Shroder looked unswayed by this admission. ‘And what exactly did they want from you?’
‘They wanted me to find three missing pages.’
‘Ah yes,’ Shroder said, ‘from the Gigas Codex, Tristan told me about that. Including the one located in our vault.’
‘Yes, but I had no idea they would follow me there, and that they were really after the Illuminismo.’
The very mention of the prized artefact had Shroder glancing over at Carter, and without a pause, Harker immediately set about allaying the agent’s concerns over his disclosing such a thing.
‘David here already knows about the Templars, and he was dragged into all this by the same person as I was.’ The more he attempted to explain himself, the guiltier and more responsible he felt. As Shroder’s lips tightened at what he was hearing, Harker decided to come clean about everything. ‘What I’m about to tell you is going to sound crazy, absurd even, but it is the truth.’
Shroder settled back in to his seat and folded his arms. ‘Try me.’
Chapter 27
‘Christ, Alex, the only thing missing from that story of yours is an ogre!’ Shroder remarked sarcastically, leaning back further in his chair. ‘Oh, wait a minute, I forgot, there’s one still being held captive underneath the Vatican.’
Harker held his hands out in front of him as if pleading. His retelling of events had been going OK until he had mentioned the reanimated corpses – and the transformed ‘demon’ being held in the bowels of the Governorate building. To be fair, Shroder had been taking it all quite well, all things considered, even if he did occasionally look like he was about to blow a gasket. Fortunately the mention of Chloe’s kidnapping had him taking the whole thing seriously. ‘I know how it sounds incredible, but it’s all true.’ Harker turned to Carter, who had remained unusually silent throughout. ‘David, tell him.’
‘I can confirm it’s all true,’ Carter said wide-eyed, ‘except for the demon part… I didn’t see that. But the corpses rising, I saw them with my own eyes.’
Shroder stood up and stared at them both pensively. ‘OK, let’s get back to the question of this “God” character. Do you have any idea who this man actually is…any idea at all?’
Harker was already shaking his head. ‘Absolutely none.’
‘Well, it seems he knows a lot about you,’ Shroder continued. ‘And despite all these tasks he’s forced upon you, he doesn’t appear to want you to complete any of them.’
Given the speed that everything had been happening, Harker had not given it much thought, but this simple observation by Shroder now had him thinking more clearly. ‘Go on.’
‘At every turn, this man has thrown you right in the middle of things, and then he tells you to go to the vault. And who shows up there but Vlad, the very man you’ve been up against from the start.’
The notion had Harker feeling like a fool. It was obvious.
‘You’re saying that “God” is on the same side as Vlad?’ Carter now asked, looking just as shocked.
‘Well, all the evidence would suggest so, wouldn’t it? How else would he know you were there at the vault, and then he didn’t even seem bothered about the third page of the Codex – only the Illuminismo.’ Shroder was sounding increasingly irate. ‘You said so yourself, Alex.’
Harker’s mind was now swirling with possibilities and, although he didn’t know why, it was obvious that he had been played for a fool. ‘But why bother dragging me into this whole thing when all I would do is cause unnecessary trouble? It doesn’t make any sense.’
‘It does if he’s trying to drop you in the shit,’ Shroder explained, before reaching over to the kitchen sideboard and picking up a grey steel iPad. ‘You know those pictures you handed over to Tristan?’
Harker nodded and made his way over to join Shroder, who was busily tapping away at the touchscreen.
‘He sent them to me and I was able to get a few positive IDs on them. Don’t get too excited, because I only had a few hours, and I was tracking you down at the same time, but you need to take a look.’
They crowded around the small screen to see one of the pictures Harker had taken of the guests back at Spreepark.
‘That’ – Shroder pointed to one of the male guests – ‘is Hans Vexer. You might recognize the name?’
‘Vexer Pharmaceuticals,’ Harker said, hazarding a guess.
