The Guardian

by ROBBIE CHEUVRONT

  “Vin,” Anna pleaded, “stay here and open it with me. Please. For me. I don’t want to do this by myself.”

  “Dear child,” he huffed, “God blessed me for years with not having to see it. But I will, for you.”

  “Thank you, Vin.”

  Anna placed her hands on either side of the lid. She felt the smooth lacquer finish that had been applied to it. She could tell that the finish was relatively new. She figured her grandfather had done it to protect the box from the dampness of the dank basement. She placed her thumbs on the front of the lid, moved the latch holding it in place, and opened the box.

  Jason Lang was standing at the chalkboard going through his lesson when he heard the kids start to giggle and make comments. As he turned to see what the commotion was, he caught a glimpse of a beautiful, young woman. And then she was gone.

  Normally he wouldn’t think anything of seeing someone pass by his class. He was a tourist attraction. The many people who came to Oloron-Sainte-Marie to visit would often stop by to peek in on one of his classes. He was the resident non-Catholic. Actually, he was a Baptist missionary. He had been here in Oloron-Sainte-Marie for almost two years now, teaching English to the children who lived in the town and the surrounding communities. But today’s visitor struck an odd chord. First of all, it wasn’t the normal time that tourists were usually out and about. Second, Father De Lorme was out of town for the week. He had been left in charge of the church. He didn’t need anything suspicious going on during his watch.

  He was just about finished with his lesson, anyway, so he let the kids go early. He waited until the last child was out of the church. Then he closed the door behind him and went off to find this mysterious visitor.

  CHAPTER 20

  Citôtel Roncevaux Hotel, Pau

  Hale got out of bed and went to wash his face and brush his teeth. He came back into his room and reached for his phone. Last night he’d paid a visit to an old friend, Jean-Robert, who lived in the area and had the ways and means of finding out who owned the airplane that had been trailing them the day before. He was surprised Jean-Robert hadn’t called him back yet—usually he was far more efficient about eliciting information.

  When he picked it up and flipped it open, he noticed the display screen was blank. Strange. He didn’t remember turning the phone off. He pushed the power button and nothing happened. The battery must have died on him during the night. He reached in his bag and found his spare battery. He disconnected the dead one and plugged in the charged one, and immediately the phone came alive.

  He waited for the phone to go through its powering-up sequence. Once it showed the welcome sign on the display, he flipped it open again. The inside screen showed that he had five missed calls and three messages. He felt his pulse quicken. He got a sick feeling in his stomach, the kind that told him he’d missed something important.

  Quickly he punched in the voice mail number. He waited for the prompt and put his secret code in. He waited for the voice he knew he would hear.

  “Hale, this is Jean-Robert. The plane you asked about just arrived. I will go and see what I can find out and call you afterward. Be sure to leave your phone on.”

  Hale pushed the button to erase the message and waited for the second one.

  “Hello, Hale. It is me, Jean-Robert, again. I found out that your plane came from Venezuela. I do not know if that helps you or not. I will let you know as soon as I find out anything else. Good-bye.”

  The sick feeling in Hale’s stomach got worse. This wasn’t good. Not at all. He needed to get to Anna and Father Vin quickly. He knew where they were. It should only be about a forty-minute drive from the hotel. He just hoped he could get there before something bad happened. Again, he pushed the DELETE button and waited for the last message.

  “Hale, my friend. Where are you? Why do you not answer your phone? I am afraid I have some bad news for you. I do not wish to leave it on this stupid machine. Call me the second you get this.”

  Hale broke out into a sweat. He was already off the bed rummaging through his bag, trying to find clothes with one hand while holding the phone with the other. There was no way this could be good. Not in a million years. He could feel it. He had been careless by letting his phone battery die. And now, Anna and Father Vin may be in danger. He had to move quickly.

  He punched in Jean-Robert’s number. Jean-Robert picked up on the second ring.

