Cursed Presence (Trilogy of the Chosen Book 2)

by J. M. LeDuc

  “You’re the boss.” He turned to Lucille and said, “Mom, you don’t mind showing the ark to Father Jessup, do you?”

  “It would be my pleasure. Come this way, Father.”

  After the two left, Brent and Chloe readied themselves for the briefing.

  Maddie depressed the button on the intercom to call Joan into the impromptu meeting.

  Joan walked in with a packet of information for each of them. “I took the initiative to make copies of the photos Seven sent back, as well as his written description of what they uncovered. He called about fifteen minutes ago to say he and the team were about to brief the local authorities on their discoveries about missing persons, then they’ll head for the airport.”

  Maddie passed Brent a piece of paper. “He sent me a text just before you and Father Jessup arrived. He hopes to be back here by midnight. He’ll also need help transporting some of their findings to the SIA lab and asked us to send a panel truck to meet them at the airstrip.”

  “Message back that I’ll be there with the rest of the squad. We’ll have the rest of the CSI team bring the truck,” Brent said.

  “Done,” Joan said.

  “So, how about giving me the abridged version of what they uncovered?” Brent said.

  “It seems Aunt Peg wasn’t just a sadist; even worse, she was a Satanist.” She watched Brent’s expression change at that news. “Did you expect this?”

  He inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly through pursed lips. His expression darkened, becoming remorseful. “I hoped this was not what we were dealing with.”

  “You mean you knew?”

  He shook his head. “Not knew, exactly, just…had a hunch.”

  “How? Why?”

  “Back in ’96, we, the squad, came across a satanic group while we hunted for an Islamic terrorist cell on U.S. soil. Turns out, they weren’t connected. But these people freaked me out. People of all ages, families, who truly believed that Satan was God. They had no belief in salvation or eternity. They only believed in the here and now. All they cared about was instant gratification and what pleased them. To look at them, really look at them, you saw—nothing.”

  “Were they violent or sadistic in any way?”

  “No. After we’d completed the mission, I returned to the small town where their so called church was located. The way they lived, the things they found ‘sacred’ ate at me. I wanted to understand why and how anybody could get that far off track, and see if I could do anything to get them pointed back in the right direction.”

  “And?” Maddie asked.

  Brent shook his head. “What I discovered shook me to the core,” he said. “They weren’t that different from you and me. In their hearts, they felt they were worshipping the right deity.

  “In my discussion with the priest, I asked the same question you asked. He told me about the various kinds of satanic worship. He said they didn’t have any connection to the Blasphemous Satanic cults that practiced human sacrifice and drank blood.”

  “Unfortunately,” Maddie said, “that’s the type of Satanism Aunt Peg practiced.

  Seven found the remains of twelve college girls who’d been listed as missing persons by the Boston police. He also found pictures of the sorority girls Jonas killed. It seems he made the trek back to Mecca, so to speak, after each killing.”

  Joan handed Brent the pictures she had copied.

  “That’s not all,” Maddie said. “Seven figured out why nobody has been able to catch a glimpse of Jonas on surveillance cameras.” She flipped though her set of pictures until she found the one she wanted. Handing it to Brent, she said, “Jonas is Liz.”

  He stared at the picture, mouth agape.

  Maddie looked like the cat who ate the canary. For the first time, to her delight, she was able to give Brent a speck…no, a chunk of information he had no clue existed.

  “As a priestess of the satanic chur—cult, Aunt Peg gave herself totally to Satan. There could be no other males in her life. She dressed Jonas as a she.”

  Brent appeared to be mesmerized until a smile of relief showed on his face.

  “No wonder we’ve had such a hard time tracking him. He’s been dressed as Liz.”

  “That’s apparently when he feels most comfortable,” Maddie said. “We’ve gone back over the security footage from Vegas and at the airports to see if we could locate him.”

