“It’s just a text from Genesis. Many people around here know about it. Not like it’s a secret.”
More impatient now, Ulrich insisted, “Yes, but what does it say?”
The man appeared thrown off by the sudden change in temperament, but he replied, anyway. “It’s from Genesis 8, all taken from verses 7, 8 and 20.”
“Show me.”
The sexton raised his arm and pointed at a large Bible sitting on a stand directly below a raised baptismal pool. “Here, take a look.” He shuffled over to the gargantuan book and flipped a few chunks of pages, then, one by one until he found the right spot.
“See, have a look.”
Ulrich and Tommy stepped up to the podium that held the huge book.
Verse 7: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Verse 8: Also, he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. Verse 20: Then Noah built an altar to the Lord.
“What is this? The Raven and Dove? What is that supposed to mean?”
Confused, the elderly man replied matter-of-factly, “Well, um, it is a kind of motto for this church, sir.”
Ulrich was incredulous. “What do you mean a motto? What kind of motto is this for anything?”
“Well,” he was stuttering at this point, unsure about why it mattered so much to this foreign visitor. “Our church is called the Beacon Tabernacle. A beacon is a type of guide, in a manner of speaking. So, the designers of the building thought it appropriate to use this verse because the raven and the dove were used to guide Noah to dry land.”
“That’s it?” Ulrich stepped over to the old sexton and grabbed him by the shirt and tie and lifted him with both arms, pressing him against the wall beneath the baptism. “Answer me, old man. Is that all you know?”
A look of innocent fear swept across the sexton’s face replacing the confusion that had been there. His voice scratched as a result of the fists cutting off his breath just below the neck. “I…don’t…know what you…want me to tell…you. The church represents the altar that Noah built. What else do you want to know?”
Strong hands clenched tighter around the man’s thin neck and the pale, wrinkled skin began turning a slight reddish-purple color.
“What are you doing? You’re hurting him!” Tommy yelled, but was restrained by the strong grips of the guards.
Ulrich turned as if to say, “I don’t care,” when suddenly, another familiar voice filled the sanctuary.
“Put him down!”
Both of the guards looked instinctively over to an open doorway where a man with hair that almost matched his dark khaki pants stood holding a pistol in the direction of their boss.
Turning his head toward where the voice had come from, Ulrich glared at the new threat that dared interrupt his interrogation. At first, his eyes went immediately to the drawn weapon in the man’s hands, aimed squarely at him. After a moment, though, he focused on the person holding the gun.
Sean Wyatt had caught up to them. Again.
Chapter 48
For a long moment, everyone stood frozen in a stalemate. Ulrich and Wyatt glared at each other as if waiting to see who would make the first move. Even though it must have only been half a minute, it felt like an eternity.
Sean wasn’t willing to risk a shot, afraid the old man might get hurt.
The two guards stood at the ready, each holding Tommy tightly, also making them difficult targets.
“So, Mr. Wyatt,” Ulrich broke the silence. “You just won’t seem to go away.” Then in one quick, fluid motion he grabbed the sexton and jerked him around like a rag doll, clenching the old man around the neck with his arm.
“Most people think of it as an endearing trait.” Sean kept the gun trained on the blonde assailant.
Ulrich snickered, “Hardly the time for joking.” With another swift movement, he’d pulled his own pistol out and pressed it hard against the side of the old man’s head.
Though Sean had surprised the group, he was at a major disadvantage. He could see Joe and Allyson crawling behind the cover of one of the church pews on the other side of the sanctuary. That evened the numbers a little, but now the bad guys had two hostages and the risk of hitting one of them was too high at the moment.
“So tell me, Sean. How did you find us here?” Ulrich was talking again.
“It was dumb luck really,” Sean edged slowly behind the nearest church pew. He didn’t want to be a completely exposed target. “That park ranger you killed left a message on his cell phone that said, “Beacon.” After leaving the museum, I did a quick search on the navigation system in the car. The only thing within twenty miles with the word “beacon” in it was this church. I figured it was worth a shot.”
“How fortuitous.”
Ulrich leveled the pistol with a quick snap of his wrist and fired off two quick volleys that erupted into splinters in the pew right in front of Wyatt. The quick action by the blonde man had sent Sean sprawling to the floor below the bench seat. Another shot sounded from somewhere else, as a bullet thudded into the wood above his head. One of the guards must have started firing.
On his elbows and knees, Sean scurried across the carpet to the end of the row. Leading with his gun, he peeked around the corner of the bench end and saw that the larger guard was holding Tommy while the shorter held his weapon at the ready, looking to the end of the pew where he’d just fired.
Across the aisle, Joe and Allyson were crouched in a similar position. Sean gave a quick motion of the hand for his companions to give some cover fire.
Allyson acknowledged the request and surprised the two suits with a volley of her own, careful not to hit the hostages. Her rounds narrowly missed the stocky attacker.
Joe was a good shot with long ranged weapons, as evidenced by his success as a big game hunter. But smaller weapons were a whole different animal and bullets wildly splashed around the feet of the three men on the stage, a few pinging off the metal of the pipes behind them.
Allyson gave him a stern look as she pulled him back below the pew. “Why don’t you let me handle this?”
“Probably a good idea.”
Ulrich and the guard both turned their attention to where the new shots had originated.
“I see you brought some friends, Mr. Wyatt.” Ulrich launched another bullet towards their position.
As poor as Joe’s aim was, the distraction was exactly what Sean had needed. Both enemies appeared confused as to which area to concentrate their aim.
Sean rounded the corner of the pew again, kneeling as he squeezed off three quick bursts of his own. One bullet harmlessly lodged into the his target’s Kevlar vest, another completely missed, but the third found its way into the thick upper thigh.
Suddenly in pain and bleeding, the henchman dropped to the ground, momentarily letting his gun drop at his side.
From his position, Ulrich couldn’t see anyone so he sent four shots in both directions pinning Allyson and Sean under the cover of the church benches. The pungent smell of gunpowder lingered with the misty smoke that was beginning to fill the air.
The shorter guard was still on one knee and trying to stand as blood oozed from the wound in his leg. He lifted his weapon slowly, hoping to return fire if Wyatt popped out again.
Instead of poking around the edge of the seat, Sean slid underneath it and took a quick aim, only pulling the trigger once.
The guard noticed Wyatt’s new position too late. For a second, the stump of a man had a surprised look on his face. His eyes stared forward, blankly. Then the black hole in his forehead began trickling red liquid down his nose seconds before he fell forward and down the steps.