Favoured Friends

Part 16/?

Summary: An invitation to the National Egyptology Conference quickly becomes deadly race for the mythic Ichriem against an old rival of Sydney's - the assassin known only as 'the Viper'.

Note: This is a round robin originally posted at the Relic Hunter Yahoo Group. Although I'm posting it, I did not write the entire thing. This part was written by Cari Loran ( carilorus@yahoo.com )

Also, I have Support Services. That means that, if you want, you can put me on Author Alert and receive notice when other stories of mine are posted, even if you haven't paid yourself.

Posted: Tuesday, September 24, 2002

"You son of a..." Sydney growled dangerously, taking a step forward. "I outta kill you right here." It was a busy airport after all, a dead body wouldn't attract too much notice.

Derek placed a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Sydney," he warned quietly. "That won't help Nigel." He narrowed his eyes to deadly blue slits and straightened himself to his full height, even though The Viper had a good two inches on him. Still... he'd stared down bigger men. "What did you do with him Viper?" he demanded.

A sickly smile etched across the villain's face and he gestured absently with his hand. "Let's just say he's a little tied up at the moment." He seemed amused with his comment. "As cliché as it sounds, I've always wanted to say that. It's fairly clever don't you think?"

"I'm happy for you." Sydney ground out, crossing her arms over her chest. If sarcasm were deadly, The Viper wouldn't have to worry about spouting worn clichés anymore. "Now what the hell are you doing here? Just like hanging around airports?"

The Viper arched an eyebrow, lending even more to his persona of deadly self-satisfaction. "You should know better than that my dear. If you want to know what I've been doing here, I suggest you talk to Preston Bailey." He pushed back his sleeve and smugly studied his watch. "He should be reading something very interesting
right about now."

Sydney stiffened slightly. The ransom note.

"You think you're going to get away with this?" Derek threatened. He kept a steadying arm on Sydney, both for moral and physical support. He knew that like himself, she was trying not to show any weakness in front of her adversary, but it was hard when by all rights she should still be in a hospital. "There's enough undercover operatives in this airport to take over a small country, and one word from me brings them all running."

The Viper flicked a glance at Derek Lloyd, looking him up and down with exaggeration. If he was intimidated by the agent, he gave no indication.

Completing his inspection of the competition, he looked back to Sydney. "I see you've gotten a little government help on your side... I'm impressed, but I suspected it would happen." His eyes drifted back to the man at her side. "I'd call off your dogs Mr. Lloyd." He noticed the agent didn't so much as blink at the mention of his name. It was a trait The Viper could respect. "As I told Ms. Fox, it doesn't work that way, and you know it. This is my game, and you're going to follow my rules."

"And what rules are those?" Sydney sneered. "To just let you do whatever the hell you want?"

The Viper smiled, flashing a row of teeth in a gesture that made him appear appropriately nefarious. "Exactly," he hissed. "I always knew you were a bright girl. That's why I'm going to walk out of here... because if I don't, your assistant will be dead in an hour and my associates will mail his pretty little head to you in a box."

It was a lie, but Fox and her government bodyguard were none the wiser. He saw them both pale at the idea and knew he'd won.

In truth he had no intention of killing Bailey if he could avoid it. In the past he might have done it without hesitation, but perhaps his advancing years had mellowed him slightly... that and the prospect of his pay off.

Half a billion dollars.

That was $500,000,000. A nine digit figure. Plus the potential bonus of an extra 11 million for the boy's ransom. It was more than he'd ever hoped to make, and once he got his hands on that kind of money there would be no more Viper. He'd fade away into peaceful obscurity, maybe move to a nice tropical island and spend the rest of his days sipping margaritas and watching sunsets.

Hell, if he could get his hands on Ichriem, he might even let the Bailey kid go free of charge. His goal had been to make Fox suffer, and she was clearly doing so in spades. Revenge had been achieved... now it was just a matter of how far he let it go.

"So what do you say Ms. Fox, Mr. Lloyd? Do I leave here, or are you going to play hero and try catching me... maybe try to find the boy yourself in the next hour?" He looked at Derek, staring him straight in the eye. "I can see the wheels turning for you. You'd like to handcuff me right now and drag me back to the states wouldn't you? That's your job isn't it Mr. Lloyd?" He didn't wait for an answer. "You and I are a lot alike, we both hate being kept from our goals."

"We're nothing alike." Derek practically spat. "Goals or not." But the older man had been right about one thing, the urge to just wrestle him to the ground and slap a pair of cuffs on his wrists was practically overwhelming. This was The Viper after all, a man sought for over twenty-five years in a dozen countries, and he was standing less than four feet away. Derek's job was to bring the guy in, but he couldn't be stupid about it.

He hated was he was about to say.

"If you're going to leave, you better get the hell out of here before I change my mind." Derek lowered his voice to a lethal decibel. "And if you hurt that kid, I will personally hunt you down and rip your guts out... you'll live long enough to watch yourself die. That's a promise."

Sydney glanced up at Lloyd in disbelief. There was enough menace in his voice to scare a tiger out of its stripes. He was serious.

The Viper thought so too. He knew idle threats when he heard one, and that was definitely no idle threat. He might have underestimated the agent. For the first time in several years, the mercenary actually felt a brief flash of something that might have been unease. Not that he'd let it show.

"I knew you'd be smart. As for the boy's safety, that's up to the two of you, and his brother of course." He smirked and turned to leave, then stopped and turned back around. "Oh, and one more thing Ms. Fox, I suggest you call your secretary and have a little chat with her. Last time I spoke with her, she claimed to have Ichriem... not that I really believe her, but on the off chance it's true, I think you know what to do with it."

Sydney narrowed her eyes. "I'll look into it."

"Good." He turned again and walked away. "Oh yes," he tossed back over his shoulder, not bothering to turn around. "I nearly forgot. Enjoy your stay in London, it's charming this time of year."

End Part Sixteen