The Illuminati Sanctum (The Relic Hunters 6) David Leadbeater (new reading .txt) 📖

little ray of light pierce her new fog of pessimism. Maybe Butcher wasn’t such a Pang clone.

Butcher glanced inside the warehouse. “We allowed inside?”

“Try it,” Pang said by way of retaliation. “If they shoot, the answer’s probably no.”

Heidi gave him a stare filled with sharp edges. “Don’t worry, Butcher. Come with me. I’ll do my best to help.”

As they walked, Butcher bent down to whisper in her ear. “He always like that?”

“Oh, you’ve only met passive Baby-Pang so far. The real killer is locked away, for now.”

Butcher straightened, saying nothing. She should be careful about what she said to him. Maybe not. She could hardly get in any more trouble or out of favor than she already was. They crossed the hangar to the far side, where most of the wreckage had been laid out in neat rows. Yellow labels sat next to each item and a description and photo of where it had been found. Butcher pointed to the helicopter and SUVs that had belonged to the crew that abducted Bodie and his friends.

“Just those.”

Heidi walked him closer. “They aren’t sharing information, so you might have to take photos. We’ll try to get closer.”

Among the wreckage, in safe areas, forensic teams sifted through all kinds of misshapen debris. None of them even looked up at the Americans, but a couple of cops started toward them. Butcher took several quick snaps, and then leaned over to take a note of the helicopter’s registration marking. He was a fast worker. By the time the cops arrived, Butcher had photographed the SUVs’ registration plates too, which had been removed from the cars and placed flat on the floor.

Heidi took it on the chin from the cops, backing away through the hangar and nodding along to their tirade. When they emerged once more into the sun, suitably chastised, Butcher shielded his eyes with a hand and nodded at a cluster of parked vehicles.

“One of them yours?”

Pang nodded.

“We should go. I need to secure my gear and set up. Identifying the perpetrators shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“How did you get here?” Pang appeared to have become aware that Butcher didn’t have a car.

“Same jet I mentioned earlier. That runway.” He nodded.

Pang appeared surprised that the CIA had flown Butcher into the exact airport where the wreckage had ended up. He shouldn’t be.

Heidi led the way to their car and then drove to their hotel room, a mid-scale, anonymous block building on the outskirts of a large town. Basking in the air conditioning, she let Butcher into her room and helped him drag his heavy bags inside. Pang followed nonchalantly, not offering to help nor watch their surroundings. Heidi poured herself a drink whilst Butcher set up.

She pulled at the drapes and gazed out the window, wondering if somewhere else in the wide world, Guy Bodie and his crew might be doing the same. She hoped so. She couldn’t bear the alternative.

“First,” Butcher said. “The vehicles including the chopper are all owned by a shell company that’s a subsidiary of another company that’s... you get the idea.”

Heidi’s eyes struggled to keep up with the glut of windows that opened up on his computer, all at once.

“I’m scanning emails between these companies,” he said. “Looking for certain keywords...” He tapped the keyboard and gazed at the screen. “And narrowing down...”

Pang showed his boredom, wandering over to the bed and throwing himself upon it. Heidi winced, hating the fact that he was touching her covers. She considered pointing out his tactlessness, but decided that would only make him worse so continued doing her best to ignore him.

“Can we do this any quicker?” Pang asked. “Whoever stole our relic hunters are getting away and might just dispose of the bodies. Then...” He made a pained face. “Who knows when I’ll get a new post.”

Butcher looked up, boyish face amused. “We?” he repeated. “If you can do it any quicker, sir, you’re welcome to get involved.”

Heidi grinned. That’s twice he’d stood up to Pang, offering respect but still putting the CIA man in his place. Heidi liked it and hoped it would continue. Pang stared at the newcomer and then at Heidi, hiding whatever offbeat thoughts flitted through his brain.

“I may have something,” Butcher said.

Heidi liked that even more.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Butcher was very good.

Heidi watched as he sifted digitally through several shell companies, window after window opening and then closing on the screen, his fingers a blur. Pang soon became bored and wandered into the bathroom. Heidi imagined him doing press ups or squats, or sticking pins into an effigy of Guy Bodie.

“This kinda your thing, is it?” She couldn’t imagine how anyone could get so good with computers. “I reach my limit at level fifty of Galaga.”

“Level fifty’s not bad,” Butcher said. “But yeah, my brain’s sort of attuned to this type of thing. I’ve had a keyboard glued to my fingers since I left kindergarten.” He shrugged.

“But you’re field trained too?” Heidi thought it important to understand where he was in his CIA schooling.

Butcher glanced up at her, then the window, and then the door. “Sure.”

“Right. That’s comforting. I guess you didn’t graduate top of your class?”

“Barely scraped through by my shirt tails.” Butcher grimaced. “I didn’t put a lot of effort into it. Thought I’d be sitting behind a desk all day.”

“Not as smart as you seem,” Heidi said, and Butcher nodded.

Pang appeared at the bathroom door. “We done yet?”

“This isn’t easy,” Butcher said. “Whoever this is, they have reams of fake data, impressive firewalls and at least one alert program. They know we’re sniffing.”

“Isn’t that gonna make it extra hard to find them?” Pang asked.

“I can mask my trail,” Butcher said. “They may know I’m sniffing, but they don’t know where I’m looking.”

Pang