by John Lyman
They found an open trattoria and sat together outside. Soon the waiter left a bottle of wine at their table and they were inhaling the aroma from their glasses as they took the first sips of their much-needed reward. Leo thought about making plans to return to the yacht, but the stillness and lack of motion at the moment was like a long, luxurious bath. The tension in their bodies slowly began to ebb as the wine took hold, and a warm glow descended over the group.
John and Ariella were busy talking a mile a minute to Morelli, regaling him with stories of their adventures in the Negev Desert.
“Amazing!” was all Father Anthony seemed capable of saying when hearing the details of Satan’s underground cathedral and their escape from it.
Leo took a sip of his wine and eyed Morelli across the table. “Anthony, I need to know if you can answer a question about where the book was located in the cavern. Did you know it was encased under solid stone?”
“You were wondering how Father Bianchi was able to replace it there.”
“Well, yes, we all were.”
“Before he died, he told me that when he returned to Satan’s cathedral under the desert, he placed the book on the translucent floor in the center of the room. He said the floor under the book immediately turned to blood and that the book sank from sight before the floor hardened again into a clear, black, gem-like surface, encasing the book several feet below. He knew this was Satan’s way of protecting his Bible and felt that no one would be able to remove it again until either Satan or God allowed it to leave that place.”
Ariella felt chills down her spine when he told them how the floor had turned to blood. “I still can’t believe we were down in that horrible place, much less lived to tell about it.”
John squeezed her hand and looked around the table. “I think the fact that we were singled out to be a part of all of this makes us the luckiest people on the planet right now.”
Ariella smiled across the table. “Not lucky, John … I think blessed would be a better choice of words. I guess we’ll never know why we were chosen, but God definitely has something in mind for us in the future. Our lives have a clearly defined purpose now.”
As the waiter approached the table to take their dinner order, Leo noticed the familiar face of the older security man as he materialized from the darkness of the piazza and headed straight for them
Arriving at their table, he nervously scanned the area around the restaurant before speaking. “Hello, Fathers. May I have a word with you?”
“Of course, Francois,” Morelli said. “Pull up a chair and have some wine with us. Leo, meet Francois, the Vatican’s chief of security and one of my best friends.”
Leo had never known the name of this individual-he had always just thought of him as ‘the older security man’. Father Leo had been slightly suspicious of this character, especially earlier when he had first met him standing next to the cardinal at Morelli’s apartment, the same day he thought that his friend had died. Leo was relieved to see that this high-ranking officer in the Vatican Guard was in fact one of Morelli and Lundahl’s closest allies.
Francois remained standing. “Thank you, Father. I don’t have much time, and I’m afraid you don’t either.” This last sentence caught the group off guard and sent their nerves back on high alert.
Morelli sipped his wine as he looked up at the security chief. “What’s going on, Francois?”
“Emilio has escaped our surveillance, and we don’t know where he and some of his friends are now.”
Leo and the others had completely forgotten about the evil little priest who grabbed the backpack in the tunnel while he was conspiring to have them all killed before they could reach the chapel.
Francois placed his hands on the back of an empty chair and looked around the table. “Until we have them in custody, I think it would be wise for all of you to leave Rome as soon as possible until we round them all up.”
Leo looked down and smoothed the white tablecloth with his free hand. “Who are these people, Francois, and why would they still be interested in us?”
Morelli noticed Francois nervously eyeing the group. “Go ahead, Francois, you can tell them what we know about Emilio. They are certainly a part of all this now.”
Francois relaxed slightly before speaking. “In short, gentlemen, Emilio and his followers are the evil ones we’ve been watching for some time.”
“What exactly do you mean by the term evil ones?” Alon asked. “I mean … are they some kind of demonically possessed beings or something?”
“No, my friend, they’re quite human. We’ve known for some time that the Church has been infiltrated by those who worship Satan instead of God. They’ve caused great harm to the Catholic Church. We’ve been gathering intelligence on them in an effort to see just how deeply they’re embedded and who their leaders are.”
“Are these the same people who’ve been working so hard to discredit the clergy in an effort to bring down the Church?” Leo asked.
Francois shook his head in agreement. “Exactly. We believe they were also tasked with obtaining the Devil’s Bible and handing it over to the Antichrist when he makes his appearance as foretold in Revelation. They are his earthly soldiers and are committed to furthering his rise to power. We think they still believe you have the book and will stop at nothing until they have it in their possession. I’m afraid that, until they’ve been captured, you are all still in danger.”
Ariella lifted her head from John’s shoulder. “But the book burned to ashes on the altar in the chapel.”
“We don’t know for sure if they realize that yet, Miss. Emilio escaped, but we captured one of the men who was with him when he tried to flee the catacombs. Apparently, Emilio believes the book still exists. When he found that the backpack he grabbed from John was empty, he thought you were all making a trial run without it to see if you would be stopped. He thinks the book is in a different location with another member of your group and has gathered his men to search for it. The safest thing for now is to let me have some of my men drive all of you to your yacht so you can leave the country until we have them in custody.”
