They got out. Ronnie went to the back of the car and opened it up. He unlocked the cover of the weapons compartment.

  "Take your pick," he said.

  Nick was wearing his shoulder holster rig with a Sig 229. He patted it.

  "They'll see this right away," he said. "I need a backup."

  He picked up a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield in .40 caliber with a laser sight.

  "This will do."

  He checked the magazine, chambered a round, clicked off the safety, and tucked it behind his back. Selena chose a Sig Sauer 238. It fired a smaller .380 caliber hollow point round that was adequate for self-defense at close quarters. She tucked it in her boot and pulled her pant leg down over the top. Her usual pistol, a Sig 229 like Nick's, was concealed on her waist in a holster that looked like a large cell phone holder or fanny pack.

  "What do you think, Lamont?" Ronnie asked. "MP7's?"

  "I'm gonna stick with a pistol," Lamont said. He picked up a Sig 226 with a laser sight, and two extra magazines. "I'll take this one. They've got Nick's kids. Might not be a good idea to have too many bullets flying around."

  "Right."

  Ronnie took an identical pistol, chambered a round, put it in a holster clipped on his waist. He picked up two extra magazines, thinking that if he needed them they'd be in trouble.

  "Everyone set?"

  He sealed the compartment, closed the back of the Hummer, and locked the car.

  Nick led them out of the garage into the basement, past the boilers to the rear of the room, where the service elevator stood open.

  "Wish we knew how many there were," Lamont said.

  "With a little luck there won't be anybody there and this is all a mistake," Selena said.

  "I hope you're right," Nick said, "but I've got a bad feeling about this."

  He reached up and scratched his scarred left ear, then looked at his watch.

  "It's been a little more than three-quarters of an hour since Anna called. They'll be waiting. Give us five minutes to get up there."

  "How fast is the elevator?" Ronnie asked.

  "It's slow. Takes about a minute to get to the top floor. From the loft side, it looks like a closet. It opens onto a hall that runs down the side of the loft, past windows that look out on the river. There are bedrooms and bathrooms on your left as you come down the hall. The hall leads to the kitchen and living area. Once you reach the kitchen, be careful or they'll see you. Selena and I will keep them occupied up front, in the living room. You should be able to get all the way to the kitchen without them knowing you're there. From there you can see everything that's happening."

  "There could be a problem," Selena said. "We don't know where they have Anna and the kids. They might be in one of the rooms off the hall."

  "She's right," Nick said. "You'll have to clear each room as you go. Anna's room is the second one on the left as you're coming from the elevator. If she's there with the twins, she'll be guarded. Try to keep it quiet, but take out whoever is there. Do whatever you have to. The important thing is that the kids are safe."

  "Copy that," Ronnie said.

  "Let's do it," Lamont said.

  They bumped fists. Ronnie and Lamont watched Nick and Selena walk away.

  "Something really shitty about people who use children as hostages," Lamont said.

  "Yeah. You see the look in Nick's eyes? Whoever they are, they're going to wish they hadn't messed with his kids."

  Nick and Selena took the stairs out of the basement to the lobby of the building. A security desk was prominently placed against the back wall, where a guard usually monitored visitors and deliveries. The station was empty. There was no one in sight.

  "Where's Walt?" Selena said. "He should be on duty."

  Nick walked over to the desk and looked behind it. The guard lay on the floor, eyes open and unseeing. Someone had pushed the body under the desk, out of sight to anyone heading for the elevator. No one would notice the dead guard unless they were looking for him.

  "He's here," Nick said. "He's dead."

  "Damn it."

  "Now we know this isn't a false alarm. Whoever it is, they intend to kill us."

  "You still think this is the best plan?"

  "Yes, I do. I don't think anything will happen before they tell us why they're there. If they wanted to take us out without bragging about it, they wouldn't have had Anna call to bring us back here. They'd wait until we walked in the door and take us out. If I'm wrong, we'll know right away. Don't hesitate. Shoot to kill."

