by Tom Haase
“I'll have to take that,” Jonathan said. “I don't want any problem, Bridget. Just hand it over. It's been a great chase, and you’ve lost. The reporter can't document this one for you. You were good enough to kill him. Can't say it hasn't been fun, but we're off to Rome right now. My superiors will be pleased, and we'll thank you with a finders fee, just like last time but nowhere near as much.”
Grossman grabbed the case from Bridget. He handed it to Jonathan who examined the case, felt the weight and tried to open briefcase locks. They didn't snap open.
“Thank you so much. I can see that you couldn't get this open. It's still in the case the lady gave you.” He smiled at them and waved good-bye.
They both backed out on the front door. And in less than thirty seconds, Bridget heard a car’s engine start up and move away.
* * *
As they drove to the airport, Jonathan congratulated Grossman on his efforts in helping them secure the Bible of Constantine. They arrived at the airport where their private jet awaited them. Thirty minutes later they were airborne, headed for Rome.
“It's a great feeling to have accomplished this and to have this back in our possession. The cardinals in Rome will be pleased.”
“Monsignor, for completing our mission I think we deserve a drink. What will you have?” Grossman asked.
“If we’ve any champagne on this plane, I think we deserve it.”
* * *
At Jake's house, Bridget noticed Scott after their former compatriots departed with the fake bible. He appeared completely defeated. His shoulders sagged. He moved into the living room and flopped down into a chair.
“All that effort and we're beat again. We have nothing. What are we going to tell Mr. Shultz?”
“Get up. We have to leave right now in case they come back. They didn't get it. We have it. Before they come back we need to go. Now move!”
66
Bridget sat down in their motel room and waited before speaking. In direct contrast to how she observed her brother, she felt exhilarated and teased him, saying, “Are you worried about Mr. Schultz or that he'll shoot you for liking Gerti?”
Scott looked at her and took his time in responding. “Both.”
“Come on, it's time to get going.” Bridget got up and headed for the door.
“Where are we going?” Scott asked.
“We’re going to the airport,” Bridget said. She went into the kitchen and picked up the briefcase.
“Is that the bible?” Scott said. “I thought Jonathan got away with it.”
Bridget kept it in her hand, and they went out to the car. “I'll tell you my secret when we get there.”
“Why are we going to the airport?”
Bridget didn't answer. They drove in silence to Reagan International airport. She drove to the front of the fixed base operation on the field where general aviation aircraft were serviced and where Scott took the flight to meet Mr. Schultz. She stopped and told Scott to wait inside while she returned the rental car.
When she arrived back with her briefcase, she observed that Scott remained unhappy.
“Why the hell are we here?” He glared at her.
“Remember the arrangement that Jake made with Schultz for five million dollars if he delivered the Bible?” She led him to a seat where she faced the airport and he the wall. She gave him the briefcase and he put it beside his chair.
“Yes, but what does that have to do with us?”
“Earlier I called Mr. Schultz. You asked if I called someone when I was in the bathroom. I asked him if we delivered the Bible would he provide the same arrangement for us,” Bridget said. “He agreed.”
“Yes, but then we thought we would get the Bible. Before McGregor and Grossmann did it to us again and stole it for the Vatican.”
“That's true,” Bridget said, and then she looked over Scott’s shoulder. “But he agreed that if we did deliver it he would honor the contract for five million.”
A shadow loomed over Scott and a piece of paper dropped into his lap.
He stared at the paper. His eyes froze on one figure. He rapidly swiveled to face the person behind him who had dropped the paper.
Gerti smiled and pulled him to her for more than a sibling-type kiss.
“What the hell is going on? How did you get here?” Scott said when they broke apart.
“You're not happy to see me?” she pouted.
“Of course.” He still held her in his arms. “But the check you dropped is for five million dollars. It's made out to Bridget and me.”
Scott turned to Bridget. “What the hell is she talking about? We don't have the original.”
“We sorta do. What you don't know and I'm sorry I kept it from you, but I switched the cases and we have the real bible.”
“How?” Scott asked.
“When I ran to the kitchen in Jake's house I believed I would only get a few seconds to act. I realized that Jonathan would have seen the woman deliver the briefcase. A lucky guess on my part that it would be in a briefcase, but it makes sense that would be the least conspicuous way to carry it around.”
“Smart thinking,” Gerti said. She moved around to stand beside Scott. She placed her hand in his.
“In the kitchen I just had time to take out the briefcase I purchased and put the one from the delivery lady under the sink. I stood in the passageway with the briefcase in my hands pretending I planned to go into the kitchen from the living room when Grossman burst in. They assumed I still had the one delivered by the girl in my hands. I put a security lock on the case so it would not be easy to open even if they tried. Probably they figured someone in Rome could open it with no trouble. They had what they wanted and left at once.” Bridget concluded and then gave a broad smile of satisfaction. “But we had to leave Jake's house as soon as possible just in case they somehow opened the fake briefcase, realized the ploy, and came back to get the real one.”
