11
‘Ay up,’ said Eddie, first to recover from the foursome’s mutual shock. ‘Fancy meeting you ’ere.’
Diamondback’s hand whipped into his snakeskin jacket, but a sharp look from Shaban froze it.
‘Right, smart move,’ Nina said, trying to mask her nervousness. ‘This isn’t The Da Vinci Code. You can’t just do, y’know, stuff in the middle of the Louvre - in broad daylight in front of witnesses, no less.’
The official looked dubiously back and forth between the two groups. ‘Do you know each other?’
‘We haven’t been formally introduced,’ Nina said with cold sarcasm. ‘But yeah, we know each other. Mr Shaban, I believe. And your charming friend.’
‘Bobby Diamondback,’ drawled Shaban’s companion. ‘Sorry I missed y’all earlier. If you catch my drift.’
‘Diamondback?’ said Eddie mockingly. ‘Bollocks! There’s no way that’s your real name.’
Diamondback’s eyes creased into slits. ‘I’m Cherokee Indian, asshole.’
‘What, one sixty-fourth? You’re whiter than I am! And Puff Adder’d suit you better.’
‘Y’know,’ said Diamondback, shaking his head, ‘you oughta watch your mouth when you’re talkin’ to a Marine. It might get shut. Permanent, like.’
‘No proper Marine’d let their hair get into that state,’ Eddie replied, unimpressed by either the American’s threat or his greasy mullet. ‘Dishonourable discharge, was it?’
‘Eddie, honey,’ said Nina through a strained grin, ‘can you please stop provoking the man?’
‘I know you, of course, Dr Wilde,’ said Shaban. ‘In fact, after your little stunt at the Sphinx, I think a good part of the world knows you.’ The official blinked, recognising her. ‘And Miss Sharif too,’ the Egyptian added as Macy peered out of the antechamber. ‘All of you here together. How convenient.’
‘Why are we still here?’ Macy asked Nina in a fearful whisper.
Shaban’s eyes narrowed intently. ‘Why are you here, Dr Wilde?’
‘The same reason as you, I’m guessing.’ Her gaze flicked down; under one arm, he carried a leather-bound folder that she imagined contained photos of the reassembled zodiac. ‘A keen interest in ancient astrology.’
His eyes tightened still further. ‘Very keen.’
‘I’m sure. But we really should be going. See you - well, not soon at all, I hope.’
‘Tell you what,’ said Diamondback, his hand once again edging into his jacket, ‘how ’bout I show you the way out?’
‘Tell you what,’ Eddie replied, doing the same and hoping Diamondback couldn’t tell that he wasn’t armed, ‘how about you don’t?’
‘It’s all right, Bobby,’ said Shaban, touching his arm. ‘Stay with me. I’m sure we’ll meet them again. Hopefully,’ a small smile, genuine but nasty, ‘in less formal surroundings.’
‘Can’t wait,’ said Eddie, still holding his hand near his non-existent gun. He and Nina backed away, Macy scurrying into cover behind them. Shaban and Diamondback stood like statues, watching as they reached a short flight of stairs leading down to the next room. ‘Okay, leg it!’
They ran through the underground room - somewhat ironically, a display of items relating to Osiris - then clattered back up more stairs into a chamber full of mummies, attracting surprised looks from the other visitors. Eddie looked back. ‘He’s not following, but I bet he’s already calling for a goon squad.’ He flapped open the tourist map. ‘Where’s the nearest bloody exit?’
They found the way out, emerging on the Place du Louvre to the museum’s east. ‘Christ, I really need to buy a new gun,’ Eddie complained.
Nina, meanwhile, was more interested in a car parked in a restricted zone nearby - a large black Mercedes SUV with tinted windows. ‘Think that’s Shaban’s car?’
‘Maybe,’ Eddie said as he led the two women across the street. ‘Why? Want to key it?’
‘No, but I was thinking we should follow it.’
‘We just got away from the guy, and now you want to meet him again?’ Macy asked.
‘We can’t find the Pyramid of Osiris without seeing the complete zodiac,’ said Nina. ‘And Shaban’s got it.’
They took cover round a corner. Nina looked back. No sign of anyone coming after them.
‘It might not even be his car,’ Eddie pointed out.
‘Well, then we’re screwed. But parking on the lines is kind of a VIPy thing to do, so let’s wait and see.’
As it turned out, it was Shaban’s car. About ten minutes later, the scar-faced Egyptian emerged from the Louvre. He and Diamondback entered the Mercedes.
‘You think he figured out how to find the pyramid?’ Macy wondered.
‘Only one way to find out,’ Nina said. The SUV pulled away. She hurried to the kerb and raised a hand. ‘Taxi!’
‘Bloody hell,’ said Eddie, peering along the narrow street. ‘Didn’t realise this thing was big in France as well.’
Nina, Eddie and Macy had followed Shaban’s SUV across Paris in a taxi - after first convincing its driver that their request to ‘Suivez cette voiture!’ wasn’t une blague. The Mercedes pulled up outside a building bearing the logo of the Osirian Temple - which, like its counterpart in New York when Eddie had visited it with Grant Thorn, had a sizeable and excited crowd outside.
‘All these people are here just to see this guy Osir?’ Macy asked in disbelief. ‘I know he used to be a movie star, but come on!’
Nina told the taxi driver to pull over. ‘Maybe you should make up your own religion too and see what happens.’
Macy considered it. ‘Could all my followers be, like, buff shirtless firefighters? Young ones, obviously.’
‘Y’know, I think that’s a religion I’d like to start.’
‘Oi,’ Eddie growled.
They got out and watched as Shaban and Diamondback left their vehicle, green-blazered men clearing a path to the building’s entrance. Once they were inside, Nina led the way to the fringe of the crowd.
‘So now what?’ Eddie asked. ‘Wait for them to come out again?’
‘I don’t know,’ Nina admitted. ‘I think we should stick close to them, though.’ She regarded the crowd. ‘And I have to admit, I’m kinda curious about this whole Osirian Temple thing - and why Osir’s going to such lengths to find the Pyramid of Osiris. We should try to get inside.’
‘You do remember that they know what we look like?’
‘So we’ll sit at the back. There must be three hundred people here - if we keep our heads down, Shaban and his pal won’t see us. And nobody else knows who we are.’
‘Er, Dr Wilde,’ Macy pointed out, ‘you were just on TV in front of millions of people. And you were already kinda famous before that.’
Nina looked at the nearby shops. ‘Okay, maybe if we had disguises . . .’
‘These are crap disguises,’ whispered Eddie as he and Nina found seats on the very back row of the Egyptian-styled hall, watched over by two large statues of Osiris flanking the entrance.
‘Well, I’m sorry that we weren’t in Paris’s fancy dress quarter,’ Nina hissed back. All they had been able to find to hide their faces were baseball caps with J’aime Paris written above the bill.
The buzz of excitement around them rose to a roar. The crowd stood and applauded as Khalid Osir strode on to the stage at the far end of the hall, basking in the adulation of his followers. Behind him, other senior members of the Osirian Temple lined up, Shaban and Diamondback among them. Eddie tugged his hat lower. ‘Macy had the right idea staying outside . . .’