The Midas Code

He put the backpack with the geolabe on the floor and checked the signal for the tracker they’d removed from the geolabe and given to Grant. Instead of broadcasting from the Palazzo Reale, it was en route away from the palace.

“The tracker’s on the move,” he said.

“What?”

“If it’s still with Grant, he’s heading north at a fast clip.”

“What do we do?” Stacy said.

“We abort until we know what happened to Grant.”

“But Carol-”

“Orr won’t kill her yet. Not when he’s this close. We’ll just postpone the meet.”

“Then we need to find Grant.”

“I’m going on my own.”

“But-”

“No buts. I can move faster by myself. I’ll find the tracker and assess the situation. If I can get him myself, I’ll do it. You need to hide someplace safe until I come back.”

“I hate doing that.”

“It’s for my safety, too. As long as you have the geolabe, we still have bargaining power. I’ll drop you off at an outof-the-way pensione. Give me two hours. If I’m not back in that time, call Miles Benson and he’ll help you. Do not meet with Orr on your own, no matter what he tells you.”

Stacy sighed. “Fine. But I don’t like this.”

“Your objection is noted,” Tyler said, putting the backpack on his shoulder. “Now let’s go get the car.”

He opened the front door to the breezeway outside. The semicircular colonnade embraced the piazza. Their car was in a lot to the north. He looked in both directions, but no one in the crowd paid any attention. With tens of thousands of people attending the concert and dozens of ways into the square, the chance that Orr would spot them was small, but with Grant no longer backing him up Tyler had to be prepared for anything.

He waved for Stacy to come out, and they weaved through the strolling crowd.

They had reached the end of the breezeway when a man in cargo pants and a U2 T-shirt stepped out from behind the last pillar and faced them. He had a jacket draped over his folded arms so that his hands weren’t visible.

He stared at Tyler. He had to be one of Orr’s men.

Tyler grabbed Stacy’s arm to run for it but froze when he felt the barrel of a pistol in his back.

“You’re early, Tyler,” Orr said behind him.

“So are you,” Tyler said.

“I had to change my plans. By the way, Gaul has a gun aimed at you.”

“I figured that out.”

With his free hand, Orr removed Tyler’s Leatherman from his pocket, tossed it to Gaul, and pocketed the Glock pistol he took from Tyler’s waistband. He didn’t bother to search Stacy. Her shorts and tank top couldn’t have hidden anything dangerous.

“I’ll take your phones,” Orr said.

Stacy whirled around with her fists clenched, ready to take on Orr, but Tyler grabbed her shoulders to stop her. Orr backed off but kept the gun trained on them from under his folded coat.

“What are you doing?” Stacy said. “They’re going to kill us!”

“If they wanted to kill us, they would have done it already.”

“Listen to Tyler, honey,” Orr said. “Now toss your phones to me.”

“Only if you never call me honey again.”

“Fair enough, sweetie.”

Stacy tensed again, before giving in. Tyler let her go. He took her phone and threw it to Orr along with his.

Orr dropped them both to the ground and stomped on them.

“Now we’re on our own. And finally the backpack. Slowly.”

Tyler didn’t move. “It won’t do you any good.”

“I’d just feel better holding it. I can shoot you in the leg and I’d get it anyway. Your choice.”

Tyler grudgingly held the backpack out for Orr, who took it and rested it on his shoulder.

“Good. Let’s go.” Orr motioned them forward, and he and Gaul fell into step behind them.

“Where are we going?” Tyler said.

“Where do you think?” Orr said.

“I don’t know. And you’re dreaming if you think we’re going to tell you where the well of Archimedes is. This is an exchange, and you haven’t offered us anything yet.”

“I do know where we’re going, thanks to Stacy. The church of San Lorenzo Maggiore near Piazza San Gaetano. You found it there.”

And it suddenly made sense to Tyler. Orr didn’t find them by luck. He had been waiting for them to come out of the church. He would have known where Grant was because of the tracker, but there was only one way he could have known where Tyler was. He and Grant had had a mole in their midst from the very beginning.

Tyler stopped and looked at Stacy, shocked at her betrayal.

“I trusted you,” he said. “You’ve been telling Orr our every move.”

“What?” Stacy said with a puzzled look. “No, I don’t… You can’t think I’ve been helping him?”

Tyler shook his head grimly. “How else could Orr have found us?”

“I don’t know! I’m his hostage just like you are. So is my sister.”

Which Tyler now realized could have been a setup from the very beginning. For all he knew, Carol Benedict was in on it as well.

“Oh, Stacy’s been a good informant,” Orr said, “giving me updates along the way, but she got greedy and demanded more than her fair share. I’d kill her right now, but I still need her.”

“He’s lying!” she shouted at Tyler before turning on Orr. “You bastard!”