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SEVEN
WASHINGTON, DC
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4
4:00 AM
STEPHANIE ENTERED THE HOME OF O BRENT GREEN, THE ATTORNEY general of the United States A car had just delivered her to Georgetown She’d telephoned Green beforehiate, which she’d had no choice but to accept
Green waited in his study
He’d served the president for the entire first term and had been one of only a handful of cabinet reed to stay for the second He was a popular advocate of Christian and conservative causes-a New England bachelor with not a hint of scandal attached to his naor His hair and goatee were precisely groomed and smoothly combed, his spare frame sheathed in a traderess and was the governor of Vermont when tapped by the president for the Justice Department His frank words and direct approach made him popular with both sides of the political aisle, but his distant personality seeher nationally than attorney general
She’d never been inside Green’s house and had expected a sullen, uni akin to the man himself But instead the rooreens, and shades of way effect, as one furniture chain in Atlanta advertised similar ensembles
"This matter is unusual, even for you, Stephanie," Green said as he greeted her "Anything further fro to Kronborg With the time difference, he should be on his way there now"
He offered her a seat "This proble"
"Brent, we’ve had this talk before Soh on the food chain accessed the secured database We know files on the Alexandria Link were copied"
"The FBI is investigating"
"That’s a joke The director is so far up the president’s ass, there’s no danger of anyone at the White House being implicated"
"Colorful, as always, but accurate Unfortunately it’s the only procedure available to us"
"We could look into it"
"That would bring nothing but trouble"
"Which I’m accustomed to"
Green s, how much do you actually know about that link?"
"When I sent Cotton into the fray five years ago it ith the understanding that I didn’t need to know Not unusual I deal with a lot of that sort of thing, so I didn’t worry about it But now I need to know"
Green’s face cast a measure of concern "I’ree, it’s time you know"
MALONE STARED ACROSS THE ROCKY ELEVATION AT KRONBORG Slot Once its cannons were ain ships that traversed the narrow straits to and fro the Danish treasury Now the creaainst a clear azure sky Not a fortress any longer, onal towers, pointed spires, and green copper roofs more reminiscent of Holland than Denmark Which was understandable, Malone knew, since a sixteenth-century Dutchn He liked the location Public locales could be the best spots in which to be invisible He’d usedhis years with the Billet
The drive north froade had taken only fifteen en and Helsingør, the busy port town that stood adjacent to the slot Malone had visited both Kronborg and Helsingør, wandering the nearby beaches in search of a way to spend a Sunday afternoon Today’s visit was different He was on edge Ready for a fight
"What are aiting for?" Pam asked, her face set like aher She’d absolutely insisted, threatening to make more trouble if he left her behind He could certainly understand her unwillingness to simply ith Thorvaldsen Tension and monotony made for a volatile mixture
"Our man said eleven," he noted
"We’ve wasted enough ti we’ve done has been a waste of ti up with Stephanie, he’d ood half awake He’d also changed clothes with the spares from his rucksack, Pam’s cleaned by Jesper They’d eaten a little breakfast
So he was ready
He checked his watch: 10:20 AM
Cars were starting to fill the parking lots Soon buses would arrive Everyone wanted to see Hamlet’s castle
He couldn’t have cared less
"Let’s go"
"THE LINK IS A PERSON," GREEN SAID "HIS NAME IS GEORGE HADDAD A Palestinian biblical scholar"
Stephanie knew the name Haddad was personally acquainted with Malone and, five years ago, had specifically asked for Malone’s assistance
"What’s worth the life of Gary Malone?"
"The lost Library of Alexandria"
"You can’t be serious"
Green nodded "Haddad thought he’d located it"
"How could that have any relevance today?"
"Actually, it could be quite relevant That library was the greatest concentration of knowledge on the planet It stood for six hundred years until the middle of the seventh century, when the Musli contrary to Islam Half a million scrolls, codices, maps-you name it, the library stored a copy And to this day? No one has ever found a single shred of it"
"But Haddad did?"
"So he i on a biblical theory What that was, I don’t know, but the proof of his theory was supposedly contained within the lost library"
"Hoould he know that?"
"Again, I don’t know, Stephanie But five years ago, when our people in the West Bank, the Sinai, and Jerusalem made soical digging, the Israelis went berserk That’s when Haddad asked Malone to help"
"On a blindthat Malone was told to protect Haddad, but not to ask any questions She recalled that Malone hadn’t liked the condition, either
"Haddad," Green said, "only trusted Malone Which hy Cotton eventually hid him away and is the only one today who knows Haddad’s whereabouts Apparently the ad as they controlled the route to him"
"For what?"
Green shook his head "Makes little sense There’s a hint, though, as to what
"In one of the reports I saritten in the in was Genesis 13:14-17 You know it?"
"I’ood with my Bible"
"The Lord said to Abram, lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are northward and southward and eastward and ard, for all the land which you see, to you I will give it, and to your seed forever"