Authors: Duane Swierczynski,Anthony E. Zuiker

Dark Revelations (32 page)

BOOK: Dark Revelations

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There were
five
packages.

All were delivered in late afternoon, which was the perfect time to introduce it into all aspects of the news cycle. Breaking on the Web, covered on cable and network news, and full stories in print the following morning. After the attack at the WoMU conference three days ago in Europe, the media was primed like never before. Not only were they expecting a new package, but they were on tenterhooks waiting for it.

LAB GOES CUCKOO

Targets Five Religious Leaders with New Threat

EXCLUSIVE—The global mastermind who calls himself “Labyrinth” has a new target: major world religions.
Sources tell us that select leaders from five major world religions—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism—have reportedly been sent a new riddle along with two objects, one of which is rumored to be a small, impeccably crafted cuckoo clock.
Authorities would not say if a deadline had been given, or divulge the contents of the riddle or the third object.
Labyrinth’s packages typically contain one riddle and two objects, the combination of which pinpoint his next victim—or victims....

Blair gathered the Global Alliance team in the conference room and presented images and scans of the contents of those packages—just in from law enforcement agencies around the world: The Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City. The Saudi Arabia Police. The Indian Police Service in Allahabad. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force. The Israel Police.

“The rumor about the clocks is true—we’re receiving photos of them now,” Blair said. “They appear to be early Black Forest clocks dating back to the eighteenth century, all carefully restored to perfect working order, even though the original life span was thought to be no more than one generation—about thirty years, more or less.”

“More antiques,” Natasha said. “Just to show us how special he is. Or how rich he is.”

Deckland O’Brian chewed a toothpick, asked, “How much time before the little birdies sing?”

“Not much. Four hours.”

“Well, fuck me.”

Natasha brushed hair out of her eyes. “What else?”

“Each package came with a religious relic.”

Hans Roeding raised a beefy hand. “You mean like a cross or a Bible?”

“No,” Blair said. “In this case,
relic
means a piece of flesh from a deceased saint or spiritual leader.”

“Guess you weren’t raised Catholic,” said O’Brian. “They once brought a relic of some obscure saint to my local church—I was something like eight years old, and excited as fuck. That is, until I kneeled down and took a gander through the murky glass and saw something that looked like it had shot out of someone’s nose. Absolutely disgusting.”

“Thank you for that useless detail, O’Brian,” Blair said. “What we have are multiple targets spread throughout Asia and Europe.”

“What’s the riddle?” Natasha asked.

Blair read it aloud:

IT’S MORE POWERFUL THAN GOD. IT’S MORE EVIL THAN THE
DEVIL. THE POOR HAVE IT. THE RICH NEED IT. IF YOU EAT IT YOU
WILL DIE. WHAT IS IT?

LABYRINTH

“Well that’s creepy, isn’t it,” O’Brian said.

Blair ignored him. “We have to assume he has other agents working for him. Even Labyrinth can’t be in five places at once. I consider this good news. If he has a network, then it stands to reason that there are going to be weak links in his network, so we should choose the four most likely . . .”

There was a noise from the other end of the hall—someone was entering the HQ. Instinctively, Hans Roeding withdrew his pistol from a leg holster and pointed it down the length of the room.

Tom Riggins appeared in the door, hands up in the air, flanked by Global Alliance guards—the same who had escorted him to Steve Dark’s hospital room.

“Don’t shoot,” he said.

chapter 62

“
Y
ou have no right to be here,” Blair said sternly. “Escort him out of here, please.”

Riggins lowered his hands, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “Hey, thanks for the warm welcome. I’m touched, really. Look, Steve Dark sent me. I’m with Special Circs back in—”

“We know who you are, Agent Riggins. That doesn’t change anything.”

Natasha’s eyes widened. “Dark’s awake? Is he okay?”

“Yeah, Dark’s awake but in no condition to move. I think I can help you guys—if you’ll let me.” Riggins pointed to the armed escorts. “I wouldn’t be standing here unless he gave Mutt and Jeff here orders to bring me down to your special little clubhouse.”

O’Brian smiled as he leaned back in his chair. “Oh, I like this guy. I really do.”

