Shadow Game

by Adam Hiatt

  “Yes,” Fournier said, taking another sip of the water. “This is the same page.”

  Jaxon looked at Reddic before proceeding. He wasn’t as confident as his brother that Gabriel Fournier was to be brought into the loop, but Reddic assured him it was a chance they had to take. If Fournier turned out to be something other than a clergyman, Reddic said he would take care it. Jaxon tried feigning ignorance, but he knew full well what that meant and what his brother was capable of. It was on full display only moments earlier when he slapped the Frenchman and threatened him with the stun gun.

  The truth was Jaxon wasn’t so worried about Fournier being a physical threat. His greatest concern was the academic treasure that he had right before him. There was no way he would be willing to share the find with someone else until he had his publication. Despite what others may believe, being a professor, especially at Harvard, was a very competitive business. What outsiders didn’t understand was that if he didn’t publish at a high volume with the top tier journals then he would be looking for a new job. Being a professor at a major university wasn’t about teaching the undergraduate students; that was precisely why he had teacher assistants. His job was to research and publish, plain and simple.

  In some ways higher education was almost like a pyramid scheme. Some university administration had little regard for the holistic education of each student, as was widely advertised. Yes, they put on a good show of caring about student success, but that was a ruse to keep the tuition dollars flowing in to fund research and salaries. The reality was, if a person had enough discipline, he or she could get a better education in a public library. But that would never happen. Higher education had carved out its niche in society as a critical bridge to employment.

  Despite his cynicism, Jaxon possessed a deep passion for his field. He firmly believed that what he published and what he taught in his classes, when he was there of course, was impactful. Being able to present the truth about the Templars and Jacques de Molay was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The way he saw it, Gabriel Fournier was the only thing that could possibly prevent him from doing that.

  “Bring him up to speed,” Reddic said, seemingly reading his brother’s mind.

  “Fine,” he said reluctantly. “Gabriel, when I read this letter, I had a strong emotional reaction much like you, but I had the opposite intention. Instead of wanting to keep Molay’s record hidden, I wanted to find it and present it to the world. We historians live to discover.”

  “I understand, monsieur. But it is my intention to protect my church.”

  “I think we both want the same thing, but we’re going about it differently. You see, I have always been fascinated with the demise of the Knights Templar and Jacques de Molay. There are too many inexplicable variables to simply believe that they handed themselves over to Clement and Phillip and willingly submitted to execution. Yes, their influence had diminished when Jerusalem fell and yes, they were vulnerable. That much cannot be discounted.

  “But it doesn’t explain why Clement and Phillip were hell-bent on destroying them. That is why this letter from Molay is so important. To me it represents the key to everything. Molay wanted his records to be found, but only by those with the right intentions, like the three of us.”

  “Monsieur Jaxon, I do not know the reason for all things, but I do have faith that there is a reason behind everything. I do not believe it was an accident that the Holy Father sent me to the archives that day. I was supposed to find this letter. I felt in my heart that it was my calling to protect the church. I left my position of prominence within the Vatican to come here and labor in my current position. For what reason I did not know, other than to follow my heart.”

  “What were you planning to do if you found these before we did?”

  “I do not know. I suppose it would have depended on the circumstance.”

  “Then I think it’s time to find out what those documents have to say, don’t you, Gabriel?” Reddic said.

  “Wait a minute,” Jaxon said. “Gabriel, could you excuse us for a moment?”

  “Of course.”

  Jaxon collected the documents and his notes and carried them into the bedroom nearest the living area. Reddic followed him in and left a crack in the door so he could keep an eye on Fournier.

  “What are we doing?” Jaxon whispered. “You don’t trust anybody, but you’re going to trust a stranger that followed us here in the middle of the night? I don’t like this one bit.”

  “I trust this guy about as far as I can throw him. But what if he can help? What if he knows more than he’s letting on? Look, I can shock the crap out of him with my stun gun and start pulling fingernails and hope that he tells us the truth, or we can study these documents and watch his reaction. I’m fine with either option. In fact, the stun gun and fingernail idea are starting to sound a whole lot better now that I hear myself say it.”

  “You’re disgusting,” Jaxon replied. “I don’t like either option all that much, but I suppose that as long as I have the originals in my possession, I will feel a whole lot more comfortable. There’s one thing you should know. There is a lot that is not translated. I will need at least another week to fully finish. But what I have looked over is unbelievable.”

  “Then let’s get started,” Reddic said, gesturing toward the living room.

  Jaxon left the bedroom first and returned to the couch. He handed the pad of paper to his brother and kept the original documents in front of him.

  “Thank you for your patience,” he said.

  “I understand that you do not trust me,” Fournier replied evenly. “If I were in your position I would not either. But I can assure you my intentions are honorable.”

  “Trust is earned, Gabriel,” Reddic said.

  “I will do my best to prove that I can be trusted.”

  Reddic chose not to respond. Fournier’s actions would prove to be of much more value than anything that he had to say. “Jax, tell us what you’ve been working on.”

