'Thanks,' Mark Nelle said. 'You coming?'
'I'll stay here with Thorvaldsen and keep an eye on things. We don't need any uninvited guests.'
'Good idea. Where's Henrik?'
'Unpacking what I bought and getting the camp ready for the night. The sun's nearly gone. I'll go help him.'
'You might want to get the generator ready and the power cords unraveled for the light bars. We may need those shortly.'
'I'll take care of it.'
Geoffrey lingered a moment more then stepped away from the altar and whispered, 'He's gone.'
De Roquefort knew what had to be done. 'Time to take command of this expedition.'
MALONE GRIPPED THE BOLT CUTTERS AND WORKED THE TEETH around the brass chain. He then compressed the handles and allowed the spring-action to bite clean through the metal. A snap signaled success and the chain, with hasp, slipped to the ground.
Cassiopeia bent down and retrieved them. 'There are museums around the world that would love to have this. I'm sure not many have survived in this condition.'
'And we just cut it,' Stephanie said.
'There wasn't a whole lot of choice,' Malone said. 'We're kind of in a hurry.' He pointed a flashlight through the grille. 'Everybody to the side. I'm going to open this thing slowly. It looks clear, but you never know.'
He wedged the bolt cutters into the grille, then stepped to one side, using the rock wall for protection. The hinges were stiff and he had to work the grille back and forth. Finally, the portal opened.
He was just about to lead the way inside when a voice called down from above.
'Mr. Malone. I have Henrik Thorvaldsen. I need for you and your companions to come up. Now. I'll give you one minute, then I'm going to shoot this old man dead.'
SIXTY-TWO
MALONE WAS THE LAST TO CLIMB UP. WHEN HE STEPPED FROM THE ladder he saw that the church was occupied by six armed men along with de Roquefort. Outside, the sun was gone. Inside was now illuminated from the glow of two small fires, the smoke rushing out into the night through the open window slits.
'Mr. Malone, we finally meet in person,' Raymond de Roquefort said. 'You handled yourself well in the Roskilde cathedral.'
'Glad to know you're a fan.'
'How did you find us?' Mark asked.
'Certainly no thanks to that phony journal of your father's, clever though he was. He spoke to the obvious and changed the details just enough to make them worthless. When monsieur Claridon deciphered the cryptogram within it, the message, of course, was of no help. He told us that he concealed the secrets of God. Tell me, since you've been down there, does he conceal those secrets?'
'Never got a chance to find out,' Malone said.
'Then we should remedy that. But to answer your question-'
'Geoffrey betrayed us,' Thorvaldsen said.
Astonishment clouded Mark's face. 'What?'
Malone had already noticed the gun in Geoffrey's hand. 'That true?'
'I'm a brother in the Temple, loyal to my master. I did my duty.'
'Your duty?' Mark screamed. 'You lying son of a bitch.' Mark lurched toward Geoffrey, but two brothers blocked the way. Geoffrey stayed rooted. 'You led me on this whole thing just so de Roquefort could win? Is that what our master meant to you? He trusted you. I trusted you.'
'I knew you were a problem,' Cassiopeia declared. 'Everything about you signaled trouble.'
'And you should know,' de Roquefort said, 'as that's what you have been to me. Leaving Lars Nelle's journal for me to find in Avignon. You thought that would occupy me for a while. But you see, mademoiselle, the loyalty of our brotherhood takes precedence. So your efforts have all been for naught.' De Roquefort faced Malone. 'I have six men here, six outside-and they know how to handle themselves. You have no weapons, or so brother Geoffrey has informed me. But to be safe.' De Roquefort motioned and one of the men frisked Malone, then moved to the others.
'What did you do, call the abbey when you left here to get supplies?' Mark asked Geoffrey. 'I wondered why you volunteered. You haven't let me out of your sight in two days.'
Geoffrey continued to stand, his face stiff with conviction.
'You're a disgusting excuse for a man,' Mark spat out.
'I agree,' de Roquefort said, and Malone watched as de Roquefort's gun came level and he fired three shots into Geoffrey's chest. The bullets staggered the younger man back, and de Roquefort finished his assassination with a bullet to head.
Geoffrey's body collapsed to the floor. Blood poured from the wounds. Malone bit his lip. There was nothing he could do.
Mark lunged at de Roquefort.
The gun was aimed at Mark's chest.
He stopped.
'He assaulted me at the abbey,' de Roquefort said. 'Attacking the master is punishable by death.'
'Not in five hundred years,' Mark yelled.
'He was a traitor. To you and to me. Neither of us has any use for him. That's the occupational hazard of being a spy. He surely knew the risk he was taking.'
'Do you know the risks you're taking?'
'A strange question coming from a man who killed a brother of this Order. That act is punishable by death, too.'
Malone realized this show was for the others present. De Roquefort needed his enemy, at least for the moment.
'I did what I had to,' Mark spit out.
De Roquefort clicked the hammer of the automatic into place. 'So will I.'
Stephanie stepped between the two men, her body blocking Mark's. 'And will you kill me, too?'
'If need be.'
'But I'm a Christian and I haven't harmed any brothers.'
'Words, dear lady. Only words.'
She reached up and fished out a chain with a medal from around her neck. 'The Virgin. She goes with me wherever I go.'
Malone knew de Roquefort could not shoot her. She'd sensed the theater, too, and called his bluff before his men. De Roquefort could not afford to be a hypocrite. He was impressed. It took balls to face down a loaded gun. Not bad for a desk jockey.
De Roquefort lowered the weapon.
Malone rushed toward Geoffrey's bleeding body. One of the men raised a hand to stop him. 'I'd drop that arm if I were you,' he made clear.
'Let him pass,' de Roquefort said.
He came close to the body. Henrik stood staring down at the corpse. A pained look filled the Dane's face and he saw something he'd not seen in the year he'd known him.
Tears.
'You and I will go back down,' de Roquefort said to Mark, 'and you'll show me what you found. The others will stay here.'
'Screw yourself.'
De Roquefort shrugged and aimed his gun at Thorvaldsen. 'He's a Jew. Different rules.'
