The Romanov Ransom (Fargo Adventures 9)

Remi repeated his question in French.

He replied something unintelligible, then lifted his hand slightly as though directing them to wait. A few moments later, Lina walked in. About a head shorter than Remi, she wore a white sefsari. Sure enough, when she saw Karl and Brand, she looked toward the entry, searching for her cousin, her smile fading when she didn’t see him. “Zakaria’s not with you?”

“No,” Sam said. “Have you heard from him?”

“Yesterday. Just before he left with Mr. Kahrs on this expedition. He told me they’d be home today.” Her gaze landed on Karl and Brand. “Zakaria was very worried about you both. You’re okay, then?”

They nodded, Brand replying, “Yes.”

Sam stepped in before either of them could say a word. “Do you know anything about what Durin and Zakaria were working on together?”

She glanced at the Hoffler brothers, then back at Sam. “Only what Zakaria told me. That Durin was a friend of theirs. He was helping them search for an old plane from World War Two, I believe. Zakaria invited Durin to stay here on a couple of occasions because there were times he had to leave very early in the morning—to see his sister—and staying here was much more convenient . . .” She looked at each of them, in turn, before focusing on Sam again. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“Did either of them mention anything about a messenger bag? Or a courier bag?”

“No. Why?”

He realized then there was no way to avoid the truth or lessen the shock. Not if they wanted to get to the bottom of this. “Durin Kahrs is dead, and Zakaria was kidnapped.”

Her face turned pale, and her hand went to her throat. “I—I think I need to sit.” She sat on a bench near the fountain, taking a few moments to gather herself. “The police? You called them?”

“Not officially.”

“I don’t understand.”

Sam explained about Durin’s part and the warning not to call the police.

“Thank you. Not that our police aren’t trustworthy. But what if the kidnappers found out? They might kill him if they’re crossed.”

“Our thoughts exactly.”

“There must be something I can do to help?”

“Would you mind if I had a look in Zakaria’s room? And Durin’s when he stayed here?”

“Please.” She turned toward the door she’d come through. “Kadin?”

The man who’d let them in stepped out from the shadows of one of the arches. She spoke to him in Arabic and he nodded, indicating that Sam should follow.

Zakaria’s room was on the third floor. There wasn’t much to look at. A bed, a small table, and a wardrobe. It took less than five minutes to search the room, and nothing to show for it. Durin’s room was the same. Sam returned to the courtyard, where Remi and the others were sitting by the fountain.

Remi smiled at him. “Anything?”

“Unfortunately, no.” It occurred to him then that if Durin had conned Brand and Karl, he’d probably done the same to Zakaria, and even Lina. “I don’t suppose you know anything about Durin Kahrs?” he asked her.

She glanced at the Hoffler brothers. “Nothing, other than he visited a few times after he and my cousin began working together.” She gave a pained smile. “I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. He was always polite, but there was something about him that I didn’t care for.”

“Such as?”

“My only interaction with him while he stayed here was when Zakaria was present. To me, though, he always seemed too secretive. Especially after Karl and Brand thought they had possibly found the area where this plane might have crashed. Zakaria told me that Durin argued with them about it.”

This was news to Sam, and he turned to the boys. “What argument?”

Karl said, “About going out to the plane. We wanted to leave the very next day, but he wanted to go after he visited his sister.”

Brand nodded. “That’s when he told us she was dying of cancer. He just needed a couple of days to go see her, so we promised to wait.”

“Durin was with you when you thought you’d discovered the location of the plane?” Sam asked.