Abigail was too excited to eat, but she didn’t know where her next meal was coming from, so forced down mouthful after mouthful. The men ate a hearty meal while watching the road. Abigail noted that the car was within sight of the window at all times. Maybe Riley was afraid someone would put a tracking device on it.

  As soon as they finished their meal, Riley paid and they hurried outside to the car.

  “Where are we going?” Ellis said when he jumped behind the wheel.

  “You’ll see soon enough,” Riley said. “For now, head to the Izmir Airport.”

  Ellis turned back to the front, but not before Abigail saw a scowl on his face. Thatcher too looked angry; she could tell from the set of his jaw.

  Riley pulled out Abigail’s phone and took screenshots of her emails. She watched as he emailed the screenshots to his own phone. He then put her phone back in his pocket.

  Abigail looked at the two men in the front of the car. Riley wasn’t sure if he could trust them. Her stomach churned. What if they were Vortex agents?

  16

  EN ROUTE: IZMIR TO OXFORD

  To Abigail’s dismay, the flight to Heathrow was going to be a long one. What’s more, there was no direct flight; flights offered two stopovers or one. Riley selected the next flight out with a single stopover in Munich of two and a half hours. Abigail hoped the stopover wouldn’t extend much more than that. She’d had her fill of long airport stopovers in her years as an academic, traveling to conferences to present papers on everything from Akkadian loanwords in Biblical Hebrew to the language of the Book of Ben Sira, Ben Sira being the Second Temple Period author of Sirach.

  “Stay close to me at all times,” Riley whispered in her ear.

  She stood on her toes to whisper back. “Are you worried about Berat?”

  “Yes, and others as well.”

  Abigail was worried about being in danger. She told herself to take it one step at a time: arrive safely in Munich, arrive safely in Heathrow, arrive safely in Oxford, and visit Professor Briggs. If she broke everything into steps, it didn’t seem so daunting. And surely she would be safe at the airports and on the flights.

  The flight from Izmir to Munich was uneventful, apart from the fact that one of the flight attendants appeared overly flirtatious toward Riley. Despite the fact he seemed oblivious and all but ignored the woman, Abigail’s hackles rose. For all the woman knew, the two of them could be married, or at least dating.

  Abigail must have drifted off to sleep at some point, because she awoke to find her head resting on Riley’s shoulder, much to her embarrassment. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Any time! I don’t mind at all.”

  Her cheeks burning, Abigail turned away so Riley wouldn’t see her blushing. The plane was beginning its final descent so Abigail distracted herself with the fact she was close to the first step of arriving safely in Munich.

  The airport at Munich proved to be magnificent. As they walked through Terminal Two, Abigail saw plenty of restaurants, bakeries, and snack options.

  Riley strode along looking as though he knew where he was going. The others fell in beside him. He stopped at a restaurant decorated in an unusual way with narrow tree trunks throughout the restaurant. “It’s usually crowded,” Riley said, “so we’re in luck. They have good burgers here.”

  The restaurant offered a direct view of the airport ramp and Abigail assumed that was the reason Riley had chosen it. She certainly hoped they hadn’t been followed.

  Abigail’s stomach was a little queasy, so she ordered a vegetarian burger with red onions, sun ripened tomatoes, and fresh salad. The three men ordered grilled beef burgers with fries.

  When the food arrived, Riley turned to Abigail. “Feel free to help yourself to my fries. They’re sweet potato fries.”

  Abigail was about to refuse but decided to try one. “Oh, it’s delicious,” she said.

  Riley pushed his plate across to her. “We’ll share.”

  Abigail noticed Ellis rolled his eyes. Still, she didn’t mind. She wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship with Riley, if he was a normal person and she was solely an academic and they were on a date. Warmth flowed through her body.

  The cold light of reality followed soon after. They were there on a mission, a mission which could get them killed and already had nearly done so. Abigail at once lost her appetite and refused dessert, although Riley ordered waffles with vanilla ice cream and both Ellis and Thatcher ordered chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream and cream.

