Joachim smiled. ‘Do you really think so? After all these years, my sister tells me of you. You met her some time ago, but I hadn’t yet told her my secrets. Then when I did, she suggested you could help. You are asked to come here. Suddenly, a search for the Joy Scroll is escalated by everyone, including the United States CIA and a military force we haven’t yet identified and weren’t known to be involved. And you are the only person who has managed to translate a scroll that even its protectors could not translate for the last eight hundred years.’
As incredible as it all sounded, Lourds knew he didn’t have an answer or a rebuttal. The only true break in the link would have been if he had failed to translate the language. But he hadn’t failed. And now he knew what Joachim and his predecessors had been trying to learn for the last eight centuries. Still, even with everything he had found out, Lourds didn’t know what the eventual prize would be. The Joy Scroll had to be more than just some kind of document to ward
Taking a deep breath, Lourds took the beer bottle from the counter and rubbed the chill, frosted side across his forehead. The coolness felt welcome to the throbbing headache that was just beginning.
‘You do realize what you’re saying, don’t you?’ Lourds asked after a bit. ‘If we get caught by any of the law enforcement agencies looking for us, our only excuse for doing everything we have done is simply: the Devil made us do it.’
‘Maybe we should plan on not getting caught,’ Joachim suggested.
‘Given where we have to go, what we have to do, as well as who’s looking for us, that’s not very bloody likely, now is it?’ Lourds snorted in frustration, took another beer from the refrigerator, and returned to the balcony.
Cleena trapped her pistol between her thigh and the car seat as she sped through traffic. ‘If you do anything stupid,’ she advised the man she’d taken prisoner, ‘I’ll kill you.’
He said nothing but continued trying to work some feeling back into his numbed hands by squeezing them into fists. His gaze was hot and defiant, but fear lurked there as well.
‘You’re going to have to lose the car,’ Sevki advised. ‘They’ll have a GPS locater on it. That’s standard operating procedure.’
‘Kidnapping me is going to get you a life without a parole sentence,’ he told her viciously. ‘I guarantee that.’
She glanced at him. ‘Then shooting you isn’t going to make my situation any worse.’ Lifting her pistol, she shot him through the meaty part of his left thigh. Trapped inside the car, the harsh crack of the pistol rolled like thunder. Dawson howled in pain and surprise and gripped his wounded leg. Blood spread through his fingers but there was no arterial bleeding.
‘I left you the use of your leg,’ Cleena said. ‘The next shot will require reconstructive surgery on your knee. Maybe you’ll be a cripple.’
He cursed her.
‘Any signs of pursuit?’ Cleena asked Sevki.
‘Yes.’
Her stomach clenched and she smelled the hot, fresh iron of the man’s blood.
‘Ten blocks back and closing fast,’ Sevki advised.
Cleena estimated that with traffic conditions she had at best a couple of minutes before her pursuers caught up to her. She swerved into the first alley she came to and felt the seatbelt squeeze into her flesh as she bumped over the curb.
She parked the car in the middle of the alley, got out, then walked to the passenger side of the car and yanked her prisoner out. He feigned helplessness that wasn’t entirely faked.
Dawson started to walk favouring his wounded leg. He left a blood trail on the cracked stone.
At the end of the alley, when the pursuers were still two blocks away, Cleena turned right and walked into a parking lot. A young attendant came out of the kiosk to greet them.
‘May I help you?’ he asked.
Cleena pointed to the nearest sedan. ‘I want the keys to that car.’
‘Do you have your ticket?’
She showed him the pistol. His eyes widened and he reached inside the kiosk to retrieve the keys. Cleena reached inside as well and yanked the phone cord from the wall.
‘There will be men after me,’ Cleena said. ‘American. They’ll be hard men and you won’t want to talk to them because they’re not going to be friendly. Understand?’
The young man nodded and looked panicked. ‘Sometimes my English isn’t so good.’
