"If you don't cooperate, we will be forced to apply other means. You'll do well to give it to me now."
"But I don't have it with me." Emilio shrugged his shoulders, Italian style, and that smile lingered on. "How can I give it to you if I don't have it? I told you I don't have it—"
"Where have you kept it? And how come we can’t find the bodies of your colleagues that you killed?"
Talbot looked at Emilio with sad eyes. "Oh, you didn't…"
The woman glanced at Talbot. "You'll do well to stay out of this, Mr. Talbot. The seriousness of this issue seems to elude you."
"On the contrary, I am here on account of this business."
"Do you mean to say you know the whereabouts of the keys?" she said, directing her attention.
"I may have a clue. But this information is gonna cost you."
The woman's face colored around her cheeks and neck. "Name your price."
"Half the value of what's in the tomb."
"You can't be serious—"
"I am."
Her four colleagues shifted from one foot to the other. Someone harrumphed. The woman looked from Talbot to Emilio Batolini. She said, "Mr. Emilio Batolini, I hope you understand where this leaves you if someone outside the Table finds the key and surrenders it. That makes you a traitor to the church, not counting the sin of killing your colleagues. You shall pay for the sin of murder with exile. For treason, you shall face death by the sword through your heart. Do you want to reconsider your position?"
Talbot looked at Emilio again, and what he saw chilled him. He saw deviance. Whatever was at stake was big enough for Emilio to defy the church he had served for so long.
He kept on smiling.
"So be it." The woman turned to Talbot. "Alright, Mr. Talbot, shall we deal?"
"Not just yet."
The girl bent her head questioningly.
"Do you mind telling me what’s in that tomb that's so important the church sent you down to Jerusalem for?"
"The contents of the tomb are none of your business. May I advise you, Mr. Talbot, that perhaps you should mind your business more carefully—"
"I do mind my business, lady."
"Then why aren't you in your office in Rome as the chief there? You are fond of sticking your neck too far out into things that are way above your pay grade, hence, your present station. Now, please provide the keys, and you shall be rewarded by the church generously."
"How much exactly are we talking about?"
The woman smiled first. But there was nothing cheerful about the act; she looked back at her colleagues. One of them was a black guy built like a tree trunk. He had a barrel chest and hands that could strangle an adult man with ease. He was blue-eyed, the first Talbot had seen. He had only seen photos of dark-skinned people with blue eyes.
He stepped forward and gave the Asian lady a phone. She pressed digits on it and showed Talbot.
Talbot whistled. He grinned at Emilio.
He stood up and said, "Come with me."
It dawned then on Emilio what had happened, what Talbot had done.
Talbot said to him, "I'm sorry, Emilio, it's nothing personal. It's just business."
"You'll rot in hell for this!"
"I'm there already."
—
Emilio quickly got a hold of his phone as the entourage of the Hand walked out of the main church with Talbot.
"Talbot sold us out! He has the other keys! Stop him, get the keys, and kill them all!"
He put the phone away and looked up at the image of Christ. He looked away, put his head on the back of the pew in front of him, and closed his eyes. He couldn't pray.
—
"Hello, Roy."
The man in the roof waved at the Hacker. He said, "Quite an age, huh."
The Hacker's face fell. His jaws tightened. His hand went into the fold of his jacket.
"Don't do that, Roy. Not so fast."
But the Hacker's hand slipped out and with it a phone. It was humming.
"Hello?"
He listened. His face fell even further. He pivoted on his heel and dashed out of the hall, leaving Andrew and Diggs confused. Andrew's radio squawked in his ear.
"Olivia…"
"Yeah. We are close. In Sheba's hall."
"Good. Stay there, something's up. But we'll handle it."
When he looked up in the roof again, the guy up there was gamboling down the slats in the tomb. The man landed softly and walked towards Andrew and Diggs. Nothing was threatening about him.
"The name's Arnold Hirsh. Interpol."