  "We should have called Elizabeth," Selena said.

  "Harker would ask Langley for backup and they'd send a SWAT team. Everybody would be hyped up, pumped with adrenaline. That's too much risk for the children. That's why I didn't let her know what's happening."

  They got into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. The elevator rose and opened with a soft chime into an enclosed foyer outside their door.

  "Ready?"

  "As I'll ever be," Selena said.

  Nick entered the code for the door, opened it, and stepped into the loft.

  "Anna. We're back," he called.

  Something sharp and cold pressed into the side of his neck.

  Nick couldn't turn his head with a knife against his throat, but he moved his eyes to look over at Selena. A large, ugly man held the point of a narrow dagger against her neck.

  "Do not move. If you move, you will die."

  The voice belonged to a woman standing in the middle of the living room. She was strikingly beautiful, with clear, golden skin and shining black hair that dropped down past her shoulders. She was dressed in a dark blue blouse and jacket, with black slacks. A disk of gold about three inches in diameter hung between her breasts on a heavy gold chain. A broad shouldered man stood next to her. He did not look friendly.

  "I know who you are," Selena said. "I recognize you from pictures. You were Professor Freeman's assistant. You killed him."

  "Very good, Doctor Connor," Kalima said. "It was unfortunate. I liked him, but your actions made it necessary."

  "My actions?"

  "If you had not given him the translation of the scroll, he would still be alive."

  "Where are my kids?" Nick said.

  "All in good time. I suggest you keep quiet, unless you want something to happen to them. Rafiq, search them."

  "Yes, Mistress."

  The man standing next to Kalima moved forward. He stood in front of Nick, breathing heavily. Nick involuntarily jerked back from his stinking breath, drawing blood from the knife held against his neck. Rafiq smiled, reached under Nick's jacket, withdrew the pistol from the shoulder holster, and stuck it in his pants pocket. Then he began patting Nick down. He worked up the legs and felt around Nick's groin.

  "Like what you're finding there?" Nick said.

  "You dead soon," Rafiq said. "First I hurt you a little."

  He backed away, distracted by Nick's words, angry. He hadn't found the gun in the small of Nick's back. Then he went to Selena. The first place he looked was the case on her hip. He took out her pistol and put it in his other pocket. He squeezed both her breasts, grinning.

  "Your mother was a whore and your father a diseased camel," Selena said in Arabic. "Your breath stinks like a Cairo sewer."

  Rafiq scowled and punched her in the face. She went down, hard, and lay unmoving on the floor. Her nose was bleeding.

  "You son of a bitch," Nick said.

  "That's enough, Rafiq," Kalima said.

  From where he stood by the front door, Nick could see the kitchen and the end of the hall that followed the outer wall of the building. When the loft was converted from industrial space to living quarters, the architect had created a large, open space in front, using the great room concept. The kitchen, dining, and living areas were essentially one big room. Separate, functional areas were created by a granite topped kitchen counter that did double duty as a bar and the placement of furniture. The other rooms in the loft all opened off the hall, which was lined with windows looking out over the Potomac River. Selena had used the inner wall of the hallway as a gallery space to hang some of the priceless paintings from her collection.

  "I'm curious," Kalima said. "How did you get out of the lower tomb?"

  "You knew about that?" Nick said.

  "Of course. The secrets of the god have been passed down for many generations."

  "Let me get this straight," Nick said. "Are you saying you people have known about this tomb since it was built? You said the secrets of the god. You mean Alexander? What are you, some kind of crazy cult?"

  "It will do no good to try to offend me, Mister Carter," Kalima said. "Our religion is very old, older than your Christian one. You demean it as a cult, but that only reveals your ignorance. It is through the Sun God that all life is given. Without him, there is no life, only darkness and death. All that is good in the world comes through his beneficence. Alexander was his incarnation on earth in human form. We have no problem with those who choose to follow other gods. Why would we? In Egypt there is a long tradition of many gods. But all of those gods are of lesser importance than the giver of life."

