Shiva (58 page)

Which was not good news. If Rebecca didn
’
t get it, none of them could. Brandt was beginning to feel like it was time to pull the plug. Head home, face the consequences of their actions. Actually
,
Brandt would have done that several injuries ago. His instinct was to get stateside ASAP, hopefully ditching the Disciples. But there was that little girl and her radiant smile. If they went home now, without clear answers, Vakasa would be whisked away
,
taken to some DARPA research facility.

Rebecca leaned over to study the Hebrew symbol.
“
A
h
alarii
, a Coptic cross
,
and a Star of David
—w
hat made you collect them?
”
she asked the priest.

“
It was not I, but the monks that orig
inally settled here,
”
the friar
stated. That didn
’
t seem to help Rebecca any
,
though
,
so he continued.
“
Look to the back of the star.
”

Turning over the star, Rebecca read an inscription on the back.
“
Schechinah.
”

Brandt frowned. He
’
d heard the word but couldn
’
t place its origin. Rebecca turned over the broken cross. The same inscription. Vakasa twirled her
ha
larrii
around her neck to reveal the same word.

He was about to ask Rebecca what it meant but realized she was
“
processing.
”
Not emotionally. Hell, Rebecca was worse th
a
n his men at dealing with her feelings. No, her mind spun
,
trying to tie everything together. Vakasa. The items. The inscription. Asking Rebecca anything at this point would only slow her coming to a conclusion.

Unfortun
ately
,
the friar
didn
’
t seem to understand this concept.
“
The girl was born in Solomon
’
s mines, was she not?
”

“
What?
”
from all four of them echoed off the mossy walls.

“
We don
’
t…
”
Rebecca stammered.
“
We
’
re not sure
…
What?
”

The priest seem
ed non
plussed by their surprise.
“
In the Congo region. The child came from deep within East Africa.
”

Normally
,
Brandt would find such a statement almost insulting and r
acially charged, yet the friar
did not seem to be making any kind of political statement
.
H
e really wanted to know where Vakasa was born.

Rebecca cleared her throat.
“
We don
’
t know for certain where she was born, but we did find her in the Congo.
”

The friar
bowed his head, taking in a deep breath.
“
The monks that lived here were devoted to the Black Ma
donna
,
but when the Holy See discovered
their endeavors to bring all the relics to this place, the monks were taken from this place and the monastery closed.
”
The priest pointed to the items.
“
They begged my ancestors to protect these artifacts. We were to watch for an earthquake in the Congo. Two sunsets later
,
we were to embrace any dark child that entered our church.
”

The man put a hand on Vakasa
’
s shoulder
,
seeming to want to test that she was in fact tangible. Real.

“
For centuries
,
we have waited for
—
”

A window shattered behind them. Brandt pulled Rebecca and Vakasa to the floor. Although
,
to be honest, Rebecca was already on her w
ay down. Talli shoved the friar
down as he made his way over to the window. Levont checked the exits
.
T
hey still seemed clear.

As Brandt prepared to give the order to retreat to the car, another window blew out. There was no way in hell that was the Disciples
’
sniper. He didn
’
t miss. And neither did Davidso
n. Which meant that the kid
was trying to send them a message.

They weren
’
t alone.

* * *

Rebecca risked reaching
out
a hand and grabbing the cross and Star of David. Whatever was happening, their trip was being cut short.

Another window shattered. Even though the shots didn
’
t seem aimed to kill, Rebecca still flinched. Vakasa plugged her ears with her fingers.

