The Cathari Treasure (Cameron Kincaid)

by Smith, Daniel Arthur

  The gunman started to slowly turn toward Cameron, his hands still raised. “Hold on,” said Cameron.

  With his hand to the side of the gunman’s chest, Cameron eased the big man around. He frisked the sides of the man’s jacket. He felt something on the man’s side, pushed him back, and reached again into the man’s jacket. From a sheath on the gunman’s chest, Cameron pulled another dagger. “Nice,” said Cameron, “I’m collecting these.”

  “Fine, take it,” said the gunman. He did not lower his hands. He gave the group a sickly smile. “There is no way you will make it out of here. I will have it back soon enough.”

  With a lightening blow, Cameron brought the grip of the P226 across the side of the gunman’s head. Marie gasped. The eyes of the others went wide.

  “Don’t be so sure,” said Cameron. The giant gunman dropped to his knees. Cameron grabbed the gunman’s jacket by the back of his collar, “Get back on your feet. You’re going to lead us out of here.”

  The gunman lumbered back to his feet. “Sure, I’ll lead you. But I’ll be leading you to your grave.”

  “Move,” said Cameron as he pushed the gunman around to face the dining room door.

  “Mister Kincaid?” asked Marie, “What is the plan?”

  “The plan is to waltz out of here and keep going.”

  When they entered the dining room, all eyes were upon them. Those near them stared in silence while others in the benches whispered amongst themselves. Cameron pushed the gunman forward, shielding his gun inside his jacket. He turned his head slightly back to the others following him. In a low voice Cameron said, “Let’s keep moving as fast as we can.”

  The faces at the tables blurred, the eyes all the same, deep and wide. Cameron scanned the street outside the front of the restaurant. Through the glass wall, he could easily see the same two gunmen standing by the driver’s doors of the two black SUV’s. The gunmen were looking up and down Yonge Street and not directly at The Lotus Flower.

  “We’ll need to make this quick,” said Cameron. “We only get to do this once.”

  “Prepare to die,” said Cameron’s hostage.

  Cameron saw a reflection on the glass wall of two men getting up from a table behind him.

  Cameron did not hesitate to spin and crack off two shots from his P226. The two men, guns drawn, peered at Cameron with surprise, dark red holes dotting their foreheads. Cameron knew that at least one gunman would be seeded amongst the tourists in the dining room. There had been two.

  Cameron’s hostage was slack jawed. Cameron pushed the giant into the glass door, drew the P226 high, and reached for the .357 tucked into his belt. Caught off guard, the gunmen raised their assault weapons. Cameron pointed the handguns to either side of his hostage’s head, “Drop them, or your guy gets it first.”

  Unfazed by Cameron’s request the gunmen directed their automatic rifles in his direction.

  The giant hostage raised his hands and screamed at his colleagues, “Don’t shoot you idiots!” That was the last thing he said before both gunmen opened up on him. With anticipation and without hesitation, Cameron dropped the barrels from the head of the hostage to the gunmen now firing in his direction. He squeezed both triggers, targeting the bridge of the gunmen’s sunglasses. The two gunmen fell to their knees at the same time as the hostage they shot. All three were dead. Before the gunmen were flat on the ground Cameron had his hand on the driver’s door of the front Escalade.

  Behind Cameron, the others were clustered inside the door of the restaurant. Cameron waved his free arm back at them, “Let’s go!” Nicole and Marie carried Lady Mani out of the restaurant while Lady Yada and Ananda held open the heavy door. All five scurried toward the Escalade. Cameron pulled the driver’s door open and pointed the P226 inside. The Escalade was empty and the keys were in the ignition.

  The others crossed the sidewalk to the Escalade huddled in a group.

  “Every one climb in the back,” said Cameron. He stuck the .357 back into his belt, and reached to pull the back door open.

  Nicole was first to climb in. Cameron kept the P226 pointed toward the restaurant. He briefly looked away from the Lotus Flower to see Marie and Lady Yada outside of the Escalade helping Lady Mani up into the seat. Then Cameron noticed for the first time that there was someone in the front passenger seat of the second Escalade parked behind them. The tinted side windows had prevented Cameron from seeing inside the SUV before, the windshield however was clear.

