“I gave her something to eat, okay? Now, come see this,” she persisted. Given Maria's fear for her partner's temper, it had to be something great for her to prod him incessantly without apology.
“Oh for Christ's sake, what is it?” he frowned.
She kissed him on his cheek and grinned. Stroking his head, she whispered, “It is something that more than makes up for the… Nina accident.” She chose the phrase carefully. Insinuating that he was at fault again could start a time-wasting detour of an argument and she did not want him to miss the opportunity. This time Maria had really spurred Beck on and he started moving faster.
“Where? What did you get?” he asked, flinging the covers off of him.
“I might be mistaken, but from our live feed from last night, I believe we don't need to get Dr. Gould anymore, because…” she presented the computer monitor that was surveying Nina Gould's home.
Beck's eyes stretched at what he saw on the feed. “When was this?” he asked unnecessarily, as his eyes examined the time and date information on the bottom right of the screen. He looked at Maria.
“David Purdue? No, fucking, way.”
“Yes way! If you hurry up you can still make it while he is inside, love. You can deliver the big fish without having to worry about trying to fix the little fish problem,” she advised.
“I love you, baby,” he said, grabbing the Scots-Italian brunette's pretty face in his hands and placing a deep, hasty kiss on her lips. “I fucking love you!”
Jonathan Beck wasted no time in getting dressed and retrieving enough money from his cupboard safe to travel back to Oban at the speed of light. This time he took a gun, just in case Purdue was armed. Normally Maria would warn against it, as she was all too familiar with her boyfriend's temper and what could go wrong during an altercation, but she understood better his plight now that she knew what it was like to be on the radar of such a dangerous society.
When he was ready to go, Beck stopped to think.
“What’s wrong?” Maria asked from where she was seated behind the monitors. She had her headphones on, with the left slightly off her ear so that she could hear Beck.
“What was the second news you had?” he inquired with a raised eyebrow.
“That one can wait,” she replied. “It’s not urgent, just a juicy footnote regarding Nina Gould's whereabouts.”
He scoffed, “I couldn't give a shit about her location now, babe.”
“Unless she left Oban in a hurry because she was called out to check out something that could make her richer than God?” she teased him. He cocked his head suspiciously. Maria was remarkably confident about her information. “Her landline tap,” she gave away a little. “A conversation took place… that we recorded,” Maria grinned, hardly containing her glee. “And I know where she headed to investigate a possible trail to treasure.”
“Big deal. There are thousands of claims every year of people who think they found treasure,” he shrugged.
“My darling,” Maria said slowly for dramatic effect, “the woman who called her thinks it could be the treasure of… Alexander the Great!”
“Seriously?” he gawked. Maria nodded excitedly.
“So once you’ve collected the Purdue money from Karsten, we can travel across the sea to join the esteemed Dr. Gould to lead us to it, right?” she suggested.
“What?” His face exhibited ridicule at her small goals. “I say we deliver Purdue to Karsten, collect the money, and then get MI6 to pay us for information on the whereabouts of both the Black Sun bastard and their missing rich boy. That way we get paid more and we get rid of two flies, you know?”
Maria got up and licked his neck, groping his crotch and breathing hard in his ear. “I love it when you get all… depraved.”
“I wonder if I should trust you with Mrs. Beach,” he said suddenly, breaking the sexual spell.
“Why? Geez, babe, you said you trust me with your life. Now this?” she moaned and sat down in front of her precious audio-visual equipment.
“I don't know. You females always get soft on one another. I know her type. I have psyche training from the SIS and I know her type, believe me. She is going to play on your feelings and before you know it you’re going to let her call her husband and shit like that. I don't like that.”
“Oh God, here we go again with the psyche shite,” she groaned. “Take her, then. Just take her with you. I’m sure getting Purdue done will be a walk in the park while a woman is waiting in your car — a desperate mother who knows that she is like, five minutes away from her own home and her kiddos,” Maria painted the scene realistically for him. “You go on ahead and throw her in the boot, babe, because if, God forbid, something goes wrong you would do great with the fuzz when they find two people hog tied in your car.”
“I get it! I get it, for fuck's sake. Can you shut it for a moment?” he barked. “I just… just don't fall for it, okay, babe? Just don't let her fuck with your head while I'm gone.”
“I won't. Now get going and get it done so that we don't have to fear for our lives anymore,” Maria smiled. Beck nodded in sincere agreement. He kissed Maria on the brow and left, looking absolutely focused on the task. She sank down in the chair, watching Nina's house on the monitor.
“Alexander the Great,” she muttered. “I wonder if all that treasure would help us forget that we killed a mother and wife just for getting in the way at the wrong time.”
On the other side of the locked guest room door Sylvia sank to the floor, covering her mouth and weeping as quietly as she could. Her heart throbbed erratically at the words of Beck's woman. Terrified, she sobbed at the thought of never seeing her children again, but she could never allow Maria to hear her. It would only urge them to kill her faster. She had to play dumb. She had to pretend that she was unaware of her fate and try to procrastinate their plans as far as she could.
There was one problem though. Sylvia had no idea how, when, or where Maria was planning to kill her.
Chapter 13 — Cold Trail
After determining that the large coin found in the dead woman's deteriorated esophagus was indeed ancient in origin, Nina asked Joanne to take her out to the place where the body had been found.
“It’s a crime scene, Nina. I don’t think they’ll allow us to go there,” Joanne warned.
“Why not? Is the body still there?” she asked nonchalantly, munching on a protein bar.
“No,” Joanne replied carefully, “they removed the remains long before the local police even wrapped tape around the area.”
“So, as far as they are concerned it was the scene of a crime from decades ago, right? No expected forensic evidence… none which would even make a difference anyway in solving a cold case like this,” Nina motioned with her snack.
“I… guess,” Joanne responded, still trying to figure out how correct police procedure along with the special circumstances of this specific corpse might cause this to be treated differently than the average crime scene.
Nina was correct. Although it was a crime scene, it was a very old one and the police had little more to do at the spot where the woman's body had been recovered. They would have to see if the camp director would allow them access, though, as he did mention putting some sort of memorial to the murder victim there. The two women made their way through the thick brush, trudging through the undergrowth and forest plants just a few steps away from the lake, keeping their voices low and moving as quietly as they could.
“Did you bring a weapon?” Nina asked softly.