They’d be on the ground in a little over an hour.
Some rest would be good.
But answers would be better.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Luke stood on the tarmac staring up into the night sky. Laura was inside the small terminal building with Cardinal Gallo. They’d driven the short distance from St. Thomas Bay to Malta’s main airport. Gallo had not resisted coming with them, and Luke could understand why after listening to what had happened out on the water. He’d finally connected with Stephanie by phone and learned what had happened in Italy. Laura had called in to her boss, and people had been dispatched to the grotto Gallo had described in search of Chatterjee’s body. Now Cotton Malone and the cardinal’s twin brother were on final approach, about to land.
Thank goodness Stephanie had stayed behind. He didn’t really want to face her right now. He hadn’t handled things like they’d needed to be handled. A simple recon assignment had turned into anything but, and now Pappy himself was on the way to save the day. He shouldn’t feel that way about Malone. He liked the man. More than that, he respected him. But Malone was retired and this was his assignment. He’d been the one to screw up and it was up to him to fix it, no help from an ex-agent-turned-bookseller required.
But that wasn’t his call.
Stephanie had already told him to follow Malone’s lead and all would be explained. Great. He could hardly wait.
The time was approaching 2:00 A.M. and the international airport’s main terminal loomed quiet. No rumble of engines disturbed the night. He was standing near a building used by private planes, many of them parked off to his right. One multimillion-dollar jet after another. Flashing lights from the north grew brighter, and he watched as they dropped down for a landing and another pricey jet taxied his way. The words DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE on the side identified its owner. The engines wound down and two men emerged from the open cabin door. Malone first, then another, whom he assumed was Pollux Gallo. Same height and shape as the cardinal, only different hair and a beard. He caught the facial resemblance as they drew close. Malone shook hands, then introduced him.
“Luke is active duty, Magellan Billet,” Malone explained to Pollux Gallo. “He’s the senior man on this job.”
“That’s not what I was told,” Luke pointed out.
“And what did I tell you about working the field?”
He smiled, recalling the advice from their first encounter together. You can do anything you want, as long as the job gets done.
“Forget what Stephanie said. This is not my show,” Malone said. “I’m backup. Where’s the cardinal?”
That vote of confidence felt good. Another reason it was hard not to like Malone. He was a straight shooter, all the way. Luke pointed to the right and they headed inside the concrete-block building. He watched as the brothers greeted each other with the warmth of two alligators. No handshake. No hug. Not even a smile. Hard for him to understand that estrangement given how close he was to his three siblings.
“Are you pleased with yourself,” Pollux Gallo asked, the tone not congenial.
“This is not the time,” the cardinal said.
“It’s never the time with you. People are dying, Kastor, because of your reckless actions.”
“I require no lecture from you. I need to be back in Rome.”
“Not until this is done,” Luke said. “I’ve been fully briefed on everything from Italy, and my orders are to see this through before any of you leave this island.”
* * *
Cotton liked the new and improved Luke Daniels.
Tough, confident, in charge.
Not the same cocky former Ranger who’d dropped out of the sky into the cold Øresund not all that long ago. Stephanie’s report that things had not gone well here mattered little. Rarely did anything go as planned in the field. Getting knocked down was a constant occupational hazard. The trick was in knowing how to get back up and keep going. Some learned how, others not so much. Good to see Luke had fallen into the former category.
The two Gallos were a study in stark contrast. Pollux’s face stayed as somber as a funeral director, while Kastor’s flashed bright and alert. Their personalities seemed night and day. Interesting how identical twins could be so different. Apparently, environment really did affect genes.
Laura Price had stayed curiously quiet, watching the unfolding confrontation with clear interest. He knew nothing about her, which lumped her into the same category as both Gallos. Three unknowns usually added up to trouble, so he told himself to stay ready. He’d meant what he said. This was Luke’s show, but he’d agreed to see it through as a favor to Stephanie. He’d always found it hard to tell her no. Besides, he’d been paid in full by the British and he owed them their money’s worth.
“I just received a call from the people who went to find Arani Chatterjee’s body,” Laura finally said, “in the grotto the cardinal described. It wasn’t there.”
Cardinal Gallo seemed shocked. “He was dead. I checked myself. I saw him shot. Are you sure your people found the right spot? There are a lot of caves along the south shore.”
“They were in the right place. But there was no body. And the two men Luke and I left tied up in the safe house are gone, too.”
Cotton smiled. “Lots of stuff disappearing around here.”
“We can’t worry about any of that right now,” Luke said.
He agreed and pointed at the metal tube they’d brought off the plane. “Show him.”
Pollux slid the parchment and the typed page free and displayed both to his brother. The cardinal seemed uninterested in Mussolini’s fascist manifesto. Instead he focused on the clues.
“I assume you read German,” Cotton asked.
“I do, and this is gibberish.”
“Which was surely the whole idea,” Pollux said. “You would have to be privy to information that only a few people on earth would know to solve that riddle. Luckily, I’m one of those.”
Cotton caught the unsaid words.
The cardinal was not.
“We have to go to the co-cathedral,” Pollux said.
“I should return to Rome,” the cardinal said. “This doesn’t require me any longer.”
“Except that you’re the cause of it all,” Pollux blurted out, in the first sign of any emotion. “You wanted the Nostra Trinità. Unfortunately, you’re not going to get it. But we are going to finish this, brother. Finish what you started, so the Trinity can be restored to the knights, where it belongs.” Gallo paused. “Then you and I are going to have a talk. In private.”
Cardinal Gallo stayed silent.
“All this sibling rivalry is fascinating,” Laura said. “But there are still threats on this island, and plenty of unknowns. Particularly with cars blowing up and bodies disappearing.”
Cotton saw that Luke caught the wry grin on his face, which telegraphed exactly what needed to be made clear.
“Not a problem,” Luke said. “We can handle it.”
CHAPTER FORTY
Kastor had always admired the Church of St. John the Baptist. Solid, austere, its thick walls conveying an unmistakable message of power and strength. Two large towers with octagonal spires flanked either side of its main entrance, each housing bells. Nearly every church on the island mimicked its shape and style, which was not unintentional.