The Secret Chapel

second passage had more chilling implications. It linked this secret chapel to the end of days as prophesized in Revelation.”

“What’s the Church’s position in all of this?”

“I have no idea.”

“Haven’t you discussed it with anyone at the Vatican?”

“Only a few trusted friends know about my work, and I’ve asked them not to discuss it with anyone else for now.”

“That sounds a little ominous. Why not?”

“Because there are powers, maybe even evil ones, that don’t want us to know about the chapel’s existence.”

Father Leo stopped eating. “Did you really just say evil powers?”

“There is a section encoded in the Book of Genesis with the words against mankind written in Hebrew. It appears vertically on the page. The word Satan is spelled out horizontally over it two thirds of the way down, forming an upside-down cross in the middle of the page. You would not be able see this in the English version of the Bible. You can only see it in the original Hebrew. Lev Wasserman and I believe this finding is a clear indication that there are forces aligned against those of us who work in God’s name. We also found another encoded message in a different section that clearly states this malevolent force is now embedded within our own church.”

Leo sat back in his chair and tried to make sense of everything Morelli had just told him. The implications were frightening but tantalizing at the same time. A code in the Bible that foretold the future could be considered secular proof of God’s existence.

Morelli looked around before leaning over the table so that only Leo could hear him. “Things are beginning to happen quickly now, Leo. A few hours ago, we found a reference to an ancient Christian seal that apparently points to the chapel’s location under the Basilica.”

“A seal? Where?”

“Not a clue, but according to what we read in the code, it’s very special and we’ll have no trouble recognizing it when we see it. The team in Israel has gone to a twenty-four hour schedule in their search for a description. Everyone on the team, including myself, has encrypted software installed in their computers that searches for coded words and sentences hidden within the Bible. I’ve entered the words seal, chapel, seal under the Vatican, plus hundreds of other combinations, but nothing has surfaced yet. It can be an exhaustive process, Leo, but if you use the computer program and let it run through all the various sequences, the code soon reveals itself.”

Leo took a sip of wine and gazed across the piazza over Morelli’s shoulder. In the distance, he spotted a tall man dressed in a black cassock and wearing the crimson skull cap of a cardinal. It was Marcus Lundahl, and he was walking in their direction. The cardinal was accompanied by his ever-present assistant, Father Emilio, a short, quiet man with thinning hair that contrasted with heavy dark eyebrows.

Following Leo’s gaze, Morelli swiveled in his chair and swore a silent oath before turning back toward Leo.

“What’s wrong, Anthony?”

“No one’s supposed to know you’re here.”

“What?”

Morelli shot Leo a cautionary look as they both dropped their napkins and stood to greet the cardinal. “I didn’t tell anyone I sent for you. Just follow my lead and remember not to mention anything about the chapel.”

The cardinal stopped in front of their table and, without a word, extended his hand. Ritual and etiquette required lower-ranking priests to kiss the ring of a cardinal out of respect for his rank as a Prince of the Church. He studied the two priests like a cat watching a doomed insect run across a carpet as they bent to kiss the large gold ring. “Good evening, Fathers. I apologize for interrupting your meal.”

“Good evening, Your Eminence. Won’t you join us?” Morelli cast a sideways glance at Leo. “You remember our old classmate, Father Leo, don’t you, sir?”

“Yes, of course. It’s nice to see you back in Rome, Father. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t stay. I’m late for a meeting. Why don’t you come by my office the day after tomorrow, Leopold? We can have lunch, and I can catch up on news from America.”

“That is most kind, sir. I look forward to it.”

The tension generated by the unexpected encounter with the cardinal and his assistant was as thick as the rain-induced humidity hanging in the warm air.

“A pleasure as always to see you too, Father Morelli. I hear you have been busy under my feet lately.”

“I beg your pardon, Eminence?”

“I’m referring to your recent excavation under the Basilica. Father Emilio likes to keep me posted on your work.” The cardinal smiled at Morelli. “See to it you don’t knock anything loose that would cause the entire church to cave in.”

Morelli glanced at Emilio before turning back toward Lundahl. “Oh, no, sir. I’m very careful in my digging, Eminence.”

“I’m sure that you are, Father,” Lundahl’s expression was like a blank canvas.

The cardinal’s usually stone-faced assistant was now glaring at Leo. “I didn’t realize you had business in Rome, Father. You usually notify us before you come.”

“He wanted to surprise me,” Morelli said quickly.

The assistant’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, it is a surprise.”

“We’re just happy to see you again, Leopold,” the cardinal said, raising his hand in front of Emilio. “Call my secretary and put yourself on my schedule.”

“I will, sir. It was good seeing you again.”

With that, Lundahl was off, taking long steps as he crossed the cobblestoned piazza while his assistant tried to keep up.

“What is it about that man that makes me so uncomfortable?” Morelli wondered aloud. “It’s like he thinks he’s better than us. Did you notice the way his eyes move?”

“You know how Marcus is, Anthony. Even in seminary, he seemed distant. I always thought it was just because he graduated at the top of our class. Now that he’s a cardinal, we’ll just have to adjust.”

Morelli shook his head. “It wasn’t Marcus I was referring to. I was talking about Emilio. He’s the reason I didn’t want you to say anything about the chapel. I have to get permission every time I want to do any archaeological work under the Vatican, and all my requests go through him. He’s one of those small-minded men who believe we shouldn’t be poking around under the Basilica, and he has the ear of the cardinal. Finding the chapel is too important to be stopped by some prejudicial bureaucratic nonsense, so for now he needs to be kept out of the loop.”

Leo took another sip of wine and observed the people at nearby tables. It was good to be back in Rome, even though the politics at the Vatican never seemed to change. Father Anthony’s frequent clashes with Lundahl and his staff were no secret around the Vatican. The competition between the cardinal and Morelli had been fierce throughout their arduous fourteen-year climb from novices to the day they took their final vows as Jesuit priests.

Norwegian by birth, Cardinal Marcus Lundahl usually received amused responses when he informed friends that his first name had actually been chosen by his parents from a list of acceptable Norwegian names. Norway’s strict name law dates from the 1800s and was intended to protect Norwegian children from any name that sounded or looked strange to the government.

He was tall and blond with probing blue eyes and the stride and grace of an athlete. Marcus had been a track star in school. In fact, he had made it to the Olympic trials as a distance runner but failed to make the Norwegian team by seconds in his final race. In his late fifties now, his blond hair was turning white at the temples, highlighting his Nordic features.

At the age of eighteen, Lundahl left home for America to study theology at Georgetown University. There he met Leo and Morelli before all three moved on to Woodstock College in Woodstock, Maryland, the oldest Jesuit seminary in the United States before it closed its doors in 1974 due to decreasing candidates. Lundahl went on to become an expert in Canon Law and was a rising star at the Vatican, becoming one of the youngest cardinals in church history.