Leon pulled back and gave a proper smile. “Why, just another servant, sir. Nothing more, nothing less, though perhaps with a soupçon of grace you won’t see elsewhere,” he chuckled. “I’m simply a lifelong, loyal employee.”
Anyone who might have overheard the response would have considered it merely the comment of an appropriately devoted Brown’s waiter. But no one heard. The standard Voyages table was separate from the others in the austere tea room.
“And, if I may, I would recommend a nice walk in the park after your tea.”
“Now what?” Katrina said as they got into their distressed Fiesta.
“And where?” McCauley clamped his eyes shut in thought. “We need to track down the archeologist teacher.”
“Start driving to the airport. I’ll look him up. Remember the guy’s name?”
“How could I forget a college history professor with the name DeCoursey Fales?”
It did seem unbelievable, but Katrina’s Internet search proved him right. She read as they drove. “Here it is. Dr. DeCoursey Fales, archeologist and professor of history at Emerson College, Boston. Noted for his in-depth study of a single two-feet high Athenian black-figured vase from sixth century BC, considered the most important find of its kind, discovered in a tomb at Vulci, an ancient Etruscan town in northern Italy.”
“Aren’t there caves in that region? Big ones?” McCauley asked.
“I think you’re right. There’s more.” She paraphrased now. “The vase is decorated with some two hundred mythological figures including Achilles and Ajax. Apparently a real historic and cultural treasure.” Katrina looked up. “So he could very well have….”
McCauley completed the sentence. “Discovered something else.” He merged onto the 101 Freeway West for the first leg to LAX with renewed excitement. “Let’s go find Professor Fales.”
Katrina returned to the Google homepage and clicked on a New York Times abstract. “Uh oh.”
“What?”
“I think I know where the good professor is. But we won’t be able to speak to him. He died in 2000.”
He slammed his hand on the steering wheel and sped up. “Damn! Two dead ends.”
“I’ll check on his publications as long as you don’t start driving like we’re back in Bakersfield again,” she only half-joked. “And I’ll see about the spelunker and the priest.”
“Yeah, right. I can only imagine,” McCauley said.
Fifteen minutes later, they ground to a halt on Interstate 405, the quickest way to LAX when traffic moved, which was rare. Right now, it didn’t matter much. McCauley and Alpert had no idea where they were going.
As Kavanaugh strolled to the park bench, he decided to project a better attitude, at least publicly. He noted that someone was already seated in the bench that abutted his.
After a short time, some of which Kavanaugh used to feed peanuts to the squirrels, he initiated the password routine.
“Usually things go well,” the man who went by the name Marvin quietly said. “This time, we moved too quickly.”
Kavanaugh felt the we was aimed at him. He rubbed his scalp with one hand and with the other, threw more peanuts at the squirrels. Then, emphasizing the word his own way, he responded, “Well, we need to fix this!”
Marvin chuckled, “An arrangement is already in progress.”
“Since this is the first operation on my watch, I especially welcome your help. I would like the details, however. Details meaning more than cursory overview. I’m sure you understand.”
Kavanaugh expected Marvin to reply. He didn’t.
Kavanaugh shifted slightly and tossed the remaining peanuts on the grass. This allowed him to glance over his shoulder.
His companion was gone.
Forty-two
“How ya feeling sweetheart?” Tamburro asked Chohany.
“Embarrassed. Ridiculous. Stupid. Out of it.”
She was, and so far Anna, as McCauley suggested, wasn’t opening up.
“Doctors say you might be out in a few days.”
“Hope so.”
“The best thing now is for you to get more rest,” Tamburro replied.
“Can’t wait to get back,” she said. “What’s the latest on the dig and the cave?”
“Not sure.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“We’re waiting for Dr. McCauley to come back tomorrow. But we might be shutting it down.”
This was more than he wanted to reveal.
“Really? Why?”
“Too dangerous. Potential pockets of gas.”
