by Alex Lukeman
"The enemy?"
"That is one of his names. There are many."
"Wait a minute. You mean..."
"Yes, Nick. Satan. The Great Deceiver."
"I don't believe in the devil. Satan isn't real."
"Oh, he's real enough. I don't mean that the devil is a demonic being with horns and hooves. Think of him as an energy of the dark side of existence, that manifests through us. You can see the proof in the events now happening all over the world. There's a war going on, and you have been thrust into the front lines."
"What war? And why me?"
"A war on many levels. The easiest way to describe it would be as a war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. If you prefer, a war between good and evil. As to why you have been chosen for the role you play, I can't answer that."
"Come on, Adam, this isn't Star Wars. This is reality."
Laughter crackled through the speaker.
"There are many kinds of reality, Nick. All is not what it appears to be. Modern physics reveals dimensions within dimensions, each with its own unique reality."
The car accelerated, then slowed. Nick felt the vehicle make a turn, then pick up speed again.
"Physics is strange stuff, I grant you that," Nick said, "but I haven't heard of anything that proves the existence of Satan."
"I sincerely hope that you never experience direct proof."
"What is it you want me to do, Adam?"
"We want you to retrieve the treasure and the relic before the other side finds it. You saw the map in Portugal. It's where you start."
"You know about the map. Why don't you go get the treasure?"
"For the same reason I wasn't able to retrieve the other relics you tracked down. I'm not permitted to. And please don't ask me why. I am not allowed to tell you."
"Things have changed," Nick said. "It's not like before. I don't have a team or the resources I had. I've got a new family to take care of. I'm sorry, Adam, but I can't do this. You need to find someone else."
"There is no one else for this task, Nick. You have to take my word for that. If you don't do it, the dark will win. Not just the battle, but the war."
A sudden, intense feeling of fear rippled through Nick's body. He sensed something watching him, urging him to forget what Adam was saying. To go home to his wife and children, and never think about it again.
Or else.
As quickly as it had come, the feeling was gone. When it had faded, Nick knew Adam was telling the truth.
He shuddered.
"Now you know," Adam said.
"What I just felt wasn't a person."
"No, it wasn't."
"I can't fight something like that."
"You already have, many times. Darkness manifests through people, just as does light. Everyone chooses which path they will follow, consciously or not. You chose to fight the darker aspects of your nature long ago, or we would not be having this conversation."
Nick felt the car come to a stop.
"What is this relic you want me to find?"
"A reliquary," Adam said. "It's made of gold and looks like an engraved box, about a foot long. You will know the relic when you see it."
"Even if I accept, I can't do this by myself."
"The support you require will not be an issue. You will be given what you need."
"I have to think this over," Nick said.
"You must choose now."
"You're not giving me much time, are you?"
"There isn't much time left. If the others find the relic before you do, it will tip the balance. I can't explain to you why that is so, but it is the truth. I am only a messenger. It's not my role to know why these things are the way they are."
Nick took a deep breath and let it out.
What was it Adam had said? War between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.
He knew what his answer had to be.
"All right. I'll do it."
"I expected no less from you."
"What do I do about the man who brought us the clue to Portugal? Dubois? We're supposed to tell him what we've found."
"He serves the others. He already knows about the map. You do no harm by telling him. He will offer you money to recover the treasure. If you accept, he will not suspect that you know he's not what he appears to be."
The door lock clicked open.
"Goodbye, Nick. Good luck."
Nick got out and stood on the curb. He watched the Cadillac drive away.
Selena isn't going to like this.
CHAPTER 13
Selena was sorting baby clothes when Nick came into the loft.
"How was your run?"
"I didn't run."
"You didn't? You were gone a long time."
"Adam was waiting for me downstairs."
Selena stopped what she was doing and looked at him.
"No," she said.
"No? What do you mean, no?"
"No, as in, no, don't do whatever he wants you to do."
"You don't know what he wants me to do."
"You'll tell me soon enough. All I know is that whenever Adam shows up, it means trouble."
"Where's your sense of adventure?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Selena said.
"Let me tell you what he said to me. Then we can talk about it."
"Go ahead. What is it this time?"
Nick told her about his conversation with Adam in the car.
"The devil? A war between the forces of light and darkness? You know what that sounds like?"
"You weren't in the car when he was talking about it," Nick said. "Suddenly I sensed something that scared the hell out of me. I can't explain it. It's as if something evil was watching me and telling me to forget everything Adam was saying. It scared the hell out of me."
"You think the devil was watching you? Nick, listen to yourself."
"You weren't there. Maybe it wasn't the devil, but whatever it was sure as hell didn't want me to do what Adam was asking."
"Then maybe that's a good idea."
"It would be, except I already told him I'd do it."
"Damn it Nick. You could have talked to me first."
"There wasn't time. Adam had to have an answer right then. Selena, I didn't think I had a choice. Adam said I'd have everything I needed to pull it off. He also told me Dubois was one of the bad guys."
