Blood Relics (A James Acton Thriller, #12) (21 page)

“Thanks,
Doc,” said Niner as he twisted the cap off. “And thanks for those first class
tickets. You’ve spoiled me. I’m never flying coach again.”

Dawson
grunted. “I’ll never hear the end of it the next time we’re in a Herc.”

“Shoot
me now!” cried Niner, grabbing his seat cushion and pretending to vibrate. “I’m
having flashbacks of Afghanistan!”

“Don’t
tempt me.” Dawson nodded toward the bags near the entrance. “We arranged for a
few supplies.”

“Weapons?”
asked Reading.

“Are you
asking as a cop?”

Reading
smiled. “Never mind.”

Niner
grinned. “Good choice.” He looked at Acton. “Any word on your wife?”

“You got
my last update about the phone call?”

They
both nodded.

“Then
that’s about it. I’m heading for Rome shortly to begin my search for Saint
Longinus, but I’m not overly optimistic, especially with the time constraints I
think we’re under.”

Niner
put his water bottle on the table. “You’re still convinced this is all about
the blood of Christ and healing some sick dude?”

“Yes.
The German guy confirmed it’s about the blood, or at least the Blood Relics,
but not why. The only thing I can think of is its purported healing properties.
And Laura did refer to a doctor and a lab.”

“We’ll
operate under that assumption,” said Dawson. “You said you’re going to Rome?”

“Yes.”

“Then
one of us will go with you—”

“No,”
interrupted Acton, shaking his head. “I want the three of you looking for
Laura. It’s a hell of a lot more likely you’ll find her than I’ll find some two
thousand year old corpse. The Vatican Inspector General—”

“Giasson?”

Acton
nodded. Dawson and the others on his team had dealt with Giasson during the
storming of the Vatican they had all become mixed up in. “Yes, Mario’s agreed
to provide security for us while we’re there.”

“Us?”

“I’ve
got some academic help arriving this afternoon.”

“Okay,
we’ll leave the relic hunting to you. As long as our hostiles think you’re
useful to them, you’re probably safe. We’ll focus on finding your wife. I’ve
forwarded all the intel we’ve got to our contact at Langley, and if I know him,
he’ll come up with something. In the meantime I think we need to run down the
one lead we do have.”

“What’s
that?”

“These
KSK guys.”

“That’s
exactly what I was thinking,” said Reading, shaking a sheaf of papers. “They
all used to work for Renner Security based in Stuttgart, Germany.”

Acton’s
eyes narrowed, Stuttgart not exactly where he would have thought a band of
mercenaries would be headquartered. “Stuttgart?”

Dawson
drained the last of his water. “Yeah, the German Special Forces are
headquartered about twenty miles from there so they use it as a recruiting
center.”

“Are
they reputable?” asked Acton.

“They
have their usual bit of dirty laundry like most of these types of outfits that
provide private security, but nothing that’s made headlines.”

Reading
grunted. “Just means they haven’t been caught.”

Dawson
chuckled. “I’ve already set up a meeting with their CEO for later today. You’re
welcome to come along.”

Reading
shook his head. “No, I’m going to stay here and coordinate things.”

“Sounds
like a plan,” replied Dawson, turning to Acton. “What time is your flight for
Rome?”

Acton
looked at his watch then jumped from his seat. “I’ve gotta get ready. I’m
leaving here in fifteen.”

Dawson
rose. “Okay, you said you arranged a room for us?”

Acton
pointed toward two keycards sitting on the table. “Those are yours. Your room
is across the hall.”

“Is it
anything like this?” asked Niner as he stood, taking in the large room.

“All the
rooms on this floor are suites and I figured it was best we were all close.
You’ll each have your own room.”

 “Thank
God,” replied Dawson, motioning toward Niner. “He’s newly single and horny. I
was afraid I’d have to share a bed with him.”

“And I
like to spoon.”

“He’s
not joking.”

Acton
laughed, the first time since Laura’s kidnapping, and it felt good.

These
men were the best in the business, and with their contacts, Laura just might
stand a chance.

Because
he could see no way he was going to find the body of Saint Longinus.

Not
without a miracle of my own.

St. Paul’s University, St. Paul, Maryland

Mai Trinh flinched as a hand waved in front of her face. She ripped
the earbuds free as she spun around in her chair, cringing on instinct at
whatever might be about to assail her.

It was
Tommy Granger.

She
smiled, covering her heart. “You nearly scared me to death.”

“You had
your Katy Perry cranked so loud I don’t think you’d have heard a herd of
elephants stampeding behind you.”

“Why
would there be elephants behind me?”

Tommy
laughed, dropping into a chair beside her. “We need to work on your sense of
humor.” He wagged a finger at her. “I bet back in Vietnam you were considered
very funny.”

She
blushed, turning away slightly. “Not really.”

“Ahead
of your time, then.” He nodded toward the screen. “What are you working on?”

“Something
for Professor Acton.”

Tommy
leaned forward quickly, his knee suddenly bouncing rapidly. “Did you hear what
happened in Paris?”

“Yes,
that’s what I’m working on.”

Tommy’s
eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand.”

“Professor
Palmer has been kidnapped—”

“You
mean she’s not dead?”

Mai
shook her head. “Thankfully, no, apparently the kidnappers called Professor
Acton. They want him to find the Spear of Destiny.”

“What’s
that?”

“The
spear that stabbed your Jesus Christ.”

“Oh
yeah, like in that Mel Gibson movie. Have you seen that? The Passion of the
Christ?”

She
shook her head.

“My
parents took me to see it when it came out. The theatre was packed. There’s
this scene where they torture him—” His voice cracked and he shook his head. “I
remember crying out at one point for them to stop. It was the first time I saw
my dad cry, and he’s not really big into religion.”

