The Columbus Affair: A Novel

by Steve Berry

  “No,” Alle said. “I’m not going down there.”

  In the penumbra of light he saw that none of the three appreciated her refusal. The one without a gun stepped forward.

  “You come here and desecrate our synagogue. You trespass on our sacred site. You violate our laws. And you want to argue with us? You want to challenge us?”

  “Call the police,” Tom said, testing the water.

  The young man laughed. “They don’t care what happens here.”

  “Who is they?” he asked.

  “The police. The lord mayor. The city council.”

  He knew anti-Semitism was on the rise in Europe. That was another thing about the Internet, every day he could scan newspapers from around the world. He recalled reading more and more stories about bigotry.

  “So what do you do with trespassers?” he asked.

  “Last one we had, we beat the living hell out of him.”

  ———

  ALLE HEARD THE THREAT AND KNEW THIS WAS A BAD SITUATION. They were alone, without help. They’d taken her shoulder bag that contained her passport and Zachariah’s cell phone. The gun her father carried from the cathedral was tucked in the car, left there intentionally. She’d wondered why he hadn’t brought it, but had not questioned him.

  Her father did not seem scared. She was terrified. As much as in the car with Midnight. She could still see Brian Jamison bleeding, his body twitching in agony.

  “Down the stairs,” the man said again.

  Little choice existed, so she led the way. At the bottom they stood inside a cellar, Romanesque arches of cut stone supporting a vaulted ceiling. Not a large room and nothing there except a wooden table with six chairs.

  “Sit,” one of the men ordered.

  Her father slid out one of the chairs. “What now?”

  “You wait,” the man said.

  ———

  TOM HAD BEEN IN TOUGH SITUATIONS BEFORE, ESPECIALLY IN the Middle East, when sources liked a little drama to go with their revelations. Most times it was only theater. One thing he’d learned was that terrorists, no matter the nationality, understood that their points would go unnoticed if no one reported them. The fear, which they so carefully cultivated, would have no affect without the targeted audience knowing it existed. That didn’t mean they actually liked the press, just that they understood how to use it. Sometimes, to make the point that they were in charge, there were props like blindfolds, long car rides, and bravado that had to be endured. On his last story they’d staged the preparations for an attack, weapons and all.

  What a show.

  Academy Award caliber.

  Once he’d been embedded within a Palestinian resistance group for six weeks. He’d seen and heard a lot, most of which he quickly realized had been for his benefit. Sure, he’d tried to understand them, but never had he shown either resentment or sympathy. Stay above the fray. And that was only possible with your mouth shut and ears open.

  So he sat and waited for these young men to talk.

  Another thing.

  The younger they were, the looser the jaw.

  He’d left the gun in the car on purpose on the off chance they’d run into the police. Carrying weapons around Europe could be a serious matter. Most likely it was against Czech law—which, he’d noticed, these men seemed not to care about.

  “You’re on your own, aren’t you?” he asked them. “You police the quarter yourself because you have to.”

  “What do you care?” one of them asked.

  “My parents were Jews.”

  “And what are you?”

  “He decided he didn’t want to be one of us,” Alle said.

  The man asking the questions threw her a strange look. “One of us? Does one of us try to vandalize a synagogue?”

  “We weren’t vandalizing anything,” Tom said. “And you know that.”

  He caught the apprising gaze. “You’re in no position to be a smartass.”

  “And what is my position?”

  “Not good,” the young man said.

  “Come now,” a new voice said.

  Older. Gravelly.

  He and Alle turned to see an elderly man descending the stairs. He was short, Spartan-thin, with snow-white hair. His face was a maze of wrinkles, cheeks sunken, brow furrowed, one frail hand gripping the railing, the other holding the note, the map, and the key. Alle’s bag draped his shoulder. He negotiated the risers one at a time, eyes down, careful with his movements.

  The old man found the bottom and straightened himself.

  “We must not be rude. Go now. Leave me.”

  The three young men stepped toward the stairs. One of them said, “You sure you do not want us to stay?”

  “No. No. I will be fine. Go now. I want a chat with these two.”

  The three climbed the stairs and Tom heard the door upstairs close as they left.

  A lively interest swept into the man’s dark eyes as he gestured with what he held. “I am Rabbi Berlinger. I want to know where you obtained these items.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  ZACHARIAH CHECKED HIS WATCH. 5:50 A.M. PRAGUE WOULD soon be waking up.

  He loved this city and felt a connection with its tumultuous past. Orthodox tradition was strong here. Many of Judaism’s European precepts had been forged by wise rabbis living on the banks of the Vltana River. That was one reason he’d taken an interest in its preservation. The mayor for the local administrative district was an acquaintance, a diminutive man who’d made a point to tell him that if he ever needed anything to ask.

  Today certainly qualified.

  He’d first telephoned his estate in Austria and obtained the mayor’s contact information. A second call to a house in Prague had not woken anyone, as the mayor had been quick to say that he rose each day at 5:00 A.M. After explaining the situation, Zachariah was told to meet at the Old-New Synagogue at six. Not a problem since he and Rócha had been standing less than thirty meters away from the building.

