The Code - Genesis - Book I (21 page)

“What just happened?” Natan asks.

Susan pushes herself off of the couch. “I’ve never experienced anything like this.”  She attempts to tidy up her disheveled clothes.

Natan runs her fingers through her hair. “Things just get weirder and weirder.”

Josh leans in to Natan. “Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.”

Susan addresses both of them. “You’re lucky you both came.”

“Lucky?” Natan retorts.

             
Susan looks at Natan. “You’re in danger, Agent Natan.”  She tidies her hair.  “Use that knowledge to help yourself.”

             
Josh is clueless. “What are you guys talking about?”

Natan replies, “I saw it, Professor.  And now, we have to find the answers.”

“Saw what?  Answers to what?”

Susan addresses Natan. “You accomplished the first step.  You’ve begun the journey, now take the next step.  Follow your intuition, Agent Natan.  I’ll be here to help you if you need me.”

Josh, Natan, and Susan stand dazed and stare at one another.

Chapter Thirty-seven

2001

A church in central
Baltimore
is decked out in traditional Christmas holiday adornments, with red and green cloth s
treaming down pillars on either
side and poinsettias lining every wall.  Ms. Malin, a devoted woman in her fifties, kneels on the first pew in front of the altar praying.  She raises her head and crosses herself in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then stands and walks up to the altar. 

Ms. Malin stands behind the altar looking out at the empty church as sun streams in through the stained glass windows.  She reaches behind the altar through a curtain and retrieves some items for the sacrament, gently placing a bowl with the body of Christ to her left as she places a chalice to her right.  Reaching down once again, she retrieves a sacrament cloth, gently folding it in two.  Ms. Malin can hear the door open in the front of the church.  Still holding the sacrament cloth, she looks up in the direction of the entrance, squinting through the sun as shadows dance around the church.  She cannot see the door from her vantage point.  She hears footsteps closing in, but is unable to see, so she comes from behind the altar with cloth in hand and spots a parishioner.

She acknowledges him, “Good morning, Sir.  Mass doesn’t begin until
noon
, though you’re welcome to pray if you like.”

The parishioner
stands in front of the smiling Ms. Malin. “I’m so glad you look like you’re having a good day, because I’m not really here to pray, Ms. Malin.”

             
Ms. Malin’s smile fades into a look of shock as she backs up. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

The parishioner
closes in. “No…but I know you,” he says, as he grabs her by the arm.  The cloth falls and hits the ground.

“What are you doing?  Let me go,” a frightened Ms. Malin pleads.

“I must have a word, please.” The parishioner pushes Ms. Malin toward a door behind the altar.

“Please…don’t…I’m a woman of God.  I have nothing you want,” she begs.

“You may have the one thing I desire most.”  The parishioner opens the door and pushes Ms. Malin inside the tiny cloaked room.  He looks around to make sure no one sees him and then he enters the room after her as he pushes her down onto a chair toward the back of the room.  He continues, “Make yourself comfortable, Ms. Malin.   I have just a few questions for you and I’ll be on my way.”

Ms. Malin cries, “Please…please don’t hurt me.”

The parishioner takes a wooden chair from the side of the room and sits it

backward in front of Ms. Malin.  He slowly takes a seat.  “Let’s start over, okay?  My name is James, Ms. Malin, but my friends call me Jimmy.”  Ms. Malin sobs. Jimmy continues, “I’m gonna have to ask you to stop that now so that we can get on to the important issue at hand.”

             
Ms. Malin quiets herself.  “Now…that’s better.  Call me Jimmy, Ms. Malin,” he instructs.  Through quiet tears, Ms. Malin trembles.  “I’ll repeat myself again…but I have only a finite amount of patience.  Call me Jimmy, Ms. Malin.”

Ms. Malin, with a look of terror on her face, struggles to say his name. “J…Jimmy.”

             
Jimmy slaps his knee. “That’s great.  I love clear communication, don’t you?”

“Wh…What do you want?” she asks in terror.

“Saying my name makes you brazen, doesn’t it?  I have that effect on all women.”

             
Ms. Malin looks down in disgust.  Jimmy grabs Ms. Malin by the face, leaning in an inch from her.  He licks his lips, darting his tongue out just slightly. “Don’t knock what you ain’t had.”  Jimmy pushes her back away from him.  “Now…I’m gonna ask you some questions and I want you to answer me directly.  As you can see, I’m not here to play games with you and my patience is running thinner by the moment…so…the quicker your answers, the sooner I’m out of your hair.  Understand?”

             
Ms. Malin trembles as she stares at the ground.  She is too frightened to utter a reply.  Jimmy raises her chin. “You understand?”  Ms. Malin nods yes.  He continues, “Today is a special day…one of celebratory nature.  Can you tell me what today is, Ms. Malin?”

             
Ms. Malin shakes her head no.  “Tell me the date, Ms. Malin.”

Her voice shaking, she answers, “Dec…December twenty-first.”

             
Jimmy stands and begins circling Ms. Malin. “Ah…December twenty-first.”

He stands behind her, gently stroking her hair. “And why is today significant?”

She begins to sob again, “I…I don’t know.”

Jimmy comes around and stands directly in front of Ms. Malin. “As I said earlier,

Ms. Malin…I will ask again, but you’re losing chances.  Now, what is the significance of today’s date?”

Ms. Malin shouts through her tears, “I said I don’t know!”

Jimmy mocks her, “Are you telling me that you don’t remember the day your daughter was born?” 

