The Bones Of Odin (Matt Drake 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

out of my way.”
    He moved quickly to the door, flung it open, and paused in case there was gunfire. Shocked Parisians were standing about. Tourists were snapping away. Drake cast a probing gaze down the street.
    “Suicide.” He ducked back in.
    “Rear entrance.” He tapped Ben, and they headed towards the counter. Kennedy had yet to move, but it didn’t take a cop’s analytical mind to see these people were in genuine trouble. 
    “I’ll cover you.”
    Drake strode past the frightened counter-man into a dingy corridor lined with boxes of coffee, sugar and stir-sticks. At the end was a fire-escape. Drake hit the bar, then peered cautiously outside. The afternoon sun stung his eyes, but the coast was clear. Which, for him, meant there was only one enemy out there.
    Drake motioned the others to wait, then strode purposefully towards the waiting German. He didn’t avoid the man’s punch, but took it hard in the solar-plexus without flinching. The shock on his opponent’s face gave him momentary satisfaction.
    “Pussies aim for the plexus.” He whispered. Experience had taught him that a trained man would strike at one of the body’s obvious pressure points and pause for effect, so Drake compartmentalised the pain - as he’d been endlessly taught - and ploughed through it. He broke the guy’s nose, shattered his jaw and almost snapped his neck with two strikes, and then left him sprawled on the pavement without breaking stride. He waved the others forward.
    They exited the cafe and looked around.
    Kennedy said: “My hotel’s three blocks over.”
    Drake nodded. “Bloody awesome. Let’s go.”
     
     
     
     
     

SIX
     
    PARIS, FRANCE
     
    A minute later Ben said:” Wait.”
    “Don’t say you need the toilet, mate, or we’re gonna have to get you some nappies.”
    Kennedy hid a grin as Ben flushed.
    “I know you’re due a nap, old man, but it’s nearly time to . . . umm . . . visit the Louvre .”
    Shit. Drake had lost track of time. “Bollocks.”
    “The Louvre?”
    “About turn.” Drake waved at a passing taxi. “Kennedy, I will explain.”
    “You’d better. I’ve already been to the Louvre today.”
    “Not for this . . .” Ben murmured as they climbed into the taxi. Drake said the magic word and the car sped off. The journey was undertaken in silence and lasted ten minutes, through streets clogged with traffic. The pavements were no better when the three of them tried to hot-foot it towards the museum.
    As they walked, Ben brought Kennedy up to speed. “Someone found Odin’s Shield in Iceland. Someone stole it from an exhibition in York, completely ruining Frey’s amazing cat-walk show.”
    “Frey?”
    “The fashion designer. Aren’t you from New York?”
    “I am from New York, but I’m not big on fashion. And I’m not big on being dragged blindly into some kind of conflict. I really don’t need more problems right now.”
    Drake almost said ‘ there’s the door’ but stopped himself at the last second. A cop could prove useful tonight for many reasons, especially one from the States. As they approached the glass pyramid that marked the entrance to the Louvre, he said: “Kennedy, these people have tried to kill us at least three times now. It’s my responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen. Now, we need more information on what the Hell’s going down here, and for some reason they are interested in something that Ben has found out that’s called the ‘Nine Pieces of Odin’. We don’t really know why, but in here - ” he pointed past the glass pyramid, “is the second Piece.”
    “They’re gonna steal it, tonight,” Ben said, then added: “Probably.”
    “And what’s the New York angle?”
    “That’s where another one of Odin’s Pieces is on display. The Wolves. At the Natural History Museum.”
    Drake was studying a map. “Seems the Louvre doesn’t normally display Viking collections. This one’s also on loan, like the one at York. Says here, the