  Brent nodded his approval as Maddie continued, “There’s one more bit of intel Seven wanted me to relay to you. It seems when Jonas or Liz broke one of Aunt Peg’s rules, it was Jonas who was punished, never Liz. As Liz, he knew he was safe from her sadistic torture.”

  “Amazing. Joan, text Seven and let him know that he and his team did a great job.”

  “Already sent, Colonel,” she replied as she shut her laptop.

  The three walked into the hall and heard the faint sound of moaning. Brent smiled, “It seems our new recruit has finished her first day of training. Let’s see if it’s also her last day of training.”

  As they made their way to the medical wing, they realized the moanings had come from a male, not a female. They broke into a run and when they turned the corner, they found Charlotte and Fitz supporting an exhausted, visibly limping Jefferson into the infirmary.

  “Stop right there,” Brent commanded.

  The trio looked up to find Brent standing in front of them. They came to full attention.

  “Would someone like to explain to me what I’m witnessing?”

  “It seems as though our new recruit has more on the ball than we gave her credit for,” Jefferson answered. “We figured we’d start the day with class work. We crammed three weeks of logistics and protocol into four hours. I never stopped reading, Colonel. I mean, I never even looked up from the manual. I figured that if I looked at her I would feel sorry for her and slow down. When I finally did look at her, Charlotte was sitting back in her chair, arms folded, eyes closed.

  “I figured she gave up and fell asleep. When I stopped talking, she opened her eyes. She didn’t look sleepy, at all. In fact, she looked alert. I gave her the test we administer halfway through training. I expected the worst, ya know?”

  Fitz interrupted. He held the test out in front of him. “If I may, sir?”

  “Show me.”

  He stepped forward to hand the papers to the Colonel. “She aced it, sir. One hundred percent. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  Brent flipped through the pages, his face expressionless. The left corner of his mouth turned up involuntarily. He looked at Charlotte but couldn’t think of a thing to say.

  “Photographic memory, sir. If I hear or see something once, I can retain it.”

  “I see.” Brent’s eyes moved from Charlotte to Jefferson. “Now would someone like to explain your interesting method of travel?”

  “I decided we would spend the entire afternoon on hand-to-hand combat training. In the interest of time, Fitz and I showed her the basic moves and holds in ju-jitsu and karate. Then I thought a full-on, one-to-one fight with competitive rules was in order.”

  “Administered like Seven administered it to us?” Brent asked. “Full contact, no pads?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And?”

  “And, it appears,” Fitz interrupted again, “that Miss Dupree was again more than she appeared.”

  Brent looked at Charlotte. “After my ordeal with the Butcher,” she said, “I decided I would never again be defenseless. For the past seven years, I’ve trained in three forms of martial arts; second degree black belt in all of them, sir.”

  Brent broke into a deep, hearty laugh. “Have Malcolm see Nurse Collins for triage. Then meet us at the Inn at nineteen-hundred hours. We have a lot of new developments to go over and there’s someone new I want you to meet.”“Yes, sir,” they all said in unison.

 
“Oh, and while you’re at it, find out what other pertinent facts await us in Miss Dupree’s background. We can’t afford any more injuries. Understood?”

  Once again in chorus, the three answered in the affirmative. Then Fitz and Charlotte helped Jefferson into the infirmary.

  CHAPTER 38

  Brent, Chloe and Maddie found Father Jessup and Lucille in the conference room. He was hunched over papers strewn on the table. He wrote furiously on another piece, muttering all the while to himself. Lucille, curious to see what he found, peered over his shoulder.

  “Unbelievable. In all my years of searching and learning, I would never fathom this was possible.”

  “How do you know what it says, Father?” Lucille asked.

  “That, Mrs. Conklin, is a miracle. I have no idea what I’m looking at, yet, when I write, the translation jumps from my pen.”

  “The gift of letters,” Brent said.

  His voice startled the two.

  “Oh, my,” Lucille said, “you scared me. You shouldn’t sneak up on an old woman like that.”

  “We didn’t,” Chloe said, “and you’re not old, Mom.”