Andrew and Diggs introduced themselves.
"You know that guy?" Andrew asked him.
"Yeah. But I'll get to him later. What are you guys doing here?"
Andrew's eyes went to a spot in the hall and back. Arnold looked back and said, "Oh, that was you? It's impressive what you did."
"You can see it?"
He nodded. He pointed at the roof. "It’s easier to see from up there. Nice trick. But it won't last long. And whatever you wanna do, get to it fast. The Hand is here."
Andrew's eyes narrowed. He looked at Diggs.
"What's he talking about?"
"The Hand. The church's damage control guys. They don't take prisoners." He started towards the hall of Sheba. "We have to move now. We have to—"
Diggs grabbed his shoulder. "We can't. We don't have the last key—"
"And we may never get it!" he snapped. "The Hand is worse than the Hacker!"
Andrew started again, but Olivia and the others were already coming through the entrance. When Olivia saw the Interpol guy, she froze.
"What's he doing here?"
"I'm Arnold Hirsh. I didn't have a chance to introduce myself the last time."
He extended his hand for a shake. Olivia took it warily.
Andrew began again. "Olivia, we have to get out of here now. You have to live, all of you!"
"Why, what's happening?"
"The Hand is here. They don't take prisoners. You can’t stand in their way. They won't stop coming. And they will kill us if we try to open the tomb."
Olivia's face colored furiously. She glared at Andrew. "You knew they were coming, didn't you? You knew it, and you said nothing! How could you!"
"It was my fault!"
"You could have warned us, just like someone warned you! That stranger last night, the envelope! That was it, right?"
Olivia paced.
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you." Andrew went to her. "I have a vow. I can't break it. I have to turn you and the rest in if they come. You have to live now."
Olivia stopped pacing. The others gathered around. Reno's voice came on the radio. "Turn us in? What do you mean, turn us in?"
Olivia faced her brother. He had changed suddenly. His eyes were harder, and something was menacing about his manner. Every second that passed, the distant look in his eyes increased, as if Olivia was losing him.
"I am a priest. I will always be a priest," he said.
"You left! No, you left!"
"I am not just a priest. I'm more than a priest—"
Liam said, "What are you saying? You aren't also the pope, are you?"
He looked at Liam, then back at Olivia. "I am a member of the hand. And now I must do what I vowed to do."
Olivia's eyes felt like scales fell out of them. Now she understood the oddness around her brother and why he had disappeared all those years. She understood why he could do many of the things he did, why he knew so much.
As they stood in the middle of the hall, they heard footsteps.
When they turned around, there were two black men. One was in a black cloak and another.
"We are the Hand," the black guy announced. "Andre Gilmore, of the Order of the Hand, you are now called upon to fulfill your duty as a Hand. This woman and her friends are accomplices in treason against the Holy Church. Their punishment is death by the Hand."
Andrew turned to his sister Olivia.
&nb
sp; "I'm sorry."
"No…"
—
Elsewhere in the church, the woman leader of the Hand was standing between Talbot and the Hacker.
They were in a large corridor, surrounded by pillars and arches. It was the hall of the Kings, mostly armory belonging to biblical kings, preserved in glass cases. Weapons hung on the walls—axes, machetes, swords of varying sizes, shields, and helmets from the medieval times and further back in time.
A large shield and spear hung among them, reputed to be the one that Goliath wielded when he was confronted by young David.
"I know you—" The woman craned her neck to the side. "You are the one they call the Hacker. But your real name is—" She consulted the phone one of the men with her gave to her.
"Roy Maxton. The notorious Roy. Finally, we meet, in rather inauspicious circumstances, I might add. What brings you to these parts?"
Two guns suddenly jumped into the Hacker's hands. He pointed them at the woman and her people.
He looked at Talbot. "You piece of shit! I'll kill you first—"
"You'll do no such thing," said the woman. "You'll step out of the way now, Mr. Roy Maxton. You should seek redress from the man who employed you. If he's still alive to refund you what he owes, that is."