  “That son of a bitch,” said Cameron.

  Marie quickly turned her head to Cameron, “What?”

  When Cameron did not answer, Marie searched the direction of his gaze. In the front seat of the second Escalade sat Christophe, the waiter from the CN tower. Christophe had given them the symbol they needed to find the Perfect and then he had betrayed them.

  Christophe’s eyes were on Cameron and Marie. He had watched them flee the Lotus Flower and now was shocked to see them looking back at him.

  “Watch out,” said Cameron. He swung the P226 from the direction of the restaurant over Marie’s head toward Christophe. Christophe’s eyes widened and Cameron’s lip curled. Before Cameron could squeeze the trigger three shots rapidly cracked out, coupled with two tinny thuds and a wet thwack near his head. He shifted to see into the Escalade. Nicole was covered in blood, Lady Mani face forward on her lap. Cameron swung his gun back toward the restaurant. No one was there. Another automated burst of gunfire shot down on them and this time Cameron was able to determine that the shots were coming from the second floor. He spun his body around, pulling the .357 out and up with the P226 so that both hands could lock loaded onto the window where the gunman that had fired the rounds was leaning out over the sill. Cameron shot twice, hitting the gunman at least once. Marie slammed the back door and screamed to him, “Mister Kincaid, drive, drive!” Still looking up, gun pointed high, he pulled himself into the driver’s seat. Another gunman pulled the first out of the window and started to lean out. Cameron got two more shots in the direction of the window before turning the key and slamming the truck into gear. He swung his door shut as the Escalade sped away from the restaurant and looked back through the side mirror. Crumpled and frail on the curb were Lady Mani, Lady Yada, and Ananda, freed from their last lives in this realm.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 29

  Toronto

  After the initial shots rained down from above The Lotus Flower no more followed the black Escalade up Yonge Street, no more gunmen ran out from the crowded restaurant, and the second Escalade, with Christophe in the passenger seat looking on in disbelief, did not pursue Cameron and the women.

  Inside the traveling Escalade fast prayers flowed from the back seat in whispers, some words decipherable and others not. The other cars moved slowly or not at all as Cameron maneuvered the Escalade passed them. He could hear his heartbeat thumping in his ear and his breathes filled his lungs deeply with sweet air tainted with the fruity scent of the air freshener. A few blocks up, after repeatedly cycling through the side and rearview mirrors, Cameron turned left toward Trinity College. When they reached the parking lot Cameron pulled into the space next to where he had parked the old Chevy.

  Cameron exited the Escalade, P226 in hand. He turned quickly in a circle scanning the parking lot around them and the peripheral buildings. Cameron then pulled the handle of the back door. A jolt shot up his arm when the door did not budge taking his focus from the parking lot to the Escalade. The tinted window blocked his view of the back seat. As he pulled again on the handle, he heard the locking mechanisms switching on and off. Marie was manually unlocking the door, which had automatically locked when they sped from the restaurant.

  Cameron turned back toward the parking lot and scanned again while Marie and Nicole climbed out of the Escalade behind him. Satisfied that for the time being they were safe, Cameron reached back into the front of the Escalade, took the .357 from the passenger seat where the gun had been tossed. He then tucked both the .357 a
nd the P226 into his waistline, the P226 in the small of his back and the .357 in the front under his flat stomach.

  “Into the car,” said Cameron. “We have to be quick.”

  “Agreed,” said Marie.

  “Why did we stop?” asked Nicole, “Why do we not keep this car?”

  “Satellite navigation, one phone call and they have our location instantly, or shut us down for that matter.”

  “What is shut us down?”

  “The Escalade can be turned off remotely by the satellite system. It’s an anti-theft thing.”

  “Wondrous,” said Nicole.

  The three opened the doors to the Chevy and climbed in. “Do they not know this car as well?” asked Nicole as she shut the door to the back seat.