“
Father
, thank you,
”
Brandt stated,
“
b
ut we
’
ve got to bug out.
”

Hern
á
ndez
shook his head.
“
You must follow the map. It is the only way to know if she is the child of God.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Brandt countered.
“
We
’
ll catch that one on the flip
side.
”

“
No,
”
the priest
said
,
reaching over and grabbing Brandt
’
s arm.
“
The other half of the map is in a brother to that cross.
”

“
That
’
s great and all, but we need to leave.
”
Brandt looked to his point man.
“
Levont.
”

Hern
á
ndez
seemed pretty desperate
,
though, physically blocking Levont. Not that he would last long if the muscle
-
bound point man decided to do something about it.
“
The cross is hidden at the El Salvador Church.
”
Off Bra
ndt shaking his head, the friar
hurried on
.
“
It is just over the ridge.
”
Levont went to brush past the priest, but the man held his ground.
“
There is but one paved road out of the village.
”

Brandt looked to Levont
,
who nodded his head.
“
Go on.
”

“
If you leave your vehicle here, making it seem you are still in the area
,
it will delay your pursuers, no?
”

Rebecca watched Brandt
’
s frown deepen.
“
It could.
”

“
Then you hike out on foot through the forest. The
c
hurch is along your path to town.
You will know the place.
”

Rebecca gulped. It was a risk. Actually
,
anything they did at this point was a risk. Which one would Brandt take?

He looked to her.
“
Well? I
’
m sure you
’
ve got an opinion.
”

“
It
is
on the way…
”

Brandt grunted
,
then let off a single shot out the window. It must have been a signal to Davidson. He swooped up Vakasa as he rose, settling her on his hip.

“
You better be right, Padre,
”
Brandt said through clenched teeth.
“
And you better have our backs.
”

The priest
pressed his palms together as if in prayer.
“
We shall.
”

With that
,
they were out of the monastery. Lopez was there with
the
SUV, doors open and everything.

“
Change of plans,
”
Brandt announced. It was Lopez
’
s turn to frown.
“
We are hiking our way out of here.
”

“
Hiking?
”
Lopez said.
“
This thing is a V
-ten
with four
-
wheel drive. I can get us anywhere.
”

“
Park the car as if we are still at the
church
.
”

The corporal was clearly confused but also seemed to know that now was not the time to ask any more questions. He knew Brandt as well as Rebecca, if not better. Quickly closing the doors, Lopez climbed in and followed orders
,
moving the car.

Brandt didn
’
t even wait for him or Davidson
,
who approached from the south. Instead
,
Brandt just started climbing the ridge. He turned to Rebecca.
“
Well?
”

Rebecca hesitated for a moment. Over the southern ridge
,
she could see dust being stirred up by the Disciples
’
advance. And they were hiking? Rebecca could now see Lopez
’
s point more clearly. She felt exposed. Vulnerable.

“
Thor,
”
Vakasa said with a sigh, laying her head on his shoulder.

The little girl was right. Brandt would get them through this.

They were rapidly approaching a dense forest made up of maple, beech, birch
,
and ash trees, many of them pollarded. Pollarding was a pruning technique, used since the Middle Ages. It created what almost looked like a tabletop bunching in the trunk about four feet up, from which the rest of the branches would then climb. The trees ended up looking twisted and tortured, the effect more than a little bit creepy.

Climbing up beside him, they followed Levont up the hill, rapidly hidden by the forest. Each step taking them closer to Vakasa
’
s destiny.

CHAPTER 23

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═══════

Undisclosed Location

10:33
a
.
m
.
(
EST
)

Bunny picked at the last of the hash brown shreds and popped them into her mouth. She had to do something to keep distracted. Never mind those potatoes were soaked in saturated fat. Once the team was home safe
,
she
’
d have to do like a hundred crunches to burn off the calories.

With no more food around, Bunny was about to resort to biting her nails.

“
Shouldn
’
t they have intersected by now?
”
Prenner asked.

Stark checked a dozen different calculations.
“
I am hooked into every Spanish police scanner, CB radio bandwidth, and cell
phone tower. When the Disciples and Brandt meet on the road up to the village
,
we are going to know about it.
”

Only
,
they
didn
’
t
know about it. The first window
had been
over two minutes ago. That was with the Disciples going seventy miles per hour and Lopez going a hundred, which was a pretty accurate speed. Bunny watched the numbers flicker. Even if the Disciples had been going fifty miles per hour and Lopez eighty, they should have met on the sole road out of the village.