‘They’ll probably beat good English into you if they have the chance.’ Cleena indicated the blood trail her prisoner had left. ‘Maybe they won’t follow me here, but I think they will.’
She opened the sedan’s passenger door and shoved her captive inside. Dawson groaned and slumped into the seat. Cleena walked around the car and slid behind the steering wheel. The engine caught immediately.
‘They’re going to find you,’ Dawson said weakly. He’d gone pale.
Cleena was worried that he would go into shock and pass out. ‘It’ll be too late to help you.’
‘You don’t know who you’re messing with.’
‘The CIA. How’s that for starters?’
The man tried to control the surprise on his face.
Cleena drove smoothly, keeping in the flow of the traffic. ‘Now, give me your name or I’m going to do the knee.’ She kept her voice cold and distant, as though this was an everyday conversation.
Shifting slightly, Dawson leaned against the door.
Cleena pointed the pistol at his knee. ‘Go on. Jump out of the car. And when you do, I’m going to back over you.’
He wilted, obviously resigned to his fate. ‘Trust me. You do not want to hurt me any more.’
‘Actually, I do. But right now that’s negotiable.’
Stubbornly, he failed to respond.
‘Three, two—’
‘Dawson,’ the man said. ‘James Dawson.’
‘And you’re with the CIA?’
‘Yes.’
‘What are you doing in Istanbul?’
That, she knew, was a lie, but she led it ride. ‘Why is Thomas Lourds involved in your investigation?’
‘Our information leads us to believe that Lourds is designing an artificial language for terrorists.’
‘That’s a load of crap,’ Sevki said over the earwig connection. ‘He thinks he’s dealing with idiots. It would actually be a great plan if used, but terrorist cells are set up to function independently. There is no communication between terrorist cells. That’s part of why they’re so dangerous.’
Cleena knew that as well.
‘That isn’t what Lourds is doing,’ she said.
‘I leaned on you and your sister, to get information concerning Lourds’ whereabouts,’ the man said. ‘We had to have it.’
Cleena stopped the car at a red light in a busy intersection. ‘One last question, and you get to walk.’
Dawson started to say something, then thought better of it and didn’t.
‘Who are you working for?’
‘The CIA. You know that.’
‘The scroll Lourds is looking for isn’t something the CIA would be interested in.’
‘The artificial language—’
‘No,’ Cleena said. She levelled the pistol at his knee. ‘Who sent you after Lourds?’ She glanced up at the traffic light. ‘You have until the light changes colour.’
‘Webster,’ Dawson whispered.
‘Webster?’
The light changed to green and the car behind Cleena honked impatiently.
‘The American vice-president?’ Sevki sounded in total disbelief.
Cleena knew how he felt. Another honk sounded from the car behind her. She gestured to Dawson.
‘Get out of the car,’ she said. ‘And whatever you do, don’t ever come near my sister or me again.’
‘Don’t worry about that. You won’t see me next time. By the time you realize I’m there, it will already be too late.’ Dawson closed the door and stood at the open window as he pulled his courage together. ‘The only question will be whether I
kill your sister before or after I kill you.’
Sevki cursed.
Dawson turned began to walk away.
‘Agent Dawson,’ she said.
He turned to face her, a confident smile twitching his lips. He started to open his mouth to say something, then he saw Cleena point the pistol at him. She squeezed the trigger smoothly and felt the pistol buck in her fist. The bullet caught Dawson below his left eye next to his nostril. Several people near the car recognized the sound of the shot and dived for cover.
‘Oh my God,’ Sevki said. ‘Did you just shoot him?’
‘Yes.’ Cleena dropped her foot on the accelerator and sped through the intersection as Dawson sprawled
‘Lourds is the target. You should have just stayed low and got out of this. They couldn’t come after you and the professor.’
Cleena made a right turn. Paranoia still thrummed within her as she checked for pursuit. ‘Do you think I can just run?’
‘You can. I can create false identities for you and your sister.’
