I, Saul

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  Suddenly we were struck by a light so bright it made my horse rear and emit a piercing whinny. I held fast to the reins as I slid from his back. I found myself several feet off the ground, my full weight hanging from those leather straps. I had just enough presence of mind to let go so I wouldn’t pull him over backward and kill him.

  As I fell I heard the other horses and men cry out as they too crashed to the ground. I hit hard and the breath rushed from my lungs. I lay there, eyes shut tight, face pressed into the dirt. Even that did no good against the sudden brilliance that radiated not just from above but also from all around me.

  I heard men struggling to their feet and trying to calm their steeds. I fought to move but was rigid from fear. Suddenly a loud voice implored in Hebrew, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

  Astounded I could find utterance, I moaned, “Who are you, Lord?”

  “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.”

  In that instant my world changed. I had believed with my entire being that Jesus had been an impostor and now was dead. There was no time to wonder, to question, to make sense of what was happening. Jesus was speaking to me. The light was the light of God, and it permeated my soul.

  I said, “What shall I do, Lord?”

  “Rise and stand, for I have appeared to you to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins. Now go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.”

  I struggled to my feet as the men came to my aid. “Did you see that?” I said.

  “Yes! We were scared to death. The horses are still spooked.”

  “Did you hear the voice?” “Yes, but we saw no one!”

  “It spoke to me, the voice of God. I must get to Damascus with all haste, but I cannot see!”

  Two led me by the hand and helped me remount my horse. “Hold on tight,” one said. “We will lead him slowly.”

  Several hours later the sounds of the city told me we had arrived.

  “Where should we take you, Saul?”

  “To the home of Judas on the street called Straight.”

  For three days I stayed in Judas’ home, but I had no hunger or thirst and remained blind. All I could do was pray, yet I hardly knew where to begin. It was true. Jesus was alive, and I had been the chief among sinners. Suddenly, in my mind’s eye a man named Ananias stood before me, healing my eyes.

  Soon a man by that name arrived and asked for me. I learned later he was devout according to the Law, having a good reputation among all the Jews in Damascus. He told me God had spoken to him too. “When He called my name, I said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ And the Lord said, ‘Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus.’

  “I said, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about how much harm this Saul has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to capture all who call on Your name! But the Lord said, ‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.’”

  Ananias laid his hands on me and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me to restore your sight and fill you with the Holy Spirit.”

  Something like scales fell from my eyes, and I could see Ananias. He said, “The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear His voice. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

  As soon as I began to eat again, I was strengthened. I spent several days with the believers at Damascus, who immediately pressed me into preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All who heard were amazed and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

  But I increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah.

  Many days later I got word of a plot by some Jews to kill me. Word had apparently gotten back to Jerusalem about my defection, and the orthodox in Damascus had been given permission to lie in wait for me. Hearing this, the people of The Way spirited me to the top of the wall one night. I remembered from my childhood that there was no way to scale the outsides of those walls. But they put me in a large basket and lowered me to the ground with ropes, and I escaped. I would never again complain of my small stature!

  47

  Beyond Understanding

  PRESENT-DAY ROME

  MONDAY, MAY 12, 7:15 P.M.

  Any lingering doubt about Emmanuel’s credibility was erased when he returned Roger’s fully loaded nine millimeter along with a temporary license to conceal and carry it. Augie gave his secure cellphone number to Emmanuel, entrusting his life and those of his fiancee and his best friend into the man’s hands.

  They agreed Augie would take a cab to the Terrazzo, where he would remain in the lobby, visible enough for Trikoupis to spot him. He sat texting Roger, urging him to come, adding, “praying Sof will 2.”

  Roger shot back, “if she does, I will.”

  “holding u 2 that; stand by.”

  Finally Augie’s phone rang, showing a local number he didn’t recognize.

  “You going through with this?” Sofia said.

  “How soon can you get here?”

  “I’m close, but I’m not coming.”

  “Just hear me out for two minutes before you decide.”

  “I’ve already decided.”

  “Nobody in the world loves you the way I do, and you can’t give me two minutes?”

  After a long silence, she said, “Two minutes.”

  Augie recounted everything that had happened to him, from learning that Emmanuel had met his father, to the recordings, the gun, the visit to the bank, and even Georgio quoting Scripture. He assured her the place would be crawling with undercover carabinieri.

  “That took longer than two minutes,” she said, “but it is incredible. Can’t say it’ll be easy for me, being there when my father realizes he’s been had.”

  Augie immediately texted Roger, “Sof here soon; come now.”

  Roger arrived first and sat next to Augie, arms folded, beret pulled low, as he listened to Augie’s summary. When Sofia got there, Augie reminded them that Plan A—appearing to play along before turning the tables— had been scrapped due to the safe-deposit box theft.

