The Grecian Manifesto (10 page)

Chapter 18

Rome, Italy

Sean knew that the Stazione Termini, the main train
station in Rome, was one of the busiest places in the city. Fortunately, he and
Tommy arrived at a moment when there seemed to be a lull between arrivals and
departures. A lull, however, was a relative term in the crowded city. There
were still thousands of people hustling to and from different train platforms,
but the two friends had both seen worse. The room had been well designed to
hold throngs of travelers, with wide and long expanses allowing for freedom of
movement. The undulating ceiling soared overhead, giving the main entrance an
even more open feel.

Sean scanned a few of the information signs before finding
the one that directed the way to the locker area. Out of habit, he took a quick
look around, making sure they hadn’t been followed. As before, he had requested
that the driver hang around outside in case they needed to leave in a hurry. He
pointed at the sign and started in the direction the arrows suggested. Tommy
stayed close behind him, cautiously holding his back pocket with one hand.

When he noticed the odd behavior, Sean had to ask. “Not
sure I want to know the answer to this. Why do you have your hand on your
butt?”

Tommy cast him a chiding glance. “Rome is notorious for pickpockets,
man. All it takes is bumping into one random thief, and your cards,
identification, everything are gone. I’d watch your wallet if I were you.”

Sean smoothly fished out a money clip from his front
pocket and held it over his shoulder for Tommy to see. “Grandpa always said to
keep your pictures of Andrew Jackson in your front pocket.”

Tommy shook his head slowly and smiled. “I guess that’s
one way of handling it.”

Sean put the money clip back in his pocket and turned to
the left, continuing to follow the signs to the locker area. They strode
quickly through the main terminal’s access corridors and finally arrived at the
entrance to a vast room, full of gray lockers. Yellow paint marked the numbers
over top of the storage units that were stacked two high, up to the low
ceiling.

“I guess lockers have changed since the last time I had to
use one,” Tommy said. “These things are a lot bigger and more secure looking
than I remember.”

“And they take credit or debit cards, too,” Sean added,
pointing at the card slot and keypad. “We need to find locker number fifty-seven.”

He followed the numbers, all of which were in the
hundreds, until he noticed the descending order. The two traced their way
around the room until they reached the back wall. The huge storage units lined
the back wall for at least sixty feet, giving it the feel of a minimum-security
bank.

“Here it is,” Tommy said, stopping at the locker on the
second level marked with the number fifty-seven.

Sean halted next to him and gave another paranoid glance
in both directions. The locker area was vacant, and much quieter than the rest
of the train station. Other than a security camera at one end, they were alone
in a major metropolitan train station.

Tommy stared vapidly at the gray box. “I wonder what’s in
there,” he said in an absent tone.

Something was bothering Sean about the storage area, and
he wanted to get what they came for and figure out what it was later. He took
the key and shoved it into the keyhole, and then twisted it hard. The door
swung open, and the two men stared inside. What they found astounded and
confounded both of them. They stared for several seconds in disbelief. Sean
reached into the locker and pulled out a paper bag from a fast food chain. He
frowned, wondering what it meant. What was Adriana up to?

“What is it?” Tommy asked, trying to look into the bag as
Sean opened it up.

Sean couldn’t help but smile as he stared into the bag. It
was completely empty. “Nothing,” he said and showed Tommy the contents.

Tommy’s eyebrows stitched together. “I don’t understand.”

It was perplexing on several levels for Sean. If there was
nothing in the bag, he would have no way of finding what it was that Gikas
wanted. Without that, he had no leverage.

A strange idea occurred to him as Tommy bent over and
examined the empty locker. Sean turned over the bag and found something written
in pencil on the bottom. The faint, barely noticeable words spelled out
someone’s first and last name.

Vincenzo Cagliari.

“Clever,” Sean said just above a whisper.

Tommy stood up straight again and looked back at his
friend. “What?” he asked.

 
Sean didn’t
get a chance to answer. A voice from the other end hall broke their silence.

“Both of you stand perfectly still.” The words came from a
stocky, bald man with a scar across one cheekbone. Two other men, both muscular
and carrying weapons aimed straight in Tommy and Sean’s direction, escorted him.
The way the men moved, Sean knew immediately they were mercenaries. He’d seen
the type before. Unfortunately for him, he’d seen the type recently.

“Do you want me to raise my hands or just keep them down?”
Sean asked in a smart aleck tone. “Most of the time when someone gets the drop
on me, they ask me to put my hands up.”

“From what I know about you, Mr. Wyatt, very few people
catch you by surprise.” The hulky man’s remark meant he had either been
watching Sean for a while, or simply done a little research.

“You must feel pretty special then.” The snide comment did
little to change the men’s stone-cold demeanor.

“What is in the bag, Mr. Wyatt?”

A quick snort escaped Sean’s nostrils, and despite having
guns aimed at him, he kept a grin on his face. “There’s a camera behind you
boys. I’d say you have about ninety seconds to put those weapons away and get
out of here before security arrives.”

