Sign of the Cross

common knowledge that Benito Pelati — ’ He looked at Maria. ‘Your dad wouldn’t grant access to anyone… I take it you sweet-talked your old man.’

Maria blushed. ‘I did no such thing. I’d never ask him for a favor. Ask Dr Boyd. He wanted me to call him the moment we got to Milan, but I refused. I’d rather die than go to him for help.’

‘That’s a definite possibility if we don’t find out who’s after you.’ Payne stared at Boyd, who looked frazzled. ‘Doc, how’d you get the digging permit? Or was that just a big ol’ lie? You didn’t you have one, did you?’

Sheepishly, Boyd glanced at Maria. ‘I swear to you, if I had known about the acrimony with your father, I never would’ve used your name to…’

‘What?’ Her eyes filled with anger. ‘You used my name for what?’

‘To secure the permit.’

She jumped out of her seat. ‘Santa Maria! I don’t believe this!’

‘Maria, listen to me. I never talked to your father. I swear I didn’t. I tried to get the paperwork through the proper channels, but — ’

‘But what? You got turned down so you decided to use me!’

‘No, it wasn’t like that — ’

‘You swore that you invited me because I was your best student, not because of my name. Now I find out that was the only qualification you were looking for!’

‘Maria, I swear that wasn’t the — ’

Payne grabbed Boyd before he could say another word and eased him into the far corner. Meanwhile, Jones put his arm around Maria and tried to comfort her. It was a good move on his part because the last thing they needed was for her to start hating Boyd.

‘Doc,’ Payne said, ‘you can talk to her later, after she calms down. But right now I need you to focus on one thing. Who gave you permission to dig in Orvieto?’

‘What?’ he asked, distracted.

‘You said you never talked to Maria’s father about Orvieto. So who gave you the permit?’

Boyd blinked a few times. ‘Some chap named Dante who works for her father. I told him that Maria and I were looking to dig in Orvieto, and he said he’d take care of it. A week later he rang me and told me that he’d made all the necessary arrangements.’

‘So you never talked to Benito?’

‘No, I swear, Dante handled everything. The permits, the signatures, the guards. He cut through all the red tape for me in less than a week.’

‘And you’re sure the permit was authentic?’

‘Of course it was authentic. We were required to present the bloody thing the moment we arrived in Orvieto. Moreover, the guards double-checked it before we were allowed to dig. I’m telling you, we had permission to be there!’

Payne studied Boyd’s eyes and could tell that he was telling the truth. Up until now Payne kind of assumed that Benito Pelati was behind all the violence in Orvieto. He figured they were trying to keep the Catacombs a secret and had done everything in their power to stop Boyd and Maria from telling the world about their discovery. But since they had permission to dig, Payne no longer knew what to think. So he said, ‘What does your gut tell you about this?’

‘About what?’

‘About the violence. Who tried to kill you in Orvieto? Who blew up the bus?’

‘I have no idea.’

‘Come on, Doc. I don’t believe that for a second. You’re in the CIA, for God’s sake. You have to have a theory. The CIA always has a theory.’

Boyd shook his head. ‘Not this time. I’ve been too wrapped up in the mystery of the Catacombs to consider my personal safety. My sole focus has been on the scroll.’

‘The scroll? Someone’s trying to kill you, and your focus is on the scroll? Give me a break! I don’t buy that at all. At some point self-survival has to enter your mind. It has to. That’s just human nature.’

‘Really?’ he argued. ‘If self-survival is so important, then why are you here?’

It was the question that Payne had been struggling with for the past few days. And the truth was, he didn’t have a solid answer until Boyd forced him to respond. ‘As crazy as this sounds, I think I’m here to figure out why I’m here.’

‘A bit of a paradox, wouldn’t you say?’

Payne nodded at Boyd’s assessment. ‘But if you think about it, it makes sense. Manzak wanted me involved in this mess for some crazy reason. Now I feel obligated to figure out why.’

55

Once everyone calmed down, Payne told Jones about Manzak and Buckner’s fingerprints. Jones’s computer was still in the Roman Collection Room, so they headed upstairs to see if Randy Raskin had sent the results from the Pentagon. Thankfully, there was an e-mail waiting for them.

hey guys,

i checked our records. neither dude is cia. definitely not the real manzak and buckner. you guys should’ve been more thorough… i ran their prints through some european databases and got 2 hits. the results are interesting. what are you guys involved in now?

r. r.

p. s. did i mention you guys should’ve been more thorough?

Payne read the message over Jones’s shoulder and sensed his stress over the thorough line. If there’s one thing that Jones prided himself in, it was his thoroughness. Then again, that’s probably the reason that Raskin mentioned it twice. Why have friends if you can’t bust their balls? Still, Payne didn’t want Jones to get upset, so he said, ‘Someone at the Pentagon needs to show Raskin how to use the shift key. Seriously, how hard is it to capitalize?’

Jones laughed as he clicked on the first attachment. ‘OK, who do we have first?’

Sam Buckner’s ugly mug filled the screen. Or in reality Otto Granz, because that was his real name. Born near Vienna, he entered the Austrian army at the age of eighteen for his mandatory six-month stint and decided to stay on for an additional ten years. From there he bounced around Europe, doing all kinds of mercenary work, before he took permanent residence in Rome.

Last employer: unknown. Last whereabouts: unknown.

‘We should tell Raskin he can update the second category. Otto’s on a slab in Milan.’

Jones nodded. ‘We probably should, just to be thorough.’

Payne laughed, while Jones opened the second attachment. They knew Manzak was running the show, so in their minds the organization he worked for would be the key to everything. ‘Richard Manzak, come on down. You’re the next contestant on the — ’

And that’s when they saw the name. A name that ended their joking.

‘No way,’ Jones groaned. ‘You gotta be shitting me.’

Payne looked at Manzak’s face. It was definitely him. Payne never forgot a guy he had recently killed. Jones knew it was him, too. But it took him longer to accept it. Mostly because he had the hots for Maria and realized he had to confront her with the new information. He had to march right up to her and ask her which side she was on. And her reaction would be the key. It would tell them everything they needed to know. Whose side was she really on?

Jones skimmed through Manzak’s personnel file as he printed a copy as evidence. When he was done, he said, ‘Let’s get her. We need to talk to her now.’

Payne nodded. ‘Lead the way. I got your back.’

Little did Payne know how prophetic his words would be.

As they hit the front stairs, Payne glanced out the window at a distant peak, half expecting to see snow, even