Ark of Fire ca-1

by C. M. Palov

  Soon enough, the ex-operative turned faux historian would know the meaning of terror; Aisquith was playing with a fire that could not be extinguished.

  As the silent seconds ticked past, Boyd Braxton wordlessly stared at him, a Help me, I’m drowning look on his broad face. It put him in mind of the night that the gunny murdered his wife and child—a boot mistake committed in a moment of unchecked rage. MacFarlane had used the calamitous event to bring the sobbing, baby-faced gunnery sergeant to God. He’d done good work that night, having made a promise not to turn his back on the man who now stood before him.

  Ass chewing administered, Stanford MacFarlane pointed to the parquet floor. “On your knees, boy. It’s time you begged the Almighty’s forgiveness.”

  A look of relief on his face, the gunnery sergeant obediently dropped to his knees, his head bowed in prayer. Glancing downward, MacFarlane could see the crisscrossed scars that marred his subordinate’s skull. Remnants of a sinner’s life, the scars were undoubtedly the result of a broken beer bottle making contact with Braxton’s head.

  Stepping back, giving the other man the space he needed to make his peace with God, he walked over to the shipping container on the other side of the room, the Stones of Fire packed and ready for transport. Acquiring the breastplate had been the preliminary step in a much larger operation. A means to an end. The end being the cleansing of all perversion, all licentiousness.

  Like ancient Egypt, America was headed down the path of destruction, the world no different now than it was in the days of the pharaoh. Plague upon plague had been sent upon the godless pagans, none immune save the God-fearing Moses and his Hebrew entourage. So, too, this epoch would see God’s might as never before, his “terrible swift sword” striking down the false prophets, the feel-good TV shrinks, the prosperity gurus. Those who did not heed the warnings of the Old Testament prophets would discover firsthand how God judges sin.

  With so little time left, America must have a revival of repentance, the nation having strayed from the tenets of God’s word as transcribed by the prophets. A course correction was needed. Holy warriors were needed.

  MacFarlane walked over to the framed map that hung behind his desk. Starting at Washington, D.C., he cast his gaze due east. To Jerusalem.

  “Oh, holy city of Zion. God’s glittering jewel,” he murmured. “God said the Temple shall be rebuilt . . . and so it shall.” Rejuvenated, he turned away from the map. “Rise to your feet, boy, and start acting like the man of God that you are.”

  As Braxton shoved himself upright, a disembodied voice came over the telephone intercom. “They just brought Eliot Hopkins into the waiting room, sir.”

  Pleased, MacFarlane turned to his subordinate. “Show the museum director into the office. And make sure you give him a hearty Rosemont welcome.”

  CHAPTER 23

  “How is it that you know so much about Moses and his Egyptian roots?” Edie inquired as she and Caedmon waited for the computer to boot up.

  The hotel night clerk, a good-natured student at the nearby George Mason School of Law, had given them access to a computer in the back office. More a storage alcove than a true office, the room was stacked with plastic bins and boxes. Sitting side by side at the computer, Caedmon in the lone swivel chair, Edie perched on a bin, they were there to cyber sleuth. Although what Caedmon thought he’d find was a mystery to her.

  “For a brief time, I dabbled in Egyptology while an undergraduate student at Oxford,” Caedmon said in response to her question. “That was before I became thoroughly infatuated with the Knights Templar and jumped ship, as you Yanks are prone to say.”

  “The Knights Templar? Yeah, I can see that.” Volunteering a personal tidbit of her own, she said, “I’ve got a master’s degree in women’s studies.”

  Broadly grinning, Caedmon winked at her. “Nearly as obscure a course of study as medieval history. And this business with taking the digital photographs at the Hopkins Museum?”

  “A girl’s got to make a living somehow.”

  Enjoying the flirtatious banter, she wondered if anything would come of it. Because of the near miss at the National Gallery, they’d decided against separate rooms. Would he put the moves on her once the bed covers were turned down? Imagining what that might be like, she stared at his hands, admiring the raised pattern of veins. She’d seen those hands before. In Florence on Michelangelo’s David.

