The Templar legacy

FORTY-THREE

DE ROQUEFORT BROUGHT ONE BROTHER WITH HIM AS HE ENTERED the cemetery, the remaining three waited outside. Clever what Mark Nelle had done, using the secret room as a diversion. They'd most likely stayed inside only long enough for his scout to leave the church. Then they hid in the confessional until he'd ensconced himself in the sacristy.

Inside the parish close he stopped and calmly surveyed the graves, but did not see his quarry. He told the brother standing next to him to search left and he went right, where he came across Ernst Scoville's grave.

Four months ago, when he'd first learned of the former master's interest in Scoville, he'd sent a brother to monitor the Belgian's activities. Through a listening device installed on Scoville's telephone his spy had learned about Stephanie Nelle, her plans to visit Denmark then France, and her intent to obtain the book. But when it became clear that Scoville did not like Lars Nelle's widow and was merely leading her on, intent on thwarting her efforts, a speeding car on the Rennes incline solved the problem of his potential interference. Scoville was not a player in the unfolding game. Stephanie Nelle was and, at the time, nothing could be allowed to impede her movement. De Roquefort had personally handled Scoville's killing, involving no one at the abbey since he could ill afford to explain why outright murder was necessary.

The brother returned from the other side of the cemetery and reported, "Nothing."

Where could they have gone?

His gaze settled on the tawny gray wall that lined the outer edge. He stepped to a spot where the wall rose only breast-high. Rennes sat on the backbone of a summit with slopes as steep as pyramids on three sides. Objects in the valley below were lost in a grayish haze that blanketed the colorful earth, like some far-off Lilliputian world, the basin, highways, and towns as if seen on an atlas. The wind from beyond the wall washed over his face and dried his eyes. He planted both hands on top, leveraged himself up, and hinged his body forward. He glanced right. The rocky ledge was barren. Then he looked left and caught a glimpse of Cotton Malone turning from the wall's north side to its west.

He dropped back down.

"They're on a ledge moving toward the Tour Magdala. Stop them. I'm going to the belvedere."

STEPHANIE LED THE WAY AS SHE AND GEOFFREY FLED THE HOUSE. A sunburned lane paralleled the west wall and led northward to the car park and beyond to Sauniere's domain. Geoffrey was clearly alight with anticipation, and for a man who appeared only in his late twenties he'd handled himself with a professional ease.

Only scattered houses stood in this corner of town. Firs and pines climbed skyward in patches.

Something whizzed by her right ear and pinged off the limestone of the building just ahead. She whirled to see the short-hair from the house taking aim fifty yards back. She dove behind a parked car that nestled close to the rear of one of the houses. Geoffrey dropped to the ground, rolled, then hinged up and fired two shots from between his outstretched legs. The pop, like a firecracker, was dulled by the howling wind. One of the bullets found its mark and the man cried out in pain, then grabbed at his thigh and fell.

"Good shot," she said.

"I couldn't kill him. I gave my word."

They came to their feet and rushed ahead.

MALONE FOLLOWED MARK. THE ROCKY ESCARPMENT, LINED BY spikes of brown grass, had narrowed, and the wind, which before was only a nuisance, had now become a hazard, molesting them with gale force, its monotonous murmur masking all other noise.

They were on the town's west side. The lofty stem of copses from the north slope were gone. Nothing but bare rock plunged downward, gleaming in the fiery afternoon sun, colored by tufts of moss and heather.

The belvedere Malone had crossed two nights ago, chasing after Cassiopeia Vitt, spanned twenty feet above them. The Tour Magdala stood ahead and he could see people atop the tower admiring the distant valley. He wasn't wild about the view. Heights affected his head like wine-one of those weaknesses that he'd hid from the government psychologists who were once required, from time to time, to evaluate him for duty. He risked one glance down. Scant brushwood dotted the steeply inclined plane for several hundred feet. Then a short ledge leveled, and below that an even steeper drop began.

Mark was ten feet ahead of him. He saw him glance back, stop, then turn and level his gun, pointing the barrel his way.

"Was it something I said?" he yelled.

The wind buffeted Mark's arm and shook the weapon. Another hand came up to steady the aim. Malone caught the glare in the man's eye and turned back to see one of the short-hairs coming straight for them.

"Far enough, brother," Mark hollered over the wind.

The man held a Glock 17, similar to the one Mark gripped.

"If that weapon comes up, I'll shoot you," Mark made clear.

The man's arm stopped its rise.

Malone did not like his predicament and pressed himself against the wall to give them room for the duel.

"This is not your battle, brother. I realize you're simply doing what the master ordered. But if I shoot you, even in the leg, you'll go over the edge. Is it worth it?"

"I'm bound to follow the master."

"He's leading you into peril. Have you even considered what you're doing?"

"That's not my responsibility."

"Saving your life is," Mark said.

"Would you shoot me, Seneschal?"

"Without question."

"Is what you seek important enough to harm another Christian?"

Malone watched as Mark pondered the question-and he wondered if the resolve he noted in the eyes was matched with the courage to follow through. He, too, had faced a similar dilemma-several times. Shooting someone never came easy. But sometimes it simply had to be done.

"No, brother, it's not worth a human life." And Mark lowered his gun.