  “Okay,” he said, turning to face Fournier. “What we found are two distinct documents. The scroll is ancient. Probably around the fourteenth or fifteenth century BC. It’s also written in Hebrew. Much of my efforts tonight have been translating it. This booklet is written in Latin and by the hand of Molay himself, it appears. Reddic, go ahead and read what you have on that notepad.”

  “Your handwriting is awful,” Reddic said.

  “I know. It’s rough. I didn’t exactly have the best environment to work. Just read it.”

  “And Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore two sons, the eldest being Cain, and the younger Abel. Abel owned and kept sheep and Cain tilled the ground and planted. But Cain loved darkness more than light.

  “In the process of time both sons were commanded to make an offering unto God. Abel brought the finest of his flock while Cain offered a lesser fruit of the ground. God accepted Abel’s offering, but unto Cain it was rejected. And Cain was wroth, and his countenance fell. Now Satan, the father of lies knew this, and was pleased.

  “Behold, Cain was called to repent, but he was angry and listened no more to God, neither to his brother, Abel, who was righteous, and sought after light. And thus, darkness began to penetrate the earth, in the form of secrecy and deceit. Satan, the father of lies, taught unto Cain the secret darkness. The words he used are to never be revealed.”

  “So far it’s a story that we are probably all familiar with, especially you, Gabriel,” Jaxon cut in. “Listen closely to this next part. This is something I’ve never heard of before in all my research. Go ahead, Reddic.”

  “Take thy brethren by the right hand and ask them these words. What is thy desire? To which thy brethren will respond, I seek to receive illumination and gain. Swear them by their throat and by the blood of their wrist that if they tell it, they shall surely die. Give unto them a new name that only thy brethren will know. And do all these things in secret, over an altar that thy father may not know.

  “A
nd Satan said, this day I will deliver Abel, thy brother, into thine hands as a token of my allegiance. And Cain rejoiced, exclaiming: Truly I am Master Mahan, the master of the great secret. In darkness I may murder with my brethren and get gain. And Cain went to the field and talked with his brother, Abel. And Abel was pleased, thinking that his brother had repented.

  “But Cain rose up against Abel and slew him and gloried in his wickedness. He cried, I am free; the flocks, the wealth of my brother falleth into my hands. And thus we see the world introduced to these secret works of darkness, imitating and perverting the ways of righteousness. Making a mockery of sacred oaths and covenants.”

  “That name,” Jaxon interrupted again. “Master Mahan. It caught my attention when I was translating. The etymology is very interesting. I was thinking of the word secret. In Arabic the word used for keeping secrets is sirra. The Egyptian word is meseshet, which means to hold a secret. In Hebrew it’s sether. Master in this sense holds the meaning of secret keeper.”

  “And that secret is converting life into property,” Fournier added. “Under the protection of darkness.”

  “That’s right. Another interesting fact is that in almost any language, whether that is Arabic, English, Greek, or Latin, the word mahan, or at least the prefix ma is used to denote something big, something great. So, the name Master Mahan probably means, the great secret keeper.”

  “He protects the secrets directed by the organizer,” Fournier added.

  “So, it appears,” Jaxon said. “Reddic, turn the page and finish the translation. There is only a small portion left.”

  “And Methuselah begat Lamech,” Reddic continued. “And Lamech had great envy for Cain and desired to become Master Mahan. Therefore, he directed an arrow at Cain, and Lamech killed Cain. And thus, Lamech became the master of the great secret which was administered unto Cain by the father of lies and inherited all of Cain’s wealth.

  “But Irad, the son of Enoch, having sworn an oath and knowing their secret, began to reveal it to the other sons of Adam. And Lamech was angry, and slew Irad, for he had sworn by his throat that he would not reveal the secret. And thus, their secret combination, their marks and signs, were in the dark, and they knew every man his brother.”

  The room was silent as Reddic finished reading. The rising sun’s rays penetrated the blinds covering the window, prompting Reddic to get up to open them. Jaxon sneezed as the morning sun rushed into the room.

  “Is that all that’s on the scroll?” Reddic asked as he sat back down.

  “It’s definitely the concise version, but yes, that is virtually everything.”

  “It is pure evil,” Fournier said. “Just hearing it makes my soul feel dark.”

  “What does the booklet have to say?” Reddic asked. “You said it’s written by Molay himself.”

  Jaxon moved to the outer edge of the cushion and sat upright. He gently opened the booklet with his gloved hand to the last couple of pages. He moved his finger across each written line until he reached the midway point of the page.

  “Now this is where it gets really wild,” he said.

  40

  Reddic wrote the words down as quickly as he could as Jaxon slowly translated the final few entries written by Jacques de Molay. The task took nearly thirty minutes to complete. He held the notepad in his lap and read over what he had transcribed. The words painted a completely different picture of Molay’s final days than what was written in history books. Jaxon was right. It was hard to believe what they were reading.

  Our order of knights is declining. Our ranks have been infiltrated by darkness and evil. There are many of our brethren that have taken up secret oaths and are wielding their influence for profit. As the Grand Master, I cannot allow this to continue.