“What makes you think you can help?” Blair asked.

Riggins smiled. “You’re chasing the type of guy we call a Level 26 killer. Off the charts in terms of skill and resourcefulness and, for lack of a better term, downright fuckin’ evil. So . . . everybody in this room—and I’m just curious now—how many of you have personally bagged a Level 26 killer? Huh? How about it?”

Blair looked down at the conference room table. “Agent Riggins, we don’t categorize the people who interest us . . .”

“You, Damien? How about you—you’re O’Brian, right? Dark told me about you. Thought we’d get along for some reason. Natasha I’ve already met. And you—oh, you must be Hans Roeding. I can tell by the way you’re stabbing me in the balls with those daggers comin’ out of your eyes. How about it, Hans? Ever taken down a Level 26er?”

Nobody in the room said a word. They were all waiting for Blair to respond.

“Look, you wanted Dark to be a part of this little group, right?” Riggins asked.

The team nodded.

“Well, I’m the one who trained him.”

Once Riggins was brought up to speed on the riddle and the contents of the packages, he couldn’t help but attack the problem like a cop. He thought about the five potential crime scenes, and the five stolen objects—the relics. Like Dark had said: This freak was going for the headline grab. He didn’t want to be stopped; he wanted his work to be discovered. Was it a coincidence that there were five members of Global Alliance, including Blair? That it would take all five members, split up, to properly investigate those five crime scenes?

“Five of you, five packages,” Riggins said.

“Your point?” Blair asked.

“Labyrinth knew a lot about Dark,” Riggins said. “When they fought, he got personal. So you all have to assume he knows about all of you, too. Your skills as well as your weaknesses.”

“That’s impossible,” O’Brian said. “Very few people even know we exist, let alone our identities. Blair, back me up here. I mean, that’s the whole point of this, right—that we operate in secret so no one can see us coming? Otherwise, I vote we move out of the bloody catacombs and into some penthouse.”

Blair shook his head. “Agent Riggins has a point. If he knew about Dark, then we have to assume our identities are compromised as well.”

“I’d bet he was at the scene of many, if not all, of his attacks,” Riggins said. “You see that all of the time. Psychos hanging around, watching the forensics teams work. They get off on it. So it’s no stretch to think that he spotted you guys early on.”

A chill went through Riggins as he spoke those words—because then he realized how Labyrinth had found
him
. New York—the Shane Corbett murder. Goddamnit. He’d been in the lobby with Steve Dark and Natasha Garcon. And
somewhere in the same room had been Labyrinth
.

“Forget ourselves for now,” Blair said. “Dark said the key to catching Labyrinth was predicting his next move. Any ideas?”

“I think he’s playing with you now,” Riggins said. “He wants you to play along with the game, go hopping around the world, scooping up his bread crumbs. That’s why I’m thinking these packages were meant specifically for you. Maybe he wants to waste your time. Or maybe he wants you separated, and then he’ll pick you off, one by one.”

“Damn,” O’Brian said. “You really did train Steve Dark, didn’t you? You sound just fuckin’ like him.”

Natasha said, “So what do we do? Do you have an idea about where he might strike next—beyond this current threat?”

“Dark told me that it usually spins out of the answer to the previous riddle,” Riggins said. “So how about it? You guys come up with an answer yet?”

O’Brian said, “I was raised Catholic, y’know, so this one came to me pretty easily. The answer is . . .
nothing
. Because nothing is more powerful than God, nothing more evil than the devil. The poor?

They have nothing. The rich? They need nothing. And if you eat nothing, you’ll die.”

Riggins nodded. “Pretty good.”

“So what—we wait and do
nothing
?” Blair asked.

“No. You coordinate with the five police organizations who were sent the packages and have
them
investigate. Tell them to follow the evidence—starting with the stolen relics—just like you would have. And we all start thinking ahead to what he’s going to spring on us next.”

“You think he wanted to divide us, split us up all over the world?” Natasha asked.

“That’s exactly what he wanted,” Riggins said. “And won’t he be surprised when we catch his sorry ass before he springs his next PR stunt.”