The Lost Throne Read Online Free PDF

top.”
    “I meant—” Dial shook his head. There was no need to explain. “Go! Keep walking.”
    Andropoulos obliged, not saying another word until they reached the entrance, which was cut into the side of the cliff like a natural fissure. The door was ten feet high and made out of solid wood. It had not been damaged during the assault. Neither had the ancient lock, which still worked despite centuries of use. “This is the only way in.”
    Dial examined the hinges and frame. No scratches or holes. “Is it locked at night?”
    “Always.”
    “Whose job is it?”
    Andropoulos shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
    “Do me a favor and find out.”
    “Of course.”
    “One more thing,” Dial said. “Once we’re inside, I want to be left alone for a while. I always try to view the evidence and the crime scene with fresh eyes. It allows me to form my own conclusions before I hear anyone else’s. Got it?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Dial stared at him, sizing him up. “You should try it sometime. It’s the best way to separate a good investigator from a bad one.”
    Andropoulos nodded. “I was the first one here. So my opinions are my own.”
    Dial smiled. He liked the Greek’s confidence. “Glad to hear it, kid. Let’s talk again in twenty minutes. I’ll find out then if you have any brains or I need to get a new tour guide.”

7

    I f they’d had more time, Payne and Jones would have driven to MacDill AFB to do their dirty work, using one of the computers on the high-speed military network. The encryption level was so high and the speeds were so blazing fast that Jones could have floated around the Internet like a ghost, grabbing whatever data he needed without worrying about being caught. But as things stood, they had to make do with Jones’s laptop and the hotel’s wireless network.
    That and the help of a well-connected friend.
    As a computer researcher at the Pentagon, Randy Raskin was privy to many of the government’s biggest secrets, a mountain of classified data that was there for the taking if someone knew how to access it. His job was to make sure the latest information got into the right hands at the right time. And he was great at it. Over the years, Payne and Jones had used his services on many occasions, and this had eventually led to a friendship.
    Payne offered to give him a call while Jones turned on his computer.
    “Leave me alone,” Raskin snapped from his desk in the Pentagon. “I’m busy.”
    “Well, hello to you, too.”
    “Seriously, Jon. You shouldn’t be calling me. Today is the Sabbath. A day of rest.”
    Payne smiled. “First of all, you’re Jewish, so don’t pull that crap with me.”
    “What are you saying? Jews don’t deserve a day off ?”
    “Secondly, I called you at the office. Therefore you’re not actually resting.”
    Raskin cursed, realizing he had lost the argument. “Dammit! How come you always win? Tell me the truth: Were you on the debate team in high school?”
    “No,” Payne joked, “but I beat them up when they wouldn’t do my homework.”
    “I should’ve known. I’m going to make note of that in your personnel file.”
    “If you must. But before you do, I was wondering—”
    Raskin interrupted him. “If I could do you a favor.”
    “Crap! Am I that predictable?”
    “Both of you are. Let me guess, D.J. is there, too.”
    “You know it.”
    “And you’re calling from . . . Florida. Am I right?”
    Payne nodded. “How’d you know that?”
    The ever-present clicking of Raskin’s keyboard could be heard in the background. “Because I’m tracking your call with Blackbird, our latest GPS satellite. Give me ten more seconds and I can shoot a missile up your ass. Seriously. Right up your
ass.
”
    “Ouch! You’re one scary geek.”
    Raskin smiled. “Don’t you forget it.”
    “Okay,” Jones said from across the hotel room. He sat in front of his laptop, which was logged on to an encrypted system at his office in Pittsburgh. “I’m