Kate made a T with her hands, signalling a time-out. ‘Back up a moment. What’s the Montségur Medallion?’
‘That’s the name of the Al-Qanawat relic. And the Seven is convinced that I have this Montségur Medallion. That’s why they had an assassin called the Dark Angel murder two Delta troopers from my old outfit and make it look like I killed ’em. Earlier today, a couple of CID agents showed up at the Pentagon and accused me of doing just that.’
Closing his eyes, Finn massaged his sockets with his thumb and middle finger, envisioning the glossy 8 x 10 crime scene photos that the two CID agents had shown to him. He didn’t particularly want those images floating around inside his head. It made him think about the horror, the sheer agony, that his two friends endured before the final coup de grâce.
He opened his eyes. Then shook his head to clear the gory images from his mind’s eye.
To his surprise, Kate placed her hand on his forearm. ‘I’m sorry about what happened to your comrades.’
‘Yeah, me too. I loved them both like brothers,’ he told her, man enough to own up to his feelings. Still grappling with the brutal slaying, he was grateful for the condolence.
Removing her hand, Kate said, ‘I’m confused … why did the Seven frame you for murder?’
‘They framed me for murder to force my hand. To get me to turn over the relic to them. According to the dead French dude, they’ve got DNA evidence that will prove my innocence. And to sweeten the deal, Jutier offered me a sign-up bonus of one million dollars.’
‘But why, after offering you all that money, would Fabius Jutier turn around and kill himself?’
Finn shrugged. ‘I have no friggin’ idea.’
Snatching a plaid throw blanket from the arm of the sofa, Kate wrapped it around her shoulders. ‘I’ll be honest with you, Finn, it’s an outrageous story. And, quite frankly, I’m having a hard time believing that these murders took place because some group erroneously thinks you have a gold relic in your –’
‘I never said that I didn’t have the Montségur Medallion.’ As he spoke, Finn undid the top three buttons on his shirt. Slipping a finger under the ribbed collar of his undershirt, he pulled out the heavy-ass chain and medallion.
Eyes opening wide, Kate slumped against the sofa. ‘Oh, my God.’
15
‘I suspect this is quite valuable,’ Kate remarked, still stunned that Finn had been hiding the Montségur Medallion on his person.
‘Worth a decent chunk, given the price of gold.’ Holding the pendant by its heavy chain, Finn slowly swung it back and forth.
‘That’s not what I meant.’ Kate blinked several times in rapid succession, breaking free of the relic’s hypnotic allure. ‘The value of the metal, in and of itself, wouldn’t account for the Seven’s deadly fanaticism. An educated guess? These engraved images that decorate the medallion are what they’re really after.’
One side of Finn’s mouth turned down dismissively. ‘Bunch of old symbols. Big whup.’
A trained cultural anthropologist, Kate knew that symbols were an encoding system employed by all cultures. Depicted literally in art and expressed figuratively in myth, symbols communicated man’s relationship to the world around him.
‘May I?’ She held out her hand. Finn obliged the request, passing the medallion to her.
One did not have to be a trained cultural anthropologist to know that there was a hidden meaning contained within the ‘old symbols’, as Finn had dismissively referred to them.
‘Because an X divides the medallion into four different quadrants, I’m not sure if the symbols are meant to be read separately or as in integrated whole. What I do know is that these are symbols used in almost every culture of the world. The sun, as the eye of the world, symbolizes enlightenment. The moon refers to the dark side of nature.’
‘Or the passage of time.’ When she glanced at Finn, he shrugged. ‘You know, moon tides and lunar calendars.’
‘Or the passage of time,’ Kate iterated, his observation very much on the mark. ‘Stars usually designate the presence of some divinity.’
‘Like the crown of stars on top of the Virgin Mary’s head.’
She nodded, that being as good an example as any. ‘As for the four strangely shaped “A”s, I haven’t a clue. Perhaps they’re a reference to the Four Ages of man or the four classical elements of air, water, earth and fire. Regardless, all of these symbols are prosaic to an extreme. As you said, big whup. Which leads me to the medallion’s flipside –’ she turned the pendant over and showed him the three lines of engraved text. ‘I suspect that this inscription is what the Seven deems valuable.’
Finn’s head jerked. ‘The rat bastards killed my two buddies because of that?’
‘Possibly,’ she hedged.
‘Okay, what the hell does it say?’
‘I have no idea. However, I’m fairly certain that the last line is written in medieval Latin. I don’t recognize the language used for the first two lines. Clearly, the message was crafted to withstand the ages.’ She tapped the relic with her index finger for emphasis.
‘No kidding. Someone would have to melt this sucker to erase the inscription. So how is it that you know so much about symbols?’
‘My, um, PhD is in cultural anthropology.’
His brows noticeably lifted. ‘You’re a bona fide doctor? Are you shitting me?’
‘ “Yes” to the first question, “no” to the second. However, I rarely use the title.’ Hard-earned though those three letters were, when she left the world of academia two years ago and ventured beyond the ivory tower, she discovered that her title was off-putting. ‘I’m curious – why did you keep the medallion? Were you planning to sell it on the black market?’ she asked, purposefully changing the subject.
Leaning against the tufted sofa, Finn crossed his arms over his chest. ‘You don’t think very highly of me, do you, Doc? Actually, I kept it so no one else could sell the damned thing on the black market. My Delta team was sent into a very dangerous situation under false pretences. Put into harm’s way to retrieve a gold trinket so some higher-up could have a nice payday. I held on to the medallion hoping it would force the crooked bastards out of the woodwork so they could be prosecuted.’ Grim-faced, his chin dipped to his chest. But not before Kate glimpsed the stark grief that glimmered in his eyes. ‘I just never thought they’d kill my buddies to get the damned medallion.’
All in all, an unexpected confession. One that bespoke a noble intent. A virtue Kate didn’t necessarily associate with the foul-mouthed commando sitting across from her.
‘All right, now what?’ She carefully set the golden relic on the coffee table.
‘Now I track down the assassin who executed Dixie and Johnny K.’
‘Have you considered relinquishing the medallion to the Seven in order to clear –’
‘Don’t even go there,’ Finn interjected, rudely cutting her off in mid-sentence. ‘This medallion is the only leverage I have. As long as it’s in my possession, I’ve got a chance of getting Dixie and Johnny K the justice they deserve. Just so you know, they were the bravest of the brave. The guys who went in under the cover of night to take out a dangerous threat so that you and everybody else in this country can sleep safely at night. They didn’t deserve to die the way they did. Which is why I will find the sadistic shit who tortured them to death and I will make him pay.’
The vehemence in his voice sent a chill down Kate’s spine. ‘An eye for eye? Is that what you mean?’