The Midas Legacy (Wilde/Chase 12)

  ‘Nope. You need a smart-arse comment or a crap pun, I’m your man.’

  Petra was amused, but she was alone in her feelings. Anastasia merely tutted in disdain, while the faintly baffled Lonmore turned back to Trakas. ‘So you’re going to stay anonymous until you get what you want? You’ll just let your demands speak for you?’

  ‘No, someone else will speak for me.’ Trakas’s eyes fixed upon Anastasia. ‘You!’

  Nina and De Klerx crept along the line of boats behind the workshops. They had managed to slip past a couple of patrolling guards, but now the Dutchman raised his hand as he saw movement ahead. Nina crouched, leaning to look past him. Another armed man had just come into sight, patrolling the boatyard’s outer fence. ‘He will not see us,’ whispered the Dutchman.

  ‘Let’s not take the chance, huh?’ Nina retreated slightly, then sidestepped into the darkened gap between two of the boats. She stretched out one hand, cautiously sweeping her path. ‘Careful here,’ she warned as her fingers met cold, grimy metal. ‘There’s an anchor or something leaning against it.’ She worked her way around the unseen obstruction, her back rubbing against one of the hulls. Despite the boat’s size – it must have weighed several tons – an unsettling creak still came from the stand supporting it. ‘God, are they balancing these things on toothpicks?’

  ‘It does not feel safe,’ De Klerx quietly agreed as he followed her past the blockage. To their relief, no further sounds came from the boat.

  Nina reached the other end of the cramped passage, hunching behind a propeller. Movement caught her eye off to the left, a guard walking past a cage-like rack of gas cylinders, but he was heading away from the intruders. The large factory was ahead, beyond a couple of smaller structures. It was one of the latter that she fixed upon. ‘If we climb up on that hut, we should be able to jump over to the annexe on the big building without anyone seeing us.’

  De Klerx looked for himself. ‘And then we can climb that to the roof.’ He indicated a ladder running up the factory’s side.

  ‘Good. I always like it when the bad guys have an easy way into their secret base.’

  The Dutchman did not smile. ‘If we go between those containers, they should keep us out of sight.’ He made sure nobody was visible in either direction along the line of boats, then pushed past Nina and scurried across a rutted roadway to vanish into the shadows between a pair of shipping containers. She quickly followed.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Anastasia demanded.

  ‘I mean, you will tell the banks what you have seen here, and confirm that it is true,’ said Trakas. ‘Dr Wilde would have been the best person to do so, as she is both famous and has a connection to the United Nations, but then so do you. The daughter of Fenrir Mikkelsson, the UN’s top nuclear arms negotiator – she will be believed when she says what the Crucible can do.’

  ‘I won’t help you,’ she said.

  ‘You will.’

  Her frown deepened. ‘Fuck you.’

  Spencer snorted. ‘Classy, Ana. Classy.’

  Trakas drew in a breath of irritation. ‘You never liked me, did you, Anastasia? I must say, I have always felt the same about you. And your father. You are both . . . arrogant. Cold. I suppose it comes from living on a grey rock at the edge of the Arctic. Even Sarah; she had a warm heart when she was younger, but it has been frozen over the years.’

  ‘Do not insult my father!’ snapped Anastasia. ‘I won’t do what you tell me.’

  ‘You do not have a choice.’ He stepped right up to her, her tight-fitting wetsuit making her look even slighter against his broad torso, and took hold of her wrists. Disgust flashed across her features as she tried to pull away, but she couldn’t break his grip. ‘You are in my world now. Here, Midas is not king – I am. When I ask for something, it—’

  She whipped a knee up at his groin – but Trakas had been prepared for such an attack, twisting back to take the impact against his leg. His response was immediate: a hard slap across her cheek. She flinched away, drawing in a sharp, shocked breath.

  ‘Augustine!’ cried Lonmore as his wife gasped. Even Spencer seemed taken aback. ‘What the hell?’

  Eddie made an abrupt move towards Trakas, fists clenched, only for Axelos to snap his gun up. The Englishman stopped, giving the bodyguard a glare of deep menace.

  Trakas released Anastasia. She retreated, one hand to her stinging cheek. ‘You okay?’ Eddie asked her.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, regarding the Greek with loathing.

