The corporal placed a carnation in the coffin. He leaned over and whispered, “Don’t worry, RJ will know all about you.”
It shouldn’t have been like this. It shouldn’t have been just them here. There should have been heads of states and a sea of people to grieve Vakasa. But that was kind of the point, wasn’t it? Her secret needed to be buried with her. The world would never know the spark of her smile.
Then a bright light flashed in the sky. Davidson shielded his eyes against the glare. Was that a satellite falling from space? As the fiery object streaked overhead, commemorating Vakasa, Bunny nudged him.
“I think you’re really going to like Stark.”
* * *
Brandt wrapped his arm around Rebecca’s waist as they approached the coffin. She seemed strong and all, but his fiancée had sat shivah for the past seventy-two hours. Rebecca hadn’t left Vakasa’s side for three days. Although, Brandt wasn’t so sure she was actually mourning rather than she was hoping. Hoping against hope that a miracle really could happen and Vakasa would awake.
This morning, though, Rebecca seemed clear-eyed, not arguing or fussing when he reminded her that if they wanted to honor Jewish tradition, they would need to bury their little girl today. She’d just nodded and headed off for a well-deserved shower.
Now, though? To see Vakasa in that coffin? Brandt wasn’t sure how Rebecca was going to hold up. He guided her forward, but she sidestepped him.
“Let me go last,” she requested.
He didn’t argue as he stepped up to the pine box. He wished he had something more to give the child than a yellow jessamine, the official flower of South Carolina. He wished he could have shown her his hometown. Brought her into his family. He’d had so many wishes for her, but this flower would have to do.
Brandt was about to move on, but the rabbi stepped forward and handed him a red rose along with a note. Without another word, the rabbi turned and walked back toward the waiting cars.
Opening the note, Brandt almost dropped the card. It was signed by Vanderwalt. The bastard hadn’t even bothered to show his face after the girl’s death. Probably just as well since Brandt would have shot him on sight. He was about to crumple the damned thing and kick it across the desert, until he read the man’s words.
I would do everything differently.
Why the hell did tears spring to Brandt’s eyes? Vanderwalt didn’t deserve his forgiveness, but Vakasa would have wanted it that way. She’d already forgiven the MI-5 agent with her “aloha.” So alongside his jessamine, Brandt put the rose and the note.
He moved aside as Rebecca approached. She seemed to want a moment alone, so he turned to look at the others as they grouped to the side. Bunny seemed five years older than the last time he’d seen her. Lopez was telling a story about Vakasa, making both Bunny and Davidson smile. Leave it to Lopez to lighten the mood.
A rustling behind him drew Brandt’s attention. What was Rebecca putting in the coffin?
“I thought you said the flowers would be enough?”
Rebecca shrugged. “Just a few tokens,” she said as she reached down and gave Vakasa a kiss on the forehead, then laid a lotus blossom on her bright-orange dress.
Brandt guided her away. There was no need for her to see the coffin lid nailed down. It was time to move on.
* * *
Rebecca leaned her head against the SUV’s window as they bounced their way out of the desert. Rebecca kept her eyes glued on the fresh burial mound until she could not longer make it out in the distance.
Her eyes were dry for the first time in days. Maybe her tear ducts had just given out? Or maybe she was ready to say good-bye.
“Lopez, where are you taking us?”
“I know we are bummed and all, but you’ve got to see this.” He drove them up a low hill, then parked the car. “Come on,” he said, getting out.
They followed him the rest of the way to the plateau. Rebecca’s feet stalled. The volcano that had erupted in Shiloh stood starkly against the dawn. Over the past few days, a weather front had moved in, bringing with it rain and cold air. The volcano’s sides had cooled rapidly, transforming the orange magma into slick black volcanic glass. Not just that, but gold etched its surface. The veins running throughout the slope, glistening in the early morning light. Most remarkable of all, the Black Madonna statue, half-buried in volcanic glass, stood almost as a sentinel.
