Chapter 21
“Find something?” the Hat asked.
“Yeah, but not much. This guy is really good. He grabbed all the correspondence and most of the computer storage but this little bit of information was caught behind a drawer. It says, “Professor Grant, Bio-geneticist, 4712 2nd Street, Philadelphia. I’d bet that he’s going to see this guy.”
“Why?”
“Burglar’s intuition. Did you find anything?” Soteri asked.
“Nah but I did grab this picture of the two. It looks recent. It’ll help somewhere down the line.”
The two grabbed the boxes of computer hardware and software and carried them to the car and were gone.
“Beth, wake up,” I said to my resting wife.
“Why? Are we there?” she responded groggily.
“No, but I had a thought. Hesidence wanted us to take these two tickets so his men could meet us at the other end. We can’t take that risk. The government could turn to the messiah’s side at anytime and then our gooses are cooked.”
“Geese.”
“What?”
“The plural of goose is geese. You’re a Nobel Prize winner I think you should know that.”
I stared at my wife and then smiled.
“Go ahead, dear,” she said, “I agree with you but how do we dodge them on the other end?”
I pulled my carry-on bag from the seat in front of me. Then unzipped it and showed her the contents.
“My wigs and a hat. I don’t get it,” she said with a look of confusion on her face.
“As we land we pull on the wigs and you put the hat on. That guy two rows in front of you has hit on every stewardess and woman near him. As you leave start a conversation with him. Flirt a little bit. He’ll be very attentive and most people will think that you’re with him. That will get you out of here.”
“And you?” she asked.
“They’ll be looking for a man and a woman together. The wig and limp should work,” I answered.
“Then what?”
“Meet me at Avis. We’ll rent a car and get out of here. Just remember that we need to talk about our trip to Maine,” I told her.
“Maine?” Beth said with a startled voice. “I thought we were going to Washington, D.C.?”
“We are but the conversation will throw off anyone following us. Now, get some more sleep. We’ll need to be rested when we get there.” I wished I could have slept but instead my nodding off was only filled with nightmares. Nightmares of us being caught somewhere between Hesidence’s CIA and Russo’s assassins.
I finally fell into a fitful sleep when suddenly there was a tap on my shoulder. “Sir, we’ll be landing soon. You’ll need to put your seat upright and fasten your seat belt.”
I rubbed my face hard to get the circulation going in an attempt to wake up faster. I had to get our disguises prepared. It was my hope that this idea would buy us the time I needed. I had planned to see my old Professor, Samuel Grant. I hadn’t realized till later when Hesidence played the tape of the assassins in our house that I had left Grant’s address in the desk. I wanted Grant to help me dig for the answer to the messiah’s genetic degradation. I felt it could be useful information when the time came to save our lives. It was wishful thinking.
Beth awakened. “Are we there yet?”
“Remember, dear, as we all stand up to leave put the wig and hat on. Then…”
“I know, flirt with the big mouth Romeo over there. I don’t know if I can remember how to flirt,” Beth said.
“Don’t worry. Anytime a beautiful woman says anything to a guy like that his player mode takes over.” We were descending. The lights of New York City stretched out like a glimmering, rolling sea. Touch down came.
The other passengers scurried to their feet and busied themselves getting their luggage. It was the perfect time for Beth and I to slip into our alter-egos. I felt a little like Superman changing into another identity in hopes of saving the world. Beth popped on her wig and hat then added her reading glasses. It was a nice touch since they were tinted and would keep anyone from seeing her distinctive eye color.
Beth moved quickly weaving and wiggling through the crowd of people until she ended up next to her mark. She spoke to him and the guy responded exactly as I predicted. The flow of passengers pushed towards the door on their way out.
I watched as Beth and her companion walked through the gate and out into the aisle heading for the luggage. Beth and I didn’t check anything. All we had was in the bags we carried. I felt it was better to get away with our lives than with the many memories we had to leave behind.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed two men in dark suits. They were very officious looking. It made me believe that these two were members of my reception committee. Their eyes shifted from one passenger to another. I moved an extra few people between us by sidestepping in the flow of humans greeting old friends and family. Soon my back was to the men and I was hustling towards the car rental booth near the baggage claim.
I glanced back once after I was about one hundred feet away. The two men were moving in a frantic manner. They knew they had lost us and I was certain they would be checking the faces around them more closely. Up ahead was an opening. Obviously, it was area under construction. The lights were out and a strip of yellow plastic ribbon stretched across the entrance. It headed in the same direction as I was going but it had the wonderful security of darkness. I had to make it there before the CIA agents saw me.
Everyone from our flight was hurrying to the baggage area when they came into contact with a group from another flight. Dozens more bodies merged in with ours. No one would notice one figure slipping out of the stream and into a dark corridor. I saw my opportunity and took it.
Inside the dark hall, I was able to make out the lights at the other end. I was smiling to myself about my successful avoidance of the CIA while listening to my steps reverberate in the hallway. For a moment I felt peaceful until I heard it. It was unmistakable. It was the heavy breathing of an animal.
About the same time that Beth and I were racing through the Kennedy Airport our would be assassins had made it back to Rome. Through other sources I was told the general flow of conversation in the Vatican at that hour.
“Your eminence,” Soteri said.
“Come here, Anthony and Charles. Tell me the bad news.” Russo dropped into the large, overstuffed chair behind his oversized mahogany desk. “How did you let them slip out of your hands and what did you find? Then tell me where they went."
“Can’t,” Chuckie responded.
“Can’t what?” the Bishop snapped.
“Don't know anything yet," Had said.
Russo leaped to his feet and grabbed a small statue. It was a priceless Renaissance piece but that didn’t stop Russo from flinging it across the room into a bookcase of ancient manuscripts. It crashed against the brittle spines of the books sending both clay fragments and particles of old, frail paper exploding into the air.
“I can’t believe that you let him slip away,” the Bishop screamed with an intensity that shocked both men.
“We didn’t. Somebody must’ve tipped him off. By the time we arrived his place was deserted. Who else did you talk to about this?” Anthony asked.
“No one. After Thompson and I discussed it, I talked to you two. Only four of us knew what was going to happen. I never said a word to anyone. You say that you didn’t slip up. That leaves only one person. Even he is becoming a bit of a problem.”
“I'll whack him for ya, Bishop Russo,” the Hat spit out.
“I don’t want either of you to ‘do’ him. I just want MacDonald and his wife eliminated. Now get back there and find out where they went for sure. Try the airport. Show their pictures around. If that doesn’t work check the other ticket counters around the city. I want him struck down before he strikes down our operation here.”
Soteri nudged Chuckie Hat and the two turned and exited. Russo stood up from his soft chair but wobbled as if he were faint. His body jerked throwing him back in his chair and then he went limp. Instantly after collapsing, the Bishop’s body leaped from the seat and taking his arm he swiped it along the top of his desk pushing papers, the phone, pens and photos onto the floor.
Then he spoke. It was his voice but there was something very different about it.
“MacDonald, I see you. I know where you are. You will not defeat my plan. You will not defeat me. I am the ruler of this earth. The ruler of this planet. It is mine. Your ancestor gave it to me and I’m not about to surrender it. I’ll end your life and the lives of everyone around you. I see you now. You should not have gone into the darkness. The darkness is mine. I love darkness and in the darkness men do evil deeds. Now, you are mine.”