by Donna Raider
##
In Rome, the Pope called a financial conference with his closest clergy. He made certain to include the seven remaining clergy on Mika’s list.
Once the meeting had convened, the Pope explained the financial difficulties the church was having. “I want to make changes in how we track our finances,” he explained. “One of our most successful Archdioceses is the Santa Fe, New Mexico Archdiocese in America. I want to send a research committee to study their methods and report back to me.”
A murmur of agreement went around the table. Cardinal Weaslen spoke up. “I would offer my services to head the committee, Your Excellency. I believe Bishops Travail, Steinhoff, and Franken would be most beneficial in our endeavor.”
The three bishops nodded their agreement. Everyone liked to go to America.
“That is settled then,” the Pope said, bowing his head, “let us pray for God’s blessings on this undertaking.
“The next issue I would like to take up is our Archdiocese in Lima, Peru. I have had several reports of severe misappropriation of funds. I would like an audit committee of three to deal with this situation.”
Cardinal Victor Sergio, Archbishop Fredrick Braun, and Apostolic Nuncio and Bishop Reid volunteered to make the audit. The Pope knew they would. According to his information, the three were taking sizeable amounts of money from the Lima church. There were also rumors that the three men were involved in the drug trafficking in Peru.
“Please make the necessary arrangements for the two committees to arrive in their respective cities on Monday,” the Pope asked his secretary. “They will stay until they feel their mission has been accomplished.”
Abusir nodded and secretly smiled. This is going even better than I had hoped, he thought. The Pope is sending the fox to guard the hen house.
“After our emissaries have completed their assignments in Santa Fe and Lima,” the Pope spoke clearly, “Monsignor, you and I will meet them in New York for a small, private conference.”
##
Watcher looked at his cell phone when the text dinged. It simply said, “Santa Fe, NM 4/15.” His phone dinged again. “Lima, Peru 4/19.”
Watcher ordered two round-trip tickets to Florida online just in case the authorities were watching for single males flying one way. Two days later, he purchased two round-trip tickets from Florida to Las Vegas, Nevada to arrive on the thirteenth. He would lease a car and drive to Santa Fe. After his business was concluded, he would drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico and fly to Dallas.
Watcher logged onto the Internet. He could find no catholic meetings scheduled in Santa Fe or Lima. He could find no catholic meetings during the month of April. He had two months to figure out the relevance of the dates and places. He would go to Santa Fe and see if he could learn anything.
One thing was certain. He had two assignments back to back, which was highly unusual. Nevertheless, he would be in Santa Fe two weeks before the fifteenth then in Lima on April seventeenth to prepare for his tasks. Using several different credit cards, he purchased two round-trip tickets from Albuquerque, NM to the DFW airport in Dallas, Texas. Then he purchased one roundtrip ticket from Houston to Lima. He would arrive in Dallas early on the fifteenth and drive a rental car to Houston, spend the night, and fly to Lima the next day. He hoped Lima had modernized since his last trip there.
Watcher hated to do any job in a hurry. The main reason he had always been successful was the meticulous attention he paid to every kill. He planned and made allowances for problems. He always made the kills on his own terms. He didn’t like this. He was being forced to kill seven men in a week, in strange places under unknown circumstances. He didn’t like it at all. Seven had never been his lucky number.
##
Watcher visited a training center and signed up for a course with a seeing-eye dog. Feigning blindness, he trained with the dog for ten days. He purchased a beautiful three-year-old German shepherd named Jax. Jax was a perfect example of the working breed. He weighed eighty pounds and was a ferocious-looking animal. The training center had provided him a vest and identification tags for Jax. He had chosen a camouflage vest with Guide Dog emblazoned down each side in huge red letters. He planned to wear the camouflage army fatigues of a serviceman and very dark sunglasses. He knew people would immediately identify him as a serviceman, blinded while defending their country. He would use this cover during his New York and Florida flights. Before leaving Santa Fe, he would donate Jax to a service dog training center.