  Nick glanced at the hall. There was no sign of Ronnie and Lamont.

  "Answer the question," Kalima said. "How did you get out of the tomb?"

  Keep talking. Keep her occupied.

  "We thought we were trapped. Then we heard water running. It was faint, but we knew something was off when we discovered the sarcophagus wasn't made of gold."

  "How did you know it wasn't gold, but meant to deceive?"

  "By accident." Nick described pulling down the staff of Ra and damaging the false sarcophagus. "That made us look more closely at it. We discovered the mechanism that moved it away from the stairs leading to the lower chamber."

  "You have been clever, Mister Carter. It's too bad. It would have been better for you to have died in the tomb, as you were meant to. But you still haven't told me how you escaped. There is no exit from the lower chamber, except through the passage above."

  "We followed the river."

  "According to our records, the river emerges from the underworld. It doesn't lead anywhere."

  "Obviously it does. We had to swim through a submerged tunnel. There's a cave on the other side, occupied by bats. We watched which way the bats went and got out that way."

  "I see," Kalima said.

  Her expression became serious.

  "You have defiled the resting place of the god. Atonement must be made. Your act demands an appropriate sacrifice."

  "We didn't know we were defiling anything."

  "Your ignorance does not excuse you."

  Kalima turned to Rafiq.

  "Bring the woman and the children."

  57

  The service elevator came to a silent stop. Ronnie signaled.

  Ready?

  He cracked the door open and peered out. The hall was empty. He could hear Nick's voice in the front of the loft. He pushed the door all the way open and they stepped out of the elevator. Lamont closed the door behind them.

  They moved down the hall, Ronnie leading. The first room appeared on the left. The door to the room was open. Ronnie took a quick glance around the doorframe. It was one of the guest suites. They slipped inside and moved through the room. There was no one there. Ronnie glanced out of the doorway and quickly pulled back.

  One coming, he signaled.

  They heard the door to the next room being opened. Anna's room. Then an unfamiliar voice.

  "You. Come. Bring children."

  They heard Anna's voice.

  "They're asleep."

  "Bring them."

  More words, this time in another language. There was a short reply.

  Arabic, Lamont mouthed. He gestured. At least one more in the room.

  Wait, Ronnie signaled.

  "I'll put them in their stroller," Anna said.

  They heard rustling noises and a sleepy whimper. Then the sound of stroller wheels and footsteps on the hardwood surface of the hall floor.

  Ronnie risked a quick glance.

  Two men. Anna. Kids.

  In the front room, Nick saw Anna come from the hall pushing the stroller, with Rafiq and one other man behind her. On the floor next to him, Selena groaned.

  "She's hurt," Nick said. "Let me help her."

  "Hager, let him," Kalima said. "I want her awake. She needs to see what her actions have brought about. What happens when the god must be appeased."

  Nick felt the knife move away from his neck. He knelt down by Selena and bent over her.

  "Selena. Can you hear me?"

  Selena opened one eye and winked at him, closed it again and groaned.

  "Nick..."

  "Come on, babe, wake up."

  "Dizzy..."

  "Here. I'll help you stand."

  He helped her to one knee. She leaned against him. Her hand hung loosely by her boot. From the corner of his eye, Nick saw Ronnie and Lamont come into the kitchen.

  Kalima gestured at the dining table. "I think that will do for an altar."

  She drew a long, sharp dagger from under her jacket.

  "Your children will be your atonement, Carter. Rafiq."

  "Yes, Mistress?"

  "Pick one of the children and place it on the table."

  Nick whispered in Selena's ear. "Now."

