The Holy Assassin

by Luís Miguel Rocha

  ‘They want that report and to eliminate any and all threat it could represent, even though they’ve not yet read it,’ he spelled out.

  Once again because of papers, Sarah thought with a strong feeling of déjà vu.

  ‘Don’t these people know they should leave nothing in writing?’ she lamented. ‘And this has nothing to do with Albino Luciani and what happened to him?’ She began to feel a certain fear. This was much more complicated than she thought.

  ‘No. It’s about John Paul the Second and what we don’t know about him.’

  ‘But, who are they?’ Simon asked. His body began to ache again. He needed rest.

  ‘The saviors of the Church. Those in command of the Church.’

  ‘The pope?’ Simon continued.

  ‘No, of course not. Who thinks the pope rules the Church?’

  ‘The conclaves, the electors of a successor, the Swiss Guard, the prime minister. Choose one.’ Simon presented an endless list.

  ‘The commander of the Church is and always has been … money,’ Rafael explained.

  Phelps felt insulted by the remark. ‘Listen, Rafael …’

  Rafael raised an authoritative hand, demanding silence. ‘Money rules the Church. Think of the banking system.’

  Phelps sighed. What sacrilege. For her part, Sarah couldn’t understand where Rafael was going with this idea.

  ‘Banks have to obey the directors of the Central Bank. They raise or lower interest rates, set policies, regulations—’

  ‘Where are you going with this?’ Sarah was the impatient one this time.

  ‘To what is obvious. We have the Holy Mother Church, the Vatican, which is the face and regulatory agent that manages the wealth and advises what decisions to make to promote the faith.’

  ‘For the love of God.’ Phelps was furious. He got up and put his hands on the table. ‘What are you talking about? Surely the Vatican—’

  ‘You’re mistaken. I’m speaking about Escrivá’s organization.’

  ‘Holy Virgin.’ Phelps crossed himself again three times in a row. ‘Heresy.’

  ‘Escrivá’s organization?’ Simon was lost.

  ‘Opus Dei,’ Sarah and Rafael said in unison.

  ‘That seems like a theory without foundation,’ Sarah contradicted.

  ‘An outrage,’ Phelps added. His voice trembled with indignation.

  ‘Unfortunately it’s not a theory, it’s not even speculation. It’s a certainty. That’s the way it works.’

  Phelps sat down completely crushed. ‘My God, I don’t believe it. There has to be something wrong.’

  Minutes passed without a word, only listening to their breathing, panting, fatigued, nervous.

  ‘Okay!’ Sarah interrupted the silence, recalling conversations of this kind with Rafael in the past. ‘I think we’re all in agreement to tie up the loose threads. We want to know everything.’

  The other two just nodded in agreement. Yes, they wanted to know everything … now. Sarah looked at Rafael seriously. We want to know everything … now.

  ‘You can start by talking about the bodies,’ Phelps suggested, crossing himself at the same time.

  ‘What bodies?’ Sarah felt goose bumps.

  ‘This is getting more and more interesting,’ Simon said with a sour smile.

  ‘The bodies this guy went to pick up in Amsterdam. We covered five hundred miles with them before we got here,’ Phelps said incriminatingly.

  ‘Natalie?’ Sarah said timidly. ‘The bodies of Natalie and Greg? You’ve brought them?’ She couldn’t conceive of this repulsive act, snatching two bodies, people she knew, from eternal rest.

  Rafael nodded.

  ‘Why?’ Sarah demanded. This man never ceased to amaze her. She had no idea how he felt, if he considered this good or bad.

  ‘Among other reasons … for this.’ Rafael showed them a small black object the size of a jacket button, circular, smooth.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘A CD.’

  ‘That’s a CD?’ Simon looked astonished at the object. ‘They make them that size?’

  ‘They make whatever size is necessary.’

  ‘And what does it have on it? Who had it?’ That was what mattered to Sarah.

  ‘Information Natalie had been investigating for a long time,’ he only said.

  ‘About what?’

  ‘Emanuela and Mirella.’