The man, who was apparently in charge of the other two,
never flinched. “I’m aware of the cameras,” he said, stepping confidently
toward where Tommy and Sean were standing. “I’ll ask again. What is in the bag?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” The men hadn’t
seen him examine the bottom of the bag. He was willing to bet they wouldn’t
think to do the same.

The three men were only fifteen feet away now and closing.
“Fine. Set the bag down and step back.”

“All right,” Sean said and did as instructed. Tommy
followed by his side, stepping away from the spot as Sean set it on the floor.
“Just take it easy. You guys don’t want to fire those weapons in here. And we
don’t want to get shot. So relax, come get the bag, and we will all be on our
way.”

The bald man shook his head slowly, never breaking his
poker face. “Regardless of what is in the bag, Mr. Wyatt, you will be coming
with us.”

“Well, there is where you’re going to have a problem,”
Sean said, keeping his hands out to his sides as he continued to retreat from
the paper bag. “It’s going to be difficult for you to transport two hostages
through the multitude of people out there. All it takes is one hysterical woman
to see those guns, and it will become chaos.”

Scarface reached the bag and stopped. “Don’t move any farther,”
he ordered, bending one knee and reaching down at the same time to grab the
object.

As he did, Sean twisted slightly and slipped something out
of his belt with his right hand in a subtle movement. The three henchmen didn’t
notice.

“I’m telling you,” Sean said, “you’re going to be
disappointed. Pretty sure that bag was left here as a decoy.”

The permanent scowl on bald man’s face deepened as he
opened the top of the bag and realized what Sean was talking about. “Is this
some kind of joke? What did you do with it?”

“Do with what?” Sean asked as honestly as he possibly
could.

“It was empty when we found it.” Tommy corroborated the
story.

“You think me a fool? I am going to ask you one last time.
What was in the bag? I have no problem killing you and taking it from you.” The
bald man was nearly yelling now. His irritation had reached boiling point.

The tension between the men was as thick as mud. Sean knew
the man wasn’t bluffing, even with the watchful eyes of the camera behind them.
“Okay. Okay. Take it easy,” Sean said finally. “Here,” he held out his hand and
produced a small, metallic disc, slightly larger than a watch battery. “I don’t
even know what it is.”

“Set it on the floor and back away,” the bald man ordered,
wagging his gun in the process.

The other two men behind him were clearly jumpy. The
slightest provocation would cause them to open fire so Sean moved carefully and
did as he was told, setting the disc on the ground.

“Close your eyes,” he whispered to Tommy as the man
reached down to grab the shiny object.

Tommy was confused but did as directed.

A second before the stranger grasped the disc, a blinding
flash of white light erupted from it. Sean had closed his eyes just a moment
before the mini-flashbang went off and now opened them as the men in the room
began to scream. One of the weapons fired, sending a bullet bouncing off the
floor and lockers.
 

“Go!” Sean snapped at Tommy.

The two Americans turned to their right and sprinted out
of the corridor toward the exit. They reached the entrance to the locker room
and turned back the way they’d come, heading toward the main lobby of the
Stazione Termini. Ahead of them, hundreds of people began pouring onto the
floor, exiting a train that had just arrived.

“Head into the crowd,” Sean ordered, pointing at the
throng of people. A few seconds later, they blended into the mob of travelers
in the vast terminal.

“Where are we going?” Tommy asked as they slowed their
movements to better blend in with the crowd.

“Not sure yet. But we know who we need to meet.”

Chapter 19

Rome, Italy

Sean and Tommy’s driver was waiting within view of the
exit when they left the building. So far, the guy was two for two with his
timing. Sean hoped Carl didn’t have to bat again. In his previous line of work,
he knew it was far better to handle things himself rather than rely on other
people. Too many cooks in the kitchen led to mistakes. Mistakes led to big
problems.

The two friends slid into the vehicle, and Carl pounded
the gas, zipping the car back into traffic before thinking about where they
were headed. Sean liked the guy’s style.

“Any trouble getting what you were looking for?” the man
behind the wheel asked.

“A little,” Sean said, watching the lines of people and
cars flash by in a blur. “Nothing we couldn’t handle.”

“Yeah,” Tommy interjected. “Where did you get that thing,
anyway?”

Sean smiled mischievously and gave his old friend a wink.
“A buddy of mine from DARPA sent that over a while back. Thought I would think
they were cool.” He produced another metallic disc from a modified notch on the
inside of his belt and handed it to Tommy.

Tommy palmed the device and eyed it carefully. “How does
it work?”

“You press it like a button. It can be timed up to six
seconds. Press it once for every second.” Sean continued to stare out the
window. “I didn’t think I’d ever need to use them in the field, but when
Yarbrough told me who he was and who he worked for, I thought I might bring a
few with me just in case.”

