The Hunters (44 page)

The phone on the bedside table rang at a quarter of eight. Cobb had just closed his eyes and was contemplating how much the hotel had spent on the linens. He knew little of thread counts or Egyptian cotton, but he did know they were the softest sheets he had ever felt. On the second ring, his training overrode his natural desire for rest, and he reached for the phone.

‘Hello?’ he asked.

‘Good evening, Mr Cobb.’ It was the concierge he had met earlier. ‘I trust you find the room to your liking?’

‘It’s okay, I guess.’

‘Excellent,’ the concierge replied, picking up on Cobb’s sarcasm. ‘I am calling to remind you of your dinner reservation. Le Chat-Botte. Eight o’clock. Table for two.’

‘Le Chat-Bo-
what
?’ Cobb asked.

‘Le Chat-Botte,’ the concierge repeated. ‘It’s our restaurant, right here in the hotel. Five-star, I assure you. Simply exquisite cuisine.’

‘I’m sure it is,’ Cobb agreed. He sat up in bed and rolled his neck, knowing that his nap would have to wait. ‘Listen, I assume I’m going to need a jacket, so I’m going to need a jacket.’

‘One has already been arranged,’ the concierge confirmed.

Of course it has
, Cobb thought.

‘A lovely, charcoal two-button from Yves Saint-Laurent. I shall have it sent to your room immediately.’

‘As long as it looks good with jeans,’ Cobb joked.

* * *

At five minutes after eight, Cobb entered Le Chat-Botte and was directed to a table in the far corner of the restaurant. His dinner companion had already arrived.

Cobb was carrying a pistol at both his ankle and his waist.

He was prepared for anything.

However, the only weapon the man at the table looked like he knew how to wield was a fork. He was a round man, with a thick, brown beard that covered his multiple chins. He was impeccably dressed, with a silk handkerchief tucked into his collar to keep the oysters he was slurping from dripping onto his tailored suit. A $1,500 bottle of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti 1997 sat uncorked on the table. The first glass he had poured was now almost empty.

Still, Cobb approached the table with caution.

The round man put down his wine and stood to great him.

‘Mr Cobb, I presume?’

Cobb was momentarily stunned.

Wait a second. He doesn’t know who I am.

How can that be?

But Cobb kept his composure. ‘And you are?’

‘Petr Ulster, at your service,’ the man replied. ‘Please, sit.’

As they took their seats across the table from one another, Cobb tried to make head or tail of the situation.

‘Petr Ulster,’ Cobb repeated. ‘Is that supposed to mean something to me?’

The portly man grimaced with confusion. ‘Of the Ulster Archives …?’

‘Keep going,’ Cobb pressed.

Ulster sat back in his chair and smiled. ‘I am Petr Ulster, director of the Ulster Archives. It is the finest private collection of documents and antiquities in the world. Second to none.’

‘Director, eh?’ Cobb repeated. ‘I guess I have you to thank for the room.’

‘I’m afraid not,’ Ulster answered. ‘Though we do owe someone a huge debt of thanks. I have stayed here many a night over the years, and I know how much the rooms and meals cost - especially when
I’m
eating. I will happily let someone else cover the expense this time.’

Cobb’s mind raced with possibilities. Although he was reluctant to admit his confusion, Cobb sensed the best way to get answers from Ulster was to ask him direct questions. ‘If you’re not paying for our rooms,
who
is? And what are we here to do?’

‘As for who is ultimately responsible for our meeting, I, like you, have not been told.’ Ulster’s chins jiggled as he smiled. ‘But I
can
help you with the rest.’

Ulster leaned forward and poured his new friend a glass of wine.

‘Mr Cobb, we’re here to discuss your next mission.’

People always ask me where I get my story ideas. Normally, I’m not sure how to answer because my
real
answer - my ideas develop over time during several months of tedious research and stress-induced nausea - isn’t very glamorous. But in the case of
The Hunters
, I can narrow it down to one specific moment.

Although I never met the man - he died six years before my birth - my great-grandfather (Jidah) grew up in a small village like the one described in this book. Not only was it nestled in the rugged terrain of the Carpathian Mountains, but it was located in the ethno-geographic blob along the Ukrainian/Romanian border that still confounds mapmakers, historians and, most importantly,
me
to this very day. (Not to mention Hector Garcia and his GPS.)

