The Cup

CHAPTER 38

One of Haddad’s men had been reporting back to him. Haddad had many hidden cells in Turkey. One of them was in Osmaniye, on the road to Mor Gabriel, led by a man named Kamal. Haddad instructed him to intercept and follow the Americans.

Kamal had a good description of the car Nick and the others were using. Four foreigners in a blue Toyota were hard to miss. He spotted them as they came through the outskirts of the city.

Asif Nawabi caught up with the cell in Midyat. There were three men, all dedicated to the caliphate and the strict interpretation of the Prophet's teachings.

Kamal was the oldest. His family had been killed during the battle for Falluja. The death of his wife and four children under the bombs of the Americans had added fuel to a fire of hatred for the West that had been burning long before the invasion.

Omar saw from one eye. The other had been sacrificed to Assad's artillery in Syria. He was a truly ugly man, singularly unattractive to women, but ISIS had changed that. Women were forced to satisfy the needs of the fighters for the caliphate. His new wife was mostly satisfactory. He'd only had to beat her a few times to make her understand. He was grateful for having been given a place in society. The caliphate valued rage and Omar was considered a prized asset.

Rafa was barely out of adolescence. His name meant "happy" in Arabic, but happiness was something he'd never known. The closest thing to it was his feeling of pride and purpose when he saw the black flag of ISIS flying in the desert wind. Happiness would come in paradise. For now, doing the will of Allah was enough. No one questioned Rafa's courage or dedication, but he was young and inexperienced. He tended to act on impulse, without thought. Kamal thought that one day it would get him killed.

They'd followed the Americans to the monastery. Now Nawabi stood with the others in the passage outside the chapel where Nick was talking with Brother Jacob. Each was armed with an AK-47, as familiar to each man as his name. Nawabi gestured with his hand and they stepped into the chapel.

The Americans and a monk and an older man were at the other end of the room, near the altar. Between them and Nawabi were a dozen rows of wooden pews.

Nick saw them enter and yelled a warning. He reached for his pistol.

Rafa raised his rifle.

"Wait," Kamal said, too late.

"No," Mercurio shouted.

He stepped in front of Selena just as Rafa fired. The bullets hurled him to the side. Blood spattered over Selena. She drew her pistol and shot Rafa and ducked behind a pew. Bullets streaked over her head, shattering the stone cross on the altar.

Brother Jacob stood frozen in shock until a burst from Nawabi sent him stumbling sideways. The monk grabbed at the heavy cloth on the altar, pulling it with him as he fell. Everything on the altar crashed to the floor. The patterned cloth drifted down over his face and covered him.

Ronnie and Lamont and Nick and Selena fired from behind the cover of the heavy pews, outgunned. Rounds from the ISIS guns slammed into the thick wooden pews. The air filled with flying splinters, sharp as darts. The chapel echoed with the roar of the guns and the whine of ricochets from the stone walls. A haze of burnt powder began to fill the room.

Omar staggered as a half-dozen .40 caliber hollow points hit him. He spun and fell, firing wildly as he went down. Selena's last round took Kamal in the throat. Her slide locked open. Only Nawabi was left. Nick slammed in another magazine.

"Allahhu Akbar! Allahhu Akbar! "

Nawabi ran toward the front of the chapel, his mind crazed by rage, firing as he came. Nick leaned around the end of the pew and shot him four times. Nawabi took two steps forward. Blood spewed from his mouth. He collapsed, his rifle clattering across the floor.

The sudden silence was heavy as a stone.

Mercurio lay on his back near the altar. He'd taken two rounds, one on the right side of his chest and one through the center of his gut. His face was white with pain. Blood dribbled from his mouth. Selena knelt over him, pressing her hands on his wounds. Blood welled up between her fingers.

"I… can't feel… my legs… "

"Sshh, don't try to talk," Selena said.

Nick came over.

"How is he?"

She looked up and shook her head. Then she turned back to Mercurio.

"You saved my life," she said.

"You must… find it," Mercurio said. "All my life… "

His voice trailed off and his eyes opened wide as though he were looking at something. He smiled.

"Oh," he said. "I see it. I see… "

Then he died.

Selena stood.

"He's gone."

"So is Brother Jacob," Nick said.

Ronnie and Lamont were checking the bodies at the other end of the chapel. Lamont had a ragged gash on his cheek where a splinter had ripped into it.

"They're all dead," he said.

"Good riddance." Nick holstered his pistol. "How the hell did they know we were here?"

Lamont moved over to Nawabi's body and began going through his pockets. He held up a cell phone.

"Might be something on this to tell us."

"We'll let Stephanie look at it."

"Better call Harker," Ronnie said.