Turned to Stone by Jorge Magano Page A

propose something unusual, and of course you’re well within your rights to refuse.”
    “Can I refuse to go to the lecture hall? I need a coffee more than I need air.”
    “There’ll be time for that later.”
    “There won’t be a ‘later’ for me if I don’t get some coffee.”
    Ignoring his complaints, Laura led the way to the elevator, and they descended to the second floor. The lecture hall was an elongated room filled with blue armchairs and a dais where talks were delivered and the CHR’s projects were discussed. The walls were wood paneled, and portable partitions kept too much light from coming in through the windows.
    As Jaime was walking into the room, a blonde woman with fair skin and blue eyes was just coming out. She looked to Jaime to be just shy of forty, and she gave him a polite smile before disappearing down the hallway.
    Laura figured that if Jaime kept devouring the woman with his eyes, pretty soon there’d be nothing left of her, so she took him by the arm and led him into the hall. “Who was that angel?” he asked, continuing to follow her with his eyes until Laura shut the door behind them.
    “That’s Sonia Durán,” replied Isidro Requena in his booming voice. The director of the CHR stood in the center of the room, dressed as always in a gray suit that matched his hair, mustache, and character. “The Center’s new hire. She’s an expert in heritage management, and I don’t want to see you or that fat security guard you hang out with anywhere near her.”
    Jaime shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll do my best. I can’t speak for Roberto.”
    Laura gestured toward a second man in the room, whom Jaime had not yet noticed. The man standing beside Requena was tall and blond. He was neatly dressed in a dark suit and tie and his scarred faced smiled at Jaime with perfect white teeth. Jaime almost retched at the sight of him. “Jaime. I think you already know Señor Vicente Amatriaín, from Europol’s Heritage Unit.”
    Amatriaín shook Jaime’s hand. He was wearing leather gloves, just as he had been in El Burgo de Osma. “How are you, Jaime?” Unlike at their first meeting, this time he spoke informally. “I’ve heard you had a terrible experience. I’m very sorry to hear it.”
    “It was your fault,” Jaime replied.
    “How do you mean?”
    “The people who grabbed me were after you. I hope you feel terrible about it. And that you’ve taken precautions.”
    “Someone in my position can never be too careful. I’m truly sorry for the incident, and I can assure you we’re doing everything possible to establish the facts and catch the perpetrators. That’s part of the reason I asked your boss to arrange this meeting.”
    “If Laura sends for me, I drop everything.”
    “I’m glad to hear it,” Requena said in his gruff voice. “There’s a lot at stake for all of us in this operation. I personally don’t think Arcadia ’s involvement is necessary, but Señor Amatriaín considers it essential.”
    “If not exactly essential,” the Europol officer replied, “it is at least convenient, and an interesting offer for all parties involved. Anyway, the idea wasn’t mine; it came from my superiors.”
    Laura suggested they sit. She and Jaime lowered themselves into armchairs in the front row of the hall, while Amatriaín and Dr. Requena stepped onto the dais and took office chairs. Jaime found it ridiculous that four people were meeting in a lecture hall when they could’ve met in a café surrounded by coffee and buns, but he said nothing.
    Dr. Requena’s deep voice filled the room, creating a menacing effect. “You may not be aware of this, but a few days ago a meeting was held in this very room to prepare an action plan—one that will help us combat the plundering of heritage. The EHU is a recently formed unit, and it has many excellent investigators, but very few art experts. That’s why they’ve turned to us and to other centers and universities around Europe. Mr.