‘Yes, one of the largest medical companies in the world, and he is the sole heir.’ Shroder next pointed to one of the women. ‘And she is Marie Ledux, who is the last surviving member of the Ledux family. They are one of the richest families in the world, with fingers in everything from property to shipping lines.’
Shroder placed the tablet on the table and pulled out a small colour photograph from his jacket pocket. ‘There’s more. When I searched Lucas’s flat I found something that you missed: a floor safe hidden underneath his bed.’ Shroder dropped the picture on top of the iPad and pointed. ‘Take a look.’
The image showed a close-up of an old man sitting in a wheelchair while talking to someone with his back to the camera. ‘I asked the London office to do a facial check, and what I got back is disturbing to say the least.’
Harker didn’t recognize the old man but he already guessed who the image was of, it had to be. ‘“God”.’
‘Can’t be totally sure,’ Shroder replied, as Carter now began to examine the photograph intently, ‘but you did say that Lucas worked for him, and the voice was that of an old man.’
‘Who is he?’ Harker asked, and by the way Shroder was looking at him, he was dreading the answer.
‘His name is Jacob Winters and up until recently no one had ever heard of him, but in a short space of time he has come to the attention of MI6 and our American counterparts. We suspect he’s involved in a whole host of nasty trades, with drugs, gunrunning, human trafficking and cybertheft amongst them.’
Harker picked up the photo and stared down at it intently. ‘He’s an old man, so how come he only came onto your radar recently?’
The question had Shroder shaking his head. ‘I have no idea, but he burst onto the criminal scene with a vengeance, and has already destroyed and taken over some of the largest criminal syndicates in a matter of months. I’m not just talking small gangs but serious, well-established Russian and Western organized crime families. The speed at which it has happened is nothing short of remarkable.’
Harker placed the photo back on the table, took his seat and held his head in his hands as Shroder continued with his unnerving analysis.
‘Alex, no one knows who this man is, where he came from or how he was able to put together such a powerful organization without being noticed. It’s unprecedented, and the intelligence services are struggling to catch up.’
Harker was now feeling queasy as all the fragments of this puzzle rattled around in his head, with no clear picture emerging in sight. Why would Winters drag him into something that was of his own creation only to cause himself problems? Was it all about gaining access to the Templars’ Illuminismo? Was Vlad actually one of the old man’s hired goons, therefore a member of this crime syndicate? What had Vlad said back at the vault? That acquiring the Illuminismo was an opportunity too good to pass up. As far as that psycho was concerned, it hadn’t obviously been his main objective. And then there was the idea of Judgement Day, which was somehow connected to some of the wealthiest families on the planet.
‘What does it all mean?’ Carter now asked, the question directed at Shroder, as Harker began to emerge from his mental turmoil.
Shroder let out a deep sigh and sat down on one of the cheap kitchen chairs. ‘In a nutshell it means you both have a lot of very powerful and dangerous people all extremely pissed off at you, including the Templars. And,’ Shroder continued, now locking eyes with Harker, ‘if you’re even half right about this idea of Judgement Day, then it’s not just you who’s in deep shit, but everyone.’
Shroder’s mention of the Templars had Harker sitting u
p straight in his chair. ‘What are they going to do?’ he asked, genuinely rattled by the notion of his own side coming after him.
‘It’s not what they’re going to do but what they are doing right now,’ Shroder replied with a look of despair. ‘William Havers, the man you met on Tristan’s yacht, is the one you have to worry about. He’s been put in charge of finding you and, from the signals he’s sending, it’s not going to be a pleasant outcome when he does.’
‘What the hell does that mean?’ Harker rasped.
‘It means that he believes you either have the Illuminismo or know where it is, and he will do anything to get it back or else exact revenge on you for taking it in the first place.’ Shroder suddenly looked uncomfortable. ‘Even I was given orders to detain you when I found you.’
‘Christ, John,’ Harker said nervously.
Shroder raised his hand in a soothing manner. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to. I don’t think you’re responsible for this – not willingly anyway. But Havers does.’