He purchased a round-trip ticket to Albuquerque for the day after tomorrow. He would stay in Santa Fe five days and figure out what his assignment was. He would take Jax with him just to see how the dog behaved inflight. He wanted no problems on his real flight.
##
Adam appeared in the living room of his parents’ penthouse. Hearing the sounds coming from their bedroom, he immediately regretted failing to notify them he was coming. He recalled his mother’s many warnings. He should never, never appear in their bedroom. He immediately went to his own suite and called his mother. It took several rings for her to answer. He could tell she was trying to breathe normally.
“Hello,” she whispered breathlessly.
“Mom, it’s me, Adam.” He was a little flustered. Although he knew both his parents were incredibly attractive and very vivacious, the thought of them together always made him shudder a little. After all, they were his parents.
“Son.” She exhaled softly. He could almost hear her smile over the phone. “Where are you?”
“Here, in my room.” He smiled at her joyous greeting.
“Come up here and let me see you,” she said gleefully.
Mika immediately found herself fully dressed and seated next to her wife on the sofa. “What happened?” she moaned. “I was just about to—”
Leah placed a finger to Mika’s lips to stop her as the elevator door opened, spilling their son into the living room.
“Adam.” Mika stood and followed her wife to their child that most resembled the priest. “What a pleasant surprise.”
Adam hugged his parents then motioned for everyone to take a seat. “Mika, I have some great news. I think we have found proof that St. Peter was indeed married during his time with Jesus.”
Mika’s eyes widened. She shook her head. She had known this to be a fact, but knew mankind required hard, provable facts when it came to biblical things. What happened to faith?
Adam continued, “We are verifying the validity of the papyrus documents we found inside an ossuary in a vault that we believe belonged to the family of St. Peter’s wife. We believe we have her ossuary.”
“What kind of document is it?” Mika asked excitedly. She knew the answer but wanted her son to verify it.
“Each ossuary appears to contain a death certificate for the bones inside it.” Adam’s excitement was contagious. “The writings appear to be older than the Synoptic Gospels, which are dated around AD seventy. But Mika,” Adam’s eyes beamed as he said, “we found writings about the life of Christ dated around AD thirty. Can you believe that? Actual documentation of Jesus’s life forty years prior to the writings of Matthew, Mark, or Luke. The writings are during or shortly after the life of Jesus.”
“We need to pray.” Mika took her wife’s hand and her son’s. Adam clasped his mother’s hand, forming a circle. The priest prayed that her son’s findings would further substantiate the Bible and provide added proof to everyone that it was truly the word of God.
“I can’t stay long,” Adam said. “I’m supposed to be asleep in my tent.”
“Be very careful, Son,” Mika warned him. “If our existence should become known, it would cause tremendous danger for all of us.”
“I know, Mika.” Adam frowned. “I never use my abilities unless I have to. I just had to share this with you.”
“I thank you for that.” Mika hugged her son tightly as did Leah, then he was gone.
##
A knock at her door startled Amber. S
he wasn’t expecting anyone. “Aunt Amber, it’s me, Adam.”
She flung open the door and smiled brilliantly at the young god standing there. “Adam,” the word escaped her lips like a soft summer breeze. He loved to hear her say his name.
She stepped back to allow him to enter. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Timbuktu or somewhere.” She didn’t want him to know she always knew where he was, how closely she followed everything he did.
“I had to speak with Mika.” Adam smiled. “I couldn’t leave without seeing you.”
She bowed her head. “I’m glad,” she admitted. “Would you like something to drink? Are you hungry? Can I offer you anything?”
“Just you.” He blushed slightly at his own boldness. “It’s always been just you.”
He reached for her, but she gracefully avoided him. “Adam, I don’t think—”
“Please don’t speak a lie to me,” he begged. “You kissed me back. Surely, you feel the same as I. Don’t give me that story about our age difference.”
His deep blue eyes pleaded for honesty. “I love you. I have loved you for as long as I can remember.”
