Page 59 of The Devil's Ransom

I stood up and waved my hand, saying, “It’s all yours. Must have been the shampoo in your hair last night when I was listening to you telling me what to do.”

I heard, “What was that?” then saw Jennifer’s face blush.

I turned and saw Knuckles in our suite, which had been converted to our tactical operations center. Incensed, I said, “Do you ever fucking knock?”

He said, “Knock? This is the TOC. Why would I knock? You gave us the keys to enter.”

Behind him I saw Brett and Veep and knew I was not going to live down what I’d just said.

Brett said, “So if I wash with her shampoo I won’t stay in the hotel? I’ll get a shot at doing something worthwhile? Is that it?”

Jennifer was mortified, which is what they wanted. I looked at her and chuckled, saying, “You’re getting your shot. The computer is in Split, and the Taskforce has authorized us for Omega. Go pack your shit.”

Chapter32

Shakor sat in front of his computer screen trying mightily to find some thread that would allow him to continue. Last night had been an unmitigated disaster, and he didn’t want to report back to his Taliban masters without something to show for it. He knew they were as unforgiving as he was.

He heard his door open and saw Din in the entryway. His trusted friend. He walked forward, his limp causing his left arm to swing more than his right.

Din said, “What are we going to do about Abdul Aziz?”

“There’s nothing we can do. He’s dead. The police are already on the scene.”

Din shuffled his feet and said, “I meant what were we going to do about his body. We’re now compromised. The authorities in Zagreb will be looking for us.”

“They won’t be looking for us. They’ll be chasing down a passport from Turkey. We’re good.”

“So that’s it for Abdul?”

Shakor turned from the computer and said, “What do you mean?”

“Just that he’s been fighting his entire life and now he’s going to go away as a Turkish mugger in Croatia.”

Shakor said, “We do what we do for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He died for that very thing, which is something I hope to achieve.”

Din nodded, saying, “Me as well. What do we do now? We have no idea where the treasure is.”

“I think we might have something.”

“What?”

“In the emails I exchanged with Branko. I’m looking at them now. When I first contacted him he said he wanted to party in Split, but didn’t know when Ahmad was arriving. He had to go there today.”

He turned the computer monitor to Din and said, “See that?”

Din scrolled through the email chain and saw:

It’s great to hear from you. I’m surprised you even contacted me, but I’m glad you did. I’ll show you a good time. Are you in Zagreb? Or not here yet? I’m headed to Split tomorrow, and that town is much better for partying than Zagreb. I have a house within walking distance of the Game of Thrones castle, with a lot of good pubs around.

Let me know.

Din said, “So? What’s that mean?”

“I answered him and told him I was in Zagreb, which is how we got the bar where Abdul and I met him. But he said he was going to Split. Maybe that’s a clue.”

“What clue? Split is huge.”

“He said he had a house next to theGame of Thronespalace. I googled that, and it’s a place called Klis Fortress, about ten minutes outside of Split proper.”

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