Tommy passed the disc back to his friend after another
minute of curious examination. “Well, it’s a good thing you did. Handy little
diversions, those things. Couldn’t your buddy with DARPA get in big trouble for
passing out government-funded toys like that?”

Sean nodded. “Probably. But it’s more like field research
for him. Little things like that won’t send up a bunch of red flags if they go
missing. Besides, he probably built them in his own workshop or somewhere off
the clock.”

Something occurred to Sean as the car weaved through the
busy city streets, zooming by pedestrians and other vehicles. They didn’t know
where they were going. He pulled out his phone, opened the Google Maps app, and
typed in the name he’d seen on the bottom of the bag. Sean’s memory was
something that had served him well over the years. It wasn’t quite to the level
of most who had an eidetic ability, but it was close. After a few seconds, the
server brought back several search results, more than Sean had expected. He
scanned through a few before deciding there would be a faster way to get the
man’s address.

He closed the application and pulled up the text messaging
app and then typed a short message to Emily. Finding someone’s address online
could be easy or difficult. They didn’t have time to drive around Rome on a
wild goose chase to figure out where Vincenzo Cagliari lived.

Sean looked back through the rear window. No suspicious
vehicles were in pursuit. He took a deep breath and calmed his nerves for a
second. “Just keep driving away from the station,” he said to the driver, doing
his best to keep the tension out of his voice.

“Who were those tree trunks back in the locker area?”

For a second, Sean didn’t answer. His thoughts were on
Adriana. He knew they had probably been the men who had taken her. The thought
sent a chill down his spine and raised the hairs on his arms. “I’m guessing
they work for the man who has Adriana.”

Tommy didn’t respond for a moment. “Dimitris Gikas?”

Sean nodded but remained silent. He didn’t want to talk
about that stuff right now. At the moment, all that matter was finding the
relic the Greek wanted so badly. Then Sean would consider that situation.

The driver carefully guided the car through the mayhem of
Roman traffic and the haze of exhaust that lingered over the streets. In a
matter of a few minutes, the mobs of people and vehicles began to thin as the
driver pushed farther away from the train station. Outside, the Basilica di
Santa Maria Maggiore passed by. Its matching blue domes and the crucifix-topped
obelisk made it an easily recognizable historical landmark. Sean knew the
Diocletian Baths were nearby as well, another ancient place of significance.
The thoughts on local history distracted him until his phone vibrated.

He saw Emily’s name appear on the screen and quickly
entered the lock code to access the text. She had not only given him the
location he needed, but a short history on the name of the man they were
looking for.

“Head toward Piazza Navona,” Sean said to the driver.

Tommy gave a quizzical look. “You wanting to see the Pantheon?”

“That’s where Cagliari lives.”

“Must have a lot of money, that guy,” the driver commented
as he turned the car down a side street. “Navona is an expensive place to
live.”

Sean scanned over the text from Emily again to make sure
he got all the details right. “Vincenzo Cagliari was a professor at the world
renowned Sapienza University of Rome. Seems he is one of the foremost experts
on Julius Caesar.”

Tommy’s face wrinkled. “You said he
was
a professor. Not anymore?”

“He retired. The guy is in his seventies. I’d say after a
lifetime of working in the field he probably deserves a little rest and
relaxation.”

Tommy laughed louder than he’d intended and shook his
head. “Well, if rest and relaxation was what he wanted, he’s sure as heck not
going to want to meet us.”

Sean’s eyes squinted slightly as he nodded. “Good point,”
he said, acknowledging his friend’s funny quip. “Still, we’re going to have to
risk ruining the old guy’s retirement, at least for a day. If Adriana wrote his
name on that bag in hopes we’d find him, it must mean that he knows something
we need to know.”

“Or maybe she left something with him,” the driver
interjected. The two passengers looked at him then back at each other. For a
second Carl felt like he’d overstepped his bounds.

“Exactly,” Sean agreed, easing the man’s nerves. “Let’s
just hope the men from the train station don’t figure out where we’re headed.”

“They didn’t strike me as the clever type,” Tommy noted.

Sean peered straight ahead. “Don’t be too quick to judge.
Those men were good enough to figure out where we were headed and when we would
be there. If they can do that, they might be able to figure out our next move.”

“So what do we do? Try to throw them off the trail? Go to
some decoy spots?”

“We don’t have time for that kind of stuff, although I do
like the idea.” Sean thought about it for a few seconds. “No, we just have to
move faster and stay one step ahead of them.”

Carl swerved the vehicle past a fruit truck and back into
the lane, narrowly missing an oncoming Fiat. “And what if they do figure out
where we’re going?” Tommy asked, grabbing onto the hand grip above the window
to brace himself.

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to figure out a plan
when we get there.”

Tommy laughed and shook his head. “You know, in the short
time you’ve been gone from the agency, I’d forgotten how much of this stuff you
just make up as you go along.”

Sean raised an eyebrow. “It gets the job done, doesn’t it?

Tommy took in a long breath. “Usually. Let’s just hope the
time never comes when it doesn’t.”