  Admittedly intrigued by the brainy, street-smart man with the masculine hands, she decided to pry the lid a bit higher. “Earlier today you said something about being on a book tour.”

  “I recently wrote a book about the Egyptian mystery cults. Which permits me to put the word author on my curriculum vitae.”

  “That would make you—what?—a historian?”

  Caedmon keyed in the logon code given to them by the front desk clerk. “Actually, I prefer to think of myself as a r ehistorian.”

  “Last time I looked, that particular word hadn’t made it to the pages of Webster’s.”

  “Nor the Oxford English Dictionary. But seeing as there’s no word to accurately describe what I do, I was forced to improvise.”

  “And just how does a rehistorian differ from your standard garden-variety historian?”

  “An historian gathers, examines, and interprets the material evidence that remains from the near and distant past,” Caedmon replied as he pulled up the Google home page. “In contrast, a rehistorian reveals that which has remained hidden from view, scholarship and speculation going hand in hand.”

  She smiled. “Well, you did lay claim to being an iconoclast.”

  “So I did. But enough about me.” Leaning forward, he retrieved the pad of blank notepaper lying on top of the desk, the Holiday Inn logo stamped across the top border. He then removed a pen from his breast pocket. “I want you to tell me every pertinent detail you can recall from your earlier ordeal.”

  “You mean at the Hopkins Museum?” When he nodded, she propped her chin on her balled fist, the memories admittedly convoluted. “Well, I already told you about the ring with the Jerusalem cross. But what I didn’t tell you is that right after he murdered Dr. Padgham, the killer called someone on his cell phone. I counted seven digital beeps, so it had to be a local call.”

  Caedmon scribbled the words D.C. phone call on the pad of paper.

  “And I remember that the killer said something about going to ‘London at nineteen hundred hours.’ ” Edie bracketed the last five words with air quotation marks. “Or maybe that was the cop who mentioned London. I’m not sure. Sorry. I don’t remember. No! Wait!” Excited, Edie slapped her palm against the desktop. “The killer mentioned a place called Rosemont.”

  “Let me make certain that I have this correct: D.C. phone call, London nineteen hundred hours, and Rosemont.” When she nodded, he ripped the sheet of paper from the pad.

  “Now what?” Edie scooted the green bin closer to the desk so she could better see the computer monitor.

  “Now, we delve into the abyss.”

  Edie nudged him in the arm with her elbow. “Thanks for that bit of heightened drama. Like I wasn’t scared enough already.”

  Caedmon glanced first at his arm, then at her face. For several seconds they wordlessly stared at one another, two strangers drawn together by a trio of seemingly unconnected clues.

  As she continued to gaze into Caedmon’s blue eyes, Edie detected a fire. A passion. But for what, she had no idea. History. Religion. The occult sciences. Hard to tell.

  The first to break eye contact, Caedmon typed the words Rosemont + D.C. into the search field. “Since the London reference is too vague, we’ll start with this.”

  “You know, I remember the good ol’ days when everyone used to have what was quaintly referred to as a ‘private life.’”

  “Yes, little did Orwell imagine that Big Brother would come in the guise of a desktop computer.”

  “Looks like we’ve got a hit,” she exclaimed a half second later, pointing to the c
omputer screen. “It’s a Wikipedia entry for Rosemont Security Consultants.” Quickly, she scanned the brief description. Then, baffled, she turned to Caedmon. “Rosemont is some sort of security firm headquartered in Washington.”

  Caedmon clicked on the entry. To her dismay, only one scant paragraph appeared. Caedmon hit the Print button and the HP printer whirred to life.

  Edie read the particulars aloud. “‘Founded in 2006 by former Marine Corps colonel Stanford MacFarlane, Rosemont is one of several security consulting firms created in the wake of the Afghan and Iraqi conflicts. Specializing in security consulting, stability operations, and tactical support, Rosemont has security contracts in twenty-two nations worldwide.’” As the information began to sink in, Edie’s shoulders slumped. “A security consulting firm . . . that’s a polite way of saying that Rosemont specializes in mercenaries for hire.”

  “So it would seem.” Caedmon typed a new entry into the search field. “Damn. Rosemont Security Consultants doesn’t maintain a Web page. Although I shouldn’t be surprised, given that such companies prefer to operate out of the public eye.”

