Shrouded in Silence (40 page)

"Upstairs?" Albert Stein muttered.

"The rest of you get down on the floor with this corpse." Mattei kept moving the pistol back and forth between Jack, Michelle, and Guido. "Kneel and stick your arms straight out in front of you. NOW!"

Michelle dropped to her knees as she was told.

Jack stared across the floor into the lifeless eyes of Klaus Burchel. A haunting emptiness filled each pupil of his eyes and his expressionless face reflected only a void. Guido knelt beside Jack on the floor.

Mattei moved quickly behind the Townsends, feeling under their arms. "Well, well, you've come to the party armed." He reached under Michelle's light jacket and pulled her gun out. Without stopping, he did the same to Jack. Finally, he ran his hands down Guido's back. "Nothing here," he murmured. Walking to the wall, he dropped the Townsends' weapons in the hole.

"What are you trying to prove?" Stein hissed.

"How stupid you are," Mattei sneered.

"You can't get away with this, Tony," Jack said.

"But I already have. Start up the stairs," Mattei commanded Stein. "Listen, you German pig, I can drop you in an instant if you try anything cute. Just walk up the stairs carrying that stone box, and I'll tell you what to do next. Move it."

Stein picked up the stone container with both hands and glared at Mattei.

"Be glad I didn't put you down there on the floor with that houseboy of yours. If you didn't have a purpose, I'd still put a hole in your head. Now get moving."

From the floor, Michelle could see Albert Stein reluctantly carry the box and start up the stairs with Tony Mattei pressing his gun against Stein's back. Mattei turned and looked at the three figures on the floor.

"It's been interesting," Mattei said. "You Yankees proved helpful, but that was about it. I'm sure I'll be able to fetch a top dollar for whatever is in that container. You wouldn't have gone to so much trouble if this thing wasn't worth big bucks. Beyond that little exchange of the box for your lives, you ought to be thankful I haven't killed you."

Mattei disappeared up the stairs and silence settled over the room.

"God help us," Jack whispered. "We barely escaped."

Guido murmured. "I can't believe it."

The noise of a crash rolled down the stairs. It sounded like the stone box had been dropped on the floor. Another noise resounded like a person falling on the tile.

"Stop!" The command echoed down the stairs. "Don't go out that door!"

Another gunshot echoed through the baptistery.

The reverberation of the large front door slamming rang through the entire building.

Jack immediately sprang to his feet and rushed to the stairs. Flattening against the wall, he listened intently. Guido came right behind him.

"What's happening?" Michelle got up much more slowly.

"You can come on up," an entirely different sounding but not unfamiliar voice shouted down the stairs. "It's over."

Jack slowly moved up the stairs. Michelle rushed across the room to get behind Guido.

"Be cautious," Jack warned. "We don't know what's going on up there."

Michelle felt her heart pounding, but the paralyzing anxiety was gone. She crept forward much more confidently.

"What in the world?" Jack stepped out from the panel door. Guido and Michelle came out behind him.

Michelle stared at the floor. Tony Mattei lay unconscious, silently sprawled with his arms in front of him. Stein was gone, but Father Donald Blake stood with one foot on Mattei's gun hand and holding the jeweler's weapon in his other.

"Father Blake!" Michelle explained. "What w-what are you—"

"Everybody relax," Blake said. "And you can stop calling me Father. I've been after Stein and Mattei for weeks. I'm just surprised they both showed up tonight."

Jack stared uncomprehendingly at the priest in a clerical collar. "I don't get it."

Blake said. "I have international connections and have been chasing the terrorists since the subway bombing back at the first of September. Tony Mattei isn't just a local diamond merchant. You're looking at the general of The Scorpions. The stinger himself. This bad boy's been smuggling diamonds for years and selling them across Europe. Changing economic policies in America whacked his profits, and that set him in motion. The man's small potatoes from a terrorism point of view, but what he did had major repercussions. He's one dangerous maniac. One little bomber can blow a big hole in the street. That's how Mattei took on an importance that even exceeded his size. A small potato turned into a big watermelon.

"But Stein?" Michelle asked.

"I'm not sure what he was about. Seems to have a big hate on for you, Jack and Michelle. My guess is that Albert Stein is a sociopath at best and maybe on the psychopathic side. The man broke for the front door and by now is probably running down the street like a terrified hog. The police couldn't find him earlier. I imagine it will be even more difficult with his lackey lying dead down there on the floor."

"You've been an investigator all this time?" Michelle sounded baffled. "I would never have guessed it."

"Let's just say that your country pays better attention to its citizens than most people realize. We knew that Mattei was the big dog because I had an undercover connection with his small organization. Unfortunately, we simply didn't have enough evidence to take him to court yet. Obviously, we do now."

"But that crook downstairs?" Michelle ask.

"He was Stein's boy who apparently hated Americans as much as Tony Mattei did. Maybe more. Don't know his full story yet, but we'll immediately be after it. His actions make Stein a conspirator in murder for starters. For that reason, I'm sure Stein is heading out of the country as fast as his little legs will take him. Don't worry. The border police will be watching."

