Private Rome

Chapter 99

Milan stepped forward and drew a Beretta M9 pistol from behind his back. As he raised it toward my temple, I gave a final tug on the bowline loop binding my wrists, worked my right hand free and grabbed the gun.

He was so shocked he took a step back, but I held fast and the gun stayed in my hand.

I spun it quickly and shot him in the knee. As he went down, crying out in agony, I pointed the weapon at Stadler.

“Move and he dies,” I told the five members of the Dark Fates, who were all reaching for their weapons.

I kept the gun steady on Stadler as I undid the cord at my feet and was relieved when I was finally able to stand. Milan was rolling around on the floor, groaning in pain.

“I’ll ask you again,” I said, stepping toward Stadler, brandishing the gun. “Why all the dead priests?”

A shot rang out and I was struck by what felt like a hammer blow to my shoulder. I fell on my back, gasping with shock, and the Beretta clattered across the stone floor.

I raised my head to see who’d shot me and was shocked when Cardinal Vito Peralta emerged from a shadowed alcove beside the heavy wooden door. He wasn’t wearing his customary robe, but was instead in a dark suit and clerical collar.

“The priests were couriers we used to move money around,” he said. “Each of them could have implicated Joseph and me in criminal activities. We gave them their instructions directly. They were the only witnesses to our sins who weren’t criminals or members of Propaganda Tre themselves. They posed a threat to our plans.”

“What plans?”

“Elevation,” Cardinal Peralta said.

“To becoming Pope,” I guessed. “To running the Vatican Bank,” I suggested, looking at Stadler.

My initial shock was wearing off and my shoulder was burning with fiery agony.

“That’s what this was about... Ambition? Power?” I asked, surprised by how weak my voice sounded. I caught Antonelli’s eye and he gave me a knowing look. It was the ancient Roman pursuit he’d spoken of.

“God created man, Mr. Morgan,” Cardinal Peralta replied. “Why would he have given us ambition if we weren’t meant to use it? With eight billion of us on this planet, do we really have to worry about the loss of a handful of priests? They served a cause and fulfilled their heavenly purpose.”

His words were monstrous, a betrayal of our common faith. I wondered how many warning signs had been ignored over the years. How many people had seen the hunger for power in this man’s eyes and been unable to do anything about it. Unchecked evil would only grow, and these two men planned to take control of one of the oldest institutions in the world and use it to further their own warped objectives and the aims of their corrupt group. I couldn’t allow that to happen.

I eyed the fallen pistol. If I could just reach it, I would take my chances with a left-handed shot.

Cardinal Peralta stepped forward.

“You wouldn’t get to it in time. Your destiny was written by God before the first light flashed into existence. You will die here tonight, your reputation forever destroyed after you murdered Elia Antonelli and Luna Colombo because your organization became involved with his criminal enterprises. Your colleagues in Rome, including Ms. Smith, will all join you soon.”

He raised his weapon and I held my breath. I had to move now. I pictured myself lunging for the Beretta, and tensed, ready to pounce.

The unbearable swell of expectation was punctured by the sound of my phone ringing. It was on the floor by the chair I’d been bound to. Stadler looked down at it.

“Justine,” he said.

“Maybe we can convince her to tell us where they are,” Cardinal Peralta said. “Or get her to come here.”

“Don’t!” I said, but Stadler picked up the phone and answered the call.

“Hello?” he said. “Ms. Smith?

“She wants to be on speaker,” he explained shortly afterwards.

“Justine, no!” I said, but Stadler silenced me with a kick, and Cardinal Peralta pressed the barrel of his gun against Luna’s temple and eyed me menacingly.

“I want to talk to Cardinal Peralta,” Justine said. “I want him to hear what I have to say. Check your right lapel, Cardinal.”

Peralta looked down, and as his eyes widened, I realized I’d missed something incredibly important. There, clinging to his lapel, was one of our micro-drones.

“We used Jack’s phone to find him when he didn’t show up for our meeting,” Justine revealed. “We couldn’t get the drone into the cellar until you and Mr. Stadler arrived. We flew it in with you. It has been streaming live footage to the Internet ever since you set foot in that room.”

Cardinal Peralta was horrified. Horror quickly turned to rage.

I knew what was coming and sprang as he turned his gun on me.

I grabbed the Beretta, rolled over and shot the Cardinal in the gut twice before he could pull the trigger.

The wooden door exploded in a storm of splinters and I recognized some of Antonelli’s men as they ran through the dust and smoke, brandishing machine-guns.

They yelled at the Dark Fates in Italian, and Milan Verde’s men had the good sense to realize they were beaten.

I hauled myself to my feet and walked over to Peralta, who lay bleeding on the stone floor.

“It’s over,” I said. “You and your friends,” I gestured at Milan Verde and Joseph Stadler, “will face justice. You will have years to consider how you’ve betrayed your faith.”

“Jack!”

I glanced round to see Justine, Sci, Mo-bot and Faduma enter.

I hobbled over to Justine and we embraced and kissed. She felt me wince.

“Oh my God,” she said. “You need a doctor.”

I kissed her again.

“You have no idea how good it is to see you.” I looked at Faduma, Sci and Mo-bot. “All of you. I’m already feeling so much better.”