  “I’m sure they do. We have a better chance with old tech though,” Cameron tapped the dashboard. Cameron had thought that through already and was impressed that Nicole had made the connection. Christophe must have identified the Chevy back at the tower and followed them to the restaurant. He was confident the Rex Mundi was so sure their ambush would be sufficient in accomplishing their mission that they arrogantly did not bother leaving anyone behind to guard the Chevy. Contrarily Christophe may have followed them alone to the restaurant before alerting his comrades. Either way the Chevy was free and clear, providing they leave now.

  “We can hit 401 north of here,” said Cameron. “Do we have a destination in mind?”

  “Quebec,” said Nicole.

  “Quebec, really?”

  Marie answered for Nicole, “There are others there that will help us and can transport Nicole to the safety of the Nova Scotia countryside where she will be guarded by the brotherhood.”

  “The brotherhood, what do you mean? A fellowship of Cathari?”

  “Not exactly. These men are chevaliers like you Mister Kincaid. Knights whose order has been caretakers of the treasure in times of strife for 800 years.”

  Cameron began cycling through the mirrors again, tapping on the steering wheel with the ends of his fingers while he did. “Knights, brotherhoods, others that can help. I have to say that my experience over the last few days has me less than drawn in.”

  Nicole continued her prayers in the back seat.

  Marie’s voice was calm, “I am sorry, Mister Kincaid. Truly. We could not foresee all that would happen on this journey. There was no way for us to know that the paths of the Parfaits would end that way. You have to believe though…”

  “I don’t have to believe anything,” Cameron interrupted. “The others that were to help you have all ended up dead or gone, including those sweet old people we left on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.”

  Marie stayed silent only for a moment and then continued with no difference in her tone, “You have to understand then.” On hearing this, Cameron’s lips drew tight and he felt his teeth sliding across each other. Seeing Cameron relent, or at least listening, Marie repeated herself, “You have to understand, that though the details of our journey still remain a mystery to Nicole and myself, the path is foretold as it has been for others since the time of Christ. What you see as tragedy the Holy Spirit has determined. The Parfaits were pure and left the husks that housed them to return to the realm of our Lord. Nicole will get to the end of this journey and when her time comes, she will leave this realm for the next as well.”

  “Even now, after all of this, you still think so?” Cameron wiped the moisture from under his nose and then pulled his hand away, expecting to see blood. There was none.

  “Even more now Mister Kincaid. We did not truly know that you were chosen as our protector, until now.”

  “In for a penny, in for a pound,” Cameron said in a lighter voice.

  “Excuse me, Mister Kincaid.”

  “Oh something my Grandmother used to say. Listen, I gave you my word I would see you safe, and though this is more than I bargained for, I will see it through. Quebec it is. We’ll stop at the cabin again on the way through and get some rest. Does that sound ok with you?”

  “Yes Mister Kincaid, that sounds quite ok.”

  * * * * *

  Chapter 30

  Lake Ontario

  The prayers continued as the Chevy drove back up the lakeside. Cameron listened to the rise and fall of Nicole’s whispers, oddly harmonious with the drone of the roadway. Hours had passed before Cameron realized that he was not sure how far they had come. The adrenalin from earlier combined with the trancelike serenity of the long drive had held him in a state of vacuity. With the adrenalin finally spent, he was suddenly aware of the force of cool air blasting from the vents across his chin and that his cheek was almost numb with cold. He reached over to the culprit vent between the dashboard and the window and flipped the fins so that the air was no longer blowing in the direction of his face and then pulled his hand up to the bridge of his nose to lightly and quickly massage his eyes beneath their lids. He may as well have been sleeping since they left Toronto and, thinking that was not all too safe, decided that they should pull over soon so that they could stretch their legs.

  Cameron took the next exit and drove the Chevy into the parking lot of a grocery store. Marie was sleeping and Cameron thought she needed the rest. In the rearview mirror he could see Nicole sitting with her back upright and her eyes closed chanting a prayer in the same rise and fall of whispers that she had since they drove out of Toronto. There was no point in Cameron asking her to join him in the market, as he was pretty sure she was not even aware the Chevy had stopped. He reasoned that if she wanted to stretch her legs she would and proceeded to open his door and get out of the car.

