Devil's Gate by Clive Cussler & Graham Brown

Author:Clive Cussler & Graham Brown [Cussler, Clive & Brown, Graham]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure
ISBN: 9780399157820
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Published: 2011-11-13T19:00:00+00:00

30

KURT AUSTIN SLID THE DOOR of the microvan open and stepped out onto the street fronting Praia Formosa. The night was quiet; he could hear the waves breaking on the beach just beyond. He offered a hand to Katarina, helped her through the door, and paid the driver.

“Do you want to earn another fare?” he asked.

“Sure,” the driver said, his round face lighting up.

“Go around the block,” Kurt said, “and wait down the end with your lights off and watch for us.”

In his hand Kurt held out a hundred-dollar bill. He ripped it in half and gave one piece to the driver.

“How long do you want me to wait?” the driver asked.

“Until we come back out here,” Kurt said.

The driver nodded, put the vehicle in drive, and began to move away.

“You sure we’re not putting him in danger?” Katarina asked.

Kurt was pretty certain they’d lost whatever tails had tracked them to the restaurant. “He’s in no danger,” Kurt said confidently. “Neither are we, unless the French team wants to fight about the core sample they’ve taken.”

“Not the French way,” she said.

“Which house?” he asked, noticing several villas along the stretch of sand.

“This way,” she said. She turned and began walking, stepping off the rough pavement and onto the grass. Kurt guessed that felt better on her bare feet.

“We have to get you some shoes,” he said.

“Or get rid of yours, and we’ll go for a walk on the beach,” she said, smiling at him.

That sounded like more fun than waking up a group of scientists and accusing them of stealing.

They arrived in front of a yellow-painted villa.

“This is the one,” she said.

Kurt knocked. And then knocked again. They waited.

No answer.

The place was dark. Even the outside lights were off.

“You sure this is it?” Kurt asked.

“They had a party here last night,” she said. “Everyone came.”

Kurt knocked again, banging harder, not at all concerned that he might be waking the neighbors. As he pounded the door something strange happened. The outside light, which was off, flickered on for an instant with each strike of his fist.

“What the . . .”

He stopped hammering the door and turned his attention to the light. Reaching into the sconce, his hands found the bulb. It was loose. He twisted it and it came on. Two more turns sealed it tightly.

“Doing some maintenance?” Katarina said.

Kurt held up a hand, and she went quiet. He crouched down and studied the doorjamb. Gouges and scrapes around the lock told him more bad news.

“What’s wrong?”

“Somebody forced the lock,” he said. “They unscrewed the bulb so no one would see them working it. Old thief’s trick.”

Kurt tested the door. It was certainly locked now.

He headed for the side of the house. Katarina followed.

“Stay here,” he said.

“Not a chance,” she replied.

He didn’t have time to argue. He snuck past a hedge of tropical bougainvillea and moved toward the rear of the house. A sundeck beckoned. Kurt hopped up onto it and moved to a sliding glass door.

Nothing but darkness inside.

It took all of three seconds to pop the door up off its tracks and slide it open.

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