  ‘The girls?’ Phelps asked nervously. ‘Good God, this is torture. I can’t believe it.’

  ‘What girls?’

  ‘My God. The girls.’ Phelps covered his face with his hands, paralyzed. ‘Information about the worst that could happen to them, I suppose.’

  ‘What girls?’ Sarah asked again. The loose ends were getting even looser, instead of tying together plausible explanations. No resolution was in sight. Suddenly the conversation she wanted to have about the house seemed inopportune.

  ‘Two adolescents who disappeared in Rome in 1983,’ Rafael finally told her, ignoring Phelps’s comment.

  ‘What do they have to do with this? Why did Natalie want information about them?’

  ‘She was doing an investigation of the attempt against John Paul the Second. He deserved to die.’

  The image shook her, impeding her formulation of the next question. It took her a little time to recover.

  ‘But who are those girls?’ Simon put in.

  ‘It’s a delicate subject. It’s enough to know they were carried off in Rome by persons connected with the Church at that time. Despite having circulated the idea they wanted to exchange them for the Turk, they killed them a little after the kidnapping for other reasons.’

  ‘And what were those reasons?’ Phelps demanded.

  ‘What I’ve said is enough.’ Rafael’s expression made it obvious he’d say no more on the subject.

  ‘And what about the other victim who died with them?’ Phelps changed the subject. ‘Did that have something to do with the case or was he just caught up in the imponderables of life?’ He was remembering the article he’d read in Schiphol Airport that mentioned the English couple and another man, not yet identified.

  ‘Are there other dead?’ Simon felt he’d entered a world gone mad.

  ‘He was the one who figured everything out. He was with the CIA, one of the founders, in fact. He was as good as dead as soon as he started following their movements. Ironically he’d just been relieved of the case the day before. His work was over. He’d reported something Natalie had been looking for in Bulgaria. This man, Solomon Keys, was going to spend a few days in London before returning to the United States. Natalie decided to satisfy her desires precisely in the place where Solomon, who now had nothing to do with the subject, happened to be. He probably had no idea it was her. The shooter never knew that it was Solomon Keys in the other toilet stall.’

  ‘How is that?’ Phelps was fascinated by so much information.

  ‘The shots were fired with the door closed from the inside.’

  ‘My God,’ Sarah exclaimed, imagining the scene.

  ‘You’re very well informed,’ Phelps commented with some reservation.

  Rafael said nothing.

  ‘The Dutch authorities didn’t find the CD?’ Sarah asked suspiciously.

  ‘Of course they did,’ he said. ‘And they handed it over to the person they had to give it to.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ Sarah wanted everything perfectly explained. She had the right.

  ‘There are behind-the-scenes games by the secret services that are not important here.’

  ‘How do you know all this?’ Sarah insisted.

  ‘Nothing is invisible to the eyes of the Vatican,’ he answered conclusively but evasively.

  ‘And the girls? What do they have to do with the assassination attempt on John Paul the Seond?’

  Rafael looked hard at her to be sure he was understood.

  ‘Everything.’

  The story was only getting more confusing. She wanted answers a
nd, in part, had gotten them, but every answer contained new questions, new doubts.

  ‘To summarize,’ Simon began, ‘a supposedly religious institution, Opus Dei, does not wish known the circumstances surrounding the attack on John Paul the Second in 1981.’ It sounded like a journalistic presentation. ‘For that reason they initiate an operation – I imagine that’s the appropriate term – the objective of which is to silence anyone who has or might have knowledge of the affair, as well as getting hold of all the documents pertaining to the case.’

  Everyone listened to Simon’s synthesis. Sarah remained perplexed. She needed a cool head to make things fit together.

  ‘They have the help of an enormous American governmental organization, and we’re here putting off the inevitable. Is that it?’ Simon concluded with a question.

  ‘That seems about right to me,’ Sarah agreed. ‘So many things need explaining. I feel more confused than when I arrived here.’