Alon rolled his eyes at Francois. “These guys are all over the place. They aren’t just here in Rome. They were spying on us at the villa in Israel, and they shot at us on the highway when we were driving to the harbor at Caesarea.”
“That’s why the safest place you can be right now is out at sea on your yacht. We’ve also been in contact with an Israeli warship off the coast in international waters ready to escort your boat back to Israel.”
Alon stared at Francois with a newfound respect. The real Swiss security men really knew their stuff.
While they were still talking, a large black SUV pulled up alongside their table in the piazza, causing Alon to move his hand toward the gun under his shirt. Francois’s policeman’s mind immediately read his body language and quickly assured the group that the vehicle contained some of his men who would be transporting them to the yacht.
John stroked Ariella’s hair before sitting up in his chair. “So much for a quiet drink and dinner.” The exhausted group nodded their understanding and slowly rose from the table. John approached the SUV with Ariella and looked back at the others with a playful grin. “We call shotgun.” Opening the front passenger door, he realized that the man already sitting there actually had a shotgun and was glaring back at him. John quickly gave him a sheepish look and closed the door.
Leo and the others piled into the SUV and looked out at Morelli, who was standing by the table as if he was the last one to be picked to play a game of kickball. “Aren’t you coming, Anthony?”
Morelli walked over and took Leo by the arm. “I’m afraid not, Leo. My place is here. I’ll be fine. Francois and his men are watching over all of us.”
Right on cue, a second black SUV pulled up behind the first. Morelli hesitated. “We’ll join up again after we get control of the situation. Besides, I need to go pick up my car.”
“You mean my car.” Leo was relentless. Morelli laughed knowing that this would be an ongoing thing for years to come. He grabbed a bottle of wine off the linen tablecloth and tossed the waiter some Euros before climbing into the backseat of the second SUV with Francois. Within minutes, the two vehicles were speeding off into the dark streets, one headed for the harbor, the other for the Vatican.
The SUV holding Leo’s group raced out from the city center toward the harbor on the Autostrada Roma Fiumicino. Everyone except for the security men leaned back in their seats and began to relax when Lev’s voice crackled over Alon’s radio.
“Alon, do you read me? What’s your location?”
“We’re on our way, Lev. We should be there in less than thirty minutes.”
“Change of plans. Right after we came onboard the yacht, a bunch of vehicles with guys in suits armed with guns drove up to the dock alongside the yacht. We’re pulling away from the dock and out into the harbor as we speak.”
Alon shouted to the driver of the SUV. “Are those your men?”
The driver appeared horrified. “We were trying to keep a low profile. They’re not ours.”
Chapter 50
The SUV increased its speed. Alon wanted to take the battle to the men on the dock who were now menacing his friends on the yacht. “Call for backup. We can take those guys out. No problem.”
The driver was already on his cell phone, calling the headquarters of the Swiss Guard at Vatican City. He looked back over his shoulder at an agitated Alon. “Don’t worry, sir. We have a team on the way along with the carabinieri.” The carabinieri were the Italian military police distinguished by the bright red stripes running down the side of their trousers. They dealt with everything from major crime to speeding offenses.
Alon sat back in his seat, wishing he was more in control of the situation. He jumped as a frantic call blared into his earpiece. It was Daniel calling from Morelli’s house south of the city. “Alon, do you read me? We’re in trouble.” Alon quickly hit the speak button and answered. “What is it Daniel?”
A chilling reply came back to him. “We’re surrounded by Vatican security men with guns.”
Alon’s face took on a look of helpless panic as he yelled at the men in front. “Your men?”
“No, sir. We don’t have anyone at that location.”
From the backseat of the SUV, Alon glanced up and met the eyes of the driver in the mirror. He twirled his finger above his head as an indication to turn around and shouted for the driver to head south in the direction of Morelli’s estate in the country. Alon keyed the mike. “They’re not from the Vatican, Daniel. Stay put, and don’t do anything unless you have to. You and Sarah hide somewhere until we get there, and stay off the radio unless it’s an emergency.”
Leo leaned over the front seat and spoke to the driver. “Do you know where Father Morelli’s estate is?”
“Yes, sir. We do security sweeps of the property on a regular basis.”
“How far is it from where we are now?”
The driver thought for a second. “It’s about forty miles, Father. It will probably take about forty-five minutes to get there through this traffic and the narrow winding roads leading to the village.”
Forty-five minutes was an eternity. Daniel and Sarah were surrounded by men with guns. Leo knew what these people were capable of if they found them. His leonine nature was expressing itself as he began to take charge. “Alon, let me speak to Lev on the yacht.”
Alon immediately handed him the microphone.
Leo thought for a moment before he pushed the talk button. “Lev, come in. This is Leo.”
“Go ahead, Leo,” the reply came back. “We read you.”
“Are you in open waters now?”
Lev and Alex traded looks on the bridge. “We’re just passing the jetty into open water. What’s on your mind?”
“Did you hear the call for help from Daniel?”