Knowing she shouldn’t, Amber told him the truth. “I love you, too, Adam.”
“That is all I need to know.” He beamed. He kissed her again, careful not to ask more of her. “Soon I will be home for good. We can plan then.” He opened the door and left the room.
##
Watcher appeared at the boarding gate for Albuquerque with Jax. He was surprised at how accommodating the airlines had been when he had explained at security that he had also purchased the seat next to him to avoid inconveniencing other travelers. They lauded him for being so considerate.
Jax instantly lay down on the floor, between Watcher’s feet and the wall of the airplane. The empty seat was above Jax. Shedding the blind disguise, Watcher picked up their rental car at the airport and drove to Santa Fe. Jax was wonderfully trained. He communicated as brilliantly with Watcher as the man did with the dog. Watcher was careful to attend to Jax’s needs. The dog was loyal and extremely intelligent, traits Watcher felt should be rewarded.
After checking into their hotel, Watcher and Jax made their way to the Loretto Chapel, playing the role of tourists. As he sat in the chapel, a young nun approached him. “Do you know the history of this chapel?” she asked.
“I’m aware of some of it,” he said, smiling his sweetest smile, “but I’m certain you have many details I don’t know. Perhaps you could relate them to me.” He had on large sunshades. He wore an Indiana Jones-style fedora, the brim pulled over his forehead.
He listened as the soft voice with the Spanish accent told the story of the Miraculous Staircase and the chapel itself.
She told him of the six nuns who had left Kentucky to travel to Santa Fe to teach at the mission. Only three of them had made it. Loretto Chapel had been built. After its completion, it was discovered that there was no access from the first floor to the choir loft. Out of money, the nuns had prayed to St. Joseph. On the ninth and final day of their prayer, a carpenter appeared to build the staircase.
The carpenter built a magnificent staircase whose design was innovative even for today. The staircase had two 360-degree turns and no visible means of support.
“Many questions remain unanswered,” the nun concluded her story. “No nails were used, and the wood is not native to this area. Today the chapel is owned by a private individual, but we are trying to raise enough money to purchase it back.”
“That’s amazing.” Watcher exhaled the breath he had been holding, listening to her miracle.
“Where are you from? Your accent isn’t local.” She studied him.
“Minnesota.” He smiled. “Am I close to Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi?”
“St. Francis Cathedral, yes.” She laughed. “Come, I will take you there, but…” She noticed Jax for the first time. “Can you see?”
“No,” he said, laughing mirthlessly. “I could before the war, but now I can only feel. I do get a wonderful feeling from some of these cathedrals. For instance: this chapel, I can feel the Lord here.”
“I’ll take you to St. Francis.” She was happy to help one who had given so much for their country. “I’m Sister Abby,” she introduced herself.
“Bart.” He grinned. “Bart Reyes.”
As they walked, they discussed many things about the church. He told her he had been to the Vatican and met the Pope.
She was in awe of him. “I would love to do that,” she said breathlessly.
“It is a very bustling city.” Watcher smiled. “You would probably be swept up in all the pomp and circumstance there, with all the cardinals and archbishops. I bet nothing interrupts your routine here.”
“Oh, you think you know everything, Mr. World Traveler,” she teased him. “It just so happens we have a very important meeting taking place in our city next month.”
“Do tell?” He laughed, looking straight ahead.
“Four very important men of God will be visiting us. Cardinal Weaslen, Bishop Travail, Bishop Steinhoff, and Bishop Franken. All are coming from Rome to visit our church.”
“Honestly,” he baited her, “I’m surprised a nun has knowledge of such high activity in the church.”
“I should not,” she admitted. “My cousin Rosa works for the archdiocese’s caterer. She told me.”
He laughed aloud as if she entertained him. In fact, she did. He allowed Jax to steer him around a planter on the sidewalk.
“Your dog is very good,” she noticed. “He must be very well trained.”