Bridget handed the briefcase over to Gerti and picked up the check.
67
New York
Schultz Apartment
Bridget and Scott accompanied Gerti back on the private jet to the Schultz's penthouse in New York City. Gerti did not attempt to open the briefcase on the way there. Mr. Shultz greeted them with a warm embrace for Bridget and a firm handshake for Scott.
On Bridget’s first time in the penthouse, she gave Mr. Schultz complimentary remarks on his décor and the beauty of the panoramic view over New York City. After everyone sat and held a drink in their hands, Mr. Schultz stood up.
“It is a great pleasure for me to have both of you in our home. I know from researching and from talking to Scott that your first adventure with the Crown of Thorns was brilliant. I know that you had the documents and the relics in your hands and the church whisked them away ands denied you credit for your discoveries. As a result of that you lost everything.” Schultz hoped they would never find out that he became the primary cause of them losing everything. For Bridget saving his life, he now wanted to make some amends. It would be a Schultz secret.
“This is very kind of you to say. We still haven’t been able to be reinstated in the academic world,” Bridget said.
“That may be true, but I think I have a proposal that may alter that situation. I'm giving you credit for the discovery of the Bible of Constantine. You will also keep that substantial check, and we'll fail to mention that. That'll give you new credibility, perhaps not rehabilitation to your previous positions, but at least the first step on that road.”
“Most kind of you,” said Scott.
“Father, didn't you have something else you wanted to say?” Gerti asked.
Schultz cleared his throat.
“I have a proposal. I think you are wasted in the academic world. You have twice proven your ability to do source research and find things that no one else even knew existed. I think you should exploit that ability. My proposal is that I will fund any expedition that you think will provide us, both of you and both of us, great monetar
y return. I would suggest that you keep Monsignor McGregor out of our future endeavors.”
“What do you guys think?” Gerti asked.
Scott and Bridget stood up eager to start on a new venture. They all raised their glasses together.
“Here's to our future.” Schultz smiled.
Gerti smiled, too, and grabbed Scott's hand.
Epilogue
Papal Jet
Over the Atlantic at 35,000 Feet
Jonathan sipped on his champagne. He felt satisfied, both with the beverage and with the outcome of the venture to find the last known Bible of Constantine. What would be the result of his find in Rome? He believed that he could now return the book to the church and it would guard the Bible's secret as the Bishop of Jerusalem had sworn to do all those centuries ago. The three prelates who grilled him at the Vatican could now relax, in particular the head of the Jesuit order. The Bible again had been returned to church control. This thought brought a small upturn in his lips.
“Hey, why are you smiling?” Grossman asked.
“I feel like we have accomplished a great feat. I'm now ready to relax,” Jonathan said.
“You sure pulled it off. How did you know they would have switched the briefcase when we barged in?”
“As I told you, they would never give up and would do everything to protect their find this time. That's why we went to the shops where we thought Scott went, but found only Bridget and then we bought the same things she did. That tracker is magic.” Jonathan took another swig of his drink.
“You were right about the Donavans reckoning the time would be about eight for someone to show up. How did you know someone would come with the Bible?”
“I didn't,” Jonathan said. “I just had a hunch and a prayer. Someone had to have it as all the people and places we examined didn't.”
“When you ordered me to intercept the girl outside the house, I thought you were crazy. All we had to do, take it and run,” Grossman said.
“You miss the point, my friend,” Jonathan said. “If we did that, the Donavans would be on our trail immediately. By paying five hundred dollars for the girl to deliver our case that we’d locked, we bought time to get away. The Donavans would be concerned that we could come back for them if we discovered in a few minutes the book they gave us to be a fake. So they had to get out of there quick. They knew they possessed the original Bible. Consequently, we ensured a comfortable departure for ourselves.”
Grossman forced open the locks on the briefcase and handed the book to Jonathan.
Jonathan opened it to the second page and viewed the Latin inscription and the mark of the Emperor Constantine exactly the same as the one the old priest in the Vatican Museum had shown him. He closed it and replaced it in the case.
“Rome will be pleased. And as I promised, a check will go to the Donavans for their assistance. That is the least I could do for all their efforts. Without them we would have never found the Bible.”
“What will happen to the Donavans when they find out about the switch and what will Mr. Schultz do?” Grossman asked.
“I'm sure they will come out on their feet. They always do.”
THE END
Author’s Note
The author took some latitude in the chase scene in Israel. There is no bus service to Gaza from Jerusalem, but it made the story move along. All other events relating to history are deemed as accurate as I could make them.
Secret of the Icon
The Donavan Adventure Series (Volume 5)
Prologue
At daybreak, the populace of Rome poured into the streets with joy and exuberance. They wanted to spontaneously welcome the victorious Allies. The Fifth American Army, under the command of General Mark Clark, arrived late on the night of June 4, 1944 to liberate the Eternal City, the first of the three Axis capitals to fall to the Allies. The celebrations initiated in the morning by the Roman populous continued throughout the day and now extended into the evening. At sunset the lights of the capitol came on for the first time since the German invasion. The oppressive German occupiers had earlier fled north.
