Adam was gradually getting his bearing. He shone the torch on his map and could see a distinct clear path taking him to the vault. The question was, would Benito be in place? He was the one who knew how to open this massive safe. Footsteps invaded his thoughts and held them in suspense for a moment. He could feel his heart thudding loudly. He could hear it, and he hoped nobody else could.
Pulling himself back against the wall, he tried to merge with the dank sullen stone. There were two priests in a big hurry running along the pathway. He ducked in to a curtained area hiding from them. He managed that at the absolute last minute. They passed. They were clearly looking for something or someone. They were more like bodyguards than priests, and the bulge of their guns in their shoulder straps was clearly visible.
He had already had to deal severely with one thug on his way to the vault.
Adam let out a long slow breath, relaxing as he began to move along the path once again. Looking from side to side and glancing over his shoulder, he made his way until he came to the vault room. As he went inside, he saw Benito awaiting him in the darkness, tools in a large portmanteau at his side.
He whispered to Adam to keep watch as he completed the job. It seemed to be taking forever. If footsteps were heard, they retreated behind a large cabinet that was bedecked with silver objet d’art to the side of the room.
Adam and Benito were sweating as they wondered how long their luck would last. How long would they or could they remain undiscovered and indeed how would they get out undiscovered. Adam dragged his mind back to the present as Benito swung the great door of the vault open, and they could walk into the inner sanctum.
They were amazed. It was like a honeycomb, with lots of little pigeonholes with doors, filled with many things. Each one had its own lock and some had writing encrypted on the front to inform the reader of the contents. They moved to the very rear of the vault as they had been told that artefacts, scrolls etc. and books from 2000 years ago were kept at the very back.
They made their way forward, oblivious of any danger gathering outside as a red light flashed on VM’s desk indicating that someone was in his vault unauthorised. He, at the present time, was in another part of the building making his way back slowly. Unknowingly, Adam and Benito were only minutes away from discovery.
Adam and Benito were desperately looking through the different places in the vault. They knew roughly where. They decided on a locked drawer, which looked as if it had not been disturbed for some time. It had a hand carved M on the outside of the small wooden dookit.
Benito, skilled as he was in opening locks, took no time at all to open the wooden container. Therein lay a beautiful small book with a heart embossed on the exterior. There was also a white feather, a pressed white rose, a silken red scarf and a piece of crystal completed the set.
Adam put the three most important pieces that he could see into a velvet pouch that he had with him, then he put the pouch back in the box and gave the box to Enrico. He would remove the pouch when they got away and discard the rest later on. If this was it, and he himself did not know for sure that it was. However, he assumed it must be the Key to the Magdalene, and the secret that had been held for centuries. His gut affirmed this to be the case. Now they must make haste.