  ‘There is a question, though, that has still not been asked,’ Simon said, analytically, hesitantly. ‘What is Opus Dei’s interest? We’re talking about a costly operation with a lot of resources. And what does the CIA have to do with this?’

  ‘We’ll talk about that later,’ Rafael decided. ‘Now we have to discuss what happens next.’

  A vibrating sound interrupted them. Rafael’s cell phone. He listened without offering a word and disconnected in the same way.

  ‘Um, by the way, I have to call home. Can I?’ Phelps asked cowardly. ‘I have to reassure my family. I talk to them every day.’

  ‘Of course,’ Rafael granted. His voice was serious, professional.

  ‘Don’t worry. I know well what I cannot say.’

  ‘Me too,’ Rafael informed him. ‘But before that, Sarah has to make a call.’

  ‘Me?’ She was not expecting this.

  ‘Yes. We need to set your father’s mind at rest. I told him you’d call.’ He put the cell phone in her hand. ‘And, in passing, ask him to tell his associate we need a plane for tonight.’

  46

  Emanuela

  Wednesday, June 22, 1983

  It wasn’t difficult to guess the reason for those shining eyes and that wide smile on her rosy lips. It was the happiness of fifteen years parading before the marvels of life, the promises, the future, which resembled a bouquet of roses. Destiny was the color of a rose.

  The reason for her enthusiasm was her first job opportunity. A small job, part-time, but honest, an opening, her first salary, hers alone. She could hardly wait to get home and tell her family. She needed to hurry because the music class had already begun at the institute. Oh, how beautiful Rome was! A salesperson for Avon cosmetics at a fashion show. Who would have thought this opportunity would be in reach?

  ‘Emanuela has the looks for this position. She’s what we’re looking for,’ the representative had praised her minutes before on the terrace, as she was enjoying the taste of a soda.

  He didn’t get around to opening the black briefcase at his feet, with the handle on top, new and well cared for, the odor of leather blending with the fresh summer breeze. He was around forty, more or less, and had the confident look of someone who knew what to do as a recruiter.

  ‘I’ll have to ask my family,’ she’d said. But she’d wanted to accept without bothering with parental permission. ‘But I think you can count on me,’ she concluded with a smile.

  ‘Wonderful, wonderful. But don’t forget. Your parents’ approval is necessary. Without it there can be no contract,’ he said seriously.

  The man finished his drink and got up, took the briefcase by the handle, and held his hand out professionally.

  ‘It’s been a pleasure, Emanuela. I hope I can count on you.’

  The girl responded to the gesture with a smile, constant, delicate, passionate.

  ‘Do you think you can give me an answer tomorrow?’ he asked.

  ‘Absolutely,’ she answered. ‘Shall I call you at the office number?’

  ‘No,’ he hastened to say. ‘We can meet here tomorrow at the same time.’ It wasn’t a question and Emanuela understood.

  ‘Of course. I’ll be here. Same time,’ the girl answered.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ he specified to avoid any mistake.

  ‘Tomorrow.’ The same bright smile. ‘See you tomorrow. I’m running late.’

  The farewell was quick. The man stood on the terrace with a thoughtful expression, waiting for the next meeting, in his hand the key to the BMW parked in front, another job interview, who knows. He saw her turning the corner running toward the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music.

  It wasn’t hard to guess the reason for these shining eyes and wide smile on her delicate lips. It was the happiness of fifteen innocent years.

  She didn’t feel much like going to class, she was too excited, but she couldn’t ask her parents’ permission after skipping; that was out of the question. It was better to fulfill her obligations, avoid problems with her parents, and later, who knew if this job might not be the beginning of a future in the fashion world?

  She entered class a little late, for which she apologized and was pardoned. Roman traffic is hell, everyone knows.

  The class passed normally, new exercises to practice at home, besides the three days a week she had to come to this building to learn more material for the flute. A little after seven Emanuela called home and talked to her sister about the offer from the Avon representative. Her enthusiasm was obvious. Prudently her sister told her not to make any decisions without talking to her parents.

