‘We have a deal.’
‘Good. Nina, are you okay?’
‘Oh, super fine,’ she croaked, rubbing her neck. ‘Eddie, don’t give it to them.’
‘Sorry, love, but I’ve got to. I know you’re going to be really pissed off about it, but you can rant and rave at me once you’re safe, okay? I’ll see you soon.’
Nina was about to say something else, but Vanita angrily terminated the video link. Khoil looked at the armed guard. ‘Escort Mr Chase off my plane.’
‘What, don’t I even get a hot towel? All right, I’m going,’ said Eddie as he was prodded with the gun. ‘Oh, one last thing.’ He jerked a thumb at Zec. ‘Tell laughing boy here to give me his car keys. I’m not walking all the way back to fucking Manhattan.’
Zec wasn’t happy, but handed them over under Khoil’s stern gaze. ‘How am I supposed to get back?’
‘That is not my concern,’ the Indian told him icily. ‘After your failure tonight, I will have to reconsider your continued employment.’
‘Don’t worry, mate,’ Eddie said, jingling the keys. ‘I’m sure someone with your talents’ll be able to find other work. I mean, New York always needs street sweepers.’ With that, he stepped out into the night.
‘Eddie!’ Lola cried as Eddie entered the room. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine,’ he said, seeing all the concerned faces anxiously awaiting news. They were in Matt’s Brooklyn apartment, the Australian joined not only by Karima, Rad and Lola, but also the members of ‘Plan B’: Grant and Macy, drawing a crowd with their ‘tryst’ to provide the necessary confusion; Amy Martin, on duty as an NYPD officer, to distract Zec at the crucial moment . . . and Mac, who had actually carried out the switch.
On a table was the now-empty briefcase, lid open to reveal the trick mechanism that made it possible. The high-power electromagnets provided by Matt, unsuited for their originally intended purpose, had found another use. The metal plate attaching the handle to the case had been unscrewed . . . as had that of the identical briefcase containing the weights. Only the magnets inside each case kept them firmly attached - until a radio-control circuit built by Matt was triggered by Mac as he ‘accidentally’ fell against Zec and banged the cases together in the scrum outside the hotel. The electromagnets inside the case containing the Codex shut off, causing it to drop away. A moment later, the magnets in Mac’s decoy case did the same - then reactivated once Mac’s hand was clear, snapping the dummy case back on to the handle Zec was gripping.
The entire exchange took under half a second, before Zec could recover from the collision. When Matt first suggested the idea, Eddie was extremely doubtful that it could work, but after dozens of practice runs they had made successful switches two times out of three.
Mac stood. ‘Thank God. What happened? Where’s Nina?’
‘She wasn’t there, just like I thought. But she’s safe, more or less . . . for now. Khoil agreed to another exchange. I’m going to India to make the swap.’
‘Do you really think he’ll play fair?’ Macy asked, concerned.
‘Not even for a second. Which is why I’m not going to either. But at least this time I’ll have more control over the situation.’
Mac raised an eyebrow. ‘Interesting how you think making the exchange on Khoil’s own turf counts as having more control.’
‘Well, that’s why I was hoping you’d give me some backup.’
‘If you need any more help from me, mate,’ offered Matt, ‘just ask.’
‘The same goes for us,’ said Karima. Rad nodded in agreement. Lola, Macy and Grant also piped up with offers of support.
Eddie shook his head. ‘Zec saw you. He’s not in Khoil’s good books right now, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have told him who was involved. If Khoil decides to keep him on and he recognised you, we’d be screwed.’
‘He might still recognise Mr McCrimmon from the hotel,’ Amy pointed out.
‘He only saw him for a moment, so we’ll have to chance it. But everyone else, he knows. So it’s just me and Mac.’
‘Thanks for that, Eddie,’ Mac said with a wry smile.
Objections rose from all quarters, but Eddie cut them off. ‘You’ve all been absolutely bloody fantastic,’ he said. ‘If I ever go in for a life of crime, I want you lot to be founder members of Eddie’s Eleven.’
