Shiva (33 page)

Unfortunately
,
his body could remember all too well the abuse he
’
d put it through. Not that he would admit it to anyone
,
but he
’
d
got
ten
a tad dizzy. Easing into a stop, Brandt propped Vakasa up onto a hip. The girl
’
s arms draped around his neck as she leaned her cheek against his chest.

“
Thor…
”
S
he sighed.

Rebecca
’
s eyebrow went up.

Brandt patted his sidearm.
“
Lopez told her my gun
’
s name was Thor
’
s Hammer.
”

“
Ah,
”
Rebecca said
.
S
he headed over
.
“
So anyone wielding his hammer must be Thor.
”

“
Apparently,
”
Brandt responded
,
soaking in this moment of quiet. Soon, too soon
,
they would be out again, outwitting and most likely outrunning the Disciples.

“
Want one,
B
oss?
”
Davidson asked
,
holding up a stainless steel cup, pouring a spoonful of malt powder into a vanilla shake.

“
No
,
thanks,
”
he answered. He was about to ask where the rest of the men were when they strolled from the forward compartment.

Lopez held up his hand.
“
My fault we are one minute and twelve seconds behind schedule, Sarge. We
’
ll make it up, I promise.
”

Of that
,
Brandt had no question.
“
A low
-
profile car, Lopez.
Low. Profile
.
”

The corporal was tasked with getting them a car. Unfortunately
,
his taste in automobiles ran nearly as rich as his taste in aircraft.

“
This is Egypt. I get it,
”
Lopez stated
,
waving him off as he headed toward the hatch.

Talli and Levont followed behind. They had their own shopping list.

“
Sarge
…
”
Davidson asked with a frown.

Normally
,
the private was their procurement guy, but his blond hair and blue eyes were not going to charm the Egyptian merchants. Especially with all those scars. His most recent round of surgeries had helped tremendously
.
H
owever
,
in Egypt
,
his flawed Midwestern good looks were going to rouse suspicion. In this part of the world
,
Talli and Levont blended in perfectly. Even Lopez
’
s darker complexion helped.

As the other men left and close
d
the hatch, Brandt looked to Davidson.
“
Sorry. You are going to have to sit this one out.
”

The private frowned but didn
’
t complain. Rebecca
,
on the other hand
,
suddenly got very busy straightening the couch
’
s elaborate cushions.

“
Davidson, could you give us the room for a few minutes?
”
he asked.

At first
,
the sniper stiffened, probably thinking Brandt asked him to leave as a reprimand. Then the kid looked to Rebecca
,
who looked abundantly guilty. After seeing that look, Davidson couldn
’
t get out of the room fast enough.

“
Absolutely,
”
he said, coming over and taking Vakasa out of Brandt
’
s arms.
“
Let
’
s get you cleaned up, kiddo.
”

Brandt locked eyes with Rebecca as Davidson left the room.

“
Time
’
s up,
”
Brandt said.
“
I need the truth.
Now
.
”

* * *

Rebecca had been dreading this moment. She hated hurting Brandt
’
s feelings. She could still remember the pain in his eyes when they thought they were hu
n
ting after Christ
’
s bones. She still hadn
’
t shared with him what she
’
d
found in that Roman cave.

Here
,
though? She couldn
’
t hide what she knew any longer.

“
Sit down,
”
she urged.

Brandt tilted his head to the side. The gesture he did when he wasn
’
t quite sure where she was going with a conversation.

“
Trust me,
”
she said.
“
You are going to want to be sitting when you hear this.
”

With a sigh, Brandt crossed to the couch and sat down. Rebecca joined him.

“
Now, take a deep breath.
”

“
Rebecca…
”

She put a hand on his knee.
“
Seriously, Vincent. Take a deep breath.
”

Brandt
’
s eyes scanned her face. He should know she didn
’
t ask for any of this lightly. Finally
,
he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, only flinching in pain at the end. Then he opened his eyes.
“
Any other delay tactics you would like to try?
”

Rebecca wished they were just delay tactics. She needed to be sure Brandt didn
’
t throw a blood clot when he heard what she had to say.