  My closest and most trusted brethren ride with me to hunt down those that have taken upon them this darkness. We have succeeded in eliminating many, but others have escaped our grasp and fled to the west. I have learned the darkness has spread to France, to the king himself.

  Former knights now reside in Phillip’s court and propagate lies about our order. Falsehoods that threaten to destroy our order forever. I fear I may be too late. The king now knows the dark secret and seeks to use it. Our order holds vast amounts of his debt and other vast accumulations of material wealth. He will undoubtedly execute us for his own gain.

  It is uncertain how many of our brethren have succumbed to this evil. I will be unable to stop its spread unless I can create mutual destruction. I have prepared a letter written in my hand that I have allowed to be taken to the king of France. He will use this letter against me, and against the order. But this is necessary to preserve my record. I have faith that the church will preserve this letter until one day my record will be discovered.

  I have commissioned as many Knights as possible to ride to Paris where we will face our accusers and I will hide my record. I have prepared matters for the king. His demise is secured. I pray that my record will survive to expose this darkness. My sacrifice, my death, is the only way this can happen.

  I will leave behind a sacred scroll discovered in the foundations of Solomon’s temple long before my ascension to Grand Master. It contains the words and signs of the sacred darkness. It is my hope that preserving this record will serve a man of faith to identify and eliminate those that labor in secrecy. May he that finds my record know how to use it.

  Reddic placed the notepad on the coffee table and walked to the window. He stood out of view and peered out into the courtyard. He kept his gaze trained outside the window as he spoke.

  “So, what do you think?” he asked.

  “I obviously think this find is incredible and completely changes history as we know it regarding Jacques de Molay,” Jaxon said. “I mean, look at some of the things he wrote. He planned Phillip’s death and somehow that plan was carried out posthumously. Can you believe it? They hunted down those that they suspected were committing treason. He leaked a letter to draw out his enemies. There is so much in just this little section I can’t even imagine what else in in these documents. It’s the discovery of a lifetime.”

  “You’re right, Jaxon. It is incredible. It’s extraordinary. It’s whatever superlative you want to use. You would most likely win dozens of awards for this.” Reddic paused. He turned away from the window to face his brother. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m just saying I don’t think you can publish this.”

  “Wait a second, are you suggesting that this story never be told? That would be career suicide. You’re out of your mind and out of your league here, Reddic.”

  “Jaxon look at the words that Molay left behind. He died to preserve what we’re reading. The last line you translated – may he that finds my record know how to use it. Do you really think that means to publish it for the world to see? If that’s the case, why did he go to such great lengths to keep it hidden from the world?”

  “He was trying to hide it from Phillip and Clement.”

  “That’s wrong, and you know it. He knew that the moment anybody knew for sure that he had the secret words and signs of this dark order that he would be killed, and it would spread like a virus. Instead, he prepared a way to kill off as many infected hosts as he could to curb the spread. He hid this record so that a future generation could finish what he started. If anybody knows that we have it, we will be in extreme danger.”

  “He is correct,” Fournier said. “This work is evil and cannot be allowed to come to light. It would only incite more darkness.”

  “Not to mention,” Reddic cut in. “The whole point of looking for this was to protect Brooke. We knew that somebody or some group was coming after her and her research, but we didn’t have much of a lead. Now we finally have more than a little bit, we have the motive, but you’ve completely forgotten about her.”

  “I haven’t forgotten about her. What are we supposed to do then, destroy it?” Jaxon asked.

>   “I don’t think so,” Reddic said. “I think we should probably do as Molay instructed. We use what he left behind to expose and hopefully destroy this group. But we do it quietly and using our talents and resources. You need to let the documents go, at least for the time being. Let’s put them somewhere secure where they will be preserved and hidden.”

  Jaxon’s eyes grew wide. He looked from the ancient documents to Fournier to his brother. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”

  Reddic’s gaze fell on the Frenchman. He was about to make a decision that only a clandestine operative could understand. In the field, snap judgments had to be made that could not only impact the outcome of the assignment, but also have serious ramifications on one’s life. That was why one of the most critical skills necessary to make it in this business was that of discernment, also known as a BS meter.

  With him being none the wiser, Reddic had been studying Fournier for the past hour. In his estimation the man was the real deal. He was genuine, he spoke from the heart. That was what did it for him. Reddic had met many con artists and pathological liars. They talked a good game and had an ability to put you at ease with charm and manipulation, but they never spoke from the heart. That was something that couldn’t be faked. It had to be authentic, and Reddic detected it in Fournier. Still, all that reasoning wouldn’t change the fact that what he was about to propose was going to have his brother seething.

  “Gabriel,” Reddic said. “Do you still have contacts in the Vatican?”

  “Yes, monsieur. I am very connected. I remain in regular communication to this day.”

  “Good. Do you think you could help us safely escort these documents and place them in the archives?”

  “Of course. It would be my honor to perform this duty. I can make arrangements as soon as you need.”