The Cup

CHAPTER 20

Nick and Selena were first to arrive and Ronnie and Lamont came in soon after. Once everyone was settled, Stephanie put up a picture of a large, Greek church on the monitor.

"This is the Monastery of Panagia Soumela," Elizabeth said. "It's possible that the Grail was taken here. It's a monastery in name only, there aren't any monks or nuns."

"That building looks new," Nick said. "Why would the Grail be hidden there?"

"Steph traced the priest on the tile to a monastery in Turkey." She explained how a Turkish monastery had ended up in the mountains of Greece. "The church is famous for a miraculous icon that's supposed to have been painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist."

"How can it be a monastery if there aren't any monks?" Lamont asked.

"They wanted to keep the association with the original monastery in Turkey, like provenance for a rare painting. It helps everyone know the icon is authentic."

"Are you sending us there?" Nick asked.

"Yes."

"To look for the Grail?"

"Yes, but that's not the only reason."

"I never thought I'd be following in King Arthur's footsteps," Nick said.

"I love stories about King Arthur," Lamont said. "His knights are a kind of medieval special forces, always fighting their way out of trouble. Reminds me of us."

"The Grail would be a handy thing to have around if you got shot," Ronnie said. "I can think of times we could've used a miracle."

"Like Indiana Jones in the movie," Lamont said. "Remember? Harrison Ford poured water from the Grail onto Sean Connery after he'd been shot by the Nazi and it healed the wound."

"Don't forget the knight," Stephanie said. "He'd been guarding the Grail for what, hundreds of years? Drinking water from the Grail kept him from dying."

"Must've been boring," Lamont said, "sitting there all that time with no one to talk to and nothing to do except look at a bunch of cups on a shelf."

Elizabeth rapped sharply on her desk. "Shall we talk about the mission?"

"Sorry, Director," Lamont said. Nick hid a smile behind his hand.

"Stephanie made the connection to Sumela in less than a day, researching the tile. If she did it, so can ISIS. If the monks had the Grail, they would have hidden it with the icon and taken it back to Macedonia when they got the icon out of Turkey. Going to Greece is the next logical step, for us and for whoever might be after it."

"How are we supposed to know who the bad guys are if they show up?" Lamont asked. "They'll probably look like everybody else."

"He has a point, Elizabeth," Selena said.

"This isn't any different than trying to ID terrorists in a crowd. There will be something that gives them away."

"What do you want us to do if we find them?" Nick asked.

"Find out what they know and who sent them."

"Where's the monastery located?"

"Macedonia, at the foot of Mount Vermion, around three hundred and fifty kilometers northwest of Athens. You'll fly into Athens and connect to a city called Veroia. The monastery is less than two hours from there. You can rent a car and drive the rest of the way."

"And if we don't find anything helpful?"

"Whatever you find, after that you're going to Milan."

Lamont said, "I bet they've got good pizza there."

Elizabeth gave him a look that told him he'd better be quiet.

"What's in Milan?" Nick asked.

"The Companions of the Holy Grail," Stephanie said. "It's a religious society, headed up by an Italian count named Mercurio. I went looking for something about that gold ring Bellini was wearing, the one you photographed in Sweden. It's only worn by members of the society."

"Did you find out why Bellini was at Bergstrom's house?"

"The Swedish police found correspondence between Bergstrom and Count Mercurio," Elizabeth said. "Bergstrom was negotiating with Mercurio for the Anastasius tile and Bellini was his representative. Mercurio had purchased stolen antiquities in the past, but only from the early Christian era. He wasn't interested in anything else."

"He must be looking for clues, like we are," Selena said. "He wants to find the Grail."

"Pretty big leap," Nick said.

"What else could it be? He heads up a religious society that calls itself the Companions of the Grail."

"Maybe he just collects things about the Grail. Lots of people collect things that interest them."

"So he sends someone to Sweden to offer Bergstrom a stack of euros for that tile? I don't think so."

"When you get to Milan, you can ask him why he wanted it," Elizabeth said.

"What if he doesn't want to tell us?" Ronnie asked.

"Mercurio's interest seems to be religious, not criminal. You'll just have to ask him nicely. Remind him about what happened to Bellini. He needs to know that he's stepped into the middle of something out of his league."

"The last time we had a mission that took us to a church, we ended up in a hell of a firefight," Ronnie said.

"Try not to do that this time," Elizabeth said.