  He looked back at Trakas. ‘You’re a tough guy, hitting a woman half your size. You fancy trying that on me? Without your little gofer holding a gun on me, I mean.’

  ‘If I am hit first, I hit back,’ said the tycoon, unimpressed by the threat. ‘No matter who hits me. You are welcome to find out for yourself, Mr Chase. But not now. It is my country’s honour I am protecting, not my own. The IMF, the banks, they need to know that I am serious.’ He addressed Anastasia again. ‘You will do that for me of your own free will, or I will make you do it.’

  ‘How about you make me do it?’ countered Eddie.

  ‘You? Why would anyone care what you tell them?’

  ‘They usually don’t – until I tell ’em they’re fucked and they realise I’m right. But you wanted Nina to do your little hostage video? Well, I’m the next best thing. Nearly as good-looking, and they know me at the UN too. I’ve saved their arses often enough. So if I tell ’em what you’ve done, and what you want to do, they’ll believe me.’

  Trakas considered his offer, then nodded. ‘Okay. You do it. But I will tell you what to say, yes? No tricks, no hidden codes.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Eddie. The Greek nodded again, then turned away to speak to the cameraman. Axelos lowered his gun, but kept it pointed in Eddie’s general direction. Spencer went for a closer look at the gold.

  Anastasia sidled up to the Yorkshireman. ‘Why did you do that?’ she whispered. ‘You shouldn’t have given in to him!’

  ‘Because the guy’s just conjured up over half a million dollars of gold and could make as much as he wanted, but all he cares about is putting the boot in to the banks,’ Eddie replied. Lonmore and Petra took an interest, leaning closer to listen. ‘He’s not going to stop, not now he thinks he might actually win. And when someone gets to that point, especially when they’re a rich bastard who’s used to always getting their way, they stop caring if other people get hurt.’

  ‘And you’re here to protect us?’ Anastasia asked snidely.

  ‘Someone’s got to. I don’t see your boyfriend here to do it.’ That prompted a startled reaction. ‘Oh, come on, you couldn’t have made it any more bloody obvious if you’d started shagging each other on the yacht’s dining table.’ Lonmore raised his eyebrows, while Petra suppressed a giggle.

  ‘It’s not a secret,’ the Icelander huffed.

  ‘I didn’t know,’ said Lonmore, with a mixture of amusement and prurient interest.

  ‘You didn’t know your own son’d sold you out to your best mate either,’ Eddie pointed out, to the older man’s embarrassment. ‘And another thing: we’ve been kidnapped. I know that should be obvious, but I thought I’d better point it out, since you still think Trakas is your friend. He can’t let us go now, not until he’s got what he wants. We’d give him away.’

  ‘So what do we do?’ asked Petra.

  ‘Play along, try to drag things out for as long as we can. Some of your guys got away,’ he told Anastasia, ‘so they might be able to figure out where we are. Trakas can’t have that many places where he can put a particle accelerator—’

  He fell silent as the tycoon returned. ‘Mr Chase. We are ready to begin. Are you?’

  ‘Yeah, I am,’ Eddie replied. ‘What do you want me to say?’

  28

  De Klerx and Nina reached the shadows behind a small brick h
ut close to the much larger industrial structure dominating the boatyard. The concrete sidewalk around the factory was brightly lit, with no cover or hiding places. A guard made his leisurely way down the building’s long side. His gun was slung at his hip, one hand resting upon it. Trakas’s men were prepared for trouble, but not actually expecting it.

  They waited for the man to pass on the other side of the hut and move on, then climbed up on to it and made running jumps across to the top of a long single-storey extension abutting the large building. The ladder was near the far end of its roof. Staying low, De Klerx reached it and started to climb. Nina followed, quickly finding that she couldn’t match his pace. By the time she reached the top, he had already climbed across the sloping roof to investigate a skylight. ‘Wait for me, dammit,’ she muttered, cautiously crawling over the tiles after him.

  She caught up at the window and looked down through it. The interior appeared to be a factory, conveyors and overhead tracks snaking through the space. Everything was stationary, but the low rumble of machinery suggested that something was active . . .

