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38
Put the gun away,” Tatiana said to Viktor. “They’re gone.” She glanced down the hill through the trees at the handful of men who were catching their breath after chasing the train.
Wolf Guard.
She would have dismissed them outright if not for Rolfe’s involvement with them. “I’d be interested to know how long they’ve been in Rolfe’s pockets. Every time I turn around, that man surprises me.”
“Speaking of . . .” Viktor nodded toward their left.
She glanced in that direction and saw Rolfe with a half dozen Guardsmen tromping through the woods. His attention was fixed on the heavy brush where the Fargos had emerged and where a couple of the Guard were trying to extract the body of one of their fallen comrades.
Rolfe said something to the men, then continued on. When he reached her side, he stood next to her, his eyes on the departing train. “Not too bad. We only lost one man,” he said.
“Which would not have happened if you’d done as I asked and not shot at the Fargos. What’d you expect? That they were going to ignore the bullets flying past their heads?”
He gave her a thorough appraisal. “Whose side are you on? Not mine, apparently.”
“When it comes right down to it, mine. However, I’m not the only one searching for this treasure. Which makes it difficult when I have to work with—” She stopped at the look of warning from Viktor. He was right, of course. Making an enemy of Rolfe Wernher at this point wouldn’t be wise. “Let’s just say I’m not used to being the one who isn’t in charge.”
“So I’ve gathered.”
Time to deflect attention away from her. “Are you sure you can trust those men?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t trust anyone.”
“Then why are they working for you?”
“Their ability to gather forces anywhere in Western Europe at a moment’s notice, and their willingness to skirt the law, has been indispensable.” When Leopold and his men reached them, Rolfe gave a benign smile. “Any chance the Fargos found something down there?”
“Unfortunately,” Leopold said, “we believe so.”
“‘Believe’? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We’ve long suspected the chamber was in one of these tunnels. Until today, we’ve never found it.”
“And the Fargos did?”
“No doubt. What we don’t know is whether or not it was sealed when they entered or if anyone else had been there before them.”
Leopold’s radio crackled as someone called in. He listened, then turned to Rolfe. “The train is headed to Wroclaw.”
“Can you get it stopped before it gets there?”
“Possibly.”
“Good. Find them. I want to know everything they have in their possession.”
Leopold walked off, relaying Rolfe’s orders into his radio. Tatiana waited until he was out of earshot, then leveled her gaze on Rolfe, not about to let him skip over what she needed to know. “You were saying . . . ?”
“About what?”
“About what the Fargos found down there. Clearly, it’s not the ransom. All they had was one backpack. So what is it?”
“I really don’t have time—”
“If you want to do business in my country, you’ll make time.”
Rolfe glanced at Viktor, then back at her. “I’ll tell you, but it goes no further.”
