The Hunt for Power

Chapter 5

"Get them!" Andromache screamed at her men as they entered the hotel. "Bring them to me alive!" They had to work quickly as Fletcher was a noted professor in London and known to the art history community.  It wouldn't look good for Greco-American relations if he was gunned down in public by the daughter of a prominent Greek family. And her German last name didn't help matters either. Such a touchy time in the world now.

Her hired men thundered through the lobby and headed to the rooms on the left. She knew from her conversation with the hotel manager earlier that they were occupied by some of Fletcher's party, but didn't know which ones. As they broke open the door they saw three men and a woman leave from the opposite side of the hotel. They were running with their heads down but she instantly identified Fletcher and the el-Kahir brothers. She didn't know the woman, probably some floozy Fletcher had picked up.

"Malakas! Over there, you simpletons! They're getting away!" She pushed her men out of the room and after the fleeing quartet. She knew they wouldn't get far, not after what she had done outside.

"Rex, I think they're onto us," Ramses laughed as they ran. He and Zidan had been enjoying a nightcap in their room when they heard the trucks roar up to the hotel. After grabbing a few essentials, they hurried over to Rex's room. Ramses was surprised, well not that surprised, to find a woman in Rex's room. He thought it was the Papadopolous woman, but for some reason, Rex kept calling her Alexandrou instead. Ramses was curious, but more interested in running at the moment to worry about names. "Where should we go?" he asked as they left the hotel.

"The jeep is just up here," Zidan said and rounded the corner before skidding to a stop. There in front of them, their jeep was blazing from the fire set inside of it. "They burned it," he said with astonishment. "How could they? Where did they even get the idea?" The irony was lost on Zidan in his despair.

"Keep moving boys. My ride is just ahead," Calliope passed them and headed down an alley toward a vague shape in the dark.  As they got closer, all the men could tell was that it was a lump under a tarp. Without slowing, Calliope pulled off the canvas tarp and revealed a rusted and pitted Hudson Utility Coupe. At one time it might have been a fine-looking car, but it was obvious that Calliope had purchased it third, or maybe even fourth-hand, and had been using it on her excavations. It was an indiscriminate color due to the layers of dirt and dust caked on it and was covered in more dents and dings than the moon. Rex saw the special sliding steel box in the trunk, the hallmark of the Utility Coupe, was a jumble of picks, trowels, and brushes.

"Get in!" Calliope shouted as she stowed the tarp in the trunk. She jumped behind the wheel and started cranking the engine.

"This heap better start moving," Rex said as he got in beside her. Zidan and Ramses squeezed into the back while giving the car apprehensive looks. They were dubious about the woman and the car, but knew their options were limited at this point.

"Zidan, did you grab your gun?" Rex asked as he propped his cane up next to him. He would keep it handy for close encounters, but was hoping he wouldn't need it.

"Yes, my friend," Zidan replied with a smile. He tried to roll down his window, but the handle broke off on the first twist. He looked at Calliope with exasperation.

"What?!" She countered as she continued to alternate between goosing the gas pedal and turning the key, hoping not to flood the engine. She could tell they were less than impressed by her car. "She's not pretty, but she's all we have."

"Here," Rex said. "Give it to me." His door didn't even have a window so there was one obstacle out of the way. Opening the cylinder of the revolver he saw there were only three bullets. The rest must have been left back in Zidan's room. More good luck, he thought. Better make them count.