by J. M. LeDuc
Scrolling through her messages, Joan added, “Hmm, this is interesting.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Brent said. “What’s interesting?”
“I’ve just received an email from the Vatican.” She opened it, and read aloud:
Ambassador, I have translated the language being used in the audio you sent. It’s Old Coptic, an ancient language used primarily in the first four centuries C.E. The words are as follows: The Day of The Dark One has arrived. Let the Enlightened One be revealed.
As Joan finished, everyone heard a crashing sound coming from the kitchen.
“Is everything all right in there?” Chloe yelled.
“Yes, everything is fine. I’m clumsy and dropped a plate, that’s all.”
In truth, Lucille wasn’t clumsy, she was petrified. Brent’s destiny was close at hand, and that scared her to death.
Looking towards the heavens, she said, “Lord, the time I hoped would never come is at hand. Please watch over him.” She blessed herself and continued. “Holy Father, if possible, take this cup from him. But if not, please walk with him and give him the strength to endure what is to come. Amen.” She wiped a tear from her eye and joined the others. She didn’t want to miss hearing what the Cardinal had to say.
Joan looked up when Lucille entered and then continued to read the e-mail.
I’m afraid the madness encompasses more than you had originally thought. There has been a series of killings here in Europe. All have the same characteristics as the ones spoke of early this morning.
I have attached a file which includes information pertaining to them, along with pictures of all fourteen victims. Please call me immediately after viewing the attached file. We must talk.”
“Change of plans, everyone,” Brent said. “We will meet in the conference room at headquarters in half an hour. Let’s move.”
“Should I change my flight plans, Colonel?” Seven asked.
“Your flight has just been delayed two hours,” he responded.
“I’ll contact Q,” Joan said.
As they made their way to the basement, Seven asked Brent, “What do you think is going on?”
Brent looked over at his mentor and second-in-command. “Nothing good.”
CHAPTER 29
The team made their way to the tunnel entrance and was in transit to HQ.
“Chloe, I have to talk to you.”
Chloe felt Lucille tug at her shirt sleeve, much like a child tugs at its mother to get attention. Chloe glanced at Lucille, ready to brush her off…until she looked into her fear filled eyes.
“Are you all right?” Chloe asked.
“No…I mean, yes. Oh, I don’t know what I mean.” She was so anxious, she had a hard time putting a sentence together. She grabbed at Chloe’s sleeve once more, and in a loud voice said, “I REALLY NEED TO SPEAK WITH YOU, NOW.”
Chloe slowed her pace and walked next to Lucille. She placed a hand on the small of her back. “Walk with me. We’ll talk on the way to headquarters.”
Lucille stopped dead in her tracks.
“Do you need to rest?” Chloe asked.
“What I need, is to talk to you, right now, and right here!”
Sensing fear and despair in Lucille’s words, Chloe stopped. “Okay, sweetie, talk to me.”
“Oh God, where do I start?”
“The beginning is the best place,” Chloe smiled, trying to break the tension.
The ‘beginning’ flashed through Lucille’s mind: Her, Jacob, the car bomb, the visions… “No, I can’t possibly go back to the beginning, not right now. I don’t know if my heart could take it.” She held Chloe’s hands. “I need you to know that Brent’s life could be in grave danger.”
“What? Lucille, what are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.”
“The email from the Vatican…”
“Oh, Lucille, I know it’s scary, with the killings and all, but Brent can take care of himself. You know that.”
“No, that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean what the Cardinal translated.”
Chloe recalled the Cardinal’s words and repeated them. “‘The day of the Dark
One has arrived. Let the Enlightened One be revealed.’”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“I don’t understand, Lucille. What are you trying to say?”
Lucille’s voice trembled. “Brent is the Enlightened One.”
“He’s what? Don’t be silly! How would you know something like that?”
Lucille looked down, avoiding eye contact. “I’ve known since he was born. His father and I had a vision, a visitation from an angel who told us of Brent’s destiny. He said that Brent was destined to be the Enlightened One, that Brent would have to battle Satan himself.”
Chloe’s mind shut down after Lucille’s opening words. She grabbed her by the shoulders, looked into her eyes and said, “Are you telling me that you are Brent’s mother?”
Lucille broke down. Crying, she wrapped her arms around Chloe. “Yes, th-th-that’s what I’m saying.” She cried even harder, making it difficult to speak.
“Why would his grandfather have told him that you were dead if you weren’t? Please, tell me why.”
“Hey, are you two all right? I looked back and you were both gone.”
They turned to see Brent walking toward them. Lucille composed herself before she answered, “We’re fine. I was just a little frightened by all the talk of killings and killers. That’s all.”
Chloe gave her a head-nod, her eyes wide, as if to say, “Tell him.”
Lucille shook her head. “Not yet,” she said, voicing her thoughts. “I have to go back to the townhouse and get something.”
“Not yet for what?” Brent asked. “What do you need to get?”
“I, um, I’m feeling very nervous. I left my anti-anxiety medication at the house. I’ll get it and meet you at headquarters.”
Not a bad idea. I really don’t want her to see the victims’ pictures, Brent thought.