As a child, I was always told that my great-grandfather was Ruthenian. Not Romanian, but
Ruthenian
. The problem is, by the time I was born, Ruthenia no longer existed. The entire region had been swallowed whole by the Soviet Union, which had taken a red pencil and a pinko eraser and had reconfigured Eastern Europe to their liking. It didn’t matter how many times I asked my family where Jidah had come from, they could never pinpoint a specific location because Ruthenia was no longer on any maps. The best they could do was narrow it down to the giant blob I referenced above.

Over time, their story seemed to change. Not a lot, but just enough for me to doubt how much they really knew about his birthplace. Keep in mind, these were the same people who had convinced me that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were real, so I knew my family was capable of some pretty devious shit. (Of course, that is
not
an insult coming from me because I make up stuff for a living.)

How did their story change? Let me give you an example.

As a teenager, I developed a bad case of insomnia, and my mother told me it was only natural because our ancestors were from Transylvania. Not Ruthenia, but Transylvania. Think about that for a moment. My mom tried to calm my fears by insinuating that I might be a vampire. How twisted is that? To the
Twilight
generation, that probably sounds like the coolest thing in the world. But to me and my overactive imagination, it meant angry villagers were going to hunt me down and stab me with sharp sticks.

Thanks, mom. I can sleep
much
better after that pep talk.

Anyway, after many sleepless years, I decided to get to the bottom of things in 2005. My extended family had gathered for Thanksgiving, and I realized it was the perfect time to uncover as many details about my ancestors as possible. I went directly to the oldest source in the house (my grandmother) and recorded everything that she said - whether real or imagined. Then I went online and tried to sort the facts from the fiction.

Discovery #1: My great-grandfather
was
Ruthenian, but that term wasn’t used to describe people from a specific country. Instead, it applied to just about everyone who lived in the Carpathian region, whether they were Ukrainian, Hungarian, Czech, Belarusian, Rusyn, or Romanian.

Discovery #2: My great-grandfather’s village was less than fifty miles from Uzhhorod, a border city in western Ukraine that is within walking distance of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. Of course, those borders didn’t exist at the time of his birth, so I still have no idea what ethnicity Jidah was. Instead, the entire region was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which stretched across a third of Europe and didn’t collapse until my great-grandfather had boarded a ship for America.

Discovery #3: His departure undoubtedly led to Russian aggression, and - I’m just guessing here - probably triggered the start of World War I.

Discovery #4: I am
not
a vampire.

So, you’re probably wondering, what does any of this stuff have to do with
The Hunters
? Well, it was during my investigation on that fateful day that I came across a document that described, in detail, the crates of gold and relics that were shipped from Romania to Moscow for protection. Strangely, I could find nothing about the treasure’s return. Sensing a story, I quickly abandoned my ancestral research and focused on the treasure’s fate - and what a fate it was.

One day it was there, the next it was gone.

Kind of like Ruthenia.

Since both of these events occurred at roughly the same time, I merged the two concepts in my mind and created a single book. To honor my ancestors, I set much of the action in a Carpathian village, named one of the Russian characters after my great-grandmother, and sprinkled in tidbits about my family tree throughout.

For additional flavor, I relied on the pages of notes that I took during the interview with my grandmother in 2005. I would have preferred to ask her specific questions about her parents and their upbringing in the old country; unfortunately, my grandmother got sick and passed away while I was writing this book.

In my heart, I know she would have loved the story.

I also know the story wouldn’t have existed without her.

Aaron Cosgrove, Aaron Holcombe, Ada Bohorfoush, Adam Brice, Adam Cryer, Adam Keppel-Garner, Adam Lane, Adam Porter, Adam Seymour, Adey Greaves, Adriana Linh Ma-Luu, Adrianna De Silva, Agnieszka Zajac, Alan Bruce, Alan Fisher, Alan Gregson, Alan Martin, Alena Puhlovska, Alex Houseago, Alex Rossiter, Alex Underwood, Alexis Webb, Alison Footman, Alison Sexton, Allan Gray, Amanda Brewin, Amanda Cannon, Amanda Henry, Amber Mayo, Amy McGovern, Anderw Hassan, Andia Dizon, Andrea Kavanagh, Andrew Appleton, Andrew Mackintosh, Andrew Needle, Andrew Purdon, Andy Francis, Andy Crowe, Andy Francis, Andy Gregory, Andy Wilson, Angela Colby, Angela Guest, Angela Pearce, Ankit Agarwal, Annette Barlass, Annette Day, Anthea Arlow, Anthony Chesshire, Anthony Huet, Apurv Saha, Ashish Borakhadikar, Ashley Bell, Avni Mehta, Avnika Barman, Barbara Long, Barbara Prino, Beki Bradwell, Belinda Knight, Ben Rogowski, Ben K. 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