The Crypt

by Saul, Jonas

  Sarah frowned. “How is that even possible? The top people in our country are elected officials.”

  “Sure, in the public’s eye. Behind closed doors the powerful people are the ones with money and the war machine guys, the ones who protect the country. Rod and his team are green berets and mercenaries all tied into a group that have the power to do what they want when they want because they are an elite group.”

  “That still doesn’t answer my question about how this could be possible in our country.”

  “Think of it on terms of when the first atom bomb was developed.”

  Sarah shook her head and leaned away from him frowning, “What?”

  “When the States developed the atom bomb and dropped it on Japan, twice during that fateful August of 1945, people were shocked. A bomb that could destroy a city. No one else had that technology. Russia didn’t get their first bomb until 1953 as far as I remember. Anyway, Japan surrendered and the war ended a few months later. This Rod guy is charged to deliver the next atom bomb. Something no one else would have.”

  “Are you trying to say that I’m an atom bomb?”

  “Not at all. I’m saying that there are others like you out there. Hundreds of people with special gifts that can alter the future. You’ve saved lives with your gift. You’re using it for the good of people at the risk of your own life. If someone like Rod could use that in their war effort, America could potentially win any battle they waged. It would begin a new era.”

  Sarah didn’t like where this was going. “How’s that? Vivian decides what to send me when she feels like it. And what of others like me?”

  “Rod intimated that he had many other psychics working for them already. He talked about how well these people were taken care of so I would be assured of your comfort. He felt getting to me was important. Little did he know, eh?”

  “Taken care of? There’s that taken care of shit again.”

  Sarah got up from the bed and started pacing the floor.

  “Taken care of? What are you talking about?” Parkman asked.

  “He contacted Rosalie and told her we were coming today. He said to take care of us. Rosalie planned her assault for today to correspond with out arrival. That’s another beef I have. Why would they do that when they know I’m not in their league.”

  Parkman leaned back on his arms and smiled. “Ahh, but you are. You’re better than most of them and they know that. It was an honor to work with the great Sarah Roberts, I was told.”

  Sarah stepped away fast, walked across the room and dropped into the chair in the corner. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. I don’t want to be known. I don’t want popularity.”

  “Too late. You can’t do what you do for almost five years and not get noticed. You’ve been on the front cover of newspapers around the globe for what you did at the compound. You’re being hailed a hero. There’s no escaping it. People want to meet you. People want to understand you. It’s human nature.”

  “Shit,” Sarah said and slapped her hands together. “Shit,” she said again. “Okay, first things first. Let’s go to Budapest and nail Armond. Then we leave.”

  “It won’t be that simple but I agree with you. Nail Armond and then drop out of sight.”

  Sarah looked directly at him and raised her hands, shrugging her shoulders. “But how?”

  “You’ll find a way. You always do. Ask Vivian what to do. She’ll tell you what’s the best for you. Come on, after all you’ve been through, all the crazy things you’ve done and you’re still walking the earth. She has put you in harm’s way but she always knew you’d walk away. I have faith. You’ll figure this out.”

  Parkman laid back on the bed and closed his eyes.

  “That’s a lot of faith, Parkman.”

  “I believe in you Sarah. When this is done you’ll get us both out of trouble and back to the States.”

  “Canada.”

  “Wherever,” Parkman said, his voice sounding sleepy.

  “Hey, get up. That’s my bed.”

  “What, why is it your bed?”

  “Because I fucking well said so. Now get up.”

  “Okay, okay. See what I mean. Sarah gets shit done. Sarah has it her way. Sarah always has.”

  She got up from her chair. “Don’t patronize me.”

  “I’m not. You know me. I’m here for you. I didn’t come to Europe for a vacation. We’ll figure it out.”

  Parkman moved to his bed and promptly fell down. She waited a few minutes and laid on hers.

  “Wait, why did you say Canada?” Parkman asked.

  “Never mind.”

  In minutes Parkman’s breathing told her he was asleep. It took her another hour to sleep and the whole time she couldn’t get Rod out of her mind.

  Things would be different when they met again.

  There would be no taking care of Sarah.

  She would be taking care of him.

  Chapter 19

  Someone was knocking on the door.

  Sarah opened her eyes and jumped up. The morning sun blazed in through Hotel Rio’s curtains.

  She rolled off the bed and hustled to the door just as the knocker was trying to open it. The door got moved an inch inward before Sarah body-checked it with her shoulder, slamming it shut.

  “What do you want?”

  “Time to go. Orders from Rosalie. Truck out front taking us to Rome. You have fifteen minutes.”

  “Fine. Fuck off.”

  She had to pee a storm. After using the bathroom, she came out to see Parkman standing at the end of his bed fully dressed. His eyes still showed fatigue but other than that he was ready.

