“Nor me,” said Kim. “Do you have any Perrier?”

  The waiter nodded and called one of his colleagues over.

  As soon as they were alone, Kim protested. “Kim White! Seriously? Is that the best you could come with?”

  “I never picked it. It’s the name on the new passport Yuri gave us.”

  “Sorry, I forgot to check mine. I take it you’re Connor White?”

  “Yep. It’s not very original, but easy to remember. But let’s not forget that my alias for tonight is Quinn, not White.”

  “It’s a good thing I have a good memory,” quipped Kim. “Or this would get confusing real fast.”

  Behind them, the elevator chimed. In an instant, the hair on Connor’s neck stood up. He looked over his shoulder and clenched his jaw at the sight of Vallin, accompanied by an athletic-looking Asian woman, walking out of the elevator. He nudged Kim to get her attention.

  “What?” asked Kim irritably.

  “We’ve got company,” said Connor, turning to face Vallin.

  “Oh crap,” said Kim as Vallin nodded at them and walked over with his guest on his arm.

  “Good afternoon, Mister-?” said Vallin.

  “Quinn, Joseph Quinn,” replied Connor, faking a smile. “And who might you be, Monsieur?”

  “Emil Jacobin,” said Vallin, offering his calloused hand.

  Connor took a step and took Vallin’s hand.

  Vallin lowered his voice and squeezed his hand as tight as a vise. “So, Mister Quinn, how did you get your pass?”

  Connor had never wanted to smash his fist into another man’s face before as much as he did Vallin’s. He pushed back, tightening his grip until his hand hurt. If anyone was going to give in, it wasn’t going to be Connor. “My man’s drugged up. And yours?”

  “In a dumpster somewhere,” replied Vallin, grimacing in pain.

  “Really, Jean?” moaned the woman by his side. “These kinds of macho BS games are for adolescent boys and men with low self-esteem issues. Let go of his hand right now, or I’ll make you!”

  Vallin and Connor released each other from their grips and shook their hands to get the blood flowing again. Both men breathed deeply and glared at one another.

  “I’m sorry,” said the woman to Kim, stepping between the two antagonists. “But I doubt Jean will ever introduce me. My name is Rin.”

  Kim didn’t know if she should trust the woman but guessed that Rin already knew who she was, so there was no point in playing dumb. “Hi, I’m Kim.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Jean told me that you’re quite the thief. Is that true?”

  Kim ran her finger around the rim of her glass. “I try my best.”

  Rin eyed Kim over from her feet to the top of her head. “If you’re good at it, I suggest you stick to it and leave the rough stuff to Jean and me. Okay?”

  Kim felt the tension in the air between them. But, like her partner, she had no plan to back down. Kim narrowed her eyes. “Sure, Rin. Whatever makes you happy.”

  Rin sighed loudly and gave a dismissive hand gesture inches from her face. “Come, Jean or Emil, or whatever you want to be called, these people bore me, and I want a glass or two of champagne before we leave.”

  Kim and Connor watched their adversaries walk away in search of a drink.

  “Jesus, what a pair,” said Kim, shaking her head. “That woman sure is full of herself.”

  “Yeah, it’s as if they were made for each other,” observed Connor.

  Kim crossed her arms. “I don’t like this.”

  “Nor do I, but when you think about it the odds are still even.”

  Kim scrunched her brow. “How so?”

  “Vallin, like us, is using a stolen pass. He can’t out us to Kirdpan without outing himself, and I doubt he wants to do that.”

  Kim grinned. “I like that. I guess tonight will come down to who has the larger bank account, DuFour or Hamilton.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Connor glanced out the window of their helicopter as it landed inside a sprawling base cut out of the jungle. It reminded him of an operation in the Philippines that had ended badly, with one of his men dangerously wounded and five Filipino Marines dead. That day’s information had been wrong, and he never forgot the value of good intelligence before launching an operation.

  The pilot switched off the engines as a squad of heavily armed soldiers ran out from behind a camouflaged trailer and smartly formed a cordon around the chopper.

