The Guardian (12 page)

“Yes it is,” said Father Vin.

They opened the front doors and stepped inside. In the front of the great hall, a man was polishing a golden cross that stood to the left of the altar. A custodian of some sort, they assumed. Walking toward the man, Father Vin spoke. “Pardon. Do you speak English?”

“Oui,”
came the reply. “I do.”

“Wonderful,” Father Vin said beaming. “I am Father Vincent Marcella, from the Vatican.” He showed him his credentials. “We are visiting your great city! Would it be all right if we looked around in this magnificent structure?”

“Oui,” the man said, uninterested. “The schoolteacher and I, we two only are here at the moment. Make yourselves welcome. But please do not touch anything. I have spent the morning polishing and cleaning. I am about to go, but the doors … they stay open for the schoolchildren. Just let yourselves out.”

As the custodian took his polishing tools and exited, Father Vin scanned the area for a staircase that led downstairs. Not seeing anything, he told Anna that they should split up and look for it. Anna agreed. They each went in separate directions, Anna to the left, Father Vin to the right.

As Anna made her way down the hall, she noticed a small room off to her left. She could hear voices, the sounds of children. She followed the noise until she was standing outside a door with a glass pane to look through.

She could see several rows of little desks occupied by children. At the front of the room, a very handsome young man, probably about her age, was pointing to a chalkboard where a bunch of words were written. The words didn’t make a sentence. They were just random. Anna could hear the man say each word in French, then in English. Must be an English class.

He must not be a priest, since he wasn’t wearing robes or a little white collar. He was dressed in a pullover shirt and khaki pants. She found herself staring at him.

Suddenly, the kids became aware of her standing outside the door. They started giggling and pointing. When she realized she was causing a disturbance, she quickly moved along. As she was leaving, she saw the man turn around from his chalkboard to see what the commotion was.

Father Vin cut across the sanctuary toward her. “Anna!” He waved his hand at her as he spoke in a whisper. “Come! Quick. I think I’ve found it.”

Anna followed Father Vin to a big wooden door. He opened it and stepped inside, Anna right behind him.

They walked into what Anna could only assume was a confessional booth. Father Vin closed the door behind them and pulled back a curtain. There, along the back wall, was a staircase that led down.

“Old churches like this one,” Father Vin explained, “usually have their basements under the priest’s private chambers. When I couldn’t find one there, I tried here. Go figure!”

There was a single bulb hanging from a string over the entrance. Father Vin pulled on the little chain, and the stairwell came into light. “Here we go!” He took a deep breath and let it out again. “I’ll go first,” he said. “Who knows how long it’s been since they’ve reinforced these old wooden steps.”

Father Vin made his way down the rickety stairs with Anna trailing close behind. When she reached the bottom, she could make out the outline of a light switch in the dim light. Father Vin flipped the switch, and another single bulb hanging from the ceiling illuminated the small cavern. He motioned for Anna to join him.

“Okay. So now what?” Anna asked.

“So now we look,” said Father Vin.

“Look for what?”

“Well, Thomas, in his letter, said we would have to study the stone wall. So, I guess that’s what we do.”

“Okay. You take that one,” Anna pointed, “and I’ll take this one.”

They went to opposite walls and started to carefully study the sides. Neither one had spoken for nearly two minutes when Anna let out a big sigh.

“Vin, I have no idea what we are looking for.”

“I know, dear. We just have to keep looking. Maybe something will jump out at us.”

Anna pushed away a small cobweb. “I sure hope not.”

They scrutinized every piece of stone they passed. Still nothing. Vin was about to start over when Anna suddenly shrieked.

“Anna, what is it?” he asked.

“Vin, come over here. I think I found something.” Father Vin rushed over to where Anna had her hands placed on a piece of stone that was at least a foot wide and eight inches tall.

“This stone looks like it’s been removed recently,” she said.

The mortar around the stone was a different color from the rest of the stones. It had more of a gray hue to it, whereas the rest of the wall had a worn-out, brown look about it.