  “How are your wrists?” Sarah asked.

  “Fine.”

  “You ready for this?”

  “For what?”

  “The final chapter of Armond Stuart’s pathetic life.”

  Parkman looked at her. “Are you ready?”

  “Of course I’m ready. Been ready since Vivian began talking through me.”

  Parkman looked away and began gathering his meager things. “It’s just…what’ll you do when it’s all over? You’ve been hunting this guy for quite some time. Odds are this will be the end of your vendetta.”

  “When this ends I’m going to lay low, disappear for awhile. Maybe I’ll go back to helping strangers like I used to before this whole mess began.”

  Parkman looked up at her. “There’s something you haven’t considered.”

  Sarah shook out her hair and started playing with the ends. It needed a wash but they were out of time. She’d just have to tie it up. A part of her was still getting used to having so much of it. “What haven’t I considered?”

  “Vivian.”

  “Okay, seriously Parkman. Start making sense. This is what Vivian wants. She’s the one who has led me to him all along. What’s there to consider?”

  “Will she continue sending messages once Armond is dead or in custody for his crimes? She sent you after him. Look to the future when he’s done with. What then? Is her purpose fulfilled? Are you two done after that?”

  Sarah looked away. The idea that her sister would stop talking to her hadn’t crossed her mind. What if Vivian stopped? What would she do? Get a job? Marry one day? Have kids of her own? This was her life now. Saving people, averting tragedy, stopping criminals. She’d killed people. The life had changed her. There was no way she could go back. No way she could walk from this war and not be haunted from it. She owned physical and mental scars from the life.

  But what if Vivian didn’t contact her? What then?

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin our mood,” Parkman said as he softly touched her arm.

  Sarah pulled away. “You have a point. I’ll deal with that if and when it comes. In the meantime Armond is on our radar and we have an international task force assigned to aid us in finding and neutralizing him. Let’s do that and then we’ll talk. Deal?”

  “Deal. Now, let’s get out of here and find me some toot
hpicks or I’m going to fucking lose it.”

  Sarah smiled as she entered the bathroom again and added some water to her mop of hair. She tied it into a bun just as someone knocked on their room door again.

  “Five minutes!”

  “Coming,” she shouted back.

  Three black sedans were waiting out front. Sarah and Parkman were directed to get into the second one. Rosalie sat in the back waiting for them. She signaled the driver and all three vehicles pulled out of Hotel Rio. In minutes they were on the E45 heading south toward Rome.

  Other than idle chit chat, nothing new was covered. Rosalie didn’t talk to Sarah like she did yesterday. The task force’s mission of infiltration was over. Now the real job began for them. Other than dealing with Armond, they would be going after the rest of the criminals one by one, which had nothing to do with Sarah.

  An hour into the ride south, Sarah watched the countryside race past the windows. Without turning she asked, “Tell me, what will you do about the people who have standing orders out there?”

  Without looking, her peripheral vision caught Rosalie turning toward her. “I’m not sure what you mean. Explain.”

  Sarah turned to her and they met eye to eye. “I have reason to believe that a man will be killed in Toronto in two weeks. Tony told me about it when we were chatting in the crypt. If that order isn’t rescinded then the men directed to take out their subject will go ahead. While your team is sifting through paperwork people will still be dying or worse.”

  “What do you want me to do? I can’t know about all of their exploits without tracking them down through whatever we find on their computers and files. If you are privy to certain information then you should bring it forth and we will attempt to deal with it. But until I’m brought up to speed, there’s nothing I can do.”

  “Humph,” Sarah grunted and turned back to look out the window. She knew Rosalie was right, but that’s who Sarah was at her core. If she knew something was going down, she would try to stop it. “Then I’ll deal with it.”

  “What was that? Could you repeat your last statement.”

  Sarah looked back. “I said I will deal with it.”

  “You’re not a member of any law enforcement agency. You can’t act like a vigilante out there with no accountability. I have read your file but eventually someone will try to stop you.”

  “You mean like Rod Howley?” Sarah leaned forward. “You don’t know me.” She raised her index finger. “What member of the law ever put the people first?” Through gritted teeth she continued. “Armond used to be a cop. I hate cops. Always have. Mostly because they have rules to follow, accountability. The bad guys don’t. So, pretending to sit there and preach to me that you’ve got a degree and you’ve studied law makes you better only shows me how much of a fucking ass you are.”

  Sarah could see that Rosalie was shocked. She tried to hide it as she leaned back in her seat. The sun beat in through the side window and cast a yellow line across her face.