Guido pointed to the stone sarcophagus on the floor. "The receptacle belongs to my family. I would like to take it out of here tonight."

Blake looked at the box on the floor. "You know, I don't see a thing down there. If there's something around here that's yours, I'd strongly suggest you take it with you right now without further explanation."

"Thank you!" Guido sighed. "Thank you so very much."

"That gunshot was muffled by the basement, but if anybody was close, they might have called the police." Blake pulled a cell phone from his pocket. "If they didn't, I'm about to summon the local constabulary. "Why don't you folks just hustle on out of here? I can call you when you are needed. I'll tell the cops that you left early to avoid the hassle during the second part of this little drama. My hunch is that you need to get that rock box out of here and somewhere in safe keeping. I don't think you want your picture in the paper over this incident."

"That's for sure," Jack said.

"I want to call you Father," Michelle said. "You've been like a spiritual overseer for us and have always been a caring person, but never as much as tonight. We can't thank you enough for your concern and thoughtfulness.

"Oh, go on," Blake blushed. "Get that box and move it. Go on now." He shooed them toward the door. "The clock is ticking."

Michelle hugged him tightly. "Thanks, friend."

Blake grinned.

Jack grabbed her arm. "Give us a ring and we'll be there. We're out of here."

The trio rushed through the front door and disappeared into the night.

53

T
he taxi that picked up the threesome outside San Giovanni in Laterano sped through the dark streets at a good speed. Guido kept the stone box on his lap carefully concealed beneath his coat. The driver had been told to go to the Townsends' apartment. No one said much.

"I think we're going in the wrong direction," Jack finally spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Guido ask.

"I think we ought to go to Santa Maria Church. Our work began there. Now we've come up with a sort of sarcophagus. Since the church is filled with coffins, it seems like it would be a more appropriate place to open our own little coffin."

"Down there in that crypt?" Michelle shivered.

Jack smiled. "Why not? Santa Maria has its own history, and the priests have been good to us. Why not put our treasure on a table and let all those ghosts from the past gather around and watch?"

"I nearly got killed down there!"

"True, but you came out smelling like a rose," Jack said.

"It wasn't that easy."

"Michelle, I was also surprised that you came on so strong when that crackhead put a gun in my face. You didn't seem frightened."

"I had to fight to keep my emotions from erupting full blown. I may not be able to keep the attacks from coming back, but I think I've learned how to control and direct the energy the old memories generate. When I yelled at that thug, it dissipated the anxiety that turns me inside out. Even with all the difficult and terrible experiences we've faced, I've made progress. If I can't make the problem stop, I've learned something about controlling the results."

"Then I think you can take one more trip down to the crypt." Jack grinned slyly.

"Oh, brother!" Michelle said. "I talked myself into a corner."

"OK." Guido leaned over the seat. "Driver take us to Via Vittorio Veneto 27. We're going to the Santa Maria Church."

"Whatever you say," the driver replied. The cab sped up.

"I hope knocking that stone mummy case to the floor didn't damage the document," Jack said.

Guido nodded and looked grave. "Certainly."

Michelle settled back against the seat and watched her husband. Seldom had she seen Jack so nervous. He kept rubbing his fist against his palm and then folding his hands together before starting the rubbing all over again. His entire adult life had been spent chasing such documents. He had looked into everything from the
Secret Gospel of Mark
to
John of Damascus
as well as numerous classical and Hellenistic texts. She knew his grasp of Greek remained remarkable. This new find had to be the consummate moment in his research.

"I guess we can forget about someone watching or following the cab," Jack said. "Stein must be running for the border, and The Scorpion terrorist group is captured. We already ruled out the Vatican as bad guys. Maybe we can open this receptacle in the quiet peacefulness of the crypt under the sanctuary."

"
Peacefulness
is not exactly the word that I would use," Michelle said. "But if it makes you happy, I'll settle for it."

Jack winked at her. "That's a good girl."

The taxi pulled up to the curb in front of the old church where the austere exterior left no clues as to the extraordinary sights inside. The driver said nothing but held his palm up.

Jack reached over the seat and crammed several bills in the man's hand. "Keep the change."

"Thank you," the man said and prepared to drive away.

"Let's enter through the side door," Jack said. "I want to get downstairs as quickly as possible."

Darkness had covered the entire street in almost impenetrable shadows. Only one street light provided any light. The recessed side door had to be unlocked without the help of light.

When the wooden door opened, Michelle said, "I think I have a screw driver, a small hammer, and some other stuff we might need in our office. I'll get it."

"Good," Jack said and rushed forward.

Jack and Guido clomped down the stairs while Michelle hurried to her office. At the bottom, an old table held brochures, small religious medals, and a few holy cards.

"Let's lift the table over here," Jack said. "I want to carry the table under the electric light next to the skeleton still standing there in an ancient brown robe. That old guy ought to have a look at what we're doing."