“No, it’s bigger than just a temple, if you really follow the prophecies, with tendrils that extend out in myriad ways. The biggest one is that the biblical land of Israel must be controlled completely by the Jews, to include Jerusalem. After the Six-Day War, that seemed to be fulfilled, but the Temple Mount was not taken, and that caused consternation both with the Jews and the Christians.”
He saw the president of the United States look left and right, attempting to see if anyone else was understanding what he said, and realized he was losing him.
Father Obrien shifted tack and said, “There are a multitude of different things that must happen to bring about the prophecies, depending on who’s doing the readings, and a multitude of people who are willing to bring it about, both warlike and not. For instance, one of the prophecies is that there must be a red heifer born to be sacrificed at the new temple, one that is red through and through, without a speck of another color. Red eyes, red snout, and red hair. Without that, the temple cannot be consecrated. It’s in the Bible. So a cattle rancher from Mississippi set about breeding red heifers, trying to get one that fit. He traveled to Israel as a guest of one of the Jewish groups that believed in the prophecies, and began breeding cattle in Israel. The bottom line is it’s a real thing, and not just a bunch of crazy nuts like the Branch Davidians. Ordinary people believe in it, and it’s strong.”
President Hannister shook his head and said, “I’m Presbyterian, and I’ve never even heard about this stuff. Does the Catholic Church buy into this? Are there organizations in the Church who believe the same?”
“No, not really. There are some who might read into the prophecies more than others, but for the most part, the Church doesn’t proscribe prophecies in literal detail, such as the need for a red heifer, from the words of the Bible. The Church is much more ephemeral about such things. While we most certainly believe there will be a second coming, the literal reading of the prophecies are mainly from evangelical Protestant churches.”
President Hannister glanced around the room, and Wolffe knew where he was going next. He wanted to stand up to prevent it, but was too late.
“What about the Knights of Malta? Do they believe in this dispensationalism?”
Taken aback, Father Obrien said, “You mean the order of the Knights of Malta, Jerusalem, and Rhodes?”
“Yeah. Do they believe in dispensationalism?”
Confused, the father said, “No, not to my knowledge. They’re a lay organization that does humanitarian work around the world. They don’t proselytize or anything of that nature. All of the members take a vow of chastity just like I did, and they don’t have a path that’s separate from the Church.”
President Hannister said, “Okay, thank you very much. Would you please return outside?”
Father Obrien looked at Wolffe, then said, “Yes, sir, but before I do, what do the Knights of Malta have to do with this discussion?”
Wolffe stood up, flashing a glare at President Hannister. He said, “Nothing at all. We’re just trying to learn about domestic threats here in the United States. Like Timothy McVeigh, or David Koresh. As I told you when I asked you here, it’s a growing threat. It has nothing to do with chivalric organizations in your orbit.”
Wolffe took his arm, leading him out of the room, saying, “Thank you for coming.”
Five minutes later, he returned, saying, “No disrespect, sir, but when I bring someone in here for background, you really shouldn’t press them on an ongoing operation.”
President Hannister’s face soured, and Wolffe held up a hand, saying, “You want to fire me, sir, then do so, but I have a team that can stop this whole thing, and they need to penetrate the consulate of some weird-ass pseudo-state inside the sovereign state of Italy. I can’t wait anymore. It’s midnight there, and he needs to get the information to his contact in Lebanon.”
President Hannister looked around the room, then said, “The vote is for penetration of the building for evidence disproving Iranian involvement of assassinations against Israeli and American diplomats.”
Wolffe said, “Sir . . . just getting the information won’t solve the problem.”
President Hannister glared at him and said, “One vote at a time.”
Wolffe nodded, and five seconds later he was leaving the room on a secure cell phone, saying, “Tell Pike he’s a go.” He exited the west wing of the complex, glanced left and right, then said, “And tell him to contact his buddy in Lebanon. We’re going to need him.”
Chapter 56
I saw the text message from the Taskforce and said, “Okay, looks like we’re a go. No killing.”
Inside our minivan, Shoshana grinned, saying, “This is going to be fun.”
I said, “You heard me. No killing. In fact, no violence at all.”
She said, “That’ll depend on spider monkey here, won’t it?”
We were just down the street from the Magisterial Palace for the Knights of Malta, and we were waiting on the word to go inside and find out what those assholes were up to. We’d been stationary for damn near three hours, with Brett back at the hotel talking to Creed about hacking into the camera system they employed. We didn’t need Creed to control the system, just freeze it for the entire time we were inside. If someone looked, they might grow curious why the roaming guards didn’t appear on-screen, but more than likely, they’d just assume they’d missed them. That act alone was outside of my mandate, but I was betting I’d get the go-ahead, and it was closing in on one in the morning, and I didn’t have the time to begin the race from a cold start.
Creed had penetrated the network through the help of Knuckles. Yesterday, while he and Brett were acting like State Department members and waiting to see the officials inside the building, he’d asked to send an email, and had used a thumb drive to do so, sending an innocuous message that contained all the malware we could want straight into their system. I would have chastised him for being so brazen, but now it was paying off.
I contacted Brett and said, “We’re a go. Does Creed have the cameras?”
“Stand by.”
I looked at Jennifer and said, “Get ready to climb.”
She was wearing yoga pants, Vibram FiveFingers shoes, and a Lycra top, her hair in a ponytail. Her preferred method for breaking into something. She said, “I’m ready. You guys are the weak link.”
I laughed and said, “We’ll be there, just drop the rope.”
I looked at Shoshana and said, “You go up first, I’ll follow. Get inside and wait. No crazy stuff.”
She finally got aggravated and said, “If you think I’m such a risk, then take someone else up there. Aaron is here. And so is Knuckles. You don’t want me to go in with you, just say so.”
And she was right. If I could take either one of them, I would have done so in a heartbeat, but she had something they did not. I’d left Brett back at the hotel to coordinate with the Taskforce, and I needed Jennifer to climb the wall, but honestly, we were looking for a needle in a haystack here. We only had the information from Lia, and all she knew from the secretary she’d talked to was that Garrett had an office in the basement.