  “This is Jean-Robert. How can I help you?”

  “Jean-Robert, this is Hale. What’s going on?” He was already putting his shoes on. He would be out the door in less than two minutes.

  “Hale! Why you do not call me back? I wait and wait and wait. Finally, I go to bed. I say, ‘He will call.’ But you don’t call. What is going on?”

  “My battery on my phone died. I just realized it. I’m sorry.” He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. “What is this bad news you said you had?”

  “Ah yes. The bad news. Well, I found out that your mysterious plane showed up, just as you predicted. It landed about two hours after you. That’s when I called the first time.”

  “Yes, I heard the messages. Please. This may be important. Just skip to the news you didn’t want to leave on the voice mail.”

  “Yes, well, like I said, I did some checking around. It seems that your friends from Venezuela are looking for a priest and a young girl. They asked a lot of questions. As soon as they got here, they had a car service waiting for them.”

  “How many of them are there?” He was outside and getting into the car.

  “Two, as far as I know. I am told they went to a hotel, not the one you are staying at. They talked to the desk clerk and got a room for the night. I have a friend there. He is the concierge. He told me that the men were dealing out lots of cash for some information.”

  “Are they still at the hotel?” He was pulling out of the parking lot.

  “No. This morning they left, not long after your priest and the young girl. That was about an hour and a half ago. I suggest you hurry.”

  “Thank you. Once again, I owe you tremendously.” Hale hung up the phone and stepped on the gas. Father Vin and Anna had a big head start on him. He would have to get to Oloron-Sainte-Marie as quickly as he could. He only hoped that whoever it was following them was doing just that: only following. He flipped the phone open again and tried Father Vin’s number. It went to his voice mail. He figured that if Father Vin and Anna were inside the church looking for the scroll, Vin probably had his phone off. He’d just have to get there in record time.

  He reached inside his coat and flipped the strap on the holster. He pulled out the pistol and checked the magazine. Full. Good. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. Placing the gun back inside the shoulder harness, he gripped the steering wheel and pushed the gas pedal down as far as it would go.

  Oloron-Sainte-Marie

  Jonathan and Larry sat in the rental car outside the cathedral. They had followed Anna and Father Vin from Pau. It had been hard trying to keep their distance on the narrow back roads. There hadn’t been that much traffic. Twice they had to pull over just to put some distance, and a few cars, between them.

  Larry sat in the passenger seat fidgeting with his 9mm. He didn’t know exactly what Jonathan had in mind, but he was ready for anything. Jonathan did tell him that if he gave the word, Larry was to get out of the car shooting. There was no way they were to let the priest and the girl get away if they had the scroll.

  Jonathan watched as the city slowly began to wake. More and more people were out on the streets moving about, doing their daily business. He hoped that he could get this done without causing a scene. He was afraid, however, that wasn’t going to be the case.

  He had already talked to Wickham this morning and assured him that he was close to obtaining the scroll. He told him that he and Larry were, at that very moment, watching the priest and the girl go into an old, historic cathedral. He was sure that they were in there retrieving the scroll as they spoke. Wi
ckham had just grunted and said to get it at any cost. If Jonathan had to guess, it sounded like Louis was trying to get rid of a hangover. He knew that the cardinal had spent the evening at Mad Jack’s. He was a friend of one of the bartenders. The bartender had called him last night to let him know that Wickham was there, as per their agreement. He liked to keep tabs on the cardinal. One never knew when information like that would come in handy. Jonathan liked to keep his bases covered.

  Jonathan was about to send Larry out for some coffee when the doors to the church burst open and twenty or so little children came running out. There was a man standing in the doorway, definitely not a priest. He was waving bye to all of the children as they left. Some kind of early morning class. He looked at his watch and saw that it was twenty minutes before the hour. Kind of a strange time for class to let out, he thought. Catholics always did things at weird times.

