Sign Of The Cross (40 page)

Payne knew they had to use one of the enemies to get them to safety, so Payne opted not to shoot him. Instead he rushed forward, disarmed both men, took off their masks, then put his Luger under the Swiss soldier’s chin, even though he knew the barrel would be hotter than a curling iron. ‘Do you speak English?’ Payne demanded as he heard the sizzle of burning flesh.

‘Yes,’ the Swiss soldier groaned. ‘Yes.’

‘Cooperate or die. How large is your squad?’

‘Six… Us plus four.’

The Italian continued to writhe in pain, so Jones kicked him and told him to shut up.

Payne continued. ‘Where are the others?’

‘Outside. All outside.’

‘How do you communicate?’

‘A radio… in my pocket.’

Jones grabbed it, making sure it wasn’t transmitting their interrogation.

‘Why are you inside?’ Payne demanded. ‘What’s your job?’

‘To prevent your retreat.’

That meant the moment Payne had stepped outside, they would’ve snuck behind him and stopped his crew from reentering. It was their way to guarantee a slaughter in the yard.

Payne pushed harder on his Luger. ‘What were you waiting for? What was your signal?’

‘Their call. We’d wait until their call.’

Payne shook his head. ‘Change of plans. You’re the one who’s going to call or you two are going to die. Got me?’

He tried to nod, but the barrel of Payne’s Luger prevented it.

Jones handed him the radio and told him exactly what to say. Then, just to be safe, Payne assured the soldier that Jones spoke several languages and if he heard anything that resembled a warning, Jones would tell Payne to pull the trigger. Payne knew the soldier didn’t believe him, so Jones said a few words to him in German and Italian and several other languages. The guy’s jaw would’ve dropped if Payne wasn’t holding it in place with his gun.

Payne growled, ‘Make the call. Now.’

The soldier turned on the mic and spoke in his native tongue. ‘Max, they’re getting away! We missed an escape tunnel! They’re running near the base of the mountain! Hurry!’

Jones grabbed the radio from the Swiss soldier and complimented him on his theatrics. Payne had no idea what the guy had said, but he could tell that he’d put his all into it. It was a performance that saved the soldier’s life. And Payne’s crew as well.

All of them stood there, patiently, waiting to hear Max’s reaction. Ten seconds later, they heard a stream of chatter going over the air. First Max. Then someone else. Then Max again. Payne looked to Jones for a translation, but he signaled him to wait. Another voice. Then Max. Then Max again, only this time much angrier. Payne could tell that from his tone.

Finally, Jones heard what he had hoped for. ‘They bought it. They’re heading for the back.’

Payne smiled at the news. ‘Call me crazy, but what do you say we head for the front?’

Everyone laughed except for the two guards. They knew it was just a matter of time before they were dragged outside and knocked unconscious.

The lodge in Küsendorf was two blocks away and probably under surveillance. That meant they needed to find an alternate means of transportation. Franz suggested one of the Archives’ delivery trucks. They were parked outside the compound in a separate lot.

There was room for two people up front and about twenty in back. Franz offered to drive, since he was familiar with the roads, and Ulster offered to keep him company. The rest of the crew made themselves comfortable among the boxes and crates. An overhead light let them see, or Payne would’ve opted for different arrangements. He was about to have a critical conversation with Maria, and her reaction would tell him more than her words, so visibility was a requirement.

Once they got settled, Payne retrieved everyone’s weapons. He made an excuse about old guns needing maintenance if they got wet, and everyone handed them over without suspicion. Next he asked Boyd what he was carrying in his backpack, and he told Payne it contained the videotape, the scroll, and as many books as he could grab.

‘OK,’ Jones said as he unfolded Raskin’s e-mail. ‘There’s something we need to discuss.’

Payne sat to Jones’s right, pretending to dry a fully loaded Luger that he kept aimed at Maria. With her legs tucked under her, she sat across from Payne, while Boyd sat beside her on the floor.

Jones said, ‘Right before we were attacked, we received some information from the Pentagon. Data that I was able to print out. It seems that one of you has been keeping some secrets from us. Secrets about your involvement with the men from Milan.’