The men of the Hand went into military formation. They spread out, surrounding the Hacker. Emilio walked out to the church to join them. The woman looked at Talbot.
"Let's proceed, please, Mr. Talbot."
"Yes."
The woman and Talbot walked out of the barricade of Hand enforcers. They were accompanied by four Hand warriors. Their number seemed to have increased in the last few minutes, and it had. The monk Joshua could see that it had. He was in a corner, hiding in the dark of a pillar. Night had fallen, the sky had gone from that blood-red peculiarity to this part of the world, to grey and then completely black.
On a night devoid of her moon, the monk's face was moon-like behind that pillar, suspended in the darkness like a cat waiting to find out how many lives he has.
When the woman leading the men of the Hand's soldiers came passing by with Talbot, the monk withdrew into the dark, but not before the woman looked his way and winked.
Joshua's eyes caught the woman's fire, and he shivered.
—
Talbot's escape was unexpected. And like many unexpected events, it slipped out of control and was gone.
They found that particular spot in the church. It was the same where the Hacker had come out of the tunnel in the ground. Since he had provided Emilio with the blueprint in the first place, he quickly recognized that small corridor that was seldom used.
Thinking she had boxed the man into a position where he would not renege on his promise, they let him poke his head in that dark corridor when he asked permission to check it out.
"What's in there?" Amelia had asked him.
"A secret doorway, perhaps." Then he added, "Andrew was a priest. He could have moved the tomb through one of these trapdoors in the wall."
Talbot went into that dark place and never came back. When Amelia checked, she saw the opening on the cobbled floor.
She knew immediately that it was a lost cause.
Paul Talbot got lucky. But he could be dealt with later.
—
Olivia weaved out of Andrew's hands. She doubled back and pulled her gun on the soldiers of the Hand standing at the entrance of the hall.
The others did the same. Miller, Diggs, Anabia, and Liam.
"Step out of the way, Andrew. They are not taking you anywhere!"
Andrew looked aghast. "Olivia, no, please!"
"You listen to me," she said while her guns were still aimed at the cool-looking Hand men. "I'm not going to let them take you. Whatever vows you made, you broke a long time ago. You got out; you can't go back—"
The black man with the barrel chest slid two swords from inside his cloak. He stepped forward, his blazing eyes on Olivia.
Andrew stepped in front of Olivia.
"What's happening here?"
They all turned around to see the woman leading the Hand walk in with Talbot and a group of black-cloaked men. Her eyes settled on Andrew. She nodded, and then she gazed at Olivia.
"Lower your gun, will you, Olivia Newton?"
Olivia didn't. She put one of the guns on the woman. Diggs and Miller and the others continued to cover the others.
"That man back there will slide into you with his swords faster than your gun can shoot a bullet, Olivia. It's been done many times. We are the Hand. Certainly, your brother has hidden who he is from you so long. You have broken into a sacred place, tampered with church property, your sin—"
"Fuck you, bitch! I will die right here, protecting my brother from you people. He got out because he wanted out. You leave him alone!"
She kept her Glocks up, her hands spread apart, this way on the black man and his swords, and that way left on the woman's smug face. Andrew came to her. "Olivia, we can't win…" he whispered. "You have to leave now. I'll be alright, I promise."
He touched Olivia's face and said, "Trust me."
Olivia lowered her guns slowly. Miller hissed urgently, "What are you doing?"
"Mr. Frank Miller. Lower your weapon, please," the woman said.
Liam shouted, "Are you some walking register or something? How come you know everyone's name?"
The woman looked at Liam; she smiled. "We are the Hand. We know what to touch and what not to. We must know everyone's name."
She reverted her attention to Andrew.
"Where have you kept Solomon's tomb?"
"That's why we are here, I and my sister, to help the church find it. I'm sorry that my sister misunderstood your intentions. We work together to restore order here. We should find the tomb together."
