Solomon's Throne Read Online Free PDF

after he fell over the fence. Broke his leg, but it is not a bad thing, and he does not seem to be in pain. But who can tell with all the praying!” There were rustling sounds in the phone. “He does have a tattoo on his arm, between his wrist and his elbow. It is letters, CA, in a kind of circle. We can find nothing on Interpol or any other police service about it—maybe it is his wife’s initials and means nothing.”
    “Will you email me a copy of that? And his photo? Maybe he was around the London office, too… Can’t hurt to ask.”
    “ Certemente. I will call you if he says anything, or if we discover who he is. But I am not very hopeful, signor .”
    Gideon hung up the phone. Nothing. A tattoo, and a penchant for praying in Latin. Those do not an ID make. Sighing, he hit the speaker button and dialed again. His ear hurt.
    “ Alo.” The voice on the other end was deep, and obviously agitated.
    “Hello, Signor de Castro. It’s Gideon Quinn from Xavier’s in London. Any news?”
    “No. Nothing. We have determined that it had to have been arranged by someone at one of our offices, most likely here in Lisbon. We conduct background and financial checks on all our employees, and update them annually, and we have no one who stands out. No one with too much money or a new car. No one is acting strangely. No one’s computer has been sanitized. We will have to check our employees’ home equipment ah… discreetly, of course, but I do not have enough manpower to do that quickly and I am afraid we have a big risk of our perpetrator cleaning up after himself before we get to him.”
    “Wonderful.”
    “ Si . It is a very big problem, very bad. It is bad for my old friend, certamente , and it is very bad for Tavernier Security. And si, for me. Also for me.”
    “Keep me posted. Sure would be good to catch the bastards now, before they disappear completely.”
    “ Vai fazer. Will do. Tchau.”
    They disconnected. Gideon sat staring at his ceiling for a few minutes. Once again he punched a button on the phone. There was a beep, followed by a woman’s voice. “Yes, Mr. Quinn?”
    “Is Mr. Xavier available, Cynthia?”
    “One moment…Yes, he says he has ten minutes if you come now.”
    “Great, be right there!” Gideon swung his jacket off the back of his chair and slid into it as he left his office.

    “Mr. Xavier… I’m not seeing a lot of action in Lisbon. I know I’m not technically in charge of security there, but I’d feel better if I was on the ground, seeing what happened first hand. And it would probably be best if I knew what was stolen…” Gideon looked his boss in the eye. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy. It wasn’t easy for him to ask. But he took his job seriously, and he could see the obvious distress in his employer. If he could get the thing back? Well, one step at a time. But he was hoping Xavier would let him try.
    “I don’t know. It has been a secret for so long… Since 1683. And in my family alone. It is bad enough that I have failed to keep it safe.” Luis Xavier looked exhausted, with purple smudges under his eyes and a drawn pallor.
    Gideon was sympathetic, but impatient. “If I don’t know what it is—if no one knows what it is except you and your family—we can’t possibly get it back. Your son is 20 and a student; I don’t think he will be able to find it, do you? Or your wife?”
    Xavier just stared at Gideon. He’s losing it, Gideon thought. He’s almost broken.
    “Sir. I know this is a terrible shock to you, and you feel responsible. I want to help you, and I would like to try to get it back. But “smaller than a breadbox” is not a description that could possibly lead to a successful outcome. You have trusted me with your business for five years. I’m just asking you to trust me with this, and let me help. Please.”
    Xavier scrubbed his face with his hands, and when he looked up, Gideon knew he’d made the decision. “There is a leather pouch.