Mp, p.45
MatchUp, page 45
“What’s a glory hole?”
“Test holes dug, mostly by hand, by early explorers looking to strike it big. Some of them date from the time your Fra Ignacio was wandering in these parts. But what really impressed me about that trip was the cavern. Complete with stalagmites and stalactites. I’d never seen one like that. It seemed to go on forever.”
“Can you take me there?” he asked.
“Now?”
“Please. Because that’s what the fragment we found in the Vatican said. That the veil was hidden in a cavern. We’ll need backup, though. I’ll call and see if my people are on the ground in Flagstaff.”
She glanced out the window where fat snowflakes were already starting to fall. “That cavern is a lot higher than we are here in Sedona. By the time your people get here from Flagstaff, if they’re even in Flagstaff, the road into the mountains may be impassable. Besides, you’ll have backup. You’ll have me and Mr. Leland Brooks.”
“The old guy who was here a little while ago?” he asked with no attempt to conceal his disbelief. “The one who brought our coffee?”
She nodded.
“Please, Ms. Reynolds. This might be terribly dangerous for everyone concerned, and the idea of involving a frail old man is out of the question. Tell me how to get there and I’ll do it alone.”
“I saw your rental. A front-wheel-drive sedan. Where we’re going, that will never do. As for Mr. Brooks? You’d be surprised. He came of age as a Royal Marine, and you know what they say, ‘Once a marine, always a marine.’ ”
The butler appeared at the French doors.
“You called, madame?”
“I did,” Ali said. “Stuart Ramey has located the spot where one of Mr. Shaw’s associates, Martin Price, was viciously attacked. He and I are about to set off on a mission to retrieve an item of Mr. Price’s property. Would you care to join us?”
“What kind of mission?”
“Most likely a dangerous and snowy one.”
“So winter gear then,” Leland said without so much as a pause. “What about weaponry?”
“We’re hoping there won’t be any law enforcement involvement. But just to be on the safe side, nothing that can be traced back to you,” she noted.
“So batons then, rather than handguns?”
“Probably a good idea.” She turned to Bravo. “What kind of hiking gear do you have along?”
“I came prepared. Everything I need is out in the car.”
She nodded. “Leland can show you to the guest room so you can change, and I’ll go do the same. Wheels up in ten.”
LEFT IN A GUEST ROOM to change out of business clothing and into something more suitable for wintertime hand-to-hand combat, Bravo did more stewing than changing. He wasn’t accustomed to working with people outside the order, and yet, in this case, shorthanded as he was, there didn’t seem to be a choice. If the veil really was within reach, he didn’t want to lose it to the Knights of Saint Clement.
That meant speed was of the essence.
Ali knew how to get to the location where they needed to be. He did not. In the meantime, the weather outside the guest room window was deteriorating by the minute. He supposed, if nothing else, the old man could serve as a lookout while he and Ali searched for the veil. It was possible that Anson Stone was no longer anywhere nearby, but if things came down to taking out Anson Stone?
He himself would handle that task.
Once dressed, he called his sister back in New York. Emma was in charge of research for the inner circle of Gnostic Observatines.
“How’s Martin?” she asked.
“He’s out of surgery, but still iffy. It’s unknown if he’ll make it. I’m working with a woman named Ali Reynolds from a company called High Noon Enterprises. They located an image of the woman who bought the arrow used on Martin. Maria Elena Donahue.”
“The Archer’s sidekick?”
“None other,” he said. “Ali’s people have also locked in on the location where the veil is still hidden. We’re about to go there now.”
“You and who else?”
“The three of us. Ali, an elderly gentleman named Leland Brooks who’s supposedly a former Royal Marine, and yours truly.”
“Three people, including a woman and an old man, up against Anson Stone? That’s nuts.”
“If it goes bad, sis, I want you to know where we are and who’s involved. In the meantime, I want you to find everything there is to find on the Archer.”
“Will do,” she said. “But I don’t like this. I don’t like any of it. Can’t you wait for reinforcements?”
