"So he's still on probation."
"For the time being. Besides, it will keep him on his toes."
"I wonder how Lamont is doing?"
"He's leasing a dive shop in Florida," Nick said. "I talked to him a couple of days ago. He sounded bored."
"Compared to what we do, just about anything is boring."
"Yeah, like that old Chinese curse about living in interesting times. Interesting times meant the barbarians were about to ride over your fields and kill you and your family. In old China nobody wanted things to be interesting."
"Would you rather be bored?"
"No," Nick said. Just the same I wouldn't mind if things were a little less interesting, at least in that department."
He paused. "I've been thinking."
"That's a change."
"No, really. I've been thinking about us getting married."
There was something in the tone of his voice that was different. Selena felt a jolt in her stomach. What was he going to say?
"I think we should do it soon."
"You do?"
"I was thinking maybe September or October. While the weather's still good."
"Why? I mean, why now?"
"You don't want to get married?"
"No. I mean, yes, I want to get married. What changed your mind? You've been putting it off."
Nick looked out the window and turned back to her. "So have you."
It was true. He wasn't the only one who'd been ambivalent about taking the final step.
Nick continued. "I've been putting it off because I still had some feelings I had to work through."
"What feelings?"
"You know I worry about one of us getting killed. We talked about that. After Megan, I shut everything down. I didn't want to feel like that again."
Selena nodded. Megan had been the love of Nick's life. He'd watched her die in a meaningless plane crash.
"I remember when my parents and my brother died," Selena said. "I didn't think I'd ever be happy again or that I could ever let myself feel love again because it was just too painful. I guess what I'm saying is I've been holding back for pretty much the same reasons you have."
"Hell, nobody gets out of here alive. Sooner or later something is going to get us. Life's too short. I love you. Getting married seems like a good way to prove it."
"You don't have to prove anything." She leaned over and kissed him. "I know where there's a nice church in Alexandria."
"You already picked out a church?"
"Just in case. If you don't like it we'll find somewhere else."
The flight attendant stopped by their seats. "Can I get you another Mimosa?" he asked.
They both spoke at the same time. "Yes." "Sure."
When the drinks came Nick held his glass up. "To us."
"To us."
CHAPTER 18
Lucas Monroe couldn't quite get used to his new office on the seventh floor. It was large and spacious, soundproofed and paneled in polished wood, almost the same size as the Director's. Lucas liked the quiet but he missed the socializing that took place on the lower floors. Now he was isolated behind secretaries and protocols. It went with the territory. It didn't mean he had to like it. Being important wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
All of a sudden his life was filled with changes. This promotion. The baby. Especially the baby. He was looking forward to the birth with mixed dread and anticipation. The only thing he was certain of was that the baby meant change. Stephanie was happy and that went a long way to balance his anxiety.
In some ways it had been easier when he was a field agent in Afghanistan and everyone was trying to kill him.
His intercom buzzed.
"Yes, Angela."
"The DCI is on line two."
"Thank you."
He touched the blinking button on his phone.
"Director."
"I've just received an inquiry from Tel Aviv," Hood said. "The Israelis want to find out what we know about the scroll that was x-rayed in France."
"That didn't take long," Lucas said.
"What do you think we should tell them?"
"If we tell them anything it should come through Harker," Lucas said. "She's the point on this. If there's anything involving the Israelis, she's the one to do it."
"You're still convinced that's the best course of action?"
"I am. Nothing has changed. This situation has the potential to turn into a political and media nightmare. We don't want to be in the middle of that if it happens. Harker has the protection of the president and she's been in hot spots before. You know what she's done, better than most."
"I just wanted to make sure you still felt the same way."
"Where did the request come from?"
"Mossad."
"If they're asking about the scroll, they know what's on it and are fishing to see if we know more. If I were the Israelis, I'd be thinking about mounting an operation to go after that tomb."
"They have to find it first," Hood said.
"Once they figure out where it's supposed to be, I don't think there's any way to stop them. The best we can hope for is to know what they're going to do and when they're going to do it. That way we can intervene if we need to."
"And how do you propose to find that out?"
"I think we should let Harker tell them what we know, which isn't much. All we really know is that the scroll says the Temple relics and Solomon's remains were taken south into what's now Saudi Arabia. It doesn't say anything more than that. There's nothing specific. Mossad will have translated the scroll so we won't be telling them anything new. If we cooperate with them now they might work with us later if it gets complicated."
"That's not necessarily true. Tel Aviv can be very stubborn."
"We have nothing to lose at this point. They're still our allies."
"Only when our interests coincide," Hood said.
"You can't expect them to be any different. Our two countries don't always want the same thing. At least we're agreed on one fundamental."
"What's that?"
"Anything that leads to a major war in the Middle East is bad news. I think we should pass the connection on to Harker and let her know she can tell them whatever she thinks is right."
"I don't think she would do anything else," Hood said. "If I've learned one thing about Elizabeth it's that you're not going to tell her how to think or what to do."
Lucas laughed. "That makes her a perfect match for the Israelis."
CHAPTER 19
Addison Rhoades woke feeling as if someone had hit him in the head with an axe. His mouth tasted like camel dung and sand. His tongue was swollen. He could smell his breath, foul and unpleasant. He stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. He used the toilet and turned on the shower. One of the advantages to living in Al-Bayati's villa was hot water, even if the pressure left something to be desired.
His career at MI6 had ended under a cloud. He'd been in Iraq. Two prisoners had died while he was interrogating them. Whitehall had adopted Washington's new policy of politically correct treatment of enemies. Rhoades had an IQ approaching genius level. It didn't take a high IQ to see that after the incident in Iraq his days in the service were numbered.
American dollars had poured into Iraq by the planeload after Hussein was defeated. Washington threw money at the corporations, security firms and corrupt Iraqis who were supposed to turn the country into an American extension of the oil industry. Accurate accounting was almost nonexistent. Rhoades had arranged for several million dollars to be diverted to an account in the Cayman Islands, in anticipation of the day he'd be terminated.
It had been a smart move. Rhoades had hidden embarrassing proof about what was going on in Iraq and threatened to release it publicly. A deal had been struck. The hypocrites who ran MI6 waived prosecution and any attempts to recover the money. In return he'd resigned and promised not to release his information.