part0085

Acton tensed as the end of their ordeal was near, and he suspected their lives as well. The car slowly came to a stop then rocked slightly as the chauffeur exited. A moment later, the door opened and he held out a hand for Laura, who took it on instinct. He followed, then their escort. He blinked, this the first light they had seen in hours, and he did a quick turn to take in everything within sight, something his SAS trainer had taught him.

They were in the courtyard of a large walled estate. The main building was directly in front of them, a set of steps leading up to a grand entrance. To either side were support buildings including an impressive multi-car garage to his left with a notorious British sportscar on the lift, its engine torn apart on the floor, a frustrated mechanic pulling at his hair.

He spotted six guard towers, four at the corners, two at the mid-point of the left and right sides, though he couldn’t tell if they were manned as their design for some reason left them blind to what was at any sentry’s back.

And cameras were everywhere.

“The Bible, please.”

Acton reluctantly handed it over to their escort, who disappeared inside the main building, two heavily armed guards stepping through the doors and taking up position at the bottom of the steps, making it clear he and Laura weren’t to move.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the mountains looming large to the east, and the chill in the air suggested they were at a higher altitude than Marrakesh. Not far to the north, he could see the spires of a mosque, indicating a town nearby, then he spotted something unmistakable.

And suppressed a smile.

He turned his back to the guards, lowering his voice to a whisper. “We’re in Asni.”

She eyed him. “How could you possibly know that?”

“Well, we landed in Marrakesh and traveled for two hours, so that means these are the Atlas Mountains. That looks to be the highest peak, which would make it Mount Toubkal. That narrows down the possible towns in the area, but that hotel down the mountain in that town? That’s the Kasbah Tamadot, making this Asni.”

She stared at him. “Impressive.”

He grinned. “I do aim to please.”

“And just how are you so familiar with this area?”

“I’m an impressive guy?”

“Oh, you are that, but even you have your limits.”

He chuckled. “Actually, I recognized it from a National Geographic article I read recently.”

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the mountains. “Wait a minute, this area was covered in one of the issues that you were in.”

He feigned ignorance. “Oh, was it?”

“Don’t sound so innocent. You were rereading your own press, weren’t you?”

“I am a vain man.”

“A very vain man.” She lowered her voice further. “You better keep that tidbit to yourself.”

“That I’m vain?”

“No, that you know exactly where we are. It could be our death warrant.”

He frowned, his genius proving inconvenient. “Good point.”

Their escort reemerged. “Bring them!”

The guards stepped forward and shoved them toward the entrance. Acton decided it was best not to protest.

“Come with me,” said their escort as he led them deeper into the building.

“What now? You have the Bible. When are you going to let us go?”

“We’re not finished with you yet.”

“What else could we possibly do now?”

“You will verify the provenance of the Bible to the buyer.”

“Why would we possibly do that?”

“Because, Professor Acton, if you don’t, you’ll die.”

He grunted. “You’re probably going to kill us anyway.”

“No, Professor Acton, we value life. All life.”

Acton rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you showed that when you massacred all those people.”

The man stopped and turned toward them, his expression suggesting he was genuinely offended. “We had nothing to do with that! We weren’t aware that the Brigade had that in mind. We merely capitalized on their plans to take over the museum. We had assumed they were going to make a political statement, draw attention to their cause. My employer values human life, to a fault sometimes. Do as you are told, and you will survive this. Defy us, and you will discover there are horrible ways to die that involve tremendous amounts of pain that can last for days, the most terrible of which is watching it happen to the woman you love while you sit by helpless. Your bodies will be found far from here in the Sahara, near a terrorist training camp, with enough false information planted on the Internet for the world to believe that they were behind the attack at the museum.”

“Do you think people will believe that separatist rebels actually committed a terrorist attack over animal rights?”

“No, but they will believe that they funded it, thinking it was for something else. And that those that did execute the attack hijacked the event for their own purposes.”

Acton eyed him skeptically. “That’s a stretch.”

“They’ll believe what we tell them to believe. We’ve been doing it for years, and we’ll continue to do it long after we part ways. The Internet is a wonderful thing. It allows any cause to appear legitimate, and with social media, and its anonymity, it can make anything look like it has thousands of fervid followers. As you know, social cred is all that matters to give a cause momentum and legitimacy.”

He continued walking, saying nothing further until they stopped in front of a room. He opened the door and held out his hand, indicating they should go inside. Acton went first, finding a simply furnished room, clearly not meant for their captor’s honored guests, more likely their staff.

“You will wait in here until the buyer arrives. You will then confirm to him that the Bible is indeed the one that was stolen from the Guggenheim. Assuming he is satisfied and transfers the money, you will be taken back to Marrakesh, returned to France, and you will continue on with your lives. Do your part, and you will both be home by this time tomorrow.”