The Vatican Knights

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

With the odor of cordite rich in the air, Shari rolled on her side and undid the strap securing her Glock in the pancake holster.

She pulled the weapon and pointed it in the direction of Murdock’s approaching footfalls that seemed to fall with the slow and measured cadence of a man who thought he had all the time in the world. When he rounded the corner of the bed his mouth gaped in surprise, his hooded eyes informing her that he had made the critical mistake of thinking he had completed the job, thinking he had killed her on the first volley of gunfire.

In recompense he tried to raise his weapon to finish the job, a headshot this time, but Shari squeezed off round after round. Bullets flew until her clip was empty, the hammer striking an empty chamber in a series of dry clicks until she realized she had exhausted her ammo.

As she laid there, the air thick with roiling blue smoke, she could hear the vague sound of something shuffling along the floor, like a serpent slithering. After she ran her fingers across the three impact points along her body armor, she struggled to her feet and managed a wavering stance over a writhing Murdock, his kneecap ruined.

Kimball spun toward the brownstone. More shots. Ironically the reports rekindled his hope as he raced up the stairway and into the foyer, these last shots no doubt a response to the first barrage. He just hoped it was a defensive reaction from Shari.

He entered the den following the odor of cordite and ran along the hall and into the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, massaging the Kevlar vest with her hand, Shari offered Kimball a strained smile. It was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

Murdock, screaming in agony, broke the spell between them. His long wailing cry pierced the brownstone and the night.

Team Leader sat with his back against the cold brick wall, his mind in deep thought when his satellite phone vibrated in his pocket. After switching ‘ON,’ he placed the cell to his ear. “Yes?”

“They’re gone,” said Yahweh, his voice deeply riddled with agitation. “Omega Team is gone and Judas is in the custody of the FBI. This whole thing is out of control! Abort the cause. It’s done!”

“I don’t think so. You knew there was the possibility of the stove in the kitchen getting too hot. Now you’re going to have to deal with it.”

“I don’t think you understood what I just said. I said the cause is aborted!”

“And you listen to me. I don’t care what your position is in this country. You were well aware of the risks and consequences before you agreed to go along with the movement.”

“That’s because you assured me every contingency was thought out to the point where any and all matters could be curbed or adjusted to fit our needs.”

“And they will be. Your panic is premature, I assure you.”

“My panic — you listen to me, Obadiah, Omega Team is gone and Judas is a wealth of information to draw from, if he chooses to talk.”

“Then the answer is simple,” he said. “Remove Judas from the equation. He’s been nothing but a boil anyway.”

“To you everything has an answer. Well there’s no answer to this!”

“Oh, but there is,” he said. “You have George Pappandopolous and Mr. Paxton waiting in the shadows as field backups. I suggest you utilize them since they have the clearance to approach Judas without suspicion.”

Yahweh was silent.

“You have no other choice,” said Team Leader. “The cause will go on with or without you. It’s up to you to mop up the mess, so I suggest you keep your wits and command yourself in the manner in which your position requires.”

“My position requires the cause to succeed. But now that it’s been compromised, it’s time to abort and cover our tracks.”

“Aborting the mission is not an option,” he insisted. “You fail to understand that I’m in a win-win situation. If they intend a search and destroy mission of this post, then the world will know that factions within the United States government was behind the taking of the pope, which the White House will want to keep secret. And since they’ll want to keep this matter undisclosed to the worldwide public, then we’ll continue with the cause. When I said there’ll be no discussions, no debates and no negotiations, then there will be no discussions, no debates and no negotiations. We will follow this to the end.”

As displeased as Yahweh was, he couldn’t find the courage of rebuttal.

“Remember, Pappandopolous and Paxton are our last line of defense. Make sure they don’t fail.” Team Leader hung up the cell phone, looked at it briefly, then tossed it into the darkness. It was obvious to Team Leader that Yahweh was no longer a main player in the picture, his mettle dwindling like a sandcastle in the wind. Nevertheless, the cause would remain stalwart without his support.

Within a minute the phone was ringing, its faceplate lighting up.

Casually Team Leader stood and walked to the phone with his hands clasped behind the small of his back. He tilted his head to one side, as if in a manner to study, and then with the heel of his boot crushed the phone into shards of broken circuitry.

As I said: There will be no discussions, no debates and no negotiations. Your pope is as good as dead.

Once the phone was completely disintegrated, Team Leader walked away feeling assured that the United States government wouldn’t try to compromise the cause for fear of media discovery. In truth, he knew the Americans would allow the cause to run its course and set the world metaphorically on fire by fueled passion rather than take the blame for the pope’s kidnapping. He truly was in a win-win situation.

Team Leader turned and walked into deeper, darker shadows, his shape blending with the all-consuming pitch as his footfalls echoed in cadence until they dissipated into steady silence.

Once Kimball had established that Shari was all right, he began the task of doing what the Vatican Knights do best. Before the arrival of law enforcement, Kimball and the rest of the Knights policed the area, removing any evidence of the skirmish by placing the bodies in the back of the van. The Force Elite, along with Nehemiah, had simply vanished. Within moments, the shadows held nothing more than the obvious nightshades.

The Vatican Knights and their targets disappeared as quickly as they had emerged.