Templar's Code

CHAPTER 88

The dark night of the soul.

What was that from? She couldn’t remember, literary quotations Caedmon’s specialty. Didn’t matter. Probably popped into her head because the exchange with Saviour Panos would soon take place, Edie waiting in a Cimmerian chamber. A woe-is-me kind of place to be sure.

She’d devised a simple plan for the exchange—use the Emerald Tablet like a Trojan horse to entice the enemy into dropping his guard. Why overpower when you can outwit? Better to slay the dragon without breaking a sweat or raising a battleax. Kill or be killed. What else could she do? You can’t negotiate with a monster. Besides, the alternative was unthinkable. Caedmon, his head awkwardly slumped, face swollen, hand mangled. She’d make penance once her beloved was safe.

Then there was the bigger picture: If Rico Suave got a hold of the Emerald Tablet, she feared he would sell it to the highest bidder. A ruthless despot. A maniacal madman. And if Rico actually had the encryption key to unlock the Genesis code, the despot or madman could create a catastrophic burst of energy.

“ ‘Abandon all hope ye who enter here,’ ” she muttered. In Atlantis, they didn’t even live to tell the tale.

Benjamin Franklin had been right: Leave creation to the Almighty. Mortal man was ill equipped to handle such heady power.

Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply and visualized yet again how the exchange would unfold. To prevent a deadly mishap, her mind had to be free. Clear. Totally focused. Be deceptive. Be decisive. Be all you can be. I am woman, hear me roar.

Edie derisively snorted. Who the hell was she kidding? She was petrified. Her heart was pounding in her throat, the sound echoing in her ears. Non sequiturs and anatomically impossible. But oh so true. One misstep and her well-laid plan would go the way of the mouse. The enemy had beauty, brains, and, lest she forget, bullets. But—and she had to keep reminding herself of this—she had the element of surprise. And a secret weapon. A cannon to his revolver.

Her cheap Timex emitted a tinny beep-beep. Edie pushed the metal nubbin to turn off the alarm. The show was scheduled to start in ten minutes. We’ll make the exchange at three. Do not be late. And if you lay another hand on Caedmon, I will tie a cinder block to the Emerald Tablet and toss it in the Potomac.

Unable to see in the inky darkness, she gingerly moved her right hand. Butting up against the camping lantern, she switched it on. The fluorescent bulb cast a surreal white light on the Templars’ subterranean sanctuary. Yawgoog’s Cave. The eight stern-faced knights carved onto the chamber walls had creeped her out, the reason why the lantern had been turned off.

Scrambling to her feet, Edie took one last look at the Emerald Tablet she’d earlier placed in the niche behind the stone altar.

The jewel finally returned to its proper setting.

She took another deep breath. “Time to gird my loins.”

Whatever that meant.