House of Acerbi

Below decks, people held their breath as the barge passed under the carved gargoyle-like figures that lined the sides of the low bridge. Maybe the men on the bridge were just local villagers guarding their town from thugs who had fled the cities and were now ravaging the countryside, or maybe they were the thugs doing the ravaging- who knew? Whoever they were, they didn’t appear the least interested in the barge as it continued down the river.

Soon, the sun began to dip and twilight enveloped the boat as it flowed with the current on its way to the sea. Down below, Leo circulated among families who seemed to be taking everything in stride. These are strong people, Leo thought, stopping to chat with a young man with hands stained red from working in the vineyard and his wife, who was holding an infant.

Nearby, he saw John and Ariella, propped up next to each other on one of the sofas, sleeping. Across from them, sitting on tall, chair-backed stools that lined the front of the granite counter, Mendoza and Evita were focused on their laptops. Both had become fascinated with the code in the Bible and were busy searching for hidden phrases that might help them in the days ahead.

Javier had just taken a sip of coffee when he almost choked. Holding his hand over his mouth, he fought back the urge to spew coffee all over his computer screen.

“You ok, Javier?” Evita asked without looking up.

“Uh … not really. Take a look at this.”

Evita leaned over and peered at his screen.

Those who serve Him will become the hunted.

Evita tensed as she turned around and scanned the room full of people behind her. In a corner, she spotted Lev playing pool with a group of men. Sliding off the tall stool, she made her way through the crowded space and sidled up next to him.

“We need to talk.”

“What’s up?”

Evita led him to the counter and pointed to the screen on Javier’s laptop. “Take a look at this.”

Lev’s expression remained neutral. “This could mean a lot of things.”

“Don’t you see it as a warning?”

“Not necessarily, but it could be.”

“Shouldn’t we at least take some extra precautions?”

“Against what?” Lev’s expression turned sympathetic. “We’re all in the same boat …excuse the pun, but there’s absolutely no collaborating event or timetable to use as a gauge against this phrase. It’s pretty vague.”

Evita leaned back and ran her hands through her shiny black hair. “Should we tell Leo?”

“I think he needs a break from all the intrigue. This would only give him one more thing to worry about.”

Evita took a deep breath and closed her laptop. “You’re the boss, Professor.”

Lev was just beginning to say something else when the vibration of a low-flying helicopter rattled the glass as it flew directly overhead, its loud turbines drowning out all conversation.

Everyone froze as Leo and Lev pushed their way past groups of people and climbed up into the darkened pilothouse.

Moshe, along with Alon and Nava, were already scanning the starlit sky with night vision goggles. Apparently, the helicopter had disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

“How much farther to the coast?” Lev asked.

“About five miles,” Moshe replied. “I just got off the horn with Alex. He’ll have the speedboats waiting for us when we arrive on the beach.”

Lev made some quick mental calculations. “Even though it’s pushing things a little, each speedboat can hold up to eighteen people. With two boats, we can transfer everyone out to the yacht in two trips. Have Alex bring her in as close to shore as he can.”

“He said they made a trial run earlier to get their timing down. He’s keeping the yacht out in deep water until we get there, then he’ll make a run toward the beach and anchor a couple of hundred yards offshore before he launches the boats. Any closer and they’ll be scraping bottom.”

“Sounds good. What about lookouts?”

“Alex left a crewmember in the dunes with a radio.”

“Good man. Did anyone get a look at that helicopter that just flew overhead?”

“It was past us before we even had a chance to look up. No running lights … just a black hole in the sky.”

“Ok. Keep your eyes peeled.”

Leo opened the pilothouse door.

“Where do you think you’re going, Cardinal?”

“I need some fresh air. I thought I’d go out on deck.”

“I’d rather you didn’t. I’d like to keep the decks as free of people as possible right now.”

“Whatever you say. I guess I’ll go back downstairs and check on the families again.” Leo brushed past Lev and made his way below.

“You’re keeping the cardinal on a pretty tight leash,” Moshe said.

“I know. I’m starting to see snipers behind every bush, but that man’s important. I have a feeling that he’s going to be even more important someday … and not just to us.”

The radio in the pilot house suddenly came alive. “Alon … Moshe … come in. This is the Carmela.”

Moshe reached out and grabbed the handset. “Go ahead, Alex.”

“Did something just fly over you guys a little while ago?”

The men in the pilot house exchanged glances. “Yes … a chopper.”

“Our radar just picked it up. It’s circling around … it’s headed back toward you.”

CHAPTER 39

Alon grabbed the throttles and shoved them all the way forward. “Any sign of the chopper?”

“We’ll probably hear it first,” Moshe said. “If it’s flying at tree-top level, we won’t be able to see it until it’s right on top of us. Tell Alex to stay on the radio and keep giving us position reports.” Moshe pounded his fist on the console. “Damn! I wish we had a stronger radar unit on this boat!”

“What’s going on?”

The men in the darkened pilot house looked down to see Leo staring up at them from the lighted stairwell below.

“The chopper that just passed overhead is headed back this way.”

“Hostile?”

“No way to tell. If it’s one of the same helicopters that attacked the castle, then we have to take it out before it fires on us. A single hit from one of their rockets would kill everyone below.”

The scenario had a Cold War ring to it. Paranoia could cause one side to feel justified in launching a pre-emptive strike against the other.

“What if it’s not hostile?”

“We’ll just have to see how it behaves. If it looks like it’s positioning to fire on us, we’ll have to blow it out of the sky. We can’t afford to let them fire first.”

Moshe grabbed the radio headset and called the Carmela. “Alex … where is that chopper now?”

A brief pause.

“He’s hovering right behind you!”

“Grab the Stinger!” Lev shouted.

Alon pulled back an oily canvas tarp to reveal a three-foot-long, olive-colored tube with a gun-like trigger and optical sight attached. Known to soldiers as an FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missile, the portable air defense system used infrared technology to home in on its target.

Racing up on the back deck, he held the weapon to his shoulder and placed the looming shape of the helicopter in the crosshairs as he waited for the tone that signaled the weapon’s infrared sighting mechanism had