part0075

R eading surveyed the external damage to the Guggenheim with Michelle. The glass at the front was gone, taken out by the blast, and there was evidence of some singeing, however other than that, it appeared remarkably calm.

“I imagine inside is worse.”

He grunted. “Much. I’ll never cease to be amazed at how inhumane humans can actually be. Imagine thinking doing something like this could actually further any cause, no matter how noble.”

Reading turned to see Sanchez beckoning them to join her at the mobile command center. “I wonder what she wants.”

“I don’t know, but it can’t be you.” Michelle flashed him a smile. “I got the distinct impression she didn’t like you.”

“No idea why. I’m bloody charming.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s how I always describe you.”

He roared with laughter, blessing his lucky stars he and the much younger Michelle had hit it off. They’d never be as close as he and his late partner Martin Chaney had been, but she was more than tolerable.

Sanchez frowned at them as they approached. “I’m glad you can laugh at a time like this.”

Reading refused to take the bait. “Good to see you, Chief Inspector. You have something for us?”

She pointed at a monitor. “There’s something I want you to see.”

They both leaned into the large vehicle and he suppressed a frown at the video showing his friends brazenly stealing a good-sized boat.

“Do you still think they’re innocent?”

“Even though you’re seeing with your own eyes them stealing a boat that’s worth God knows how much money?”

“I do. There are all sorts of explanations for what we’re seeing.”

She stared at him. “Name one.”

“They’re being told what to do.”

His frustration boiled over at her obstinance. “By whoever is behind this! Haven’t you been reading the files on these Animal Protection Brigade people? They’re amateurs. There’s no way they could put something like this together without help.”

“From what we can piece together, it was no more sophisticated than someone opening a fire door.”

He shook his head. “Are you being deliberately obtuse? They’re based in Belgium, so they needed funding to get here. They needed the knowhow to not only build the bombs, but acquire the supplies. They had to know who to contact to get the weapons and ammo they used, and the most critical thing, they had to somehow get Peeters into an event attended by millionaires and billionaires, where the security was extremely tight. That means he had an invitation or some other means to bypass security. And that last part is critical. We know from Professor Marchand and his daughter’s statement that there was a disagreement among the terrorists. There was a reference to a rich guy they were going to sell the Bible to, and it was going to give them enough funding to provide for them forever.”

“She didn’t tell me that.”

He relaxed his tone slightly. “Look, I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you. I guess I just know the questions to ask. We need to work with each other, not against each other.”

She regarded him. “You’re too close to this.”

He understood her reservations, though she was ignoring the obvious. “Yes, but that helps me. You’re operating under the false assumption that they are guilty. I know one-hundred-percent that they are not. That allows me to go ahead and ask the questions you refuse to ask, because you’re operating under a pretext that is hindering your investigation. Because of that, you don’t think to ask the right questions, such as what were the terrorists talking about, why was the device triggered? You think that it was detonated to cover the theft of the Bible by Jim and Laura. They weren’t invited until a week ago. They didn’t even ask for the private viewing. It was Professor Marchand’s idea. These people are innocent, and the sooner you accept that fact, and start investigating the crime from that perspective, the sooner we’ll all be able to solve this thing.”

Sanchez remained defiant. “That still doesn’t explain how they were able to escape with the Bible and the keys.”

He suppressed a growl, struggling to remain calm. “They didn’t escape. We have to assume that—because they’re innocent—we have to assume that they were let go with the Bible and were given the keys with instructions to go somewhere specific. Because that’s the only reason they would go the way they did.”

“How do you explain them stealing a boat? Why not just turn themselves in?”

He rolled his eyes, losing control. “Oh, I don’t know, this is just a guess, but if a museum full of people was just blown up moments after I left, I would realize quite quickly that these people were serious, and that if they told me something along the lines of ‘do as we say or more will die,’ I would tend to believe that more will die if I don’t do what they say! So, when they say steal a boat, I steal a boat, because I don’t want more people to die! I’m going to play for time, because I’m assuming the authorities are going to be properly investigating what happened and realize I had nothing to do with it, and will be working to try and save me, as opposed to trying to arrest me.”

She stared at him for a moment, her shoulders relaxing slightly. “Agent Reading. Hugh, was it?”

She pursed her lips. “Just a little bit of me wants to believe you, and that’s a hell of a lot more than five minutes ago.” She held up a hand, ceasing the hostilities. “You’re right. Let’s cooperate rather than work against each other. Our latest reports have them stealing bicycles in La Rochelle, France.”

His tense muscles unclenched. “Yes, I heard that.”

Her eyes narrowed. “That’s interesting that you should have. It seems you’re very well informed somehow. It’s my department that feeds Interpol any information they get on this investigation, and I know for a fact that we didn’t pass on this piece of intel yet.”

“We could have got that just through regular reports.”

“Yes, you could have. It’s a possibility, however”—she pointed at the computers—“my people have been monitoring for that. I held it back intentionally just to see how well-informed you were. It also appears you were correct that the social media accounts were fake.”

He smiled slightly. “Is that sliver of hope widening anymore because of it?”

She didn’t return the smile. “It’s the only reason we’re having this conversation. You said you knew they were fake, and the way you said it told me that it had nothing to do with faith, and everything with you having facts not yet in evidence. So, how are you getting your information?”

“I can’t say.”

“Uh-huh. Do you think that by not telling me, it’s going to make me any more willing to listen to you?”

He chuckled. “No, I suspect it will make you less willing. All I can tell you is that I have sources that I cannot discuss, acquired over years, that I trust implicitly. And when they tell me something, I believe them.”

She sighed, clearly not pleased with his explanation. “Very well. Your sources seem to be better than mine, or at least more efficient, which makes me suspect MI6, or worse, CIA. But if they’re going to help, then I don’t really care where the information comes from.” She extended a hand. “Truce?”