  Nina shifted position, and saw what was making the noise.

  Running the length of the far wall was a hefty tube mounted on stands. Trakas’s particle accelerator? It seemed likely; each end was contained inside a large box bearing radiation warning symbols—

  Her heart jumped as she saw Eddie at the furthest.

  He was with the Lonmores and Anastasia, Axelos and another armed man keeping watch on them. Nina brought her head lower and spotted Trakas addressing his unwilling guests. Spencer stood with him, smirking. ‘They’re all down there,’ she whispered.

  De Klerx brought up his radio and told his men that they had found the hostages, and to move in on the factory. He saw Nina’s disapproving look. ‘We have to be prepared to get them out under fire.’

  ‘It’d be preferable if we got them out without any shooting.’ She moved to get a better view of the interior. ‘There’s a catwalk a couple of windows over,’ she said, gesturing towards it. ‘We should be able to climb down if we can get the skylight open.’

  ‘The guards will see us,’ the Dutchman warned.

  ‘Not if we stay behind that pillar. Besides, they’re watching the prisoners – and their boss.’

  ‘Okay. But if we are seen . . .’ He brought a hand closer to his gun.

  ‘Just don’t do anything stupid, please,’ Nina told him wearily. She started across the roof, De Klerx behind her.

  ‘Hold on, hold on,’ said Eddie as the man with the camera prepared to start filming. ‘Is my eye light set up properly? And I might need some powder, I’m a bit sweaty.’

  Trakas frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘You want this to look good, don’t you? I’ve been on a film set. This is what Grant Thorn was like for every single shot.’

  ‘You are a very funny man,’ said Trakas, with a noticeable lack of amusement. ‘Just say what I told you to say.’

  ‘Okay, all right. But if you shoot from this angle, you’ll cross the action line and have to spend a fortune to fix it in post.’ Reluctantly accepting that he had delayed for as long as he could, Eddie faced the lens. The shielded box at the end of the linear accelerator, out of which the Crucible had been hoisted to be visible to the camera, was framed behind him. ‘Okay. You rolling?’ He cleared his throat. ‘Right. Hi. My name’s Eddie Chase, and I’m married to Dr Nina Wilde, the world-famous archaeologist. I’m making this video to tell you—’

  ‘Stop, stop,’ Trakas cut in irritably.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You are doing a stupid voice.’

  ‘No I’m not!’ Eddie protested, offended. ‘I’m from Yorkshire – this is how I talk!’

  ‘You do kind of sound like that guy from The Simpsons,’ said Petra. ‘You know, the bad actor?’

  ‘Troy McClure? Tchah! Everyone’s a critic.’

  ‘Just do it properly!’ snapped the Greek. ‘Start again.’

  ‘All right, bloody hell.’ Eddie shook his head, then composed himself for a retake. ‘I’m Eddie Chase, and I’m married to Dr Nina Wilde, the world-famous archaeologist. I’m doing this to let you know that what you’ve been told about the thing behind me, the Crucible of Midas, is all true – I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It can be used with a particle accelerator to turn mercury-196 into gold, and do it on an industrial scale . . .’

  He paused. With everyone else’s eyes on him, he was the only person facing away from the accelerator and across the rest of the factory – and he had just glimpsed movement past the long partition, somebody dressed in black briefly coming into view as they climbed over part of the production line. Since Trakas had dismissed all the workers, that meant someone else was now in the building . . .

  ‘The other video you got with this one hasn’t been faked,’ he hurriedly continued. ‘The Crucible made about seventeen kilos of gold – you’ve been sent some of it as proof.’ Both Trakas and Axelos gave him odd looks as they registered that his speech was becoming more urgent; he tried to moderate it, but was all too aware that his acting skills didn’t even match up to those of Grant Thorn. ‘The bloke who’s got it says he’s going to keep making more and more gold to make the price crash, unless you give him what he wants. I reckon he’s willing to do it, so—’

  A noise from beyond the partition caught Axelos’s attention. He snapped his head around to find the cause – as De Klerx vaulted the barrier and landed behind the group, his UMP at the ready. ‘Drop your guns!’ he snarled. The guard hesitated, then did so.