Boyd looked at Maria, and she looked at him, neither sure who he was talking about. It was a tactic that sometimes revealed secrets from both parties. Maria asked, ‘Can you give us a -‘

‘Just come clean,’ Jones demanded, glancing back and forth. ‘We need to know everything, right here, right now, or we’re turning you over to the authorities. Consequences be damned.’

Boyd and Maria stared at each other. Neither of them talking. Both of them paranoid.

Finally, Boyd said, ‘Enough with the games. I’ve been through enough training to recognize your tactics. It’s obvious that you want one of us to break and provide you with something substantial. However, I can assure you that neither of us has a hidden agenda.’ He pointed to the paper in Jones’s hand. ‘Tell us what’s on the sheet. I’m sure it can be logically explained.’

Jones glanced at Payne, and Payne nodded. It was time to reveal their cards.

‘Back in Milan,’ Jones said, ‘when Maria picked up the rent-a-car, what were you doing?’

Boyd answered, ‘I was waiting at the warehouse.’

‘Maria, did you call anyone at the airport?’

She seemed startled by the question. ‘Who would I call? It was the middle of the night, and I was trying to sneak out of town. Why would I use the phone?’

Jones nodded, still hoping she was innocent. ‘Did either of you recognize the men from the choppers?’

Boyd shook his head. ‘Not I.’

‘And Maria? What about you?’

She looked at Jones, confused. ‘You were with me the entire time. You know damn well that we couldn’t see anyone. It was too dark, and we were too far away.’

‘True,’ he admitted. ‘Very true.’ He paused for a moment, letting them soak in the tension. It was more than enough to frazzle Boyd.

‘That does it. We demand to know what’s going on and demand to know now. We’re on
your
side, for heaven’s sake. Not theirs.’

‘Is that so?’ Payne asked, entering the conversation. ‘We’d like to believe you, but this information causes us to have doubts. Especially since we know the enemy is Maria’s brother.’

Both Maria and Boyd went pale. Slowly, they looked at each other, searching each other’s eyes for the slightest hint of guilt. Then they turned toward Payne and Jones, speechless.

Jones asked. ‘What’s the deal?’

‘There is no deal. I don’t even know which brother you’re talking about.’

‘Roberto,’ Payne said. ‘We’re talking about Roberto. He was the guy who came to Pamplona and claimed to be Richard Manzak. The same one who showed up in Milan and pulled a gun on us.’

‘The one you killed?’ she gasped.

‘And tortured. And maimed.’ Payne was trying to get her to lose her cool, so he poured it on thick. ‘Did I tell you what I did to him while you were on the chopper? I needed to get his name, but he wouldn’t tell me, so I was forced to improvise.’

Without warning Payne leapt to his feet and grabbed her hand, slamming it down with such force that she gasped in terror. Then he spread her fingers on the dirty floor and used the barrel of his Luger to tap the main knuckle of her index finger. Tapping it over and over, again and again, letting her feel the cold metal, letting her imagine what her brother went through in Milan. And he did this in hopes of getting her to talk. He hated to be so rough with her – especially since she could be on his side – but he was doing it for the safety of others.

He had to know where her allegiance was. It was imperative.

‘The blade went in here. Right through his skin and veins and bone. I sawed his finger in two, then put its tip in my pocket so I could fingerprint it. That’s right, while we were in the chopper, I was carrying your brother’s finger, dripping with your family’s blood.’

Maria’s olive skin turned pale, which Payne assumed was because of his monologue. But when he pushed her further, she pointed out something that they had overlooked, a simple fact that told Payne and Jones a lot about her family and whose side she was fighting for.

‘You’re forgetting something,’ she said. ‘That night in Milan, when you made contact with Roberto, you told him that I was in the Ferrari, right? Hiding with D.J.?’

Payne nodded. That’s what had happened.

‘And how did he respond?’

Oh, shit! Payne thought to himself. How could he have been so dumb? How could he have overlooked
that
? Roberto had pushed the button on his detonator like he was stepping on an ant. No guilt. No remorse. No indecision. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it. For some reason the thought of killing his baby sister had brought him immense pleasure.

Suddenly Payne had all the proof he needed. Maria and Roberto were not on the same side.