‘To live where?’
‘Here, for starters.’
Tears burned at the back of Cleena’s eyes as she realized everything that was now at stake. ‘I can’t do that to my sister,’ she whispered. ‘You don’t realize what she’s been through. The home she has now in college? That’s the only home she’s truly known. I can’t take her away from that. Not when she’s so close to starting her life her way.’
‘Then what are you going to do?’
‘I’m going to ride this thing out. See where it goes.’ Cleena made a few sharp turns and parked the car at the side of a shop. She left the keys in the ignition and got out.
‘You’ve seen what you’re up against. What you’re talking about is suicide.’
Cleena strode away forcefully, putting as much distance as she could between the car and herself. ‘We’ve come this far.’
‘You don’t even know if there’s anything to this,’
‘Sometimes they do. You know that. Part of your business is based on that.’
‘Two thousand years is a long time to keep a secret.’
‘People say the Egyptian pyramids were buried longer than that.’
Sevki sighed.
‘You can have out,’ Cleena said. ‘There’s nothing holding you to this. I needed you to help me find whoever hurt my sister. You did.’
‘Neither one of us has any sense. You know that, don’t you?’
Cleena smiled and her steps felt a little lighter. ‘I didn’t know, but I’d hoped.’
‘Let’s just cross our fingers that the professor is as good as everyone thinks he is.’
‘When the Hagia Sofia was built at the direction of Constantine,’ Lourds said as he smoothed out the maps of the temple Joachim had brought him, ‘several mosaics were built into the walls. They remained there for hundreds of years until the Muslims conquered the city and took over the church.’
Joachim and Olympia crowded in for a closer look. The other monks followed suit until there was scarcely standing room round the conference table.
‘Many of those mosaics were stolen during the Fourth Crusade,’ Joachim said. ‘They were kept in private collections or sold to collectors later.’
‘They were,’ he agreed. ‘More were damaged during the Muslim renovations. But there are four hidden under the church in passageways. According to the scroll I read, the Joy Scroll can be found using the information in those mosaics.’
‘That’s impossible,’ Joachim said.
‘Why?’ Lourds asked.
‘Because we have been over every inch of those passageways. There are no more hidden passageways that we don’t know about.’
‘If that’s true, then I don’t have a clue where the Joy Scroll will be.’ Lourds returned the monk’s gaze full measure. ‘So how do you want to do this? Either I know what I’m talking about, or I don’t. This is what I translated.’
‘If this passageway was there, we’d have found it.’
‘Not if God didn’t want you to.’
‘That’s sacrilege.’
‘Is it? Either you believe everything is coming together for a reason now – or you don’t. That’s what the Joy Scroll is all about, isn’t it? The omens. The rise of Lucifer in this world.’
‘You’re an outsider. This shouldn’t fall to you.’
‘It wasn’t exactly my choice either,’ Lourds agreed. ‘I had a rather leisurely working vacation planned.’ He tapped the map. ‘But I’m telling you now, on that scroll I read details how to find this passageway. If we
‘We’ll go,’ Joachim said, but he clearly wasn’t happy about it.
‘We’ll need supplies.’ Lourds rolled the maps and stuffed them back into a protective cylinder.
‘You’re going to have to forgive my brother, Thomas.’
Lourds stood beside his bed and laced up his hiking boots. Outside the bedroom window, the sun was going down. Golden sunlight filtered into the room but it was on the wane.
‘Joachim is used to doing things his way,’ Olympia went on.
‘I got that.’ Lourds stamped in his boots, making sure that the fit was good. ‘But he can be a tad insufferable when he puts his mind to it.’
‘The biggest problem is that you and he,’ Olympia told him with a smile, ‘are so much alike.’
‘Me and your brother?’ Lourds couldn’t believe it. ‘I hardly think so.’
‘Both of you are wilful, proud and full of self-importance. Neither of you plays well with others. In short – insufferable.’
