Lea took the cup. “Thanks.”
“Wait till you try it before you thank me,” Martha said flatly.
Lea watched the old woman shuffle across the small kitchen and sit opposite Hawke and Scarlet who were busily tucking into their meals, Ryan with slightly less enthusiasm.
Martha sipped her coffee and let out a long, tired sigh. “So how d’ya like the brewis?”
“Actually, it’s rather good,” Scarlet said.
“Well, don’t sound so surprised!” Martha said, laughing.
Three empty bowls was the real answer Martha was looking for, and she got that a few moments later when everyone was finished, including Ryan.
“Didn’t taste like wallpaper paste after all,” Ryan said.
Martha turned to Lea. “And how’s that coffee?”
“The best I’ve ever had.”
“You wouldn’t be bullshitting me now, would you?”
Lea laughed. “No! I mean it.”
“And what about you with them ear-rings?” The old woman stared at Victoria.
“Absolutely delightful, thank you.”
Martha grunted and nodded. “George’s parents got that for us the day we were married.”
“How long were you married?” Lea asked.
“Fifty years. He’s been gone nearly fifteen years now.”
“You must have been very much in love.”
Martha nodded. “Before I got married to George I was engaged to another man.”
They all looked at her but only Lea replied. “What happened?”
“Things didn’t work out — just the way it goes sometimes.”
“What was his name?”
“You already know his name — his name was Bill Smith, or Billy back in the day.”
Now she officially had their undivided attention, but again it was Lea who led the conversation.
“Why didn’t it work out?”
“He cheated on me in Korea,” Martha said without emotion.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Why are you sorry? It was over half a century ago!” She leaned forward in her seat. “You know, when I read about his death it was a bolt from the blue. I hadn’t spoken to him since I got his letter when he was in the army.”
Martha rubbed her eyes and suppressed a yawn. She glanced at her watch before continuing. “I wondered if I was reading about the same man, but I guess I knew in my heart I was. A sad way for an old man to go out, and I just hope they catch the bastards who did it.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Hawke said bluntly.
Martha looked at him with scepticism in her eyes. “If you say so, young man. If you say so.”
“We’ll do whatever we can to find his killers,” Lea said gently.
Martha’s voice got harder. “But you’re not here to find his killers, are you? You’re looking for something altogether harder to find, if you catch my meaning.”
“Well…”
“Ah, it’s been so long… what odds?” She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “You know, Billy was poor — very poor. He couldn’t afford no ring when we got engaged. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a mausey day all right, and he was so nervous about telling me. I made a big thing about telling him how it didn’t matter and I didn’t need nothing like that, but then he gave me something else.”
Lea leaned closer, gripped by the tale. “What did he give you?”
Martha looked at her sharply. “You must have some idea, or you wouldn’t be up here drinking my coffee.”
“We’re only trying to help,” Lea said.
Martha sighed again. She was looking tired. “So now you want to know about what Billy Smith had hidden away in the museum, am I right?”
Hawke nodded. “That would be a good start, yes.”
“Then listen up, because I want to go bed and I can’t yarn all night like I once could. I’m only going to say this once.”
CHAPTER SIX
Álvaro Sala watched with unrestrained delight as the inland taipan slithered through his fingers and glided up around his neck. He felt the smooth head of the world’s most venomous snake parting his long lampblack hair and pushing its way around the base of his skull. Moments later it appeared on the other side of his head, nudging through his hair once again like a wicked magician emerging through black velvet stage curtains. It slid back down into his hands and he wondered if the serpent was enjoying this game as much as he was.
Lit only by a narrow crack of light emanating from the entrance to the mountain cave a hundred feet behind him, a devilish grin could just be made out on the Andorran recluse’s morbidly thin face.
The man opposite him strained against the tension of the climbing ropes which Sala’s loyal thug, the convicted Belgian serial killer Marcus Deprez had used to lash him to the rocks at the back of the cave. High above them was Sala’s impressive luxury château, but down here in the cave systems far below was nothing but an eerie whistling wind and the stench of imminent death.
Álvaro grinned. “Tell me, Antonius… did you ever think it would end like this?”
“Threaten me all you like, Álvaro, but we’ve known each other for long enough to understand why I can’t tell you what you want to know.”
Sala paused as the taipan made another circuit of his neck. “And we’ve known each long enough, Antonius, to know what will happen to you if you do not get what your fragile body so badly craves. Now you are here, you face the same fate as I.”
Antonius attempted a laugh, but the nearness of his terrible destiny killed it in his dry, constricted throat. “The Oracle was right to ostracize you, Álvaro. I can see that clearly now, and you must surely see it too. Your failure in Ethiopia was quite unforgivable.”
Sala’s grin faded from his gaunt face as Antonius’s words blew gently away on the cave’s cold breeze. “I’m very disappointed in you, Antonius. I thought when you accepted my invitation to come here you would bring me better news than this. Now, you force me to act against my own will.”
“Be sensible, Álvaro! We both know why I can’t tell you what you need to hear. No one goes against the Oracle.” Antonius yanked at the chains holding him fast but there was no chance of escape, only the sound of the steel links rattling against the rocks in mockery of his dire situation.
Sala nodded his head thoughtfully. “I suppose you realize by now that I will not simply allow you to perish the normal way.”
Antonius’s eyes crawled from Sala’s face to the snake in his arms. “Yes, I thought that unlikely. Mercy was never in your character, Álvaro.”
“Ha! You talk of mercy after you and your brethren tried to consign me to the worst fate imaginable.”
“You deserve it.”
Sala was silent for a short time as he paced around the cave deep in thought. His most loyal personal security guard, Marcus Deprez, leaned up against part of the rock face and watched in silence as the exchange unfolded, his only animation being to light an unfiltered Gauloises caporal and blow a smoke ring into the cave’s cold atmosphere. A heaving, rasping cough followed moments later.
“I deserve it, you say — how curious… In all your years on this planet, Antonius, did you ever find your way to the North?”
Now, goaded by the question, Antonius’s deep laugh found its way to the surface at last. “The North? I know the North better than you ever will, Álvaro!”
Sala took a step forward and raised the snake closer to Antonius’s face. “You mock me, but you cannot begin to imagine the hatred burning in my heart for your damned Athanatoi. My vengeance will be savage and final.”
Now Antonius laughed. “You of all people must surely know how many men have sworn to take their revenge on us, and you must also know they all failed. We are too mighty to be touched by mortals.” He paused for effect and smiled smugly at Sala. “You are a mortal now, aren’t you, Álvaro?”