Free The Goddess Legacy by Russell Blake

but I can hardly see straight. Let’s get some rest while we can, okay? It’ll be tomorrow before we know it.”
    “This sucks,” Drake grumbled as he opened one of the bedroom doors and looked inside. “Two beds in here.”
    Allie walked to the other and swung it wide. “One here,” she said with a yawn. “See you boys in the morning.”
    Drake carried her bag to her and made to kiss her, but she turned at the last second so his lips landed on her cheek. “Good night,” she said, and pulled the door shut behind her.
    Drake stared at the wooden slab for a long beat before eyeing Spencer. “I hope you don’t snore.”
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    Chief Inspector Raj Desai felt in his jacket pocket for his cell phone, which was vibrating. He stood to close his door when he saw the number on caller ID.
    “Yes?” he answered.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” an angry voice demanded.
    “There was a complication.”
    “I heard. You managed to lose him not once but twice.”
    “It’s not as straightforward as we first thought. Both times he had help escaping. We had no way of knowing he was working with confederates, or we would have approached the situation differently.”
    “I thought I made it clear that your top priority was to take him out of circulation. Now I have to hear that he evaded the best minds on the New Delhi police force, first at the hotel and later at a hostel?”
    “We couldn’t hold him. I told you that. The judge wouldn’t sign off on it without more evidence.”
    The caller’s voice quieted. “Which I provided you with.”
    “Unfortunately he’d already been released. But don’t worry. We have his documents, and his likeness is plastered across the city. He won’t get far.” Desai hesitated. “Although it would have been nice to know that we weren’t dealing with a lone man. He apparently had an entourage, including someone with a gun. Which makes this considerably trickier to manage.” The inspector told the caller about the two men and the woman the witnesses at the hostel had seen.
    “This is the first I’ve heard of a group. But it doesn’t change anything. Whether just the one or several, they must be stopped. Find him, as well as his associates, and lock them up or finish them off – I don’t care which, although I want to understand what they know before you neutralize anyone.”
    “We may not be able to be quite so surgical. If we find them and it’s a choice of trying to take them alive or a kill shot, which would you prefer?”
    The caller exhaled audibly. “Dead men tell no tales.”
    “Which is as I presumed.”
    “What have you learned about the target?”
    “American, ex-military, no arrests other than some dropped smuggling charges in South America a few years ago.”
    “Smuggling? Drugs?”
    “Artifacts.”
    “Then he’s an adventurer, not acting in some clandestine capacity.”
    “That’s how it appears. As was the other one.”
    “At least that’s something. But I’m extremely disappointed at how this has been handled so far. See to it that it’s cleared up quickly.”
    “I’ll call when I have more to report,” Desai agreed.
    “Do so, whatever the hour.”
     
    The caller hung up and turned to the man sitting beside him. “Events are spinning out of control. I don’t trust the inspector to be able to handle this – our faith in him was misplaced.”
    “Shall I arrange for an alternative?”
    “Yes. The more eyes on the street, the better. But the troublemaker has help, apparently.” The caller gave a short summary. “We need to learn who they are and ensure that anything that could compromise us is contained. Whether one or four bullets, it’s all the same to me.”
    “I have a specific contractor in mind, someone we’ve used before. He’s discreet and reliable.”
    “Make the call.”

Chapter 12
    Motes of dust floated in a spangling of sunlight that streamed from the window near Drake’s head. He watched their dance