  He now stood alone outside the synagogue’s main door and watched the mayor approach, a thin soul with a thick mustache and sparse hair. Rócha remained on Parizska Street, out of sight of any surveillance cameras. He greeted the mayor in English and shook hands. He knew a little about him. Once a Christian, he converted early in life. He was Orthodox and pro-Israel, but not as harsh on the Prague central authorities as others before him had been. Far too conciliatory for Zachariah’s taste but, thankfully, that’s exactly what he needed at the moment.

  The mayor withdrew a set of keys and opened the door. “I come here each morning to pray. One of the benefits of being in charge.”

  They entered through a Gothic portal adorned with intertwining grapevine reliefs. Twelve roots, one for each of the lost tribes. Lights came on in the vestibule and he spotted two strongboxes embedded in stone—used, he knew, centuries ago for the collection of special taxes on Jews.

  He loved this building. Vienna’s synagogue was impressive for its beauty. This one was spectacular in simplicity. Heavy octagonal pillars and vaults with five-section ribbing divided the rectangle into two naves. He knew there were five ribs overhead to prevent a cross from being formed by only four. The seat of the high rabbi was positioned at the east end along with the ark, iron bars and a drape protecting the Torah. An elevated platform surrounded by a wrought-iron grille consumed the center, the almemor, which accommodated a prayer easel. The walls and the center platform were lined with bench seats passed down, he’d been told, through generations. Not many, maybe seventy or so. Hanging from above was a red banner with a Star of David, a gift originally from Charles IV in 1358 as a sign of Jewish privilege. He’d always scoffed at such gestures, since history had proven none were sincere.

  Little light leaked in from the twelve narrow windows high in the walls, the sun just beginning its rise.

  “You were correct,” the mayor said. “The night patrol did find two people trying to enter the loft. It happens from time to time. People really
believe there’s a golem up there.”

  “Which you do nothing to discourage, since it brings visitors who spend money.”

  “Who am I to quell legends? That’s not my job. Protecting all of this, that’s my task. Unfortunately, it takes money to maintain things.”

  “Where are the two people now?”

  The mayor raised one of his small fingers “That’s the problem. They were not taken to the usual holding room in the community building. We normally question them first, then turn them over to the police, who promptly let them go. It’s a big problem. But these two were diverted somewhere else.”

  He did not like what he was hearing.

  “I am trying to learn that location. For some reason, no one in security knows.”

  “Do you come here every morning?”

  The mayor nodded. “Most. Before it becomes a tourist attraction and not a house of prayer.”

  He envied that ability. “What is in the loft above us?”

  “Nothing but rafters, insulation, and a roof. No golem, returned to clay, is waiting there.”

  “But the loft did, for centuries, serve as this building’s genizah.”

  Every synagogue possessed a storeroom for old books and papers. The Talmud forbid the discarding of any writing that contained the name of God. Instead, those were held and buried every seventh year in a cemetery.

  The mayor nodded. “Quite right. We kept everything up there since it was old anyway. The elements could not hurt them. But that stopped about forty years ago and the loft was emptied.”

  He wondered. Had something been stashed away before that? Forty years? That time frame would be consistent with Sagan’s grandfather.

  He heard the main door open then close, and watched as the mayor excused himself and returned to the vestibule. He was now convinced that Sagan had deceived him. He hoped Alle could learn something. He was still bothered by the meeting with the Israeli ambassador and the fact that both she and the Americans were interested in him. He’d sent Rócha back to the alley beyond St. Stephen’s, and Brian Jamison’s body was indeed gone. Not a word in the press about its discovery, either. The ambassador had said she would clean up the mess, and that she had.

  The mayor returned as the outer door again opened, then closed.

  “I’ve just been told that the two people caught earlier were taken to a house not far from here.”

  He noticed the look of concern on the man’s face.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “The Rabbi Berlinger was summoned. He is with them now.”

  ———

  TOM IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED THE DOTS. ABIRAM HAD MENTIONED this man specifically in his last message.

  “He also gave me a name. Rabbi Berlinger.”

  “How old are you?” he asked, which he knew must sound rude, but he had to know.

  “One hundred and two.”

  He would never have guessed. Maybe in his eighties, but nowhere near the century mark. “Life’s been kind to you.”

  “Sometimes I think so. Other times not. I asked you a question. Please tell me where you obtained these items.”

  He saw that Alle was interested in that answer, too. But he wasn’t ready to cooperate. “They were given to me. I was meant to have them.”

  This man would have seen the original writing, unedited, as that was all he’d had left in his pockets.

  “I don’t know any such thing,” Berlinger said. “I only know that you have these items.”

  “M. E. Cross was my grandfather.”

  The old man studied him carefully. “I see him in your face. Your name is Sagan. I recall that your mother married a Sagan. Marc was your mother’s father.”

  He nodded. “I called him Saki.”

  The rabbi sat, laying the items he held and Alle’s bag on the table. “I must confess. I never thought I would hear of this subject again.”

