The Gray Ghost
Clive Cussler
TITLES BY CLIVE CUSSLER
DIRK PITT® ADVENTURES
Odessa Sea (with Dirk Cussler)
Havana Storm (with Dirk Cussler)
Poseidon’s Arrow (with Dirk Cussler)
Crescent Dawn (with Dirk Cussler)
Arctic Drift (with Dirk Cussler)
Treasure of Khan (with Dirk Cussler)
Black Wind (with Dirk Cussler)
Trojan Odyssey
Valhalla Rising
Atlantis Found
Flood Tide
Shock Wave
Inca Gold
Sahara
Dragon
Treasure
Cyclops
Deep Six
Pacific Vortex!
Night Probe!
Vixen 03
Raise the Titanic!
Iceberg
The Mediterranean Caper
SAM AND REMI FARGO ADVENTURES
The Gray Ghost (with Robin Burcell)
The Romanov Ransom (with Robin Burcell)
Pirate (with Robin Burcell)
The Solomon Curse (with Russell Blake)
The Eye of Heaven (with Russell Blake)
The Mayan Secrets (with Thomas Perry)
The Tombs (with Thomas Perry)
The Kingdom (with Grant Blackwood)
Lost Empire (with Grant Blackwood)
Spartan Gold (with Grant Blackwood)
ISAAC BELL ADVENTURES
The Cutthroat (with Justin Scott)
The Gangster (with Justin Scott)
The Assassin (with Justin Scott)
The Bootlegger (with Justin Scott)
The Striker (with Justin Scott)
The Thief (with Justin Scott)
The Race (with Justin Scott)
The Spy (with Justin Scott)
The Wrecker (with Justin Scott)
The Chase
KURT AUSTIN ADVENTURES
Novels from The NUMA® Files
Nighthawk (with Graham Brown)
The Pharaoh’s Secret (with Graham Brown)
Ghost Ship (with Graham Brown)
Zero Hour (with Graham Brown)
The Storm (with Graham Brown)
Devil’s Gate (with Graham Brown)
Medusa (with Paul Kemprecos)
The Navigator (with Paul Kemprecos)
Polar Shift (with Paul Kemprecos)
Lost City (with Paul Kemprecos)
White Death (with Paul Kemprecos)
Fire Ice (with Paul Kemprecos)
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Typhoon Fury (with Boyd Morrison)
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Corsair (with Jack Du Brul)
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Skeleton Coast (with Jack Du Brul)
Dark Watch (with Jack Du Brul)
Sacred Stone (with Craig Dirgo)
Golden Buddha (with Craig Dirgo)
NONFICTION
Built for Adventure: The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt
Built to Thrill: More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt
The Sea Hunters (with Craig Dirgo)
The Sea Hunters II (with Craig Dirgo)
Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed (with Craig Dirgo)
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cussler, Clive, author. | Burcell, Robin, author.
Title: The gray ghost / Clive Cussler, Robin Burcell.
Description: New York : G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2018. | Series: A Sam and Remi Fargo adventure ; 10
Identifiers: LCCN 2018012901| ISBN 9780735218734 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780735218741 (epub)
Subjects: | BISAC: FICTION / Action & Adventure. | FICTION / Suspense. | FICTION / Thrillers. | GSAFD: Adventure fiction. | Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3553.U75 G73 2018 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018012901
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Version_1
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Reginald “Reggie” Oren—a cousin of Jonathon Payton
Charles Rolls and Henry Royce—owners, Rolls-Royce Limited
Jonathon Payton, 5th Viscount Wellswick
Elizabeth Oren—Reginald’s wife
THE PAYTON HOME FOR ORPHANS
Toby Edwards—an orphan
Chip Edwards—an orphan
Will Sutton—a private detective from Manchester hired by Rolls-Royce Limited
Isaac Bell—an American private detective, the Van Dorn Detective Agency
Miss Lydia Atwater—a schoolteacher at the Payton Home for Orphans
Byron, Lord Ryderton—Jonathon Payton’s friend
Mac—a car thief
Eddie—a car thief
Finlay—a car thief
Barclay Keene—owner, Barclay Keene Electric Motor Works
THE PRESENT DAY
Sam Fargo
Remi Fargo
Eunice “Libby” Fargo—Sam’s mother
Albert Payton, 7th Viscount Wellswick
Oliver Payton—Albert’s nephew
Kimberley—concierge, the Inn at Spanish Bay
Selma Wondrash—the Fargos’ head researcher
Zoltán—the Fargos’ German shepherd
Professor Lazlo Kemp—a Fargo researcher and cryptologist
Pete Jeffcoat and Wendy Corden—Selma’s assistants
Geoffrey Russell—the Fargos’ personal banker
IN MANCHESTER
Arthur Oren—a very distant cousin of the Paytons
Colton Devereux—ex–Special Forces, works for Oren
Frank—works for Oren
Bruno—works for Oren
Mrs. Beckett—housekeeper, Payton Manor
Allegra Payton Northcott—Oliver’s sister
Trevor Payton Northcott—Allegra’s son
Dex Northcott—Allegra’s ex-husband
David Cooke—Albert Payton’s solicitor
Bill Snyder—a private detective working for Cooke
Chad Williams—mechanic, the Gray Ghost
IN ITALY
John and Georgia Bockoven—photographers for Sports Car Market, owners of a vineyard and B and B
Paolo Magnanimi—owner, Hostaria Antica Roma
Luca—an acquaintance of Lorenzo Rossi
Lorenzo Rossi—a broker of stolen goods
Marco Verzino—the owner of the Trevi Fountain apartment
IN FRANCE
Monsieur Marchand—the manager of Lorenzo Rossi’s Paris office
Suzette—Marchand’s secretary
CONTENTS
Titles by Clive Cussler
Title Page
Copyright
Cast of Characters
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
About the Authors
PROLOGUE
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
March 1906
Late for work, Reginald Oren raced across the street, the cobblestones slick from the night’s rain. Dodging a horse and carriage, he jumped over a puddle, then ran toward a brick building that took up half a city block. He shrugged out of his overcoat, hung it on a hook just inside the door, and quietly entered a large workroom filled with a half dozen young men sitting at their desks, their attention focused on the office on the far side of the room. No one noticed that Reginald was late, and he took his seat, glancing toward the office’s open door, where Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, both dressed in dark suits, were talking to a policeman.
