Relic

by Roger Weston

  Several valets were staring at the Peugeot. Jake figured this was either because the Peugeot was the cheapest car they’d seen all day or because of all the bullet holes in the side and the shot-out windows. The back seat was covered with shattered gas. Jake got out and turned over the keys to confused-looking valet with uncombed hair. Jake gave him 100 argentine pesos. “Take good care of her, my friend.”

  Patting the dust out of his white tuxedo, Jake walked over by the pool. The estate was truly amazing—and this was not even Ajax’s primary residence. He lived in Thailand. Jake had always known that banking and weapons trading were profitable businesses, but to see the fruit of the spoils first hand was breathtaking. Hundreds of people were attending the wedding, and these were beautiful people. Jake figured that the women’s dresses alone, if they were all sold at auction, could have bought ten commercial fishing boats, all better than his, which at the moment wasn’t even seaworthy. The people all seemed to be having a very nice time. Caterers were carrying silver trays around with a variety of delicacies on them. Jake had no appetite, so he declined. He accepted a glass of wine only so that he would look like he belonged. Since nobody was talking to him and Nick was nowhere in sight, Jake decided to snoop around. Maybe he could find the Confession. Maybe he could find some evidence to connect the Rosarios with the man who tried to kill him on his boat in Washington State. Then there was the homeless man they’d shot dead by his boat in dry-dock. Jake needed evidence to clear his name, but the dead man also needed justice. Someone had to go to jail.

  Jake checked his watch and wandered over by the house. The entrances were manned by security teams, but he was able to walk up onto the verandas, which were lined with arched colonnades. From this vantage point, he looked out over the pools and sipped his wine so as to look like he was enjoying himself. He talked for a few minutes with a man who owned a chain of car lots, but then excused himself to find a restroom. He walked by the windows and casually looked into a living room that had probably been in magazines. He casually tried the French doors, but they were locked. He left the veranda. He would have to find a way in, but it wouldn’t be easy with hundreds of people all around and security tighter than Fort Knox. Maybe that was because they saw the Christ Confession as more valuable than vaults of gold. As Jake left the veranda, he noticed that a security thug who was blending in with the crowd was also looking in his direction. Jake wasn’t too worried even if they’d seen him try the door. After the entrance he made, they’d have to be watching him.

  CHAPTER 50

  Jake walked around the back side of the house. There were people all around, talking in little groups. In the distance, he saw a polo match underway. The lawn went on forever. Golf courses had nothing on Ajax Rosario. The lake was very pretty. The reflections of several big picturesque trees could be seen on calm water. A couple of swans paddled along, dunking their heads below the surface.

  A big caterer stopped in front of him and sampled hors d'oeuvres from his own tray. He looked at Jake. “It’s very good caviar. Comes from offshore.”

  “Nice,” Jake said, but he was confused. Who was this caterer? What offshore was he referring to? He was not acting like a typical servant. Jake didn’t have to wait long for clarification.

  “Stuart says thank you for helping lift that keg. You saved his back.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Jake said.

  The caterer smiled and took another cracker with caviar spread. “Enjoy the party.”

  As the server walked away, Jake watched him weave through the crowd. OFFSHORE was Stuart’s private intelligence operation. This server was telling him that they had infiltrated the party. That was very impressive work. Jake had just updated them a couple of hours ago.

  Jake wandered around over by the food tents where they were barbecuing lamb and passing out drinks. He talked with bankers, lawyers, and business owners. A lot of small talk. He was surrounded by various languages—Spanish, Portuguese, German, English, French, and others. He heard titles spoken in front of names: General, prime minister, princess, senator… He was looking over toward the polo game when someone spoke to him from behind.

  “Jake Sands, isn’t it?” Jake turned and found himself looking at Irina. She looked lovely with her strawberry blond hair cascading down from beneath a gold-threaded headband. Jake looked into her intense blue eyes and for a moment he was having flashbacks to the storm in the San Juan Islands when he pulled her from her sinking boat and saved her life.

  She said, “Imagine my surprise when I learned you’re working with Nick.”

  “A man’s got to make a living. I love teaching shipwreck history, but I need extra income. Anyway, shipping is in my blood.”

  “Would you care to take a walk around the lake with me? It’s the least I can do for the man who saved my life.”

  “My pleasure.” They started across the lawn, walking a little ways without speaking.

  Jake said, “So nice here.”

  “I know what you’ve been up to,” Irina said. “You shouldn’t have meddled in my business.”

  “Maybe, but a girl I’d just saved was kidnapped off my boat. Your thugs beat me up and almost killed me. My boat almost sank. You sent a hit man after me. He killed the wrong man and left a body next to my boat. That makes it my business.”

  “I didn’t want to make those decisions.”

  “Why did you then?”

  “This is much bigger than you, Jake.”

  “Not from my point of view. Do you know how worried I was about you? I have to admit, you had me going for a while.”

  The lake was a mirror of blue skies and several big trees along her shores. Her reflections changed as Jake walked and his vantage point shifted.