“That’s a good idea. Be at headquarters within the hour or I’m coming to find you. Understand?”
“I’ll be there. I promise.” Lucille pulled Chloe close and whispered in her ear, “Don’t say anything until I get back. Promise me.”
With hesitance, Chloe said, “I—I promise. Now, hurry back.”
Lucille smiled weakly and walked away.
“Hey,” Chloe yelled as she disappeared down a different vein of the tunnel, “we love you.”
“Me, too,” Lucille answered, as she disappeared from view.
“Are you going to tell me what that was all about or do I have to guess?”
“I’m afraid not. It’s something Lucille needs to tell you personally, when she’s ready.”
“Whatever,” Brent said. “Right now, we have more important things to take care of.”
CHAPTER 30
Looking through the pictures from Cardinal Bullini, they were stunned. They wanted to disengage, but were drawn to them.
“This certainly adds another dimension to things,” Maddie said.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Brent said. “Everything we know about Jonas’ profile and the MO of his previous crimes leads us to the fact that he’s a loner.”
“Maybe the Cardinal will be able to shed some light,” Seven said. “He did say to call him immediately after we saw this stuff.”
“Joan, get Cardinal…”
“Already done. Depress the speakerphone button and I’ll connect you.”
The connection was immediate, the phone barely rang before everyone in the room heard, “Buongiurno, Cardinale Bullini’s officio, potere aiutori lei?” (“Hello, Cardinal Bullini’s office, may I help you?”)
“Si. Buongiourno, Padre, Il Ambassiatore parlere. Posso parlere con
Cardinale Bullini?” (“Yes, hello, Father, the Ambassador speaking. May I speak with Cardinal Bullini?”)
“Si, Senore, attendere, por favore.” (“Yes, sir, hold on, please.”)
Seconds later, Cardinal Bullini was on the line, “Brent, thank you for calling me so promptly. I imagine you’ve seen the pictures and read the police reports, yes?”
“Yes, Cardinal, we have. I hope you don’t mind but the entire team is with me.”
“No, not at all. It’s good to have people who support you at a time like this.”
“A time like this?” Brent said. “I don’t quite understand. You make it sound personal.”
“Oh, heavens, I’m jumping ahead of myself,” he said. Everyone waited anxiously to learn what the Cardinal had referred to. Chloe, alone, was not held spellbound. Her mind drifted to her conversation with Lucille moments before. Her phrase, ‘Brent’s life is in grave danger’ played over and over in her mind.
While everyone else stared eagerly at the phone, Chloe prayed. Heavenly Father, I don’t know what Lucille referred to, or what an Enlightened One is. But I pray that you please not let it be Brent. But if it is, dear Lord, cover him with the Holy Spirit and protect him from harm. Amen.
“What I meant to say,” the Cardinal said, “was that the criminal, the Butcher whom you are looking for, is not working alone.”
“Who do you think he’s working for, Cardinal?”
“If I have interpreted the words correctly, he is not working for anyone of this world.”
Brent shook his head. “Cardinal, you’re not making any sense. What is it you are trying to say?”
“I’m sorry, Ambassador, it’s just that a lot has happened in the few hours since we last spoke. Much has changed for this old priest. Let me start at the beginning. Hopefully, what I am about to say will make more sense.”
They heard a loud sigh, before the Cardinal continued. “For centuries, a myth has been circulated by a few, some clergy, that a time would come when Satan would covet God’s creation. Satan, The Dark One, would entrench his spirit into the souls of the willing, and seek to do battle with God’s chosen representative. A man after His own heart, much like King David. The myth continued that, if Satan wins, evil and immorality that would make Sodom and Gomorrah look like a monastery, would cover this world. If God’s representative, the Enlightened One, wins the battle, mankind will continue to have the free will to choose between good and evil. Essentially, the world would continue as it is now.”
“Amadeus, I don’t mean to interrupt, but are we talking about the time foretold in Revelation?”
“No. We are talking about something completely different. We are talking about an event that is to happen before the end times, a time when everything in this world lines up properly for Satan to prove he is more powerful than God. If he was to win, we would be talking about a time of disease, pestilence and immorality that would descend upon earth like a dark cloud and then, depending on man’s heart, it may or may not be lifted at a later time.”
“Cardinal Bullini, this is Maddie speaking. I’m sorry but I’m still having trouble understanding. You did say that this was just a myth?”
“That’s what the church thought, what I thought, Miss Smith, until last night.”
“What changed your mind, Cardinal?” Brent asked.
“Last night, after we spoke, I could not sleep, so I began to pray. I was visited by an angel of the Lord.”
Chloe could see from the look in Brent’s eyes that he, too, had an apparition.
The voices he spoke of.
The Cardinal continued. “The Archangel Gabriel told me where to look in the catacombs of St. Peter’s Basilica to find a scroll, the Scroll of Enlightenment. It was written in the same language you had given me to interpret. It foretold all I have told you. It was written by the John, the Revelator.”
All the talk about angels and scrolls frustrated Brent. “I don’t mean to be rude, Amadeus, but what does any of this have to do with us and our problem?”
