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“Pardon?”

“It’s a quote fro about Napoleon, but it certainly fits Sel else in the diary about it?”

“Nothing so far”

“The safe bet would be onhe could convert into money—a war chest the son could use to raise an army”

Sah for a new Bonaparte emperor to reconquer France and maybe Europe”

They signed off with Selma and headed back to the patio They were halfway up the steps when Sam’s phone chimed He checked the screen It was Rube Haywood Sam put it on speaker

“I think I found the skeleton in Bondaruk’s closet,” Rube said

“We’re all ears”

“The guy I sent to talk to Bondaruk’s old Iranian handler—”

“Aref Ghasemi,” Remi said

“Right At first Ghaseey, but he finally opened up He pretty h the border ith the Russians The details are sketchy on this part, but soot the idea that he’s a direct descendant of souy named—”

“Xerxes I,” Sam finished

“Yeah, that’s it, how’d you know?”

Without going into too much detail Sam described the private Achaemenid Dynasty museum they’d found in the bowels of Bondaruk’s estate

“Well, there’s your confirmation,” Rube said