“We both are.” He laughed. “At first it was difficult to trust him to guide me through the dark. We have been together for four years. Now it’s easy to let him lead me. I have faith in him.”
“Like you have faith in God?” She squeezed his arm.
“Yes,” he said softly, “only my faith in God is so much stronger.”
“Here we are.” She stopped in front of the cathedral.
“Abby,” a woman hailed her from across the plaza. “What are you doing here?”
Abby introduced him. “This is my cousin, Rosa.” She smiled.
Watcher said a silent thank you to his God.
##
Watcher dressed for an evening in Santa Fe. He had learned of Rosa’s favorite cantina and planned to visit it. He fed and walked Jax. He made certain his friend had plenty of water and gave him a huge chew bone to entertain him for the next few hours.
He checked himself in the mirror. He had put back on a few pounds and looked more presentable now. His blue contacts covered the green of his eyes. His face was clean-shaven and smooth. His thick, dark hair and stylish haircut gave him the look of a banker or someone equally successful. A lawyer, he thought.
Watcher bore no resemblance to the man Rosa had met earlier today at the church. He was sitting at the bar when she entered. He watched her in the mirror. She was a pretty girl, probably mid-twenties. Voluptuous, with dark hair and brooding dark eyes, she was taller than most of her race. He subdued the stirring in his lower abdomen, reminding himself he was here to do a job.
She sauntered to the bar and took the stool next to him. “Are you looking for some company?” She smiled.
“I’m on vacation,” he said, glancing at her shyly, “alone.”
“This your first time to visit Santa Fe?” she asked.
He nodded as the bartender approached them. “Want her drink on your tab, buddy?” he grumbled.
Watcher looked her up and down. “Sure, why not?”
“Rosa.” She held her hand out to him. He shook it.
“Lonnie Windom.” He watched as the bartender placed her glass in front of her. A quick glance flashed between them.
Watcher had seen this ruse so many times in his life, he could recognize it with his eyes closed. She worked out of the cantina. Conned some poor fool into buying her drinks and proceeded to run up his bar tab. Her drinks were water, while he was
being charged for some expensive liquor.
They danced and drank until he was certain they had run up a sizeable bar tab. “I really should be getting back to my hotel,” he slurred his words. “I think I am drunk.”
“Me too,” she lied. “We should go to dinner. You don’t want to go to bed with nothing but liquor on your stomach.”
He nodded, paid the horrendous bar tab in cash, and then followed her out into the cool Santa Fe night. She took him to a nice, but very expensive restaurant. She seemed to know the maître d’. He knew she was racking up a paycheck for herself everywhere she took him.
He ordered the champagne he knew had the highest alcohol content. She loved it and began drinking for real. He knew it was a scientifically proven fact that the bubbles in champagne made the drinker drunk faster than wine. He always kept her glass full, which wasn’t easy.
By the time dinner was over, she was telling him everything he wanted to know about the meeting and the Catholic dignitaries who would be attending. She even knew what was being served at each course in the meal.
“You want to take me home?” She stumbled, and he caught her.
“I think I had better see you home. What is your address?” He hailed a taxi, put her in, and pushed two hundred dollars into her hand. “For the cab and the nice evening.” He smiled, giving the driver her address.
Before leaving Santa Fe, he went to a privately owned postal service facility and set up a mailbox. He might need to mail some things to Santa Fe.
##
Back in New York, Watcher walked Jax and threw the Frisbee for him. He knew he was becoming attached to the dog. He had never let himself get attached to anything or anyone. It was too hard to lose them. One always lost them, when one was seemingly immortal.
Watcher had spent hours agonizing over how best to kill four men at the same time or at least within moments of one another. He knew he had to kill all four of them simultaneously. Otherwise, security would tighten around the remaining clergy.
He thought of killing them in their sleep, using a knife. He hated knife kills. They were so messy and had great potential for leaving evidence on the killer. Their deaths would immediately be deemed homicide and the manhunt would begin.
