Mason ached. He’d spent the previous day hammering, twisting, bolting, securing and fastening one security device after another to Sally’s property. They’d been up and down ladders, forced their way through bushes and balanced precariously along gutters the whole day. In the end, though, the toil was worth it. Hassell was the only one of them who leaned towards being electronically minded, but even he didn’t fancy the idea of hooking everything up to a central hub. They had a specialist coming out today.
It was early morning, the sun just starting to announce its presence to the world. Mason started the morning off right with an hour in his makeshift boxing gym. After that, he went to breakfast and started cooking eggs whilst waiting for the coffee to percolate. The others still weren’t up by the time he started eating. He didn’t blame them. It had been a long day and night yesterday.
Slowly, they filtered downstairs. Sally came first, her hair sticking out in all directions. A bleary-eyed Roxy appeared next, complaining that her mouth was as dry as old churchyard bones. Ten minutes later they were a team, as Quaid and Hassell joined them, all crowded around the breakfast table.
‘Another quiet day?’ Roxy asked. Today, she was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt that showed off many of the scars of her old life. Roxy’s body bore several physical scars, but they didn’t bother her a tenth as much as the invisible ones in her mind.
‘I could do with about a week’s rest,’ Quaid said. ‘After all that manual labour yesterday.’
‘Old bones aching?’ Hassell said with a smile.
‘All of me is aching, I don’t mind telling you. On the positive side though, we’re as well protected as we can possibly be.’
‘Short of posting a nightly guard,’ Mason said. It had worked back in his army days.
‘Nights are made for rum,’ Roxy said. ‘And bad dreams.’
‘And worrying about what to do next with my father’s money,’ Sally said. ‘Don’t forget that.’
‘I could probably stand guard,’ Hassell said. ‘I barely sleep.’
Mason finished his eggs and sat back with his coffee. The breakfast bar was full now, and noisy. His quiet morning had shattered. They had two days before their next job was due to start and, with nothing else to do, he was thinking of proposing that Sally use her skills to find Marduk. He believed the man wouldn’t have strayed too far from an Amori stronghold, and Amori strongholds had been noted down throughout history. Maybe Sally could root him out.
He was about to inform them of his theory when Sally’s phone rang. Again, she noted the call was coming from the Vatican.
‘Cardinal Vallini?’ she answered with a smile. ‘What can we do for you today?’
‘I am afraid this is not Cardinal Vallini,’ a deep voice said. ‘It is Premo Conte.’
Mason frowned. Conte was the Inspector General of the Gendarmes of Vatican City and leader of the Cavalieré, a special, highly skilled force within the Swiss Guard. He was a serious man but, as Mason had found on their last adventure searching for the Amori bible, was also a very capable one. He had helped them send a force against the Amori headquarters to take down Marduk and his cohorts.
‘Conte,’ he said in a formal voice. ‘How are you?’
‘This is not a phone call I ever wished to make. Please sit down, all of you. I have some dreadful news.’
Mason did as Conte asked, though the others just puckered their brows and asked what was wrong.
‘I am so sorry to tell you that Cardinal Vallini is dead.’
Sally’s mouth fell open. Tears instantly filled her eyes. ‘Wh … what?’
‘Murdered in the early hours of this morning. Murdered in his apartment. I am sorry.’
‘But … but he knew my father,’ Sally said. ‘Now … both of them? How can it have happened?’
‘Murdered?’ Quaid repeated.
‘It is a Carabinieri matter now. It is under full investigation.’
Mason fought the shock to find the right words to say. ‘We spoke to him recently,’ he said. ‘He retained our services again because of the Marduk situation.’
‘He spoke to me also,’ Conte said. ‘It is one of the reasons I am calling you. We spoke of your … rehiring.’
‘I take it you didn’t agree with him,’ Mason said.
‘Vallini was my boss. We may not see eye to eye on some matters, but I respect his decision. Do you have any idea who might have done this?’
Mason blinked. The answer was pretty obvious, and Conte knew it. Maybe he was chasing ghosts, trying every eventuality. ‘I think we can deduce that it was Marduk, or at least someone working for him. Do you have any leads?’
‘As I said, this is a Carabinieri matter.’
‘But I am sure they will work with you,’ Mason pressed, using the line of questioning to take his mind off the terrible news.
‘We will see about that.’
Mason fought to keep his emotions in check, but found he couldn’t quite manage it. He slumped back in the chair and gripped both sides of his forehead. He squeezed to ease the pressure. Vallini’s death was an enormous loss, their first loss as a team, and something he really felt to his core. It was an odd, new feeling. He knew all about loss, of course, felt it every single day. But never with the new team, never in the presence of Sally and the others. Seeing how they coped was an eye-opening moment for him.