  The man—who must be the teacher—waited until the last child had gone, looked both ways, as if to see if he was being watched, and then headed back inside. He couldn’t have looked more suspicious. Something was going on in there. Jonathan placed his hand in his lap and grabbed the silenced pistol he had resting on his leg.

  Larry saw Jonathan reach for his gun and sat up straight. “Are we going in?”

  “Not yet. Let’s wait and see what they come out with. I have a feeling this is about to be our lucky day.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Oloron-Sainte-Marie

  Anna moved the latch with her thumbs and opened the old wooden box. The hinges made a creaking noise as the lid raised. Father Vin stood over her shoulder, holding the small flashlight.

  Inside the box were several scattered papers and small notebooks. Anna pulled them out, inspecting each one as she went. The papers were drawings of buildings, inside and out. Neither Anna, nor Father Vin, recognized any of them. The notebooks seemed to be journals of some sort. Many were written in foreign languages. Father Vin told Anna that the languages varied from Hebrew to ancient Greek. Those that were written in the foreign languages were tied, with a small piece of string, to another one that had been translated into English. Father Vin recognized the writing as Thomas’s. He explained to Anna that her grandfather must have translated them, or more likely, had them translated.

  There were several maps, ranging from topography maps to street maps, of Jerusalem, Cairo, southern Iraq, and the Persian Gulf. If Anna was confused before, she had no idea what to think now.

  One by one, she removed each document and placed them on the floor beside her. She lifted the last sheet of loose paper. It was a handwritten note from her grandfather.

  To Whom It May Concern,

  This is the scroll given to the disciple John by the angel of the Lord during his revelation of the second coming of Jesus Christ. It has been hidden for nearly two thousand years. By God’s grace, provision, and leading, and because I, too, am one of John’s descendants, I have been chosen to find it. Also enclosed are some notes that I have made concerning the contents of the scroll. If you are reading this, then I have to believe that God has led you here, for His will is perfect, and He is the author of all things. My prayer is that my granddaughter, Anna, is the one reading this. If you are, Anna, know this: I am very close to figuring out what the scroll means. Use my notes to help you. As I said before, you have a brilliant mind. You and your protector should be able to finish it. I have a feeling the end result will be one of the cataclysmic events. All of the rest of my notes are at the flat in London.

  God be with you,

  Thomas

  Anna finished reading the letter and handed it to Father Vin. He took it and, even though Anna had read it out loud, read it again. He finished and laid it on top of the rest of the pile of papers and notebooks.

  Anna reached her hand inside the box for the last time and pulled out a bundle of red velvet cloth. It was about the size of a marble bag. She unraveled the cloth, revealing a tiny scroll about the length of an ink pen and about as round. Anna unraveled the scroll. The paper was a thick, almost leathery type of paper that Anna hadn’t seen before. The most amazing thing was that it looked brand-new. Both she and Father Vin knew that couldn’t be the case. If the story was true, this scroll was almost two thousand years old. And yet it looked as if it had just been made.

  “This is amazing,” Anna said.

  “It’s beautiful,” Father Vin agreed.

  Anna rubbed her hand over the scroll. “Feel it, Vin. It feels like leather.” She handed the scroll over to him. Father Vin took it and again agreed.

  He handed it back to her. As Anna held the outstretched scroll, Father Vin scanned his little flashlight over it. “My goodness! It’s beautiful!” he repeated.

  “What language is that, Vin?”

  “That, my dear, is Greek.”

  “I don’t read Greek, Vin,” she said matter-of-factly. “Good thing I do, huh?” Vin said smiling. “Well then …,” she said.

  Father Vin cleared his throat and said, “Oh right, yes … sorry.” He moved his finger along the characters and read out loud.

  What once was perfect, has now been broken. At the point of no escape, the Father opened the way. So shall He, at the point of entry. The key is found in the temple.

  They were both silent for what seemed like minutes. A hushed sense of the sacred fell over them. Anna felt small and scared.