  “Now I guess Plan B stands for bait,” Roger muttered. “But whatever it takes ….”

  Augie’s phone vibrated with a text from Emmanuel. “They in?”

  “Look at this,” Augie said, showing Sofia and Roger the message from the head of the Art Squad. “You think we’re not being watched over?”

  “Tell him we’re in but nervous,” Roger said.

  Augie tapped it in and Emmanuel responded, “So am I. Filippesi 4:6–7.”

  “Philippians,” Sofia said. “You have a Bible app on that thing?”

  “Don’t need one for those verses, babe. You’ll recognize ‘em: ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’”

  “Well, I’ll be,” Roger said. “Top cop sending Bible verses? That’s got to be a first.”

  Sofia put a hand to her trembling lips and whispered through her fingers. “Peace right now would surpass all understanding.”

  Roger puffed
his cheeks and exhaled loudly. “I heard that.”

  Augie said, “We’re claiming that promise.” He texted back, “u missed your calling, reverend.”

  “As soon as Trikoupis arrives, take him to your suite. Whoever Sardinia sent is likely watching, waiting till you’re all up there. Don’t worry, we won’t let him get to you.”

  The three sat with their heads inches apart. “Only person we have to playact for is your dad,” Augie said.

  “He’s going to prison for a long time, Sofia,” Roger said. “You okay with that?”

  “Guess who taught me that decisions have consequences?”

  “I’ve heard that before!”

  The three jerked around to see Trikoupis approaching. He carried a high-end leather attaché. Just the right size, Augie thought. Trikoupis beamed as he sat, throwing an arm around Sofia, who ignored him. “Mr. Michaels?” he said.

  “That would be me,” Roger said, hesitating before shaking Malfees’s outstretched hand.

  “I wouldn’t have recognized you.”

  “Sort of the point,” Roger said.

  “Not after this evening! You’ll no longer be on the run. And all of you will be set for life.”

  “Yeah, boy,” Roger said.

  The man removed his arm from Sofia’s shoulder and patted his case. “The goods go in, the cashier’s checks come out.” “Now we’re talkin’,” Augie said, forcing a smile. Trikoupis raised a fist at him. “My boy.”

  Augie led the way to the elevator. When they entered the suite, Sofia’s father looked at his watch and whispered, “We have fifteen minutes. He’s never late.”

  Augie hung back to triple lock the door.

  “Expecting someone other than my partner?” Trikoupis said.

  Augie shook his head. “Can’t be too careful.”

  “Don’t be so jumpy. Meanwhile, how about a sneak preview?”

  “I prefer to wait—.”

  “Just the first page then?”

  Some partner. Didn’t even tell you he’d stolen that.

  “No.”

  Malfees Trikoupis scowled. “Enjoy imagining yourself in charge, Augie. It’ll soon be time for you to deliver.”

  “Oh, I plan to. As you made clear, I have no choice.”

  Trikoupis grinned and patted Augie’s shoulder.

  At 7:55 p.m., as Augie and his future father-in-law joined Sofia and Roger at the table, his phone vibrated. A text from Emmanuel:

  “Revert to Plan A! Acknowledge, please.”

  What was this? Now they were to keep playing along?

  Augie texted back, “ok, what’s up?”

  “A.S. here. Careful.”

  Augie heard a knock at the door, and when Trikoupis rushed to open it, Augie quickly showed Sofia and Roger his phone.

  Sofia’s father breezed in with Sardinia. “Allow me to make the introductions!”

  “No need,” Sardinia said, smiling. “I met your beautiful daughter this morning—apologies again for our misunderstanding, and my sympathy on the loss of your friend.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And of course I know Mr. Michaels, though he looks a bit different from the last time I saw him.You’ll be glad to hear the charade ends tonight.”

  It sure does, Augie thought.

  “And you must be Dr. Knox! How nice to meet you.”

  Augie responded by pointing to the table. Everyone took a seat, Trikoupis to Sardinia’s left, then Sofia, Augie facing Sardinia, and Roger on Sardinia’s right.

  “I like to get right down to business,” Sardinia began. “Mr. Trikoupis is prepared to take immediate delivery and distribute compensation so we can all shake hands and be on our way. Miss Trikoupis, besides your two million euros, as a show of good faith I extricated you from an uncomfortable situation this morning as a courtesy to your father and in consideration of your fiance having informed him of this find. Dr. Knox, I assume the finder’s fee of one percent of total profits over the life of the antiquity is acceptable.”

  “It sure is.”

  “Well put. And Mr. Michaels, I assume you’re aware that your two million is in lieu of my arresting you and tying you up in our judicial system for the rest of your natural life.”

  Roger nodded. “Getting my life back is almost as valuable to me as the money.”

  That brought a laugh from Sardinia. “Almost! Very good! Now then, if there’s nothing else ….”