  “Game on,” murmured Kim, holding her purse tight in her hands.

  “Yeah, let’s do this,” said Connor, trying to sound confident. He knew the odds were stacked against them, but Connor banished such thoughts from his mind. He had a job to do.

  A side door opened, and a young Thai lieutenant boarded the helicopter.

  “Good day, ladies and gentlemen,” he said in English. “It’s a great honor to have you here today. Unfortunately, General Kirdpan is quite busy, but he sends his warmest greetings. If you would please exit the helicopter and follow me to the reception center?”

  A flash of white-hot anger surged through Connor’s body, watching Vallin and Rin make small talk with the lieutenant as they left the chopper. Kim gently placed a hand on Connor’s right arm. “Easy does it, Marine. I need you to wipe that angry look from your face right away. I know it’s hard, but you’ve got to learn to mask your feelings, or they’ll be your undoing.”

  Connor took a deep breath and nodded at his comrade. He walked past the junior officer and stepped onto the black ops base. The facility was a hive of activity. Groups of soldiers moved quickly about the installation with a purpose. Kim and Connor fell in and strolled with another couple, trying to blend in as best they could. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Connor spotted a crew of technicians in coveralls working on a drone inside a hangar. A neat pile of heroin rested on a table next to the UAV.

  “This way, please,” said the officer, waving for the bidders to stay close. “We’re almost there.”

  “Oh, crap,” said Kim under her breath.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Connor.

  “That,” she replied as a man with a camera waved at the new arrivals.

  “Well, that changes everything.”

  “Yeah, for the worse. I really don’t want them taking my picture.”

  “There’s not a lot we can do about it. If our cover gets blown, so will Vallin’s. We can always say Quinn gave us the card as he’s too sick to attend the auction. Besides, Knox’s bank account gives us some credibility.”

  “I hope so.”

  Connor leaned close. “Do you still think the hunt for the truth is worth this?”

  “God, you’re annoying. Yeah, I do. But I wish it wasn’t so stressful.”

  At the reception center, a Thai sergeant smiled at Connor and scanned his ID. “Good day, Mister Quinn.”

  “Good day,” replied Connor.

  The sergeant faced Kim. “And your name, please.”

  “Kim, Ms. Kim White.”

  The NCO checked the flight manifest and nodded. “Welcome, Ms. White. Please step aside and allow Corporal Lee to take your picture.”

  Kim and Connor went along with the charade and stood side by side as Lee took their pictures.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what are the pictures for?” Connor asked Lee.

  Lee shrugged and said, “Sorry, I no speak English.”

  “Thank you anyway,” responded Connor, suspecting Lee knew far more English than he let on.

  A man in pressed combat fatigues walked into the room accompanied by a couple of alluring women carrying trays of champagne. “Hello, everyone. My name is Major Chakrii, and I will be your host for the evening. As you’re the last group to arrive and have made good time, we can commence the auction a little earlier than planned tonight so you can all return to your hotels at a decent hour and celebrate your good luck at the auction. Once you have helped yourselves to a glass of the finest champagne in all of Thailand, please follow me to the hangar, where the auction will take place.”

  Kim and Connor each took a flute but never brought it to their lips.

  “What’s wrong, friend?” asked a swarthy-looking man with curly, salt-and-pepper hair and a gold-capped front tooth, smiling at Connor. “Don’t you like champagne?”

  Connor shook his head. “Not really. I prefer bourbon. Would you like mine?”

  “Hell, yes. This stuff is great.”

  Connor handed the man his drink. “Is this your first auction, Mister—?”

  The man toasted Connor. “Makris, Spiros Makris at your service.”

  “Joseph Quinn. Mister Makris, you wouldn’t happen to be from Greece, would you?”

  “Yes. Let me guess, the name gave me away,” he jested.

  Connor pretended to chuckle. “A little.”

  “And yes, this is my first auction.” Then Makris unexpectedly turned and playfully poked Connor with his elbow. “At least one like this, if you know what I mean?”

  “Oh, yes, I do.”

