The Atlantis Cipher by David Leadbeater

Author:David Leadbeater [Leadbeater, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781503903128
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2018-09-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The plane journey that followed was not as comfortable as the last.

It transpired that the paragliders had been piloted by a Chinese Special Forces team who also tortured and killed Carl Kirke. This news came from the surveillance net that Heidi had set up around Kirke’s house when the team infiltrated it. The same surveillance that had originally warned them of the approaching force. It was safe to say that, by now, this Chinese faction knew as much as the Moroccan Bratva and Bodie’s team about Atlantis, even though only one group held the real compass in their hands.

DC was furious. The Chinese government denied all knowledge of the incursion and consequent attack. But they would, wouldn’t they? Heidi spent precious hours fielding time-wasting questions from DC stuffed shirts wanting to vent their gratuitous wrath. By the time she finished, their plane was among the clouds with nowhere to go.

“So we took a hit,” she said when she’d finally found time for them. “Mr. Kirke got himself killed and you met the Moroccan Bratva, an offshoot of the friendly bunch who tried to abduct Jack Pantera’s family. You lost the compass”—she sucked at her teeth in disappointment—“but you redeemed yourselves by taking a photo of it. Clearly, the best course of action here is to let Lucie examine the photos. Jemma?”

Bodie bristled at the rebuke. It wasn’t simply that Heidi was correct; it wasn’t that she deliberately ignored the circumstances; it was mostly that none of them wanted to be under her thumb anyway. They were here through blackmail, and they were doing their goddamn best.

“If you think we’re below par,” he said quietly, “call in a fucking special forces team to help you.”

“Ah, but then you guys will be superfluous and headed to prison. Is that acceptable?”

Bodie gritted his teeth. “So much for the bond I thought we’d made.”

Heidi inclined her head. “Look, I realize you’re not soldiers and don’t have military training. I understand you’re doing your best. You just . . . have to do it better.”

A minute later and the pictures on Jemma’s cell phone had been uploaded to the plane’s computer. Lucie approached the screen and started to take notes.

“And as for you”—Heidi stared down the aisle straight at Cross—“is there anything we need to know?”

Cross hadn’t spoken a word since they vacated the scene. Now, he latched on to the inquisitive faces as if seeing them for the first time in a week.

“How do you mean? Sorry, no. Yasmine is a long-lost friend. Very long lost. I couldn’t imagine meeting her now in the Swiss Alps. I had . . . forgotten about her.”

Bodie wanted to respect Cross’s privacy, but saw right away that Cassidy would not. The redhead was itching to get down to the raw, penetrating questions.

“Is that it?” he asked.

Cross nodded, more distracted than Bodie had ever seen him. In the end, though, the career thief closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. “Damn, I realize you need to know this.

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