“The more we delay, the better the chance that we lose the veil.”
“Be careful,” she said with a sigh. “Please be careful.”
He left the guest room just as Ali was leaving a room at the end of the hall. She was dressed in a pair of sturdy hiking boots along with jeans topped by what looked like several layers of flannel shirts.
“Ready?” she asked.
He nodded.
“In case this takes longer than just in and out, Leland is in the kitchen putting together a few supplies.”
Minutes later, he found himself in the front passenger seat of a silver Porsche Cayenne. As far as he was concerned this was a life-and-death mission. He shook his head as Leland Brooks loaded a woven picnic hamper into the back of the SUV. Seeming to read Bravo’s disapproval, the old man winked.
“Eat when you can,” he said with a grin as he closed the luggage gate, “but carry a big stick.” And Leland pulled what was clearly a weighted baton from the vest pocket of a down-filled jacket.
Ali immediately connected her phone to the Cayenne’s Bluetooth. They had yet to reach the bottom of the driveway when the phone rang.
“Push just came to shove,” Sister Anselm said over the car’s speaker system. “Stu and Cami spotted the woman from the hunting video and a man walking through the hospital parking lot. By the time they made it to the entrance, we had Father Price on the maternity ward.”
Bravo was concerned.
“It’s the only part of St. Jerome’s that can go on complete lockdown on a moment’s notice,” Ali explained. “It’s also the least likely place for a critically injured patient to be taken for treatment.” To Sister Anselm, Ali said, “What happened?”
“They came inside and went up to the desk where they were told no one by the name of Martin Price was being treated in the hospital. They tried arguing with the desk clerk. She and a security guard ended up sending them packing. They left the hospital under protest, but Stu tells me that as they drove out of the lot, they were being followed by another vehicle. Facial rec of the driver of the car following matches one of the ones provided by Father Shaw earlier.”
“That means they’re handled then,” he said quietly. “If Stone is on his own, that makes our odds a little better.”
“I didn’t quite get that,” Sister Anselm said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Ali said. “Are you and Martin staying on the maternity floor for now?”
“They’ve lifted the lockdown, but since we’re already here, it can be reinstated at a moment’s notice.”
“Has Martin said anything more?” Bravo asked, speaking loudly enough so Sister Anselm could hear.
“Not so far. His doctors are keeping him heavily sedated for the time being.”
“Keep us posted,” Ali said, ending the call. “What will happen to the man and the woman?”
“An eye for an eye,” he responded quietly. “That’s the way it works in our world. May God have mercy on their souls. As for Anson Stone? My sister just sent me a file. The Archer is exceptionally dangerous on every level. He’s ex–Special Forces, and that was before he took to the bow and arrow.”
“Can I read it?” Leland asked from the backseat. “It’s always a good idea to know thy enemy.”
Bravo nodded and handed over his cell.
Leland scanned the file, nodding to himself, then returned the phone to Bravo. “Invaluable. Thank you.”
They drove in silence for more than an hour, through darkening clouds and thickening snow. Steering with confidence, Ali guided the nimble-footed vehicle up one trackless road after another, with each branch narrower than the one before. Even though they were under a thick canopy of pine, enough snow had filtered down that there was at least four inches on the ground when Ali finally stopped and cut the engine.
“We’re here,” she said. “As close as we can get, anyway. The cavern is going to be another mile or so in that direction. From here on, we walk.” She pulled out a compass. “The snow canopy is playing havoc with the GPS. But I’ve been in snowstorms before.”
They left the Cayenne and headed north, straight into the teeth of a rising wind that galloped over the mountains to the north and west. It bore down on them with a gathering ferocity, cutting visibility to nothing more than a few feet.
Ali pressed forward with confidence.
Bravo followed on her heels with Leland Brooks behind him. Despite the sharply steepening and narrowing path, he noted that the spry old man had no difficulty keeping up.
