Kitsune frowned as she touched her fingertips to the woman’s face.
Nicholas said, “Do you recognize her?”
“Yes, from somewhere, maybe a long time ago. It’s going to take some thought for me to remember. But that name—Lilith—unusual name and
it’s familiar.”
Mike hugged Adam, kissed him full on the mouth. “I’m so glad I talked Nicholas into bringing you on board.”
“Wow! Wait, wait—” There was another ding from his computer. “Hey, look at this, guys, I’ve got another hit. Kitsune, I got footage and saw you flying over rooftops, and that made me see if I could find the guy chasing you. Yep, here he is, name’s Antonio Pazzi. He’s got a sheet, minor stuff mostly, lots of charges, but he seems to have a Teflon coating. He’s Venetian, and we should be able to find him here. The local cops will have him on their radar for sure. Unless he’s one of the dead shooters in the piazza. In which case, he’ll be even easier to find.”
The two grainy shots were passed around.
Kitsune stared down at Pazzi, looked over at Adam. She rose slowly, walked to him, and took his face between her hands. “You are remarkable. If I were not already married to the very best man in the whole world, I would marry you, young Adam.” And like Mike, she kissed him. “You’re a genius. Thank you.”
“I’m not going to kiss you,” Nicholas said.
“I will,” Louisa said. “But later. Maybe, depending on what you do for me.”
Adam was grinning from ear to ear. “Louisa, you’ve got a ways to go to beat Mike.”
“That’s why we pay Adam the big bucks.” Nicholas punched Adam on the arm.
Adam said, “Hey, is there any food? I’m starving, my brain’s starving.”
“You just ate.” Mike laughed. “Forgive me, I forgot. You’re still growing. There are potato chips in the minibar.” She turned back to Kitsune, pointed to the photo. “You’re sure this is the man you made the delivery to? The man who chased you, tried to kill you?”
Kitsune nodded. “He’s the one, all right. Antonio Pazzi. Adam, wait a moment. The blond woman at the Topkapi . . . oh yes, I remember her now. But it’s so hard to believe it could really be her.
“It was a long time ago, when I was very young. She was a bit younger than I, and I remember she had lots of dark brown hair, and she was pudgy, but then again, many kids are.”
“In Roslin, Scotland?”
“Yes. I’m surprised you remember that, Nicholas.”
Nicholas simply raised an eyebrow.
“Never mind, of course you remember. Lilith and I lived close to each other. She went to my school.” She frowned over the photo. “Maybe not, how can it be? This is simply too big of a coincidence.”
“Let me see what I can find out about her.” Adam dusted the potato chips from his hands, sat down, and started typing. “Bingo. Lilith Leigh Forrester-Clarke, age thirty-six, from Roslin, Scotland. Attended Cambridge, majored in archaeology—copied you in her studies, Kitsune. What’s this? She joined MI5, was with them for four years. Her current address is in London, and she works for the Genesis Group, headquartered in Rome.”
“What’s the Genesis Group?” Mike asked.
Kitsune still clutched both photos in her hands. “The Genesis Group is one of the leading archaeology firms in the world right now, very powerful, very wealthy. They fund digs all over the world.
“Yes, they are headquartered in Rome, but they got their start in London, more than a hundred years ago, under a man named Appleton Kohath. He founded the firm around the turn of the century and it’s been passed down through the generations, has always been run by family members. They are well regarded in the archaeology community.” She paused. “And now everything makes sense.”
Adam had the Genesis Group website up. He turned the computer around to show everyone the slick, well-designed page, then began to read from the About section.
He read, “The Genesis Group is the preeminent archaeology firm in the world, with an annual endowment of over a billion dollars.”
Kitsune said, “The accepted wisdom in the antiquities world is Appleton Kohath founded the Genesis Group to go after the Ark of the Covenant. And that’s how he got his start. He was a contemporary of Howard Carter of King Tut fame. Kohath was there, at the dig. And he was a part of every major dig thereafter during his lifetime. Again, most of them centered on discovering possible sites of the Ark of the Covenant. I read Kohath’s biography, written by Elizabeth St. Germaine, an English writer.”
Nicholas was shaking his head. “Elizabeth St. Germaine. Her family and mine have been friends forever. Elizabeth died quite suddenly a couple of weeks ago. It came as a shock to everyone.” He paused, then, “So, Kitsune, you think the search for the Ark continues, and you think the Kohaths running the Genesis Group today hired you to steal the staff of Moses. Why? Perhaps it would hold some clues to the location of the Ark?”
Kitsune shook her head. “No, if they indeed are the clients, I think they hired me to steal the staff of Moses because they wanted to know for certain it was a fake, then they would know the staff is still inside the Ark. Wherever it is.
“That’s another reason this is so puzzling. It was a professional job, one of dozens I’ve completed successfully over the years. I simply do not understand why they would risk trying to kill me. They want me dead so much they even kidnapped Grant to get to me? And look what it got them.” And she waved her hands around at the group.