The driver's phone beeped at the same time. 'Yeah?' he said.
Conrad heard the cabbie loud and clear-on his phone.
'Yeah?' the cabbie repeated.
A cold shudder passed through Conrad's body. He stared at the phone's display and realized he had redialed the last number the assassin called. Conrad looked up at the rearview mirror in time to see the slits of the driver's eyes widen.
'You're one of them,' Conrad said and pointed the gun he lifted from the dead Marine at the driver's head.
Too late Conrad noticed the driver had only one hand on the wheel and ducked as a bullet burst from the front seat and shattered the rear window.
Conrad pumped a bullet into the back of the driver's seat. The bullet shattered the driver's spine and he slumped forward onto the steering wheel, his arms loose at his side.
Conrad felt sick to his stomach. He tapped the driver on the back of the head. The man's head rolled to the side, revealing a trickle of blood running down his neck.
The cab suddenly accelerated wildly.
Conrad lunged over the seat and put his arms over the corpse to reach the steering wheel, but the car was careening out of control.
A flash in the rearview mirror caught his eye and he looked back through the blown-out rear windshield to see an unmarked Ford Explorer with federal plates and red lights coming up from behind. Suddenly Conrad's shock turned to rage. He wrenched the steering wheel toward the road and the cab shot off.
The federal car gave chase, but Conrad quickly turned the wheel while pulling the brake lever, sliding the cab sideways with a long skid. Then he turned it against the street direction, driving straight toward the Explorer.
The driver of the Explorer didn't have a chance to remove his seat belt and pull out a gun. And he couldn't swerve in time before Conrad drove the cab head-on into the black SUV. Conrad's face slammed into the corpse on impact and bounced back in time for him to see the airbags inflate in the federal car.
He heard sirens closing in a minute later. He staggered out of the cab, his ears still ringing from the crash. Or was that the sound of police sirens growing louder? There was a squeal of brakes. A voice called, 'Hey!'
It was Serena calling from the open window of a Mercedes limousine. She kicked open the rear door with the Vatican emblem on it and motioned him inside.
Conrad paused for a second, thunderstruck. She was a vision from heaven. Her lips were moving but he couldn't hear anything. He dove into the back, the door slamming shut behind him as the limousine peeled away.
'Anything else you want to destroy, Conrad, or are we finished for now?' said Serena as Benito swung them into traffic on First Avenue.
He stared at her, incredulous. In her black Armani suit and white silk blouse, she looked completely unruffled.
'I'm fine, thanks.'
'Too bad I can't say the same for that poor Amtrak attendant and Marine the police band says you killed,' she said softly. 'Please tell me the Alignment was responsible.'
He stared at her. 'You know about the Alignment?'
'If you're referring to the secret, centuries-old organization of military imperialists, then yes,' she said. 'What an amateur you are, Conrad. The Church has been at war with the New World Order for eons. From the way you talk, you'd think you discovered it. Now hand it over so I can at least make sure you found the proper document.'
He produced the map and Serena took it from his hands.
Conrad watched as Serena slowly scanned the map and then flipped it over to study the text. Her hands began to tremble, and Conrad swore he saw what looked like the tiniest pearl of perspiration on her smooth forehead long before she had reached the last paragraph. Conrad had never seen Sister Serena Serghetti, the Vatican's top linguist, ever break a sweat.
She looked up at Conrad in wonder. 'You're Stargazer.'
'What?'
She pushed a button on the partition to reveal Benito in front. 'Benito,' she said. 'The jet.'
'Si, signorina.'
Conrad recalled that Benito was a former Swiss Special Forces soldier, a crack marksman, and the only Vatican bodyguard who could keep up with Serena on the slopes at Davos during World Economic Forums. He hoped the same was true for the streets of New York City.
'What's going on, Serena?' Conrad asked. 'Less than twenty-four hours after you show up on the scene, people die, and my life goes into the crapper.'
'That's why we have to get you out of here. You're in grave danger, and so is America and the whole world.'
Suddenly a phone started ringing up front and Conrad jumped. The ringtone sounded familiar. It was an old Elton John song, 'Benny and the Jets.' Benito the driver didn't bother to pick up.
'The jet is fueling up at the airstrip, signorina,' Benito said. 'If we can reach it.'
They turned a corner and Conrad saw the flashing lights of several blue-and-white police cars blocking the road. A young cop approached the limo, hand on his weapon.
'Alignment?' Conrad asked.
'God knows these days. Say your prayers.'
Conrad looked at Serena, who crossed one leg over the other and then pulled out a flap revealing a space beneath the rear seat of the limo.
'You're kidding me, right?' he asked.
'Get under and shut up,' she told him.
'Whatever happened to the missionary position?'
'May God have mercy on your soul, you wanker.' She gave him a final kick inside and pushed the flap back into position behind him.
'Easy does it, Benito.' Her voice sounded muffled to Conrad in the dark. He could feel the car slow to a halt. The squeak of a window lowering came next, then Serena's voice. 'Yes, officer?'
There was a long pause, and Conrad crouched very still in the darkness. Then he heard the young cop clearing his throat. 'Sister Serghetti,' he said. 'It's an honor.'
'Is there a problem, Officer O'Donnell?' she said, reading his badge.
Thank God, thought Conrad. An Irish Catholic cop.
'Nothing concerning you, Sister. Looks like terrorists failed at both Penn Station and the United Nations.'
'Is everything OK?'
'Nothing was stolen or destroyed,' the officer told her. 'But two federal agents, an Amtrak employee, and a cabbie were killed.'
'I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need to search my car?'
Beneath the seat Conrad punched her in the rear.
'No, ma'am. That won't be necessary. To begin with, you've got diplomatic plates and a search would be illegal.'
Conrad heard a shout and then a screech as one of the squad cars reversed and the Mercedes lurched forward as they were waved on through.
'God's angels watch over you, signorina,' said Benito.
No, Benito, Conrad thought. She's the angel.
9