“They’re calling it a miracle,” Lopez said, nodding to the growing crowd at the volcano’s base.
Brandt pulled Rebecca close, kissing her on the top of her head.
“That it is,” Davidson remarked.
The others moved to get a closer look, but Rebecca stayed in Brandt’s embrace. He turned her toward him, tilting her chin to him.
“Marry me.”
Rebecca sniffled, grinning. “Of course.”
“No,” he said. “Right now.” He tossed his head toward the volcano. “I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to go another minute without us…”
* * *
His throat squeezed off, betrayed him. How many ways could they have died in the past week? What would next week bring? Brandt went to explain, but Rebecca seemed to get it.
“What about your family?” she asked. “A big church wedding?”
Brandt stroked her hair back. “We’ll put on a dog and pony show from them, but I want us…I want to be your husband. Today.”
She searched his eyes a moment as if testing to see how serious he was. She must have liked what she found, as her lips curled up into a grin. “All right, then,” Rebecca said, turning to the rest of the group. “Looks like we need to find ourselves a rabbi or priest or—”
“Look for?” Lopez scoffed. “You’ve got me.”
Brandt frowned at his corporal. “Lopez…”
“What?” he said. “I’m ordained in eight countries, Israel being one of them.”
“I don’t think—”
Lopez overrode him. “We can do this right here. Right now. ‘Not another minute’ and all that, right?”
Good to know Lopez was also as proficient at eavesdropping as he was at driving.
“You’ve got your maid of honor and best man…” Bunny added.
“I appreciate the thought, but—”
Rebecca took his hand, though. “I think we should.”
He looked to her. She looked tired, drained, yet strangely happy. “This is your wedding day, Rebecca. We should at least go into town. Get a dress and—”
“Brandt,” she said softly, “we aren’t shiny, happy people.” She indicated to the rough countryside around them. “For better or worse, this is who you and I are.” She gestured to the others. “Who we are.”
“If you are good to go,” Brandt said, raising his hands in mock defeat, “I’m good.”
And he was. Despite everything that had happened, with Rebecca in his arms, he was good.
* * *
Rebecca held Brandt’s hand as Lopez continued on with the wedding ceremony. The moment was surreal with the volcano simmering in the background. Still, her hand shook. This was certainly not the wedding of her dreams. The pictures were going to be a bit…odd, but unique.
She wouldn’t have it any other way.
“All right,” Lopez said. “Let’s get to the good part.” He looked to Brandt. “Sergeant Vincent Paul Brandt, do you take this incredibly hot paleo-DNA-archeologist for your wife?”
Even Brandt cracked a smile at that. “I do.”
Lopez turned to her. “Chica, I am not sure what he’s got that I don’t.”
“Ricky,” Rebecca warned.
“What? I’m just saying you’ve got options.”
She just glared at him.
He smiled broadly. “All right, all right. Rebecca Elaine Monroe, do you take Mr. Pecs over here for your husband?”
“I most certainly do.”
“Cool,” Lopez said. “You many now kiss the bride.”
Their lips met tenderly at first.
So much had happened that they both seemed hesitant. Could one grieve and still love? Apparently, they could, as the kiss warmed. Brandt put his arm around her back, pulling them close. Her hands found his chest, gripping at his shirt, narrowing the space between them ever further.
“Yeah,” Lopez announced, “it’s like thirty-five miles to a find a room for you two, so why don’t you dial it back a notch?”
They broke off the kiss, chuckling. They should have known what they were getting when they agreed for the corporal to officiate.
Bunny embraced her. “Congratulations.”
Davidson went to shake Brandt’s hand, but he pulled the younger man into a bear hug, clapping him on the back. Behind them, the volcano bellowed and lava danced in the air, then slowly streaked down the side, cooling as it went, turning into black glass before their eyes.
She hugged Brandt. No, she hugged her husband.
