Page 141 of The Last Kingdom

He did not regret killing Knight or Rife. Quite the contrary. They both deserved to die. Especially Rife. Arrogant bastard actually thought he could take him. A lot of people had made that mistake.

But his ribs still hurt.

Screw the pain.

Focus.

“What do we know about Linderhof?” he asked them.

* * *

LUKE KEPT HIS EYES FOCUSED AHEAD AND WOUND THE CAR THROUGHthe tight turns characteristic of Alpine roads. Luckily, this one had been cleared by a plow, the asphalt only dusted with fresh snow, the edges piled high with the day’s remnants. He was going as fast as he could, realizing that Malone was bare-ass-to-the-wind, without backup. Trinity and Koger had filled in the information gaps. Two of the Scythe were dead and the Chinese were full-on, finally making no secret of their involvement. Contrary to the movies, intelligence services did not routinely kill each other’s assets. It happened. Sure. But only in the most extreme of circumstances.

Clearly, this situation had evolved to the extreme.

And Pappy was in trouble.

He whipped the car hard right and took the turn a little faster than he should have. The back end swerved, but he steered in the opposite direction and regained control. Thank the lord for the Blue Ridge mountains, which had roads just like this.

“We’re looking for the Venus Grotto,” Koger said. “I was told it’s behind the castle.”

Trinity was working on her phone.

“I have a schematic of the grounds,” she said, “from the castle’s website. When we get close, I can direct us.”

“That helicopter is going to get there a lot faster,” Luke said, keeping his eyes locked out the windshield.

“Malone’s a pro,” Koger said. “He can handle himself.”

He shook his head. “I still don’t like it.”

“Neither do I.”

“If they’re headed to Linderhof,” Trinity said, “that means Malone solved the cipher. The other two of Ludwig II’s castles figured into the hunt, so it makes sense this one would also be included. I checked. That chopper handles four passengers and a pilot. My guess is the two with the guns didn’t make the trip.”

He agreed with that assumption.

“But there still could be assets all around,” Toni said.

“Damn right,” Luke added.

“If I know Maloney,” Derrick said, “he’s got things under control. It’s just that nobody else knows it.”

Or at least he kept telling himself that.

“That would be Pappy,” Luke said.

“Does anyone call this man by his name?” Trinity asked.

“What fun would that be?” Luke said. “He might actually think we like him.”

“How much farther?” Koger asked.

“Five minutes less than the last time I told you,” Trinity said.

Chapter 79

COTTON GLANCED OUT THE HELICOPTER’S SIDE WINDOW AND SPOTTEDLinderhof below. They’d taken a circuitous route, surely to avoid the high peaks that surrounded them, most stretching up hundreds of feet. The pilot seemed skillful, weaving a path over the valleys, then up and over some of the more respectable foothills. It had taken a little longer to get here than he’d first thought. He figured the flying distance had been about fifteen miles. The driving distance? Thirty miles, at least. But none of that was in a straight line. Lots of curves and zigzags. Probably forty minutes to an hour to make the drive. His hope was that Koger had dealt with whatever had been sent his way, then learned from the curator where they’d gone. That’s what he would have done if the roles were reversed. So he had to assume the big man was on his way.

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