Read The Bones Of Odin (Matt Drake 1) for Free Online Page B

company within the SAS.
    Wells’ earlier comment had unearthed old memories that should stay buried deeper than a politician’s expenses history. You were more than the SAS. Why would you want to forget that?
    Because of what we did.
    Alicia Myles was one of the best soldiers he’d ever seen. Women had to be better than men in the Special Forces to get even half as far. And Alicia had gone right to the top.
    What was she doing mixed up in all this, and sounding like the fanatic he knew she certainly was not? Only one thing motivated Alicia - money.
    Could that be why she was working for the Canadians?
    Drake started crawling towards the room’s real exit. “So, far from getting us taken off the kill list and unmasking our enemies,” he panted, “we’ve now got more enemies, and achieved nothing except to confuse ourselves even further.”
    Kennedy, crawling after him, added, “My life . . . in a Goddamn nutshell.”
     
     
     
     
     
     

SEVEN
     
    PARIS, FRANCE
     
    Kennedy’s hotel suite was somewhat nicer than the one Drake and Ben had spent a couple of hours in.
    “Thought all you cops were broke,” Drake grumbled, as he checked ingress and egress points.
    “We are. But when your vacation time is pretty much non-existent for ten years, then I guess your checking account starts stacking up.”
    “That a laptop?” Ben had reached it before the rhetorical question was answered. They had found him lurking near the glass pyramid after meandering their way out of the museum, acting like two more frightened tourists, too scared to remember any details.
    “Why aren’t we alerting the French to what we know?” Kennedy asked as Ben opened up the laptop.
    “Because they’re French,” Drake said with a laugh, then sobered when no one joined in. He perched on the edge of Kennedy’s bed, watching his friend work. “Sorry. The French won’t know anything. Going through this with them now will slow us down. And I think time is the issue. It’s the Swedes we should contact.”
    “Know anyone in the Swedish Secret Service?” Kennedy raised an eyebrow at him.
    “No. I have a call in to my old Commander though.”
    “When did you quit the SAS?”
    “You never quit the SAS.” When Ben looked up he added: “Figuratively.”
    “Three heads should be better than two.” Ben stared at Kennedy for a second. “That’s if you’re still in?”
    A slight nod. Kennedy’s hair fell over her eyes, and she spent a minute tying it back. “I get that there are nine Pieces of Odin, so my first question is why? Second question is - what are they?”
    “We were just figuring that out back at the cafe.” Ben was tapping furiously at the keyboard. “There’s a legend, which Mr Crusty here disproves of, that alleges there’s an actual Tomb of the Gods – literally, a place where all the ancient Gods are buried. And it’s not just a dusty old legend either; a number of academics have debated it, and many papers have been published over the years. Problem is,” said Ben rubbing his eyes, “it’s tough reading. Academics aren’t renowned for their prosaic language.”
    “Prosaic? ” Kennedy echoed with a smile. “You go to college?”
    “He’s the lead singer in a band,” Drake shot back, deadpan.
    Kennedy raised an eyebrow. “So you have a Tomb of the Gods that never existed. Okay. So what?”
    “If it’s ever desecrated the world will drown in fire . . . etc . . . etc.”
    “I see. And the Nine Pieces?”
    “Well, once assembled at Ragnarok, they point the way to the tomb.”
    “Where’s Ragnarok?”
    Drake kicked at the carpet. “Another red-herring. It’s not a place. It’s actually a series of events, a great battle, the world cleansed by a flood of fire. Natural disasters. Pretty much - Armageddon.”
    Kennedy frowned. “So even the hard-assed Vikings feared the apocalypse.”
    Looking down, Drake noticed on the floor a recent but very creased copy of USA Today. It had been folded around the