  Augie’s phone vibrated and he peeked at another text from Emmanuel. “Hearing everything. Direct him to your ‘representative’ at the address below, but not until he gives you Giordano’s letter.”

  “Dr. Knox?” Sardinia said, smiling. “We have agreed on terms. The ball, as they say, is in your court.”

  “I’ve got a problem,” Augie said.

  Sardinia’s smile disappeared. “You understand negotiations are over.” “There’s been a wrinkle.”

  “This is a straightforward deal with a lot of money going one direction. If this is some ploy—.”

  “Your plan was to go around us for the manuscript.” “I don’t know what you—.”

  “You stole Klaudios Giordano’s letter, hoping it would lead you to the original document and make us unnecessary.” “You’re accusing me of—.”

  “You’re the only person who had knowledge of both what it was and where it was, and the authority to take custody of it. But the letter must not have told you what you needed to know, did it? Because if it had, we wouldn’t be here. We would have been as expendable as Klaudios and Dimos.”

  “What is it you want, Dr. Knox?”

  “You said negotiations were over, Mr. Sardinia. But they’re not, are they? I want the letter before I give you and Mr. Trikoupis what you came for.”

  Sardinia appeared to be thinking. “Two people died over this, so naturally you want to protect yourselves. I respect that. The letter is in my pocket. You’re right that it proved meaningless to us, and it is a relief to know that you were able to decipher it. I am willing to surrender it as part of the transaction.”

  “And what guarantees do we have that we won’t meet the same fate as the others?”

  “You will have Mr. Trikoupis’s money, Dr. Knox.”

  “Which guarantees our safety how?”

  “It ensures your silence. What credibility would you have if you tried to expose me after being paid for your roles in the theft? Dr. Knox, my appreciation for you has risen. I assumed you were just a naïve professor dragged into this by a petrified friend.”

  “And now all you need to satisfy me is the return of a letter.”

  “At least tell me how you made sense of it, Doctor. It stymied several experts in code breaking. They gave me nothing more than I knew from a cursory glance. It’s the first two lines from the first verse of an old Catholic hymn based on a twelfth-century poem by St. Bernard.”

  Augie tried to appear as if he had known this all along, and that it had told him where Klaudios had stashed the manuscript. “When I have it in my hands again, I’ll tell you what I know.”

  Sardinia pulled an envelope from an inside jacket pocket and slid it across the table. Augie extracted the single sheet of white paper, on which was written in lavender marker:

  Daily, daily sing to Mary,

  Sing, my soul, her praises due.

  “We know Klaudios traveled to Greece,” Sardinia said. “But we had no idea where he might have hidden the memoir. There are so many potential clues in even a short biography of Bernard that we’d have been months trying to make sense of it. So humor me. How did this lead you to the manuscript?”

  “I’m sorry. Did I say it did?”

  “Something must have.”

  Roger said, “Maybe the old man just told me where to find it, and this was a red herring in case it ever fell into your hands.”

  “Clever, Mr. Michaels.”

  “Can we not lose sight of the fact that Klaudios was a friend of mine?” Roger said.

  “Mine too,” Augie said
.

  “His death is on you, sir,” Roger said.

  Sardinia appeared to suppress a smile. “Perhaps your check will assuage your grief.”

  “What about his family’s?”

  “Feel free to share your largesse with them.”

  Roger turned away, looking disgusted.

  “Okay, Dr. Knox, can we get on with this?”

  “You’d love to get rid of all of us, wouldn’t you, Aldo? Mr. Trikoupis included.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “It’s written all over you.”

  Malfees Trikoupis did a double take. “He’d be hard pressed to do without me.”

  “Once he has the goods, he doesn’t even need you, sir,” Augie said.

  Sofia shook her head. “So it’s okay with you, Dad, if he eliminates the three of us, me included, as long as he keeps you around?”

  “Oh, honey, you know—.”

  “Yeah, Dad, I do.”

  Augie peeked again at his vibrating phone. Emmanuel: “Wrap this up.”

  “Just tell me what you gleaned from it, Doctor. I don’t like puzzles I can’t solve.”

  The word puzzles gave Augie an idea.

  “No idea,” Augie said. “This is the first I’ve seen Klaudios’s letter.”

  “All right, fine! Let’s have the manuscript and you all get paid.”

  “Were you under the impression I had it here?”

  “To tell you the truth, I hoped I’d find it at the bank. So where is it?”

  Augie jotted the address Emmanuel had texted him and handed it to Sardinia. “My representative is waiting for you.”

  “This is next door. What, the cafe? You’re telling me someone’s sitting at a cafe with a priceless antiquity? You are new to this game. All right, Malfees stays here, I call him when I have it in hand, and then he distributes the checks.”

  Augie laughed. “I’m not that new! What keeps you from disappearing and leaving Mr. T. holding the bag?”