  “The gift of what? What are you talking about, Brent?” Father Jessup asked.

  “The gift of letters. Cardinal Bullini told me about it. It’s a spiritual gift from God, given only to a select few. It allows those blessed with it to read a language they’re unfamiliar with and to rewrite it in a known language.”

  “Like the gift of tongues?” Stephen inquired.

  “Similar, but much rarer.”

  “You all have to see this, especially you, Brent.”

  “What did you find, Father and what happened to the gold leaf that covered the box?”

  Father Jessup looked down at the sheet of gold leaf that lay on the table top. “As I studied the Ark, I noticed symbols, or words of some sort, etched into the gold. The more I studied it, the more I realized they weren’t contiguous. Words were missing. I meticulously removed the gold-leaf from its wooden base. As you can see, it had been folded many times before it was attached to the ark.”

  Brent and the girls moved in closer to the table and looked at the large unfolded sheet of gold.

  “I transcribed the etchings onto paper so I wouldn’t damage the leaf, but as I wrote…”

  “As he wrote,” Lucille interjected, “it was in English. I called it to his attention and he looked confused.”

  “I had no idea I was writing in English. I just transcribed the etchings, symbol by symbol. When Mrs. Conklin brought it to my attention, I was as astonished as she was.

  After I’d completed the translation, it didn’t make sense until your mother pointed out that it read from right to left.”

  “Hebrew?”

  “I think so, Chloe. I’m fairly certain the language etched into the gold is a form of Hebrew.”

  “I think I know how we can be sure,” Maddie said.

  Everyone except Father Jessup called for Joan.

  “Someone call my name?”

  “I swear I’ll never get used to your doing that,” Maddie said.

  “What do you need?” She smiled and winked at Maddie.

  “Tap into the Vatican’s website of ancient and defunct languages.”

  Joan placed her constant work companion, her laptop, onto the conference table and tapped away on the keyboard. “No problem, Madame Director. Now what?”

  “Key the first few etched symbols into the search bar. Let’s see what happens.”

  “You’ve got it.” Within seconds, they had their answer. Joan turned the computer around for all to see. It said: An ancient form of Hebrew used at the time of Moses and the Exodus.

  Father Jessup was visibly moved.

  “This adds credence to what I’ve conjectured for some time. The Ark of the Enlightenment and the Ark of the Covenant were built at the same time, by the same hands.”

  The room was silent, waiting for him to continue.

  “An archeological dig on the land where the Temple of Jerusalem once sat turned up a number of artifacts. It was reported that one was a scroll that revealed within the Holy of Holies there were two arks, identical in every way but one; one was smaller. At the time, everyone thought the smaller one was a replica used during Jewish high holy days.” Father Jessup could see they weren’t following his explanation.

  The bishop rubbed his eyes and forehead. “Let me go back. When the scroll was found, the world news reported the discovery. The three major religions, Muslim, Judaism and Christianity that lay claim to that land all waited to learn what information was contained in the scroll. They each hoped whatever it was would lay to rest who owned the Temple Mount.

  “They didn’t quite trust one another, so they each demanded a copy of the scroll. Both the Muslin and Judaic scholars translated it exactly as I told you.”

  “And the Christian scholar?” Chloe asked.

  “Ahh, this is where it gets interesting. The Christian scholar made the same translation, and it thus became the official decree of the Catholic and Protestant churches.”

  Maddie raised her hand.

  “Hold on a moment, Miss Smith,” Stephen said. “The scroll was then given to Cardinal Bullini’s predecessor, to transcribe it for the Vatican, in the event it was somehow destroyed. He transcribed it, marking for marking. But when he looked at the scroll, it wasn’t written in Hebrew. It was miraculously written in Latin and it told a completely different story.

  “The Latin transcription revealed there were three arks, the two I’ve already mentioned and a third. It had been lost right after it was built. The writings said if the Ark of the Covenant was ever stolen or lost, the other two, together, would lead to its resting place.

