Rise of a Phoenix: Rise of a Phoenix (37 page)

Steel turned towards his friend. “SANTINI, It’s not a ‘He’, it’s a ‘They’.”

Gabriel nodded; it made sense that the organization had a name.

“And what about your partner, did you tell her you were going?” He saw in the reflection of the large glass window Steel stop folding a shirt and nod slowly. The Englishman had a sorrowful look on his face.

“She will be fine, they all will.”

Gabriel turned and made his way towards his friend. “And you John? Will you be okay?” The priest’s voice was soft but held a stern tone to it.

The other man looked up and smiled. “You know me, I am always fine. Look, I am just going to find someone an old friend asked me to look for. There won’t be any trouble. It’s a simple quick there, quick back, No problem.”

Gabriel reached down and picked up the black-and-white photograph. The picture was of a woman in her late thirties with long hair. He turned it over and read the name
Tarrasa Benning
.

“Who is she?” Gabriel asked, putting the photograph back in its place. Steel picked up his glass of whisky and moved towards the dresser.

“I don’t know who she is, but I know she has answers, and I have a lot of questions.”

He reached into the draw and pulled out a large .45 automatic. After pressing a small button next to the pistol grip the weapons magazine slipped out effortlessly.

Pulling back the weapons long top slide he checked that the chamber was empty, and then quickly let it go forward using the weapon’s inner spring. The almost fiery orange light from the city’s illumination cast a strange reflection on the weapon’s dark steel, making it seem as though it was glowing with heat.

The top slide had sideward angled recesses cut into it, which revealed the polished bear steel of the barrel. Steel pressed down on the top round of the single stack magazine, then reinserted it into the weapon then placed it back into the draw. Carefully Steel took out some folded shirts from the same draw then placed them into the case before closing the draw and then the case. A cold shiver ran down the priest’s back. He could see that the old soldier had returned.

The Phoenix had risen.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

TWENTY-ONE

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-FOUR

TWENTY-FIVE

TWENTY-SIX

TWENTY-SEVEN

TWENTY-EIGHT

TWENTY-NINE

THIRTY

THIRTY-ONE

THIRTY-TWO

THIRTY-THREE

THIRTY-FOUR

THIRTY-FIVE

THIRTY-SIX

THIRTY-SEVEN

THIRTY-EIGHT

THIRTY-NINE

FORTY

FORTY-ONE

FORTY-TWO

FORTY-THREE

FORTY-FOUR

FORTY-FIVE

FORTY-SIX

FORTY-SEVEN

FORTY-EIGHT

FORTY-NINE

FIFTY

FIFTY-ONE

FIFTY-TWO

FIFTY-THREE

FIFTY-FOUR

FIFTY-FIVE

FIFTY-SIX

FIFTY-SEVEN

FIFTY-EIGHT

FIFTY-NINE

SIXTY

SIXTY-ONE

SIXTY-TWO

SIXTY-THREE

SIXTY-FOUR

SIXTY-FIVE

SIXTY-SIX

SIXTY-SEVEN

SIXTY-EIGHT

SIXTY-NINE

SEVENTY