  When Cameron stood, he instinctively wanted to stretch. As soon as his brain sent signals through his body to do so, his body responded with a thousand messages from his extremities to let him know that a long time had passed since he was a practicing commando. Stopping to stretch had been a good idea, getting a run in later may be an even better one.

  In the market Cameron found what he was looking for, a fresh Lake Ontario Brown Trout, the size of his thigh, with brilliant yellow lined black speckles on a field of orange. Marie and Nicole said they ate fish, this Brownie would do fine for dinner. For vegetarian cuisine, Cameron picked out some asparagus and ginger root and the makings for pesto stuffed mushrooms. Along with a raid of Pepe’s wine, he had the makings of a fine dinner that could easily put this insane day behind them.

  When Cameron walked out of the market the dusk of the sky had shifted to night. Marie was still sleeping, Nicole was still praying, and the cabin was close.

  * * * * *

  Chapter 31

  Lake Ontario

  The Chevy’s headlights lit the back wall of the cabin, as they had when they passed through on their way to Toronto. When the ignition switched off the sudden silence consumed Cameron. Nicole had stopped praying and had been staring out at the darkness for some time. In the silence, the cabin was stuck out of time. All that had happened since they left the lakeshore this morning did not affect the cabin timbers in front of them or the trees by their sides. Even the one sound that came when Cameron opened the Chevy door, the crashing of the waves against the stone laden break wall that shot out from the shore, was the same as when he had closed the door mere hours before. The waves were the same rhythm, the same tempo. The waves roll in, the waves roll out.

  Cameron swung his leg out of the door and on to the ground. Nicole was getting out of the back seat. He turned his head back to Marie. Marie’s face and blouse were a shade of amber under the tarnished dome light. She was still sleeping. Why not, this had been a long day if ever there was one. Cameron reached up and rubbed her shoulder, “Hey there, wakey-wakey, we’re back at the cabin.” Marie did not stir. Cameron turned his head to Nicole in the back seat, still slowly getting out of her door.

  “Nicole, why don’t you give it a try?” asked Cameron.

  “Marie,” said Nicole in a singsong voice, “We are back at the cabin.”

  Cameron walked
around to the back of the car to get the groceries from the trunk. “Mister Kincaid, you had better come here,” said Nicole, her voice now serious. When Cameron closed the trunk, he saw that Marie’s door was open and that Nicole was standing next to her.

  “What is it?” asked Cameron as he walked around the side of the car.

  Nicole stepped back and pointed at the seat. Cameron could see a dark spot across Marie’s leg that continued down the side of the seat to the floorboard. “Take this,” said Cameron, handing the grocery bag to Nicole. With one arm around the front of Marie’s shoulder and his other hand on her back, Cameron gently eased her forward so that he could see her back in the light. Nicole gasped. Above Marie’s right kidney was a dark red hole, a bullet hole surrounded by blood, dried from bleeding out over the last few hours. Cameron slid his arm behind her, tilted her back, and threw his other arm under her legs.

  Cameron lifted Marie out of the Chevy and turned toward the cabin.

  Nicole began to speak “Has she…”

  “No,” said Cameron abruptly, “she has not gone on to the next life.”

  Cameron carried Marie into the cabin and took her directly over to the dining table.

  “What do we do Mister Kincaid?” asked Nicole.

  “In the drawer, next to the sink, you’ll find some rags. Grab them and then fill that pot on the stove with warm water.” Cameron ripped open Marie’s blouse and pulled the fabric away from her. In the cabin light, he could now see that she had become pale with the loss of blood. Cameron could also see the exit wound was small and almost directly across from the entry wound. A small exit wound was a good sign that may mean that the bullet had not fragmented and might have just passed through. Still Marie had obviously lost a lot of blood and not mentioning the wound had put her at great risk.