said as he followed him into the plane. “That could have been dangerous. I was frustrated as hell.”
He shrugged. “It was the chance I took. You were an unknown quantity.” He grinned. “And what I did know was explosive. I had orders to bring you here. I wasn’t certain that you wouldn’t make a detour to Cairo on your way if you thought you had a chance to bring this to a close a bit faster.” He headed for the cockpit. “And after all the effort I put in setting up Hassan Sebak, I wasn’t going to let it all go down the tubes because you were in a hurry.”
“You set up the deal with Sebak?”
“Novak can’t do everything.” He dropped down in the pilot’s seat. “Though he’d prefer to try. But I convinced him that I could handle this better than he could. It was quite an accomplishment, since Novak thinks very highly of himself.” He was doing the checklist. “Rightly, of course. But I’m a bit impatient. He has too much on his plate, and I want Varak.” He looked at Joe. “So sit down, buckle up, and we’ll get out of here. I’ll tell you everything I know about Cairo on the way.”
Joe slowly sat down in the copilot’s seat. “You think Dobran did the DNA. You believe Varak is alive? Why?”
“Because Jill does, and I trust her. Nothing has changed that since the day she came to me and asked for the money to give to Hadfeld.” His lips twisted. “Besides, I can’t do anything else. It’s a puzzle I have to solve. I’ll use you or anyone else to help me do that.” He started the Gulf Stream checkdown. “But I’ll let you use me as well, Quinn. When I get this baby in the air, I’ll be at your disposal.”
“Yes, you will,” Joe said grimly as he buckled his seat belt. “And I’m pretty good at puzzles, Gideon, but I don’t intend to spend much time on this one. I want an answer before Eve gets finished with that damn reconstruction.” He leaned back in his seat as Gideon started to taxi. “And you don’t know what impatient means yet.”
“Five minutes,” Gideon said, as the plane left the ground. “Just five minutes…”
It was only four minutes before he gained the altitude he needed and turned to face Joe. “What do you want to know?”
“Dobran. Everything.”
“He was born in Cairo to an upper-middle-class family, his parents were both prestigious professors of arts and antiquities at the Cairo University. But Yusef chose to go for a medical degree at the Sorbonne in Paris and went on to get both a medical and chemistry degree there. He was totally brilliant, but when he was at the Sorbonne, he developed a drug habit that required he make more money than he could earn in medicine. That led him to explore other alternatives that took him into the DNA netherworld, and he found his niche. He spent six years in Paris, and by the time he returned to open his own lab in Cairo, he had developed a stellar reputation among the criminal underworld. For the last fifteen years, he’s built on that reputation, and I’m sure Novak told you that Dobran is probably our man.”
“And what do you think?”
“That Dobran is an arrogant asshole who will do anything to prove how clever he is. He likes money, but he also considers himself one of the elite intelligentsia like his parents. Unfortunately, both his parents and his social set don’t agree and have ostracized him.”
“What a pity. Does he have a wife? A mistress?”
“He changes mistresses every few months, but he always visits them in town and never permits them to come to his Asarti estate.” He glanced at Joe. “He’s very careful. Only his guards and his drug dealer and Hassan Sebak are permitted on the property. That’s all.”
“And what does Sebak do for him? What kind of assistant? Does he help in the lab?”
“Sometimes. But he’s more of a gofer. He runs interference and errands for Dobran.” He smiled faintly. “And he makes sure that all is secure and well in his gallery. That may be his most important task as far as Dobran is concerned.”
“Gallery?”
“Dobran is a collector. Paintings, sculptures, antiquities. He has a fabulous collection that he’s acquired since he came back to Cairo. It’s what he spends those fat fees that he gets for his work on.” He shrugged. “It’s almost as much an