The Templar Legacy (34 page)

Mark stepped toward the church. “Follow me.”

STEPHANIE OPENED THE DOOR ANDROYCECLARIDON ENTEREDthe house. “Where did you come from?” she asked, motioning for Geoffrey to lower his weapon.

“They took me from the palace last night and drove me here. They kept me in a flat two streets over, but I managed to slip away a few minutes ago.”

“How many brothers are in the village?” Geoffrey asked Claridon.

“Who are you?”

“His name is Geoffrey,” Stephanie said, hoping her compatriot understood to offer precious little.

“How many brothers are here?” Geoffrey asked again.

“Four.”

Stephanie stepped toward the kitchen window and gazed out at the street. The cobbles were deserted in both directions. But she was concerned about Mark and Malone. “Where are those brothers?”

“I don’t know. I heard them say you were in Lars’s house, so I came straight here.”

She didn’t like that response. “We couldn’t help you last night. We had no idea where they’d taken you. We were knocked unconscious trying to catch de Roquefort and the woman. By the time we woke up, everyone was gone.”

The Frenchman held up his palms. “It is all right, madame, I understand. There was nothing you could do.”

“Is de Roquefort here?” Geoffrey asked.

“Who?”

“The master. Is he here?”

“No names were given.” Claridon faced her. “But I heard them say that Mark is alive. Is that true?”

She nodded. “He and Cotton walked to the church, but they should be back shortly.”

“A miracle. I thought he was gone forever.”

“You and me both.”

His gaze raked the room. “I’ve not been inside this house in some time. Lars and I spent a lot of time here.”

She offered him a seat at the table. Geoffrey positioned himself near the window, and she noticed an edge to his otherwise cool demeanor.

“What happened to you?” she asked Claridon.

“I was bound until this morning. They untied me so I could relieve myself. In the bathroom, I climbed out the window and came straight here. They will surely be looking for me, but there was nowhere else to go. Getting out of this town is quite difficult, since there is but one way in and out.” Claridon fidgeted in the chair. “Might I trouble you for some water?”

She stood and filled a glass from the tap. Claridon downed it in one swallow. She refilled the glass.

“I was terrified of them,” Claridon said.

“What do they want?” she asked.

“They seek their Great Devise, as Lars did.”

“And what did you tell them?” Geoffrey asked, with a hint of scorn in his tone.

“I told them nothing, but they asked precious little. I was told that my questioning would be later today, after they tended to something else. But they failed to say what that was.” Claridon stared at her. “Do you know what they want from you?”

“They have Lars’s journal, the book from the auction, and the lithograph of the painting. What more could they want?”

“I think it’s Mark.”

The words visibly stiffened Geoffrey.

She wanted to know, “What do they want with him?”

“I have no clue, madame. But I wonder if any of this is worth bloodshed.”

“Brothers have died for nearly nine hundred years for what they believed,” Geoffrey said. “This is no different.”

“You talk as though you’re of the Order.”

“I’m only quoting history.”

Claridon drank his water. “Lars Nelle and I studied the Order for many years. I have read that history you speak of.”

“What did you read?” Geoffrey asked, amazement in his voice. “Books written by people who know nothing. They write of heresy and idol worship, of kissing each other on the mouth, of sodomy, and of the denial of Jesus Christ. Not a word of which is true. All lies designed to destroy the Order and take its wealth.”

“Now you truly speak like a Templar.”

“I speak like a man who cherishes justice.”

“Is that not a Templar?”

“Should that not be all men?”

Stephanie smiled. Geoffrey was quick.

MALONE FOLLOWEDMARK BACK INTO THECHURCH OFMARYMagdalene. They hustled down the center aisle, past nine rows of pews and gawkers, toward the altar. There Mark veered right and entered a small anteroom through an open doorway. Three camera-toting visitors stood inside.

“Could you excuse us?” Mark said to them in English. “I’m with the museum and we need this room for a few moments.”

None questioned his obvious authority and Mark gently closed the door behind them. Malone looked around. The space was naturally illuminated by the light from a stained-glass window. A row of empty cupboards dominated one wall. The other three were all of wood. No furniture was inside.