  ———

  BÉNE STAYED SEATED AS THE SHADOW ENTERED HIS STUDY. OUTSIDE, mountain winds continued to stir the night. He’d been waiting for Frank Clarke. A call made earlier had brought a promise that his friend would be at the estate before ten.

  “You like the dark, Béne?”

  Not a light burned in the room.

  “Mother is asleep and the help is gone for the night. Just you and me, Frank.”

  He offered the plate of bullas, but the colonel waved him off. He lifted another one for himself before returning the platter to the side table.

  “What have you found?” Frank asked. “I could hear it in your voice earlier.”

  “The mine is real. I know its location.”

  Tre had called after dinner to say that a quick survey of what they’d stolen from Cuba, along with the deed and other items found in the Jamaican archive, had led him to a spot. He’d checked the latest topographic maps the university had on file and confirmed that a cave did exist in the vicinity of where everything pointed.

  “And where’s that?” Clarke asked.

  He did not have to see the face to know that he would be revealing something that was already known. Which he’d suspected all along.

  “Why did you lie to me, Frank?”

  “Because that mine must stay lost.”

  “That’s not what you said in the cave. You told me to find it.”

  “I told you to find the Jews’ wealth. If that still exists, then Maroons could make use of it. The mine? That’s another matter.”

  The voice stayed in a near whisper, as if the words should not be spoken. But he had to know, “Why should the mine stay lost?”

  “It’s a sacred place. Maroons have so little left. Places like that are ours, Béne. They must be guarded.”

  “There’s little left of Maroons, anymore, except stories. Why does it matter?”

  Silence passed between them. He listened to the wind.

  “The night was once our ally,” Clarke said. “We made good use of it. Victory became ours, in part, because of the night.”

  More stories, Béne thought. Not reality.

  During the last Maroon war, in 1795, 300 Maroons held out against 1,500 British troops. A truce came only after the Cuban hounds had been brought in to hunt them down. But when everyone assembled at Montego Bay to conclude a treaty nearly 600 Maroons were herded onto ships and deported to Nova Scotia. There they lived in the cold of Canada for two years, then were sent to Sierra Leone. Only 60 eventually returned to Jamaica.

  Some victory.

  “You still have not answered me,” he said. “Why does this matter anymore?”

  He watched the blackened form shift in the chair.

  “There are things about us, Béne, you simply do not understand. Though you are of Maroon blood, you’ve been raised different. Poverty is rampant among us. Unemployment high. You live here, on this grand estate, in luxury. You drive whatever vehicle you desire. You never go hungry. You have money. You’ve always had money, Béne.”

  “You sound as though you resent that.”

  “I don’t. It matters nothing to me. You’re my friend. I’ve always liked you. But others feel differently. They take your money, take your favors. They smile, but never reveal what’s in their hearts.”

  “That’s not what you told me yesterday. You said no one cares what I am.”

  “I lied.”

  He did not like what he was hearing. He’d always felt a closeness with the Maroon community. Like family. He had precious little of that himself. Only his mother and a few cousins. He should marry, have children, build a family of his own. But he’d never met anyone with whom he might want to do that. Was it because of who and what he was? Hard to say. What he knew for sure was that no one was going to tell him what to do.

  Not now.

  Not ever.

  “I’m going to the mine,” he said.

  “I feared this was what you wanted tonight.”

  “Will you come with me?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
>
  ZACHARIAH WANTED TO KNOW, “WHO IS RABBI BERLINGER?”

  “The former head of this community. One of the last alive who lived through the Holocaust.”

  “He survived the Nazis?”

  The mayor nodded. “He was taken to Terezín, along with many others. He served on the governing council in the camp and tried to look after people.”

  The fortified town of Terezín had been a holding point from where tens of thousands of Czech Jews were transported east to death camps. Many, though, died there from squalid conditions.

  “The rabbi is highly regarded,” the mayor said. “No one questions him. If he asked to speak to these two intruders, then that’s what would happen.”

  He also heard what was unspoken. This man’s election depended on the support of such people. Though this man might be king, Berlinger was the kingmaker. But still, “I have to know why he is interested.”

  “Would you tell me your interest?”

  “The man caught at the synagogue has something that belongs to me. I want it back.”

  “This must be something of great importance.”

  “It is to me.”

  He was choosing his words carefully.

  Say enough, but not too much.

  “I have sent someone to find out what is going on. How about until he returns you and I pray. Look there, in the east window, the morning sun can now be seen.”

  He glanced up the wall to the narrow slit that blazed with the day’s first light. He realized that Jews for 700 years had watched that sight. Everything he was about to do, everything he’d planned, he did for them. 100,000 of his brethren had been exterminated during the war, the Czech president simply handing the country over to Hitler as a German protectorate. Immediately laws were implemented that forbid non-Aryan doctors from caring for the sick. Jews were forbidden from public parks, theaters, cinemas, libraries, sporting events, public baths, and swimming pools. They could not serve in public office and were forced to use only certain compartments at the rear of trains and none of the public facilities at stations. Shopping was allowed only at designated times. Curfew was 8:00 P.M. No telephones were permitted and none could change their residence without approval. The list of restrictions had been endless, all eventually leading to arrest and extermination.