Templar's Code

CHAPTER 5

Concealed by a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, Saviour Panos stood at the back of the reading room, frowning. At the front of the room, he espied the archaeologist conversing with a tall redheaded man and a curly-haired woman. The red-haired man he recognized from the publicity photo; the woman he’d never seen before.

Admittedly, he was surprised that Lovett had taken anyone into his confidence. It didn’t fit the pattern. In the week since he’d been following Lovett, the archaeologist had not spoken to a single person.

Uncertain how to iron out the unforeseen wrinkle, he surreptitiously observed the trio.

Feeling the muscles in his legs tighten, he slowed his breath. A trick he’d learned long years ago. Placing his hand under his jacket, he slid his fingers over the scabbard attached to his belt. His very first weapon had been a fillet knife that he’d stolen from a fisherman’s tackle box. Only thirteen years of age, he’d slept with it gripped in his hand as he’d huddled in an abandoned shack near the piers, afraid of being sodomized in his sleep. In time he’d become skilled in its use, spending hours tossing the knife at a crudely painted target. Once, during a particularly nasty street brawl, he’d plunged the knife into another boy’s belly. Not deep enough to kill. That came later.

In the years since, he’d owned any number of knives. But none as exquisite as the antique dagger he’d selected for this special occasion.

Slowly, not wanting to attract unwanted attention, Saviour removed the dagger from the leather case, careful to keep the blade hidden from view. In his mind’s eye, he could see the centuries-old weapon, forged of steel, the hilt gold-plated, inlaid with twenty-four small rubies set in an eight-pointed star pattern. The Creator’s star. With his thumb pad, he fingered the tiny stones. A bloodred cluster. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

The ornately fashioned blade had been a present from his benefactor, a man known to him simply as Mercurius. The Latin name for the Greek god Hermes. The divine messenger. In truth, his divine salvation.

When Mercurius became his patron, he’d not only seen to his education but also provided Saviour with a penthouse apartment in Thessaloniki’s upscale Kalamaria neighborhood. In return, Mercurius asked only that Saviour be his eyes and his ears. A secretive man, Mercurius kept to the shadows. Saviour was the polar opposite, naturally drawn to the light. Together, he and Mercurius formed a perfect whole. Like the bronze medallion he’d seen in the atrium depicting the sun and the moon. Or the two squares that formed the Creator’s star. Pairs of opposites.

He stared at the trio still huddled at the front of the room, well aware that he had but one knife.

He’d not planned for three enemies. Only the one. A mistake.

Which of the three posed the biggest threat?

The curly-haired woman he quickly dismissed. Which left the archaeologist and the tall red-haired man.

Saviour sized up the two men, deciding who to take out.