part0078

R eading flagged Sanchez down, having just received the exonerating video from Langley. He held up his phone with the footage. “Have you seen this yet?”

“What?” Her eyes widened and she took the phone, watching the video twice. “Where’d you get that?”

“From my contacts, but they’ve sent it to you as well.”

She rushed toward the mobile command center, gesturing for him and Michelle to follow. They picked their way through the wreckage of the atrium, having finally been given an opportunity to see the aftermath of the devastating explosion. All the survivors had been taken to hospital last night, though many of the bodies—and body parts—still remained.

“Ma’am, you have to see this!” shouted one of the technicians from inside the unit, its open rear doors allowing him to spot Sanchez. She climbed in the back and took a seat. “It just came in.” She watched it again, several times, the larger screen hopefully confirming to her what Reading already knew.

“Ma’am.” The tech pointed at a screen showing CNN International, the same footage playing as he worked his keyboard. “It’s all over the Internet. I mean, it’s everywhere!”

She turned to Reading. “Who are these contacts of yours?”

He smiled. “Like I said, I can’t say, but they’re on your side if you’re on my side.”

Sanchez climbed out of the vehicle, accepting a steadying hand offered by Reading. “Well, it’s pretty clear from this video, unless they’re putting on a show, that they’re innocent.”

He frowned. “Please tell me you don’t actually think that’s what they were doing.”

She waved her hands in front of her. “No, don’t worry, I don’t believe that for a second. You’ve convinced me, or rather, this footage has convinced me. Now we have to work under the assumption the professors are being forced to do what they’re doing, so we have to cast a wider net.”

“Why wasn’t it cast wide before?”

“Because we froze all their accounts, so we knew they weren’t going to be able to go and buy plane tickets or charter airplanes or whatever it is rich people do. They would have to work with whatever cash they had on hand, and judging by the way they were dressed in those photos, I doubt it would have been a whole lot.” She bit her lower lip. “So, they stole bicycles when they arrived on the beach. Why would they do that?”

“They had somewhere to go?” suggested Michelle.

“But that seemed a spur of the moment thing. They were spotted easily. Witness reports said they walked out of the water, changed, were seen talking on a cellphone, then took the two nearest bikes in plain sight.”

“They’re under a time constraint. They had to get somewhere quickly, and walking didn’t cut it, and they have no idea how to steal a car without a set of keys.”

Sanchez nodded. “Okay, so there’s a time constraint component. What is there in the area that a bicycle could get them to?”

Reading thought for a moment. “We have to assume that whoever they’re meeting isn’t actually there.”

Sanchez regarded him. “Why?”

“Because if they were, they’d be getting picked up by a car. They had to bike somewhere not to rendezvous with some person, but to rendezvous with another mode of travel they couldn’t be late for.”

“Train?” suggested Michelle.

Sanchez tilted her head. “That’s a possibility. We’ll start running their faces, but it’s been a few hours since that sighting, so they’ve probably reached their destination by now. With all the cameras, we’ll find where they got off, assuming they took a train.”

“There is an airport there, but their faces are on every watch list you can think of, so they never would have gotten past security.”

Michelle shook her head. “I doubt they’d have their passports on them, and he’d need one even to travel domestically.”

“They likely left those at the hotel,” said Reading.

“They did. We confirmed that when we searched their room,” said Sanchez. “Bus?”

“Possible, though that would be the slowest escape route they could take. What about Uber or something like it?”

Sanchez dismissed the idea. “No, they would have required a smartphone, and we found theirs in a pile of confiscated phones at the blast scene.”

Reading sighed in frustration at his own stupidity. “Wait a minute, we’re going about this all wrong.”

Sanchez eyed him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we’re forgetting that the person behind this has money. Let’s assume they’re very wealthy. We have to think how a rich person would escape the police. Would you stay in Europe, or do you get the hell out?”

“I would get the hell out,” said Michelle. “Every cop on the continent is looking for them and has their faces on their phones or computers.”

“Exactly. And can’t be bought off if caught. No, they’re long gone. If I’m the rich guy, there’s no way in hell I’m going to have that Bible, associated with the death of scores of people, handed over to me in Europe. If I’m caught doing that exchange here, I’m finished. No, I’m going to have that exchange in another country beyond the reach of the law, where if I’m caught, I can hand over some cash and get myself out of the situation.”

Sanchez frowned. “Well, unfortunately that’s about three-quarters of the planet.”

“Agreed, but it does mean there are only two modes of travel that can accomplish it, one of which is too slow.”

“You mean by sea or by air.”

“Exactly, and if I’m rich, I’m not going to do it by sea because it leaves us too much time to figure out what vessel they’re on and just intercept them. But if I put them on an airplane, they could be out of European airspace in an hour or two, depending on which direction they’re heading. Hell, if they’re heading west, they could be out in minutes.”

Michelle shook her head. “But we know they don’t have their passports, and security would be looking for them, so there’s no way they could take a plane.”

Reading held up a finger. “Ahh, you’re not thinking rich. They would take a private charter. Believe me, I’ve taken quite a few with them, and it’s a different experience than what you and I are used to. Security is extremely lax. The rich don’t like to be delayed by ID checks and luggage searches.”

Sanchez’s head slowly bobbed. “So, there’s a chance that it was all arranged, and people were paid to look the other way.”

“Exactly. Are there private charters running out of that town?”

Sanchez turned back to her command center and the tech checked his computer. “Yes, La Rochelle Airport has a private charter terminal.”

“We need to get there now.”

Sanchez agreed and directed her team. “Tell the French I’d like everybody that was working at the La Rochelle Airport this morning held for questioning, or brought back there if they’ve already left. And I need a list of every single plane that left since they were spotted stealing those bicycles, and what their destinations were. And get me a chopper.” She turned back to Reading and Michelle. “You’re coming.”

“If you’re asking, we are.”

“I’m not asking, I’m telling. I’m Spanish police, you’re Interpol. I’m going to need you on the ground to explain why I’m arriving.”