“How important is this operation to the art crimes task force?” I asked, wondering just what kind of risks we could take. It was one thing if failure was an option and quite another if someone’s life was on the line.
Ziv snorted again. His disdain was duly noted.
Linney was actually the one who answered. “It’s not the task force. This is specifically a matter of interest to the FBI and US government.”
“I don’t know what that means,” I said. “Why just the US and not the art crimes task force? What interest does the US have with a Hungarian artifact?”
Falcon was conspicuously silent.
“Listen,” I explained. “Risk assessment is an actual thing in planning something like this. If timing isn’t critical, it means a failed attempt can be repeated again a short time or long time later. And if that’s the case, we don’t have to be quite as thorough in covering all of the contingencies. In other words, we can try it one way, and if it fails, we can come back and try it another after regrouping.”
“It can’t fail,” Falcon said.
I threw up my hands in frustration. “Because you’re a perfectionist son of a bitch or because—”
Falcon’s eyes narrowed. “It can’t fail,” he repeated through gritted teeth. “All I can tell you is that neglecting to get our hands on this crown could mean the breakdown in geopolitical relations as we know them. There is more to this than a stolen piece of history, King. While lives are not directly at stake, peace certainly is. This crown falling into the wrong people’s hands could be disastrous for multiple governments. Is that enough to press upon you the importance of succeeding on this op, or did you need me to make it more clear?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him to make it more clear, only because I wondered if his teeth would actually break. But from the seriousness of the faces around me, I could tell it wasn’t time for jokes. This was truly a big deal to the US government beyond the mere issue of stolen antiquities.
In addition to their serious expressions, the fact the government was sparing no expense to send an entire team of agents overseas in a private jet to pursue this mission was impressive. I wasn’t so far gone as to eschew the concept of patriotism and service to my country. But I also wasn’t altruistic enough to discount how this opportunity could also benefit me. If retrieving the crown was truly that important to the US powers that be, maybe I could finally get the final piece of evidence Elek had on me while I was there.
I took a breath and nodded. “It’s crystal clear the op needs to succeed. So here’s what I’m going to need…”
7
Falcon
The rental van was waiting for us when we finally landed on the sleepy Greek island of Mykonos. Ziv took charge of driving us to the rental villa that would serve as our operations headquarters for the duration of our stay in Greece.
King took one look at the sprawling whitewashed villa perched on top of a hill and the panoramic views of the Aegean sea beyond and started laughing. “Don’t you know the bulk of serious heists are planned in abandoned warehouses? Haven’t you seen any movies at all?”
“Shut up,” I muttered. “You try finding an appropriate place in a tiny Greek island on short notice. It was more important to be discreet than cliché. This is the standard luxury-villa style around here. It’s part of blending in.”
Linney spun around, taking in the warm sunlight dappling through olive trees off to the side of the gravel driveway. “It’s absolutely stunning. Do you have any idea how long I’ve fantasized about going on holiday to the Greek isles? If only we weren’t here in December, I would’ve brought my bikini.” On the other side of the house was an informal garden with wooden benches and a small stone fountain that had most likely been turned off for the winter. Beyond the garden in the distance was the barest sliver of the blue waters of the Aegean. We were probably about a quarter mile away from it, and the only thing between us and the seaside cliffs was the wild grass and tumble of half-buried stone that made up some kind of nature preserve.
As soon as I unlocked the door, Mouse raced past me, presumably to claim first dibs on the best bedroom. The last overnight operation we’d done had been short on bedrooms, so he’d been forced to sleep in a glorified closet. Linney sauntered past mumbling about setting up the “command center,” and Ziv called out to remind her to make sure the room had an ethernet feed or Wi-Fi since he wasn’t about to let her use his special satellite connectivity.