The Cleric's Vault (24 page)

Chapter 46

Washington, D.C.

The
streets of Washington always seemed busy.
 
Traffic lights were too short and it seemed one could get stuck at a
crowded intersection for hours.
 
Congested city streets, however, were not at the forefront of Sam’s
thoughts at the moment.
 
After he’d
left Starks’ office at Axis headquarters, he had intended to head back to his
own building a few blocks away and get back to his normal routine, if there
were such a thing.
 
Instead, his
thoughts were focused on the dark-haired man in the cliché-black trench coat
following him about thirty feet behind.
 
The tail was a younger guy, probably early twenties.
 
Sam didn’t recognize him, which
immediately placed him in the ranks of some foreign contractor or agency,
probably eastern European. That and the fact that his gray business slacks were
slim and slightly shorter at the ankle than they should have been were two
major giveaways.

Given
his career choice, Sam was accustomed to being observed but it was always a
little disconcerting to have a tail.
 
He could wonder who the stranger was or who had sent him but at this
point, he really didn’t feel like playing any games or worrying with all of
that.
 
So he took a different
approach and turned, walking straight towards the man.

Townsend’s
sudden move and change of direction threw off the pursuer.
 
It was probably what the kid had least
suspected would happen.
 
The moment
of confusion was all Sam needed.
 
He stepped quickly towards the target, deftly dodging the people busily
walking the other direction.
 
At
the same time, he withdrew a small knife he kept in his jacket pocket and
unsheathed the weapon.
 
The tail
never saw the blade in Townsend’s hand as he reached within his own jacket to
pull out what Sam assumed to be a gun.
 
Whatever it was never made the light of day as he deftly dropped down to
one knee and ran the sharp edge of the knife across the back of the younger
man’s heel.
 
The Achilles tendon
snapped up into the back of the man’s leg, causing him to scream out loudly.
 
Sam was already heading back in the
direction from which he’d come.
 
None of the confused passersby knew what was wrong with the man on the
sidewalk, clutching his leg.

Jennings
didn’t even turn to see the tail collapse to the ground in excruciating pain.
He assumed he’d severed the tendon, rendering the man completely incapable of
pursuit.
 
Someone had made a play
at him.
 
Perfect.
 
One more thing he would have to think
about.
 
His other appointments were
going to have to wait.

He
neared his government-issue sedan and glanced at it suspiciously.
 
Jennings turned his head and noticed a
homeless man sitting in an adjacent alley close by, trying to stay out of the
cold, late morning breeze.
 
“Hey,”
Sam got his attention.
 
“Can you do
me a favor?”

The
scraggly fellow looked around for a moment then replied, “If you got a dollar.”

Townsend
smiled wickedly.
 
“I’ve got ten for
you.”
 
He handed the vagrant a
crisp ten-dollar bill and the keys to his car.
 

The
man was obviously confused so he explained, “I need to run up to my office for
a minute and you look cold.
 
Would
you care to warm up my car for me?
 
You can sit inside while I’m there and when I come back there will be
another ten bucks in it for you.”

“What’s
the catch?” the old, white man peered suspiciously at him from underneath a
wool cap.
 
His face was dirty and
he reeked of the streets.

“No
catch.
 
You won’t steal my
car.
 
It has a tracking system on
it so that would be pointless.
 
I
just want you to warm it up for me.”
 
Sam began to walk away.
 
“I’ll be back in twenty minutes or so.”
 
Sam dropped the keys and money in the man’s hand and rounded
the corner, disappearing from sight.
 
The homeless man stood up, checking both ways to see if there really was
something suspicious going on.
 
He
couldn’t believe a total stranger had just left him with the keys to his car
and paid him to do it.
 
Feeling
like it was his lucky day, he quickly opened the car door and inserted the keys
into the ignition.
 
At first, the
engine didn’t turn over and just clicked once.
 
The clueless man tried again.
 

Sam
heard the explosion as he casually walked down the street and stopped next to a
boutique cupcake shop.
 
The earth
shook violently beneath his feet for a second.
 
His eyes scanned everyone suspiciously to see if he could
find the other tail he was sure was hiding in the crowd.
 
Hundreds of panicked pedestrians
hurried in the opposite direction of the blast.
 
Cautiously, Sam moved back towards the corner of the busy
intersection, staying against the wall both to stay out of sight and out of the
way of the rushing mob.
 
It only
took him a moment before he found his man.
 
Black trench coat.
 
Sharp jaw and nose.
 
And
running
towards
the burning car up
the street.
 
He was the only one
going in that direction.
 
Satisfied
he’d dodged the hit, Sam blended into the terrified mob and disappeared into the
chaos.

Chapter 47

Cuenca, Ecuador

The
flight had taken the private jet just over five hours before landing in the
picturesque city of Cuenca.
 
Spanish-tiled roofs dotted the landscape in the city sprawled out across
the high valley and up into the foothills of the Andes.

Will
had been sleeping for the last few hours, apparently still exhausted from the
trip back from the southwestern United States.
 
He snapped awake as the plane landed with a sudden jolt.
 
He rubbed his eyes and stretched out
his arms.
 

“Have
a good nap?” Sean asked from across the aisle while he massaged his face for a
moment.
 
He stared at Will, a
slight grin barely visible at the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah.
 
I was exhausted.
 
