Counterpoint (27 page)

The facts fitted perfectly in Geoff’s
mind; it was music to his ears. On the other hand, she was special;
she was different from any other girl he knew. Stunningly
attractive, very intelligent, he accepted nothing less. Above all,
her feisty personality contrasted with deep, loving warmth that
often shone from her, otherwise, bright sapphire blue eyes.

“Damn, ” he thought to himself “I
hadn’t planned on having feelings for this girl; it could get far
too complicated. How could he dupe her into giving information
about where the statuette would be, steal it from her twin sister,
perhaps even have to kill the sister for it, then pack in this
murky occupation of murder and intrigue to set up home with
her?”

Her sobbing abated as her clinging grip
around his neck relaxed as he comforted her. She eased back
slightly to look at his face and deep into his eyes. Liking what
she saw she wiped her eyes and nose with her hand, and kissed him
for all she was worth. He felt her emotion turn to passion, and he
was not about to stop her. She pressed her body, hard against his,
pulling frantically, but ineffectually at his clothes. Without
interrupting the urgent kissing and fondling, he scooped her up in
his arms and carried her to the bed. They pulled off each other’s
clothes without coming up for air, and made love. She was beyond
foreplay. She was wet, hot, and desperate. In a delirious world of
her own, she moved her body selfishly, to whatever position or
speed she needed for maximum pleasure. For the first time in her
active sexual life, she experienced what seemed to be an endless
series of orgasms. Her cries of ecstasy changed to sobs of relief
as the exquisite sensations swept through her lithe body. Amy
interpreted Geoff’s quiet caressing as his way of expressing his
love for her, gentle and caring, just what she had always looked
for in a man.

He wrestled with his conscience and
tried to plan his next move. He had always succeeded with the tasks
his employers asked of him, his reputation was based on it. How
could he walk away from this straightforward task and go into
retirement?

No! He had to go on with it and sort
out the pieces later.

“Why do you have to go with your
sister?” Asked Geoff.

“Because I am too scared to stay on my
own,” she murmured. “Anyway, I must make sure my sister goes
through with the return of this statuette.”

“Why?” Asked Geoff, “Is it so
valuable?”

“Yes, I believe it is, but that’s not
the point.”

“Max, her fella, brought it back from
the jungle for her. It is his present, his token of love for her,
which is what makes it so valuable to Carla. She loves the old
thing to bits, I can’t think why.”

“What the old man?”

“No silly, the old statuette!” They
both chuckled at the joke.

Her conscience pricked for an instant,
when she remembered how she had envied Carla, and contemplated
luring Max into her own clutches.

“It will hurt her more than words can
say, to give his gift away.”

“She sounds quite a girl,” said
Geoff.

“Well, we are identical twins, so, yes,
she must be!” Amy chuckled.

“So where are you going exactly?”
Pressed Geoff.

“I shouldn’t say really, but I know I
can trust you; Cairo!” Amy also mentioned the hotel they
booked.

“Can I come too?” Asked Geoff.

Amy thought for a minute and said,
“Well! It is a free country, you can go where you like. Whilst they
are on their own business, I can be with you, they need never
know.”

“Okay then, ” agreed Geoff, “Give me
all the details and I will sort out a booking. When you know more
about handing over of the statuette, I will look after you.”

She felt better knowing Geoff would be
around, even though he would not get to meet Max and Carla
there.

Whilst Amy was away with Geoff, a phone
call from Max to Philippe set up a meeting in Cairo. Max decided it
was best for him to speak, bearing in mind Carla’s feelings towards
the man.

The conversation was frank and
business-like. Max made it clear they were only prepared to give
him the statuette if he agreed to leave him and the girls alone. He
agreed, provided Carla returned his briefcase and all its contents,
as well. Max was not aware of the briefcase and told Philippe that,
but said he would speak to Carla about it.

Carla was listening to the
conversation, nodding to Max, her agreement to return it.

Philippe wanted to know why he had to
go to Cairo for it and why they needed to be there.

Max simply replied. “That is where the
statuette is, and we want to make sure there are no mistakes, in
the handover.”

Philippe accepted the answer and
mentally analysed the potential traps they were going to set for
him. He knew from bitter experience, Carla was no fool; she hated
him for shooting the Duke. Philippe was still convinced the Duke
was actually dead even though he had, apparently, spoken to him
since. He also believed she knew he was her father, and that he had
probably murdered her mother, Lana.

She had many of his qualities and his
blood flowed in her veins. No one else had ever thwarted him; she
had done so, many times, and was still a threat. She had killed
three of his experience men in the Mercedes single-handed and
initially unarmed at that, so she was not to be underestimated.

Max had his own axe to grind. Being
shot in the face does tend to make enemies, and the old fool did
kill some of his men, and caused his helicopter to crash, in the
jungle. Max also found the statuette when everyone else had no clue
where it was; perhaps he should not underestimate him either.

Philippe started making his plans to
counter any trap they might devise.

Max, Carla, and Amy arrived at the
Kempinski Hotel in Cairo.

Max and Carla went down to the hotel
bar, without Amy, and discussed possible scenarios that might play
out at the handover. Max reckoned Philippe had always intended to
keep the statuette for himself, and was not acquiring it for
someone. Philippe was not in that type of business. In that case,
he would take it straight back to Southern Italy, where he lived.
The last flights from Cairo to Italy were in the late afternoon. If
Philippe had planned to trick them somehow, the longer he stayed in
Egypt, the better chance they had of catching up with him. They
decided to make the handover about the time of the last flight of
the day.

Max also decided to replace the tracker
battery in the statuette box, and if necessary, keep track of where
it might end up.

The handover needed to be in a public
place, so there was less chance of being attacked, or ambushed.
Philippe probably had a team of men out looking for Max and Carla,
so they probably knew where they were staying, already. They might
as well use their own hotel.