  Another figure scrambled over the partition with rather less grace. ‘Nina!’ cried Eddie.

  ‘Hi, honey,’ she replied. ‘Did you miss me?’

  Anastasia’s response to the Dutchman’s arrival was more restrained, though no less heartfelt. ‘Rutger! You found us!’

  ‘Your father figured out where Trakas had taken you,’ he said, gun quickly flicking towards the tycoon before locking back on to Axelos. ‘I said drop the gun.’

  Axelos regarded the unsuppressed weapon warily. ‘If you shoot me, the guards will hear.’

  ‘But you will be dead. And I am not alone; the rest of my men are on the way.’ His face hardened, trigger finger slowly tightening. With angry reluctance, Axelos placed his gun on the floor, then stepped back.

  Eddie collected it, moving to cover the four Greeks. ‘All right, that’s a wrap,’ he told the frightened cameraman. ‘Nothing’ll happen to you as long as you don’t do anything stupid.’

  Nina went to him. ‘Is everyone okay?’

  ‘We’re all fine, thanks,’ said Lonmore, relieved. ‘Thanks for your hospitality, Augustine, but I think it’s time we left.’

  ‘What about him?’ Petra asked, glowering at Spencer. The younger man had the expression of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, only with a fear of something considerably worse than a chiding.

  ‘I think we’re due a serious family talk,’ Lonmore said sternly. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’

  ‘We need to take the Crucible with us,’ Anastasia announced imperiously.

  ‘What?’ said Nina. ‘The hell with that – let the cops handle it. Once they secure it, the IHA can take over.’

  ‘Do you really think a man like him’ – a disdainful jab of the finger at Trakas – ‘won’t have friends in the police? We came to Greece to get the Crucible back. I’m not leaving without it.’

  ‘What do you mean, back? You never had it in the first place!’

  Anastasia ignored her. ‘How did you get here, Rutger?’

  ‘Our ship is just offshore,’ he replied. ‘It is on its way to the docks.’

  She pointed at the flatbed truck. ‘If we load the Crucible on to that, can you get it aboard the ship?’

  ‘Yes, if we can reach it. Ther
e are guards around the shipyard.’

  ‘How many men do you have left?’

  ‘Five, and one on the ship.’

  ‘Is that enough to fight our way out?’

  ‘If we have to.’

  ‘How about we make bloody sure that we don’t have to?’ said Eddie, concerned by the direction the discussion was taking. ‘Forget the Crucible. Getting everyone out of here safely is what matters.’

  ‘He is right,’ said Trakas. ‘If you sneak out by yourselves, you might get away. But you will never get the Crucible to your boat without being seen.’

  Anastasia shook her head. ‘You see?’ she said to Nina. ‘If we leave the Crucible, he’ll have it removed and hidden before the police or the IHA can get involved. We’re taking it with us.’

  ‘Really bad idea,’ Eddie told her. ‘Look, let’s just tie these arseholes up so they can’t raise the alarm, then get to this boat of yours. We don’t need—’

  A message over De Klerx’s radio caught everyone’s attention. ‘My men are on the roof,’ the Dutchman reported. He looked up as black-clad figures began to drop down through the skylights.

  Trakas and Axelos exchanged worried looks. ‘Spencer, my friend,’ the industrialist began, addressing Lonmore, ‘we can still all get what we want. You want gold? I can make gold – we can make gold, as much as we need, and more. You have the Crucible, I have the particle accelerator. We can work together! I can save my country, and the whole Legacy’ – he swept out a hand to encompass the Lonmores, Anastasia, even Nina – ‘will be rich again. We can make a deal.’

  ‘There won’t be a deal,’ said Anastasia coldly.

  ‘Now wait a minute, Ana,’ Lonmore said. ‘If there’s a chance to resolve the situation in a way that benefits everyone, don’t you think we should investigate it?’

  She fixed him with a stare every bit as dismissive as any she had directed at Trakas. ‘This isn’t a board meeting. We’re not going to vote on this, Spencer.’

  ‘But that’s exactly what we should be doing! This affects the Legacy, so all the members should be involved. Augustine, you’ve got a phone there – we should call Fenrir and Sarah, and Olivia. We can decide what to do about your offer together.’