by Saul, Jonas
“You will be destroyed, your career over and then I will come in the night and kill you myself if anything happens to Sarah. Do we understand each other?” Rod asked.
Rosalie nodded as Sarah felt her shoulder flaring. Would it hold up when she jumped Rod? She never bluffed. He’d had two warnings. When she said last chance she meant it. She only hoped her shoulder wouldn’t pop out.
With two quick steps she was beside Rod. Using her right hand she shot a fist up under his left arm and into his armpit. At the same instant her foot came down on the back of his knee. The armpit shot was meant to weaken, if not temporarily paralyze the arm and the back of the knee was meant to make him drop fast, which would remove the knife from Rosalie’s face almost instantly.
She missed a little on the knee, her foot landing on the top of his calf muscle. The kick had the effect she wanted anyway as Rod dropped to the ground like a pro. He landed, rolled and sprung back up in some kind of stance, the knife held out in front of him. The armpit shot worked, though. His left arm dangled a little. He shook his hand to get it feeling right again.
His men were on Sarah in a flash. Multiple hands grabbed and prodded. Nothing pissed her off more than being held down by men. She squirmed and fought, but their grip was too intense.
“Sarah!” Rosalie shouted.
She stopped fighting and looked up, breath heaving in and out. She was sure her face was red with the fire that stoked her insides.
Rod was sliding his knife into a leather sheath.
The men who had held Parkman were standing up.
Then the three pairs of hands on her arms and legs all let go in unison. She stood to her full height and stared at Rod.
“Cause and effect,” Sarah said, her teeth clenched. It had been a long time since she had felt this much rage.
He smiled at her. That fucking smile. “I actually think I’m beginning to understand you,” he said. “You’re saying we all have to be accountable for our actions. In your eyes I can see that you are going to try to make me pay for pissing you off. I need to be accountable. Is that right?”
“Absolutely. You will pay and the price I charge is fucking high. You have just bought a ticket on the fuck you train and I’m conducting you to hell.”
He collected himself, shook his shoulders, dusted off his right knee from when it had hit the cement and massaged his left hand. After a moment he gestured to his men with a nod and all seven of them stepped back a few more steps.
“We have had a very bad day,” Sarah continued. “It started quite early with a sniper trying to pick me off and Armond showing up to finish the job. Rosalie saved my life. Then at the hotel, gunmen opened fire and Rosalie gave me a weapon. Parkman saved the both of us. Finally, the gas station. It was Rosalie again who, along with her team, kept the gunmen at bay until I could commandeer a rig to finish the last one off. We have been attacked all day. This was the most I’ve been shot at in one day and you with your fucking knife and your ragtag group of fedora-wearing fuckwats show up to try to intimidate us. You jump on Rosalie as if she’s the one fucking up? If it wasn’t for her I’d be dead so you can take your asswipes and fuck off. We don’t need you here.”
Rod nodded. There was nothing left to say. He started limping toward the front. As he passed Rosalie, Sarah heard him whisper take care of her.
Parkman stepped up to Sarah. “That was very brave. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”
“Do I ever think of the consequences? Besides, he doesn’t want me hurt. I can fight him and his men with impunity.”
Rosalie stepped up to them as she watched Rod and his men leaving. “You didn’t have to do that. Rod’s just angry. He can’t touch me. He’s not that powerful. I know his kind and who he has to answer to.”
“But he was touching you. And he had a knife. That’s all the provocation I need.”
“For what it’s worth, thank you.” She looked down at the ground and then off in the distance.
“What is it?” Sarah asked. “Something bothering you?”
“How does he know about my team and where they’re landing? If he knows, could Armond? Those plans were just arranged.”
“Maybe your phone is bugged?”
“What scares me is how powerful he is. There’s above the law, and then there’s Rod. He does have a boss, but he thinks he’s a God and when you have that kind of complex, you really can do what you want. He’s the kind of guy that if he goes too far, everything gets covered up. No government could admit to knowing him. He could get away with murder and he knows it.”
Sarah started walking toward the front of the church where all the tourists were. “That makes me feel really good.”
“Sorry Sarah. Oh and I liked your fuck you train comment. Truly, I almost burst out laughing.”
“I was serious. I will not go quietly.”
“If there’s anything I know about you Sarah,” Parkman said from behind her. “It’s that you will not go quietly.”
Chapter 24
They checked into Hotel Esztergom and registered under their own names. All three of them knew the false name trick wouldn’t work on Rod, Armond or any other group of professionals looking for them, so Rosalie said they’d just use their real names. They rented two rooms and stayed in one together, leaving the other room empty and available if they needed it. Sarah held out a hope that if they were to be attacked at the hotel, the attackers would go to the other room first, thereby giving them a chance to all get up and get ready.