“Yes. Are you en route to them?”
“We’re on the way, but it will take us some time to get there. It’s located next to a small village through twisting, narrow mountain roads.”
Lev looked back toward the harbor through the windows on the bridge. “I’ll give the Italian police a call, but I doubt they have anyone in that area. It looks like they got the ones who came after us at the dock. The whole area is lit up with blue flashing lights.”
Leo pressed his face against the side window of the speeding SUV, wondering what he could do. “Francois said there is an Israeli warship in the area. Can you give them a call?”
Lev instantly caught his meaning. “We understand, Leo. Give us the coordinates of Morelli’s house.” The Vatican security man in the front passenger seat overheard and immediately began retrieving data from their onboard GPS.
“Lev, are you ready for the numbers?”
“Go ahead. I’m ready.”
Leo began reading off the GPS coordinates of the country estate as the SUV left the city behind and began to encounter thinner traffic. Determined to cut their drive time in half, the driver pegged the speedometer at one hundred ten miles per hour as the lights of Rome faded in their rearview mirrors.
Chapter 51
In the darkness of Morelli’s enormous house, Daniel and Sarah had taken refuge in the twelfth-century medieval tower. Sarah had seen the cars coming from the highway before they turned up the long tree-lined driveway and came to a stop in front of the house next to the fountain.
She had called Daniel on the radio, alerting him to rush to the room at the top of the tower where they had an unobstructed view of the surrounding countryside. They had wisely chosen it as the perfect place to fend off armed intruders. The only entrance to the room was the small wooden trapdoor located on the floor in a corner.
The caretakers had left for the day, and no one else was around except for the men in suits now scouring the grounds with flashlights. Several of the men had entered the house and were going through it room by room, while others had fanned out and were looking around outside the house. Their search was hampered by Daniel’s quick thinking. He had jammed a screwdriver into the main circuit breaker on his way to the tower and shorted out the ancient electrical system, throwing the palazzo-like residence into darkness.
Daniel grabbed his two radios and turned the volume down so as not to give away their position. Did these men even know they were here? If they weren’t sure, they would know in time when they found the sabotaged electrical system. Daniel and Sarah had two automatic pistols, an Uzi submachine gun, and a shotgun. Anyone coming up through the trapdoor was in for a surprise.
Sarah peeped through the medieval slit in the thick wall. She had counted four small cars holding four men each. Sixteen against two. What did they want? She saw a short priest in the glare of one of the car’s headlights as he stood in the circular driveway. He seemed to be giving orders to the other men as they spread out across the property. Within minutes, the search reached the bottom of the stairwell in the tower.
Sarah felt strangely disassociated from the scene below them. She had taken time off that afternoon and walked through the abandoned medieval village that had been turned into gardens by the Caetani family in 1921. The stone ruins were covered in vines and surrounded by lush vegetation and hundreds of flowers. A shallow, wide stream filled with slowly moving mountain water flowed through the remains of the village, and the rocks on the bottom were covered with moss, giving the crystal clear water a green background.
Sarah had wandered among the ruins and daydreamed as she sat by the stream, where she removed her shoes and dangled her feet in the cool water. This was truly a magical place, and images of living here forever had become imprinted in her mind.
The sound of voices below them shook her back to the reality of their situation. They could clearly hear the footsteps and low voices of men below moving upward through the tower. Daniel glanced out through the slit in the wall and was immediately struck with the beam of a bright light. Did they
see him?
The sound of voices grew louder as the footsteps increased in speed on the stairs leading to the trap door. Sarah involuntarily moved away from the door as Daniel pointed the Uzi in that direction. Trapped. Sarah grabbed the shotgun and stood beside him, waiting for the inevitable. Then silence.
They listened for a moment, not daring to move. No voices. No footsteps. Had they given up and left? Daniel sided up to the slit in the wall and peered out. He could still make out all the cars in the driveway in the bright moonlight but could not see any of the men. He motioned for Sarah to stay where she was and slowly moved toward the trapdoor. Kneeling down, he placed his ear to the wooden floor. Nothing. It was eerily quiet. They had to be right below him, planning their next move.
Daniel backed away and stood next to Sarah. If they were going to make a move, it would be now. They were alone with no witnesses around and nothing to stop these men from getting to them. He knew they could defend themselves for a while, but the odds were not in their favor.
As if they had read his mind, a loud explosion rocked the tower as the trap door flew upward and shattered against one of the heavy wooden beams above. In a flash, a man jumped through the hole in the floor. Daniel fired a burst from the Uzi, knocking the man back against the wall. A second man was halfway through the opening when Sarah fired the shotgun. The man seemed to freeze for a moment before dropping back through the hole. Daniel threw another clip into the Uzi and aggressively advanced toward the hole while firing short bursts until he was directly overhead, looking down into the stairwell. A burst of automatic weapons fire spewed up from below, forcing him to retreat back against the wall with Sarah.
Bullets came ripping through the wooden floor, barely missing them as they crouched against the wall. It was only a matter of time now.