‘What? Wait a second! You mean you’ve been inside?’
‘Of course I’ve been inside. I discovered them. Or should I say rediscovered them. The Church has known about the Catacombs for years.’
‘But the scroll? If they knew about the scroll, why did they leave it there?’
Benito flashed a patronizing smile. How could she be so dumb? ‘The Church didn’t know about the scroll or the lower level. The Romans sealed the entrance to the staircase two thousand years ago. It stayed closed until I ran tests on the plateau and discovered the basement.’
He grinned at the irony of the scroll’s resting place. Pope Urban VI had selected Orvieto as the perfect spot to protect the Vatican during the Great Schism. Meanwhile an even bigger threat — a document that could shatter Christianity and everything that the Church stood for — sat unnoticed the entire time he used the Catacombs. Benito realized if any of the pope’s men had found the hidden entrance to the staircase, the evidence of Pilate’s plot would’ve been destroyed by the Church in the 1300s. Thankfully, that never happened.
‘My turn,’ Maria said boldly. ‘Why was my mother killed?’
‘Why?… Because of you.’
‘What? What do you mean?’
He raised his finger, telling her to stop. ‘Did you translate the scroll?’
Maria wanted to lie. Yet she knew if he sensed it, he’d stop giving her information about her mother. And that was something she couldn’t risk. To her, the mystery of her mother’s death was more important than the secret of the scroll. ‘Yes. We translated it in Milan.’
He had expected as much. ‘Then you know the truth. The hero of the crucifixion wasn’t Christ. The real hero was Pilate, your ancestor. His con created the biggest religion of all time.’
She shrugged, refusing to give him a reaction. ‘Why was she killed for me?’
‘Didn’t you hear what I said? You’re related to Pontius Pilate. He was your forefather.’
‘So? I’m more concerned with my mother. Why did you kill her?’
He grinned at her audacity. He decided to reward it with the answer. ‘Why? Because she wanted you back. You were her little girl… From the moment you went to school, she became increasingly difficult to handle. She knew I wasn’t going to give in to her, so she decided to apply some outside pressure, hoping to change my mind.’
‘What kind of pressure?’
Benito shook his head. Her turn was over. ‘When Roberto was tortured, what did he reveal?’
‘I don’t know. I wasn’t there.’
‘Maria,’ he said sternly, putting his hand on the glass shard.
‘I’m serious. I wasn’t there. That’s why Payne cut off Roberto’s finger for identification. If I’d been there, I would’ve identified him myself.’
Benito considered this, then nodded.
‘What kind of pressure?’ she repeated.
‘Your mother found information about the Catacombs in my office. She threatened to go public unless I let you return home.’
Finally, everything started to make sense. That’s the reason her mother had called her at school and told her to pack her bags. She figured the info about the Catacombs would be enough to buy Maria a ticket home. Obviously, she was wrong. ‘So you had her killed?’
‘No, I killed her myself. Right here in this room.’ He smiled, thinking back to that day. She was his wife, so he felt his actions were well within his rights. Just like putting the family dog to sleep. ‘No woman was going to tell me what to do. Not in my home.
Not over Orvieto. This was my family’s secret, not hers. She had no business getting involved in this. She deserved to die.’
73
Payne briefed Nick Dial en route to Lake Albano, warning him what type of guards Benito Pelati had on his payroll. Ex-military, ex-Swiss Guard, the type of guys that two ex-MANIACs knew how to handle. Dial realized he’d be screwed without their help, so he said a few words and made them official Interpol deputies. Somehow Payne and Jones didn’t think it was very legal.
Dial called for reinforcements, too, but they managed to beat the local police to the scene. Too bad. They weren’t waiting for anyone. Not with Boyd and Maria in captivity.
An iron gate greeted them at the front of the property, as did an empty guard station. Payne helped Jones and Dial over the wall before he climbed it on his own. The yard was dark and spacious. They dashed through the bushes and trees, keeping an eye out for the security staff. They weren’t even sure that anyone was home until they heard a gunshot. Then another. Two identical sounds coming from somewhere inside the house. It was time to make their move. They didn’t know who was involved or what they were facing, but they didn’t care. Gunshots in a house were never good. So they decided to put a stop to them.
Jones led the charge to the front door, while Dial covered his back. Payne crept along the perimeter, looking in windows, trying to get a feel for the interior. He plotted escape routes, spotted weaknesses, estimated room locations and dimensions. Lives were on the line, and he knew it. The more information he had going in, the more corpses they’d have coming out. The enemy’s corpses, not their own. Payne refused to let his guys get killed during missions.
Payne reached the front porch just as Jones had sprung the lock. Payne briefed them on what he’d seen and volunteered to take the lead. There were no objections. Dial went next, followed by Jones. A sweeping staircase went up both sides of the foyer and met on the second floor. Paintings and statues lined the walls. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, though it gave them no light. They were standing in near darkness, thankful for the faint glow that came from deeper in the house. They decided to follow it.
Noises could be heard as they moved down the hallway. Screams of agony. Sounds of torture. The crack of fist meeting face. The thud of flesh being pounded. There was no doubt in Payne’s mind that it was Dr Boyd. He was being interrogated. By more than one man. The door to the office was closed and locked. A crack of light was shining around the frame. Its glow had led them to this spot like a beacon.
Jones examined the lock and realized that it was a hundred years old. A type he had never seen before. He told Payne he might be able to pick it but wasn’t certain. Furthermore, he didn’t know if he could do it quietly. Payne shook his head to let him know it was too risky. Payne felt the same about kicking in the door. He had no experience breaking down something that old. If it didn’t shatter on his first attempt, the element of surprise would be ruined. And since they didn’t know who was inside and what weapons they had, it wasn’t worth the risk.
Payne turned toward Dial and whispered, ‘We need a mirror. One that’ll fit under the door.’
He nodded in understanding. ‘Give me two minutes.’
Before Payne could argue, Dial scampered deeper into the house. Darkness be damned. Safety be damned. The only thing that mattered to Dial was meeting his objective. Ninety seconds later he returned with a chunk of glass from a broken mirror. Payne wondered how he’d shattered it in silence but didn’t have time to ask. Instead, Payne dropped to the floor and slid the glass under the door. By tilting the edge back and forth, he was able to see everything in the office. Boyd was unconscious, blood dripping from his face. Maria sat next to him, being questioned by an old man Payne didn’t recognize. He immediately assumed it was her father.
Armed guards were positioned throughout the interior. One stood next to Boyd. One stood next to Maria. Another stood behind the old man, watching the interrogation.
Strangely, Payne didn’t see Dante anywhere. He slid the glass in further, hoping to get a better view of the far corner of the room. His boldness almost backfired when he realized he had pushed the glass between the feet of one of the guards. Unbeknownst to Payne there was a fourth guard standing next to the door. He’d been studying the room through his legs the entire time.