  “I think you overreacted,” Irina said. “You may very well be crazy. Did you really think that you could pose as an arms buyer and get away with it? That was very foolish, but even worse, you sent the Confession, which is my property, to scientists.”

  “You mean that fake relic?”

  “Its influence is very real. Perception is reality. If you’d been watching television, you would know that that the story of the Christ Confession is being repeated millions of times around the globe by almost every television station in existence. It is the biggest sensation in the history of television. It’s even bigger on the internet.”

  “Did you forget to tell them that it’s a fake? Did you forget to tell them about Camilo Torres, the man who called himself the world’s greatest sinner and how he was trying to destroy the church and the faith?”

  “Don’t bore with me with morality. If there is no God, there is no need for morality.”

  “If,” Jake said. “If…”

  One of the big trees by the lake erupted with bird trilling. Hundreds of birds separated from their high perches in unison, flew in a short arc, and returned to the branches.

  “Do you know what happened to my road team?” Irina said. “I have just received word that they had a terrible accident. You don’t know anything about that, do you?”

  Jake shrugged. “The roads are getting more and more dangerous. You can’t be too careful.”

  “I think you’re a dangerous man, Jake. Unfortunately, you’re in way over your head. You should never have come here.”

  “Well, if you hadn’t created problems for me in Seattle, I wouldn’t have.”

  “What did you hope to accomplish?”

  “Just to prove that I’m not to blame for the dead man by my boat.”

  “And to make trouble for me?”

  “It did cross my mind.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it did. You should have known better, Jake. The Rosario Dynasty tried to destroy me. Now I am getting revenge against them. I have outsmarted and outmaneuvered them. I’m going to tell you a little secret. After all, you saved my life. At least I can do that much for you considering the sacrifice you’re making.”

  “Does this have to do with the Augean Command?”

  “And
what do you know about that?”

  “We already talked about Camilo Torres, the greatest sinner. He was grandmaster.”

  Irina pushed her strawberry-blond hair behind her ear and adjusted her gold-threaded headband. “It’s thanks to him that I have the Confession.”

  “How long do you think your fraud will last?” Jake said. “Do you realize that thousands of legitimate artifacts have been discovered that actually verify the Biblical history? Do you really think that one fake will cancel all that out? It’s wishful thinking.”

  “You know your history. I will teach you about the present. You called the Confession a fake, but its impact is already out of control. Let me tell you a little secret. That ‘fake relic’ as you call it will shatter the faith of millions of people all over the globe. They will believe whatever the media tells them, and the media will not question my claims because they want to believe that it is true. For them, this is the biggest story of their lives.”

  “What’s the point of all this?”

  “Never mind that. What I can tell you, though, is I will soon be at the helm of the Augean Command. Then I will not only be the most powerful woman in the world, I will be the most powerful person in the world. So I thank you for saving my life. I’m only sorry that you got in too deep.” Irina waved to a couple of security guys standing a ways off. “Now, please excuse me. I have other guests to attend to.”

  As she walked away, Jake hoped his smartphone’s voice-activated audio recorder had worked properly. He took notice of several thugs who were watching him.

  CHAPTER 51

  Jake followed Irina, but kept a distance and tried to seem aimless, considering he was being watched himself. He strolled through clusters of party guests. He noticed when a young man approached Irina. Jake began playing shuffleboard by the house and within earshot. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the thugs who were watching him.

  While Jake was hearing snatches of Irina’s argument, he got the sense that this was her son. It was a heated mother-son talk. Jake also noticed five distinguished-looking men enter the house. In every case, the men held up what looked like a gold coin, which they showed to the guards. Each time guards nodded and let them enter. Because of the shaded veranda, Jake was able to see in the window and noticed all the men headed for the east wing of the mansion. Then Irina finished her conversation and stormed inside. She went the same way the men had gone, to the east wing.

  Jake heard a disturbance. He turned and saw a man with a camera trying to go after Irina. When a security man cut him off and reached for the camera, the man said, “Get away from me.”

  A couple more burly security men went over to help deal with the uninvited guest.

  Jake decided this was a good time to fade away. He casually weaved a path through the groups of people.

  A walled courtyard protected the east wing from surveillance. The stone wall was eight-feet high and much of the fence was hidden behind trees.

  Jake wandered along the lake to where the trees hugged the shore. There was an area of about twenty feet where a wide gravel path ran into the trees, which was out of sight of the main house and most of the people out on the lawns. Jake casually veered onto the path and entered the woods. The trail, only twenty meters long, led to a service shed for the gardeners.

  Jake walked around back and stalked through the woods for about fifty yards, approaching the stone fence to the courtyard on the east wing. He climbed a tree enough to look in. It was a private garden with all kinds of exotic plants. He saw windows, but no people. Then he heard voices. He chose a spot to climb over the fence where he would have cover behind a bushy tree. Once in the garden, he crawled along the base of the fence, staying behind bushes and out of sight. He crawled all the way along the fence and up next to a ground-level window behind a large bush. Then he could hear more the voices more clearly. A couple of men were talking about Irina and how surprised and pleased they were to hear from her yesterday. A total shock. They thought she was gone, and now, here they were at her wedding. Jake heard nervous laughter. It sounded like small talk to Jake, but he figured to stay out of sight and listen a little longer. He realized that it was a sunken room with a kind of glass atrium in the upper section opening to the gardens and letting natural light in.