  She walked to the stop for the bus that would take her to Saint Peter’s Square and then to her house, where she’d lived since she was born. She felt the slightly longer days, the sun that stayed a little later, setting slowly behind the buildings in an orange arc, incandescent, which Emanuela didn’t notice, at least not consciously. Nor did she lose time looking at the posters put up along the street with the photograph of a teenage girl, a year older than she, named Mirella, who had disappeared from her parents’ house on the seventh of May. The parents were anxious to see Mirella again or, at worst, to see her body appear, lifeless but touchable, to put an end to the agony of the unknown.

  At the bus stop there was a woman waiting, wrapped up in her own life. Emanuela didn’t acknowledge the car sounding its horn in front of the stop, certain the horn couldn’t be for her.

  ‘Emanuela,’ someone called from inside the vehicle.

  She heard only the second time, absorbed as she was in her own dreams, and she smiled in confusion.

  ‘Hi,’ she replied.

  ‘Do you want a ride?’ the male voice offered.

  ‘Don’t worry. I don’t want to trouble you,’ she excused herself sincerely. ‘I’m going to the Vatican.’

  ‘I’m going there, to Borgo Pio, for another interview.’ The man took his black leather briefcase off the passenger seat to make room and put it in the back. ‘Get in.’

  Emanuela took two seconds to think about it, and with the same innocent smile, opened the door and got in.

  The woman waiting at the bus stop didn’t even glance at the BMW that took off in the direction of the Colosseum. She remained ignorant of what was happening right in front of her. The Avon man was counting on that.

  The car had already turned down Via dei Fori Imperiali and couldn’t be seen.

  47

  Three people got out of the black car parked in front of the Holiday Inn Express. They went into the hotel for tourists on low budgets and short stays, passed the reception desk without asking for any authorization or room key, and went up the stairs to the second floor, where an open door revealed every conceivable variety of monitors, cameras, computers, and other kinds of unconventional technology, some top secret that cannot be identified, operated by a dozen agents packed into the tight space. Paying no attention, the three made their way to a room on the side. The door was closed. They opened it without hesitation and went in. They saw four men in identical suits looking
out the only window in the room. Jerome Staughton, Thompson, Herbert, and Geoffrey Barnes.

  ‘Good afternoon, gentlemen,’ the recently arrived Harvey Littel, accompanied by his assistant, Priscilla, and Wally Johnson in military uniform, greeted them. ‘I see there’s been some progress.’

  Barnes greeted Littel with a firm handshake. He didn’t try to hide his serious expression.

  ‘Welcome.’

  ‘This is my assistant, Priscilla Thomason, and the military attaché, Wally Johnson.’ He gestured toward the two, whom Barnes greeted similarly with a frown.

  ‘My assistants, Staughton and Thompson.’ It was an exchange of introductions that left no one unknown. ‘This is Herbert’ – he pointed toward him – ‘but you should know him better than I.’

  ‘What’s new?’ Littel asked, putting an end to the formalities.

  ‘We’ve found the van they used in a private residence in Clapham. The bodies that were missing were there, but not a sign of the woman or the—’

  ‘And afterwards?’ Littel interrupted.

  ‘We investigated the identity of the owner of the house and discovered—’

  ‘What?’ Littel again interrupted.

  ‘Are you going to be quiet and let me explain or do you want to find out everything on your own?’ It was a warning.

  ‘My apologies. It’s your investigation. Go on.’ Littel was sincere.

  ‘We’ve discovered that the house is listed in the name of a multinational branch of a telecommunications firm called Hollycom. It didn’t take much looking to find out the company doesn’t exist. It’s a cover for our friends in the Vatican.’

  ‘The Vatican?’ Wally Johnson asked. ‘What side are they on?’

  Barnes ignored the question from the recent arrival.

  ‘We did an investigation of the property registered in the name of the company and came up with a Volvo only three months old. We sent out an alert, and your associate Herbert’s men here have come across it.’

  Barnes asked Littel to come to the window. Staughton, Thompson, and Herbert moved aside to make room. Barnes pointed at a car parked on the other side of the street, a Volvo.