  “You know what this means, don’t you? It means that we’re not dealing with one or two armed bad men. We’re dealing with an entire army of—”

  “We don’t know that,” Caedmon interjected, still the voice of reason. “Padgham’s killer may simply be in the employ of Rosemont Security Consultants. It in no way implies that the firm had anything to do with Padgham’s murder or the subsequent theft of the Stones of Fire.”

  Suddenly recalling something she’d failed to mention, Edie threw her right arm into the air, waving it to catch the teacher’s attention. “One last premature leap, okay? I remember that the killer asked to speak to ‘the colonel.’” She snatched the printed sheet of paper out of Caedmon’s hands. Turning it toward him, she underlined the first sentence of the Wikipedia entry with her index finger. “It says here that the man who founded Rosemont Security Consultants is an ex-Marine colonel by the name of Stanford MacFarlane. Do you think there’s a link? That this might be who the killer called on his cell phone?”

  “Possibly,” Caedmon replied, obviously not one to leap without looking. He quickly typed the words Stanford + MacFarlane into the search engine. A dozen entries popped up, most of them dating to the year 2006.

  “That one,” Edie said. “The Washington Post article dated March twentieth.”

  Caedmon clicked on the entry.

  In silence, they both stared at the photograph that accompanied the front-page story: a group of military officers, some in dress uniform, some in combat fatigues, linked arm in arm, their heads reverentially bowed.

  Edie read the headline aloud. “Pentagon Top Aide Conducts Weekly Prayer Circle. And according to the photo tagline, that guy in the middle with the thinning gray buzz cut is Colonel Stanford MacFarlane. I think you better—”

  “Righto,” Caedmon said, hitting the Print button.

  As the page printed, they silently read the article. Edie’s gaze zeroed in on the last paragraph.

  “‘Found guilty of violating military regulations regarding religious expression, Colonel MacFarlane was officially relieved of his duties as intelligence advisor to the Undersecretary of Defense. In a news conference held late yesterday, Colonel MacFarlane announced that he intended to operate a private security firm specializing in defense contracts while continuing his ongoing work in the religious organization Warriors of God.’

  “MacFarlane may have had a fall from grace, but it appears he bounced into a very lucrative career running a security contracting firm.” She derisively snorted, the story a common one in D.C. “Talk about a golden parachute. Last I heard, there’s tens of thousands of these armed paramilitary types running around Iraq, most of them ex-Special Forces.”

  “Even more worrisome, Colonel MacFarlane probably maintains his high-level contacts within the Pentagon. The man did, after all, work for the Undersecretary of Defense.”

  “I have no idea who’s on his Christmas list. All I know is that MacFarlane has at least one inside man working for the Metropolitan Police force. If we go to the authorities, MacFarlane will find us.” Edie despondently stared at the newspaper article. “Religious fanatics . . . not good. Try searching for this ‘Warriors of God,’ will ya?” She tapped her index finger against the computer screen.

  A few seconds later, Caedmon found MacFarlane’s Web page, the domain address none other than www.warriorsofgod.com. It featured a scathing rant against homosexuality.

  “Did God not make Jonathan Padgham as he made you and me?” Caedmon softly whispered.

  “Do you think that’s the reason why they killed Dr. Padgham, because he was a homosexual?”

  A sad look in his eyes, Caedmon slowly shook his head. “No, I don’t think that was the reason why they killed Padge. Although in another place, and at another time, that might have been sufficient reason to take his life. But it wasn’t the reason this day.”

  Edie took several deep breaths, opened her mouth to speak, then found she had nothing to say. The day’s events had unraveled in such a helter-skelter fashion, she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to untangle the skeins.

  “While some might dismiss that”—she jutted her chin at the computer screen—“as your run-of-the-mill hateful chatter, it scares the bejesus out of me.”