‘Is any of this supposed to make me feel better?’
Olympia grinned at him. ‘You’re both also intelligent and decisive. And stubborn.’
Olympia crossed the room and folded Lourds’ collar down. ‘What I’m trying to get at is that the two of you would be better off working together than being at loggerheads. You need to listen to each other. You know more than he does about where the scroll could possibly be and that bothers him. But he has access to those wonderful monastic accounts that he won’t let us see. Not only that, no one has seen them.’ She paused. ‘Feel free to stop me when I start making sense.’
‘If he weren’t so insufferable and cocksure we’d probably get along better.’
‘Funny. He said something similar about you.’
Lourds closed his notebook computer and put it away inside his backpack. ‘At least we can agree on that.’
Olympia’s smile faded as seriousness tightened her features. ‘If you’re right, and I think you are, tonight is going to be very dangerous.’
‘I thought things had already been very dangerous.’
‘They have, but you’ve been consumed by the scroll these last few days. You haven’t seen what’s going on out in the world.’
Lourds knew that was true.
‘When John of Patmos wrote the scroll, he made a prediction.’
‘That the scroll would be revealed during perilous times?’ Lourds smiled at that. ‘A statement like that has to accompany every document that prophesises the end of the world. It’s to be expected.’
Curious at Olympia’s serious demeanour, Lourds slung his backpack over a shoulder and trailed after her. In the common room she walked to the television that had been brought in to monitor local news. When she switched it on, the screen filled with a local news station. The dateline showed Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and showed troops mobilizing. Tanks sped through streets and across deserts while fighter jets blasted off airfields and streaked through blue skies as well as nights.
‘What’s going on?’ Lourds asked.
‘The king of Saudi Arabia was assassinated a few days ago.’
Lourds vaguely remembered something about that but it hadn’t caught his full attention.
‘His youngest son, Prince Khalid, has ascended to the throne. No one thought that would happen,’ Olympia said. ‘Prince Khalid has, more or less, taken a genocidal approach to politics within his country.’ She nodded at
the television. ‘Apparently that view is currently quite popular.’
Lourds was quite familiar with the young prince. He’d been in the news several times despite his father’s remonstrations.
‘It’s the hand of Lucifer,’ Joachim stated quietly.
‘It’s tension in the Middle East,’ Lourds responded. ‘Those problems have always been there. Sadly, they’ll probably always remain. I wouldn’t read any more into this than you see.’
Feeling slightly flummoxed, Lourds tugged at his goatee, then caught himself doing that and stopped.
‘The destiny of our world lies in those lands,’ Joachim said. ‘And in this one. It’s always been that way.’
A knock sounded at the front door.
The monks gathered around.
‘It’s me,’ Cleena called from the other side of the door. ‘I’m alone and I’m coming in.’ The door opened and she stepped through.
Olympia frowned with distaste. Lourds knew she had hoped they’d seen the last of Cleena MacKenna when she’d left earlier.
‘Is that blood on your sleeve?’ Joachim pointed toward Cleena’s right sleeve.
Lourds noticed the speckles Joachim pointed at. They were starting to turn to a crusty brown.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ Cleena shot back.
‘What have you done?’ Olympia demanded.
‘Nothing. If anything, I’ve bought us some time. But not much.’ Cleena stood her ground. Her hand wasn’t far from her pistol and Lourds knew she didn’t trust any of them too much. He couldn’t help wondering what had brought her back. ‘This isn’t even my problem. But I came back to help.’
‘Out of the goodness of your heart?’
Cleena shot Olympia a hard look but didn’t respond. ‘You people don’t realize what we’re really up against. Or who.’
Cleena cursed. ‘Save your devils and demons. For whatever reason, the United States has declared an interest in this scroll.’
‘What do you mean?’ Joachim said.
‘The men back at the university,’ Lourds said. ‘The ones who followed us down into the tunnels.’
The Lucifer Code (2010) Page 28
