He had a red cut down one cheek where he had been hit by a stiletto boot. ‘How are you heeling?’ Eddie asked mockingly.

The Norwegian gave him a hostile stare, then signalled for his men to spread out and cover the chamber as he made his way down the inclined floor to the altar. He regarded the recess at its centre, then looked back at Nina. ‘Where is the key?’ The gun came up at her for emphasis.

‘I – I have it,’ Cheng said fearfully.

‘Give it to me.’ He stared past the trio to Imka and Vorster. ‘Where are the coffins?’

Both Nina and Cheng reacted with surprise. ‘How did you know about them?’ gasped the student.

The man did not answer. ‘Maybe they talked to the guy in the asylum,’ said Eddie.

‘No, they couldn’t have!’ Cheng insisted. ‘Professor Wilde was the only—’

‘The key,’ the man said with impatience. ‘Now.’ He swung his rifle towards the young man’s chest. Cheng hurriedly delved into his backpack.

Eddie eyed the weapon. The SIG MCX, with its distinctive skeletal handguard around the barrel, was a relatively new weapon, and sales of the compact SB model the intruders were carrying was supposed to be restricted to police and military forces. Yet the accents he had heard as the group approached were varied enough to rule out their being from one specific country. Mercenaries, then – but who was paying them? ‘What do you want?’ he said. ‘Apart from the key, obviously – you wanted that enough to chase us halfway around the world, but what else?’

Cheng had by now produced the artefact. Hands shaking, he held it out to the mercenary leader, who took it and called to one of his men. ‘Roche! Carry this.’ The other mercenary had also removed his mask to expose a craggy face with a bushy moustache. He slipped the key into a waterproof pouch on the harness across his chest. ‘We want the key,’ the blond man finally replied to Eddie, ‘and the coffins.’

‘Why?’ Nina asked.

He turned to her. ‘My employer needs them.’

‘For what?’

‘My employer needs something else as well,’ he went on, ignoring her question. His eyes fixed chillingly upon hers. ‘You, Professor Wilde.’

Chapter 10

10

Nina stared back, stunned. ‘What?’ That he knew her name was shocking enough, but she was his target? ‘Why does your boss want me?’

‘I don’t know, and I don’t care,’ the man replied. ‘But I’m being paid to bring them you, the key and the coffins – so that is what I will do.’

One of his companions checked what was down below. ‘Harhund!’ he called. ‘The coffins, they’re here.’

‘Watch them,’ Harhund ordered. Two more mercenaries kept their guns fixed upon Nina, Eddie and Cheng as he descended into the mausoleum.

‘Why the hell do they want you?’ Eddie whispered to Nina. ‘How did they even know you were here?’