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“Arrows to what?” Remi asked. “And for whom to follow?”
“He doesn’t say. We’ll know more when I finish the translation.”
Sam said, “Well, it seems clear Laurent was doing this on Napoleon’s order
s, and if they went to this much trouble to hide the bottles, whatever’s at the end of the map has to be something spectacular.”
“Which might explain why Bondaruk has no problem with murder,” Remi replied.
They chatted for a few more minutes, then hung up.
“Uh-oh,” Remi said out of the side of her mouth and pointing with her eyes. “Look who’s here.”
Sam turned around. Kholkov was walking across the patio toward them, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. Sam and Remi tensed, ready to move.
“Relax, do you think I’d be stupid enough to shoot you both in broad daylight?” Kholkov asked, stopping before them. He pulled his hands from his pockets and held them up. “Unarmed.”
“I see you escaped your little fender bender,” Remi said.
Kholkov pulled out a chair and sat down.
Sam said dryly, “Please, join us.”
“You could have easily bumped us off the edge,” Kholkov said. “Why didn’t you?”
“It occurred to us, believe me. If not for your trigger-happy friend, who knows?”
“I apologize for that. He overreacted.”
“I don’t suppose you’d care to explain how you’ve been tracking us,” Remi said.
Kholkov smiled; there was none of it in his eyes. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell me why you’ve come here.”
“You suppose correctly,” Remi replied.
“Whatever you’re selling, we’re not buying,” Sam said. “Your colleague kidnapped, tortured, and was seconds away from killing a friend of ours, and you’ve tried to kill us twice. Tell us why you’re here.”
“My employer is proposing a truce. A partnership.”
Remi laughed softly. “Let me guess: We help you find whatever you’re after and you’ll kill us for it later rather than sooner.”
“Not at all. We join forces and split the proceeds, eighty-twenty.”
“We don’t even know what we’re after,” Sam said.
“Something of great value—both historically and monetarily.”
“And which of those interests Bondaruk most?” Remi asked.
“That’s his business.”
Sam and Remi had no illusions. Her prediction of Bondaruk’s and Kholkov’s plans for them was dead-on. Whatever Bondaruk’s true motives and whatever the prize, there was no way they were going to let it fall into the Ukrainian’s hands.
Kholkov added, “Let’s just say the items involve a family legacy. He’s simply trying to finish what was begun a long time ago. If you were to help bring that about, he’d be properly grateful.”
“No deal,” Sam said.
Remi added, “And you pass along a message for us: Nuts.”