  Having had her fill, the diatribe bringing to mind her own religious upbringing, Edie turned away from the computer. Her grandfather had been a hardcore evangelical Christian, fervently believing that the Bible was a literal transcription. From God’s mouth to the prophets’ ears. And like those towering figures of the Old Testament, Pops had been a rigid taskmaster, daily force-feeding his family an ultraconservative brand of hellfire and eternal damnation. Unable to bear it, her mother had left home at age sixteen. Edie lasted a bit longer, beating a hasty retreat on her eighteenth birthday, managing to escape via a full scholarship to George Washington University. The day she boarded the northbound Greyhound bus was the last day she spoke to her maternal grandfather, Conway Miller.

  For the first couple of months, she’d made a halfhearted attempt to keep in touch with her gran, but when the letters were returned, unopened, she got the message. She’d not only left the family, she’d left the flock. She had officially been branded a nonperson. It was another fifteen years before she stepped foot inside a church. The congregation at St. Mattie’s was an eclectic mix of female priests, gay deacons, and multiracial couples. People of all stripes and colors, joined together in mutual joy. A blessed gathering. Edie didn’t know if it was a form of rebellion against the religion of her youth, but she loved attending Sunday service at St. Mattie’s. No doubt, Pops weekly turned up the dirt above his gravesite.

  “It would appear that Stanford MacFarlane is the kingfish in a very murky pond,” Caedmon said, drawing Edie’s attention back to the computer screen. “In my experience, men consumed by a burning hatred, who cloak themselves in God’s love, are the most dangerous men under the heavens.”

  “Just read the newspaper. Religious fanaticism is a global phenomenon.”

  “Which raises the question . . . why did a group of fanatical Christians steal one of the most sacred of all religious r elics?”

  Edie turned to Caedmon, shrugging. “I have no idea.”

  “Nor I. Although I am keen to uncover the answer.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Outside the hotel room window the day had dawned, damp and cold. No glimmer of sunshine to cast even a smidge of false hope. Through the leafless trees Edie stared at the snaking procession of headlights, the early-morning motorists lost in an enviable world of undone Christmas shopping, overdue bills, and holiday office parties.

  She sighed, her breath condensing into a cloudy smudge as it struck the plate glass window.

  “All is not lost,” Caedmon said from behind her, his voice taking her by surprise.

  Edie turned to face him, unaware that her glum mood had been so ob
vious. “Then why am I having so much trouble finding an answer that makes any sense? I don’t know about you, but I tossed and turned all night trying to figure out why an ex-Marine colonel, who now owns and operates a mercenaries-for-hire contracting firm, would have had Dr. Padgham murdered?” She held up her hand, forestalling an objection. “I know. In the world of biblical artifacts, the Stones of Fire are out there. But did they have to go and—”

  Hearing a thud, Edie rushed over and unlocked the door to their hotel room, snatching the just-delivered, complimentary copy of the Washington Post off the doormat. Door closed and relocked, she quickly flipped through the newspaper, ignoring the front-page story regarding the terrorist attack at the National Gallery of Art. Instead, she searched for a headline, a photo, a story tucked away in the Metro section, anything regarding a triple homicide at the Hopkins Museum.

  “There’s nothing in the paper . . . how can that be? Surely by now someone has found Dr. Padgham and the two dead security guards.” She tossed the newspaper onto her unmade bed.

  “It’s been less than twenty-four hours since the murders were committed,” Caedmon calmly reminded her. He had just showered and shaved, which explained why he was half dressed, his red hair matted to his skull. Attired as he was in a white muscle-man tank, Edie could see that he had broad shoulders and a lean, rangy build.

  “Yeah, but the night shift should have found the bodies. The guards are supposed to make the rounds of the museum every thirty minutes. And I know for a fact that Linda Alvarez in payroll arrives at the museum at seven o’clock sharp. She has to walk right past Dr. Padgham’s office to get to—” Edie stopped, hit with a sudden thought. “Once they access the computer logs at the museum, the police will know that I was at the museum when Dr. Padgham was murdered. Which makes me a fugitive.”

  One side of Caedmon’s mouth quirked upward. “Hardly a fugitive.”

  “Well, okay, a person of interest. Isn’t that what they call them on cop shows?” She peered at her mussed reflection in the wall mirror. Feeling the sting of tears, she turned her back on Caedmon, worried the dam might burst.