“Oh.” The pieces started to come together. “That’s why you wanted to know about Petrov.”
“Right.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about him anymore, but Dufort will have others you will have to be ready for. He has a lot of people working for him, and many of them are just as dangerous as Petrov, if not more so.”
“Awesome,” Sean responded sarcastically. “I look forward to meeting them.”
“Be careful, Sean. Dufort doesn’t play fair.”
“None of them ever do, Em. Thanks for the info. You be careful too. Let me know what you find out.”
“Will do.”
Sean ended the call and found Tommy and Adriana staring at him, waiting for answers. “I’ll explain everything on the way in.”
Chapter 27
During the short walk into the lobby, Sean explained everything Emily had told him so far about Dufort, his underworld business, and the collectors club. He could tell Tommy had a few more questions, but by the time Sean was finished relaying the information, they’d reached Coop’s room.
Inside, Charlie was sitting in a vinyl taupe chair, reading a newspaper. His face appeared as grumpy as ever.
Coop was in the hospital bed. He had it propped up so he could see the television more easily. The volume was at a fairly low level, mostly coming from the bedside speaker.
He turned his head upon seeing the three enter. Charlie lowered his paper, peering over the top of it with weary eyes.
“Hey, guys,” Sean said, leading the way into the room. “Coop, how you feelin’?”
The bearded man smiled. His skin was a little pale, but he appeared to be recovering.
“I’ve worn nicer things than this,” he said and gave a tug on the nightgown. “I hate this silly thing. But other than that, I’m doing much better.”
Charlie cut into the conversation, setting the newspaper on the seat next to him. “Docs say he should be able to go home tonight or tomorrow. Said he was real lucky the bullet missed his vitals. Another inch either way, and old Coop might be in the morgue right now.”
“Thank you for that,” Coop joked, shaking his head.
“Just tellin’ them what the doc said is all.”
Coop ignored him. “I’m fine. I think I will be able to leave tonight, but the doctor may want to keep me for observation, which I believe is a sneaky way to get another night’s rent out of patients.”
The three visitors chuckled at the comment.
Then Coop’s face turned serious. “Tell me. Were you able to find out anything more about the coin?”
Tommy made his way over by the window and stood near Charlie while Adriana and Sean stood under the television. Tommy answered the question first. “Yeah. It looks like the coin is tied to an ancient Viking legend.”
“Vikings?” Coop’s eyebrows lifted as if given a shot of renewed energy.
“Mmhmm,” Tommy murmured. “We went to Southampton, England, and found the grave of the man who is said to have discovered the clues to this ancient treasure.”
“We ran into some trouble along the way,” Sean jumped in. “But we found a missing piece to the puzzle.”
“You did? Well, that’s fantastic.” Coop pondered what he’d heard and then said, “You mentioned you ran into some trouble? Was it the men from before, the ones that did this to me?”
“Yes, but nothing we couldn’t handle,” Tommy said confidently.
Adriana spoke up. “The clue we discovered suggests the next waypoint is the Helsingor Castle in Denmark.”
“We’re heading to Copenhagen this afternoon,” Sean added.
Coop was dazed by the statements. “You were just in England yesterday? And this afternoon you’re flying to Denmark? When do you people get any time to sleep?”
“You get used to it,” Tommy lied. “We intend to see this through to the end. Whatever your ancestor was looking for was important enough to keep hidden for several centuries.”
“And it’s important enough to kill for, apparently,” Charlie chimed in for the first time.
“Right,” Tommy agreed.
Coop’s eyebrows lowered. “Do you have any idea what it is you’re looking for?”
Sean looked at Tommy, then at Adriana. They also exchanged the same wondering glances. Finally, Sean spoke up after the other two gave him the go-ahead nod.
“This may sound a little crazy, but we’re pretty sure that what Francis Jackson was looking for was the lance that pierced the side of Christ.” He let the words sink in and watched Coop’s reaction.
The man’s eyes grew wide as he considered the possibility. Before he could say anything, though, Charlie spoke up. “Are you serious? The Holy Lance? You know that thing is in the Vatican, right?”
“Yes,” Tommy answered. “Under Saint Peter’s Basilica.”
“We don’t believe that is the original spear,” Adriana explained.
Coop looked bewildered. “I’m sorry. You said something about a Viking legend, and now you’re talking about the Holy Lance? I don’t see how the two connect.”
Sean relayed the story of Holger Danske and what they’d learned from Tara and Alex about the Jonathan Stuart diary. Tommy explained that Holger served Charlemagne for the sole purpose of stealing the lance for his king, but upon taking it, didn’t feel comfortable relinquishing it to anyone.
“So he fled?” Coop asked after listening to the entire story.
“It seems that way,” Sean said. “Holger might have believed that the lance was too powerful a weapon for any one man to possess.”
“So he took it somewhere to hide it?”
“We think so. He had a captain, his friend, Asmund, that made the journey with him.”
“Fascinating,” Coop said. “And you think that at this castle you will find another clue?”
“Actually,” Tommy answered, “we hope to find Asmund. It could be that the grave Jonathan Stuart found, and that Jackson discovered several years later, was where Asmund was buried. Maybe they missed something that will give us a hint as to where the two Vikings went.”
“You said Asmund’s grave. What about this Holger…whatever his last name was?”
“Danske,” Sean said. “We don’t know the answer to that question yet. The grave Stuart and Jackson found couldn’t belong to Danske because the legend would be moot if there were a body. Danske would have to be buried far away. Asmund, on the other hand, could have returned to his homeland. If he did, and left clues along the way, we might just be able to find the final resting place of Holger Danske, and possibly the lance as well.”
A knock came on the door, and everyone turned to see a nurse in pale-blue scrubs standing there with a small cup and a Sprite. “Sorry to interrupt, but it’s time for Mr. Cooper to take his pills.”
“We have to be going anyway,” Sean said to the young woman. “We’ll get out of your way.”
Tommy stood and offered an apology to Coop. “Sorry we couldn’t stay longer. If we want to beat these guys to whatever the finish line is, we have to move quickly.”
Two muscular men in dark blue windbreakers stalked toward the open door and stopped short. They spun around and faced out toward the nurse’s station.
“Who are those guys?” Charlie asked with narrow eyes.
Sean noticed them too. “We took the liberty of bringing in a few bodyguards. They’ll make sure you two are safe until all this settles down. We don’t think you’re in any danger now, but you can never be too careful.
Charlie resisted. “I don’t want any babysitters.
“It’s really for the best,” Tommy urged. “They won’t be any bother and it’s just for a few days.”