The Stone of Archimedes Read Free

kill?”
    â€œIt’s nothing like that,” Rob said, his hands out in protest. “It’s just a job. Nothing more.”
    â€œI’m listening.”
    â€œA missing person. Someone in our government needs you to find her.”
    â€œWho is it?”
    â€œAn important constituent.”
    â€œWho is it?” Jake repeated.
    â€œSara Jones.”
    â€œJust some random American?”
    â€œNot exactly. She’s the younger sister of United States Senator, from the great state of Texas, James Halsey.” He said the man’s last name as if it should mean something to Jake.
    â€œSo, this senator can’t hire someone to bring back little sis? Aren’t all senators rich?”
    â€œMost are,” Rob said. “But the Halsey family goes back a long way in Texas. Before it was a state. We’re talking super rich.”
    â€œStill. . .”
    â€œThey’ve sent two of the best private detectives in the country to try to find Sara Halsey Jones. Neither has been heard from since.”
    â€œMaybe she doesn’t want to be found. Perhaps she paid off the detectives.”
    â€œThat’s the problem, though. She has no money. She’s a thirty-five-year-old historian and mathematician on a leave of absence from Rice University, where she is a full professor. She was last seen studying the writings of the Greek historian Polybius in Athens.”
    â€œGreat,” Jake said. “I’m not well liked in Athens.”
    â€œThat’s all right. We don’t think she’s still there. Her last passage through any customs was into Rome a month ago.”
    Jake considered this man’s proposition. After leaving the Agency years ago, Jake had started his own security consulting business, taking on jobs mostly in Europe. He rarely took on missing persons cases. His jobs were usually much more complicated than that. But what choice did he really have? He could stay in a Tunisian jail and hang or get shot for having killing a useless pile of human DNA, or take off to Italy to find some poor rich girl. He also knew that jobs rarely turned out as easy as they first seemed. After all, the U.S. state department was not accustomed to calling in favors like this with marginally friendly countries without having to give up something in return. He imagined money had probably changed hands from Texas to Tunis, and Jake would never know the truth of that play.
    â€œWhat kind of choice do I have?” Jake asked the cultural affairs officer. “But maybe I don’t need a break like this.”
    â€œYour friends in high places would disagree.” The tall, gaunt man left it like that, saying without really saying anything. But Jake knew that the Agency director and perhaps his old friend Toni Contardo had something to do with this deal.
    â€œFine. When can you get me out of here?”
    â€œThey’re willing to pay you quite a bit to find Ms. Jones.”
    â€œThat’s not my hesitation,” Jake said. Although he could use some walking around cash, he had plenty hiding around Europe in various bank accounts. “I’ll take what they want to give me, but I won’t drag some mid-30s tree hugger yelling and screaming all the way back to Texas. If she wants to go back that’s fine, but I won’t force her.”
    The state department man raised his hands palm out. “I understand. So, let’s go.”
    Jake looked at himself down to his bare feet. “Just like that?”
    â€œYep. I’ll do my best to get your personal belongings back, including your passport, credit cards and cash.”
    Jake shook his head. “Don’t bother. I had about fifty Euros worth of Tunisian dinars, which have probably deflated to nothing in the past week.”
    â€œBut you’ll need your passport.”
    That’s how Jake knew the Agency was somehow involved with this whole matter. Jake had used a fake passport from one