“I think you’re right.” He took out a small pocket knife and began to test the area around the stone. The mortar crumbled as soon as the small blade was applied.

Anna held her breath. They had found it.

Father Vin began working on the stone. Inch by inch, the dried cement began to fall away like dust. Within a couple of minutes, the entire stone was loose. He placed the blade under the bottom to give it some leverage. Anna grabbed the stone and tried to pull it out.

It only moved an inch or so, but it was enough to get a better grip on it. She let go and grabbed the stone again. This time she was able to pull it out a good six inches. Father Vin put his pocket knife away and helped her pull it out the rest of the way.

The stone was pretty heavy, and when they tried to set it down, Anna lost her grip. The big piece of rock fell to the floor with a loud thud and shattered.

“I guess we won’t be putting that back,” Anna said.

“No, I guess not,” Father Vin agreed. “I just hope no one else heard that.”

He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a tiny flashlight. He shone it inside the dark hole left by the stone that they had just removed. Bending next to him, Anna saw the outline of a box pushed back inside the cavity. Anna reached her hands inside and felt the wood against her fingertips. Once she had a good grasp on it, she pulled. Out came a box, not unlike a shoe box, except this was much more elaborate.

The box was beautifully finished, a hand-carved dark mahogany. Etchings on the side looked like ancient Greek. Father Vin read the writing to her. “For the keeper of the Word of God.”

“That would be me.” Anna whispered.

Father Vin placed his hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Yes. You are the rightful owner of this scroll. I hope this task brings you the same happiness it brought Thomas.”

“Thank you, Vin. What say we open it?”

“You go ahead. I’m going to go wait upstairs for you.” Father Vin turned around to leave.

“Vin, wait!” Anna said urgently.

“What is it, dear?” Father Vin spun back around.

“All these years. You’ve been protecting the protector of this box. Do you
really
not want to see what’s in it?”

Father Vin stood there with a grin on his face. He folded his arms and let out a sigh. “Well, I must admit.” He paused for a moment. “No. I
really
don’t. It’s not my job, Anna; it’s yours.”

“Vin,” Anna pleaded, “stay here and open it with me. Please. For me. I don’t want to do this by myself.”

“Dear child,” he huffed, “God blessed me for years with not having to see it. But I will, for you.”

“Thank you, Vin.”

Anna placed her hands on either side of the lid. She felt the smooth lacquer finish that had been applied to it. She could tell that the finish was relatively new. She figured her grandfather had done it to protect the box from the dampness of the dank basement. She placed her thumbs on the front of the lid, moved the latch holding it in place, and opened the box.

Jason Lang was standing at the chalkboard going through his lesson when he heard the kids start to giggle and make comments. As he turned to see what the commotion was, he caught a glimpse of a beautiful, young woman. And then she was gone.

Normally he wouldn’t think anything of seeing someone pass by his class. He was a tourist attraction. The many people who came to Oloron-Sainte-Marie to visit would often stop by to peek in on one of his classes. He was the resident non-Catholic. Actually, he was a Baptist missionary. He had been here in Oloron-Sainte-Marie for almost two years now, teaching English to the children who lived in the town and the surrounding communities. But today’s visitor struck an odd chord. First of all, it wasn’t the normal time that tourists were usually out and about. Second, Father De Lorme was out of town for the week. He had been left in charge of the church. He didn’t need anything suspicious going on during his watch.

He was just about finished with his lesson, anyway, so he let the kids go early. He waited until the last child was out of the church. Then he closed the door behind him and went off to find this mysterious visitor.

H
ale got out of bed and went to wash his face and brush his teeth. He came back into his room and reached for his phone. Last night he’d paid a visit to an old friend, Jean-Robert, who lived in the area and had the ways and means of finding out who owned the airplane that had been trailing them the day before. He was surprised Jean-Robert hadn’t called him back yet—usually he was far more efficient about eliciting information.

When he picked it up and flipped it open, he noticed the display screen was blank. Strange. He didn’t remember turning the phone off. He pushed the power button and nothing happened. The battery must have died on him during the night. He reached in his bag and found his spare battery. He disconnected the dead one and plugged in the charged one, and immediately the phone came alive.

