“Since birth,” Mai muttered.
“Hey,” Alicia said. “You have to admit I’m better than I used to be.”
Mai grimaced. “In the same way a predator is better when it cuts down by one meal a day.”
“Eh?”
“It’s still a predator and it’s still only happy when it’s eating.”
“You’re saying I’m only happy when I’m fighting the scumbags? That’s not true.”
Mai gave her a long look and then turned away. Alicia looked deep in thought. Drake decided it was best to ignore them both and watched the wet city streets passing by through a raindrop spattered windscreen.
“Hotel.” He pointed. “Let’s get registered and make a plan.”
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
“Place looks clean,” Luther said, studying the nightclub’s exterior and surrounds through field glasses.
Alicia shook her head sadly. “Poor Luther’s never been inside a nightclub,” she said. “He thinks they’re clean.”
“No, I didn’t mean—”
Drake watched the building from a different angle. It sat wide and squat on a piece of land between two diagonal-running streets, somewhere near the heart of Thessaloniki, in the tourist district. Four concrete steps led up to the front doors, which were black and, currently, shut tight. A-boards sat outside, advertising events and opening hours. All the windows were opaque, some on the first floor covered in sign-writing. Drake could see a clear difference between the bottom and top two floors — the latter obviously having had some lavish expense thrown at it, including ornate balconies, a roof garden and, he imagined, much more besides. The stonework was dirty and unwashed, which backed up Alicia’s experienced presumption of a grungy interior.
Luther was rephrasing. “No obvious signs of enemies,” he said. “Tempest, or otherwise.”
“Agreed,” Drake said. “When does the place open?”
“According to the website,” Kenzie said. “Nine p.m. tonight.”
“Why do they open at bedtime?” Dahl wondered.
“Latest Intel just arrived.” Cambridge was talking on Drake’s cellphone. “This is recently in from a deep-cover informant, and I’m quoting here: ‘Mattheus stores this weird idol thing in a safe in the nightclub.’”
Alicia bit her lip. “By the sound of this guy that could be anything.”
“I guess,” Cambridge said. “But if it isn’t the Waters of Neptune then it’s some twisted coincidence.”
“An idol, not a statue?” Mai said. “Do we have any information on the artifact?”
“Yes, they documented it briefly before it went missing. The problem with these artifacts is — the people stealing them are the ones documenting them, so they make the description as brief as they can with ‘more to follow.’ Neptune was, of course, the god of the sea, the Roman counterpart to Poseidon. The description depicts an obsidian block with a smooth granite feel and a representation of the god and his trident. A rough estimate of size places it no larger than, say, a microwave.”
“Which would fit in a safe?” Alicia questioned.
“Yes. The informant tells me Mattheus’s safe is floor to ceiling. It’d fit.”
“Could be the break we need,” Drake said. “We do have access to the club at least. Not like the rest of the building.”
“If you call access to a room full of sweaty, heaving bodies being watched by over a dozen guards, bouncers, CCTV cameras, and a mezzanine level of offices,” Cambridge said. “Then, sure, you have access.”
“I call that more than access,” Alicia said. “I call that party time, baby.”
Cambridge made no comment, instead returning to the artifact. “Neptune was also the god of lakes and springs, hence the ‘waters’ reference in the title, I guess. Only a single temple existed to him in Rome, built before 200 BCE. I’m quite sure you will know the idol when you see it.”
Drake was staring at Alicia. “What do you think?”
The Englishwoman read his mind. “You mean Mai and me? I’m thinking the same thing.”
Luther put the field glasses down on the scarred wooden table of Drake and Alicia’s hotel room with a thunk. “That worries me.”
“I don’t see why,” Alicia said. “We’re both females looking for a good Greek time. On vacation. Both young…” She paused. “At least I am. Mai’s chomping on that chain a bit.”
“It’s fine.” Mai nodded. “A good idea. They won’t suspect us.”
“They will if your photo’s in their database.”
“Why would it be?” Mai was already rising to her feet. “Tempest are the loudest players here. We’re just background noise. C’mon, Alicia, let’s get ready.”
“Why? Are you gonna dress me?”
“You wish. We need to coordinate. Find a place to hide all those cameras.”
“Sounds fun. Is there anywhere—”
Kenzie cut in. “Hey, I’m going too. Can’t hurt, right?”
“Three’s a crowd, bitch.”
Drake wasn’t watching but didn’t need eyes to know whose response that was.
“The problem,” Mai said seriously. “Is that they may have your photo. A result of your previous employment.”
“I never came across these people. The only Greeks I used for business were based in Athens and various Egyptian cities.”
“I’m sure we can work it out,” Mai said, and then in answer to Alicia’s groan: “She’s right, Taz. Three is better than two on this occasion.”
The woman started walking toward the door. Alicia voiced the comment that she was looking forward to a great night out.
Drake winced and glanced glumly at Luther.
“Shit,” he said. “This isn’t gonna end pretty.”
Alicia leaned on Kenzie’s shoulder as they entered the club, whispering exactly what she thought of her. Kenzie smiled and grinned at the doormen as they pranced by. Mai stayed close to the back of the pair, playing mother. Due to lack of time and ease of purchase they’d been forced to wear new jeans and tourist T-shirts, but weren’t too far removed from the norm. This nightclub at least, didn’t have a rigid dress code but cared more about patrons handing over money.
Mai laid a hand on each of her companion’s shoulders. “Stay cool, girls. Do what we came here to do and get out.”
Alicia pushed Kenzie away, playfully yet with force. The Israeli barely managed to catch herself before striking a wall.
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she cried as if she’d inhaled a bottle of red wine on the steps.
Alicia moved to push her again, faking a laugh, but Kenzie defied her inebriation and slipped deftly around Alicia’s other side. “Miss me, bitch?”
Leaning in, she hooked an arm around Alicia’s neck and squeezed. Alicia let her tongue fall out, acting the fool, but in truth finding it increasingly hard to breathe.
Mai parted them with difficulty. “Focus, kids. We’re in.”
A wall of noise abused their senses as they were allowed through a final door and into the heart of the nightclub. One enormous room, it was roughly circular with mini-dancing-stages all around the outside and a lengthy bar to the right. Glasses and bottles sparkled under bright lights all along its length, the glitz instantly attracting the newcomers.
Alicia stepped down onto the central dance floor, taking it all in. Couples and groups capered to and fro and screamed into each other’s ears to make themselves heard. A dance beat pounded from wall to wall and through the floor, thrashing its way into Alicia’s bones and dampening her senses.
She leaned back, grabbing Mai by the head and shouting into her ears. “Fuck me, I do not miss this shit!”
The Japanese woman smiled softly. “It’s different when you’re young.”
“Yeah, damn right. I was far stupider then.”