  She had to break the silence. “Well, that just about sums it up, doesn’t it?” Her words were sharp with sarcasm, and she winced at the sound of them bouncing off the ancient stones.

  “You’ll figure it out.” Father Vin patted her on the shoulder. “Like your grandfather said, he’s left you all of his notes. And he said that he was close to deciphering it. You’ll just have to do a little work.”

  “Vin, I’m going to need your help.”

  “I don’t think that would be wise, Anna.”

  “Why not? You’re supposed to be here to help me. Right?”

  “I’m supposed to protect you. Not help you figure out some riddle sent by God two thousand years ago.”

  “Please, Vin. There’s so much I don’t even know about. Who’s going to tell me all of the biblical stuff I need to know?”

  “Anna, we can argue about all of this later. Right now we should pack all of this up and go before someone comes down here and wants to know what’s going on.”

  “You’re right. Let’s get out of here.”

  Anna quickly rolled up the scroll, wrapped it back in the cloth, and placed it back in the box. She and Father Vin carefully stacked the papers and notebooks and placed them on top of the scroll. Once they had everything back inside, Anna closed the lid and latched it. She picked the box up and tucked it under her arm.

  Anna let Father Vin go in front of her, and she flipped off the light switch. He was already a few steps in front of her on the rickety staircase. She kept her head down to see each step as she ascended. She didn’t want to take the chance of stumbling in the dim light. When she had almost reached the top, she felt her head bump into something. It was Father Vin. He had stopped at the top of the staircase. She leaned around him to see what was the holdup.

  At the top of the stairs stood a man with his arms crossed. He had a determined look on his face, and he definitely didn’t appear to be happy that he’d found them here.

  Anna stepped up one stair to be able to see the man better. Father Vin started to speak, but the man cut him off.

  “Who are you people?” the man demanded. “And what are you doing here?”

  CHAPTER 22

  Just outside Oloron-Sainte-Marie

  Hale maneuvered the little car along the winding roads as fast as it would go. That was one thing he absolutely missed about America: bigger cars and faster engines. He pushed down the accelerator and heard the tires squeal as he rounded a big curve. Almost there.

  Despite the car’s little engine and lack of horsepower, he had made good time. What normally was a forty-minute drive, he turned into
just over twenty-five. He rounded the big bend and saw the sign that told him Oloron-Sainte-Marie was only a few kilometers ahead. He let off the gas and slowed down. The last thing he needed right now was to be stopped by the police. This close to town, you could almost guarantee the local constables would be out and about.

  He knew where Anna and Father Vin were. He was sure that whoever was on that second plane was there also. He just didn’t know who they were or what they looked like. The good news was, more than likely, they weren’t expecting him.

  Hale had been a Navy SEAL and knew how to “recon” an area and not be seen. He figured that’s exactly what he would have to do. He checked the pistol inside the shoulder holster again.

  As he made his way into town, he saw the signs that would lead him up the side of the hill to the cathedral. He found a place to park and got out of the car. It was a good walk up the hill, but he couldn’t risk driving the car up there. What if there wasn’t a through road? Then he would have to turn around and come back down. That would look suspicious to anyone watching. He would blow his cover.

  He couldn’t really walk up the road, either. If someone stopped to talk to him, he could be distracted and lose valuable time. He decided on taking a path up the hillside. The small shrubs and trees would give him some cover. He just hoped that his counterparts hadn’t thought of the same thing. He could stumble over them and walk right into a bad situation.

  Quietly he made his way up the rocky terrain. When he got to the top of the hill, he could see the small parking area in front of the church. There weren’t many cars, and the ones that were there were unoccupied, except one.

  Two men sat in the front seat of the last car in the last row, nearly two hundred feet away from him. Hale didn’t recognize either of them.

  Quickly he weighed his options. Just by looking at the two adversaries, he knew he could take them out without even breaking a sweat. Unless they were armed, which they most certainly would be. That could cause an unwanted scene.