“Come on, Rich. You told me it was amazing and when Leslie visited she couldn’t stop talking about…”
“The doc got word that it’s off limits,” he said.
“You’re holding out on me.”
He was.
“Nope. We might move to another site. Not sure yet. I guess there are some insurance issues considering what happened.”
Guilt could work, he thought. He hoped.
“I’m sorry,” she offered.
Rich Tamburro moved closer to her. “It’s okay. Look, we met each other. I consider it a great summer.”
“Thanks.” She sighed deeply. “Maybe I’ll get a little sleep. Wanna lie down with me?”
Twenty minutes later, Rich Tamburro rolled off the bed and tiptoed around the room. Anna’s phone was on the nightstand, but he didn’t want to be too obvious. After a moment, he reached into his pocket to look at his cell. He swore under his breath, suggesting — in case she were actually awake — that his battery was dead. Tamburro casually picked up her cell and turned away. He knew her password, and although he felt guilty, he checked her email and texts. What he saw made him exhale slowly.
Tamburro thought hard about what to do next. With his back to her, he created screenshots of three texts and immediately forwarded them to his phone. There were more, but he heard Anna stir so he deleted the screenshots from her camera and the texts he’d sent.
“Hey, what gives?” she asked, apparently waking up. “Come back to bed.”
She watched Rich return the phone to the nightstand. “Hope it was okay. My battery was dead. Trying to reach Jaffe.”
“No problem,” she replied, fully aware that he was stumbling through an explanation. “Let me check on your battery right now.”
“But…?”
“There are always ways, sweetheart.”
It took him awhile. There were other things now on his mind.
“Doc, I think you were right,” Tamburro said. He began to describe Anna’s text messages, but McCauley was simultaneously listening to the Hertz sales person closing out his rental agreement.
“I’m sorry, sir. Same issue,” the rental agent stated. She was a fifty-something African American woman with a pleasant smile and a reassuring tone.
“Hold on a sec, Rich.”
“This card was declined, too,” the agent said. “Do you have another we can try?”
“Yes, sure.” McCauley handed her a third.
“Thank you. No worries.”
While she ran the charge for the car, McCauley jumped back on the phone.
“Still there? Rich?”
“Yup,” Tamburro said. “Just saw Anna at the hospital. Heading to the parking lot now.”
The woman shook her head again.
“Damn. Hold on again, Rich. I’ve got a problem with my cards. Must have maxed out when we bought all the stuff.”
McCauley got Katrina’s attention. “Can you talk to Rich? I’ve gotta deal with the account.”
“Sure,” she said.
McCauley handed over the phone.
“Hi, Rich. It’s Katrina. What’s up?”
McCauley apologized. Once again, the Hertz representative said, “No worries.” But she wasn’t the one who needed to come up with a solution.
“I think your system doesn’t like my cards,” he said fumbling through his wallet. His Bank of America and Chase debit cards and a Citibank credit card were all declined. He retrieved an American Express Jet Blue card. “Let’s try this one.”
“Okay,” she pleasantly offered.
She swiped the credit card once. Then again. “Dr. McCauley, do you have any another means of paying? This card was also declined.”
McCauley, completely frustrated, looked for Katrina. She was still on the call, obviously engrossed in the conversation.
McCauley addressed the Hertz sales woman again. “I…I…” he stammered as he fumbled through his wallet. “One more left.” It was an American Express departmental credit card, his emergency backup. “Okay,” he sheepishly offered, “this better work.”
The woman swiped the card. This clearly wasn’t her first time through such difficulties. Her training taught her to keep the customer calm.
That wasn’t necessary. “The charge went through, Dr. McCauley. Everything’s good.” She returned the card with the receipt for $794.00 which included the $500 deductible for the damage.
After the paperwork was printed and signed she directed him to the airport shuttle kiosk. “The bus stops at all the terminals. Out the sliding doors and at the curb. I hope you’ll have a good day.”
McCauley looked over to Alpert who was still on the phone and pacing.
“I think I’m about to find out.”