The Reincarnationist

Chapter 27

Although Gabriella had offered to call a taxi for him, Josh declined. He needed to walk, to take in huge gulps of the cool air, to stare up at the sky-at the constant sky-the one thing that would not have changed in the past two millennia. He assumed the gray sedan would follow after him, and if it didn’t, he’d just stick to the main thoroughfares Gabriella had mapped out for him.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” Josh said sarcastically when he walked out of the building and saw Charlie Billings there.

“Let me walk with you?”

“Sure.” Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to have company.

“I know the guard’s body was found. I know some box was taken. Or that the contents of the box were taken. That’s not quite clear. Can you fill me in?”

“Why would I know?”

“You were down there.”

“The professor never got around to showing it to me.”

“But you’ve been with Gabriella Chase all day, all night. She must have told you what-”

“Listen, I know what this gig is like,” Josh interrupted. “But I can’t help you out. The best I can do is promise that no one else will get this story from me before you do.”

“Why is everything about this excavation so hush-hush?”

“I don’t know. It’s not my dig.”

“But you were down there. Damn it, Josh, what did you see taken? Why can’t you tell me?”

“I wasn’t down there.”

“I didn’t pressure you before, but I saw you coming up from the tomb.”

“Because I ran down when I heard the shot, but I wasn’t in the tomb long enough to catalog it. There is no story. No statement. You can count on me-if and when I have something to say to the press, I’ll call you first, but you need to back off now and leave me and Gabriella alone for a while. Is it a deal?”

Billings thought about it, then stuck his notebook back in his jacket pocket. “I’ll give you tonight. But I’ll probably be back in the morning.”

“How about the morning after that?”

“Tomorrow.”

“I don’t doubt it. You know, Charlie, I never knew you were such a prick.”

“Of course not. You were on our side.”

“Wish I still was.”

“See, this is what I mean. Something is going on with you. Why the hell don’t you just level with me?”

Josh thought if it were up to him alone, he might. But when Malachai and Beryl had agreed to let him study with them, he’d given his word that he would keep the foundation out of the press. And there was Gabriella, who’d asked him not to reveal the tomb’s secrets. Not yet. Not to anyone.

At the next corner, Charlie and Josh parted ways. At first the streets were busy despite the hour, but then the neighborhood changed and he found himself alone in a fairly deserted piazza. He heard a loud bang, spun around, saw a cat running away from a broken wine bottle. Chiding himself for giving in to anxiety, he continued on, sticking close to the curbside and speeding up his gait. Not a single car drove by for the next two blocks. Every time he saw a storefront window across the street, Josh watched his own reflection pass. If anyone was following him, he’d see him, too, but he was alone.

According to Gabriella’s instructions, he should have reached the hotel by now. Should he keep going or backtrack? Looking around, trying to figure out which way to go, he saw a reflection oscillate in a store window across the way.

There was no time to judge if he was overreacting or not. Josh sped up but kept his eye on the window. It hadn’t been his imagination, or the branch of a tree blowing in the wind. When Josh broke into a jog, so did his stalker.

As he ran, Josh searched for an escape. Not a car in sight. Every storefront and restaurant he passed was closed for the night. He weaved in and out as he ran, abruptly veering to the right, then left, then left again, so as not the give his hunter a clear shot if that’s what his intention was.

Suddenly he was in the old part of the city, where he’d walked with Malachai the first night they’d arrived, just seventy-two hours before. The broken cobblestones made for a tough running track, but he didn’t slow down, couldn’t slow down now that he remembered there was a building up ahead that connected to a hidden tunnel system. A temple.

If he could just reach its entrance without his stalker seeing where he went, he’d thwart him. It should only be another hundred yards away, to the right… He sped up. He’d gotten a good lead…he was going to make it…just up ahead…but…where was it? There was no temple here, only ruins. What was going on? No time to stop and figure it out. If he could just find the temple, he’d be able to get away. If he saved himself, he could save her. She was counting on him. He must have gotten confused in the dark. Maybe the temple would be around the next corner…but it wasn’t. Nothing was there. Worse, he’d given up his cover. He’d run right into an open theater, its shell in rubble around him. He spun around. Everywhere he looked, everything was crumbling.

Where was his Rome? The familiar landmarks? What had happened to his city? He had to get out of this exposed space where he was nothing but an easy target. Stumbling on a rock as he took off, Julius tried to steady himself, but failed and went down. Rocks ripped at his already torn hands, chewed his bruised knees. His heart beat wildly; his breath came in harsh, painful gulps. Behind him he heard footfalls and hoarse panting getting closer.

There was no way out now.

Slowly, he rose and turned around.

His pursuer wasn’t wearing a toga or a robe, but was dressed in clothes that Julius had never seen before and holding an unusual metal object Julius was unfamiliar with but somehow knew was a weapon.

And then, staring at the black barrel, Julius felt a deep wrenching inside of him: a cessation, a great giving up as Josh broke free of the memory lurch to see the man who had been in the tomb with him, who had stolen the Memory Stones and shot the professor, probably with this same gun, staring at him with a satisfied smirk on his face.