The Guardian (31 page)

“I mean, first you tell me I look like crap. Then you say I’m just some girl.” She stood there waiting for a reply. “I mean, I guess I thought—”

She never finished what she was saying. Jason set the glass of water in the sink and reached out and took her hand. He tugged her close to him. “Would you just hush!” He brushed her hair away from her face again and tilted her head back. Then he kissed her.

The kiss was soft. And the warmth of her lips gave him goose bumps. He pulled away and looked her in the eyes. “There! Now if that doesn’t tell you how I feel about you, nothing will.”

She stared blankly back at him for a moment. Then a smile creased her lips.

“Now, go to bed, young lady!” He laughed and pointed his finger at her.

She giggled and turned around to leave. She started back up the stairs to her room. Halfway up, she looked back over her shoulder. “Good night, Jason Lang,” she said.

“Good night, Anna Riley,” he said softly.

Any chance of sleep was out of the question. Yes, he was exhausted physically. But now his mind was racing a million miles a second.

He couldn’t believe what he’d just done. He played it over and over again in his mind. Each time it ended the same way. She kissed him back. She didn’t just let him kiss her.

She kissed him back.

Obviously, he wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon, so he refilled his glass of water and went back into Thomas’s study. He would try to relax his mind and see what he could figure out.

The room was exactly as he and Anna left it. A total mess. He picked up a set of topographical maps of the Middle East. Each showed the same location but a different time period, from 600 BC to the present. What was so interesting about this location that Thomas had wanted to study its topography throughout history?

Jason rubbed his eyes. He was officially beat. The excitement of the kiss with Anna had finally subsided. He figured he’d go to bed.

He was standing up to go upstairs to his room when something started nagging at his mind. Something about the maps. He couldn’t quite figure out what it was. He decided to sleep on it. Maybe it would come.

He climbed into bed and hoped that he could finish his prayer time before he fell asleep. He was praying and thanking God for His perfect love when it hit him.
Perfect love
. He sat up in his bed. Quickly, he finished his prayer and ran back downstairs. He needed to take another look at the scroll.

He pulled out the box to open it and gently removed the scroll. He read it once. Then he read it again. He grabbed the maps and studied them one by one. Then he scanned row through row of bookshelves until he found the special edition study Bible he was looking for. He flipped it open to the back where the maps were.

He walked back over to the maps that were lying out on the floor. He compared them to the ones he was looking at in the Bible. This was it. It had to be.

He fell to his knees at the weight of his discovery. Was it possible? He had always believed that the Bible was the actual word of God. He believed that it revealed the will of God to man, and that the content and testimonies contained in it were absolute facts. If so, then it was time to put that belief into practice.

He flipped to the first page and began reading the book of Genesis.

I
t was almost midnight when the meeting came to order. Wickham sat at the head of the table as usual. The rest of the brothers sat around him. The room was quiet for the first time since they had arrived. Wickham rapped his knuckles on the hardwood to signal that the meeting was officially beginning.

No one had really said anything yet, but Wickham knew they must be wondering what was going on. It wasn’t that they were called out of their warm beds for a meeting. He did that to them all the time. The question was, who was the stranger standing behind him, leaning against the wall?

Wickham cleared his throat. “Brothers, welcome. We will keep this brief. First, I want you all to know that the scroll is moments away from being in our possession.” He held up his hands to quiet the murmuring. “Second, there is the matter of Conclave.” Again, he had to quiet the men. “Now, we all know that Joseph has been thrust into the spotlight.”

This time the eruption was more significant. Some stood up, waving their hands, speaking indignantly. Others pounded their fists on the table, demanding an explanation. Since their meeting in the papal audience hall, none of the brothers had spoken to Wickham. And he left a lot to be discussed. Now, away from the rest of the Vatican, they let their questions fly. It was Ibrahim who finally rose to the top of the noise to be heard.