In the corner of his eye, Malone saw movement. He turned to see the other man take advantage of Mark's concession. The Glock started to rise as the man's other hand whipped across to meet the weapon, surely to help steady the shot he was about to take.

But he never fired.

A pop muffled by the wind came from Malone's left and the short-hair was thrown back as a bullet sank into his chest. He couldn't tell if the man was wearing a protective vest or not, but it didn't matter. The close shot scrambled his balance and the man's stocky frame teetered. Malone rushed toward him, trying to prevent a fall, and caught sight of two tranquil eyes. He recalled the look from Red Jacket atop the Round Tower. Two more steps was all he needed to reach him, but the wind swept the brother off the promontory and the body rolled downward like a log.

He heard a scream from above. Some of the visitors on the belvedere had apparently witnessed the man's fate. He watched as the body continued to roll, finally settling on a ledge far below.

He turned to Mark, who still held the gun level.

"You okay?"

Mark lowered the weapon. "Not really. But we need to go."

He agreed.

They turned and scampered down the stony track.

DE ROQUEFORT RUSHED UP THE STAIRS THAT LED TO THE BELVEDERE. He heard a woman scream and saw excitement as people flocked to the wall. He moved close and asked, "What happened?"

"A man fell off the edge. Rolled a long way."

He elbowed his way to the wall. As in the parish close, the stone was nearly a meter wide, making it impossible to see down to the base of the outer wall.

"Where did he fall?" he asked.

"There," a man said, pointing.

He followed the outstretched finger and saw a figure in a dark jacket with light trousers far down the barren slope, lying still. He knew who it was. Damn. He planted his palms on the rough stone and pushed himself up onto the wall. Pivoting on his stomach, he cocked his head left and saw Mark Nelle and Cotton Malone making their way toward a short incline that led up to the car park.

He dropped back down and retreated to the steps.

He pressed the SEND button on the radio clipped to his waist and whispered into the lapel mike, "They're coming your way, at the wall's edge. Contain them."

STEPHANIE HEARD A GUNSHOT. THE POP APPEARED TO HAVE COME from the other side of the wall. But that made no sense. Why would anyone be out there? She and Geoffrey were a hundred feet shy of the car park-which, she noticed, was filled with vehicles, including four buses nestled close to the stone water tower.

They slowed their advance. Geoffrey shielded the gun behind his thigh as they calmly walked ahead.

"There," Geoffrey whispered.

She saw the man, too. Standing at the far end, blocking the alley down to the church. She turned back and saw another short-hair strolling up the lane behind them.

Then she spotted Mark and Malone as they ran up from the other side of the wall and hopped over the knee-high stone.

She trotted toward them and asked, "Where have you two been?"

"Out for a stroll," Malone said.

"I heard shooting."

"Not now," Malone said.

"We have company," she made clear, pointing to the two men.

Mark scanned the scene. "De Roquefort is orchestrating this whole thing. Time to leave. But I don't have the keys to our car."

"I have mine," Malone said.

Geoffrey handed over the knapsack.

"Good job," Mark said. "Let's go."

DE ROQUEFORT HUSTLED PAST THE VILLA BETHANIE AND IGNORED the many visitors making their way toward the Tour Magdala, the tree garden, and the belvedere.

He turned right at the church.

"They're attempting to leave by car," a voice said in his ear.

"Allow them," he said.

MALONE BACKED FROM HIS PARKING SPOT AND THREADED HIS way around the other cars to the alley leading to the main rue. He noticed that the short-hairs made no attempt to stop them.

That worried him.

They were being herded.

But to where?

He crept through the alley, past the souvenir kiosks, and turned right onto the main rue, allowing the car to coast down the incline toward the town gate.

Past the restaurant, the crowd thinned and the street cleared.

Ahead, he spotted Raymond de Roquefort, standing in the middle of the lane, blocking the gate.

"He means to challenge you," Mark said from the rear seat.

"Good, because I can play chicken with the best of them."

He gently rested his foot atop the accelerator.

A couple of hundred feet and closing.

De Roquefort stayed rooted.

Malone saw no weapon. Apparently the master had concluded his presence alone might stop them. Beyond, Malone saw the road was clear, but a sharp curve lay just outside the gate and he hoped no one decided to come around it in the next few seconds.

He rammed his foot to the floorboard.

Tires grabbed pavement and, with a lurch, the car shot forward.

A hundred feet.

"You plan to kill him," Stephanie said.

"If I have to."

Fifty feet.

Malone kept the wheel steady and stared straight at de Roquefort as the man's form grew larger in the windshield. He braced himself for the body's impact and willed his hands to hold tight.

A hurried form leaped from the right and shoved de Roquefort out of the car's path.

They roared out through the gate.

DE ROQUEFORT REALIZED WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND WAS NOT happy. He'd fully prepared himself to challenge his adversary, ready for whatever would come, and he resented the intrusion.

Then he saw who'd saved him.

Royce Claridon.

"That car would have killed you," Claridon said.

He pushed the man off him and rose to his feet. "That remained to be seen." Then he asked what he really wanted to know. "Was anything learned?"

"They discovered my ruse and I was forced to call for help."

Anger seethed through him. Again, nothing had gone right. One salvation, though, rang through his brain.

The car they'd left in. Malone's rental.

Still equipped with an electronic monitor.

At least he'd know exactly where they went.