by Ken Lange
I recoiled from the man. Wow, okay. Clearly, he was all broken up about her death. “I’m sorry?”
He rolled his eyes. “Do I need to speak slower? I asked—”
“I heard, I just couldn’t believe it.”
Dennis put his hands on his hips. “Do I need to call the mayor’s office to get the answers I need?”
I shrugged. “If that’s what you feel you’ve got to do, go for it. But I work for Interpol, and there’s nothing he can do to hurry me along.” Leaning in, I lowered my voice. “If you continue to be a douchebag, I’ll be here all month. However, should you get out of my way, we might be able to finish sometime before that.”
With his face turning beet red, he stepped toward me. “You have no idea the people I know in this city and the hell I can cause you.”
I chuckled and turned to Dean. “Would you kindly escort this man out of my crime scene? And if he gives you any shit, feel free to cuff him and toss him in a cell.”
Dennis blinked. “Wait a minute. You can’t do that.”
Isidore was behind him in an instant. “Actually, he can.” He leaned in and whispered in his ear sweetly. “Now come along with me before you say something you’ll regret.” He looked up at Dean. “I got this.”
Isidore gently grabbed Dennis by the shoulder and spun him around before heading deeper into the warehouse.
Resisting the urge to punch something, I pulled out my phone. “Guess I should call Baptist.”
Chapter 5
The sun was peeking over the horizon when I sent Isidore and Dean home to get some rest. They’d had a rough night and if I had to guess, this wouldn’t be the last. About half past six, the UCD finished and packed up their things. Baptist and I were following them out when my phone rang. Alexander.
I gestured for Baptist to go ahead of me as I held up my cell. “Catch up with you in a second.”
He nodded. “Da.”
Answering the call, I said, “Hello.”
Alexander’s tone was tense. “You busy?”
I shook my head. “Not really. Just finishing up here. What’s up?”
He hesitated. “I’d rather not say until you get here.” There was another pause, and Alexander said something I couldn’t understand. “Sorry about that, I’ve got my people securing the grounds.”
I stopped in my tracks. “Really? Is the padre cool with it?”
Alexander grunted. “He’s under the assumption that we’re stepping up precautions to keep him safe.”
Frowning, I asked, “And you’re not?”
“Not even a little. There’s something weird going on here that you need to see for yourself.”
Sighing, I nodded. “Let me talk with Baptist for a moment then I’ll be on my way.”
He sniffed. “The sooner the better.”
The call died.
I crossed the street and waved at Lt. Baptist. “Sorry to cut this short, but business calls.”
He grimaced. “Need me to tag along?”
Shaking my head, I said, “Doesn’t sound like it. Alexander would’ve said something.”
He patted his shirt pocket with his phone. “All right. If that changes, don’t hesitate to get in touch.”
Running my hand over my face, I nodded. “With the way the last twenty-four hours have gone, I’ll take all the help I can get.”
Baptist winced. “If this morning is any indication, that’s quite an understatement.” After clapping me on the shoulder, he stepped toward his cruiser. “Take care.”
I waved. “You as well.”
Fifteen minutes later, I idled up to the curb in front of the cathedral. I was closing the car door when someone suddenly appeared next to me. Jumping back several inches, I reached for my sword…which, thankfully, wasn’t there. It was Alexander. I let out a low growl. “Christ, man. Is everything all right?”
Alexander frowned. “To be honest, I don’t know.” He gestured for me to follow him. “Come, you need to see this for yourself to believe it.”
He guided me through the church and down the stairs. Once we were in the basement, we turned right instead of left, taking us in the opposite direction of the room where Duncan had been kept. The hallway dead-ended in a dank, damp empty room made of old cobblestones. A lone light hung from the ceiling, doing an exceptionally poor job of illuminating the space. Water trickled down the stones and pooled in the uneven spots in the floor.
Alexander walked across the room to the driest section of wall, ran his hand about halfway down, paused, then leaned into it. His hand turned white for a moment before the stone sank in ever so slightly. There was a loud click then a large section of the wall popped out a few inches.
He stepped over to the edge and pulled. A moment later, I was stunned into silence as the contents of the hidden room sparkled in the bright lights above.
Alexander pointed at a familiar piece of art. “Isn’t this the painting you had me pick up a few months ago for that realtor…Alicia something?”
I’d promised Alicia Sanders a substantial reward for selling my house within a thirty-day window. Which she had. But since she’d refused cash, I had to come up with a creative way to make good on my promise. The payment came to fruition by way of a painting she liked that was up for auction in New York. Alexander was kind enough to collect it for me and deliver it to her.
“Yeah.” Glancing up at him, I asked, “Why’s it here?”
He shrugged. “No idea.” He gestured at the room jampacked with boxes filled with gems, gold, silver, books, and other valuables. “It’s extremely well organized, and if this weren’t hidden inside a church, I’d think it was a fence for some powerful syndicate.”
“How do we know it’s not?”
He frowned. “I guess we don’t.”
It took me several seconds to take in the scene. While material things didn’t do much for me normally…the hoard before me was awe-inspiring. Whoever had acquired this hadn’t thought small. There was enough here to tempt a dragon.