  Abigail wished she could eat so much without putting on weight, but figured their excessively active lifestyle burned off the calories in no time.

  After they ate, Riley cast a look around him and checked his watch. Given the hour, the place was all but deserted.

  “Are you going to give us the name of this professor now?” Ellis asked him.

  “It’s too much of a risk, to be honest,” Riley said.

  Thatcher raised his eyebrows. “Have you even contacted him yet?”

  Riley shook his head. “Not risking it. We’ll make contact after we arrive at Heathrow.”

  “So he lives in England?” Ellis asked.

  Riley simply gave a curt nod by way of response.

  After the men finished eating, they ordered coffee. Abigail glanced at her watch and was pleased to see more time had passed than she had estimated.

  Would Professor Briggs even be in the country? She wanted to google him to find out but hadn’t had an opportunity to do so. She certainly couldn’t google him with Ellis and Thatcher around. Nevertheless, she was certain Riley had it all under control.

  And when they found Professor Briggs, would they take him back to Turkey so he could show them the entrance to the temple? She supposed so, but she was highly reluctant to put him in danger. Vortex had already killed her friend, Jason Hobbs, as well as Eymen Bulut. How many more would die?

  And were the Vortex agents already on their trail? Was Thatcher surreptitiously reporting to them? Or was Ellis? Maybe both? Or perhaps Riley was suspicious of everyone. Maybe that came with the territory.

  When they boarded the plane for Heathrow, Abigail continued to study other passengers. What did Vortex agents look like? She assumed they were fit people like the men she was now with. Consequently, she stared at every athletic person she saw. There were plenty of them on the flight, a fact which did nothing to ease her nerves.

  Abigail was also certain by now that Vortex agents were following them so she could lead them to the treasure. She hoped they didn’t already know about Professor Briggs and would make their way to him first and murder him. But how could they know?

  Still, she couldn’t help but worry.

  The flight to Heathrow was bumpy, which made sleep difficult if not impossible. Abigail abandoned all hope of sleep and instead watched a movie. It was such a bad movie, she thought it must have been an old one until she remembered she had read a review for it only recently.

  When they landed at Heathrow, Riley put a protective hand on her back as they headed for customs. Abigail’s heart was in her mouth, but once more they passed through quickly.

  “Where to now?” Ellis said.

  “We’re catching a train,” Riley said. Minutes later, they were in Heathrow Central station, paying for tickets to Oxford.

  “The professor lives in Oxford.” Ellis said it as a statement, but raised one eyebrow at Abigail, no doubt expecting a response.

  Abigail, however, did not respond. Instead she said, “How long will it take us to get to Oxford?”

  “Just under two hours,” Riley said.

  “Are we going to book accommodation and freshen up first or speak to Abigail’s friend first?” Thatcher asked him.

  “I’ll decide on the way,” Riley said.

  Once more, a pang of anxiety struck Abigail. It had been bad enough being in the situation before, but now she knew Riley didn’t trust his agents. That certainly left an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  After half an hour on the train, Abigail stood up. “I have to use the bathroom.”

  “There’s one just there.” Riley nodded to his right. “We passed it in the way. Come straight back, won’t you?”

  Abigail nodded and walked to the bathroom. As she reached for the handle, she saw a sign, ‘Locked for service.’ Abigail pursed her lips and looked around. She wondered where the next one was, but as she was standing there looking at the sign, an elderly lady bumped into her.

  “Sorry, love.”

  “Would you happen to know where there’s another bathroom? A working one?” Abigail asked her.

  The woman pointed in the direction opposite to where Abigail had been sitting with Riley. “At the end of the carriage.”

  Abigail wondered if she should go back and tell Riley, but considered she was being overly paranoid. She thanked the lady and proceeded down the carriageway.

