“Keiko?”
“Yes. She’s not one of us, Alexander.”
“Of course not. She is a robot. A metal casing filled with software, nothing more.”
“No, she’s different. I’ve told you that before. Something passed to her from the traitor.” Mironov knew that his guest was referring to Higgs. “The Masters have told me.”
“You’ve mentioned that before,” Mironov said, “and I’ve had our best men look at her programming. She’s clean.”
The guest sat back in his seat and crossed his fingers. “Let me tell you something else I’ve learned. She’s in opposition to our plan.”
“You’re acting as though she’s human. As I said, she’s nothing more than a computer that can move.”
“She understands more than you realize.” Marrese stroked his goatee. “I understand all things spiritual, and I’m telling you here and now that she is going to be trouble. The Masters have never lied to me.”
“I’ll have Jorg keep an eye on her.”
“And what is the latest on the girl?”
Mironov squirmed in his seat, a bit uncomfortable with the topic. He’d hoped that it wouldn’t come up. “Well, there is a new development. She has returned to Europe.”
“What?” Marrese leaned forward in his chair.
“We were monitoring her credit card, and well… she has booked a flight to Vienna. There is absolutely nothing to worry about. My men will be there to follow her when she arrives.”
Marrese shook his head. “This is yet another thing I warned you about, Alexander. I told you we weren’t done with her.”
“Look, we don’t even know if this has anything to do with us,” Mironov explained, although he did remember Marrese's warning.
“And you also said it was a coincidence that the girl went to London. Then we find her meeting with a man, and apparently she passes something along to him. Then this same man easily escapes the surveillance of your men.”
“We still don’t know exactly what she did in London, although I agree with you that she was probably there because of the investigation. But Vienna is different. Higgs was never there, and I have no business interests there. None.”
“We don’t know that Higgs never went there. You told me yourself that you didn’t pick up any of his phone activity until later.”
“But why would Higgs have gone to Vienna?”
“Why not? He was simply trying to get away. And who knows who he met with or what he did while he was there.”
Mironov shrugged. “Everything we know indicates he went directly to London.”
The priest frowned. “This is much worse than you think. If it turns out she is still looking into this, we may need to find a way to eliminate the problem permanently.”
“You know I’ve never had a problem eliminating trouble when it’s come my way. I do want to proceed carefully with the girl, though. My government couldn’t care less about thugs and lowlifes. I’ve never even been questioned when we’ve had to put down problems. But, if we kill this girl, everything changes. The Americans will get involved. As it stands, they’re letting the Brits take the lead, and the Brits still think Higgs was killed by one of his creditors. But if the daughter shows up dead, you can rest assured everything will change.”
“This is true,” said the priest, nodding. “And yet, we may have no other choice. I will continue to consult with the Masters.”
“And as I said, my men are already in place in Vienna. My guess is she’s there to see a friend or attend some convention.”
Marrese ignored Mironov’s last comment and stood up. He walked over to the table, picked up one of the candles, and stared at the flickering flame. After a few seconds of thought, he looked sideways at Mironov. “And now we must discuss another important matter. Have you made arrangements to obtain the code?”
“Yes, I have,” said Mironov. “We’re going to pick it up tomorrow night.”
“And you’re sure we can’t be connected to this man?”
“Impossible. We’ve always used encrypted lines when communicating with him. He has no idea who we are, and we can’t be connected to him in any way.”
“How do you know he hasn’t told someone about the calls or the payment?”
“First of all, the man is a loner,” Mironov reassured him. “He never seems to leave his flat. The epitome of a loser. In fact, that’s one of the reasons he was selected.” Mironov then leaned back in his seat. “But the other reason is that we have been monitoring him night and day. He doesn’t make a call that we don’t know about. The man doesn’t even relieve himself without us knowing about it.”
The former priest seemed satisfied with Mironov’s explanation. “And you remember what else the Masters told me about this man? That we can’t risk him speaking after this is all over?”
Mironov seemed uncomfortable with the topic but nodded.
“And you’re prepared to carry it out?”
“I am.”
The priest smiled, and much to Mironov’s surprise, the candles flickered in unison.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Zane looked at the piece of paper a fourth time, as if the content might magically change, but it still only gave an address and a time: Place Bourg-Saint-Pierre, 1204 Geneva, Switzerland 10:00.
Frustrated, he handed it back to Carmen, who shrugged. “Well, it’s better than nothing. And we know what to do next.”
“Dad was an engineer. Everything he did was logical and methodical,” Amanda explained. “That means if we go to that address at that time, we’ll find what we’re looking for.”
“One thing is illogical, though,” Zane said.
“What’s that?” Amanda asked.
“Your father is sending us to a church. I’ve been to Geneva a half dozen times, and if I’m not mistaken, that’s the address for the St. Pierre Cathedral.”
“I think he’s right.” Carmen stared at the screen of her smartphone. “I typed in that address, and sure enough, it’s the St. Pierre Cathedral. Of course, there is a square in front of the church with a lot of other buildings, so I guess it could be one of them.”
“I doubt it. Amanda is right. Her father was an engineer, and logic would indicate we go to the place that address is known for. Anything else wouldn’t make sense.”
“Normally I’d agree with you, Zane. But how on earth could a church in Geneva lead us to his killer? And not only that, but what do we do when we get there? What is the significance of the time?”
“Obviously, we can’t answer those questions until we get there,” Zane replied.
“Maybe the church does make the most sense,” Carmen said. “But when I have more time, I’m going to search the other addresses on that block to see if Renaissance owns or rents property there.”
“Wouldn’t hurt. I just think we have to take this one step at a time and follow the trail that Amanda’s father set down for us. We do that and we can’t go wrong.”
Carmen stood up, walked over to the curtains, and parted them slightly with a finger.
“When do we leave for Geneva?” Amanda asked.
“We’ve already discussed this—”
Before he could finish, Carmen held up her hand. “Zane, you’d better take a look at this.”
Carmen kept the curtain slightly open with her finger and motioned him over. Zane placed his head up to the opening and looked out. On the other side of the street, through the trees that lined both sides, was a blue compact car with two men in the front seat. It was hard to tell from that distance, but the driver appeared to be looking up at their building.