“There were mines up here?” he asked, huffing with exertion at the unaccustomed elevation.
“Not this far up,” she replied. “The really big strike was back down at Jerome. Even though people had known the ore was there for centuries, it couldn’t be profitably extracted until someone finally invented the narrow gauge railroad. Men, horses, mules all died attempting to bring the riches from up here down to market.”
A rumble of thunder rolled around overhead, accompanied by a sudden flash of lightning. The flash illuminated their way in bizarre and lurid colors.
“Lightning in a snowstorm,” she said. “Highly unusual, and bad luck for us. This one’s about to become a doozy.”
The snow fell in diagonal sheets, driven so hard by the wind that it stung their faces, forcing them to continue half blinded. Their progress slowed. The snow piled up at an alarming rate. It was already above their ankles. Drifts had formed in some spots, driven against the rock face calf high.
“Let’s keep going,” she advised. “We’ll be able to shelter inside the cavern and wait it out.”
They reached a particularly hairy stretch where both Ali and Bravo slid back twice. Looking behind him, he noticed that Leland had fallen behind.
“Are you all right?” he called.
“You go on,” Leland yelled. “I’ll just rest here a minute and then catch up.”
He and Ali plodded on.
She stopped time and again to check the compass, and each time he was convinced they were hopelessly lost. He’d fallen behind by a few steps when she suddenly disappeared completely, melting into a gash in the cliff wall that had been entirely invisible in the swirling snow.
He followed.
Inside, he removed a Maglite from his pack and used it to examine the interior of the cave. Dark stains on the floor testified to what had happened here. It shook him beyond measure to know that this was where his people had made their last stand against the Knights. Here and there he caught sight of bloodied bits of cartilage that told him this had also been the scene of Martin’s appalling torture.
He said nothing to Ali.
“If the veil is here,” she said, “where do we start looking?”
A sound broke the silence.
The soft skitter of a pebble or boot heel against rock.
SISTER ANLEM WATCHED AS MARTIN price, in his bed of drug-blunted pain, stirred briefly, opened his eyes, and stared upward into her face.
“Welcome back,” she said, squeezing his hand. “My name is Sister Anselm. You’re in St. Jerome’s Hospital in Flagstaff, Arizona. You’ve been gravely injured, but an excellent surgeon has taken care of all that. Your job now is to rest and let your body heal.”
Instead of calmness a look of urgent dread flashed across his face. “Bravo Shaw. I must speak with him at once.”
His voice came out thin and reedy. Some words dropped to little more than whispers, others disappeared altogether, forcing her to piece them together like a patchwork quilt.
“Not to worry,” she said. “Father Shaw has been here already. He’s discovered where you were when you sent that last text, and he’s probably there by now.”
“In the cavern? Oh, no.”
“Please be still,” she begged. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay. You don’t understand. It’s a trap,” he whispered, and she bent closer to hear his words. “I hid the veil. I didn’t tell the Archer.”
He stopped, panting.
Monitors indicated that his pulse raced.
“The Archer will be there waiting for him. You . . . must . . . warn him.”
“I will,” she said. “You mentioned a boulder earlier. Something about a boulder.”
“Inside the cavern,” he said. “On the floor . . . a boulder that moves.”
His eyelids fluttered.
His heart rate spiked and he slid back into unconsciousness.
She reached for her iPad. The day before, Martin Price had been able to send a text message from somewhere inside that cavern. Now, falling to her knees, she prayed that the reverse would also be true.
ALI FULLY EXPECTED LELAND TO step into the cavern. But he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, an arriving text dinged on her phone. She glanced down at the message.
ARCHER’S THERE. TRAP.
Before she could pass the warning along to Bravo, the figure of a woman materialized in the entrance of the cave behind them. She was dressed all in black. Assuming a bowman’s stance, she sent an arrow whirring into the cavern. Bravo ducked to the ground, shoving Ali down with him an instant before the arrow ricocheted off the cavern wall an inch from her right cheek.
Their attacker reached for another arrow.