Shroder’s support did little to calm Harker’s nerves, and he scooted his chair a bit closer to the MI6 agent. ‘What about Tristan?’
‘Our Grand Master is in a real bind over this one. I don’t know if he told you but the Templar hierarchy is going through something of a rocky patch at the moment.’
‘He did mention something,’ Harker replied before Shroder continued with his analysis.
‘Well, to ignore Havers’s calls on this matter could be all that is needed to topple any faith in his leadership, which is already questioned by many.’
The idea that the entire Templar organization was currently on such shaky foundations was as worrying as anything else going on at that moment, but oddly it imbued Harker with a stronger sense of resolve rather than a feeling of hopelessness. ‘Then we should focus on what we can do rather than worry about what we can’t.’
Harker’s upbeat attitude drew a smile from Shroder, who began to nod his head. ‘Couldn’t agree more,’ he replied, then he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a white rectangular piece of card. ‘That photograph wasn’t all I found in Lucas’s floor safe.’ He leant over and placed the item in front of Harker. ‘It’s a boarding card dated a few months back, for a one-way trip to the UK.’
‘No surprise there,’ Harker said in view of Lucas’s suicide, and he picked it up and scrutinized it more closely. ‘Departing from Corsica.’
‘Yes, the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, no less,’ Shroder remarked with a wistful smile. ‘I did some checking and found out the ticket was paid for with a credit card linked to an address in Bastia, which is on the north-east tip of the island.’
‘You think that’s where “God”, I mean Winters, might be?’ Carter asked, taking a look at the boarding card for himself.
Shroder shrugged his shoulders. ‘Impossible to say, but it’s as good a place to start as any.’
‘It’s the only place to start,’ Harker decided, then turned his attention to his iPhone on the table, which was still powered off. ‘But what to do about our “walkie-talkie”?’
‘I’ve got an idea about that,’ Shroder replied deviously, with one eyebrow raised, as he picked up the mobile and gave it a gentle shake. ‘Tell me, gentlemen, how’s your acting?’
Chapter 28
‘Enough is enough,’ Carter bellowed, slapping his hand down hard on the kitchen table. ‘How many more dead bodies is it going to take before you realize that we’re out of our depth here? Or do you even care?’
Harker was instantly fuming at the suggestion and he moved to within centimetres of Carter’s face and gritted his teeth. ‘Don’t you even lay that on me, you prick. I’m not responsible for that, and anyway, the only thing I do care about is getting Chloe back safely.’
Carter looked wholly repulsed by this response. ‘Well, I do care about losing my life in this tangled web of yours that I never asked to get dragged into.’
‘That’s not my fault.’
‘Yeah, well whose is it, then? Because if you hadn’t come to me in the first place, then I would be settling down to a nightcap and a spot of TV.’ Carter was practically screeching, his voice becoming noticeably strained. ‘Truth be known, Alex, the only real mistake I ever made was getting to know you in the first place.’
Harker stared back with venom in his eyes as Carter’s cheeks began to turn a rosy red.
‘It’s time you called the police to tell them everything, and let them sort it out.’
‘No,’ Harker shouted back, and he slapped the coffee mug off the kitchen table. It hurtled against the far wall, where it smashed into pieces.
‘Fine, if you won’t, then I will,’ Carter seethed, and he was already dialling the emergency services on his Samsung when Harker’s iPhone began to vibrate.
Both men froze and looked at each other apprehensively, before Harker reached over to pick it up, and then pressed the green answer button.
‘Hello?’
The mobile’s reception was terrible, but over its crackling came the familiar croaky voice of Jacob Winters. ‘Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you for over half an hour,’ he hissed.
‘We had some trouble,’ Harker replied, finding himself sounding riled.
‘There’s no surprise there. Getting into trouble seems to be your forte, Professor. How so?’ The question was asked with little trace of concern but rather a gleeful curiosity.