Selena felt a headache starting. She struggled to remain calm. Things were finally getting settled and now Nick wanted to run off to Croatia to look for something that probably didn't exist, all because an electronic voice belonging to someone he'd never seen told him he had to. Or evil would win. Or something. It made her want to scream.
"Look, I'm not going to do it unless I get the resources I need," Nick said.
"I should have known it was too good to be true."
"What was?"
"That we could lead a normal life. An hour ago, you said we'd tell Dubois we were out. Now you want to play Don Quixote. What about the twins?"
"I am thinking about the twins. What if Adam is right? What if I don't do this and it tips the balance to the wrong side? What does that mean for the twins when they grow up? Look at what's happening out there. There's chaos and war everywhere you look. Even where there's a semblance of peace, like here in the states, someone is doing their best to destroy it. Maybe not with bombs, but with politics and lies and hidden agendas. Saying there's an evil force behind it all makes as much sense as anything else. If I can do something to push back against that, I have to."
"Do you really believe you've been chosen to fight the devil? Literally?"
"I think I've been fighting whatever the devil represents all my life," Nick said. "I don't think I've been fighting something with a tail and horns."
"You've made up your mind, haven't you?"
"Like I said. I don't think I have a choice."
"Damn you, Nick," Selena said.
Her eyes were shiny with moisture. She got up and walked a
way.
"Selena," Nick called.
"Leave me alone."
She went into the nursery and shut the door.
Nick sat for a while, thinking.
Adam had backed him into a corner. In the past when Adam showed up, what he'd told Nick turned out to be critical. He'd helped prevent war between the U.S. and Russia. Two of the missions had resulted in finding the Ark of the Covenant and recovering the Grail from the Last Supper.
Nick didn't think of himself as a religious person, or even a spiritual one. He'd been baptized and supposed he was a Christian, but it had been a long time since he'd gone to church. He was the last person he'd pick to search for artifacts unequaled for their spiritual value.
Now it was happening again, but this time he had more than Selena to worry about.
He kept turning it around in his mind and coming up with the same conclusion. He had to do this. It wasn't just about finding a relic or a treasure. The feeling of evil he'd felt in Adam's car was real. He couldn't ignore or deny what had happened. It scared the hell out of him. Thinking about it raised goose bumps on his arm.
It wasn't the first time he'd had that feeling. He'd experienced it before, on the night he and the others stopped a Nazi ritual where Selena was about to be sacrificed.
He'd forgotten about that night, pushed it out of his mind. There had been something evil and unnatural present then as well, something that had filled him with the same terrifying feeling he'd had in the car.
The devil is a myth, he thought. But if there isn't a devil, what the hell was it?
Whatever it was, it had to be opposed. He had an uneasy feeling that forces he didn't understand were gathering around him, whether he liked it or not. Adam had said he was the only one who could retrieve the relic, and Nick believed him. Walking away wasn't an option. It would be a betrayal of who he was. He had to make Selena understand that.
He stood and went to the nursery and opened the door. Selena stood by the double crib looking down at the twins sleeping. He put his arms around her.
"Don't wake them," she said.
Katrina lay closest to them, Jason a few inches away. Both were sound asleep on their backs. Jason made small bubbling noises as he breathed.
"He looks more like you," Nick said. "He's got your cheekbones and your eyes. Katrina is like me."
"They're both a mix," Selena said. "Jason's got your jaw. Katrina has your dark hair and your stubborn streak."
"She's beautiful. She's going to be a real handful for someone when she grows up."
"She's a real handful right now," Selena said.
"Selena..."
"I know. You have to go."
"It's more than that. If I don't go, bad things will happen."
"I really thought we were finished with these things."
"So did I."
"Promise me something."
"Anything."
She turned in his arms and looked into his eyes.
"Come back."
"I will. I promise."
"I love you, Nick."
"I love you, too."
He kissed her and took her hand.
They walked together into the bedroom.
CHAPTER 14
Elizabeth sat with Selena and Nick at the kitchen table in the loft. She held a cup of coffee and struggled with the weight of the huge orange cat purring in her lap. It was morning of the day after Nick had talked with Adam.
"Burps loves it when you visit," Selena said.
"I'll be picking cat hair off my clothes for the next week."
"It goes with the territory."
"You have that expression you get," Nick said.
"What expression?"
"The expression you get every time you have something to say but aren't quite sure how best to do it."
"Am I that transparent?"
"I don't think anyone who doesn't know you like we do would see it."
"Mmm."
"Is it about Clarence?" Selena asked. "Are you finally going to do something about him?"
Clarence Hood was director of the CIA. He and Elizabeth had been sleeping together on and off for a year.
"In a way, but not what you're thinking," Elizabeth said. "I mentioned the idea we talked about, starting a consulting service. Clarence had a word with President Hopkins about us."
"Us? What do you mean?"
