"Nikola Nikovich. Also at Srebrenica, a sergeant under Jovanovich. Wanted for war crimes. He personally executed over 200 male children under Jovanovich's orders. Wanted by Interpol for rape and murder."
"What have Nick and Selena got themselves into?" Steph asked.
"We'll have to let them sort it out." Elizabeth picked up her sat phone. "Time to make a call."
CHAPTER TWENTY
Prague in August was a pickpocket's dream. The crowds reminded Nick of a Tokyo subway at rush hour. They walked through the arch of the tower guarding the old town side of Charles Bridge.
The bridge over the Vltava river had been built by Charles IV to link the city and Hradčany Castle. Construction had begun in 1357. It was 600 meters long, supported by massive arches and piers of stone. Statues of saints and kings lined the span on both sides.
There were no vehicles allowed on the bridge. The roadway was packed with tourists and vendors and noisy with the chaotic babble of half a dozen languages. Kiosks sold food and crafts and souvenirs. High on the other side of the Vltava, the walls and towers of the castle loomed over everything.
"Impressive." Selena looked up at the enormous building. "You want a castle, you can't beat that one. Blue Cap is behind with his friend."
They stopped at a kiosk displaying 19th century prints of Prague and the surrounding countryside.
"I don't like this crowd," Nick said. "If they want to hurt us, there's a lot of cover here. Confusion. No way to tell who's who."
They began walking again, dodging a mime in white face and stripes who stepped in front of them. They kept to the middle of the broad avenue.
"You think they want to kill us?"
"Always assume the worst."
"One of your rules."
"It's a good one."
"If the crowd works for them, it works for us, too."
"There's that," he said.
They were half way across. Nick's ear began itching. They stopped at a kiosk selling sunglasses lined up on a revolving rack with a mirror. Nick glanced in the mirror and saw Blue Cap moving up fast behind.
"They're closing," he said. "Get ready. They'll have knives. They won't use guns here."
His adrenaline started pumping. The crowd pressed around them. Blue Cap came up on the right. Nick thought block, elbow strike, leg sweep. He got ready. The man passed three feet away and kept on walking. Nick pulled himself back at the last second. He watched the cap disappear into the throng.
Selena let out a long breath. "The other one is still back there. He's looking at postcards."
"Maybe he wants to send one to his mother." Nick looked up at the castle.
"Let's go to the castle There are too many people here. They'll make a move later."
Selena said, "We can see the Crown Jewels. There's a special exhibition on."
"You want to see the Crown Jewels? Are we on vacation?"
"You have a better idea? I like jewelry. Not on men, though. You'd look dumb wearing a crown."
"King Nicholas. Has a good ring to it."
Nick's phone rang.
"Speaking of rings." He looked at Harker's ID on the display.
"Nick, you're in bad company."
"Hello to you, too, Director. What else is new?"
"Get serious, if that's not too much trouble. Where are you?"
"On the Charles Bridge. We've got two watchers on us. They knew we were coming and waiting for us in the cafe."
"One in a blue cap, the other has suspenders?"
"Yes."
Elizabeth said, "The one in the blue cap is named Jovanovich. He commanded a company at Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. The one with suspenders was in his unit. They're both wanted for war crimes."
Nick knew about Srebrenica.
"Bad company. Like you said."
"See if you can get them to tell you why they're after you."
Nick said nothing.
"We need to find out what's going on here. Why were they waiting? Who hired them? Whatever else you can get."
"There are a lot of people around."
"So get them somewhere that's not crowded."
"Director…" She was gone.
"Well?" Selena looked at him. Over his shoulder, she saw Suspenders still looking at postcards.
Nick told her what Harker had said.
"How do we find them?
"We'll see them up there," he said. He nodded at the castle. "They'll find us."
In the Old City behind them, Death tolled out the hour.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Stephanie walked into Elizabeth's office. Elizabeth took one look and couldn't help smiling.
"Good news? You look like the proverbial cat."
"I identified the book they were using at Endgame. In Brighton Beach? I broke the code, I can read their messages."
"Better sit down. What's the book?"
"At first I thought it might be a Russian classic. Something like a first edition of War and Peace."
"But it wasn't."
"No. It's modern. Generation P, by Viktor Pelevin. It's a metaphor about consumerism and greed and the search for meaning in a corrupt society, about a conspiracy of the media to control the masses. Not the sort of thing you'd expect a bunch of ex FSB hatchet men to be reading."
"A media conspiracy."
"Yes."
"Makes me think of Foxworth."
"If it's him, he's got a weird sense of humor."
"What did you find out?"
"Brighton Beach was a central routing point for messages from all over the globe. Everything came in there and went out again. Since we broke up Endgame they've moved the routing station somewhere else. I ran a trace to find the main servers and got nowhere. If I can't find them, NSA can't either. "
"Who's got that kind of technology?"
"A government or someone with unlimited resources. They aren't as clever as they think, though. I was able to send a little something to them. It tells us when a new message is sent and captures it. A new one just came through. It ended up in Paris."
"Go on." Harker picked up her pen.
"It's about something called the Mafra Codex."
Harker began tapping. "Talk to me, Steph. What is the Mafra Codex?"
"I had to look it up. It's an ancient book from Mexico. Pre-Classic Mayan, probably around 500 CE. It's the only one that survives from that period."
"A book."
"Not a book like books today. It's made of bark pages with pictures and glyphs on them. The Conquistadors brought it back to Spain. King Phillip gave it as a present to a family that backed him when he took the Portuguese throne. It hasn't been fully translated."
"Where is this book?"
"In Portugal, in the Mafra Palace library. That's why it's called the Mafra Codex. It's in bad condition and not on display. They keep it in a special archival vault."
"So, what's the message?"
"An urgent order to steal the Codex from the library. The message says by any means. No restrictions."
"What could possibly be that important in a Mayan book? Good work, Steph."
Stephanie watched Harker tap her pen.
"You're going to send everyone after it, aren't you?"
"Am I that obvious?"
"What else could you do? If it's important enough that the bad guys want to grab it…" She left the thought unfinished. "I'll be in the computer room if you need me."
The door closed behind her. For the moment, Elizabeth was alone in her office. She took a labored breath and forced herself to relax. There were no lights flashing on her phones. No calls from CIA or the White House. No immediate crisis she was supposed to solve or comment on or stop dead in its tracks. There were plenty of potential problems in the pile of folders on her desk, but they could wait.