The Columbus Affair: A Novel by Steve Berry

Author:Steve Berry
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Christopher, Columbus, Journalists, Action & Adventure, Quests (Expeditions), General, Treasure Troves, Suspense Fiction, Thrillers, Men's Adventure, Fiction
ISBN: 0345526511
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2012-05-15T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

BÉNE AND HALLIBURTON ENTERED THE MUSEUM, A DETACHED building that appeared to have once been a two-storied house, the inside full of wood, marble floors, and frescoed walls. Moorish influences showed in the ornaments and lattice, a leafy courtyard visible beyond the windows. Displays filled the ground-floor rooms, one opening into another, cases filled with stones, fossils, photographs, books, and relics. Explanations were printed only in Spanish, which Béne had no trouble reading. A man of about fifty with a knotted face stood near one of the displays. Tre introduced himself and Béne, explaining that he was an academician from the University of the West Indies, come to see the document collection from the time of Spanish colonization. The man, who identified himself as the curator, offered a hand then explained that the document collection was private and permission would have to be obtained before they could examine it.

“From who?” Béne asked.

Tre’s revelation that Zachariah Simon possessed a connection to this place had unnerved him. This wasn’t Jamaica. He wasn’t Béne Rowe here. He was just some foreigner, and he did not like that feeling of helplessness. True, he was armed, and would shoot his way back to the plane if need be, but he realized that could prove futile. Diplomacy was the smart play. Which in Cuba, meant bribery. Exactly why he’d brought cash.

“Tell me, friend,” he said to the curator. “Are American dollars taken around here?”

“Oh, yes, señor. They are much appreciated.”

For all their brash talk the Cuban government was partial to American money. He withdrew his money clip and peeled off five $100 bills. “Is it possible to obtain that permission? Fast?”

He laid the money on a nearby counter.

“Sí, señor. I will make a call to Havana.”

———

TOM GLARED AT ALLE. SHE DESPISED HIM, THAT WAS CLEAR, BUT he wanted answers. “You converted?”

“How did you know?”

“Abiram told me.”

“In the note he wrote?”

He nodded.

She still seemed surprised. “What I did to you, I did for my religion.”

“Being Jewish means living a lie?” He shook his head. “Your mother would have never approved of your conversion.”

“My mother loved me. Always.”

“Yet you had no problem lying to her. You converted before she died, but kept it to yourself.”

That revelation surprised her, too. “How do you know that?”

He ignored her question. “You’re a hypocrite. You tell me what a worthless father and husband I was, yet you’re nothing but a liar yourself.”

They stood in the living room alone, Inna’s two children in their rooms. They should have gone outside to talk, but he felt safer out of sight, tucked inside one of the countless apartments that lined the street.

“Who is that woman in the kitchen?” Alle asked.

“A friend.”

“You had lots of friends.”

“Is that supposed to be an insult?”

“It’s what it is. I saw the pain on Mother’s face. I watched her cry. I saw her heart break. I wasn’t a child.”

She spoke of a reality he’d learned not to deny. “I was a bad person. I did bad things. But I never stopped loving your mother.

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