“This was the sacristy,” Mark said.

De Roquefort was no more than a minute from being upon them, so he wanted to know, “I assume you have something in mind?”

Mark stepped toward the cupboard and searched with his fingertips above the top shelf. “Like I told you, when Saunière built the Calvary garden, he constructed the grotto. He and his mistress would go down into the valley and collect stones.” Mark continued to search for something. “They’d come back with hods full of rocks. There.”

Mark withdrew his hand and grabbed hold of the cupboard, which swung open to reveal a windowless space beyond. “This was Saunière’s hiding place. Whatever else he brought back with those rocks was stored here. Few know of this addition. Saunière created it during the church remodeling. Plans for this building, prior to 1891, show it as an open room.”

Mark withdrew an automatic pistol from beneath his jacket. “We’ll wait in here and see what happens.”

“Does de Roquefort know of this room?”

“We’ll find out shortly.”

DEROQUEFORT STOPPED OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. ODD THAT HIStargets had fled inside. But no matter. He was going to personally tend to Mark Nelle. His patience was at an end. He’d taken the precaution of consulting with his officers before leaving the abbey. He wasn’t going to repeat the former master’s mistakes. His tenure would at least carry the appearance of a democracy. Thankfully, yesterday’s escape and the two shootings had galvanized the brotherhood onto a singular path. All agreed that the former seneschal and his ally must be returned for punishment.

And he intended to deliver.

He surveyed the street.

The crowd was growing. A warm day had brought out the tours. He turned to the brother standing beside him. “Go inside and assess the situation.”

A nod and the man walked off.

He knew the church’s geography. Only one way in and out. The stained-glass windows were all fixed, so they would have to shatter one to escape. He saw no policemen, which was normal for Rennes. Little ever happened here except the spending of money. The commercialization sickened him. If it was his decision, all tours of the abbey would be stopped. He realized the bishop would question that move, but he’d already decided to limit access to only a few hours on Saturdays, citing the brothers’ need for more solitude. That the bishop would understand. He fully intended on restoring many of the old ways, practices that had long been abandoned, rituals that once separated the Templars from all other religious orders. And for that he would need the abbey’s gates locked far more than they were open.

The brother he’d sent inside exited the church and walked his way.

“They’re not there,” the man said as he drew close.

“What do you mean?”

“I searched the nave, the sacristy, the confessionals. They’re not inside.”

He did not want to hear that. “There’s no other exit.”

“Master, they’re not there.”

His gaze locked on the church. His mind swirled with possibilities.

Then the answer was clear.

“Come,” he said. “I know precisely where they are.”

STEPHANIE WAS LISTENING TOROYCECLARIDON, NOT AS A WIFEand mother on a mission important to her family, but as the head of a covert government agency that dealt routinely in espionage and counterespionage. Something was out of place. Claridon’s sudden appearance was too convenient. She knew little about Raymond de Roquefort, but she knew enough to realize that either Claridon had been allowed to escape or, worse, the prickly little man sitting across from her was in league with the enemy. Either way she had to watch what she said. Geoffrey, too, had apparently sensed something since he was offering precious little to the Frenchman’s many questions—too many inquiries for a man who’d just survived a life-and-death experience.

“Was the woman last night in the palace Cassiopeia Vitt, the Ingénieur mentioned in the letter to Ernst Scoville?” she asked.

“I would assume. A she-devil.”

“She may have saved us all.”

“How? She interfered, as she did with Lars.”

“You’re alive right now thanks to her interference.”

“No, madame. I am alive because they want information.”

“What I wonder is why you’re even here,” Geoffrey said from his position by the window. “Escaping from de Roquefort is not easy.”

“You did.”

“And how would you know that?”

“They spoke of you and Mark. Apparently there was shooting. Brothers were hurt. They’re angry.”

“Did they mention attempting to kill us?”

A moment of uneasy silence passed.

“Royce,” Stephanie said. “What else might they be after?”

“I only know that two books are missing from their archive. There was a mention of that.”

“You just said a moment ago that you possessed no clue as to why they wanted Madame Nelle’s son.” Suspicion laced Geoffrey’s declaration.

