Bodie thought about it. “Actually, Jeffski has a good point.”
“Stop dubbing my name. It’s childish. I’ll let you ponder on the map’s travels and get back to it soon. Miss Brady always taught me to expand on the background first, so I spent a whole lot of time researching the statue, the history that surrounds it, Olympia and the Olympics, and finally the four waypoints that the map gives us.”
“Waypoints?” Heidi asked. “You mean places the statue stopped?”
“Exactly. Four waypoints, all interesting. The map itself is a map of Europe, with many footnotes. The footnotes are numbered. But it gives us only tidbits at best, and in all honesty I can’t remember everything.”
Bodie stared at the long, winding road ahead, the horizon disappearing into a haze. They were a long way from the Acapulco job, and even further from the prison he’d almost died in. the CIA were to thank for saving him there, but this job didn’t suit him. So far, they had chased one new clue after another, chased a man across a country, always forced onto the back foot and reacting instead of acting. At least three members of his team functioned beyond skillfully only when there was a plan. The other two — Cassidy and himself — could pretty much adapt to anything.
That still left three members of his team struggling to catch up.
“Tell us what you know,” he said and then looked to Heidi. “And then we craft a plan. Yes? It’s what we do. You wanted us, you wanted the best, then use us. Use our skills. Our expertise. Use us the right way.”
Heidi nodded briefly.
Jeff continued, “It’s generally agreed that, one way or another, the statue disappeared in the early 5th century. Through footnotes the map reveals that, initially, it was dismantled and taken by the Romans. But they didn’t enjoy it for long.” Jeff paused. “Clearly the footnotes are designed to be read in conjunction with the waypoints, but it will save us time to think ahead.”
“Us?” Cassidy repeated. “You part of the team now, Jeffrey?”
“It’s Jeff. And I want justice just as much as you.”
Bodie waved for him to continue. The big SUV bounced over a pothole and the driver received a reprimand from Cassidy.
“So the Romans? Well, Rome was sacked by the Goths in 410 AD. They ran riot for four days, committing all manner of atrocities. One of those outrages was to steal the Statue of Zeus, probably delighting in taking plunder from the plunderers. So the Goths took the statue with them, one prize among many, and again it became lost to history.”
“But not really?” Jemma asked.
“Well, this was actually the time when all knowledge of the statue faded away. Deliberately, I suppose. Engineered by the man that acquired it.”
“Famous, no doubt,” Jemma said.
Jeff nodded. “Yes. The Goths may have settled in Spain and Portugal but they played key roles in a new empire, a little later. The statue was spirited away, and taken to the kingdom of the Franks. It came under new ownership, great ownership. It came to Charlemagne.”
“The king of France?”
“Well, yes. Charlemagne was the King of France, King of the Lombards and Emperor of the Romans.” Jeff coughed. “All at the same time.”
“Whoa,” Cross said. “Sounds like a dude.”
“He was a dude. And obviously his name became legend. Linked to every organization, every conspiracy, every rumor there has ever been. But there was no doubting his greatness. He was the first man to unite Western Europe since the Roman Empire. Thereafter, all Holy Roman Empires considered themselves to be descendants of Charlemagne’s empire. Charlemagne also took Bavaria, and spent some time there.”
“And the statue?” Heidi pressed.
“Yes. Charlemagne had many homes across his kingdom. I guess you could call him a living legend of the time, and most of the world’s collusions and intrigues involved him in some way. Truth be told, I’m not an expert on Charlemagne but I do know a little of his history.”
“Me too,” Gunn spoke up, cellphone still in hand. “The man that ensured the survival of Christianity in the West.”
Heidi twisted around in her seat. “All right, guys. We get that he was great. What next?”
“No,” Jeff said. “The reason I articulated about Charlemagne was to show how important he was. The Goths gave the statue to Charlemagne. It then stayed in his family for over one thousand years. That’s how important he was.”
Heidi nodded, but remained tight-lipped.
“The footnotes point to Charlemagne, and then nothing for untold decades. After that, there was something about Liege in 1869, I honestly can’t remember the details. But, the waypoints offer four clues. We have to find one to get the other. Obviously, I do remember them as I read and reread them a hundred times.”
Bodie had been listening carefully, and now turned to Heidi. “How does this fit with your theory?” he asked.
“Theory?” Jeff asked.
Cassidy shifted. “Well, Frizzbomb here thinks the location of the statue will lead us to—”
“It’s just a theory,” Heidi interrupted. “And Jeff’s a civilian. Let’s keep it professional.”
Bodie saw they were entering a large town. The road dipped and a row of houses came over the horizon, sprawling as far as he could see. He thought about all that Jeff had told them.
“For me,” he said. “The footnotes mean nothing. Not yet anyway. What we need are hard facts that tell us first, where the statue is now, and second, where that bloody Hood might be going.”
Heidi agreed. “Yeah, keep it succinct from now on Jeff. Waypoints, waypoints, waypoints.”
Jeff shrugged. “Of course, but there is only one to start. As I said — one leads us to the next. If I knew the whole story I might be able to help more.”
“Ah, so now you wanna be on our team?” Cassidy asked with a smile.
“Well, I don’t see anyone else figuring out how the map came to be found at Olympia in 2017, thousands of years after the statue was moved.”
Gunn waved his cellphone in the air, somewhat ineffectually. Jemma looked frustrated. “C’mon guys,” she said. “We have no plan, a team without a plan is just in chaos. We have a lot of information here, but nothing to act on.”
The driver slowed as they entered the town, negotiating the narrow streets. Bodie saw parked cars and people meandering among them, the place a hive of activity. “Gonna slow us down,” he said.
“On our road to nowhere?” Jemma pointed out.
“She has a point,” Jeff said.
Everyone looked at Jeff. “Do you get to comment?” Cassidy asked.
“I think so,” he said. “Especially when I have the first waypoint on the map. And also because I know what the map actually is.”
Heidi frowned. Bodie stared harder into the young archaeologist’s eyes. “What does that mean, mate?”
“The map,” Jeff said in a stage whisper. “Is one man’s account — one archaeologist’s account — of how he set out to find the statue in the early 1900s. And of how an exiled and disillusioned member of the Illuminati helped him.”
Jeff’s ear-to-ear grin said it all.
Cassidy laughed as Heidi rolled her eyes.
“For fuck’s sake. Does everyone know about these guys?”
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
“Where is the first waypoint?” Heidi asked.
Jeff closed his eyes, remembering the words. “We returned something new to Spartacus, and 1776.”