He waited for the phone to go through its powering-up sequence. Once it showed the welcome sign on the display, he flipped it open again. The inside screen showed that he had five missed calls and three messages. He felt his pulse quicken. He got a sick feeling in his stomach, the kind that told him he’d missed something important.

Quickly he punched in the voice mail number. He waited for the prompt and put his secret code in. He waited for the voice he knew he would hear.

“Hale, this is Jean-Robert. The plane you asked about just arrived. I will go and see what I can find out and call you afterward. Be sure to leave your phone on.”

Hale pushed the button to erase the message and waited for the second one.

“Hello, Hale. It is me, Jean-Robert, again. I found out that your plane came from Venezuela. I do not know if that helps you or not. I will let you know as soon as I find out anything else. Good-bye.”

The sick feeling in Hale’s stomach got worse. This wasn’t good. Not at all. He needed to get to Anna and Father Vin quickly. He knew where they were. It should only be about a forty-minute drive from the hotel. He just hoped he could get there before something bad happened. Again, he pushed the D
ELETE
button and waited for the last message.

“Hale, my friend. Where are you? Why do you not answer your phone? I am afraid I have some bad news for you. I do not wish to leave it on this stupid machine. Call me the second you get this.”

Hale broke out into a sweat. He was already off the bed rummaging through his bag, trying to find clothes with one hand while holding the phone with the other. There was no way this could be good. Not in a million years. He could feel it. He had been careless by letting his phone battery die. And now, Anna and Father Vin may be in danger. He had to move quickly.

He punched in Jean-Robert’s number. Jean-Robert picked up on the second ring.

“This is Jean-Robert. How can I help you?”

“Jean-Robert, this is Hale. What’s going on?” He was already putting his shoes on. He would be out the door in less than two minutes.

“Hale! Why you do not call me back? I wait and wait and wait. Finally, I go to bed. I say, ‘He will call.’ But you don’t call. What is going on?”

“My battery on my phone died. I just realized it. I’m sorry.” He grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. “What is this bad news you said you had?”

“Ah yes. The bad news. Well, I found out that your mysterious plane showed up, just as you predicted. It landed about two hours after you. That’s when I called the first time.”

“Yes, I heard the messages. Please. This may be important. Just skip to the news you didn’t want to leave on the voice mail.”

“Yes, well, like I said, I did some checking around. It seems that your friends from Venezuela are looking for a priest and a young girl. They asked a lot of questions. As soon as they got here, they had a car service waiting for them.”

“How many of them are there?” He was outside and getting into the car.

“Two, as far as I know. I am told they went to a hotel, not the one you are staying at. They talked to the desk clerk and got a room for the night. I have a friend there. He is the concierge. He told me that the men were dealing out lots of cash for some information.”

“Are they still at the hotel?” He was pulling out of the parking lot.

“No. This morning they left, not long after your priest and the young girl. That was about an hour and a half ago. I suggest you hurry.”

“Thank you. Once again, I owe you tremendously.” Hale hung up the phone and stepped on the gas. Father Vin and Anna had a big head start on him. He would have to get to Oloron-Sainte-Marie as quickly as he could. He only hoped that whoever it was following them was doing just that: only following. He flipped the phone open again and tried Father Vin’s number. It went to his voice mail. He figured that if Father Vin and Anna were inside the church looking for the scroll, Vin probably had his phone off. He’d just have to get there in record time.

He reached inside his coat and flipped the strap on the holster. He pulled out the pistol and checked the magazine. Full. Good. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. Placing the gun back inside the shoulder harness, he gripped the steering wheel and pushed the gas pedal down as far as it would go.

Oloron-Sainte-Marie

Jonathan and Larry sat in the rental car outside the cathedral. They had followed Anna and Father Vin from Pau. It had been hard trying to keep their distance on the narrow back roads. There hadn’t been that much traffic. Twice they had to pull over just to put some distance, and a few cars, between them.