Chapter 17
“They call this place an island?” Joel scanned the shore of Bottlenose Island, a tiny patch of sand and palm trees off of Key West’s northwest coast.
“I’ve seen smaller. But if this place is privately owned, somebody greased a lot of palms to get hold of it.” Matt guided their boat toward the gleaming white sand beach where three empty boats sat beached.
“Sounds like the Dominion to me. They’re never short on resources.” Joel looked around and stiffened. “There’s Franks. Time to get into character.”
David Franks had traded his three piece suit for cargo shorts, flip flops, and a Ted Nugent concert tee shirt one size too small for his thick middle. He raised his hand in greeting and waited for Matt and Joel to drag their craft onto shore.
“Glad you found the place.” Franks shook hands with each man.
“It’s not hard to find That is, if you know what you’re doing,” Matt added, remembering his adopted persona. “Anybody ever get lost trying to make their way here?”
“Once or twice. Anyone who can’t make it here doesn’t have what it takes to be a part of our group.” Franks indicated they should follow him, and led them toward the edge of the wooded area.
“Is this some kind of sailing club?” Joel flashed a wicked grin. “Maybe orienteering?”
Franks’ expression went stony. “It’s a men’s club, and we expect our members to live up to the name.”
“Amen to that.” Matt made a show of checking out his surroundings. “Lucky the tsunami didn’t hit here.”
“God is good,” Franks said.
“Does this place belong to one of the group members?” Matt tried to make the question sound casual.
“It belongs to the church. We use it for small group meetings. It’s not much, but it gets us away from the noise of the city… and prying eyes.”
“There are a lot of things in the city I don’t mind getting away from,” Joel added.
“Definitely.” Franks pointed up ahead. “It’s just through those trees.”
A faint scent of wood smoke hung in the humid air, and soon Matt heard low voices and a crackling fire. Nine men sat on benches around a campfire. They all fell silent when Franks, Matt, and Joel emerged into the clearing. Franks introduced them, first names only, and invited them to take a seat.
Franks waited for silence and then opened the meeting. “Brothers, we gather once again to reflect on the Lord’s wisdom, and His perfect plan for this sinful world. Brother Bill, I believe you have the devotion.”
Bill, a stocky man with thinning ginger hair, stood, opened his Bible, and cleared his throat.
“Hear the words of the Lord from the book of Ezra.
“When these things had been done, the Jewish leaders came to me and said, “Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
“For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. Worse yet, the leaders and officials have led the way in this outrage.”
He closed the Bible, looked around at those assembled, and proclaimed, “The word of God for the sons of God.”
“Thanks be to God,” the group intoned.
The meeting began with a perfunctory discussion of the Tsunami recovery efforts. It seemed the church was taking up a collection to assist members whose homes had suffered damage in the flood, while the men’s group, which didn’t seem to have a name, had helped clean up Key West Cemetery.
The discussion then turned to the topic of illegal immigration. Every man assembled stood opposed to anything short of removing non-citizens from American lands and beefing up border security, but their comments were much less incendiary than Matt would have expected. Some alleged a correlation between rising unemployment and an influx of foreign workers, while others discussed the impact on prisons, schools, and public services. Matt couldn’t help but think the men were all tempering their comments until they had the measure of himself and Joel.
Finally, Franks chimed in. “Such worldly issues are important, no doubt, but God is the ultimate authority.”
“There’s Deuteronomy, chapter 32,” Brother Bill offered. “He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel.” Everyone, even Matt and Joel, nodded.
Joel surprised Matt by chiming in. “What about Deuteronomy 28? The foreign resident among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you won't lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.”
“Amen!” several men chimed.
Franks turned to Matt. “You’ve been quiet so far. What are your thoughts?”
“I admit I don’t know the Bible as well as my brother.” Matt spoke slowly, racking his brain for a believable answer. “But I seem to remember we’re taught to stay in our places.” He held his breath, hoping he’d remembered that detail correctly. Everyone stared at him, the silence so complete that he thought they must be able to hear his heart beat over the crackling campfire.
Finally, Franks nodded. “The Apostle Paul, in particular, taught that one should remain in his condition upon entering the church.”
“And Proverbs tells us not to move land markers. The borders should not change and the people should not mix,” another man added.
Matt’s tension melted away. First hurdle cleared.
Franks checked his watch, then clapped his hands once.
“Brothers, our time is almost at an end. We need to set this week’s fishing schedule.”
Matt and Joel exchanged frowns. Matt enjoyed fishing, but this sounded like an awfully strong dedication to the sport.
Brother Bill went around the circle, assigning a pair of men to each night of the week. “I’ll take tomorrow night.” He looked at Matt and Joel. “Are the two of you up for some fishing?”
“Absolutely,” Joel said. “But we don’t have any tackle.”
Everyone laughed and exchanged knowing looks.
“No need to worry on that account.” Franks smiled broadly. “The Lord will provide.”
Chapter 18
The Catacombs of Paris were comprised of 1,500 miles of caverns, sewers, and crypts that lay beneath the storied city. Formed from centuries-old limestone quarries, the caverns housed pockets of French resistance and German bunkers during World War II. A section of these passages had been converted to an ossuary containing the bones of six million Parisians, making it the world’s largest necropolis. The ossuary was now a popular tourist destination, while the lesser-explored tunnels were the domain of cataphiles — people who illegally roamed the passageways.
Bones breathed in the faint scent of mold on the chill, damp air, and shone his light around. His breath rose in clouds to the ceiling, where moisture clung to the old stone. Droplets of water clung to the ceiling. This was one of the mining tunnels and not part of the actual ossuary, yet it was quiet as a tomb here, with only the occasional drip of water onto the floor to break the silence.
“Do you think they’ll follow us down?” Kasey whispered.
“The pilot won’t, but I’ll bet the guy with the rifle will.” Bones looked up, wondering how soon they could expect pursuit.
“Unless they call in reinforcements,” Greg said. “No telling what kind of manpower they can call upon here. The helicopter was unexpected, so we’d better assume they’ve got more nasty surprises coming our way.”