Ms. Malin sobs openly as he continues, “What kind of a mother would forget her own daughter’s birthday?  Oh…yeah…a mother who abandoned her…isn’t that right?”

Ms. Malin shakes her head no as she cries.  “Let me put it another way…is today your daughter Katherine’s birthday?”  Ms. Malin sits with a glazed look on her face as tears stream down her face.

December 28, 1973
 

Inside a
Baltimore
hospital, a nurse sits behind a desk writing reports.  A younger Ms. Malin app
roaches, with baby Natan in her arms
, wrapped in a pink blanket
.

“May I help you, Miss?” the nurse asks.

Ms. Malin is visibly upset, holding back tears. “Nurse…I have to surrender my baby.”

“Surrender your baby?” the nurse asks in shock.

“I…I just can’t keep her.” Ms. Malin pushes baby Natan toward the nurse.

             
“But, Miss,” the nurse tries to protest.

Ms. Malin turns and walks away, leaving the nurse holding little Natan in her arms. “Miss, you can’t just leave your baby…” 

Ms. Malin stops and turns, shocking the already frazzled nurse. “This child is from the devil himself.  My hands cannot touch it…ever again.”  Ms. Malin turns and quickly walks down the hall and out the exit doors at the end of the corridor.

The nurse stands holding baby Natan.

Back inside the church room, a captive Ms. Malin sits confined as tears pour down her face.  Jimmy pulls out a gun from the back of his pants, cocks it, and then runs it up her thigh, probing for his answer.

“Yes…today is her birthday,” she answers.

             
Jimmy lowers the gun. “Well, all right.  That makes her twenty-eight, now doesn’t it?  At least I know I have the right woman now.  I hate when I get the wrong one…you can imagine how embarrassing that could be.”

“What do you want?” Ms. Malin asks.

Jimmy leans in. “I’m the one asking the questions…remember?”  He licks the side of Ms. Malin’s face.  She slaps him in reflex.  Jimmy raises his gun again and points it at her.

“Go ahead…shoot me, James.  God is on my side…is he on yours?” she says coolly, no longer facing her fate in fear.

             
Jimmy, impressed, lowers the gun. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t ya?”  He rubs the gun against her arm. “I’m sure you have all that pent-up anger because you gave away your own child.  But I wonder who is more angry, you or Katherine.”  Ms. Malin looks away with contempt.  Jimmy continues, “You know where she is, Ms. Malin?”

Ms. Malin stares him down. “Are you completely without intellect?  I gave my daughter up.  I know nothing of her life…nothing of it.  And I don’t care to.  My life is lived for God and has been for the last twenty-eight years.  I don’t know how you even found me because I gave her up anonymously.” 

“You’d be surprised what I know, Ms. Malin.  The people I work for are very powerful…their hands reach everyone and everything.  And
my
life is lived to find your daughter, Katherine…as it has been for the last eighteen years.  You were one of our last resources.”

“Why are you so interested in her?” she asks.

“Oh…you know the answer to that as well as I do, Ms. Malin.  Isn’t that why you gave her up?”

             
Ms. Malin looks down. “I…I gave her up to so that I could give my life to God.”

“Yeah…if that’s what lets you sleep at night,” Jimmy replies.

She lunges at Jimmy. “You son of a bitch.”

             
Jimmy knocks her back into the chair. “That ain’t very Christian of you, now is it, Ms. Malin?”

“Go to hell,” she answers.

Jimmy leans in again. “I’ll meet ya there.  Who do you think will get there first?”

             
Ms. Malin pulls away in disgust.  Jimmy continues, “I guess it’s safe to say that you really have let her go.  And you can rest assured that she’ll be in good hands real soon.”

             
“My daughter is dead to me,” Ms. Malin says coldly.

             
Jimmy starts to tuck his gun behind his back, “More than you know, Ms. Malin.”

Ms. Malin spits in Jimmy’s face.  Jimmy slowly wipes his face as he takes the gun back out, raising it quickly to hit her in the head with the gun butt.  Ms. Malin falls to the floor. Blood runs down her neck as she lies motionless, knocked out.

Jimmy chastises the fallen woman, “I won’t send her your love, since you have none for her.  Who can you trust, Ms. Malin, if you can’t even trust the love of a parent?” His voice reverberates in her unconscious.

As he tucks his gun behind h
is back a tattoo with red angel
s
’
wings peeks from behind his sleeve.  Jimmy walks out, leaving Ms. Malin on the floor.

Chapter Thirty-eight

             
Inside her therapist’s office, Agent Natan sits fidgeting on the edge of her seat across from
Christine
, who calmly waits with notepad in hand. 
Christine
initiates the conversation. “It’s evident that you have things to discuss, since you arrived here without an appointment.”

Natan wrings her hands. “I’m sorry I came unannounced.  I’m…I’m just at a loss.”

“What’s happened, Natan?” she asks, concerned.

Natan hesitates. “The professor I’ve told you about…well…he took me to see a psychic.”

“A psychic?”
Christine
jots notes.

Natan continues, “Yes, a psychic.  First, let me ask…how do you feel about this sort of thing?”

“What sort of thing, psychics?”
Christine
replies.  Natan nods her head yes. 
Christine
continues, “Are we talking about 1-900-number psychics?”

“I’m talking about people with…real abilities,” Natan clarifies.

“Well, if it’s abilities you’re talking about, then I definitely find validity in certain
aspects of it.  So why did the p
rofessor take you to a psychic?”
Christine
asks.

“To help me,” Natan replies.