  It certainly was a distance and she had no idea the train was so long. Abigail was walking back from the bathroom through the third carriage when she had the sensation she was being watched. She spun around and saw someone duck out of sight.

  What was she to do? There were not many people on the train and what protection would they be against an armed Vortex agent anyway? Abigail fought to control the panic threatening to overwhelm her.

  The person was between her and Riley. At that time of night, the train was all but deserted. Should she sit on the seat next to the only people in that carriage, an elderly couple, and hope the Vortex agent wouldn’t come looking for her?

  Her heart was beating out of her chest. Abigail inched forward. A tall man with blond hair walked toward her. He was staring at her, but when she looked him in the eye, he looked away. Abigail looked around. Should she run away from him and maybe lock herself in the bathroom?

  No, she didn’t want to be trapped. She sat in a vacant seat and trembled. When the man approached, he hesitated ever so slightly, looked at her and then continued on his way. Abigail jumped up and walked quickly down the corridor.

  Her breath was coming in short bursts. She picked up speed and then at once collided with a man.

  “I’m sorry,” the man said, although his tone was ice cold.

  Abigail looked into his face and was certain she was looking into the eyes of a cold-blooded killer. She knew it wasn’t logical to feel that way, but somehow she just knew. The man leered at her. She backed away from him and then strode down the corridor in the direction of Riley, watching out more carefully this time.

  When she reached her carriage, Riley was already standing up. “I was just about to go looking for you,” he said.

  Abigail at once sat on the seat. Riley turned to her. “You’re trembling.”

  She relayed everything that had happened in hushed tones.

  Riley stood. “Stay here.”

  He took two strides to sit between Thatcher and Ellis. He spoke to them quietly at and it was obvious to Abigail he was telling them everything that happened. When he returned to his seat, he said, “They’re going to look.”

  The train suddenly lurched and the lights went out. Abigail clutched Reilly’s arm in fear.

  Thatcher was already standing. “I’ll go and see what’s going on.”

  “It could be an attempt to get Abigail,” Riley said. “I’ll have to stay with her.”

  Ellis and Thatcher hurried away in opposite directions.

  Abigail was concerned. She was certain it wasn’t simply a fault with the train, not with Vortex agents around. But what were they planning?

  Abigail was already sitting close to a wall and Riley shuffled closer to her. She saw he was on full alert.

  His phone rang and Riley answered it at once. He grunted a few times and then hung up. Turning to Abigail, he said, “That was Ellis. He said someone has fallen out of the train.”

  Abigail’s hand flew to her throat. “Are they all right?” Even as she said the words, she knew the answer.

  Riley shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

  “You think it has anything to do with… you know who?” she asked in hushed tones.

  Riley nodded. “I doubt it’s a coincidence.”

  Abigail clutched his arm.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

  Despite the predicament she was in, Abigail believed Riley. Still, she couldn’t help but be afraid.

  Ellis returned. “Any updates?” Riley asked him.

  “No. Where’s Thatcher?”

  “He hasn’t come back yet.”

  “I’ll go and look for him,” Ellis said over his shoulder as he walked in the other direction.

  Abigail steeled herself in case a Vortex agent suddenly appeared on the scene. She sat, tense, for a full five minutes until Riley’s phone rang again.

  Riley simply grunted in the phone again before hanging up and turning to Abigail. “Thatcher is missing.”

  “What? Missing from the train?” Abigail could scarcely believe her ears.

  Ellis came back at that point. “I’ve searched the whole train. He’s definitely nowhere to be seen. Should we all get off the train and look for him? I don’t know how long they’ll hold the train here with the body.”

  “This could be a trap to make us get off the train,” Riley said.

  Ellis nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

  “You get off the train and look for him. Meet us in Oxford at the Turl Street Kitchen restaurant as soon as you can. Keep me updated by phone. And Ellis, watch your back.”

  Ellis disappeared.

  “Thank goodness nobody knows the name of your professor,” Riley whispered to Abigail.

  “Do you think this is all because of him?”