“How dare you make a decision like that without consulting us first!” Ibrahim’s face was red. “We are all well aware that you orchestrated that letter. You likely wrote it yourself. But to suggest Joseph? Have you lost your mind? There is no way he will be the next pope. Even I am much more qualified.”

Again the room became a ruckus. Wickham expected it. He hadn’t explained himself since he made the announcement, but he needed to do so now. He grabbed a wooden statue sitting on a pedestal and slammed it on the table, creating a thunderous boom that reverberated through the room.

“Now, gentlemen,” he said, placing the statue back on the pedestal, “if we may continue?”

Everyone took their seats. Menacing stares roved around the table as all the brothers looked at one another.

“Yes, I did fabricate the letter. Yes, Joseph was my idea. And yes, I did consider all of you for the job. But to put it quite plainly, none of you would be even a possible choice for the papacy. You would be laughed out of the room by everyone voting. You all have a lot of baggage.”

“And this buffoon is a better choice?” Ibrahim motioned over to Joseph. “You think
he
can get elected? He’s been buried in the archives for the last three years. No one even knew who he was until that letter.”

“That’s exactly the point. We can make him into a great man. By the time we all work our magic, Joseph will be the most beloved cardinal in the whole Vatican. There’s no way he won’t get elected.”

The meeting became total chaos. Finally, the man who had been standing behind Wickham stepped forward. Everyone had forgotten he was even there until he spoke.

“Excuse me, gentlemen.” He barely spoke loud enough to be heard, but his voice pierced the noise like a dagger. The room fell to a dead silence.

The man smiled and walked around the table, touching each brother on the shoulder as he passed. One by one, they all sat down and stared blankly at him. When he got around the table, he brushed Wickham out of the way and took his seat.

“You are wondering who I am. Why I am here. I’m surprised, really. For a long time each and every one of you has served me. Some of you have done well. Some of you haven’t. Nevertheless, you know who I am.”

And they did. Instantly. One by one, they nodded. A mixture of fear and sadness etched on their faces. A mood of shame and self-pity hung in the air.

“It was my decision to make Joseph the next pope. I need him.”

Again everyone nodded.

“And I expect you to do whatever it takes to get him elected. Is that understood?”

Again everyone nodded.

“Good. I promise you will all be rewarded. Soon I will have total control over everything you see around you. Not just Rome or the Vatican, but the world. Contrary to what that fairy tale says, I can and will rule this world forever. And as soon as I have that scroll, you will see. And when I have what I want, I will make you all great kings of great nations. You will rule over this earth. And you will live forever. And you will bow to me and worship me.” He stood and moved his chair into the center of the room. Then he sat back down. “And you will start tonight. Come here, each of you, and bow before me.”

T
he flight into Jerusalem had been stressful. They had tried to get hold of Hale and the rest of the flight crew, but there was no answer. Hale’s phone just went to voice mail. They even made contact with the security team and talked to Christopher Wallace. He hadn’t heard from Hale or the rest of the crew since their meeting earlier this week. He said he would look into it. But for now, they needed to be careful and just stay in London.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. They had to go to Jerusalem. Christopher told them that under the circumstances, he would break protocol and arrange for agents to meet them in Israel. Anna and Jason thanked him and told him that they would be staying at the King David Hotel. He booked their flights to make sure an agent got on board with them while he and the others took a later charter with all their equipment on board. And he promised he would do all he could to find out where Hale and the rest of the crew was.

The last five days had been something Jason couldn’t even describe. With not much else to do and the assurance of the security team, he and Anna spent most of their time sightseeing and talking. And not even about the scroll. They talked about their families and where they grew up and the things they liked to do. They argued over pizza versus cheeseburgers. They tried to decide which was better, Rocky Road or Turtle Tracks. Anna told Jason that living in Nashville, it seemed there was nothing to do, but whenever guests came, she was quickly reminded of how much there actually was to do—the Frist Museum, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Printer’s Alley, the Parthenon. He’d never been to any of them, but he saw them through her eyes.