"Us. The team."
"Elizabeth, there is no team. The Project is gone."
"Perhaps it isn't. Clarence convinced Hopkins he'd be making a mistake to lose the experience and expertise we represent. Hopkins issued a finding. We can be reconstituted as a black unit within the CIA."
"No," Selena said.
"No?"
"I don't want to go back to that. Things are different now."
"Selena, let's hear what she has to say."
"Damn it, Nick. What do I have to do to get it across? Wasn't Portugal enough? And now Adam?"
"Portugal? Adam?"
"We had a little trouble in Portugal," Nick said.
"What happened?"
Nick told Elizabeth about the men in the bell tower. Then he told her about the conversation with Adam.
"You're planning to go to Croatia and look for this relic?"
"Yes. I'm not happy about it, but I don't have any other option."
"You'll need backup. Weapons. Transportation. The whole nine yards. Croatia is quiet at the moment, but you can't just walk in and expect to come out again without complications. The Russians have a strong underground presence there."
"Well, there is that," Nick said.
"Don't you think it might be better if you had some kind of government support, even if it was deniable?"
"It would make it easier."
"I can't believe you two are talking about this," Selena said. "Elizabeth, you said you just wanted to write your book. That you didn't want to do this anymore. Have you changed your mind?"
"I guess I'm bored," Elizabeth said. "Writing a book isn't the most exciting thing in the world."
"What about Ronnie and Lamont? Has anybody bothered to ask them what they think?"
"I haven't talked to them yet. I'm guessing it's been long enough that they might be willing to come back on an occasional basis."
"Occasional?" Selena said. "It's never occasional, you know that. It's all the time. There's always some lunatic trying to start a war or blow something up. It won't be any different than it was before."
"Are you going to be in charge?" Nick asked. "Or is DCI Hood the boss?"
"I'll be in charge," Elizabeth said. "I talked this over with Clarence. I don't want to be subject to the idiocy of a monster bureaucracy like the CIA. Clarence is running things now, but Hopkins could decide to replace him anytime. A new director might not be as understanding."
"But the unit would still be subsidiary to Langley, right?"
"We get to pick and choose missions. If we don't like what they want us to do, we don't do it. We never had that option before. I made sure our independence was part of the deal."
"You didn't answer the question," Nick said.
Elizabeth was annoyed. "I thought I did. Technically, we're subsidiary to Langley. Practically speaking, they have no control."
Selena brushed hair away from her forehead.
"Nick, it would help to have government support."
"Wait a minute. I thought you were opposed to reviving the Project."
"I am."
"But?"
"But, you're determined to go after this relic. You need backup and you need help. What Elizabeth is proposing is the easiest way to get that. I'm assuming Ronnie and Lamont will get on board. Otherwise, I'm against it."
Nick scratched his ear.
"Let's change the subject, for the moment," he said. "I want to talk about Dubois. How do we handle him? Adam said he's one of the bad guys. He also said it was a good idea to keep our enemies close. That I should tell Dubois what we found out in Portugal. Should I tell
him, or not?"
"Do you trust Adam?" Elizabeth asked.
"I don't see any reason not to. He's always been right in the past."
"Then tell Dubois what you found. He doesn't know Adam told you he's one of the bad guys. He has no reason to make trouble for us."
"What about Ronnie and Lamont?" Selena asked.
"Nick should call them," Elizabeth said.
"All right. I'll do it today."
Elizabeth turned to Selena. "What shall I tell Clarence?"
"You're leaving it up to me?"
"For this to work, everyone has to agree."
"You're certain we can retain independence? That we can choose to take a mission or not?"
"As certain as I can be."
"If Ronnie and Lamont come on board, I'm okay with it. At least for now."
"And in the future? After this is over?"
"After that, we'll see."
CHAPTER 15
Rain beat against the diamond paned windows of the castle keep. Millions of pounds had been spent on renovating the ruin, but the icy wind blowing off the Irish Sea still found a way into the building.
Geoffrey Payne huddled before the fire in the library and pulled up his collar against the draft. He was reading a book on demonology, written in Latin. The chapter dealt with how demons could offer immortal life, if certain conditions were met. The author of the book had been one of Payne's ancestors.
He'd been burned at the stake in 1571. For Payne, that was the equivalent of a rave review. Absorbed in the text, he was jolted by the buzz of his cell phone. He picked up the offending device and looked at the display.
Dubois. About time.
"What is it, Alan?"
"I have news. The people I hired to pursue the document found something in Portugal that may indicate the location of the treasure. It may be in the ruin of a Templar outpost in Croatia."
"Excellent."
"There's been a slight complication."
"What complication?"
"Two of our men were assigned to follow Connor and her husband. Their orders were to leave them alone unless they found the treasure, in which case they were to eliminate both of them. They exceeded their instructions and intervened when Connor and her husband discovered the possible location. Both of them were killed."
"The woman and her husband defeated two of our men?"