Crow didn’t answer.
“I didn’t think so,” Morello said. “My only play was to detain you by force. That’s what I hoped to do in Figueres, but the security team at the church got to you before I could.”
Officer Morello let Crow contemplate the whole ordeal. Crow finally asked, “Did you know that Sidney, or whatever her real name is, was a member from the start?”
“No. In fact, we were like you. We thought she was legit. The whole Rothschild’s branch checked out. They had permits in the city files and everything that made it look like it’d been here for years. They pretty much think of everything. It wasn’t until we came back here today and saw everything gone that it dawned on us. And looking back on it, I was sitting next to the only known member of the First Face of Janus anyone in my division has ever come into contact with. I could’ve brought her in if I’d known, but I had no idea. I just assumed she was involved because you involved her.”
Crow sat back in his chair in total shock. “This is the most fantastic story I’ve ever heard. And I lived it!”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Morello said, holding Crow’s eyes with his. “You’re thinking what a great book this would make, and it would. I’m just telling you for your own good. Don’t do it.”
“Why?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
“But people need to know,” Crow insisted. “This needs to be exposed.”
Morello looked at him for a long moment. “However professional these people are, there’s one thing they can’t rig. Nostradamus predicted an earthquake about 500 years before it happened. Gives you an idea of why the First Face of Janus is so serious about what they do.”
“You believe in all this prophecy stuff?” Crow asked.
“It doesn’t matter what I believe. My job is to try and stop them from manipulating the future. All I’m saying is you’ve seen how they operate. You’ve seen how they cover every minute detail, how they erase any mention of themselves from the Internet. Let me just put it this way. If you write this book, it’ll be the last book you ever write.”
Crow thought about all that had transpired over the past week until Morello spoke again. “You had your heart set on writing that book, didn’t you?”
“Hmm?” Crow’s mind was back in the moment. “Oh, that’s not what I was thinking about.”
Morello’s expression turned sympathetic. “It’s the girl, isn’t it? She duped you. That’s bound to sting.”
“Actually, I was thinking about the irony.”
“The irony?”
“Yes. I’m the guy who makes up the stories. I’m the guy who creates the characters and the worlds and the plots and the conflicts. She did all that.” He shook his head. “It was like I was living the story she wrote. She had me cast as one of her characters. I understand now why people get caught up in the story.” He looked up at Morello. “Her story was so good I couldn’t put it down.”
Morello smiled and stood up. He pulled a business card from his coat pocket. “If they ever contact you again, you know who to call.”
He walked out onto the sidewalk. A black SUV with blacked-out windows was just pulling up. Morello stepped inside and disappeared into the Boston traffic.
Crow reflected on the riddle that had so easily been solved after the event had happened, like so many of Nostradamus’ predictions. That was his genius. He took a sip of his coffee, reached in his breast pocket, and pulled out the quatrains he’d been carrying since Montreal. He opened the paper like he had so many times before. This time it was different. This time, at the bottom of the page, there was an imprint. Crow looked closer. It was the imprint of coral lips.
The First Face of Janus
Pronunciation Guide
Custos Verbi - COO-stos VARE-bee
Jean-Claude Delacroix - Zhahn-Klode Day-la-KWAH
Pierre Simonin - Pee-AIR SEE-mo-nin
Capitaine Legrand - CAP-ee-tin Lee-GROAN
Medici - MED-duh-chee
Carl Jung - Karl Yoong
unus mundus - OO-nuhs MOO-duhs
Wolfgang Pauli - VULF-gong POW-lee
Figueres - Fee-GYER-us
The First Face of Janus Page 30
