SECRET OF THE ICON (Donavan Chronicles Book 3)
Page 19
“Welcome,” he said when he opened the door. “I’m delighted to see you.”
“You mean alive and with the icon?” Bridget retorted.
“Come now, we’re both after the same thing,” Jonathan said. “I’ve met your demands.”
“All except the money part,” Bridget reminded him.
“That is contingent on my examination of the icon. May I see it?”
She removed it from the briefcase she carried in and handed it to Jonathan. He received it and placed it face down on the coffee table. He picked up an Exacto bladed knife that must have been prepositioned. Carefully he slid the blade along the paper’s edge that covered the back of the icon.
“What are you doing? You’re destroying it,” Bridget said.
“No, my dear. I’m verifying it has what I need. If it does, then I give you the money.”
Bridget thought that if it didn’t, Schultz would solve her problems permanently. Matt couldn’t protect her from the unbridled wrath of Schultz, if she failed to return his money.
They watched as Jonathan extracted a folded piece of paper from beneath the covering on the back of the icon. He opened it very carefully and placed it on the table. Bridget caught a glimpse of numbers on one side of the page, but Jonathan quickly placed his hand over the page to cover it from their view.
“Is that what you wanted, the paper hidden in the icon? All this time you didn’t want the icon itself. You just wanted what it contained.”
“You have delivered as promised. Now I’ll do the same,” Jonathan said. He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew an envelope and handed it to Bridget.
“The Vatican regrets any inconvenience you may have suffered. This is a cashier’s check offered in compensation.”
“Bullshit, you guys ruined our lives,” Bridget almost shouted when she said this.
Matt put his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off, but got his meaning. So she calmed down and realized their new life could be a thousand times better than the one she had lost. She opened the envelope. A cashier’s check for seven million dollars greeted her eyes.
“Where are you off to now?” Jonathan queried.
“To pay off a debt and to warn a man to start planning for a wedding,” Bridget said.
“Bridget, I’m really sorry for all that has happened. I ask you again to forgive me for my part in it. I think you are the most resourceful person I have ever encountered. Please accept my personal gratitude for all you have done.” He extended his hand.
Bridget waited a few seconds. A myriad of emotions ran though her mind. The nutty cardinal who tried to kill her for the Crown of Thorns, the newspaperman who tried to kill her to get the bible the Vatican wanted and now the icon the men in Rome sought. But now, it had reached the end. She knew she needed to accept his gesture of friendship. That would be the right thing to do. She must start over fresh from all this religious stuff. After this the Vatican would be out of her life.
She took Jonathan’s hand.
* * * *
After Bridget and Matt departed, Jonathan sat down with the icon and the piece of paper he’d retrieved from the back of it. He went to his suitcase and extracted an iPad containing the information the Vatican sent. Once he got it functioning he could use the photo of the other icon’s hidden paper to retrieve the account numbers.
3852.957
3892.958
62
HIMMEL
If the Nazis somehow deposited a large amount of money into those accounts, it could be worth hundreds of thousands or maybe even a million in today’s U.S. dollars. They undoubtedly traded any gold or jewelry for cash to make the deposits easier. How much, Jonathan couldn’t even guess. But the interest after all these years should be substantial. The Vatican decided to return it to the synagogues still existing and they would be responsible for dispensing it as they determined.
He placed the tablet on the table beside the paper from the icon. The numbers lined up perfectly.
762.1162- and on the tablet 3852.957.
762.1165- and on the tablet 3892.958
007 and on the tablet 62.
Jonathan took this information and researched Swiss banks online. He discovered that the numbers were given to a citizen of Switzerland. He realized this provided the reason no one had connected these accounts to Nazi looters. A Swiss citizen, or someone who pretended to be, needed to be there to open the account. The last number, 00762, turned out to be the bank identifier.
Bringing up the bank number on the Internet proved easy and then going to its website only took a few seconds.
A place to enter the account number appeared and he entered one. Nothing happened for over a minute. Then a message appeared. Your account number has been changed; please provide an email address for contact.
He filed in his email address on the form and waited. Within a few seconds, he received a reply.
Since your account has not been accessed in many years, the account number has been updated to comply with internal Swiss regulations. Please provide your password below. Jonathan looked at the request and realized he knew the password. He typed in HIMMEL, and hit send.
Again a wait of over a minute, a new email arrived. Your account number is now CH9300762011623852957. He performed the same procedure for the other account and received a new number for it.
Jonathan decided to take a look into the accounts. After all, he’d done all he could to help Bridget Donavan and her brother. He believed he had paid the debt he owed them for the deceptions he perpetrated in the past.
He signed in to the first one and on a separate tab on his computer to the other one. His mind balked at what he saw displayed on the screen. The combined total of the accounts overwhelmed his mind.
The total displayed, $295,957,457.99.
THE END
The Donavan Chronicles series are the:
Secret of the Thorns
Secret of the Assassin
Secret of the Bibles
Secret of the Icon
And the prequel to the series:
Secret of the Oil
http://www.tomhaase.com
TWITTER = @tommhaase
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A Note From the Author
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this novel. After writing Secret of the Thorns, Secret of the Assassin, Secret of the Bibles, plus the prequel Secret of the Oil to the Donavan Chronicles, I one more adventure planned for Bridget, Scott, Matt and Gerti. I hope you enjoyed getting to know them as much as I did describing their adventures. Look for Secret Vengeance in early 2016
I would ask you to leave a review of this work on Amazon.com. Use this link:
https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?ie=UTF8&asin=B00ZV1T37E
I read the reviews and use them to improve the series and my writing. Who better to give me pointers than my readers?
You may also write me on my web site at www.tomhaase.com.
I am currently planning a new book in this series for release in late 2016.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I need to thank my wife, Kate, who endured the many hours of me shut behind closed doors while composing this novel. You have my eternal love and affection.
I must acknowledge the support and assistance in writing this novel I received from my friends in our writing group including Patricia Mason, Lois Lavrisa, Andrea Domanski without whose help I could never have accomplished this novel.
The cover was designed by Rebecca Sterling. Editing by Alicia at iproofreadandmore.com
About The Author
Tom Haase is currently living in Savannah Georgia with his wife of 27 years. He enjoys the thrill of composing a thriller embedded in a mystery.
Tom spent 29 years in the U.S. Army and retired after a distinguished career. Afterwards he flew as a commercial pilot for Continental Connection and Gulfstream International Airline. He currently is composing the next thriller and has an onl
ine website at http://www.tomhaase.com