The Sacred Vault_ A Novel - Andy McDermott [89]
‘Yes. It will be a risk professionally - but I think the chance is worth taking.’ He smiled. ‘So what do you have in mind?’
Even on this December day, it was still over seventy degrees Fahrenheit. Eddie wound down the window of Kit’s non-air-conditioned car, but the pollution from the congested highway immediately encouraged him to put it back up. ‘Is traffic always this bad?’
‘Almost,’ said Kit as they crawled towards central Delhi. ‘But it’s worse than usual right now because of the preparations for the G20 summit. Several main roads have been closed.’
‘Politicians always have to inconvenience everybody else, don’t they?’
It took close to forty minutes to traverse the last mile of their journey, accompanied the entire way by a chorus of blaring horns and screeching brakes. As Kit had warned, closed streets forced them into a lengthy diversion before they reached the Orchard hotel, a mile from the central government district of Vijay Chowk. Someone was waiting for them in the lobby - but not, to Eddie’s relief, another of Khoil’s henchmen. ‘What kept you?’ asked Mac.
Eddie grinned and shook his hand. ‘Little problem at customs. How’d you get here so fast?’
‘I took the Metro. Less than a pound to get from the airport right into the centre of Delhi. I wish the Tube in London was that cheap.’ He regarded Kit. ‘And I thought you didn’t have any friends in India.’
Eddie made the introductions. ‘Kit’s been checking out the Khoils,’ he went on. ‘And he thinks he’s got something.’
‘Nothing definite,’ Kit said apologetically. ‘But enough to catch my interest regarding the art thefts. All I need is proof.’
‘We’ll get some for you,’ said Eddie. ‘Proof of kidnapping, too. And we’ve got the perfect bait. At least, I hope we have. Mac?’
‘Let’s find out.’ He went to the reception desk. ‘Do you have a package for me? The name’s McCrimmon, Jim McCrimmon.’
The receptionist tapped at her computer. ‘Yes, we do. I’ll bring it for you.’ She went into a back room, returning with a large and heavy cardboard box.
‘What is it?’ Kit asked.
‘What I’m wanted for,’ Eddie told him. As well as shipping labels for an overnight courier company, the box also bore a United Nations customs waiver and numerous Do Not X-Ray stickers arranged by Lola, allowing it to be transported without the usual checks - a trick Eddie had used before to get items that would otherwise raise a lot of questions into other countries. ‘That Codex thing - and also my new Wildey.’
Kit gave him a questioning look. ‘Your what?’
‘A gun. A big gun. Thought it might be handy.’
Mac shook his head. ‘You haven’t bought another of those ridiculous things, have you?’
Eddie snorted. ‘It’s a good gun, and anyone who makes jokes about me compensating for something can fuck right off. We’ve got other things to think about - like how we’re going to rescue Nina.’
They retreated to a quiet corner of the hotel bar. ‘Can’t you get them to make the exchange in Delhi rather than Bangalore?’ asked Kit, after Eddie explained the situation. ‘I can arrange backup more easily.’
‘Khoil demanded it,’ said Eddie. ‘Or rather, his wife did. Probably shouldn’t have said yes, but we’re stuck with it now.’
‘It does give him the home advantage,’ noted Mac. ‘Wherever we choose for the actual handover, he’ll be able to have his people in place beforehand.’
‘I wasn’t planning on giving him much advance warning. Ring him up, tell him to meet us at such and such a place in an hour. We can keep an eye on anyone who turns up.’ He looked at Kit. ‘But we’ve got to pick a place first. Do you know Bangalore?’
Kit nodded. ‘I go there quite often. There are a lot of new millionaires in Bangalore from all the technology companies . . . several of them have tried to build up art collections, without caring where the art came from.’
‘Do you know any local police?’ Mac asked.
‘Some, but they may not be willing to act against the Khoils without very solid evidence. But I can ask for help, at least.’
‘Great,’ said Eddie. ‘What about a place to make the exchange?