Benito Pelati didn’t shout. Or scream. Or lose his cool. He simply leaned back in his chair and smiled. It was a reaction that Cardinal Vercelli and the rest of the Council hadn’t expected.

‘Am I missing something?’ Vercelli asked. ‘Your reputation will be
ruined
if we allow the blackmailers to tell the world about the Catacombs. You understand that, don’t you?’

For years he had kept the secret of the Catacombs to himself. Partially out of respect for his best friend, Cardinal Bandolfo, who would’ve been devastated by the betrayal; partially because he was waiting to uncover the first-person account of the crucifixion from the tomb in Vienna. But now that Bandolfo was gone, the Viennese vault was being unearthed, and his son Roberto had been killed, Benito realized it was time to act.

‘Why are you smiling?’ Vercelli demanded. ‘You have no reason to be smiling.’

‘Actually, it’s
you
who has no reason to be smiling.’

Vercelli remained quiet. There was something about Benito’s tone that was disconcerting. It was cold and assured. Like an assassin who was ready to strike. And everyone in the room sensed it. All eyes followed Benito as he stood from his chair and moved toward Vercelli.

‘The Council asked me to find the person responsible for Father Jansen’s death and for the blackmail scheme, and I have done so. Why shouldn’t I be happy?’

‘You know who’s responsible?’ asked the Brazilian. ‘Then tell us. Who?’

Benito stared him in the eyes. ‘It was me.’

‘You?’ shouted Vercelli. ‘What do you mean,
you
?’

‘Just as I stated, I’m the man behind his death. In fact, I’m behind all the crucifixions.’

It took a moment for his words to penetrate the fog that clouded the Council’s thoughts. Once it happened, though, outrage filled the room. Unadulterated venom. And Benito reveled in it. He soaked it up like applause, enjoying every last insult that was fired in his direction. Somehow it made him feel better about what he was about to do. Then, when he reached the end of the table, the seat reserved for the Council leader, he leaned toward Vercelli’s ear and whispered softly, ‘You’re sitting in my chair.’

To punctuate his point, Benito put his hand on the cardinal’s head and slammed his face into the hard table. Blood gushed from Vercelli’s nose and mouth, dousing the bright red of his clerical robe with even more red – a color meant to signify that he was willing to die for his faith, if necessary. Yet Benito didn’t get that vibe from Vercelli. His point was proven when Vercelli abandoned the chair without further provocation. Meanwhile, none of the other cardinals dared to move, secretly wondering if Benito was armed and planning to kill them.

But that wasn’t the case at all. He simply planned on killing their religion.

He’d been recruited by the Council to catch a criminal, yet Benito was the mastermind behind everything. His men were killing innocents on the world’s stage to draw global attention. People from every continent. People of different religions. Letting the media debate the crucifixions in order to put more pressure on the Council. Benito needed them to know that he was ruthless and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

But that would come later. For now all he longed to see was the expression on Vercelli’s face when he explained the true meaning of the Catacombs. When he told him that underneath the Church’s burial plots there was a hidden chamber, accessed by a staircase that the Vatican never knew existed. And in that room, there was a deadly secret. One that would kill the Church.

Finally, after all these years, Benito and his family would get everything that they deserved.

Friday, July 14

Daxing, China

(twenty miles south of Beijing)

The cargo plane took off from a small airfield that few people knew about. Grass covered the only runway, which was more like a field than anything else. The only air traffic controller was the farmer who moved his livestock whenever he heard the rumble of a distant engine.

The plan came to Tank Harper while he was figuring how to hoist their massive cross over the walls of the Forbidden City. After giving it some thought, he decided it would be much easier to drop the cross from above instead of lifting it from below. Not only would it increase the ease of their escape, but the scene would generate the media attention that they were looking for.

Except Harper knew he’d have to break a number of Manzak’s rules in order to make it work and didn’t want to risk his share of the money. So he called him early in the week, looking for clearance. Manzak was so thrilled with the idea that he told Harper if his crew could pull it off that they would be awarded a bonus of $100,000 on top of their normal share. From that moment on, there was no turning back. They would use the air.

Or as Harper referred to it: Operation Jesus Drop.