“
As you know
,
the tablets that contained the Ten Commandments
—
”

“
Supposedly
contained the Ten Commandments,
”
Brandt interjected.

“
Yes, well
,
let
’
s just for the moment assume they were the real ones,
”
Rebecca answered.
“
They contained a great deal more information than just the ten laws.
”

Brandt nodded for her to continue. She moved her hand from his knee to his palm and gave it a squeeze. He returned the affection even though his lips wore a frown.

“
It stated in pretty specific detail the story of the Messiah.
”

“
And?
”
he asked with that edge back in his voice. He really didn
’
t like his
S
cripture messed with. Which only made this all the harder.

“
And it also made it clear that the Savior would be the
daughter
of God.
”

Blinking twice before he spoke, Brandt
’
s expression darkened.
“
Daughter
? As in female? As in a woman as
M
essiah?
”

Rebecca looked in the direction Davidson had taken Vakasa.
“
Or a girl.
”
She squeezed his hand. This time he did not return the gesture.

“
So you want me to believe that not only is God
’
s son actually a
daughter
, but that it is the little girl we just scooped up from Africa?
”

Wincing, waiting for the scathing rebuttal, Rebecca nodded.

Instead
,
Brandt gave her hand a gentle squeeze
.
“
Well, if that
’
s all.
”
He patted her knee as he rose.
“
Want a malt?
”

“
What?
”
Rebecca blurted. Where was the argument? The wrestling to the ground to prove her wrong?
“
No. What?
”

He offered his hand to her. Still stunned
,
she took it
,
and he pulled her up into an embrace.
“
I don
’
t believe it,
”
Brandt said softly.
“
Sorry. I know you are entertaining at least the idea,
”
he said
,
smoothing her hair back.
“
And clearly the Disciples believe wholeheartedly, but I don
’
t. I know my savior. I
’
m good.
”

Brandt kissed her on the forehead
,
then went over to the shake machine. Rebecca followed slowly as he opened the small refrigerator.
“
Can you believe this?
”
he asked
,
peering into the cooler.
“
Look, they
’
ve even got sliced fruit. Want some fresh strawberries in your chocolate shake?
”

“
No, thank you,
”
Rebecca answered automatically.
“
Are you really okay?
”
She also wanted to ask,
Or did you have mini-stroke?
but thought it more prudent
not
to ask.

* * *

Brandt kind of liked seeing Rebecca this way. A little unbalanced. Surprised. At a loss for words. It happened so seldom he decided to enjoy it.

“
Yep,
”
he said as he put a third scoop of ice cream into the cup.
“
I
’
m hungry but great.
”

He knew what she
’
d
expected. She
’
d seen it before back in France, Budapest,
and
Rome. More recently in Russia, Slovenia, and Jordan. His shock, horror
,
and revulsion of what he considered a sacrilege. Then he
’
d had an epiphany.

“
Faith is faith,
”
he said with a shrug.

Rebecca
’
s eyes narrowed.
“
Faith can be shaken.
”

“
That it can be,
”
Brandt answered.
“
That
’
s why I
’
m going with the whole God works in mysterious ways thing.
”

His fiancée watched as he mixed in the fruit
,
then loaded the cup into the mixer. She stayed silent as the machine whirled the ice cream, chocolate syrup, malt powder
,
and strawberry slices together. How had he gotten along all this time without a shake machine at his fingertips?

“
You don
’
t even want me to go over the passages from the Ten Commandment
s
tablets and how they relate to other religious works? How across history there is precedence for a female
M
essiah? Why we need to go to Egypt to try and prove if she is or isn
’
t the
M
essiah?
”

“
Nope,
”
Brandt said
,
taking a long draft of the shake. He licked his lips once he was done.
Damn that was good.
“
I
’
m at peace with my
g
od.
”