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Two platforlers hurried alongside it A conductor stood outside the door, ushering thelanced at Drake and Sully Once upon a time he would have minded his own business--New York had been that kind of town--but after 9/11 all that had changed Sully knew it, too, because he stopped at the crio beyond it They were suspicious enough just being down here without any obvious reason Drake thought maybe the conductor would think they were plainclothes detectives, but then he realized they were probably underdressed for that And if he had caught a gliuayabera under Sully’s boht off the bat they weren’t cops Most police kept their quirks on the inside

Standing by the police tape, Sully withdrew a cigar from inside his jacket pocket He wasn’t ht it, just stuck it between his lips and rolled it around in his teeth for aDrake had never known hi to freakme who died?"

Sully stared at a spot beyond the police tape for a ar from his mouth and turned to Drake

"This platforht A train ca the way--and when it left, there was an old stea on, leaving the city, but there were so, too One of the conductors re near it He assumed they had carried it on but didn’t look too closely at them Dark coats; that’s all he remembers"

Sully shook his head, eyes narrowed in frustration "Think about that, Nate Anything in the world could have been in that trunk The whole thing could have been full of Seine explosives in that kind of volu under the city? We’re so obsessed with planes, but nobody’s paying attention to …"

He trailed off, taking a breath He looked h to see that he was both

"So, this trunk wasn’t filled with explosives?" Drake ventured

Sully shot hi a point But no, it wasn’t Place reacted like it could’ve been, though Hundreds of trains were prevented fro in, thousands of people evacuated Transportation Authority brought in counterterroris dogs didn’t get a read on it, but they were still treating it like it was going to explode A couple of the guys rangle those dogs--one of them used to train them to sniff for corpses, and he knows the sht there was a body in the trunk Turned out he was right"

Drake put a hand on his shoulder, hating to see his friend in pain "Sully--"

"It was Luka," Sully said, his jaorking, eyes flashing with anger "But not all of his Just his torso They’d cut his head off, too, but at least that was in the trunk Whoever killed him, they didn’t amputate his limbs to make it harder to ID hi, he jaain at the area beyond the yellow tape The train two platfor loudly, and Drake wondered if the conductor was still watching them He wondered why the cops or the FBI weren’t on top of the there If the trunk had been filled with explosives instead of Sully’s dead friend, they would never have been able to coet the same attention

In his life, Luka Hzujak had been an archaeologist, a college professor, and a collector of antiquities He had also been one of Victor Sullivan’s oldest and dearest friends, aof history as just asof toues and employers because he refused to settle for the currently accepted versions of historical episodes, particularly from ancient times In recent years he had established himself as a successful author of controversial histories written in language accessible to the general public Drake had reat deal He could picture the oatee like some cartoon devil Luka had never condemned Sully for the work he and Drake did, nificant evidence available to challenge historians’ version of the past came from tomb raiders and treasure hunters

"I’ like that--it shouldn’t happen to anyone, never ?"

Drake didn’t bother asking where Sully had gotten his information about the discovery of the body It seemed clear he had a source in the NYPD, which really ca buddy or a ga compadre just about everywhere Six years past, they had spent a few rainy weeks in Bhutan searching for ancient deone to theto keep the rain off theoat cheese and wine had clapped Sully on the back and hugged hiuy had stepped back, Drake had seen the wary suspicion in the merchant’s eyes He and Sully were friends, but they didn’t trust each other That seemed to be a common dynamic, and it extended from Bhutan to the United States to Easter Island Drake trusted Sully, at least ht him was that a certain amount of mistrust was healthy and would keep him alive

But Sully’s NYPD contact hadn’t been ot squat," Sully said

Drake frowned, turning to look up at the flickering lights "Seriously? It’s Grand Central They’ve got to have cameras everywhere"

" ’Course they do Doesn’t ht, choices have to beto look at hi the cops don’t"

"What’s that?"

The look in Sully’s eyes was a mixture of pain and pride "We have Jada"

3

Drake and Sully took the subway train that shuttled passengers between Grand Central and Times Square, then boarded another subway car, this one headed north They sat quietly together, Sully warily watching other passengers The lights flickered on and off, e scars out of the scratches some vandals had put on the s The seat beneath Drake had been sliced open, but that didn’t bother him as much as the smell that perhost of so back and forth in a lulling ht have put Drake to sleep on a day without lanced around,on, Sully?" Drake said, voice low He glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to theious But it was the New York subway; as a rule, people tended to pretend they were the only ones on the train "How coot Jada hidden away?"

"It wasn’tsharply at Drake "She won’t talk to the cops ’cause she’s afraid of ending up just as dead as her father"