“Sit,” Connor told the dog. “Sit, girl.”

Connor dropped the lead and the guard stared at the dog as if expecting an attack. His hand was on the holster that hung from his belt.

What security guard employed by a university was armed?

The guard nodded and beckoned Connor inside. Connor followed, careful to leave the door ajar behind him.

Connor hadn’t mentioned who or what he was looking for, or where he was headed, but the guard led him down the steps into the basement without hesitation. His suspicions aroused, Connor silently removed his Glock from its holster at the small of his back. All was quiet, all was dark as they entered the long hall leading to the storage areas. When the guard turned and motioned for Connor to go ahead of him, Connor shook his head slowly, and gestured with his gun hand. The guard stared at the weapon, then shrugged.

Guided by the light from the far doorway, the two men proceeded through the room where the Jacobs artifacts were stored. At the sound of voices from the next room, the guard slowed, then stopped just outside the lighted door.

“You killed all those people?” Daria’s voice drifted out to the anteroom. “You made it look as if the gallas…?”

Connor could see over the guard’s shoulder into the room beyond, where Daria stood between Vita Landis and Stefano Korban, who held a handgun pointed directly at Daria.

“Gallas?” Stefano Korban’s laugh was loud and brittle. “See, Vita, didn’t I tell you that was the way to go? Even the esteemed Dr. McGowan fell for that crap.”

“Don’t be disrespectful,” Vita said softly. “You are gallas, Stefano.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know: As was my father, so am I. So are Tabib and the kid. Your father was, too, but that didn’t stop him from helping himself to the goodies, did it, Priestess?”

Connor moved forward but the guard’s arm shot out to stop him. The look on the man’s face was pure rage. Under his breath, he was whispering in a language Connor couldn’t quite make out.

“Priestess?” Daria looked to Vita for an explanation.

“I suppose I should explain.” Vita sighed. “For the past two thousand years, there have been those who remained faithful to Ereshkigal and have kept watch over the place where the city once stood, believing that one day, the city would be reborn. As centuries passed, the numbers of the believers diminished until there were fewer and fewer to guard the city. Finally, Shandihar was rediscovered, but instead of being restored, the temples were stripped of the sacred objects; they were packed up and brought here. Those who still served the goddess followed, and have been keeping watch over the treasure for the past century, right here at Howe.”

“Vita, for Christ’s sake!” Stefano’s patience had run out. “No one gives a shit about any of that.”

“Shut up, Stefano,” Vita snapped. “You’re going to kill her. She might as well know why.”

She turned back to Daria. “In every generation, there have been those who have served the goddess-the gallas and the priestesses. These roles can only be inherited. I inherited the title of priestess from my mother, as Stefano inherited the role of guardian from his father,” Vita said softly. “And yes, my father was also a gallas, but all those priceless treasures were too great a temptation for him to resist. He was a weak man. He stole some of the artifacts and sold them.”

“Vita, enough.” Stefano rubbed his free hand over his face in frustration.

She ignored him.

“In the beginning, I only wanted to…reappropriate everything my father had taken, and return them to the crates they came in. That way, no one would ever know what he’d done. I never intended for anyone to get hurt.”

“You are so full of shit,” Stefano said, sneering. “Once you found out how much that stuff was worth on the black market, once you heard millions, all that talk of family honor went down the tubes.” He turned to Daria. “The plan all along was to get those artifacts back and sell them to the highest bidder. It was a piece of cake to get those two losers to go after the artifacts and make it look like some act of ancient retribution.”

Vita turned on him. “It was your idea to convince Tabib and his brother that they had a sacred obligation to avenge the goddess. You pounded that into their heads, you taught them how to kill.”

“So much more interesting than simple thefts, don’t you think?” He laughed. “And who would suspect a respected archaeologist and the president’s assistant? Tabib and Anatole were honored to do whatever the priestess told them to do. Honored to protect your identity. After all, it was the will of the goddess…and these dumb jackasses were willing to do anything for their goddess.”

Three rapid gunshots split the air.

Daria screamed and covered her ears as Stefano’s head exploded and he fell face forward. Vita dropped where she stood. A blur of white flashed past the guard, jostling him before he could fire off another round. Before the shooter had a chance to recover his balance, Connor tackled him from behind and wrestled the gun from his hand.

“Daria! Are you all right?” Connor called.

“Yes. I’m not hit.” She had taken cover crouched behind a crate. She hugged the dog gratefully. “Sweet Thing, you did good, girl.”

“Who else is there?” Connor lifted the guard’s head. “Who else is working with you?”

“Just those two.” The guard spat in the direction of Stefano’s lifeless body.

“The boy?”

“Anatole. My brother.”

“Daria, do you think you can call 911?”

She nodded.

“Tell them we need Chief Thorpe over here and we need an ambulance immediately.”

Daria stood on unsteady legs and reached for her bag. She tried to locate her phone but her fingers felt numb.

“Use mine.” Connor took his phone from his pocket and slid it across the floor to her.

“Why do we need an ambulance?” Daria looked down at Vita, whose body was sprawled on the floor five feet away. “They’re dead.”

“Korban didn’t survive that shot to the head, but I think he only winged Vita. She’s still alive,” he told her. “I want to make sure she stays that way. She has a lot to answer for.”

26

“H ow is she?” Daria stood outside the museum, Sweet Thing’s leash wrapped around her hand, and watched as Vita Landis was carried from the building on a stretcher. There was a lot of blood, but the older woman appeared to be alert.

“Looks like not much more than a flesh wound, for all the blood,” Chief Thorpe replied. “The more important question is, how are you?”

“I’m fine, really. I wasn’t injured. Just scared.” Daria sat on one of the concrete benches in the courtyard.

“Think you’ll feel up to answering some questions later?” he asked. “I’m going to be tied up for a while at the hospital, but I’d like to stop over later today to get your statement.”

“I’ll be home. Whenever it’s convenient for you will be fine with me, Chief.”

They watched the man they knew only as Tabib being placed in the back of a patrol car.

“What’s going to happen to the boy in the hospital now?” Daria asked.

“If he comes out of the coma, he’ll be tried as a juvenile. At least, any lawyer they get for him is going to push for that,” Thorpe told her, “since his brother says the kid is only seventeen. But crimes like these…they may want to try him as an adult. Tabib there says he’ll give us a full confession if we let him visit the kid, so after he’s booked, that’s where we’ll take him.”

“Ask him who his accomplice was for the Blume and Sevrenson murders,” Connor said as he joined them. “According to the information the Bureau found, the boy, Anatole, has only been in the States for the past month, so he could have only participated in the last two attacks. There had to have been two killers at the Blume home.”