Chapter 34 #3
Gary frowned. “They’re staying in the same hotel, and yet Gerber takes the bag to a golf course, where the knights also go. And now they’re playing a round of golf? This makes no sense.”
Nathan wiped his lips with his napkin. “Again, I agree.” He glanced at his watch. “Gentlemen, there’s nothing you can do until we have more information. I don’t know how long they’ll be playing for, but….” He raised his voice. “Anyone of you play golf?”
“Kyle does,” Warren piped up, nudging the operative seated at his right.
“What do you want to know, sir?” Kyle asked.
“How long does it take to play a round of golf?”
“Nine holes or eighteen?”
Nathan snorted. “Hell, I don’t know.”
“Nine holes will take about two hours on average. If they’re playing eighteen holes, then―”
“Yeah, I get the picture. Thanks, Kyle.” He leaned back in his chair.
“Then let’s assume we have less than two hours before they make a move.
Sightseeing is out, gentlemen, but there’s a terrace where you can sit and gaze at the view, which is stunning, by the way.
Or there’s the pool. Just don’t leave the house.
” He stood. “I might even join you for coffee out there. I haven’t hit my caffeine level yet.
” Nathan nodded to the team, then walked away from the table toward the stairs.
Gary walked over to where Dan stood and stared at the landscape. “He’s right about the view.”
Dan let out a sigh. “It’s a little difficult to appreciate it at the moment.”
“What’s wrong?” Gary’s gut clenched.
“This whole business with the golf course. I get the feeling it’s important, but only because it makes no sense.” Dan forced a half smile. “Sucks to be me, right?”
Gary wished he could alleviate Dan’s anxiety, but he knew nothing would do that.
Except for getting closer to the truth.
1:45 p.m.
The jittery feeling in Dan’s belly just wouldn’t quit.
There’d been no update from Poppy since an hour ago, when they’d learned nine holes had morphed into eighteen, Gerber still had the tote bag with him, and in Wulf’s admittedly layman’s opinion, the knights couldn’t play for shit.
Dan didn’t want to make the most of the pool.
He didn’t want to sit beside it and gaze at the pretty view.
He wanted this nightmare to be over, preferably without the dispersal of the pathogen.
He wanted to be back in Boston with Gary.
Someone coughed, and he jerked his head in the direction of the sound. Nathan stood beside the patio sofa.
Dan straightened. “You have news?”
Nathan joined him. “Where’s Gary?”
“Taking a nap. And keeping out of the sun.” Dan bit his lip. “With his coloring, I totally get that.” Redheads and sunburn were a painful combination.
“And yes, I have news. The knights have left the golf course.”
“What about Gerber? Did he leave too?”
“No, he’s still there. And get this—there’s no sign of the tote bag.”
“So the knights have it? Or did he leave it someplace at the golf club?” Dan stilled. “Wait—scratch that. The knights are protecting the package, not him. That’s why they left. Maybe he doesn’t have it anymore.”
Nathan nodded. “We’ve been keeping an eye on flights out of Johannesburg, and guess what we found? Our Mr. Gerber is booked on an American Airlines flight back to Boston this evening.”
Dan blinked. “He didn’t intend staying long, did he?”
“And you’re right about one thing. Wulf got the security guards at the club to conduct a discreet search. No black bag.”
“Are you going to let him get on that plane?”
Nathan’s cool smile gave Dan his answer.
Dan sagged into the seat cushions. “So the knights are going to deploy it?”
“We don’t know that. To be honest, that seems unlikely.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s not how they work.”
Dan’s mind worked fast. “What if they’re here to protect someone else?”
Nathan stared at him. “A delivery boy? Or girl, for that matter.”
Dan nodded. “What’s been bothering me is why they went to all the trouble of going to the golf club. They could have gotten the bag at the hotel. And the only explanation I can come up with is… they met with someone else while they were there.”
Nathan froze. “Someone who needed to see what the bag looked like. Or even someone Gerber gave the bag to.” He pulled his phone from his pocket.
“Wulf, who is Gerber playing with?” He listened intently.
Then his face fell. “Okay. Stay on him. When he gets back to the hotel, grab him—again, discreetly—then take him to the consulate. We can talk to him there.”
“Well?” Dan didn’t like the look in Nathan’s eyes.
It spoke of disappointment.
“As soon as Knight Two left, Gerber started playing on his own.”
“But Poppy said before that they were playing with two others. Who were they?”
Nathan’s mouth was a grim line. “He has no idea. He tried to get a list of who was playing this morning but ran into a brick wall. Whoever was in that little group, it wasn’t booked. Wulf said it looked like a random, casual meeting, and they all decided to play together.”
That inner voice in Dan’s head was screaming at him.
“And what if it wasn’t random at all?”