The Lost Key (A Brit in the FBI 2)

Mike and Sophie nodded. Mike watched him shoulder the backpack. The shouting grew closer. Commander Dendritte burst into the room with several cops on her heels.

She took in the scene, eyes wide when they landed on Havelock, and then she reholstered her weapon, and said, “C’est fini, non?”

Nicholas nodded. “Oui. C’est fini.”

90

Paris

6:00 a.m.

The Paris dawn was bright and fresh, a new day beginning. The people of the city were waking up and preparing for their day completely unaware of the battle that had raged beneath their streets overnight.

Sophie was tended to, Adam had been rescued and brought to them, Elise arrested. They did a quick debrief with Commander Dendritte. When Mike’s stomach growled loudly, the commander grinned and suggested they eat something while she started on the mountain of paperwork.

Over freshly baked croissants and hot café au lait, they talked. When Nicholas told Adam that not only Havelock was dead, but also März, Adam whooped and gave Nicholas a high five.

Then Sophie and Adam talked about Ansonia and Josef and their son Leo. Sophie said, “I even owe my affinity for languages to Ansonia.”

Mike raised her cup. “Here’s to the direct descendants of the Rothschilds.”

Sophie raised hers as well. “Now Adam and I will do our share so there will be more descendants for the next hundred years. May Ansonia and Josef never be forgotten.”

They clicked cups. Mike looked back and forth between brother and sister. “Amazing. All of it is absolutely amazing.”

Adam said, “You’re pretty amazing, sis. Look at you, you destroyed Havelock. You saved the Order. Not to mention the world.” He paused for a moment. “I wish I could have seen him.”

“I’m glad you didn’t, Adam. He looked like a monster out of a horror movie.”

Adam looked over his shoulder, then leaned close across the table and whispered, “Did you get the weapon?”

Sophie didn’t say a word.

Nicholas fiddled with his spoon a moment, reached over and wiped a spot of foam from Mike’s chin. “You needn’t ever worry about the weapon again, Adam. It’s been taken care of. Something that powerful, that deadly, no person, no government should ever have control of it. I’ve destroyed Curie’s notebook and Havelock’s files.”

Mike said, “For now, Havelock’s company’s been closed down. All the technology he’s discovered—it needs someone who isn’t mad as a hatter to guide it properly, to see it’s used for good.”

Sophie said, “We can only pray there’s not another mad genius like Havelock to resurrect it all again.”

Mike thanked the good Lord above Dendritte hadn’t known what Havelock had been after in Curie’s lab. If she’d known about the MNW, there’d have been hell to pay. She could hear the howls from French government loud in her head.

Nicholas said, “I identified the man from Havelock’s files, code name Mr. Z. He was Mr. Stanford’s secretary, Trevor Wetherby, and he was the one who killed him. He was working for Weston, of course. Word leaked late last night that the inquest found Stanford’s death was murder. As you can imagine, the media is having a field day with this. Who knows where it will head?”

Sophie asked, “What happens to Adam?”

Nicholas sat back in his chair, his hands steepled in front of him. “I suppose it depends on Adam.”

Nineteen, and the kid was already surpassing Nicholas’s own skills. It felt strange, he had to admit.

“I’m willing to do whatever you want, sir.”

“Are you? You’re willing to go to jail? Because that’s where you belong.”

Adam’s face fell. Mike kicked Nicholas in the ankle under the table. “Quit torturing him, it’s not nice.”

Nicholas said, “All right, so we’ll make a deal. But Adam, there will be some jail time, no way around that. You’ve hacked too many sensitive agencies, stepped on a lot of very big toes, thumbed your nose at too many important people. But if you’re willing to work with me, to tell me everything you’ve done, and how you did it—we may be able to get your jail time reduced.”

Adam looked appalled. “Are you saying I’d have to work for the Man?”