Max reasoned, Philippe would take the
statuette and brief case, obviously, but what reason, apart from
absolute hatred, would he have to kill them once he had those. If
they were safe in the hotel, Philippe would have to set up an
attack another time. Max and Carla both thought Philippe would just
take what he came for, and go, as soon as he could.

Carla suggested they should look at the
problem from Philippe’s point of view. What would he do to prevent
them double crossing, and killing him?

He would check the statuette and
briefcase on handover. He would assume he would be followed, and
killed, in some dark alley. To prevent that, he would use his men
to thwart any attempt to follow him. Staying in the hotel was still
their safest bet.

Max went out to do a bit of shopping to
buy a receiver for a wireless microphone working on the 864MHz band
and a new mobile phone battery.

Carla went to see Amy and explained she
must stay in the hotel until after 3pm that afternoon, while she
handed over the statuette to Philippe, downstairs in the lobby.
Carla did not want Amy ending up as some sort of pawn in the game.
She also told Amy that she believed Philippe would stick to the
agreement. Amy, on the other hand, wanted to see Geoff, who had
booked in at a nearby hotel.

Amy waited for Carla to leave the room,
and called Geoff to say she was on her way over to him. He wanted
to know what the arrangements were for handing over the statuette
so he could look after her, and keep an eye on things. She told him
all she knew.

Amy was really getting to Geoff now,
and he was wondering how he could make this conflict of interest
work.

Carla phoned Philippe and told him to
meet her there, in the hotel lobby at 3pm. She didn’t want trouble,
but if he made any, she bluffed, her people would deal with
him.

He readily accepted the venue and lied
when he told her, he would be there alone.

Philippe organised his men to watch the
place to see if any traps were being set up and to look out for the
delivery of the statuette. Soon after, he received a phone call to
say Carla or her sister had just come out of the hotel. He told
them to grab the girl and bring her to him at a disused warehouse,
where he planned to kill Max and Carla after the handover.

Geoff Collins left his hotel to check
Amy was not being followed. He was not the sort to take any
unnecessary chances. He was on the other side of the road looking
out of a doorway when he saw Amy in the distance. She was moving
quickly along the crowded street. Two men were closing up behind
her, just as a large white Mercedes saloon pulled up alongside. The
men bundled her in the car and drove off. Collins recognised the
men from an earlier incident when they tried to attack Amy, on
David’s yacht, in Malé.

There was nothing he could do about it,
so he made a phone call to some men he had met the previous night,
they were more vital to his plan than he previously intended. He
explained they were to wait outside the Kempinski Hotel, and when
his target came out at about 3pm, follow him wherever he went, but
not to reveal themselves under any circumstances. They had taken a
girl prisoner, she was important to him. Collins would describe
Philippe, the target, to them when he came out of the hotel.

Max and Carla sat at a large table,
near the edge of the hotel lobby. Carla watched the people coming
and going from the entrance and Max watched people inside. They
were prepared for a surprise attack; forced out at gunpoint into a
waiting car.

Just before 3pm, Philippe walked in and
sat down between them. He reached for the wooden box containing the
statuette and pulled it towards him, raised the lid and peered
intently at the glittering figure. Satisfied it was genuine; he
grabbed his briefcase and examined the outside and then the lock
settings. Carla had not opened it, and he was satisfied it had not
been tampered with. He unlocked it and rummaged about checking the
contents. He counted the bundle of DVDs and then sifted through
various documents. He closed the lid and locked it.

He reached into his pocket and pulled
out a small electronic device, then adjusted some controls. The red
light on the front flashed dimly and intermittently as a meter
needle barely kicked, in sympathy with any signal. He was checking
for radio transmissions from a bug or tracker, but detected only
random static.

Max counted to twenty in his head as
the light flashed at its brightest, it glimmered again but no
needle movement. Philippe replaced the device in his pocket and
spoke for the first time.

You appear to have kept your part of
the deal, so far, and to make sure it stays that way; my men have
your sister somewhere secure. I will call you later, on the hotel
phone, and tell you where you can find her.

Max and Carla stiffened; they had not
anticipated that, how had Philippe snatched her? Carla immediately
called Amy on her mobile number, but got no reply.

“Satisfied we have her, are you?”
Philippe sneered.

“Don’t attempt to follow me, or try and
kill me, or she will die,” he added as he got up from the table. He
beckoned at the hotel entrance, to one of his men to carry the box,
and walked out with what he came for. Philippe intended to phone as
promised, but would then kill them all, when they came to get Amy.
Moments later, a white Mercedes pulled up to him, and they drove
off.

Geoff Collins pointed Philippe out to
his waiting men and they followed on motorbikes, blending in with
thousands of similar riders in Cairo.

The slow traffic in the city allowed
Collins men to get ahead as well as follow the white car,
constantly swapping places in the convoy. Philippe saw no evidence
of being followed, so he went straight back to his hotel.

Max watched the white car disappear in
the distant traffic and then went back to his room to get the
receiver. He then went to a public area at the top of the hotel so
he could listen for the blip every 20 seconds. Knowing the general
direction of travel, Max soon found the signal and noticed it was
not deviating from the current bearing, perhaps the box was no
longer moving.

Philippe would be staying in a hotel of
quality, they both were certain of that; the possibility was remote
that he had friends to stay with in this region. Max looked at the
map on the hotel computer and identified several possible
locations, based on the bearing of the signal and likely travel
time until it became fixed.

Carla called a taxi, then they set off
to sniff out a cross bearing.

There were two possible choices, so
they paid the taxi man to take the aerial back to the hotel. The
large curved mesh contraption was not something you could walk down
a crowded street with. Even the taxi man was curious about it.