As the rest watched the sight, Rebecca’s eyes slid to the east. To Vakasa. She hoped that the little girl was looking down upon them. Rebecca knew that she’d sworn off religious controversy before, but this time she was serious.
Now she had too much to lose. Too much to live for.
Epilogue
══════════════════
Undisclosed Location
Undisclosed Time
Vakasa awoke slowly. She did not force her eyes open. Did the stars rush to shine at night? Did the sun hurry to rise? She let her senses drift, assessing her new abode. The smell of dirt was strong. Vakasa didn’t mind. She liked the scent. It reminded her of home. Her tongue, though, was thick in her mouth, dry and tasteless. She cracked her eyes open, to find complete darkness.
It did not scare her. She was born in darkness so was not surprised to awaken in darkness.
Her fingertips felt rough wood beneath her. They moved to her dress, a tightly woven cotton fabric. She hoped it was orange. Wouldn’t that be something? She smiled at the thought of an orange dress.
Taking another deep breath, Vakasa relished several other scents. Flowers, she thought.
She was reminded of God’s grace. She had always felt His touch. Even as she was birthed, she’d felt it. Even as her mother gave up her life to bring Vakasa into the world, she had felt it. God’s love was in each leaf of a tree. Each breath of air.
The love of mankind, though, had not been so clear. The cruelty she had witnessed? The needless pain that man dealt to himself? She had always tried to see past it, to see through to their hearts. She had not been successful.
Until the man with the strong arms and the woman with the kind smile.
She did not have to search hard to see their compassion.
Their love, though? Ah, their caring was tangible as her fingers moved to her side. The presents the woman had given proved that mankind’s love could be as precious as God’s.
Vakasa clicked on the first gift from Rebecca. A flashlight.
The second?
A shovel.
# # #
MAYHEM
CHAPTER 1
══════════════════
Brandt dangled off the end of his line, the only thing stopping him from plummeting a good thousand feet from the cliff. Lightning flashed in the distance as thunder rumbled. A heavy, steady rain had been falling all day.
“Sorry, boss,” Lopez said.
It had been the corporal who had slipped, nearly plummeting to his death. It had been Brandt to catch him before they slammed into the rock face. Only then had Brandt lost his grip on his carabiner.
“Just glad it wasn’t me,” Rebecca, his wife, said. So weird to think of her as his wife. They’d only been married a few weeks and the notion was still trying to sink in.
“This had better be the place,” Brandt grumbled as he righted himself and climbed back up into formation.
“The Disciple you caught was pretty chatty,” Rebecca said.
“It’s the place,” Lopez said. “He’s being kept here.”
Lopez had never accepted that Levont had died. No body, no funeral had been the mantra. There had been a Disciple helicopter in the area. It was conceivable that Levont had been taken by the religious fanatics. Then, when they captured a Disciple outside of Prague who had suggested the point man was alive? Lopez hadn’t shut up since.
Unfortunately, hoping that Levont was alive and Levont actually being alive were two different things. They had already raided three different safe houses only to come up empty.
Brandt wanted to get his point man back or, more likely, to give Levont’s parents some closure. However, if this location didn’t pan out, he was going to have to pull the plug on this wild goose chase until they had some hard intel.
A Disciple trying to get out from under a death sentence clearly wasn’t enough.
Brandt caught Rebecca’s eye. “You really think we’re going to find a Disciple stronghold in a Buddhist temple in Thailand?”
Rebecca shrugged. “There is a strong Jewish tradition in the area.”
He put up a hand to stop her from going on. She would list the number of temples and synagogues in the area, and Brandt had already given the green light for the mission. He did not need to hear it again. Hence why they were climbing up the back of the mountain.
Of course, there were steps that rose up the other side of the mountain, but those would be guarded. The backside, however, climbing up and out of the jungle? Not so much. Or, at least, that is what they hoped.
