“American?” the older guy said with a hint of surprise. “What do you want?”
She ignored him. “Are you OK, kid?” She flashed her shield. “I’m a cop. You be honest with me now.”
Older guy clicked immediately and gave a grin of relief, which was odd. The other one blinked in confusion.
“Eh?”
The cop in Kennedy pressed the issue. “Are you here by choice?” It was all she could think of to get next to them.
The younger guy looked pained. “Well, the sightseeing’s ok, but the rough sex ain’t much fun.”
Older guy looked surprisingly grateful. “Trust me. There’s no problem here. It’s good to see some of the law enforcement community still respect the job though. I’m Matt Drake.”
He held out a hand.
Kennedy ignored it, still not convinced. Her mind snagged on that phrase still respect the job and flicked back over the last month. Stopped where it always stopped. At Kaleb. At his brutalised victims. At his unconditional release.
If only.
“Well… thanks, I guess.”
“So, you’re a cop from New York?” The younger man augmented the nuance with raised eyebrows that he directed at the older.
“Bloody subtle.” Matt Drake laughed easily. He seemed confident in himself and, though he sat easily, Kennedy could tell he had the competence to react in a second. And the way he constantly surveyed his surroundings made her think cop. Or army.
She nodded, wondering if she should invite herself to sit down.
Drake indicated the free space, at the same time leaving him a clear way out. “Polite, too. I heard New Yorkers were the most over-confident people in the world.”
“Matt!” The kid frowned.
“If by over-confident you mean egotistical and arrogant, I heard that too.” Kennedy slid into the booth, feeling a bit awkward. “Then I came to Paris and met the French.”
“Vacation?”
“So I’m told.”
The guy didn’t push it, just held his hand out again. “I’m still Matt Drake. And this is my lodger, Ben.”
“Hey, I’m Kennedy. I overheard what you were saying, the headlines anyway, I’m afraid. That’s what hit me up. And what’s that about Wolves in New York?” She raised her eyebrows in imitation of Ben.
“Odin.” Drake was studying her closely, watching for a reaction. “Know anything about him?”
“He was Thor’s dad wasn’t he? You know, in the Marvel comic.”
“He’s all over the news.” Ben nodded at the PC.
“I’ve been keeping pretty clear of headlines lately.” Kennedy’s words came fast, wrung tight with hurt and frustration. It was a moment before she could carry on. “So, not much. Just enough.”
“Sounds like you’ve created a few.”
“More than is good for my career.” She returned, and then gazed out through the dingy cafe windows into the street.
Drake followed her gaze, wondering if he should push her, and his eyes locked on to those of one of the lock-pickers from earlier, peering through the glass.
“Shite. These guys are more persistent than an Indian call centre.”
The guy’s face lit up with recognition when Drake moved, but now Drake decided he wasn’t fucking about any more. The gloves were well and truly off, and the SAS Captain was back. He moved fast, picked up one of the armchairs and flung it through the window with an almighty crash. The German flew backwards, collapsing to the pavement like dead meat.
Drake waved Ben to the side. “Come with us, or don’t,” he called to Kennedy as he ran. “But stay out of my way.”
He moved quickly to the door, flung it open, and paused in case there was gunfire. Shocked Parisians were standing about. Tourists were snapping away. Drake cast a probing gaze down the street.
“Suicide.” He ducked back in.
“Rear entrance.” He tapped Ben, and they headed towards the counter. Kennedy had yet to move, but it didn’t take a cop’s analytical mind to see these people were in genuine trouble.
“I’ll cover you.”
Drake strode past the frightened counter-man into a dingy corridor lined with boxes of coffee, sugar and stir-sticks. At the end was a fire-escape. Drake hit the bar, then peered cautiously outside. The afternoon sun stung his eyes, but the coast was clear. Which, for him, meant there was only one enemy out there.
Drake motioned the others to wait, then strode purposefully towards the waiting German. He didn’t avoid the man’s punch, but took it hard in the solar-plexus without flinching. The shock on his opponent’s face gave him momentary satisfaction.
“Pussies aim for the plexus.” He whispered. Experience had taught him that a trained man would strike at one of the body’s obvious pressure points and pause for effect, so Drake compartmentalised the pain — as he’d been endlessly taught — and ploughed through it. He broke the guy’s nose, shattered his jaw and almost snapped his neck with two strikes, and then left him sprawled on the pavement without breaking stride. He waved the others forward.
They exited the cafe and looked around.
Kennedy said: “My hotel’s three blocks over.”
Drake nodded. “Bloody awesome. Let’s go.”
SIX
A minute later Ben said:” Wait.”
“Don’t say you need the toilet, mate, or we’re gonna have to get you some nappies.”
Kennedy hid a grin as Ben flushed.
“I know you’re due a nap, old man, but it’s nearly time to… umm… visit the Louvre.”
Shit. Drake had lost track of time. “Bollocks.”
“The Louvre?”
“About turn.” Drake waved at a passing taxi. “Kennedy, I will explain.”
“You’d better. I’ve already been to the Louvre today.”
“Not for this…” Ben murmured as they climbed into the taxi. Drake said the magic word and the car sped off. The journey was undertaken in silence and lasted ten minutes, through streets clogged with traffic. The pavements were no better when the three of them tried to hot-foot it towards the museum.
As they walked, Ben brought Kennedy up to speed. “Someone found Odin’s Shield in Iceland. Someone stole it from an exhibition in York, completely ruining Frey’s amazing cat-walk show.”
“Frey?”
“The fashion designer. Aren’t you from New York?”
“I am from New York, but I’m not big on fashion. And I’m not big on being dragged blindly into some kind of conflict. I really don’t need more problems right now.”
Drake almost said ‘there’s the door’ but stopped himself at the last second. A cop could prove useful tonight for many reasons, especially one from the States. As they approached the glass pyramid that marked the entrance to the Louvre, he said: “Kennedy, these people have tried to kill us at least three times now. It’s my responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen. Now, we need more information on what the Hell’s going down here, and for some reason they are interested in something that Ben has found out that’s called the ‘Nine Pieces of Odin’. We don’t really know why, but in here—” he pointed past the glass pyramid, “is the second Piece.”
“They’re gonna steal it, tonight,” Ben said, then added: “Probably.”
“And what’s the New York angle?”
“That’s where another one of Odin’s Pieces is on display. The Wolves. At the Natural History Museum.”
Drake was studying a map. “Seems the Louvre doesn’t normally display Viking collections. This one’s also on loan, like the one at York. Says here, the biggest interest is the Viking longboat, one of the finest ever discovered, and its renowned notoriety.”