Sally wore her grief on her sleeve, openly in tears. She looked lonely standing near the table, and Mason wanted to go over to her. Roxy looked angry, the lights flashing in her eyes. She was staring around the room as if searching for an enemy to kill or a weapon to use. Quaid just looked sad, the years showing through his expression and the slump of his shoulders. Hassell looked like he couldn’t believe the news, as if bad things weren’t supposed to happen to this new crew. Mason felt like he’d had the stuffing knocked out of him.
‘Are you there?’ Conte asked into the silence.
‘We’re here,’ Mason said for everyone. ‘We’re still processing.’
‘Surely,’ Quaid said. ‘Surely you know what happened?’
Conte hesitated; they could hear it in his voice. After a few seconds, he said: ‘Someone, an eyewitness, said they saw two people exiting his apartment building around the right time. No actual descriptions, but it was a man and a woman.’
Mason ground his teeth together. ‘Cassadaga and Ivana,’ he said.
‘There’s no real proof of that.’
‘But Marduk did this,’ Sally suddenly hissed. ‘Marduk killed poor Vallini out of revenge.’
‘Those two would be perfect for the job,’ Hassell admitted.
‘There’s more,’ Conte said.
Mason looked up sharply. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘They left a note.’
‘The killers?’
‘Yeah, a note from Marduk. It’s personal, to Vallini.’
Mason wondered how Conte knew it was from Marduk, but let that go for now. He braced himself, because he knew what they were about to hear would be callous and cruel. ‘What does it say?’
Conte cleared his throat softly and then began to read: ‘A thousand years and then a thousand more, we waited. Your Bible says: “the secrets will out”. But not today, and not tomorrow. You cling to your precious secrets like young children cling to their mothers. If the secrets are “out”, they will surely destroy you, a fact of which you are very aware. But if I, Marduk, can’t get you one way, I will get you another. My wrath will yet destroy your Church, your Vatican. Plans are afoot. I will kill you all soon. And I will start with you.’
Conte went silent. Mason tried to take it in. On top of the shock of Vallini’s death, it was no simple thing.
‘It tells us nothing,’ Hassell said.
‘It tells us that Marduk has a plan already, that he’s implementing it,’ Quaid said. ‘He didn’t just send Cassadaga for revenge. This is all part of some big scheme.’
‘Something he’s been working on in prison?’ Roxy said, still looking like she wanted to murder someone.
‘I’d say that’s a given,’ Mason said. ‘The man’s a fanatic.’
‘Any ideas what that could be?’ Conte asked. ‘Did Vallini discuss anything with you before he … died?’
‘Nothing specific,’ Mason said. ‘He had a feeling Marduk would be back. That’s why he re-enlisted our help.’
‘What can we do now?’ Sally asked. It wasn’t a proper question – more of a rhetorical statement.
‘You can help. I will back you,’ Conte said simply. ‘I assume this matter takes precedence over your other jobs now?’
Mason could think of nothing more important than finding Vallini’s killers and stopping Marduk. Vallini hadn’t deserved to die, and bringing his killers to justice was foremost on Mason’s list of priorities right now. Nothing else mattered. Stopping Marduk, and Cassadaga and Ivana, was a tangible stake they should latch on to. ‘We’re available night and day. Any job.’ As he spoke, he glanced around at the team and saw the fierce determination in their eyes, vying with grief.
‘A new man will take Vallini’s place for now,’ Conte told them. ‘A liaison. Someone who will take up Vallini’s affairs until the clergy replaces him properly. Now, I have to say, this new man is young and commands far less respect, as you can imagine. But he is all that we have for now. Do you understand?’
Conte was telling them, between the lines, that all the slack they had enjoyed with Vallini was effectively gone. They would find working with the Vatican much harder now. Of course, there was still Conte himself.
‘What’s his name?’ Sally asked.
‘Mario Gambetti,’ Conte said. ‘Born April 1967. He’s one of the youngest cardinals in Vatican City.’
‘What’s he like?’ Sally pushed.
‘He toes the line,’ Conte said. ‘You won’t find him taking any chances, making any snap decisions.’
‘So how can we help you?’ Mason said.
‘Officially, you can’t,’ Conte said.
Mason heard the vacillation in that voice, the sense that Conte wanted all hands on deck but didn’t feel comfortable asking out loud.
‘So what’s next?’ Quaid asked.
‘Officially, I can’t tell you,’ Conte said. ‘But, as you say, Vallini re-enlisted your help. You’re working for us now.’
The conversation dried up a little after that. It was only five minutes later when Sally ended the call and slumped heavily into a chair. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she said. ‘Poor Vallini. He had to go through that.’
‘The question is – how do we avenge him?’ Roxy asked dangerously.