The Lincoln Myth (53 page)

M
ALONE DID NOT LIKE ANY OF WHAT HE WAS SEEING
.

Stephanie had either been compromised or had compromised herself. He opted for the latter, especially after spotting her Beretta lying on the floor nestled close to a large boulder, hidden from view. She’d deliberately misled him and Luke to buy herself enough time to get here. She would have to assume that they would head back to Charles Snow, where they’d learn about the cavern, counting on the fifteen to twenty minutes of time she’d bought herself.

Thankfully, they’d cut that in half and were already here.

Think
.

Be right
.

S
TEPHANIE STOOD WITH HER HANDS IN THE AIR AND FACED
Salazar. She was not afraid, though she should be. Danny Daniels had told her that if a third party happened to intervene and cause havoc, who were they to interfere? But she’d understood what the president of the United States had not said.
And if you can cause that havoc, so much the better
.

“What do you mean Elder Rowan is a spy?” Salazar asked.

“He’s a long-standing member of the U.S. Senate. He’s taken an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of this country. He is one of the most powerful men in Washington.”

“I’m also a Latter-day Saint,” Rowan said. “A duty I take even more seriously than my oath to this country.”

She had to work this carefully.

Timing was everything.

“What the senator said about Cassiopeia is true. When I learned of the photograph you kept of you and her, I realized you might still care. I asked Cassiopeia if she would be willing to approach you and she agreed.”

“Is that true?” Salazar asked.

Cassiopeia nodded. “I was told you were involved with some illegal activities. Even murder. I wanted to clear your name.”

“Murder?” Rowan asked.

Stephanie said, “He murdered a man in Michigan for a Mormon journal. Then he killed one of my agents.”

The senator seemed genuinely shocked by the information.

“Josepe,” Rowan said. “Please tell me she’s lying.”

S
ALAZAR LOOKED TOWARD THE ANGEL FOR GUIDANCE
.

“They know not what we face. We guard Saints and all they hold dear. Elder Rowan wanted that done. He cannot complain as to the methods.”

“Their agent was sent to destroy us,” he said. “My task was to not allow that to happen. The agent was not murdered. He was properly atoned, now with Heavenly Father enjoying his reward.”

“You beat him,” the new woman said. “Then you shot him. He had a wife and children.”

“This woman’s fault. Not yours.”

“Josepe,” Rowan said. “Is what she says true?”

“Be not afraid.”

“It is.”

“Then you have greatly sinned.”

“It has always been our way to offer atonement to our enemies. It was that way in the beginning, and remains so.”

“No,” Rowan declared. “We renounced violence long ago. Never is that a means to an end. I’ve spent my life working for a way for Saints to be independent, to be free of outside influence, with
out
violence.”

Was he hearing right? He was being chastised for doing what was expected. And Cassiopeia?

“Why did you lie to me?” he asked her. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“It was necessary. What you’ve done is wrong.”

“How dare she. She must know her place.”

“I am sworn to obey the prophets, and that is all I have done.”

“When you suggested the formation of Danites,” Rowan said, “never did I imagine you would go this far.”

“He is weak, Josepe. A fool, like all of the others. Do not tolerate it. We cannot tolerate it. Not any longer.”

The angel was right.

“Prophet Joseph tells me that you are wrong,” he said.

“Joseph Smith has been dead for over 150 years,” the new woman said.

“Shut up,” he yelled, jutting the gun her way, leveling the barrel at her chest. “Never say such a thing. He lives.”

“Find out about the elder. We must know where he stands.”

“Is he a traitor?” he asked her, motioning toward Rowan with the weapon.

R
OWAN HAD ALLOWED
S
ALAZAR A FREE REIN AND ASKED
precious few questions, but he’d honestly never factored murder into the equation.

“Did you kill that man in Michigan, as Ms. Nelle says?” he asked.

“We needed his journal and he would not sell it. So he was atoned for his sin.”

“Which was?”

“Greed. What else? And we’re here today partly because of my act of kindness toward him.”

“Is that how you describe murder?” he asked. “Kindness?”

“It is as the prophet declared.” Salazar’s attention returned to Nelle. “How is this apostle a traitor?”

