Shadow of Anubis

CONTENTS 1. The Foreigner’s Brother 2. The Missing Functionary 3. Family Matters 4. The Legacy of Gilbert Sadler 5. The Price of Fashion 6. Frustrations 7. Too Much Magic 8. Inventory 9. Reactions 10. Card Tricks 11. The Legwork 12. The Devil in the Details 13. An Accounting 14. The Coat 15. Fashion Sense 16. White Fulgent 17. Heir of the Dog 18. Schemes 19. The Ragman 20. The Safehouse 21. Limelight 22. The Rowing of the Ducks 23. Green Eyed Monster 24. The Alchemist 25. Deception 26. Follow the Money Acknowledgments Also by Dan Willis About the Author Digital Edition – 2023 This version copyright © 2023 by Dan Willis. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. Edited by Stephanie Osborn Supplemental Edits by Barbara Davis Cover by Mihaela Voicu Published by Runeblade Entertainment Spanish Fork, Utah. 1 THE FOREIGNER’S BROTHER The phone on the desk began to ring, causing the poorly constructed bit of agency furniture to wobble on its short leg. Agent Aissa Mendes rolled her eyes and leaned down to stuff another matchbook beneath the offending leg. That problem solved, at least for the moment, she sat back up and picked up the handset from the phone’s cradle. “Agent Mendes,” she said. “How’s your paperwork?” the voice of field office director Adam Stevens asked. Aissa glanced at the top of her desk, at the pile of files she needed to update before they went off to document storage. It was a much smaller pile now than when she started, but there was still a lot of work to be done. “Going well,” she hedged, not wanting to be too specific. Director Stevens had the power to give her a case and break the cycle of endless paperwork that had engulfed her since she became a full agent. “You want to get out and do some field work?” he asked. It was all Aissa could do not to shout into the handset. “Of course,” she managed. “Come to my office, I’ve got a job for you.” Aissa replaced the handset in the phone’s cradle, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds. “You look excited,” a new voice startled her. She let out her pent-up breath and looked up to see her trainer, Buddy Redhorn, standing over her. “Stevens wants to see me,” she said, standing. Redhorn raised an eyebrow at that, a vaguely amused expression washing over his angular face. “Going to get your own case,” he said with an approving nod. “Good luck.” Aissa wanted to hug him. No one had believed in her more than Redhorn, but the man was the very definition of buttoned down and an outward display of affection would only embarrass him. Instead, she gave him a grin as she picked up her hat from her desk. “Thanks,” she said, stepping past him on her way to the Director’s office. Before she could go, however, Redhorn grabbed her elbow. “We work as a team here,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Don’t think you’ve got to handle whatever Stevens throws at you by yourself. If you run into a problem, ask for help.” Aissa just nodded. They both knew that many of their fellow agents weren’t happy having a woman in their ranks. If she messed up a case, it would give leverage to those who wanted to force her out. If one of the other agents worked the case with her and things went badly, it might take them down as well. Understandably, no one but Agent Redhorn was rushing to partner with her. “Don’t worry,” she assured him, then turned back toward Stevens’ office. The Manhattan Field Office of the FBI occupied a single floor in a mid-ring skyscraper, and the office of the director was in the same space as all the agents. Some people in the bureau felt a great deal of importance being a director, but Stevens didn’t care about the trappings of the position. He was much more the kind of man who judged himself by the efficacy of those under his command. “Come in,” he called out when Aissa knocked. The office was one befitting an FBI director, with much better furniture and a wall of bookcases. The man himself sat, leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed. A blue case folder was open on his lap and he shut it as Aissa entered. “Have a seat, Agent Mendes,” he said, tossing the folder on his desk. “I’ve got a case for you; it’s something the police sent over.” That probably meant it was something the police thought was too hot to handle or didn’t have enough evidence to solve. Aissa resisted the urge to grimace. “I know what you’re thinking,” Stevens went on, picking up the folder again, “and you’re right. There isn’t much to go on with this one, but it’s important. There are international implications here and I need someone with tact to handle it.” “Won’t these international people balk at having a woman in charge of their case?” “Probably,” Stevens admitted, “but then they’ll call me and I’ll handle them. What I need you to do is make sure all the ‘i’s are dotted and the ‘t’s are crossed on this one. Take detailed notes on what you find and what you do so that, if this does turn out to be unsolvable, no one can claim we didn’t do our best.” Aissa took that in for a moment. She didn’t like the idea of being handed an impossible case, but such things were