“Sounds
like a good movie.”

He
nodded. “I watched it again just a few months ago…” His voice drifted off as
his eyes glistened. Mai desperately wanted to reach out and comfort him, this
boy, this young man, who had helped make her feel a little less lonely, clearly
needing it.

But she
held back.

It
wasn’t her way.

She
decided distraction was the easier way to go.

“The
kidnappers want the professor to find the body of Longinus, the Roman soldier
whose spear it was.”

“They
want him to find the body of some dude who died two thousand years ago?”

Mai
nodded. “He became a bit of a revered figure from what I’ve read, so it’s
definitely possible.”

“I
suppose. But what if he can’t find this guy?”

“Then
Professor Palmer will be killed.”

“Jesus
Christ!” Tommy quickly made the sign of the cross. “Sorry, I guess that wasn’t
the right choice of words considering.”

Mai
shrugged, not sure why.

“Do they
have any leads?”

“I just
sent a bunch of research on Longinus to Professor Acton. My best guess at the
moment is Rome.”

“No, I
mean the kidnappers. Any leads?”

“They’ve
apparently identified some of them, mercenaries I think, but not the lead guy.
According to the email update I just got he hasn’t shown up in any databases
yet.”

“Maybe
they’re looking in the wrong databases.”

Mai’s
eyes narrowed. “Sorry?”

“If this
guy doesn’t have a criminal record, then he’s not going to show up in their
databases. What do we know about him?”

Mai
brought up the document she was using to track just that, the amateur sleuth in
her already fantasizing about doing what the authorities couldn’t. “Not much.
He has a German accent, spoke perfect English to the Professor and perfect
German at the museum in Vienna. This is his picture from the security camera.”
She scrolled down, showing a clear image of the man holding a hostage from
behind. “And that’s about all we know.”

Tommy
shook his head. “There had to be something in the phone call. Too bad they
didn’t record it.”

“They
didn’t, but the Professor did take notes.” She brought up a photo of the pad
sent in the email update to her and several others including Dean Milton.

Tommy
quickly read the scribbled notes then leaned back, his fingers tapping the arms
of the chair. “Sounds to me like he’s in some sort of warehouse or a large
home.”

“Home?”

“Yes. My
grandparents have a large estate and when you walk on the floors there, the
scale of the house is so large, everything echoes. It’s just as possible that
this is a house and not a warehouse. Think about it. A long quiet walk where
all he hears is footsteps echoing, then a door, then more footsteps in another
large area. That area we know has Professor Palmer in it because she’s put on
the phone and says she’s being kept in a lab with a doctor named Heinrich.” He
paused. “Have they found any record of him?”

“Not
that I know of.”

“Well,
he’s probably easier to find if that’s his real name. Anyway, the caller could
have been walking down a long hallway then entered a room where they’ve got a
lab set up. Some of the rooms in my grandparents’ house are huge—easily enough
room for a small lab.”

“I guess
it’s possible.” Mai wasn’t nearly as convinced of the possibility, but then she
thought Professor Acton’s home was large, though apparently it was quite
modest, especially compared to some of the homes she saw on television.

They
were unbelievable.

Maybe
it is possible?

“My
point though was that
if
it is a large house, then it could be
his
house. Remember, these guys have committed robberies in Spain, Rome, Vienna,
Paris, then Rome again, all in four or five days, which means they’re
well-funded. I doubt they’re flying commercial, especially after Vienna where
they were caught on camera—which if you look at the footage they were showing
on TV last night certainly suggested they weren’t concerned about being
seen—which means they’re probably flying chartered jets. And that means money.”

Mai’s
head was nodding the entire time, Tommy making a lot of sense. “And they don’t
appear to be stealing for money,” she added. “Apparently there were other very
valuable objects including gold and jewels that could have been taken at the
same time but weren’t.”

“Right,
right! Money isn’t their motive. And if these mercenaries aren’t concerned
about being caught on camera, then they obviously aren’t concerned about
working again or going to prison, which means they’re expecting huge payoffs
that will allow them to disappear and live out the rest of their lives in
comfort.”

“Which
means money.”

“Yes!
Lots of money. So if we assume there are huge amounts of money involved, and
that people who do this sort of thing usually have some sort of criminal record
before they try something this big, then the fact the lead guy has
no
criminal record suggests he’s the moneyman and the mercenaries are his hired
muscle.”

“So
we’re looking for a millionaire?”

“At
least, maybe even billionaire. But the fact nobody has recognized him suggests
he’s reclusive.”

Mai
turned to her keyboard, quickly making notes. “So he’s very rich, probably
German—”

“Or
Austrian, perhaps Swiss, they speak German too.”

“Oh,
okay. He’s probably a recluse, but he’s apparently quite athletic and certainly
didn’t seem shy to me.”

“Not
like us!” laughed Tommy, putting his hands on Mai’s shoulders and shaking her
gently. She froze for a moment, trying to regain her focus, it the first time
she had been touched physically by a boy in over a year.

She
hadn’t realized how much she had missed it.

And she
didn’t mean intimate contact, it was just contact of any type. Professor Palmer
always gave her hugs, which she craved, and Professor Acton would give her a
quick hug when she would arrive for dinner, but beyond handshakes, this was the
first time someone had put their hands on her in a familiar way.

“Oh, I’m
sorry,” said Tommy, removing his hands, apparently noticing she was still
frozen.

“No,”
she whispered, her head dropping slightly. “It’s okay.”

She
glanced slightly over at Tommy who was beaming, the meaning of her words
thankfully not lost on him. She smiled awkwardly then turned back to the
computer. “So he’s probably not in the computer business?”