  “Is this your first as well, Joseph?”

  Connor nodded. “What are you bidding on tonight?”

  “There are some exquisite stone sculptures from the time of Alexander the Great on the block tonight. My boss is absolutely fascinated with that period of Greek history and is willing to pay a ton of money to get his hands on these items.”

  “So he can put them in a museum for all to see?”

  Makris paused and looked at Connor as if he had just insulted him.

  “I’m sorry, Mister Makris, but you’ll have to excuse my friend’s sense of humor,” said Kim. “As you can see, he has none.”

  Makris smiled and broke out laughing. “Good one. And you, what are you after?”

  “The man we’re bidding for has an eye for Pre-Columbian artifacts,” replied Connor. “The older, the better.”

  Makris mimed, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “That’s a relief. The fewer people interested in the sculptures I’m after, the easier the bidding will go.”

  “Let’s hope so,” said Connor, thinking not of Makris’ items but Grenier’s map.

  As they approached the auction hangar, Connor noticed the heightened security and a small line of people waiting to go inside.

  Major Chakrii snapped his fingers in the air. “As you enter the hangar, please enter your client’s banking information into Staff-Sergeant Chen’s encrypted computer to speed things up once you have won your bids. Also, you don’t need to worry about cellphone coverage here on the base. I can assure you that you can reach anywhere on the planet other than the South Pole. But who lives there anyway, am I right?”

  A few people laughed at Chakrii’s attempt at humor, but Kim and Connor did not.

  “Thank God for Yuri and Knox,” said Kim quietly.

  Connor stepped up in line and typed in Knox’s banking information, silently praying nothing went wrong. When a green light appeared on the computer, the staff sergeant indicated with his hand for Kim and Connor to proceed. “Wow,” uttered Connor, looking around the spacious hangar. Two bars were open for business, and a long buffet table was topped with tasty-looking finger foods.

  “Let me guess, it was like this every day when you were in the Marines?” teased Kim.

  “Good lord, no. For the Air Force, maybe, but never the Marines.” Connor slowly turned on his heel, checking out the rest of the tent. A dozen uninterested-looking soldiers were on duty, with their rifles slung over their shoulders, pacing back and forth. Connor noted where the six exits were if they needed to leave quickly.

  “Damn, our friends made it in,” observed Kim.

  Connor frowned, his shoulders tensing.

  “Hey, what did I say about body language?” said Kim, gently nudging her partner. “Calm yourself and mask your feelings.”

  Connor took a couple of deep breaths and turned his back on Vallin and his associate. For now, he decided that he’d have to pretend that the two assassins weren’t in the room with them.

  “Let’s grab a program,” suggested Kim. She flagged down a young soldier carrying a listing of the items on the block tonight. Kim hurriedly scanned the document, looking for their lot.

  “Have you found what we’re looking for?” asked Connor.

  Kim nodded. “Yes, it’s second from last; it’s in lot fourteen. My goodness, Madame Meyer’s family was quite naughty. Aside from the maps, there are priceless antiquities from the Mayans and the Incas in the lot. No wonder the government of Peru wanted these items back.”

  Connor tried looking over her shoulder to see how much Madame Meyer’s estate was going for. “Is there a starting price listed?”

  Kim chuckled and tried to hide the page with her right hand. “Take a guess.”

  Connor paused and then shrugged his shoulders. “I dunno. Ten million?”

  Kim lifted her hand. “Yeah, it’s ten million dollars. But, it’s got to be worth at least ten times that amount.”

  “Be happy; it’s not our money.”

  “Speaking of that. When you called Knox this afternoon, how high did he say Mister Hamilton would be willing to go?”

  “Somewhere around twenty million.”

  Kim tutted. “There’s no way he’s going to win.”

  Major Chakrii moved to the front of the hangar. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are ready to begin the auction, so if you wouldn’t mind, please take a seat.”

  Kim and Connor sat near the back, in a spot with a clear view of the auction table and the closest exits.