“It has everything to do with it. The symbols etched into the bodies of the victims you found all say the same thing that came out of the mouth of the escaped convict. ‘The day of The Dark One is here, let the Enlightened One be revealed.’”
Brent’s voice carried a tinge of frustration. “Again, Cardinal, I ask you, what does this have to do with us?”
“Because, my son,” the Cardinal spoke in a more personal tone, “you are the Enlightened One.”
Brent shot up from his chair, and said with indignance, “You must be mistaken.”
“I’m afraid he isn’t,” came a familiar voice.
Everyone turned to see Lucille standing in the doorway. They could see tears in her eyes. She clutched an envelope and a wooden chest laden with gold trim. “Cardinal Bullini speaks the truth,” she said.
Before she could say another word, Brent interrupted. “Whatever is going on here does not, I repeat, does not, change our mission. Seven, you have your orders. Have your CSI team meet you at the airstrip in one hour. Report in as soon as you land. I want to know everything you find, the moment you find it.”
“Yes, Colonel,” Seven said. He stood up, gave Maddie a hug and a kiss, and exited the room.Brent turned to the rest of the squad. “Sergeants, you have one week to take Miss Dupree through the entire sixteen weeks of recruit training. I suggest you get going.”
“Colonel, that’s impossible” Jefferson said. “There is no way anyone can stand that kind of intensity.”
He looked first at Jefferson then at Charlotte. “You have one week, Sergeant. If she cracks or quits, then I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
“But, Colonel…”
“No ‘buts,’ Sergeant,” Brent bellowed. “You have your orders. Now move out.”
“Yes, sir,” Jefferson and Fitz said together. They gestured to Charlotte to follow.
Charlotte looked back, “You won’t be sorry, Colonel Venturi. I will complete the training.”
Brent looked at her without emotion. He nodded toward the door. “Get out of here, recruit.” To himself he said, I hope they break you, Charlotte. This is no life for a woman. This is no life for anyone.
Maddie was next to leave. “Come on, Joan, we have a lot of agents to brief and a lot of logistics to weed through.”
“Yes, Madame Director,” she replied.
“Colonel.” She waited for him to look at her. Then, more informally, she said, “Brent, whatever you must go through, you know you won’t be alone. We’re a family, more tightly-knit than any I’ve ever known and we function as one. Whatever you feel, we all feel. Whatever you must do, we will all do together.”
Brent smiled weakly, more in platitude than gratitude. At least, he had listened.
CHAPTER 31
Chloe, Lucille and Brent were alone in the room. “Cardinal,” Brent said, “you said there was other information that was pertinent to the situation. I want to hear about the information before we delve into the more personal matter.”
“Yes, yes, I do. If you decide to accept the destiny God has put before you, there is someone you must seek out. One who came before you, preaching and foretelling of this day. He is a young priest. Well, he was a priest…”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that when he wouldn’t stop preaching about the coming of the Enlightenment, I excommunicated him. But thankfully, the folly of man is often usurped by the majesty of the Lord. The young priest I speak of, Father Jessup, has seen fit to relocate to Coral Cove, a small seaside village just twenty miles from you. He now preaches from a pulpit in an abandoned warehouse to a congregation of mostly downtrodden and homeless. He has knowledge you must acquire concerning the Enlightenment if you are to have any chance of defeating Satan.”
Brent sat, staring at the box that Lucille placed on the table. His mind be
gan to drift to times past. It took Cardinal Bullini clearing his throat to bring him back to the present.
“Amadeus, what would happen if I chose not to accept my ‘destiny?’?”
“God has said through John, His disciple that He would love you no less or no more if you were to choose not to pick up the sword of battle. A love as pure as His is infinite no matter what we, as humans, choose to do.”
Again, Brent fell silent. He reached under the table to rub his thigh, the thigh with shrapnel lodged deep within it from his daring rescue of the head of the SIA—the man he later knew as Joseph Conklin—from the Chinese government. Brent flashed back to Beijing, twelve years ago.
A simple mission gone wrong.
The Chinese contact had told his wife too much. His wife, a firm believer in the Chinese government passed on the information. An ambush was waiting for Brent when he arrived at the Beijing Hilton, the prison where all the political prisoners were held.
The snatch of “Jonathan Swain”, Joseph Conklin’s alias, went as planned. Swain’s face so beaten, his eyes were swollen shut. As he helped the bloodied man towards the waiting vehicle, Brent spotted a glint of a red blinking light coming from the under carriage of the truck.
“Get down,” he yelled, pulling Jonathan to the ground.
In an instant, the truck and the Chinese operative were gone. Through the smoke and fire, Brent carried the unconscious man to momentary safety back inside the prison.
Regaining consciousness, Jonathan Swain looked about. “Where are we?”
Brent covered the man’s mouth and whispered, “We’re in the garage, inside the Hilton.”
Swain shook his head loose of Brent’s hand. “Are you insane?”
“It’s the last place they’ll look,” Brent said. “Now, keep your voice down.”
“So, what’s the plan? Do we wait here for back up?”
Brent bruised and bleeding, cut the stuffing out of the back seat of an armored transport. “None coming,” he said.
Jonathan jerked forward, trying to sit up. The pain had a different plan.