“This is—”
He cut in. “Impressive?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but not in a good way.”
Alexander sighed as he sat at the desk. “You have no idea how right you are.” Opening a drawer, he picked up a file and laid it in front of him. “I found these earlier.” He pulled out a set of blueprints and spread them out, placing his finger on the top corner. “Looks like these are the drawings for the room where they were keeping Duncan.”
I scanned the drawing and pointed at some of the strange markings. “Any idea what these are?”
He shook his head. “Not in the slightest.” Shrugging, he said, “They could be glyphs, but I’ve never seen any and I’m not an enchanter, so I can’t be sure.”
Kur whispered in my mind. “They’re not glyphs, at least not in the traditional sense. But they do contain a power, even on the paper there…which is very odd.”
Great. Alexander didn’t have a clue and Kur wasn’t sure what to make of them other than the obvious.
Rolling my shoulders, I sighed. “Well, that’s just one more mystery to add to the pile.” I gestured at the desk. “Anything else you’d like to share?”
Alexander frowned. “Actually, there is.” He opened one of the ledgers on the desk. “The room is completely cataloged.” He slid his finger down the page and stopped on a line with a set of numbers beside it. “This appears to be a sale.”
I grimaced. “So, this really is some sort of operation dealing in stolen goods?”
“No idea.” He flipped back to the front of the book. “But if it is, we know their name.” Written in large gold letters was Gotteskinder, which Kur quickly translated to God’s Children.
If that was any indication, we were dealing with fanatics. “Fucking hell.”
Alexander nodded. “Tell me about it.” He held out a hand in my direction. “And before you ask, I’ve already got people looking into the name. We’re also checking with our local contacts within the criminal
enterprises here in town. So far, no one knows anything. But it’s only a matter of time before we find something.”
I frowned. “Yeah, that’s what we said about the Black Circle, and look how well that’s turned out for us.”
He grinned. “Not exactly terrible since you’ve had Atsidi’s books copied and distributed to Pacis Gladius, Warden Global, and the Ulfr.”
The books Atsidi had given me while I was in New Mexico had been very helpful in explaining the ins and outs of the Black Circle. Even so, things hadn’t gone as well as any of us had hoped.
I cut my eyes at him. “But we haven’t found anything new since then.”
He sucked air in through his teeth. “True, but they’ve been hiding for thousands of years, so they know a thing or two about keeping a low profile.” He pointed at the book. “They’d never be clumsy enough to leave stuff like this lying around.”
Running my hand over the back of my neck, I thought about it for a second. “Probably true, but I still don’t like the idea that there’s yet another secret organization operating under our noses without us knowing about it.”
Alexander sighed. “That may be, but we have a lot to go on here. There are bank accounts listed and several items that can be traced back to their owners. Speaking of which, maybe you should talk to Alicia and find out how the priest got hold of this.”
Not wanting to wait, I suggested, “Why don’t we ask Alfred instead?”
Alexander grinned. “That’s an even better idea.”
I paused and gestured at the room. “Does he know you’ve found this place?”
He shook his head. “Unlikely. We’ve kept him sequestered in his quarters since late last night.”
I scratched my beard. “Send someone to fetch him so we can have a proper conversation about what’s going on.”
Alexander pulled out his phone and sent a text. “One of my guys should have him down here in a few minutes.” He gestured at the room. “Want to rifle through it while we wait?”
I was tempted but decided against it. “Nah, I’d rather have the guided tour. I might miss something important if I go through it randomly.”
Three minutes passed, and Alexander’s phone rang. He answered it. “Hello… What do you mean he isn’t there? Who was watching him? And you’re sure? Crap. All right, get in there and find out where he went.” Ending the call, he shook his head. “I’m guessing you caught the gist of that conversation?”
“Yep.”
He sighed. “I was certain we had all the exits covered.”
I glanced around the room. “All the visible ones. Have them check the place for a trapdoor or something… I’m betting there’s an underground passage in the rectory.”
His expression dropped. “Fuck, I didn’t even consider that.” He hammered out a quick text. “We’ll find him.”
I took a deep breath. “Of that I have no doubt.” Patting him on the shoulder, I said, “Do me a favor and have your people check the local hospitals for a Father George…he was supposedly admitted a few days ago. But Alfred hasn’t exactly been honest with us so far, and now that he’s on the run, everything he’s said is suspect.” I gestured at the room. “And I want all of this, everything. Have it moved to Elmwood. I don’t want whoever these people are getting their hands on it.”
His gaze flickered around the room. “I can do that.”
Nodding, I sighed. “Hey, give Baptist a call and have our people freeze the accounts listed in the book.”
His eyes narrowed, and a sly grin crossed his lips. “Going to hit them where it hurts?”
“Hell yeah.” I paused for a moment and grimaced. “Hey, if anything else interesting turns up, let me know as soon as you get a chance.”
“Absolutely.” He glanced up at me. “What are you going to do?”
I picked up the blueprints. “I’m taking these to Andrew to see if he can make sense of any of this.”
