The Midas Code

“Hold still,” he said. He took off her sunglasses and gathered up her hair until it was piled on top of her head. She kept her eyes on him as he tried not to tug on her hair. She didn’t help, amused at his struggle.

Holding her hair in place with one hand, he plopped the cap on, then put the sunglasses back on her. “Don’t take them off inside.”

“That was very gentle of you,” she said.

Tyler flushed again. “When you work with bombs, you have to have a light touch.”

“Is that right?” She tilted her glasses down.

“You getting saucy with me?” he asked.

“Twelve near-death experiences in three days make you appreciate life.”

“We’ll try to minimize those from now on. You know what we need in there?”

Stacy nodded. “A flameless electric-ignition smoke grenade. It’s not a phrase I learned studying ancient Greek, but I’ll get the point across.”

“Great. And make sure it’s the half-million-cubic-foot model.”

“I’ll get two, just in case.”

“Good. And buy other supplies with it. Doesn’t matter what, but make the smoke grenades seem like an afterthought.”

“No sweat. Be right back.”

Tyler waited by the motorcycle. Stacy came back out five minutes later.

“Any problems?” he asked.

“Piece of cake.” She opened the bag. “Is this what you wanted?”

He looked inside the bag and saw the two grenades. He couldn’t read the writing, but they were the right dimensions. She’d also bought two bags of paintball ammunition and a generic black baseball cap.

“That’s them,” he said.

“The hat’s for you, since I took your Mariners cap.”

Stacy stuffed the bag into the backpack and took off the sunglasses. Her smile was gone.

“You sure you want to go through with this?” she said.

“You mean at the museum?”

“I mean, the possibility of you spending ten years in a Greek prison if you get caught.”

“Believe me, I wish there was another way. I like my freedom as much as the next guy.”

“But don’t you think this is insane?”

“Absolutely. I also think it’s insane that someone kidnapped my father and your sister to force us to find a treasure map created by Archimedes so that this criminal can find the Midas Touch. But if Orr really has nuclear material for a dirty bomb, we have to do everything we can to stop him.”

Stacy considered that. “Why do you think Orr would want a dirty bomb?”

“Who knows? Maybe it’s his backup plan. If I don’t go along with him, he threatens to detonate the bomb. Or if he can’t find the Midas vault and get rich that way, maybe he’ll blackmail the US with the nuke.”

“Or maybe the two aren’t linked at all.”

Tyler shook his head. “I’m sure to Orr they are. He has some kind of plan, but I have no idea what it is.”

“And you’re sure Sr-90 means strontium?”

“No, but my father is an expert in WMDs. If that’s what he was trying to tell me, he’d know we’d connect the dots when we looked it up.”

Stacy peered at him for a few seconds, and then smiled.

“Then we better go get this remote igniter that you need,” she said as she put on her helmet.

Tyler did the same. “Sounds good to me.”

Stacy gave him the backpack and held out her hand.

“What?” Tyler said.

“The keys, please.” She winked and flipped down the visor. “It’s my turn to drive.”

FORTY-ONE

G ia Cavano stormed into the entryway of her villa along the Mediterranean coast just west of Naples and picked up the first thing she could grab, a crystal Steuben vase displayed on the hall table. She hurled it into the wall, showering the floor with glass shards.

The destruction felt good, but she still burned with fury.

As a maid rushed over to sweep up the remains of the vase, Cavano stomped through the living room and onto the terrace overlooking the sea. Her cousin Salvatore followed her. He wasn’t too bright, which Cavano liked, but he was efficient and provided the necessary brawn. He’d been a faithful servant since her husband died.

“Quell’idiota, Pietro!” Cavano yelled, kicking one of the chairs over. “If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him,” she continued in Italian.

“Locke will pay. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Do you realize what yesterday cost me? The wrecked Lamborghini and the repairs to the Ferrari will cost over three hundred thousand euros, not to mention the destroyed BMW and the Zonda I had to buy.”

“And we lost three men.”

“Yes, of course. Three more families to feed.” The Cavanos looked after their own, especially when soldiers died. It guaranteed their loyalty to know that their families would be secure.

Rodel had sent a car to pick her up when the Zonda ran out of gas. She left the police to investigate the death in the Boerst garage and the disintegrated Lamborghini. The Ferrari was found not long after with two bullet holes in it. Through Rodel, she reported it stolen and left the city before they could ask her any questions.

Now she had full ownership of the Ministry of Health building, but demolition work couldn’t begin until Monday morning. Even with her power, she couldn’t compel the Italian unions to bring in the heavy machinery she’d need on a weekend.