  “That’s the reason I was emotional. It’s the information that was never released by the Vatican. Besides being part of the third and final step of the Enlightenment, this box is also the key, or I should say, half of the key, to finding the Ark of the Covenant.”

  The girls, pupils dilated, turned to Brent. They waited to see if he would mention the Ark of the Endowment. His expression never changed and the existence and location of the Ark of the Endowment was never mentioned.

  “The second part of your discovery, Father, incredible as it may seem, is a moot point unless we defeat Satan.” Brent positioned himself so he stood at the front of the room. “If my assumptions are correct, and my gut tells me they are, Satan saw that little light show this morning on the beach. That being true, Jonas is now on his way down here. Let’s pray he is caught before he gets here by one of the many law enforcement agencies looking for him.”

  “That won’t happen.”

  Brent looked at Father Jessup. “How can you be so sure?”

  “I’m sure because Jonas is no longer human. It is written that the Enlightened One must face Satan in battle. If he has chosen the Butcher as his representative, then he’ll show up completely transformed, a spiritual being. He may be in the body of a human, but make no mistake, he will be a completely evil, spiritual being. He’ll destroy any and all who get in his way. Nothing will stop him as he follows the spiritual glow given off by the Enlightened One.”

  “You’re absolutely certain?”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  “If that’s true, we’ll need every agency and police force to stand down.”

  “How, Brent? That’s impossible,” Maddie said.

  “Pardon the interruption, Madame Director, but I think I know of a way.”

  Everyone turned to see Charlotte and the rest of the squad standing in the hallway.

  “Go ahead, Charlotte, we’re listening,” Maddie said.

  “It’s possible if my father holds a news conference and tells of the Butcher’s capture.”

  “Charlotte, I don’t know if I can a
sk him to do that,” Maddie said.

  “Then let me.”

  “He’s going to want specifics, Charlotte,” Brent said.

  “I’ll tell him the truth,” she said as she walked into the room.

  “Which is?”

  “That he can’t be stopped until he fights you man-to-ma…one on one. I’ll tell him that I’ve never felt safer in my life, and I’ll tell him,” Charlotte smiled a joyous, radiant smile, “that I love him.”

  Brent walked over to hug Charlotte. “He will love to hear that,” Brent said, “Joan…”

  “Already done, sir, if you would just place your satellite phone in the dock to the right of the red phone, we should be connected.”

  “That’s my girl,” Maddie said.

  Phone in the dock, they immediately heard the president pick up.

  “Hello, Brent, where the hell have you been all day? Do you have any idea what kind of chaos our country is in?”

  Brent was about to answer the President when Charlotte stopped him with a hand to his arm. He looked at her as if to say, ‘are you sure’. She nodded, then spoke.

  “Hello, Daddy?”

  “Charlotte? Baby, is that you?”

  “Yes, dad, it’s me.”

  “Are you okay? Is Colonel Venturi all right? What’s going on down there?”

  “I’m fine, in fact, I haven’t been this good in a very long time. Colonel Venturi is also fine and right here by my side, as is Director Smith and Chloe. We’re all okay, considering the circumstances. If it’s all right with you, Dad, I’d like to get a couple of things off my chest before you say anything.”

  President Dupree expected the worst, but honored her request. “Go ahead, sweetie, but please take into consideration there are others present in the room.”

  At that, Charlotte smiled. She had a pretty good idea her father thought he knew what was in store for him. “Thank you, Daddy. First, let me say I’m sorry for everything I said to you the last time we were together. I wish I could take it all back. But I can’t. So instead, I’m asking for your forgiveness. I know you were just doing what was best for me. Next, let me just say that you were right. I know I couldn’t possibly be in a safer place than I’m in right now.” She looked at each person in the room. “These people are amazing. They’ve shown me nothing but respect and love since the first moment I arrived and, believe me, there were times, especially with Colonel Venturi, when I didn’t deserve it.”