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Gothic than industrial. She loved the older sections of European cities. All
she had to do was look at the buildings and she could imagine the wagons,
carriages and horses clattering down the cobbled streets. History, hundreds of
years of it, was ingrained in the architecture.
Her hotel boasted a collection of gargoyles that perched along the roof and
looked ready to swoop down on her. She frowned a little when she realized they
made her think of Garin. She didn t know if it was because they looked like
predators or simply devious.
Are you all right, miss? the cab driver asked in hesitant English. He held
the door open and stood with his cap in his hand.
Jarred back to the present, Annja looked at him. I am. Thank you. She
reached back into the cab for her backpack. She never went anywhere without
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it. Her notebook computer, GPS locater, extra batteries, cameras and other
electronic equipment, as well as the change of clothes she habitually carried
were inside.
She gathered the backpack by the straps and strode up the stone steps leading
to the hotel.
Ah, Miss Creed.
Barely in the foyer, Annja turned and found one of the hotel s assistant
managers standing there. Yes, Johan?
The old man smiled. You remember my name. He clapped in delight, then
smoothed his long silver mustache with his fingertips.
Annja suspected he was old enough to be her grandfather, but he was thin and
elegant and moved like an athlete. His dark suit was immaculate and fit the
antique furnishings of the refurbished hotel. Soft yellow light gleamed
against the surface of the stone floors.
You ve gone out of your way to make my stay here pleasant, Annja replied.
Of course I d remember your name.
You flatter an old man. Johan put a hand over his heart.
Annja smiled. During the past few days while she d been a guest at the hotel,
Johan and the other staff had taken good care of her. They d seemed
disappointed that she wasn t more demanding. As it turned out, several of them
were fans of Chasing History s Monsters.
There was a bit of a problem while you were gone, Johan said. He looked a
little nervous. It was most confusing. I was told it was supposed to be a
surprise, but I could hardly allow such a thing.
That troubled Annja a little. What thing?
Johan crooked a finger at her and guided her off to the side of the foyer.
The man. I simply couldn t allow him into your room without you being there.
A man tried to get into my room? Annja thought at once of the men she d
chased. Maybe they had tracked her down.
Johan closed his eyes and shook his head. Of course not. Had that been so, I
would have called hotel security at once, and then the police. The hotel does
not put up with such he fumbled for an American expression shenanigans.
Of course.
He claimed he was arranged for.
Arranged for by whom?
Johan shook his head. Why, that is part of the problem. He wouldn t tell me.
What did he want?
To dress you.
That threw Annja off stride. To dress me?
That s what he said. He said he was arranged for and sent here at his
employer s request. I have his card.
The employer s?
No. The man who is here. Like a magician, Johan s hand exploded into motion
and a card was produced as though he d plucked it from thin air.
The card was heavily embossed and decorated in an understated manner with pale
pink flowers that assured affluence. It had only one word Gesauldi.
There wasn t even an address or phone number. Nothing on the card suggested
what the man did.
Johan studied her face. I was hoping that you would know him, Miss Creed.
No. Annja slipped the card into her pocket. Did he leave?
Johan shook his head. I wouldn t so casually turn away a man such as he.
He s still here?
But of course. I put him into a room for the moment.
Then let s go talk to him, Annja said with a sigh.
6
Gesauldi answered the hotel door but didn t look happy about it. He had the
air of a man who didn t answer doors, not even his own.
Mr. Gesauldi, Johan said. I present to you Miss Annja Creed.
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Annja had automatically dropped into an L-stance and prepared to defend
herself. Lately there hadn t been many social calls in her life, and danger
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