who had just searched the two visitors—and made sure they were not using any recording equipment—left the study before replying. “It seems I didn’t have any goddamn choice,” he said, giving Eddie a glare of deep hatred. “But I’ll warn you right now—I don’t take well to attempted blackmail.”
Nina’s smile vanished as if a switch had been flicked. “And I don’t take well to people trying to kill me. So I think we understand each other.”
Dalton put his elbows on his large oak desk and steepled his hands as his guests sat. “All right. What do you want?”
“Information.”
“About what?”
“About why Glas wants me dead. About the three statues I found that Stikes gave to Takashi.”
Dalton made a dismissive sound. “I don’t know about any of that.”
“But you’re working with Glas. How can you not know?”
“My interest is in getting payback against the Group. I don’t really give a damn what Glas is up to. Parts of our objectives coincided, and we were in a position to provide mutual assistance, that’s all. I already told Chase as much as I know.” His gaze became piercing, dangerous. “You want to know what I said? Just watch his damn recording.”
“Maybe some more people ought to watch it,” said Eddie.
Dalton jabbed a finger at him over the desk. “I warned you, Chase—”
“Okay, then,” Nina cut in, “tell me about archives instead. The Group apparently knows more about the statues than anyone else. They found out some of it from the Brotherhood of Selasphoros in Rome—where did they learn the rest? Does the US government have any records concerning the statues? Anything connecting them to earth energy, Atlantis, the Kallikrates text—”
The ex-president’s eyes flicked wide at that last. “You know what it is?” Eddie asked.
Dalton considered his words carefully before answering. “I don’t know what it is, but I’ve heard of it, yes. When I was president, the Group would occasionally make requests for information from our top-secret archives. That was something they wanted to see, the Kallikrates file. I remembered it because it’s an unusual name. But I have no idea what’s in it.”
“I need to read it,” said Nina. “How would I go about that?”
“There’s a facility in Nevada called Silent Peak. A lot of highly classified material is stored there. The kind of material that’s so secret, they don’t let it out of the place—not even for presidents. If you want to read it, you have to go there.” A faint smile. “And they don’t appreciate uninvited visitors.”
“Well then,” she said, “you’ll just have to get us an invitation, won’t you?”
Dalton shook his head. “Out of the question.”
“I dunno,” Eddie said, “you still had the connections to send assassins halfway around the world to try to finish me off in Japan. So I’m pretty sure you should be able to get me and Nina into some library.” He reached into his jacket and took out his phone. “Unless you want me to make a call that gives The New York Times their next big headline?”
“Wait, wait,” said Dalton hurriedly. “Let me think. It’s a military facility, so access would have to be arranged via the Pentagon …” He mused for a few seconds. “I know some people who might be able to do it—so long as they can arrange deniability. They wouldn’t just be risking their career by doing this. They could go to jail.”
Eddie waggled the phone in his hand. “They wouldn’t be the only ones.”
The angry lines on Dalton’s face deepened. “You’re asking me to get people who have nothing to do with our differences to risk everything to help you. These are loyal Americans. Patriots.”
“So patriotic they were the first people you thought of when you needed someone to break the law,” Nina remarked, voice cutting. “Look, I’m not asking to see nuclear launch codes, or the names of our spies abroad, or the damn X-files. The Kallikrates text was written over two thousand years ago, so it can hardly be a threat to national security. That’s the only thing I want to see. If you can arrange that, then I’m willing to …” She looked at Eddie. “We’re willing to call a truce. We’ll keep the video quiet and make sure it never sees the light of day.”
Eddie’s expression told her that he was dubious about giving up their leverage, but his silence was sign enough that he was willing to go with her judgment. Dalton’s own visage was calculating. “Do I have your word on that?” he