‘Vlad and his goons showed up at the vault and killed everyone. They must have been following us since we left Cervete cemetery.’
‘What!’ Winters yelled it so hard that he began to cough. ‘Did you get the page?’
‘No, they took it, and we barely escaped with our lives.’
Harker was tempted to mention the theft of the Illuminismo but he resisted, as Winters now flew into a rage.
‘Can’t you do anything right?’ the old man screamed. ‘Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?’
Harker was actually glad to hear the old monster so upset, but was it genuine? ‘No, I don’t, and that’s the point. You’ve been as vague as anyone could be throughout. Isn’t it about time you were upfront about a few things and told me who the hell you are and what’s going on?’
Because of the heavy interference on the phone, Harker could not be sure, but he could have sworn he heard a light chuckle at the other end.
‘I’ve already told you all you need to know, but I will be upfront about one thing,’ Winters rasped. ‘You have one chance and one chance only to redeem yourself. The remaining page. And if you get it for me, then you may consider our arrangement at an end. Do this and Dr Stanton will be returned to you as promised, but screw this up and you will never see her pretty face again. I will be in touch again regarding the precise location.’
There was a sincerity in the old man’s tone and Harker seized upon it immediately. ‘Not on this phone, you won’t.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘My mobile got half destroyed during our escape from the vault,’ Harker lied. ‘That’s why the reception is so bad. I’m amazed we’ve even managed to speak on it right now.’
At that moment the crackling became even louder and Winters had to shout just to be heard. ‘Does the messaging still work?’
‘Yes – but that’s about it.’
‘Then hold on to the phone and I will keep in contact via text messages,’ Winters hollered as the crackling in the reception became almost unbearable. ‘Do this last thing and both you and your girlfriend can go home and forget all this ever happened.’
Forget? That was a joke, Harker thought, as the line went dead. He looked over at Carter and raised a forefinger to his lips before placing the iPhone down on the table. With a nod from Carter, they made their way through the kitchen and into a small adjoining bedroom opposite, to find Shroder with his ear glued to the apartment’s telephone receiver while holding his own mobile out in front of him.
‘Did you manage to get a tra
ce?’ Harker whispered, but he was met with a frustrated grimace.
‘The bastard’s bouncing the signal off every relay imaginable but at least we know he’s been listening in, and your little scene just proves it.’
* * *
Before turning Harker’s iPhone back on, they had made the decision to test out Shroder’s theory and engaged in an argument that concluded with Carter declaring he was going to call the police. The fact that Winters had called immediately and insisted that he wanted them to not replace the phone, despite it being almost wrecked, only confirmed what they suspected: that Winters had been listening in from the beginning. With a piece of black tape affixed over the camera, and Shroder’s specialized phone app creating the heavy distortion, they could now be sure that although Winters would be able track them via the mobile’s GPS, he could no longer hear or see what they were actually doing.
‘Good job, David,’ Harker said, whereupon Carter offered a polite stage bow with a wave of his hand.
‘I am a thespian at heart, Alex,’ he replied, clearly pleased with his own performance. ‘So what’s the next stage?’
Shroder hesitated before he raised his finger towards them and began to speak into the phone’s receiver. ‘Thanks for the trace, Bill, it was worth a shot. I’ll be in touch.’ He replaced the handset and stood up with his mobile still in hand, and aimed towards the kitchen. ‘Firstly I install the software on Alex’s iPhone which will stop the mics from working permanently, and then we have a decision to make. About who goes where. One of you needs to follow Winters’s instructions to collect the final pages whilst the other heads to Lucas’s billing address in Corsica.’ Shroder was looking perturbed by the idea and made a clicking noise with his tongue. ‘It could be a waste of time, but it could also lead us to Winters. There’s no way to be sure, though, without going there.’
‘How about you?’ Carter asked him, looking less than enthusiastic at them having to split up. ‘Where are you going?’
The Last Judgement Page 21
