The Robber Princess

Chapter 11. The Masterful

Chapter 11

With their fake Swiss passports, Regina and Angelica had no trouble crossing back into Estonia under the noses of the Russian border patrol. As Regina sped past Narva and toward Tallinn, she began to muse out loud.

"I have to give credit where credit is due. I'm impressed that Baron von Brickelstein's people found us so quickly."

Angelica was still a little shaken up. "I still can't believe what I did to that man. Poor Franz! I remember him from the ball and he seemed so sweet. I could have ..." She could not bring herself to finish the sentence out loud.

"Oh, I'm sure he's all right, and tougher than you think. I've been to Mischa's before, and he has two enormous bodyguards. There is no way Franz could have gotten into his house without those two coming after him. He must have subdued them somehow, otherwise he could never have gotten the better of Mischa like he did."

Angelica smirked a little. "If you say so."

"Ange, we're being chased by two of the finest police officers in the world. Up to now, we've been very lucky. We must find a better way to disguise ourselves-not to mention a better place to hide."

"You have an idea?"

Regina fiddled with the Eidelstein necklace under her clothes. "I think we have to go and pay our respects to The Masterful."

"Who??"

"His name is Magnús but none of us knows his last name. We call him The Masterful. He lives in a remote part of Iceland."

"Is he a Marcelista? I don't remember meeting anyone from Iceland at Marcelo's party."

"No, he's an independent contractor and very, very private. Only a few of us even know about him, and Magnús prefers it that way. Magnús is our problem solver. Whenever we have a technical problem, we go to The Masterful and he solves it-for a price. Mainly he likes jewelry."

"You're not thinking of giving him the Eidelstein??" exclaimed Angelica.

"Oh no, I was thinking of this." Regina pulled out of her pocket the diamond bracelet she had taken from Mischa. "Yes, this will do nicely."

Angelica was excited. "I've never been to Iceland."

"If you love nature then you'll love Iceland, but you may not care much for Magnús. I've met him only twice-Marcelo introduced me-and he is one of the strangest people I've ever met."

"In what way?"

"He hates people; he lives completely alone in the central highlands-inside a volcano, no less. It's one of the most inhospitable places on earth. No roads-you have to fly in. And it suits him because he's so anti-social."

"Then why go to see him?"

"Because right now, we need his help. I can't say that I'm looking forward to this."

Regina was too tired for another flight so they overnighted in Tallinn. The next morning, after completing their formalities with Estonian passport control-under their fake Swiss identities, of course-they were off to Iceland. They landed at Akureyri airport-the nearest international airport to their destination.

"Geneva, eh? So, what brings you to Akureyri?" asked the passport control agent casually.

"We're surveying a property in the highlands for an investor," replied Regina. The satisfied agent stamped their passports.

Moments later they were airborne again and a half-hour after that they approached a tiny landing strip in the Dyngjufjöll mountains. A giant, round lake gleamed in the distance like a sapphire set in white gold. Angelica stared wide-eyed at it, mesmerized by the stark beauty of the remote landscape.