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truth.
ANNJA WOKE thinking that her travel alarm went off. Her hand shot out and
silenced it only to discover it was 10:37 p.m. She d set the alarm for
midnight, hoping to get an early start tracking down the museum curator in
Istanbul.
Then she became aware of voices in the outer room of the hotel suite.
She d left Charlie there watching movies after they d had room service
delivered. That had been the first time either of them had eaten since dinner
the previous night. Once the meal had been finished, she hadn t been able to
keep her eyes open.
Charlie had told her to go to bed, that he d slept enough the previous night,
thanks to the drugs. He d settled into the plush couch with a banana split,
and Annja went to bed.
But someone was with Charlie now.
Annja didn t know who it was, but she couldn t imagine anyone who would be
there who would have their well-being in mind. She listened for a moment, but
she only heard Charlie speaking.
The battle at Roncevaux Pass was the worst of it, Charlie was saying. I
fought at Roland s side at that one. But as much as we wanted to triumph, the
Basques wanted it more. I d never seen Roland so crushed in defeat. It took
him a long time to get over that.
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I brought the army in across Vasconia, Charlie went on.
Charlemagne, Annja remembered, the king of the Franks, had been in charge of
that army. Charlie, whoever he truly was, knew his history.
Quietly, without making a sound, Annja rose from the bed. She wore only a
football jersey and had her hair pulled back out of her face. She reached into
the otherwhere and pulled the sword to her as she walked to the door. Her
senses fired to full life and her blood sang in her veins.
33
Garin caught sight of Annja as she edged up to the door. Her eyes met his,
then recognition and maybe a little irritation flared. She regarded him with
undisguised wariness. Then, as she stepped into the room with the sword in her
fist, he also noted the football jersey was short and her legs were long and
supple.
Although he didn t think it was going to work, Garin tried a smile. Hello,
Annja.
How did you find me? she demanded. She kept her distance with her sword at
the ready. Her stance was automatic, bladed so the sword could easily come
between them.
Garin remained seated on the couch with the old man who had introduced himself
as Charlie. The old man s presence had been a complete surprise. When he d
knocked, Garin hadn t expected to find Annja. The man wore baggy gray pants, a
dark blue golf shirt and loafers. He looked like someone s great uncle. Except
for the hint of insanity in his eyes and the hospital band still around one
wrist.
She referred to the fact that she wasn t signed in at the hotel under her
name.
I tried your loft first, Garin answered. I let myself in and saw that you d
packed. I also noticed that someone had broken in, by the way. It was a
professional job. Very good.
Burglars? Is my loft
Everything is fine, Garin told her. This was a professional job. Nothing
was out of place. But I could tell someone had been there.
Annja didn t look relieved.
I had one of my people check to see if your passport had been used. It
hadn t. So I checked around your neighborhood you re quite popular, you
know and found out about the attack in the restaurant. I knew you d go into
hiding. Since you haven t used your credit cards or hit any kind of financial
records, I knew you probably hadn t left the city.
Annja held up her hand. Enough with the Veronica Mars summary.
Who? The name was lost on Garin.
Never mind. You checked around and figured that I hadn t left the city. How
did you know I was here?
Garin smiled. You don t have a whole lot of friends capable of hiding you,
Annja. I knew you wouldn t stay with friends for fear of endangering them.
Especially after the attack at the restaurant. So you had to have money, and
someone s ID, to vanish. Whoever it was had to have money and be able to
protect himself. He held up three fingers. That left three people that I
know of that you would know and would perhaps ask a favor of. Roux. Myself.
And Stanley Younts. It took me only a few minutes to find out Younts was
registered in the city, but when I called him, he was at home.
I could have left the city for a job, Annja said.
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