In the end, what happened was more important than anything else. Jason lost his heart. He knew he was falling in love. Anna had basically felt the same way and, as much, told him. They talked about it and decided that even though their relationship was fairly new and founded under extreme duress, they knew what they were feeling for each other was real. Jason had prayed about it every night since the first kiss, and God pretty much confirmed it in his heart that she was “the one.” He just hoped they lived long enough to see it grow. The way things had gone since he met her, it could be a coin flip.

Now Jason got out of bed and walked across the expansive hotel suite to knock on Anna’s bedroom door. “Anna, you up?” He heard a faint moan come from the other side. “Hey … slacker! Get up. We’ve got things to do today.” He smiled, waiting for the smart comment he was sure was coming.

The door swung open, nearly knocking Jason on his backside. Anna stood there, fully dressed, with her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.

She turned around and walked into the bathroom. She rinsed the toothpaste out of her mouth and turned back to Jason. “I was trying to say come in.”

“Sounded like a moan to me. I thought you were still sleeping.”

“That’s what you get for assuming.”

Jason let out a big yawn and ran his hands through his hair. He scratched the stubble on his chin and looked at her as if he were totally uninterested in anything she just said. “I just came over here to tell you that Benjamin called. Said to meet him tonight at eleven o’clock.”

“Wow! That gives us all day,” she said.

“Yep. We can sleep in this morning.” He turned around and went back through the dividing door. He looked back over his shoulder as he was pushing the door shut. “I’m going back to sleep. See you in about three hours.”

She grabbed him before he could escape the room. “I’m up. I’m dressed,” she hissed. “You want to tell me again that I could have slept in?”

He dropped a kiss on her nose. “You’re really not a morning person. You know that?”

“I am too a morning person.” “Really? You think so?”

She started laughing. “Well … I love breakfast.” She pushed him away again.

“Me, too. How about eggs?” “We have some?”

“No, but I bet we could find a nice little restaurant.”

“Sounds good.” She leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Get a shower and get ready. I’ll go call the lobby and ask them where we should go.”

“Okay, I’ll only need fifteen minutes. I’ll be right out.” He walked into his bathroom and shut the door. He could hear her

placing the phone call: “Ah, yes, sir. I was wondering where we could get a nice breakfast this morning. We like eggs.”

Twenty minutes later they were downstairs at the hotel’s breakfast buffet, which the concierge insisted was the best in Jerusalem. Halfway through their meal, they both agreed that the concierge had been right.

They had a fairly secluded table in the back of the room, with one other table within earshot of them. Just three young children and two emotionally drained parents, none of whom had any interest in eavesdropping. That was good, because Anna had something she needed to talk about.

Ever since their first real kiss five nights ago, Jason had been very quiet. She didn’t know what to make of it. It was as if he had something he needed to tell her but couldn’t. She had played the last few days over and over in her mind, trying to figure out what it could be. The only thing she could figure was that maybe he had a girlfriend he wasn’t telling her about. She quickly dismissed the thought every time it crept up into her mind. Surely he would have said something. And so she just let it go. But something was going on. He wouldn’t even talk about the scroll with her. Every time she brought it up, he just said he was thinking about it. But he would always reassure her that they would figure it out. “Don’t worry, Anna,” he would say. “It will come to us. Just wait. You’ll see.” Well, she was getting tired of waiting. They were supposed to meet Benjamin in a few hours, and they had no idea what they were doing.

On the bright side of things, their relationship, if you could call it that, was taking off tremendously, aside from the nagging thought of his possible girlfriend. The last five days had been mind-numbing. She and Jason had taken walks all over the city. They had visited Albert Hall and the Museum of Natural History. They had tried out countless cafés and restaurants. They had even taken in a show. Jason had surprised her with tickets to
Les Misérables. It was very romantic.