  Sarah continued. “I’ve been through things that would make the best trained operatives puke. I’ve puked. I was scared. But I persevered and did what I could to stay alive. I don’t want recognition. Look what it’s got me. Rod Howley wants me for his research. I’ve been shot numerous times and had more broken bones than I can count but I’m still here because I have to be. I have no choice. It comes from in here,” she tapped her chest. “You’ve got to have it in here. This isn’t about vigilante shit. This is about dealing with a criminal element that work outside the grasp of cops.” Sarah turned to look at Parkman. He knew better than to cut her off or interrupt but he was a cop and a friend. She looked back out the window and said, “Sorry Parkman. You know that doesn’t include you.”

  Rosalie said nothing. She turned away and watched the rolling hills of Italy on her side.

  “I do have one question,” Sarah continued. “If you think of me as inexperienced and acting like a vigilante, then why did you wait on your assault of Montone until I arrived? Why leave me alone, unarmed, in the crypt with the head of the organization? Was that the part of the take care of her message from Rod? Sure you’ve read my file and you know I’ve got skills, but anything could have happened down there. Tell me, what’s really going on?”

  “I don’t have the information you’re looking for. I did what I was ordered to do. I’m a soldier. I follow orders. Currently my orders are to deliver you to Budapest and use you to locate Armond Stuart and identify him. That’s all you’ll get from me.”

  Sarah nodded. “Fair enough. Now we understand each other. But remember one thing. You’ve got orders. I don’t.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “That’s all you’ll get from me.”

  Sarah looked at Parkman. He was acting like he wasn’t listening, watching the traffic beside them. She looked back out her side. A sign went by saying they were just over a hundred kilometers from Rome.

  The rest of the ride was done in silence. At the airport the driver passed through security and drove onto the tarmac where a private jet was waiting. All three vehicles emptied and a total of six people, including Parkman and Sarah, entered the plane. In minutes they taxied out and rose to 30,000 feet where they cruised for almost an hour and a half.

  They made a quick descent into Budapest and then deplaned and entered two waiting black SUVs. Sarah could’ve sworn they were Rod’s trucks. Something about the last twenty-four hours bothered Sarah deeply. She was a prisoner. A captive. She’d been held by assholes before and this was akin to it. The only reason she’d allowed it to get this far was because they had mutual goals. This was the best case scenario for hunting Armond. It wasn’t just her anymore. It was a whole team of specialists backed by multiple governments.

  The SUVs drove through Budapest until they got to an area Sarah started to recognize. Moments later they pulled up to the Best Western hotel and stopped.

  “This is a joke right?” Sarah asked.

  “No,” Rosalie answered. “We have two rooms booked for you and Parkman here. Your luggage is already in your rooms. My orders are to deliver you here and you’re to wait for contact. Once we have something we’ll be in touch.”

  “That’s it?” Sarah asked. Parkman had been mute the whole trip. What’s with him?

  “That’s it.”

  “What’s to stop us from walking away?”

  “Nothing. As far as I understand it, Mr. Howley and his team would know. I have a feeling he won’t let you stray too far. But even he doesn’t have the power over our Armond mission. Too many countries want Armond stopped. It would look bad if the Americans jeopardized that. This thing we’re doing here, with him allowing us to have you for an ID of Armond, is a favor from Rod, an olive branch.”

  The SUV idled in front of the hotel, everyone inside listening to Rosalie and Sarah talk.

  “So what you’re saying is I’m already Rod’s. This is it. There’s no going back. Deal with Armond and then Rod does with me as he sees fit.”

  “I’m following orders. Something you don’t do.”

  “Exactly.” Sarah opened the side door. “You’d do well to remember that.”

  She stepped from the SUV and Parkman followed.

  “Sarah,” Rosalie shouted from the inside of the vehicle.

  She turned back and looked at Rosalie.

  “Thanks for your help and I’m sorry,” Rosalie said, real concern in her eyes.

  Sarah used her right hand to close the door. She turned around and walked into the lobby of the hotel.

  Ten minutes later Parkman was in his room knocking on the dividing door. Sarah opened her side and raised her eyebrows to ask what he wanted.

  “What was all that back there in the SUV?”

  “Testing her. Watching where her loyalties were. Now I know.”

  “Where are they?” Parkman asked.

  “With us. She doesn’t like this Rod guy at all. She has orders to follow. She has a job to do and she’s happy we’re on her
side. But when it comes to the handoff to Rod we may need her, and I now know she’ll help.”

  “You got all that from your conversation? How?” Parkman looked quite stymied.

  “Just trust me on this. Deal with Armond and I’ll do the rest.”

  “What’s the rest? You gonna fill me in so I know what to prepare for?”

  “I’m going to die. That way Rod can’t come after me anymore. Once I’m dead, it’s all over. And Rosalie is going to help me with it.”