BRAVO LAUNCHED HIMSELF FORWARD AND slammed his left forearm into the woman’s head, then raced past into the snowy void at the cavern’s mouth, hoping to engage the Archer.
To his surprise, the woman didn’t give chase.
Behind him, though, he could hear the sounds of a one-on-one battle as Ali engaged the Knight he’d thrown off-balance. He hoped he’d given her enough of an opening.
Another vague outline, far larger than the first, appeared out of the snow. He shifted right at Anson Stone, striking him before his adversary had time to notch an arrow.
The Archer tumbled over backward, arms and legs flying.
He struck three or four times with his closed fist, driving the Archer back beneath the thickening carpet of snow. The Archer’s right arm arced upward and slammed a rock into Bravo’s temple.
He collapsed.
The Archer grabbed the front of his coat, jerked it hard to the left. Bravo tried to clear the fog the blow had caused. The Archer reversed their positions, now on top, trying to pound the back of Bravo’s skull against the ground.
But the snow acted like a cushion.
The Archer pressed one hand onto Bravo’s face, trying to force his head under the snow. But the chill only served to revive Bravo, and he emerged from his stupor with the alacrity of someone fleeing an ice bath.
Still, his breathing was being stifled.
Full understanding of his dire situation flooded him.
He forced his body to go limp.
The Archer, sensing that his prey was either unconscious or dead, heaved Bravo’s head upward to find out which. He intended to deliver a closed-fingered blow straight to the Archer’s windpipe.
But never had a chance.
He heard the dull thud of Leland Brooks’s weighted baton smash into the back of Anson Stone’s head.
The Archer landed dead weight on Bravo’s back, forcing what little breath he still had out of his lungs. Seconds later, the still body was rolled away and Leland helped Bravo to his feet.
The two men then raced into the cavern.
They could hear breathing in the pitch dark. Bravo had lost his Maglite during the struggle. Fortunately Leland still had his, which was switched on. In the beam’s glare they saw Ali leaning against the side of the cavern, gasping for breath, her opponent on the rocky floor, out cold.
Bravo dug into his backpack and came out with a fistful of tie wraps. “We need to secure them.” He looked at Ali. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “You?”
“I wouldn’t be if it weren’t for Leland.”
Who was busy fastening the prisoner’s arms behind her.
“He thumped Anson Stone a good one on the head with that baton of his. I don’t think Anson’s dead, but it’s going to be a while before he comes around.”
“Let’s get him tied up before that happens,” Leland said.
Bravo nodded. “And bring him inside.”
“Do you think there are any others?” Ali asked.
“I hope not.”
WHILE THE TWO MEN STEPPED back outside, Ali struggled to locate her phone. She found the unit and sent Sister Anselm a text created with trembling fingers.
THANKS FOR THE WARNING. IT WAS A TRAP. WE’RE ALL OKAY.
A few moments later a reply text came.
FATHER PRICE SAYS TO LOOK FOR A LOOSE BOULDER INSIDE THE CAVERN. IT’S THERE, SOMEWHERE. I THINK IT MAY BE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE.
Anson Stone was still unconscious when Leland and Bravo carried him inside the cave, then dropped him to the ground.
“I heard from Sister Anselm. Martin tried to warn us that it might be a trap. But he said to look for a boulder inside the cavern.”
“What exactly are we looking for?” Leland asked.
“A copper tube, probably green with verdigris,” Bravo said. “It contains the Veil of Saint Veronica.”
LELAND MANAGED TO BUILD A fire just outside the entrance to the cave, leaving their prisoners next to it for warmth while Bravo and Ali searched for the boulder. When they finally found it, they were surprised at how readily it moved, revealing the treasures hidden underneath—a dead, no-brand flip phone, a pile of loose beads, and the copper tube.
“The Veronica,” Bravo said in a reverential tone. “The cloth used to wipe Christ’s brow on his way to the Crucifixion. A holy relic from the earliest days of Christianity.”
