Chapter 8
Decision
Marc Finestra hurried down the hallway until he reached Leo Elso’s office door. Without knocking first, he let himself in to find the man on the phone, leaning back in his plush leather chair, and with both feet propped on the expensive carved desk. Elso barely glanced at him as he continued with his conversation.
“Yes, yes. That shipment should clear customs by the end of the week. No problem. Yes, I understand your predicament, but you forget you work by my timeclock, got that? You’ll have the vases by the first of next week. Not Thursday, not Friday. Monday. Maybe Tuesday, but no later than that.” There was a silence while he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. By the muscle clenching and unclenching in the guy’s jaw, Finestra could tell the man was more than slightly agitated. He was close to being thoroughly pissed, and that would not bode well for the poor son of a bitch on the opposite end of the call.
“Listen, Travelle, you’ll get your shipment on Monday. Period. And if you don’t like the delivery date, fuck you. Go find your vases elsewhere.” This last was spoken in a very matter-of-fact tone of voice, as if Elso had just ordered a pizza to be delivered.
At the thought of a pizza, Finestra’s stomach growled. It had been a while since he’d last eaten, and way too long since his last cup of coffee.
Elso casually replaced the receiver in the cradle, then gave Finestra a curious look. Finestra held up the flash drive before tossing it to him. The man caught it, removed his feet from the desktop, and inserted the drive into his computer without asking any questions. Finestra knew he wouldn’t. Not until he checked out what was on the stick.
“You know my rule about interrupting me without my prior approval,” the man intoned softly as he opened the files. “I will only forgive it if it falls under one of three categories. If there’s a nuclear strike, the stock market is crashing, or it’s the zombie apocalypse. Which one is it, Marc?”
“They’ve found a kalorshai.”
Elso froze. His eyes shot back across the room where his associate casually stood with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for that reaction. Finestra tried not to smile. “Yeah, you heard me right the first time. Check folder number sixteen.”
Without waiting for the man to answer, he went over to stand behind Elso’s desk and watched as the man opened the jpeg files. His boss clicked on the first image, which filled the monitor’s screen.
Elso stared at it for several long seconds, then sat back again in his chair and brought a hand up to his cheek. “Where is it?”
“Word is it was delivered today to the Natural History Museum.”
“Who found it? Kelling?”
“Yes.”
“Outside of the Valley of the Kings?”
“Yes. At that spot where he’d gotten clearance to dig.”
Elso tapped his index finger against jaw. “Any word if they’ve discovered anything else?”
“Word is there may be more images, but the site’s been plagued with mishaps.”
Elso cast his eyes up at him, a smile half-hidden behind his hand. “Did we cause any of them?”
Finestra smiled but shook his head. “Not yet.” He waited a beat before continuing. “What’s your plan of action?”
“What plan of action?”
Finestra snorted. Elso always had a plan of action, but the man rarely referred to it in that manner. “When do you want us to…gain access to the seal? Want us to wait a bit?”
“Do we know exactly where it’s located at the museum?”
“In the offices in the basement.”
Another hard stare. “I said exactly.”
Finestra mentally shrugged off the sting. “It shouldn’t take much time to find out its exact location. I just need to know if you want us to recover it now or at a later date.”
Elso sat up in his chair and clicked on a few more pictures. Finestra knew what the man was thinking. Would it be more advantageous to go after the idol right after the staff had obtained it, when everything was still fresh and they were unguarded? Or should he wait until the museum staff had decided where to place it, and risk having it relocated to an area that was more secured? There were pros and cons to both scenarios. With the former, the kalorshai was still new and interesting, and therefore being scrutinized and studied intently. But the thought of it being confiscated would be the last thing on the museum’s mind, giving Elso the best chance of getting to it. With the latter, as the newness wore off and fewer people were inclined to examine it, there’s the possibility it could be hours, if not days or weeks, before a staffer discovered it missing. However, by that time it could have been placed in a vault or other location that would make obtaining it more difficult, if not impossible.
Finestra knew what he’d choose, and he had an inkling the boss would be similarly inclined.
“How soon can you have a crew ready?” the man inquired almost nonchalantly.
Finestra mentally pumped a fist. “Two hours, sir. With a little luck, I could have it on your desk in time for your morning coffee and chocolate cruller.”
Elso sighed and clicked out of pictures. Finestra watched as the man removed the flash drive and placed it to the side. Once the associate was out of the office, the boss man would lock it up in the safe he thought no one knew about behind the wet bar.
“See what you can do, Marc,” Elso said. He made no further eye contact, but continued staring at the blank monitor instead.
“Yes, sir.” Finestra resisted the urge to bow and hurried out of the office, closing the door firmly behind him. When he reached the elevators, he stopped and whipped out his cell phone to place one call. “The game is afoot,” he informed the person who answered. “I’ll meet you there in one hour.”