“You’re here to find a document Abraham Lincoln entrusted to the Mormons. So ask him, where is it?”

A question Rowan had been asking himself. He’d assumed
that things would be obvious once here. But there was nothing inside
Falta Nada
except rocks, the pool, and a statue. Yet this was where Lincoln had directed. He’d seen the inside of the watch. But that was assuming both the watch and the image were genuine.

He pointed at Nelle. “She told me this was the place.”

“And it is,” she said. “This is the location Brigham Young gave Lincoln. Where the Mormon gold was stored. Lincoln etched it inside the watch. So where’s the document?”

She’d posed the question straight to him.

He saw that Salazar was waiting for an answer.

But he had none.

Nelle lowered her arms. “He has no answer because there’s nothing here. He’s not your ally. In fact, he’s your enemy. He tells you it’s okay to form the Danites, then is upset how they operate. He wants results, but complains how they’re obtained. He’s a respected member of the U.S. Senate. Part of the government of the United States. Do you think for one moment he’s going to assume any responsibility for any illegal acts you might have committed?”

She was baiting Salazar.

“Quit listening to her,” he yelled.

Salazar faced him. “Why? Because she speaks the truth?”

“This has to end, Josepe.”

“And it’s about to get much worse,” Nelle said. “There are more agents on their way here. All of this will soon be over. Senator Rowan knows that. We planned it together.”

Rowan advanced toward Salazar.

The gun swung his way, halting his approach.

“Josepe,” Rowan said in a calm voice. “You must listen to me.”

C
ASSIOPEIA STOOD SILENT, LISTENING, TRYING TO GAUGE THE
depth of Josepe’s madness. He claimed to see Joseph Smith, right
here, right now. But she’d also caught the hurt in his eyes when, for a second time in his life, she’d wounded him.

“None of you move,” Josepe said to Rowan.

“Is the prophet still here?” she asked.

“He watches all of you, as he watches over me.”

“How long have you seen him?”

“Many years. But only recently did he reveal his true nature. I always thought him Moroni.”

“Did the prophet tell you to kill my agent?” Stephanie asked.

Josepe threw her a glare. “He told me to offer him an atonement for his sins so that he might enjoy eternal happiness. And that is what I did.”

“You’ve been played for a fool,” Stephanie said. “By Rowan and by Cassiopeia.”

“Yet here I am, with a gun on you.”

Cassiopeia realized that Stephanie was trying to provoke a reaction and, if she kept pressing, she’d get one. “Josepe, I’m asking you to lower the gun and end this. It’s over.”

“Over? It’s only begun. Tell her,
Elder
Rowan. Tell her of the grand vision that is to become reality.”

“Yes, Senator,” Stephanie said. “Tell us of the coming glory. Of course, you’ll need the document, signed by the founders, to make that happen. Have you remembered where it is yet?”

“You set me up,” Rowan spat out. “You led me along and set me up.”

“I told you the truth—every step of the way.
Falta Nada
was written inside Lincoln’s watch. Mary Todd’s letter was real, as were Madison’s notes. I provided all of those to you. And by the way, did you share any of that with your cohort here?”

“Stop it,” Cassiopeia yelled.

“Really?” Stephanie said. “You want to stop now? You certainly didn’t want to stop when you went to Austria. Or when you flew to Iowa. Of course, your ex-lover didn’t know the truth. You were lying to him. Using him. Doing
my
bidding.”

“Shut up.”

Stephanie homed in on Josepe. “Ask your prophet what the penalty is for lying.”

S
ALAZAR DID NOT WANT TO LISTEN BUT HE COULD NOT BLOCK
out the words. Cassiopeia herself had admitted that she lied. And Elder Rowan had no idea why they were actually here. All of that made him wonder. Was he being set up? Nelle had proclaimed that more agents were on the way. Perhaps he should leave and call his two men. But that could not be done from inside this cavern. Then there was the matter of Cassiopeia, Nelle, and Rowan.

“She’s right, Josepe. The punishment for lying is severe. An atonement is in order. All three of these lost souls require your benevolence. Killing for the sake of the soul is no sin at all.”