They had chosen to do a rotating sentry shift with Parkman having first watch, Rosalie next and Sarah last.
Sarah and Rosalie lay down in their own beds. Parkman settled into the corner chair with the lamp turned toward him.
“Wake me at two in the morning,” Rosalie said.
“Don’t worry. I will. I want some sleep too.”
“Rosalie,” Sarah said. “I’m a bit concerned about tomorrow.”
Rosalie leaned up on her elbow. “You, concerned? About what?”
“You made a good point earlier. If Rod knows about the team coming to meet you, then why couldn’t Armond? If everyone is converging on the crypt for tomorrow afternoon’s mass, then wouldn’t Armond just stay away? I mean he’s got to know something is up. This could be a waste of time.”
“I’ve thought about it too and I’m sure he knows. But could he pass up the chance to have all of us in the same building at once? If I was Armond and I knew that Rosalie and Sarah were going to come to my backyard, a backyard I know intimately, then I wouldn’t stay away. I’d be there with guns on.”
Sarah looked over at her. Parkman sat in his chair, a gun on his lap. “How do you feel Parkman?”
“You know what I’m going to say. Let Rosalie’s team converge on Armond. Once they secure the crypt, you can come in and ID Armond. Nice and simple and you don’t get hurt. That is if he shows up.”
“I have to say,” Rosalie chimed in. “I like that idea.”
“Well, I don’t see that happening,” Sarah said. “What about Rod? When and how is the handoff supposed to take place?”
“You’re not a package and there’s nothing set yet. We deal with Armond and then I’m sure Rod will be around to collect you. His team will be close. They’ll be watching.”
Sarah thought about it for a minute and then crawled out of bed. She walked over to the desk and pulled out the chair. A pen sat beside the little hotel pad of paper. She grabbed the pen and held it up.
“Sarah?” Rosalie asked. “You okay?”
In her peripheral she saw Parkman wave Rosalie off.
She lowered her head and dropped the pen down to scrawl fast. After a moment she lifted the pen along with her head and gasped.
I hope that was convincing enough.
She set the pen on the desk and neatly folded the paper before returning to bed.
“What was that all about?”
“Nothing,” Sarah said, knowing full well that she’d be called on it ag
ain.
“Sarah, what did you write?”
“I didn’t write anything. Vivian did.”
“Can I read it or will you read it to us?” Rosalie asked.
Sarah looked at Parkman and then at Rosalie. “You’re not going to like it. Things like this could ruin your day.”
“I don’t care. We know that when Vivian says anything it’s important and vital.”
Sarah slowly unfolded the paper. She looked back up before reading it. Parkman had a confused look on his face. He’d seen her in a blackout state before and she was sure he could tell that she faked it. She looked back down at the paper.
“Vivian says that we are being watched by Rod and his team. She also said that they’re listening to us right now.”
“What? How are they doing that?”
“When he brought the knife to your face at the back of the basilica he planted a listening device on your person.”
Rosalie jumped out of bed and grabbed her jeans that were folded on the dresser. After a quick search she came up with a little button-like piece of metal. She held it up for Sarah and Parkman to see and then set it on the floor and broke it with her shoes.
Then she ran to the hotel window and peeked through the curtains. After a moment she turned to them and nodded slowly.
“They’re across the street in a black van. I just saw one of them step out and look up at our room. Probably because I broke their bug. What else does the note say?”
She couldn’t believe it. She had been right. There was no other way for Rod to have known as much as he had without having bugged Rosalie.
Without appearing too elated at her confirmation Sarah looked at her scratchy handwriting. “It says that Rod has ordered Rosalie killed after Armond is neutralized.”
“What!?” Rosalie gasped. “How could he do that? He doesn’t have the authority.”
She stomped across the room and grabbed her pants, intent on putting them on.
“Rosalie, take it easy. Calm down,” Sarah sat up on the edge of her bed. “Stop what you’re doing and come sit near me.”
Rosalie looked at her for a long moment. Then she dropped her pants and sat on her bed, facing Sarah.
“I’ll kill him first,” Rosalie said.
“He doesn’t want anyone to know that he has me. I think he even has plans for Parkman.”
“But why?”
“Because I’m one of the rare ones. I actually can talk to the Other Side. He needs me. But he will never get me.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because you’re going to help me and in doing so you will stay alive too.”
“What’s the plan?”
Sarah explained what she had in mind. Rosalie listened and only gasped twice.