A balmy evening breeze floated down from the surrounding Palatine Hill and meandered along the Tiber. The allies’ headquarters had moved into an area around the Fortress of San Angelo. The staff officers at army headquarters, after a hard day’s work, decided they would go out and join in the festivities marking the liberation.
Colonel Yuri Alexander Alexandrovitch, the Soviet liaison officer to the Fifth U.S. Army, prepared to depart his desk with the rest of the liaison staff. After uncurling his lanky body from a too small chair, he wished the French liaison officer a pleasant evening and walked out with his aide. The aide, a lieutenant, looked like a weight lifter, with no discernable neck and muscles that almost broke out of his uniform in many areas. Together they strode with purpose toward their assigned target located in nearby Vatican City. To any casual observer they looked like so many other soldiers strolling around liberated Rome.
"What would they think back home with two Soviet army officers going to a Catholic church?" Lieutenant Boris Ivanovich asked.
"I don't even want to think about that," Yuri said.
Yuri noticed the young man kept pace with him. He knew the aide’s duty was to protect him while they were with the American army. The lieutenant had delivered the order received by their communication channels from Moscow earlier that day.
He accepted with some trepidation this order from Moscow, but now he needed to comply with its instructions as the tasks specified in it demanded immediate implementation. After reading it, he realized that it contained a hidden purpose more devious than he could understand, being a thousand miles from Moscow. He had been with the Americans during the entire bloody campaign to liberate the Italian peninsula. He prided himself on learning the basics of the Italian language, which he believed none of his American counterparts ever attempted.
Someone in Moscow directed that they enter the Vatican and retrieve two items. Yuri realized that it must have great value to the person ordering this operation, but he didn’t know the identity of that person. He suspected his uncle, but had nothing to substantiate his gut intuition. It must be a high-level politburo member to order such an operation and his uncle held such a position. That realization bothered Yuri. This could be a career breaker or a means to higher promotion.
He carefully approached the specified entrance to St. Peters contained in the order while observing the festivities going on in the major streets that evening in Rome. Vatican City had also emptied out to participate in the activities surrounding liberation. Yuri presumed that by going while the celebrations were taking place it would be easier to enter the Papal State than trying to break in later at night or even the next day. In the morning, it would certainly be extremely difficult to gain access into the Vatican. Pope Pius XII planned to hold an open air Mass on the square in front of the basilica and a hundred thousand people were expected to attend. All streets leading to St. Peter’s would be clogged.
Yuri’s orders specified exactly where the object rested and how to get there from the side entrance that staff members of the Vatican used. He had no idea how someone at home garnished so much detailed information. But he speculated the Communist Party must have someone in the German or Italian army with access to this level of knowledge. That person may have provided it to Moscow to purchase for a price or out of loyalty to the socialist cause.
When Yuri arrived at the location specified to enter the Vatican, he noticed the locked gate with no guard. The volume of the revelry in the front of St. Peter’s easily reached his ears. After checking around the vicinity to ensure no one observed them, Boris moved forward and picked the ancient lock with no trouble, and entered. They followed the directions conveyed in the telegraph and soon arrived in a space located within the heart of the Vatican archives.
"I'm glad we’re doing this tonight, Colonel. Tomorrow, the Swiss guards will be everywhere. Why do they want these t
hings?” Boris asked.
"That's none of your business, nor any of mine. Our job is to acquire them without anyone knowing we participated in anything to do with the items. We must get them back for delivery in our own communication channel. Now be quiet and move," Yuri ordered.
Yuri held a membership in the Communist Party and he remained dedicated to the principles of the Socialist Revolution. He enjoyed his current position because of his faithful service to the motherland.
They moved through an open door and descended the stairs to the archive room specified in the order. Boris turned on a flashlight to assist them in descending the dark steps.
They found the specified chamber. The silence inside the room almost overpowered them after the cacophony of celebration noises outside. Boris turned on the electric lights. In a few minutes, they uncovered the labeled storage box containing the items. Yuri pulled the box out and put it on a countertop. He encountered no lock, so he opened it. Inside lay a beautiful twenty-nine centimeter by seventy-nine centimeter icon of the red-robed virgin holding the child Jesus. The background was made of solid gold. The Cyrillic alphabet letters above the child's head indicated his divinity. Beneath the icon lay another of the same size. Both icons were flat bas-relief pictures. The second one contained an image of St. John the Baptist at the moment he baptized Jesus. A gem-encrusted halo rested above Jesus’s head and the Cyrillic annotation of “Son of God” at the top of the icon. Yuri took out a silk scarf and wrapped the icons in it, then placed them under his blouse. At least it covered most of the icons. They were heavier than he expected, solid gold garlanded with precious stone, perhaps weighing three kilos each. He gave the box back to Boris, who returned it back in its original position.