The fire was now flicking out of the hole in the roof and the smoke was burning their lungs. Above them, a line with two harnesses attached had been lowered from the first helicopter and was now dangling before them. Daniel strapped Sarah in and grabbed on before signaling the pilot. The helicopter lifted skyward as the roof of the tower became fully engulfed in flames and began to collapse. Daniel and Sarah held each other tightly as they flew over the treetops in the moonlight before finally being winched onboard.
Racing up the highway, the SUV containing Leo and the others turned into the driveway just in time to see the Israeli commandos chasing the men into the forest surrounding the house. Several of the men had made the mistake of trying to take on the Israelis and had opened fire on them with their automatic weapons before they were instantly dropped by three commandos.
Leo and the others leapt from their vehicle and ran to the clearing where the second helicopter was landing. Daniel and Sarah stepped out of the open door of the aircraft and were immediately embraced by their friends. They turned back to look at the burning tower and watched with sadness at the loss of such a historic structure and their former place of refuge. It had offered protection to men hundreds of years ago and had protected them tonight.
Luckily, with most of the wood inside the tower already burned, the fire had begun to die out, and the thick stone walls kept it from spreading to the rest of the house. A half-dozen commandos surrounded Leo and the others, while the security men who had survived were rounded up and herded back to the house to be handed over to the Italian police. Not wanting to explain their presence in Italy, or the six bodies on the ground, the Israelis handcuffed the remaining men together below the statue of the angel and headed for their chopper.
Daniel noticed that the short priest was not among them, but they had no time to search for him. In the distance, they heard the sound of sirens and saw a line of flashing blue lights coming up the narrow country road. The Israeli commander began motioning for the Bible Code Team to get onboard one of the helicopters, and after a few more high-fives, everyone jumped onboard and strapped themselves in. Both choppers then filled with grinning commandos before finally lifting off in the direction of the sea, while the Swiss Guard security men in the SUV stood guard over the men shackled together in the fountain under the angel and waited for the Italian police.
A mile up the road, a black limousine pulled to a stop. Within minutes, a short priest emerged from the brush and opened the door. Inside the limo, a young, handsome dark-haired man sat bathed in the blue glow from the screen of his laptop computer. He was impeccably dressed, as befitted one of the richest and most powerful men in Italy. He motioned for the priest to get in, and they slowly drove off into the night.
The priest looked nervously at the silent man next to him. “I’m sorry about the book, sir.”
The normally warm and charismatic demeanor of the man changed. He looked up from his computer and stared at the priest with cold black eyes. The priest involuntarily recoiled and wondered if he should continue to speak. This was no ordinary man he was sitting next to, but someone chosen by Satan himself to protect his secrets here on earth.
“I didn’t know until your phone call a few minutes ago that the book had been destroyed in the chapel,” Emilio said. “When I discovered that the backpack I took from them in the catacombs was empty, I figured they had taken the real one containing the book to Morelli’s house in the country.”
The man continued to stare at him silently, totally unnerving the priest.
“Obviously, I was wrong. Is there anything else you wish me to do for you tonight, sir?”
The man switched his gaze back to his computer screen, giving the priest a reprieve from the otherworldly stare he had endured for the past few moments.
“Don’t worry, Emilio. No harm has been done.” He continued to gaze into the blue light emanating from his laptop.
The priest was taken by surprise. “But, sir, the book. There’s nothing left of it but ashes now.”
The man turned and gave the priest a sinister smile that was just as frightening as his most menacing glare. “I always have a backup plan.” He hit a key on the keyboard, and a series of pages began running across the screen. Emilio stared at it in wonder. The writing and language were foreign to him.
“What is it, sir?”
“It’s our Bible. Satan’s book for the end of days. That Jesuit priest had it copied into a computer in Israel in case anything happened to it. I simply hacked into their database and retrieved it. We no longer have the power of the book itself, so let them have their rapture when the time comes. At least we still have the words, and they will remain safe with me until the time comes when our master arrives and we rule the world in Satan’s name.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Lev and John relaxed on the rear deck of the Carmela while Ariella napped on the sofa in the rear salon. The yacht was tied up alongside its dock in Caesarea as the crew went about the daily ritual of scrubbing away the corrosive effects of the salt from the sea. On the flat-screen TV over the bar, the men watched the limited clean-up efforts that continued in and around Houston. The city was a shell of its former self, and the daily pictures that bounced off satellites to TV’s around the globe showed that it had been reduced to a frontier-like existence.
Radioactivity was still high and would remain at lethal levels for years to come before rebuilding could safely begin. In Rome, the news of the pope’s sudden death had stunned the world, and Catholics in every city on earth kept a close eye on the Vatican as the conclave of cardinals cast their votes for the next pontiff.
Lev lit a cigar and laid back in his deck chair. “Are you ready for the big day?”
John smiled back at his future father-in-law. “I’m as ready as I ever will be. I never knew so much planning could go into a wedding. Ariella is really excited.”
Lev peered into the salon at the sleeping form of his daughter on one of the couches with Camp curled up at her feet. “She doesn’t seem too excited right now.”
“She’s exhausted. I think she’s been on the phone for two solid days now. All her friends here in Israel are coming, along with my family and friends from America. She wants to have the ceremony on the beach next to the villa.”
“I thought she would choose the beach. Her mother and I were married there, and Ariella said it was one of your favorite places.”
“I can’t think of a more beautiful spot. By the way, Lev, thanks for the wedding gift.”
Lev glanced sideways at John with a look of mock surprise. “What gift?”
“Ariella told me about it yesterday. I hear you’re giving us a house.”
“It’s the house Ariella was raised in. We had just moved into the villa when her mother died, so most of her childhood memories of us as a family are in that little house. My wife designed it, you know. That’s probably another reason Ariella has always held a special place in her heart for it. It’s in a great location close to the sea and has the most beautiful garden on the property. I can’t imagine anyone else ever living there. I hope you and Ariella will be as happy there as Carmela and I were.” Lev looked over at John and winked. “It will be a great place to raise my grandchildren.”
Laughter erupted above them as Father’s Leo and Morelli came bouncing down the stairs from the top deck. Morelli flopped down in a deck chair, while Leo stood and looked out over the ancient harbor. The harbor at Caesarea had been built by Herod the Great at the site of an old Phoenician port in 22 BC and was dedicated to Caesar Augustus.