  A man with snow-white hair, dressed in a tuxedo, walked to a podium and loudly banged a gavel. Then, with a hint of an Italian accent, he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, let the bidding begin.”

  The first item on the block was a pair of large tablets inscribed with pre-cuneiform Sumerian script from around 3400 BCE that allegedly were the keys to finding a fortune in gold looted during a raid on a city-state on the Tigris River. The bidding started at five million but was soon over twelve million dollars, with no sign that the bids would slow down.

  “Hey, this is kinda exciting,” said Kim, moving in her seat to get a better look at the two bidders locked in verbal combat for the tablets. The lot eventually sold for eighteen million, making Kim wonder how much Madame Meyer’s antiquities would fetch. Unfortunately, it was evident to her that twenty million dollars would not suffice.

  Time seemed to fly by as priceless antiquity after antiquity was sold at outrageous prices. Before they knew it, Kim and Connor’s lot was brought out and reverently placed on a long wooden table for everyone to admire.

  The auctioneer took a sip of water and smiled at the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you lot fourteen. In it, you will find some of the most exquisite examples of pre-Columbian artifacts found outside of a museum. And, as an added bonus, there are four maps, two of which allegedly claim to show where Montezuma hid his vast treasure. Shall we begin the bidding at ten million dollars?”

  Right away, Vallin raised his hand.

  “I have ten million,” announced the auctioneer. “Do I hear eleven?”

  “Eleven,” said Kim, smiling.

  A split-second later, Vallin said, “Fifteen.”

  The auctioneer looked at Kim. “Madam, your bid?”

  “Eighteen.”

  A man in a white suit with a dark beard entered the bidding. He held his hand high and announced, “Nineteen!”

  Connor could see the lot was going to go for an astronomical sum. So, he stood, dug out his phone, and moved away from the other bidders.

  Knox answered on the second ring. “Good day, Connor; how are things going?”

  “Is Jason with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Put him on the phone.”

  “I’m putting my phone on speaker mode.”

  “Hello, Connor,” said Hamilton. “How are you today?”

  “Stuff the pleasantries,” responded Connor gruffly. “The bidding is already near twenty million for the estate. How high are you prepared to go?”

  “It’s that high already?” Hamilton’s voice sounded dejected.

  “Yep. The map is worthless. It’s all of the other antiquities that are driving up the cost. I’m willing to bet the lot will go for at least fifty million. Do you have that kind of petty cash?”

  There was a pause, and then Hamilton spoke. “I had no idea the bidding would go this high. I can go to twenty-five, and then that’s it.”

  “Okay, got it.” Connor abruptly ended the call and slid his phone away. He sat down and saw Kim wide-eyed, staring at the lot as if transfixed. He gently nudged her arm.

  “Sorry,” said Kim. “I got distracted. What did Mister Hamilton say?”

  “Twenty-five million, and then we’re done.”

  “We’re out of time, then. Vallin just bid twenty, and our mystery bidder with the beard is sure to go past twenty-five.”

  Connor bit his lip as the bid reached twenty-three million dollars. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. He looked at Kim and said, “How light are your fingers?”

  Kim grinned. “The lightest. Why?”

  “It’s time to earn our money.” Connor stood and brought up a hand.

  “A new bidder. Are you bidding, sir?’ asked the auctioneer dryly.

  “No, sir, I am not. However, my client back in the United States would like my partner and me to examine the artifacts before the bids go any higher.”

  The auctioneer placed his gavel down. “You may approach.”

  Kim and Connor were aware that everyone in the room was watching them as they made their way to the front of the room. They stepped apart and pretended to examine the unbelievably rare artifacts. There were two golden Mayan death masks inlaid with jade and other precious stones lying on the table. Next to them were at least a dozen statues, necklaces, Incan headdresses, earrings, and even more necklaces made from gold. And then, by themselves, at the end of the exhibit were the maps. It was a sight to behold.

  Kim looked over the Incan artifacts while Connor made a pretense of examining the death masks. Behind them, the crowd grew bored and began to talk among themselves.

  It was time to strike.