“And I don’t. But I know they want the two missing books.”

Stephanie glanced at Geoffrey and saw not a hint of acquiescence in the younger man’s expression. If indeed he and Mark possessed the books de Roquefort sought, no admission came from his eyes.

“Yesterday,” Claridon said, “you showed me Lars’s journal and the book—”

“Which de Roquefort has.”

“No. Cassiopeia Vitt stole both from him last night.”

Another new piece of information. Claridon knew an awful lot for a man whom his captors supposedly ignored.

“So de Roquefort needs to find her,” she made clear. “As we do.”

“It seems, madame, that one of the books Mark took from their archive also contains a cryptogram. De Roquefort wants that book back.”

“Is this more of what you overheard?”

Claridon nodded. “ Oui.They believed me asleep, but I was listening. One of their marshals, from Saunière’s time, discovered the cryptogram and recorded it in the book.”

“We have no books,” Geoffrey said.

“What do you mean?” Astonishment filled the man’s face.

“We have no books. We left the abbey in a great rush and took nothing with us.”

Claridon came to his feet. “You’re a liar.”

“Bold words. Can you prove the allegation?”

“You’re a man of the Order. A warrior of Christ. A Templar. Your oath should be enough to prevent you from lying.”

“And what prevents you?” Geoffrey asked.

“I don’t lie. I’ve been through a difficult ordeal. I hid in an asylum for five years to avoid being a prisoner of the Templars. Do you know what they planned to do to me? Grease my feet and hold them before a hot brazier. Cook my skin from the bone.”

“We have no books. De Roquefort is chasing a shadow.”

“But that’s not so. Two men were shot during your escape, and both said Mark carried a rucksack.”

She perked at the information.

“And how would you know that?” Geoffrey asked.

DEROQUEFORT ENTERED THE CHURCH, FOLLOWED BY THEbrother who’d just been inside. He walked down the center aisle and entered the sacristy. He had to give Mark Nelle credit. Few knew about the church’s secret room. It was not part of any tour, and only Rennes purists would have any inkling the concealed space existed. He’d often thought it curious that the domain’s operators did not exploit Saunière’s addition to the church’s architecture—secret rooms always added to any mystery—but there were a lot of things about the church, the town, and the story that defied explanation.

“When you came in before, was the entrance to this room open?”

The brother shook his head and whispered, “Closed, Master.”

He gently shut the door. “Allow no one to enter.”

He approached the cupboard and withdrew his gun. He’d never actually seen the secret chamber that lay beyond, but he’d read enough accounts from previous marshals who’d investigated Rennes to know that a concealed room existed. If he recalled correctly, the release mechanism was in the top right corner of the cupboard.

He reached up and located a metal lever.

He knew that once he yanked down, the two men on the other side would be alerted and he had to assume they were armed. Malone certainly could handle himself and Mark Nelle had proven he was not a man to underestimate.

“Prepare yourself,” he said.

The brother withdrew a short-barreled automatic and aimed at the cupboard. He popped the latch and quickly stepped back, gun pointed, waiting for what would happen next.

The cupboard inched open, then stopped.

He stayed at the far right edge and, with his foot, pivoted the door wide open.

The secret room was empty.

MALONE STOOD CLOSE TOMARK INSIDE THE CONFESSIONAL. They’d waited inside the hidden room for a couple minutes, able to observe the sacristy through a tiny Judas hole strategically placed in the cupboard. Mark had watched as one of the brothers entered the sacristy, saw the room empty, and left. They’d waited a few more seconds, then exited, watching from the doorway as the brother left the church. Seeing no other brothers inside, they’d quickly hustled to the confessional and stepped inside just as de Roquefort and the brother returned.

Mark had correctly surmised that de Roquefort would know of the secret room, but that he wouldn’t share that knowledge with anyone unless absolutely necessary. When they’d spotted de Roquefort waiting outside, sending another brother inside to investigate, they’d lingered only long enough to buy a couple of minutes to change locations, since once the scout returned and reported they were missing de Roquefort would immediately surmise where they were hiding. After all, there was only one way in and out of the church.