressed in Western clothing, a simple black dress, a string of pearls, and her hair loose and flowing. She barely had on any makeup, and Lourds felt that she didn’t need it at all.
They sat at a table for two against the wall in the Aleria Restaurant, one of the trendiest places in the Metaxourgeio neighborhood in Athens. The soft lighting glowed against the polished, hardwood floors. The table linen was cream and matched the walls and ceiling, giving the whole restaurant a subdued but elegant atmosphere.
“I’ve heard about this restaurant.” Layla picked at her filet of pheasant served with pear tartare with smoked bacon and Vinsanto sauce.