  Riley shrugged one shoulder. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Vortex might have taken Thatcher to get that information out of him, but he doesn’t know.”

  Abigail’s scarcely dared ask. She didn’t want to know the answer. “Will they believe he doesn’t know?”

  Riley shook his head.

  Things were going from bad to worse.

  17

  OXFORD

  The Turl Street Kitchen was a restaurant right by the Bodleian Library. It was in a gorgeous Georgian building, although the farmhouse-style tables and bare floorboards afforded a more bucolic, cozy tone to the restaurant.

  Abigail desperately wanted to visit the Bodleian Library. Memories of her time spent there poring over leather-bound volumes in the Duke Humfrey’s Reading Room filled her heart with warmth, but Jason’s murder now shaded her golden memories of the Bodleian.

  Abigail, not for the first time, wished she could have visited under different circumstances. She was certainly on a wild ride. Only a few days ago, she had no idea she would be on another mission so soon. She had been entirely consumed with her paper for the upcoming conference. The organization of the conference had been out of her hands due to the concerted and somewhat underhanded efforts of Harvey Hamilton. That had turned out to be a blessing, given that she was now on the other side of the world.

  Abigail was concerned for her neighbor, Mary Yoder. Mary would worry about her unannounced absence, although she’d had the foresight to warn Mary she might disappear without warning from time to time. “For work,” she had said. Mary had looked puzzled at the time but was far too polite to push the matter. An Amish lady, Mary ran a Bed and Breakfast with her husband, Eli, and rented Abigail the cottage behind the main building. Thankfully, Abigail’s cottage had electricity and Internet as the bishop had long ago granted the Yoders permission to connect both due to the nature of their business.

  She sighed, envious of the Amish for a moment, their simple ways, their peaceful yet hardworking way of life.

  Abigail pulled her coat around her and forced herself to study the menu. “The haddock fish fingers, chips, and pea puree and tartar sauce look good.”

  “I don’t like fish.” Riley turned up his nose. “I don’t think I’ll try this haddock stuff.”

  Abigail scooped the menu out of Riley’s hand. “What about the beetroot, courgette—I think that’s a zucchini?—and goats cheese tart with mixed leaf salad?”

  Thankfully, they had arrived at Turl Street Kitchen without further incident. Ellis had called to say he had found Thatcher and they were on their way. He didn’t give any details.

  Before they ordered, Ellis and Thatcher turned up. Thatcher looked the worse for wear.

  “What happened?” Riley asked him.

  Thatcher sat down heavily and put one hand to his head. “I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t remember a thing. They hit me over the head pretty hard, I guess.”

  Ellis looked exhausted. “I found him wandering around near the train. They must have pushed him out of the train.”

  Thatcher’s smile was rueful. “Luckily for me the train was standing still when they did.”

  “And lucky we avoided police attention,” Thacker added. He stopped speaking when a waiter approached their tables.

  Riley ordered the soup of the day with freshly baked bread and butter for his entree, and Abigail ordered the same.

  Ellis appeared displeased. “That’s a thing, you know.”

  Both Abigail and Riley looked up. “What is?” they said in unison.

  Ellis narrowed his eyes. “Mirroring. It makes the person you are mirroring feel accepted and it forms a bond with them. Maybe, Abigail, you figured if you mimicked Riley’s order, then he’d like you a little more.”

  Abigail’s jaw dropped open. Riley merely grunted. His stealing a hunk of her bread saved her from thinking up a response.

  Thatcher shot her a sympathetic look.

  For the main course, Abigail selected the haddock, while Riley had the breast of chicken, new potatoes, green beans, olive salad with herb dressing. Abigail strategically chose the fish knowing Riley didn’t like it, so she wouldn’t have to suffer any more of Ellis’s snide remarks. She thought about ordering a glass of chilled Pinot Noir, but she couldn’t bare sitting across from Ellis as he scowled at her choice of beverage. She ordered a ginger beer.