A huge gilded Buddha looked down upon them, as if frowning at their intrusion. Brandt however didn’t feel like the real Buddha would be any too thrilled that one of his temples was being used as a cover for the Disciples, though. Brandt didn’t know much about Buddhism, but he doubted the guy would have appreciated the Disciples’ brutal methods.
“Slow and steady, Lopez,” Brandt reminded his corporal as they climbed back into position.
“Yes, I want you around when I screw myself out of a job,” Prenner, their new point man, said. He wasn’t wrong. Not that Brandt thought that Prenner would mind all that much. He’d only taken the job because he had the clearance and the training. Prenner was on a career track up the chain of command, and probably only viewed this time in the field as a favor.
“If, of course, you survive,” Lopez said. Their team did have a bit of a bad reputation and life expectancy for point men. Hopefully, that streak ended today.
“Let’s be optimistic,” Brandt said as Lopez took his place, “and move out again.”
Before resuming his ascent, Brandt glanced over his shoulder to the thick jungle that surrounded the mountain. Davidson was out there somewhere, waiting for the signal to provide sniper support. Brandt hoped they wouldn’t need it. However, he was usually disappointed each time.
“Great honeymoon,” Rebecca said, as she wiped her brow of sweat.
“I know how to treat a lady,” Brandt replied.
That was the best part about Rebecca. Not only did she not complain that he had to go to Thailand, but she had insisted on coming. Knowing his team, while chasing the Disciples, they would find some ancient text that needed ASAP translating.
And that was his girl.
She beamed back at him. “It’ll be good to have the band back together.”
“Yes, it will,” Brandt agreed, noticing that climbing up behind Rebecca had some extra bonuses. Maybe they could make a stop off at the Krabi peninsula for some actual R&R. “But this Buddhist temple isn’t going to get climbed on its own.”
“Technically, it is a Taoist temple,” a voice in his ear reminded him. Bunny. She and Stark, their new technical support team, were back in DC, monitoring the area from a satellite in geo-synchronized orbit.
“Whichever, it is a damned hard climb,” Lopez complained from above.
“Move it, Talli,” Rebecca teased.
“Ouch, that hurt,” Lopez said, clutching his heart. “Am I really complaining that much?”
“Yes,” both she and Brandt said at the same time.
Prenner moved them out, setting quite the pace up the slick vertical surface. Even Brandt was a bit winded after that climb. Stepping out onto the ledge, Brandt was brought face to face with a golden Buddha, his belly sticking out into Brandt’s face. There was a small ledge around the statue, where everyone waited for him to bring up the rear.
“Bunny, you’re sure this is the wall?”
“All I can say is behind that wall is a heat signature that hasn’t moved from the room in the last forty-eight hours,” Bunny replied.
“Do it,” Brandt instructed Prenner. The man rapidly smeared the wall behind the Buddha with C-4. “Secure yourselves,” he ordered the rest of them.
While directional, the blast would still rock this little alcove, and he didn’t want any of them flinging off the side of the cliff. Especially not his bride.
* * *
Rebecca placed the rivet gun against the wall and braced herself for the recoil. Pulling the trigger, the climbing mechanism shot a ring into the wall. Brandt tugged on it to make sure it was well secured. He reached around and grabbed the loop on her belt and snapped it on.
Some guys bought roses. Brandt made sure she stayed alive. Flowers really were overrated.
As the other men prepared for the blast, Rebecca took a picture of the wall. It was lined with passages of ancient Buddhist writing.
“Bunny, are you getting this?”
“I’ll have the Sanskrit translated in a few moments.”
They were still looking for ties between the Buddhists in the area and the Disciples.
“Ear protection in,” Brandt reminded her.
Popping the ear plugs in, Rebecca nodded that she was prepared.
Prenner secured himself beside her. “Ready.”
“Bunny, where is the heat signature?”
“Toward the front of the cell.”
This was the dicey part of the operation. They were going to blow into the room through the back wall, however they couldn’t exactly warn Levont of that fact.
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