How long was I out?”

“About
three hours,” Tommy jumped into the conversation from the other side of the
plane.
 

“Wow.
 
Guess I was tired.”
 
He looked out the window as the city
landscape passed by.
 
The mountains
in the distant loomed enormous over colorful town.

“Well,
I hope you’re rested.
 
I just got
off the phone with my contact down here, and he is taking us to Crespi’s church
first thing after we check in to our hotel.”
 
Tommy had always been one to get right to work on everything
he ever did.
 
There was no beating
around the bush.
 
It was a trait
he’d carried since high school.
 
Procrastination was a word that didn’t exist in his vocabulary.

Adriana
spoke up for the first time in a while.
 
“There is somewhere I need to go when we arrive at the hotel.
 
I can find my way to the church and
meet up with you there.
 
Would that
be alright with you?”

The
men were a little thrown off by the sudden request, but Sean and Tommy both
shrugged and nodded.

“Sure.
 
We can work it out.
 
You want me to come with you?”
 
Sean asked sincerely.

She
smiled at his offer.
 
“I will be
fine.
 
Just need to see an old
friend for a few minutes.
 
Shouldn’t take long.”

The
conversation ended as the plane slowed to a stop on the far end of the tarmac
where a small group of private hangars sat against the backdrop of the dramatic
Andes.

Two
black SUVs were waiting just outside one of the empty hangars.
 

After
a few more minutes, the occupants were descending a set of stairs onto the
tarmac.
 
A gusty breeze blew across
the surface.
 
The temperature
seemed fairly mild compared to where they’d been just a few hours ago.
 
Being closer to the equator certainly
warmed things up, but Cuenca was a city of high elevation.
 
At nearly 8400 feet, the mercury never
really reached the higher temperatures.
 
Off in the distance, dark-gray clouds rolled towards the city.
 
Rain, evidently, was a pretty regular
occurrence that time of year.

One
of the doors opened to the SUV in the front.
 
A short, squat man stepped out wearing a pair of aviator
sunglasses and a black suit and matching tie.
 
Apparently, he didn’t care that the sky was fairly
overcast.
 
Sean and Tommy had known
Mauricio Delgado for nearly a decade.

A
big grin crossed Tommy’s face as the man approached.
 
Schultz set down his bags and opened up his arms to embrace
the squat Latino.
 
“Buenas tardes,
Mauricio!”
 
Tommy embraced the
shorter man and gave him a huge clap on the back.
 

Mauricio
pulled away and returned the slap with one on Tommy’s shoulder.
 
His round face beamed.
 
“It’s good to see you again, my friend.
 
It’s been too long,” he said with a thick
accent.
 
With no hesitation, he
turned to the other three and extended his hand towards Sean.
 
“You seem to be in better health than
the last time I saw you, Senor Wyatt.”

Sean
shook his hand firmly.
 
“I still
owe you one, amigo.”

Delgado
wagged the index finger on his free hand.
 
“No, amigo.
 
No one ever
owes me anything.
 
I was just glad
I could help.
 
We were fortunate we
found you before,”
 
he paused for a
moment.
 
“Before anything worse
happened.”

“Whatever,
man.
 
I’m grateful,” Wyatt smiled
widely.

“You’re
welcome.
 
Although,” the man
paused, “it’s a shame we never found your partner.
 
It’s as if he disappeared into thin air.”
 
Mauricio scratched his head while he
and Sean shared a silent moment, both men pondering what could have happened to
Nick.

“We’ll
probably never know,” Sean said.
 
“Although, some part of me still thinks he might be alive.
 
I can’t say why.
 
Just a gut feeling.”

“Perhaps,
my friend,” a wide grin crossed Mauricio’s tanned face.
 
His dark brown eyes brimmed.
 
“Let’s hope so.”
 
Then he changed the subject and stepped
towards the others.
 
“Who are your
companions?”

“This
here is Will Hastings,” Sean answered as Will put out his hand.
 
Delgado shook it heartily.
 
“He is a police officer in Atlanta.”

Mauricio
raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.
 
“Excellent.
 
We will make
sure that local law enforcement has our full cooperation.
 
But it is always good to have another
gun, just in case.
 
No?”

Will
nodded.
 
“Never hurts.”

The
four men shared a quick laugh before Mauricio turned his attention to their
female companion.
 
“And who is
this?” he asked as he stopped in front of Adriana.

“My
name is Adriana Villa,” she answered for herself and offered her hand.
 
He began to shake it gently but she
squeezed his hand just as firmly as Will had.
 
“Pleasure to meet you.”

His
look of surprise turned to one of respect.
 
“The pleasure is all mine.
 
Bienvenidos a Cuenca.”

“Gracias,”
she replied.

“De
donde eres?” he continued.

This
time she answered in English so the others would understand.
 
“My family is from central Spain.
 
But I have lived in many places.”

“Intriguing.”
 
There was a brief moment of awkward
silence before he got back to business.
 
“We will head to the hotel where you can check in and get refreshed.
 
After that we will have a light
dinner.
 
I understand you want to
visit the church as soon as possible?”

Everyone
nodded.

“Good,”
he said, lifting his hands.
 
“We
will take a look around this evening.
 
I’ve made arrangements with the head priest.
 
He said we can have a few hours tonight after their evening
prayers.”