“Do you really think you can do that?”
Sarah nodded. “Absolutely.”
Rosalie turned to Parkman. “Are you on board with this?”
“Of course,” he said and smiled at Sarah, as he knew exactly what she was up to.
Rosalie was her wild card. Sarah had thought that Rosalie would definitely help when given the chance, but between how powerful Rod was and Rosalie’s respect for Rod’s authority, she wasn’t sure anymore. She needed Rosalie’s commitment. She needed to know where Rosalie stood. And she needed to know that tonight and not in the heat of the moment.
Sarah leaned back in her pillow, sleepiness weighing her down. The exhaustion of the day had caught up to her.
“Parkman?”
“Yeah?”
“You can relax. No one is going to hit us tonight.”
“True. Not with Rod’s boys out front. They won’t move an inch now that they can’t hear in here.”
Rosalie laid back down on her bed. “Sarah, are you really going to be able to pull this off?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice softened by sleep.
“Do you know how fucked up this is?”
“Yup.”
“That my life would depend on your death is ridiculous.”
“I know,” Sarah said. “A lot of people will die tomorrow. Don’t think of it as being special. Think of it as being smart.”
“It’s smart to die? You’re not making sense. Are you asleep?”
“Almost…it’s smart because we will live, because we’re dead,” Sarah said and passed out.
Chapter 25
Dull light slipped through the hotel curtains. Sarah opened her eyes halfway and squinted at the window. She looked to her right and saw the alarm clock said it was 10:48am.
Turning in her bed she saw Rosalie still sleeping and Parkman sprawled out in the corner chair.
She crawled out of bed and took a peek out the hotel window. Overcast skies threatened rain. The van was still across the street and most of the hotel parking lot had emptied.
She closed the curtains and turned around. Parkman’s eyes were open.
“That was quite something last night,” he whispered. “I’ve never seen you do anything like it. A fake blackout?”
“I made a good guess with the listening device and I got Rosalie on our side without question.”
Sarah walked over to Rosalie. She was still out cold.
“Can you trust her not to waver?” Parkman asked.
Sarah nodded. “Not really, but I’ll have to try.” She walked past Parkman headed for the bathroom.
“You’re not the trusting kind so I get that. But why now? Why her?”
“We don’t have a lot of options. With her, our odds of success increase. If things go sour, she could die as Vivian predicted.” She made air quotes with her fingers. “Either way, I turn out looking authentic don’t you agree?”
Parkman nodded and pulled out a toothpick. She closed the bathroom door and jumped in the shower.
By 11:30am all three of them were showered and discussing plans.
“There’s not much we can do until late this afternoon,” Rosalie was saying. “My team doesn’t show until then.”
“We could use disguises. Take a crypt tour and disappear behind one of the roped off areas,” Parkman suggested.
“No. They monitor everything. Alarms would sound.”
Sarah walked over to the window again. The clouds were letting go. Rain covered the empty cement of the parking lot, coming down hard.
“Then what’s the plan?” Sarah asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” Rosalie said, her chin resting in her hands. “We have to assume Armond will be here today or tonight. I wanted to wait to meet my team and then deal with whether we go in quietly or as an assault. The only problem with an assault is that more people usually die versus doing a covert operation, and this is a national monument. Many treasures are going to be wrecked. The Hungarian Government won’t look too kindly on us shooting up their largest church.”
“With that many tourists and a mass being held, I think we all dress up in nice civilian clothes and go in armed to the teeth. We walk around and locate Armond or some of his men. Then we phone in a bomb scare and have the place emptied, with real police on hand to deal with the public. We stay in the building watching for Armond. If he doesn’t leave, your men lock the exits up and we do a search until we find him.”
Sarah turned from the window as she finished speaking. Rosalie was staring at her. “Sarah, that’s brilliant. I’ll propose that.”
“Propose that? Aren’t you in charge?”
“I am. But this team has their own chain of command. If they feel there’s a crack in my idea, sorry, your idea, they will work with an altered plan or they may come with one of their own.”
Sarah walked over and sat on the bed, facing Rosalie. “Be clear on one thing. I don’t have a boss. I work for no one. That’s what has kept me alive for so long. I do exactly what my sister tells me and I stay alive. You have to be accountable; I don’t. So do whatever you want with your team, but be assured, Armond doesn’t get away this time. He either gets taken into custody or he is killed. Understood?”
Rosalie nodded.
Someone banged on the hotel door so loud all three of them jumped. Sarah dove across her bed and retrieved her gun. Parkman was standing, his hands in front of his face, and Rosalie was still fumbling for her weapon.