‘I’m not hearing this,’ said Amy, pretending to put her fingers in her ears.
Eddie smiled, then became serious. ‘But like Mac said, we’re going to be on Khoil’s home turf. It’ll be a lot more dangerous. And I can’t ask you to take any more chances for me - hell, I won’t let you. Me and Mac are professionals, we’ve trained for this stuff. You haven’t. Sorry, but that’s the way it is.’
Disappointment filled the room. ‘I just hope you’re right, man,’ said Grant. ‘But good luck anyway. I want you and Nina at the premiere of my next movie!’
‘Who’ll be your date?’ Eddie asked mischievously, looking at Macy.
Grant grimaced. ‘Yeah, I’ve . . . kinda got to talk to Jessica. I didn’t have a chance to tell her beforehand. Don’t want her to hear about all this first on TMZ, huh?’
‘Too late for that,’ said Macy. ‘I’ve already had five calls from friends wanting to know if I’m really dating you. Word gets round fast these days!’ She eyed him hopefully. ‘You know, since it’s already out in the open, maybe we could try something for real?’ Grant looked like an animal trapped in headlights.
‘Matt, you’ve got a shower, right?’ said Eddie. ‘I think Macy needs a cold one.’ That got a laugh from everybody except Macy. ‘All of you, thanks so much for everything. I really appreciate it - and I know Nina will too once she stops being mad at me for stealing her bloody book.’ He looked at Mac. ‘Is it safe?’ Mac nodded. ‘Good. We’ll have to get it to India - Lola, I’ll need one last little thing off you, some UN paperwork.’
‘Whatever you want,’ she said.
‘Great. But we’ll have to get going - we’ve got a lot more planning to do, and not much time to do it.’ He frowned. ‘And I’ve just realised - if Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom isn’t a reliable source of information, then I know sod-all about India . . .’
16
India
‘So,’ said Mac, leaning against Eddie’s seat, ‘how much have you learned about India?’
Eddie held up the guide book he had bought at JFK before their flight to Delhi departed. ‘Well, I found out that Delhi and New Delhi are the same place, that Bangalore’s called “the Silicon Valley of India” even though it’s not in a valley, and that if I ever want to look at a bunch of temples, I can stick a pin anywhere on a map and find some. Apart from that, though . . . nowt really helpful. I’ve got no idea where would be a good place for the swap.’
‘You don’t have any useful contacts in India?’
‘Only Saheli, and she’s out of the country. There’s this guy from Interpol I met recently, Kit, but I don’t know if he’d be up for helping with something like this - he seemed a bit by-the-book. What about you? You went there in the SAS, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, but that was almost thirty years ago. And I was acting as an adviser to the National Security Guard for the Queen’s state visit, not being a tourist.’
‘Then unless we can get someone local on our side, we’ll have to wing it.’
‘Never really ideal in a hostage situation.’
‘Yeah, I know.’ Eddie closed the book. ‘Mac . . . I really appreciate you doing this for me.’
The Scot smiled. ‘What are friends for? Besides, I know you’d do the same for me. Although,’ his eyes twinkled, ‘I can’t imagine what I might possibly be doing that would need that kind of help. You and Nina do have a knack for getting into extreme situations.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Eddie said ruefully. ‘I’ve been shot at more in the past four years than in the bloody Regiment! But,’ he went on, resolute, ‘I’m going to get Nina out of this situation.’
‘We both are,’ said Mac firmly. He held out his hand; Eddie grasped it. ‘Fight to the end.’
‘Fight to the end,’ Eddie repeated. They exchanged a look of comradeship, and more, then released their grip as the airliner’s seat belt lights came on. The plane was descending.
‘See you on the ground.’ Mac headed to his seat. The two men were sitting separately for a very simple reason: security. Eddie suspected that news of his theft of the Talonor Codex would have spread beyond New York. Waiting for him - and anyone accompanying him - when the plane landed could well be the Indian police.
Or, worse, Khoil’s people.
Either way, he would know soon enough.