“Let me guess,” Purdue said. “He never made it to London.”
“Exactly,” Ava chipped in from the frothy cappuccino she was nursing. “After disposing of Excalibur, he burned the map into the old leather with a hot nail, and gave the scabbard to a close family member residing at Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran. That family member was a cousin of the Hall brothers, the great grandfather of Rufus Hall, the man Paul Willard and Court Callany stole it from.”
The school principal shifted uncomfortably in his chair and sighed. “My son died during that robbery, gentlemen. He died for Excalibur and I will be damned if I am not going to pull out all the stops to finish what we started. He was not supposed to involve Court Callany, but he felt sorry for the man. Thought he could help him make some money. Ironic, how the Callany’s were in no way involved in the original plan, and now they are our biggest liability.”
“What happened to Alan Silver?” Ava asked.
“Ask Kostas,” Willard said. He groaned as he rose from his chair and sauntered to the kitchen for coffee. Kostas said nothing. His hard eyes burned through Sam, the man who killed his best friend with such impudence, but his very presence told Purdue and Sam that this Alan Silver character was no more.
“Makes sense all of a sudden,” Sam mentioned. “Purdue, that auction house you bought the table and other stuff from?”
“Euphrates Society?” Purdue asked.
“I checked them out. Prime establishment for what I believe to be the Black Sun’s relic mill. Probably why they invited you to the auction,” Sam explained. He gave Ava a disdainful leer and pointed at her from the armrest of his chair. “It was no accident that she tried to play you. According to some research I did on Euphrates, they had previously been locked in a dispute with Rufus Hall to try and gain control of the Hall Hoard. It was called the Hall-Rian case, but it just vanished from the judicial records, probably due to the high corruption probability of the Euphrates experts. I saw the list. Willard and Rian were benefactors of the society.”
“There you go,” Purdue grunted with satisfaction. He could always trust Sam to know the backgrounds of their opponents. Through it all, Willard did not deny any of the remarks.
“I need for you to do what you do best, Mr. Purdue,” Willard implored politely. “We are not friends, and I understand that you begrudge me for kidnapping Dr. Gould, but I hope you appreciate that this situation was brought on by circumstances.”
“You can flavor it in any way you like, Mr. Willard, but in the end you are just a criminal with a nice demeanor,” Purdue stated. “In truth, you are responsible for your son’s death, but what makes you all nothing more than criminals, is that your greed caused the death of innocent people. I will so as you ask. I will launch a minor excursion to locate Excalibur, which in my opinion, is probably just an old sword anyway.”
With Sam’s steely eyes following Kostas from where he sat, Purdue moved slowly towards Willard and Ava. He had one more thing to get off his chest before he would start on the Warkadur map. “Let us be clear on one thing. If anything happens to Nina or the remaining Callany family, you will never outrun me. Make no mistake, Willard. I am a man of limitless means and great intellect, two things that make me the most dangerous enemy you will regret to have crossed.”
Ava scoffed. “And you,” Purdue addressed her with his index finger pointing, “…my dear, will never set foot in my house again. You have served your purpose.”
Sam smiled. He felt mean and happy that Purdue knew who Ava was before he bedded her, and still got his rewards from her. He was proud of Purdue for bugging Bernard’s vehicle that night. He was proud that he used Ava like a cheap one-night stand, because all in Purdue’s inner sanctum got tired of women fucking him over because he was nice. It was good to see Purdue’s less than nice come out precisely when it was supposed to.
“Come on, then,” Purdue told Willard. “I need the map.”
“No,” Ava purred, “we will keep the map, Kostas and I. You will make the necessary arrangements for our collective tip there…”
“Wait a minute,” Sam objected loudly. “Just clarify this for me. How are we to know you will not kill Nina anyway while we are out there bringing back the sword and then you just kill us too, Willard?”
“Mr. Cleave, I am not a murderer. I cannot speak for my associate, Major Rian, but as far as I am concerned, you are all quite safe,” Willard elucidated. “I am a reasonable man, so for my part, we will all come out of this alive. You get Excalibur for us, but you do not keep it. Mr. Purdue gets bragging rights to make another huge splash in the media about his famous explorations, claiming to have discovered the legendary Excalibur.”
“What is the catch?” Sam asked.
“The catch is that Mr. Purdue takes the glory for the find, and declares that he donates it to the Euphrates Society. That way, nobody needs to die for knowing too much. Leave that for American thriller films,” Willard conveyed.
Sam watched Ava’s face as the schoolmaster revealed his plan and she did not look at ease with the arrangement. However, she said nothing, leaving Sam with nothing but speculation.
“We get Excalibur, and you get to not die and take the credit for the relic’s retrieval. Call it a mutually beneficial contribution to a historical discovery,” Willard relayed flamboyantly.
Sam had no qualms with the plan, although both he and Purdue knew that Willard was not the sole authority when it came to Nina’s safety. Ava was a loose cannon, just like her brother. Purdue had a gut instinct that she and Bernard would turn on their associates without hesitation, so he remained wary of their position throughout.
“I need to see the map to know whereto,” Purdue told Willard. “I cannot make travel arrangements and procure pertinent devices, food rations and gear without being familiar with the terrain we have to work with.”
Willard and Ava glared at one another. Finally, he shrugged. “Give the man the map you pulled from Bernard’s pictures. He is right, Ava.”
Reluctantly she took out a folder from her purse and tossed it on the table. Purdue and Sam sat down, while James Willard casually sauntered to the kitchen.
“Tea, anyone?” he offered as if they were there for Bible study.
“Aye, thanks,” Sam said, as Purdue took out the various angled photographs of the scabbard. He noticed the silvery thread Nina referred to. “Actually, James, do you have coffee?”
“I do,” Willard answered.
“Listen, Mr. Willard, they are not here to order you around like a maid,” Ava hissed under her breath. “They are our hostages.”
“Miss Somerset, I appreciate your disgruntlement, but they are not our enemies. They are people just like us, unfortunately on the other side of our playpen and you will respect them,” he cautioned gently in an equally hushed tone.
“You are way too forthcoming. Why can’t we just go out there and get the sword and get paid?” she bitched. “They are making fools of us. These men are stonewalling us and I will not have it. All the while my brother has to babysit their little bitch as if she is special.”
The silver haired beauty planted herself on the stool next to the counter and pouted like a child. She was becoming exceedingly desperate to move things along in order to get paid and disappear.