Smyth looked wary. “Really?”
“Yeah, but don’t worry. I doubt anyone would try to blackmail you.”
“Oh, very funny. I’ve never—”
“Save it. I’m no judge.”
Hayden acknowledged Lauren with a nod. “Leverage is possible, yes. Producing the fossil at the right time would give its owner immense power over the Chinese. Karin, where does John Kirby’s son’s son live?”
Several hours later, Hayden and Kinimaka parked their government-issue Escalade, with Smyth in the back, outside a house that sat on a pretty but quiet street in Virginia. The three SPEAR members had taken advantage of the steady drive and warm air-conditioning to unwind a little, sparing the conversation. For Smyth this wasn’t a problem. For Kinimaka, concentrating on driving, it gave him chance to think about what he might say to his sister, Kono, when he finally greeted her. For Hayden however, it started out like a balm, soothing her anxieties and helping her relax recently bruised muscles, but after about sixty miles another concern intruded on her consciousness.
The air vent to her right on the passenger side was pointed straight at her.
So what?
Irritably she returned it to its normal position. Of course this might be her regular ride whenever she needed it but she imagined it wasn’t assigned only to her. Was it? I guess that’s something I’m gonna have to look into.
The glovebox still held her cheap sunglasses but there was a fingerprint on one of the lenses. Her packet of chewing gum was more than half gone. None of these things were unexplainable but, together they caused a little twisting inside her gut.
Why?
No reason that she could fathom. It was as if… as if something wasn’t quite right. Like the blackness in the corner moving when it shouldn’t. The tree throwing too many shadows. The floor squeak that might have been totally innocent…
Might have been.
Hayden buried it deep as Kinimaka stopped the car. Together, the three walked side-by-side up a well-tended garden path and stopped outside a freshly painted door. Kinimaka knocked, his large knuckles producing a heart-stopping sound.
“Chill, dude.” Smyth winced. “You’re gonna break the door down.”
Kinimaka grimaced. “Yeah, sorry.”
Nevertheless, the door swung open. A good-looking man stood there, well-groomed, his tight white T-shirt bearing a designer slogan. “Help you?”
Hayden held up a badge. “Hope so. Are you James Kirby?”
“Yup.” The fit-looking, middle-aged man peered hard at her credentials. “SPEAR? Really? I never heard of you.”
“Probably a good idea to keep it that way,” Smyth grumbled.
“We need to ask you a few questions, Mr. Kirby.” Hayden flashed a smile. “Could we come inside?”
“Geez, I guess. I mean you know the FBI. You know the cops. But what are you supposed to say when SPEAR come knocking?”
“It’s a fair point,” Smyth said, stepping over the threshold. “The police don’t even know we exist.”
Hayden winced a little as she walked past Kirby. “He’s just messin’ with ya. You can always check our legitimacy later by calling the FBI.”
“Later?” Kirby repeated. “Gee, thanks.”
Hayden walked into a front room with a wide bay window. Kirby moved toward the deep sill and parked himself. Smyth sank into a chair, probably trying to appear less threatening. Kinimaka remained upright and large, as imposing a figure as Kirby had probably ever seen.
Hayden smiled once more. “Listen, Mr. Kirby, I’ll be honest with you. Much of what I’m about to tell you will seem crazy. Bizarre—”
“I get it. You have your secrets, right? Truly I get it. My family has its fair share.” Kirby laughed aloud.
Hayden paused, blinking. “It does? Well, that’s interesting. What do you do for work, Mr. Kirby?”
“Don’t you already know? You are part of the US government right?”
Smyth brayed from the corner. “My kinda guy. I like this one.”
Hayden chuckled. “Of course. Builder by day, barman by night. Your wife lives with your son about two blocks south of here. Amicable break-up, amicable arrangements. You even play squash with her new boyfriend.”
“What can I say?” Kirby spread his hands. “I’m a stand-up guy.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have a problem helping us out then. We have a few questions about your grandfather, John Kirby.”
“Grandpa John? What’s he done now? Talked the ear off a cherub?”
“Enjoyed a good tale did he?” Kinimaka asked.
“Every chance he got. Why is the government asking about my grandpa?”
Hayden bit her lip for a moment, thinking best how to phrase her next comment. “Well, we’d like to know how he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or was it the right place at the wrong time?”
“Say again?”
“Yup, you lost me too,” Smyth said.
Hayden rubbed her forehead. “The USS Queenfish. Your grandfather was court martialed after he sank the Awa Maru, though later, incredibly, he continued his career and attained flag rank. I realize it’s fifty years ago now, but did your grandfather or father ever mention those times?”
Kirby stared at them for a long minute, the confusion apparent in his eyes. After a while the military bearing and authoritativeness of his guests must have won through because he started speaking. “Are you kidding? It was all he ever talked about. Especially in his later years. Grandpa was what the English might call a crackpot; that’s eccentric to you and I. Poor old man…” Kirby tailed off.
“Did he ever say why he was near Taiwan?” Hayden asked. “Or talk of an old fossil called the Peking Man?”
Kirby suddenly looked cagey. “Y’know, it’s all just bullshit. No need to repeat all that crap now. Like I said, poor guy lost it after retiring, that’s all.”
“It might help us out with a related case,” Kinimaka prodded. “That’s all.”
“Related?” Kirby looked doubtful. “How can anything be related to the Lost Kingdom?”
“Please.” Hayden thought about the Pythians and Dudley and their past atrocities. The Pandora plague was only the beginning. Other campaigns were afoot. What if this was worse? “We need your help. Just knowing about this lost kingdom could save lives. Hundreds, thousands of lives.”
“You’re not telling me it’s all true.” Kirby started laughing despite the solemn faces around him. “How can it be? The lost continent of Mu? It never existed.”
“That may be,” Hayden agreed. “But some very, very bad men think otherwise. And they’ll do absolutely anything to locate it.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Hayden saw disbelief mingled with suspicion make a dangerous mix in Kirby’s eyes. In the end, though, the man’s what-the-hell attitude won through and he found a neutral spot to stare at above their heads.
“Long time ago now. Even then my dad pitied him. Believe me, I was only eight, but I knew. Kids know. They pick up on everything, it’s crazy.” Kirby shook his head as if picturing his own son. “Grandpa John talked a lot about his sea voyages — he was a salty old dog. He spoke of his rescues, mostly, of which there were many. And how he commanded a ‘wolf pack’. Typhoons and unknown waters. Islands that can rise or sink depending on the time of year.” He shook his head. “But that was only the start of it. As he aged, he became less sure of his faculties and less able to keep his secrets, and Grandpa John started to give some away. Not that it mattered anymore. The war was long over. But that one voyage, that damn voyage to Taiwan, it became the only thing he ever talked about.” Kirby took a deep breath.