Austin compressed his lips in a tight smile. He didn’t want to scare Carina, but she needed to be aware that she had a bull’s-eye painted on her back.

“Our friend Buck said that you were a kidnapping target. The people he worked for have a long reach. We saw that in Turkey.”

Carina tilted her stubborn chin up at an imperious angle. “I’m not going to let anyone make me spend the rest of my days hiding in a closet.”

“Don’t blame you. I’d like to offer a compromise,” Austin said. “Stay at the boathouse tonight. I’ll prepare a sumptuous dinner of Thai takeout. Sleep off your jet lag and get a good start in the morning.”

“I’d like that,” Carina said without hesitation.

The pilot announced that the plane was making its approach to DullesAirport and would be on the ground in fifteen minutes. Austin glanced across the aisle. Zavala looked like a dead man sleeping. He could fall asleep on a bed of nails and be up at a moment’s notice, ready to spring into action.

Austin removed the cell phone from Zavala’s jacket and put in a call to the Trouts. Paul answered. Austin said he was back from Turkey and asked if he and Gamay had received the Jefferson file.

“We’ve read it,” Paul said. “We’ve got a good rendering of a ship of Tarshish, but need more information to plot a course. But you need to know something, Kurt: We followed a lead to the American Philosophical Society and stumbled into a real snake pit.”

“I have a problem imagining that venerable institution of learning as a nest of vipers.”

“Times have changed. Shortly after we visited the library, a librarian was killed. Her assistant would have met a similar fate if Gamay and I hadn’t showed up and chased the killer away.”

“Did you get a look at him?”

“Yeah. Big guy, with a baby face and round blue eyes.”

“I’ve met the gentleman. Is the assistant okay?”

“Still a bit shaky. We persuaded her to get out of Philadelphia after the police finished interviewing her. She wanted to stop by her apartment. We insisted that she come directly to Georgetown. Gamay loaned her some clothes that fit, more or less.”

“I’d like to meet her. How about seven o’clock tomorrow?”

“We’ll bring the doughnuts and coffee. You haven’t told me about your trip to Istanbul.”

“Turkey has a snake infestation problem too. See you in the morning.”

The thump of the plane’s landing gear on the tarmac woke Zavala up from his sound sleep. He looked out the window. “Home so soon?”

Austin handed the cell phone back. “You dreamed your way across the Atlantic.”

Zavala puffed out his cheeks. “I was having nightmares about eunuchs, thanks to you.”