  Selena drew her pistol from her boot and fired at Kalima. At the same time Nick grabbed the pistol at his back and fired at the man next to him, the one who had held a knife against his throat. From the kitchen, Ronnie and Lamont opened up at Rafiq and the man who had been guarding Anna, then the fourth man who had been standing near Selena.

  Chaos.

  The sound of the shots was thunder in the room. Anna threw herself across the stroller. The twins began screaming. Rafiq staggered and drew a pistol. He fired at Nick and missed. Nick put three rounds in his chest. He staggered backward and fell.

  Kalima uttered a cry of rage and ran at him with her knife raised high. Selena aimed and fired. The bullet struck Kalima above the left eye and blew out the back of her skull. She toppled to the floor at Nick's feet. The knife fell from her lifeless hand.

  Everything went quiet, except for the wails of the children. The smell of burnt gunpowder drifted through the air.

  Ronnie coughed.

  "Jesus," Lamont said.

  Selena went over to where Anna was still bent over the children. She looked terrified.

  "It's over, Anna," Selena said.

  Gently, she helped her stand.

  "You did great. I'm sorry you had to be involved in something like this."

  "I don't think I can take this anymore, Selena," Anna said.

  "Let's not talk about it now. Later, okay?"

  "Okay."

  Lamont had gone around checking the bodies for signs of life.

  "Anything?" Ronnie said.

  "Nope. They've all gone to the great Sun God in the sky."

  "I'd better call Harker," Nick said.

  58

  The wound in Valentina's leg was better, but it was bothersome. She still had a long way to go before she'd be back to full strength. At the moment she was working on upper body strength, using one of the machines in the gym set up on the ground floor of the Virginia mansion. She really liked the gym. One thing Nick and the others knew how to do was choose exercise equipment that worked. A double row of glittering, state-of-the-art machines provided all of the mechanical support any bodybuilder or strength coach could want.

  Valentina loved American rock. It was one of the things she appreciated about her new life. She had a set of headphones on, listening to the Eagles on the iPhone Selena had given her. One of her favorite American groups was the Eagles. She didn't have a clue what the words meant in Hotel California, but the guitar solo was what Americans called awesome. You didn't have to be American to understand what the song Life in the Fast Lane was all about. As far as she was concerned, it could have been written for her, even though she'd never been big on drugs. It was the feeling that counted. As she worked her body she thought about how different her life was now, how much things had changed since she'd left Russia.

  The song tracks ended. She let the machine return to resting position and leaned back in the seat.

  It was the middle of the day. Stephanie was down in the basement doing something with her beloved computers. Elizabeth was in her office, doing whatever it was that she did in there.

  The room had two large windows looking out on the back of the property, toward a grove of trees about a hundred yards from the house. It was one of the things Valentina liked about the gym. It was peaceful to look out the window at the green lawn and the trees in the distance. The weather was fine outside, the sky blue over the trees. The window was open to let in fresh air. The smell of freshly cut grass drifted into the room.

  Something glittered in the trees.

  She leaned down to reach for a towel. The back rest on the machine shattered behind her. She registered the sound of the shot as she dove for the floor.

  Sniper. Big gun.

  She still had the phone in her hand. She crawled across the floor and punched the speed dial button for Elizabeth.

  "Harker group."

  "Elizabeth, get away from windows. Now."

  "Valentina? What's wrong?"

  "Sniper. Get down."

  In her office, Elizabeth went to the floor.

  "Where are you?"

  "In gym."

  "Are you armed?"

  "In my bag, yes. I am going for it now."

  Valentina's gym bag sat on a bench seat under one of the windows. It was visible to whomever was outside.

  Valentina thought. What would she do, if she were the sniper?

  I missed first time. Now I run? Or hope for another shot?

  The sniper had to be another SVR assassin. Baranov's failure meant Kerensky would be under a lot of pressure from Orlov to complete the job. It meant that another failure would not be tolerated. Whoever was out there could not return without succeeding.

  So, I am sniper, I shoot again. Or I come in to finish job.