Page 131 of Trust Me

Anything could happen to Kira while Diana hid in comfort.

Worse than just being bait for Diana, Kira’s expertise fit well with what Rafiq needed. He could drag her to Syria and put her in charge of creating false provenance so he could keep trafficking artifacts all over the world.

Diana had planned to wait a few days. See if FMV could take down the Gardners via legal means. Dig up evidence of their corruption. Let the FBI raid their offices.

But with Kira’s abduction, she couldn’t hesitate. She had to act now, before they could even begin to suspect she was coming for them. Catch them off guard and red-handed.

There were a limited number of places the Gardners were likely to take Kira, and all three had heavy security. Mason had said the artifacts had been sent to Newport News already, and he was heading south today. She’d bet anything Rafiq was also in Newport News, protected by the same security that would keep Kira prisoner.

Rafiq wanted Diana alive, which meant she could get inside that secured space. And once she was there, she could unleash the tiny drone cameras that Raptor had provided. The drones could search for Kira and capture Rafiq’s face for undeniable proof he was alive and working with the Gardners.

Because Rafiq wanted her alive, she’d have time for the FBI to review the live video and move in to save her.

It was a solid, albeit risky, plan.

She’d refused to discuss it with Chris, instead sending him a message via her email drafts folder. She’d spent precious minutes drafting it when she needed to be refreshing her memory on lockpicking, but she’d needed to tell him.

When the Monuments Men formed in WWII under the directive of Dwight D. Eisenhower, they knew that lives are worth more than objects. Two Monuments officers died in the performance of their duties. The head archaeologist at Palmyra was beheaded by ISIS because he refused to divulge the location of artifacts. My friend and colleague Fahd chose death over revealing site locations. These men didn’t die in vain because they died for an object. They fought and died for a cause.

When I chose to stay with Jamal and Bassam instead of being rescued, I was choosing to continue my own fight for that same cause.

Kira wasn’t given a choice. This isn’t a cause she knowingly signed up for—even if it is one she believes in.

I know you disagree with the plan, but I have to do what I can to help her. I have to finish what I started in Jordan.

And when we have Rafiq in custody, I want to go home with you and finish decorating your Christmas tree. I want to make love with you and tell you what’s in my heart.

Please understand why I have to do this.

Love,

Diana

She’d stared at the screen for a long time before she found the courage to hit Save and close the browser. In the hours since she’d typed the words, she hadn’t let herself check for a reply. Instead, she spent her time figuring out the gadgets Freya had delivered to her hotel room in the middle of the night.

Now it was seven in the morning as she left the safety of her hotel room. She had trackers, bug-like drones, a Raptor headset that worked as both a radio and a cell phone, and had exchanged the metal rods in her ankle stabilizer with small blades, lockpicks, and other tools.

She placed the suitcase Freya had brought her in the trunk, along with the Historie shopping bag that held the glass ingot. She was about to close the lid when she hesitated.

She reached into the shopping bag and pulled out the bubble-wrapped replica. She peeled away the protective cover, popping plastic in the process.

She held up the teal glass puck to the morning sun. It was opaque, with a dull cortex on the base and sides, just like the real thing.

It would break just like the real thing too.

She stepped away from the open trunk and, with both hands, slammed the replica down, releasing it a few feet above the hard pavement.

It shattered into a dozen pieces.

She found a large, sharp shard, just the right size.

She removed the plastic clip that secured her hair on top of her head and set it on the lip of the trunk, then gathered her hair and placed the shard in the middle of the thick, dark strands, and twisted it into a bun. She secured the mass with the clip.

Now she was ready.

She closed the trunk and climbed into the driver’s seat. After removing the boot so she could drive, she set off for the Mayflower Hotel.

Chris hated everything about this plan. He understood why Diana wanted to do it, but that didn’t make him like the idea.

---