Alexander gave me a thumbs-up. “Good plan. I’ll let you know when we’re done here.”
“Thanks.”
My uncle’s place was less than five minutes from the church, so it actually took longer to get in the car and make the U-turn than to drive there. After pulling in, I closed the gate behind me before heading upstairs to speak with Andrew. Due to the shakeup within the Archive, his bookstore was now open by appointment only.
I knocked on the door and waited.
A minute later, Andrew came to the door with a smile on his face. “How are things today?” He stepped back and waved me in. “Come, I’ll make us some tea.”
Returning the smile, I stepped into the living room. “Things have been better. I take it you haven’t spoken to Isidore.”
He shook his head. “Not this morning. The last I heard, he was helping you track the guy who escaped the church over on St. Charles.”
I sighed. “Yeah, about that.” It took me a few minutes to fill him in on last night’s events and Duncan’s victim. Taking a deep breath, I plopped into the chair in front of his desk and slid the blueprints across to him. “But the real reason I’m here is because of this.”
He arched an eyebrow and pulled them closer. “What is it?”
“I’m hoping you can tell me.”
Andrew picked up his glasses, unfolded the paper, and studied it for several minutes. As time passed, his frown deepened, and eventually, he sat back and shook his head. “Where did you get this?”
Gesturing at the wall behind him, I said, “They were locked away in a secret room underneath the church.”
He grimaced. “The room you were trapped in?”
I shook my head. “No, that was at the other end of the basement.”
Andrew chewed on his bottom lip. “And in that room, you were unable to teleport?”
“Yeah…as long as the door was closed. Once it was open, it wasn’t much of a cage.”
His expression continued to sour. “I can’t be sure, but the markings appear to be a variation on ancient glyphs created by the Sumerians. I really need to grab a few reference books to make sure, but that’s what they look like to me.”
“Any idea what they do?”
He shrugged and pointed at several inscriptions. “It’s really hard to make sense of them as they aren’t your standard glyphs, but they’re meant to summon and then contain. Anything inside the room would be trapped.” He glanced up at me and smiled. “Honestly, it should’ve stripped away the powers of anyone inside, but that wasn’t the case with you, right?”
“It hampered my abilities, that’s for sure.”
Andrew jabbed the paper. “That would be because of this set of inscriptions, I think. They would block anyone from leaving by magical means… Again, this is just speculation.” He picked up the blueprints. “Would you mind if I studied this?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. Just let me know when you figure out what’s going on.”
“Can do.” He glanced at the door. “What’s your next step?”
Rolling my shoulders, I blew out a long breath. “To secure the church, dismantle the treasure room, and find out who the Gotteskinder are.”
He furrowed his brow. “The what?”
Have you ever wanted to punch yourself in the face? Yeah, that. But I caught him up on the development that had led to me finding the blueprints. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy.
Andrew balled up his fists and slammed them against the desk. “What the hell?”
I shrugged. “No idea, I’m just as stumped as you.”
In a cartoon, steam would’ve been pouring out of his ears. Instead, the room vibrated with energy as he fought to rein in his anger. “When you find this priest, bring him to me, and I’ll get the answers you need.”
Until now, using my uncle like that hadn’t occurred to me. “That’s a fantastic idea. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
He cocked his head to the side and sighed. “Of course I mind. There’s nothing I hate more in this world than going through other people’s head
s. But this is far too important to just hope we get the answers…especially if they’re armed with glyphs like this.”
I hadn’t thought of how difficult it was for him, but he had volunteered. “Okay, consider it done.”
Andrew got to his feet. “If you need anything else, call, or come by. I’m always here.”
I leaned in and wrapped him in a hug. “Thanks.”
When I pulled onto Fourth Street, I took out my phone and dialed Lazarus. If anyone might have a clue what was next, it was him.
My mind was working a million miles an hour when he answered. “Hello?”
Shaking free of my thoughts, I said, “Hey there, are you sitting down, and are you in a secure location?”
There was the sound of a door being closed. “The line is secure, and I won’t be disturbed. What’s going on?”
I didn’t really feel like repeating myself, but he needed to know where we stood. When it came to Duncan, he wasn’t thrilled with the options available, but he more than understood. The real problem for him was the Gotteskinder and their ability to create glyphs that could trap those of us with power.
By the end of the call, I wasn’t any better off than when I’d started. Thanks to Henri’s journal, I actually had more information than he did, which wasn’t saying a lot. The only person I could think of who might know anything else was Viktor. Unfortunately, he and Justine were in Hawaii with no way to contact them.
Chapter 6
I spent the better part of the day in the study trying to find something that would help, but nothing new turned up. Unfortunately, it appeared the book about the different realms was the only tome remotely useful in my current situation. And it wasn’t exactly the Rosetta Stone I needed.
Isidore had called about an hour ago to tell me they’d failed to pick up Duncan’s trail. Which meant that finding the boy was going to be exceptionally difficult given the number of abandoned places to hide in this city…assuming he was even still in New Orleans. If he’d skipped town, there was a good chance we’d never find him.