The Cup

CHAPTER 26

Elizabeth had just settled down at her desk with her first cup of coffee when Nick called. She hadn't slept well and she had a headache.

Probably that cognac I had. Or maybe it's thinking about ISIS getting a bomb.

"Good morning, Nick."

"We ran into a problem."

"Please don't tell me you had to shoot up the church," Elizabeth said.

She listened while Nick briefed her on what they'd discovered in the church. Then he told her about the three men who'd confronted them.

"You killed them?"

"They didn't give us any choice. We found French passports but they had to be ISIS."

"Tell me about the tile you found."

"It was in the church safe. Ronnie's got quite a career ahead of him once he stops working for the government."

"The tile, Nick." Elizabeth's voice was strained.

"It's the same size as the other one, only more beat up. It has to be a mate, but it's different. The figure on the tile looks like a monk, not a priest. Selena is sending you a picture right now."

In Virginia, Elizabeth waited as the picture of the tile appeared on her phone and on the wall monitor. Stephanie sat next to her.

"He's right," Steph said. "It has to be a mate to the other one."

Nick's voice came over the speaker. "Selena says that the Latin means 'as below, so above.'"

"That's just the opposite of how it's usually written," Stephanie said. "It's a metaphysical saying: 'As above, so below.'"

"Where are you now?" Elizabeth asked.

"On the road, headed for Bulgaria. It's not far to the border. From there we'll drive north to Sophia and get a flight. It will take the Greek cops a little while to ask themselves why we left town in the middle of the night. By the time they do, we'll be in the air."

"All right. Go to Milan and pay a visit to Count Mercurio. Steph will send you directions to his villa outside the city and the intel we've got about him and his religious group."

"Did the Swedes follow up on this? If they know Mercurio was trying to buy the tile, they've got him on a criminal charge."

"It's a little more complicated than that, Nick. Mercurio is one of the richest men in Italy and he has a lot of friends. The chances of him getting busted because he was trying to buy an illegal artifact are so slim, they're nonexistent."

"Then why should he tell us anything? We can't interrogate him."

"I want you to show him that second tile. You did take it with you when you left the church, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Use it to get his attention and gain his cooperation. He's after the same thing we are, if for a different reason. Everything Steph has found out about him indicates that he's one of the good guys."

"It won't take long for the Greeks to suspect we were involved in what happened to those three terrorists. They may not know that we were in the church. We left everything as it was, except for taking the tile. If we're lucky, no one will miss it for a while."

"Don't worry about the Greeks, I'll handle it."

"We'll be in Bulgaria soon," Nick said. "Anything else, Director?"

"No. Go talk to Mercurio."

Nick disconnected and put the phone back in his pocket.

"What's the word?" Ronnie asked.

"We're going to Milan."

"Pizza," Lamont said.