Alex Rider 9 - Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz

Author:Anthony Horowitz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Europe, Law & Crime, Orphans & Foster Homes, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Fiction, Middle East, Terrorism, People & Places, General, Orphans, Spies
ISBN: 9780399250576
Publisher: Philomel
Published: 2011-03-22T05:00:00+00:00

13

THE HOUSE OF GOLD

ALEX FOUND IT EASILY enough on the Internet. The House of Gold turned out to be some sort of shopping center specializing in jewelry. Fine gems and all your gold & silver dreams. That was how it advertised itself on the website. Come and seek us for the best prices in Cairo. The name should have given it away, but it still seemed an unlikely destination for a man like Erik Gunter.

“Perhaps he’s just going to buy a ring for his girl-friend . . . or his wife, if he has one,” Jack suggested.

“He said he was going to authorize the final payment,” Alex said. “You don’t do that with a wedding ring.”

“He doesn’t have to be meeting a jeweler. He could be meeting anyone.”

“It’s a strange place to want to meet . . .”

The two of them were sitting in the living room of their apartment. Jack had been waiting for Alex with two glasses of ice-cold lemonade and a plate of sandwiches. He was normally hungry when he got back from school. Outside, the swimming pool was crowded . . . There was a rough version of water polo going on, and Craig and Jodie had called out to Alex to join them as he passed. But he had gone straight to the computer. houseofgold.org. Then he had told Jack what had happened, what he had found inside Gunter’s office. It wasn’t a lot to go on, he realized. Not after two and a half weeks in Egypt.

“He wasn’t buying jewelry,” Alex insisted. “He sounded . . . I don’t know . . . mysterious. As if he didn’t want to be overheard.”

“You’re sure he wasn’t leading you on? Maybe he wants you to follow him.”

Alex shook his head. “He couldn’t have known I was listening to him. I was a long way away, on the other side of the yard.”

“What about the pictures you found in his desk?” Jack had Alex’s iPhone. She flicked through the images on the screen.

“I don’t know. We’d better pass them on to Smithers. He can send them to MI6. Why would anyone take a shot of a hook on a wall? And what’s this building? Do you think it’s somewhere in Cairo?”

Jack held up the iPhone. “Nice shot of you,” she said.

“Yes. But if Gunter took it, then it means he knows who I am.”

“Not necessarily.”

“Why else would he have it? You think he takes photos of all the new boys?”

They fell silent. Jack had been out in the sun and she was looking tanned. They both were. It reminded Alex how long they’d been away.

“What are you going to do about Gunter?”

“I suppose I’d better follow him.” Alex went on before she could argue. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t see me, Jack. But I know that the House of Gold has got something to do with whatever’s going on. Five o’clock. I can go there after school.”

“You mean, we can go there after school. That’s why I’m here, Alex.

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