“That looks ominous,” Reginald said, glancing over at his cousin, Jonathon Payton, who sat at the desk next to his. “What did I miss?”
“It’s gone.”
“What’s gone?”
“The forty-fifty prototype.”
“When?”
“Last night. They went there this morning to finish up the coachwork, and it was gone.”
Reginald leaned back in his chair as he looked around the room, then focused on the men in the office, imagining what this would do to the company. Rolls-Royce Limited had put all their money, and that of their investors, into this improved six-cylinder engine. Every last penny had gone into the design of that, as well as a chassis meant to withstand the harsh country roads. When the world seemed to laugh at them, saying it couldn’t be done, they’d persevered. And now, when they were on the verge of accomplishing the impossible . . .
Jonathon leaned toward him, lowering his voice. “Was Elizabeth pleased?”
“Pleased?” he said, unable to draw his gaze from the office. Reginald’s wife, Elizabeth, had taken their newborn son to visit her mother, but, for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why Jonathon would bring her up at a time like this. “About what?”
“About the pianoforte.”
A shame he couldn’t hear what they were discussing in there, and he finally turned toward his cousin, belatedly recalling last night’s conversation, when he’d solicited Jonathon’s assistance. “Undoubtedly, she will be. Meant to thank you for helping my friends and me move it, but you’d disappeared. One minute you were next to me, the next you were gone.”
“I guess I had a bit much. Not sure what happened.” He was quiet a moment, then whispered, “You won’t mention that to my father, will you?”
“Of course not.” Jonathon’s father, Viscount Wellswick, had raised both boys after Reginald’s parents died, though Reginald always suspected he’d have ended up in an orphanage if not for the intervention of Jonathon’s mother. Ironic, considering that she was the reason their fathers had been the bitterest of enemies. Reginald’s father had been in love with her, but her fortune was needed to restore the viscountcy, so she was wedded to Jonathon’s father instead. He often wondered if she regretted the marriage. Her husband, the Viscount, was frugal beyond belief, as well as a strict disciplinarian. He certainly wouldn’t have approved of either of them spending a night at one of the local taverns, drinking ale with the neighborhood residents. The Viscount was all about propriety. How it would look to his friends if his son and nephew stepped out of line. Appearances were everything, which was why Reginald and Jonathon were expected to oversee the running of the orphanage that bore the Viscount’s name. Jonathon, in line to be the next viscount and heir to the Payton estate, was expected to be there six days a week, usually stopping in after work. In Reginald’s mind, that was the one advantage of being the poor relation living under his uncle’s roof. He was only expected to volunteer his time at the orphanage twice a week. Of course, that was in addition to the six days a week both men spent working for Rolls-Royce.
There were no free rides in the Payton home, the old man thinking that working at a job each day built character. Had the Viscount discovered Reginald had led Payton astray, he’d likely toss Reginald, his wife, and their son out on the street. “Not to worry,” Reginald said, turning his attention back to the office. “Your secret of drunken debauchery is safe with me.”
Reginald watched the men talking in the office, the faces of the two owners, Rolls and Royce, looking drawn, the loss weighing on them. The stolen car, named the Gray Ghost for the col
or of the body and the quietness of the forty-fifty engine, had been kept a secret from all but their investors for fear that someone might try to steal their ideas. Apparently, it had never occurred to them that someone might steal the entire car. Payton’s father, the Viscount, had offered the family warehouse to store the car while they were fitting it with its custom coachwork, hoping to enter it into the Olympia Motor Show in just a few months. Reginald and Jonathon had discussed the idea that the vehicle would be more secure there, less likely to fall prey to anyone skulking around the factory, stealing plans. Jonathon, however, was the one who’d presented it. “Tough break, this happening on your watch, don’t you think?” Reginald said.
“Quite. I expect they’ll sack me for it.”
“Have they said anything to you?”
“No,” Payton whispered, his face paling as Mr. Rolls shook the officer’s hand, then escorted him out the door.
Mr. Royce stepped out after them, looked right at Jonathon. “Do you have a moment?”
“Right away, sir.” Jonathon Payton rose, not looking at his cousin as he walked toward the office.
“Close the door.”
“Yes, sir.” He shut the door behind him.
Reginald, eyeing the journals on top of a cabinet against the office’s wall, casually walked over, picked up the topmost one, and pretended to read it. The wall was thin enough to hear what was being said.
“You’ve no doubt heard what happened?” Mr. Royce asked Jonathon.
“I have.”
“You realize what dire straits we’re in?”
Reginald leaned in closer. In charge of the books, he knew every penny the company spent and what would happen to their investors if they didn’t recover that car and start turning a profit. They’d go bankrupt, his uncle, the Viscount—who’d invested everything—right along with them. Jonathon’s response, though, was covered by the return of Mr. Rolls, who nearly ran into Reginald as he came back from seeing the officer out.
“Pardon,” Mr. Rolls said, stepping past him. He started to open the door, paused, looking over at Reginald, and at the other young men, sitting at their desks, their attention focused on what was happening in the office. “I daresay, we’re all frightfully worried over this setback. But we’ll get past it. In the meantime, let’s all get back to our tasks, shall we?”