The Asian woman regarded Andrew for a few seconds, raised one brow, and then looked at Olivia. "Well, your sister has been reported as trying to steal the contents of the tomb. Until her innocence in the matter is established, she will be in seclusion and under guard—"
She glanced at the black guy with the sword.
"Take her and her friends into custody, Daniel."
Daniel, the black guy, gestured Olivia out of the venue. The others followed. There was a blank look on Lawrence Diggs's face.
The woman turned back to Andrew; a sly and coquettish smile was on her lips. She crossed her hands on her ample chest and inhaled. Her eyes were unusually bright as she came close to Andrew.
"Well, well, well. You left without a goodbye. And then you joined a raiding gang?" The woman shook her head and chortled. "You could have done better than a ragtag team that steals crumbs. Well, this was going to be the biggie of them all. What did you do with your chunk from Peru? You don't look well off."
Andrew stepped out of the way.
"What I became isn't none of your business, Amelia. And leave my sister out of your vendetta with me."
Amelia followed him. "Where's the tomb at? Andrew, tell me where it is now. I know you know where it is. What did you do with it?"
He cast a harsh stare on her. "What are you talking about?"
"This is Crimea all over again. Klaus and Russo saw what you did there. You made a whole building disappear. And then you killed them because you wanted to hide your secret—"
Andrew spun around. "They were going to slaughter everyone in that building. Klaus and Russo were animals. I killed them because they were less than animals, they were savages—"
"They needed to be cleaned!"
"Women and children too?" Andrew asked.
"Yes. We are the Hand. We do as we are told."
Andrew pointed furiously. "No! We do what is right! We do WHAT is right!"
Amelia pounced on him. The hotness in her eyes turning to glowing embers of blooming affection. She held his wrist, caressed his chest in the monk’s cloak he wore. She looked in his eyes.
"Is that why you left?"
Andrew brought himself to look in her
eyes; those eyes held memories of long ago. He used to love this woman. Andrew remembered how her skin felt against his, how her soft lips felt in his mouth. And most importantly, how he'd broken the vow of celibacy to be with her, in her.
"That's only part of it. The church was no longer for me—"
She touched his lips with her forefinger. "Shush. I thought I was your church…" Amelia moistened her lips.
Andrew grimaced. Her voice had just evoked the memory of those words. He had said them. He had even believed them for months. But Amelia was also one of the things that were wrong with his life. Painfully so.
Andrew grabbed her wrist and pushed her away.
"Let's find Solomon's tomb…"
Just then, Daniel entered the hall again. With him was half of the entourage Amelia had come with. They looked from Amelia to Andrew, sensing the emotion between them. The attachment had broken but was filling in again.
"They are secure."
"Good, let the cleaning begin. Do we have the perimeter secure?"
"Yes."
"Make sure no one leaves."
—
The Hacker was trapped.
These people were all around the church. Heavily armed, with guns, swords, and these strange medieval weapons. He'd only heard of the Hand from Emilio in passing. He couldn't get to Emilio too.
The plan was all shot to shit; escape was the plan now, not getting his cut. Emilio was done. Compounding the Hacker's problems was the presence of the Interpol asshole, Arnold Hirsh.
Hirsh was hunting for him in the church now. It was only time before they met.
He had to get down to the underground way. It was his only way out.
He was running out of time. There would be no one here by dawn.
—
Olivia still had her radio in her ear.
Reno and Tami were still out there. But they had been sequestered—of all places—in the same chamber where Emilio's Table had met. She was sitting in one of the chairs. Diggs was next to her, and Miller, Borodin, Anabia, and then Liam at the head of the table where he drummed and tried to annoy the men guarding them.
There were six cloaked devils standing at attention, blocking any escape from the chamber. They had swords, heavy artillery rifles, and crossbows hanging from their backs.
King Solomon's Tomb Page 17