  He took a quick peak and was surprised by what he saw. About fourteen feet down, there was a board room with dark-gray walls—a big underground boardroom. The table was big enough to sit twelve people on each side. Most of the seats were occupied by distinguished-looking gentlemen. They all wore suits. Jake had never heard of anyone conducting a business meeting at a wedding. He wondered what could be going on… He saw that a couple of them had gold coins on the table in front of them.

  He heard a lot of hushed talk about the Estancia and solemn congratulations were directed toward Irina, who stood there in her pink dress, flanked by bodyguards. She was gracious and subdued in her acknowledgements. One man gave her a gift and kissed her hand. After she set the gift on a side table, she asked that all the men take a seat, which they did. Jake sensed a strange tension in the air. The grim faces he saw were not typical for a wedding.

  “Where’s El Jefe?” someone asked.

  “I’m afraid he won’t be here,” Irina said.

  Jake heard some mumbling down in the underground conference room. He got out his mini binoculars and stole a look down below at one of the coins on the table. It looked a lot like gold doubloons he’d seen that had been recovered from Spanish galleons. He wondered about the connection with the Maravillas, the 1654 shipwreck in the Bahamas Channel. He put away his mini binoculars and watched. He was looking down on them and couldn’t help noticing that half of the men were bald.

  In her pink dress, Irina contrasted with the men who all wore dark suits. Irina stood at the head of the table frowning at her guests. Jake recognized the man at the opposite end of the table to be Ajax, who was legendary for all the arms deals had done in Asia and Africa. Ajax was a dark-haired man, taller than his brother Nick. He had his arms spread out on the table in front of him as if to communicate power.

  Irina said, “My fellow Augeans, for centuries, our predecessors have been planning coup d’etats, financing weapons deals, and fanning the flames of new conflicts all over the globe.

  “In 1738, Pope Clement XII began a long tradition of Catholic opposition to Masonry and the Augean Command in particular. Now, we have finally answered the churches of the world.

  “We will introduce a new syncretistic religion to unite the world’s disparate faiths and replace Christianity. Our new world religion will be an amalgamation of different religions, various truisms and pleasing themes. Christ will be absent.

  “Napoleon said that religion is for keeping the common people quiet. Seneca called it useful to rulers. These are people who want to keep the peace. The fact is, gentlemen, that there are undercurrents within the Christian religion that appeal to the softer side of man, currents of peace, love, gentleness, and kindness. These currents have led to a situation where rulers of Christian nations, particularly in the United States, consider war a last resort. Why? Because the church and the people are against unnecessary wars. Jesus is quoted for saying, “blessed are the peacemakers.” Some have interpreted this as a call for pacifism. Others disagree but have still been restrained.”

  A bald man cut in: “Don’t forget He also acknowledges the legitimate use of force when he tells the apostles, “Let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one.”

  Irina touched her gold-threaded headband. “I didn’t realize you were a theologian as well as an arms manufacturer.”

  The bald man shook his head. “An army general I met in the Philippines told me that.”

  “I acknowledge your point,” Irina said, “but churches are for families. I have been told that few pastors or priests ever quote that scripture for fear of alienating their people. Many mothers don’t want their children to hear those kinds of sermons in church. They prefer feel-
good scriptures. Many Christians have never even heard that. What prevails in common knowledge is the need for humanity. Such sentiments led to the Geneva Convention and the Red Cross. Don’t forget that the nurses wear red crosses on their arms. Gentlemen, I’m talking about the unspoken currents that limit wars. I’m talking about all of the limitations and conditions put on the just use of force. These attitudes have taken over the American psyche. That’s why small countries have sometimes committed acts of war against them and gotten away with it. Very few people have understanding of these issues. Very few Americans know anything about history. They have devolved into ignorance.”

  A skinny man leaned back and sighed loudly.

  Irina said, “Christian nations are restrained from war by many factors. Christians have moral reasons to avoid going to war. If this were not the case, all American teenagers would be drafted into the military and sent into battle because war would no longer be a last resort. It would be a means of maintaining prosperity and power as with the Romans. World war would be the norm.

  “Yes, there are plenty of small wars around the globe, but the giant sleeps. Even Russia has become a Christian nation. Not long ago, that would have been unthinkable. The result of all of this is that a huge potential markets for weapons are closed. When we open new markets, then our businesses will thrive like never before. How can we do it?

  “People’s natural impulses—to kill, steal, and destroy—must be released. The people have been oppressed for too long. They have a right to express their animal instincts. Anything that inhibits beastly desires is unnatural. The time has come for common people to be free of all inhibitions.”