Languedoc, South of France
Since Michael was small, Jacques told him about his special family, an ancient house of high priests, an unbroken line from the time of the Israelites in Egypt. His forebearers were the esteemed caretakers of the most holy place on the face of the earth, the Holy of Holies, the part of Solomon's Temple that housed the Ark of the Covenant. Once a year, the priests were permitted to enter this holy place and commune with God Himself.
There were schisms between the priests as time passed. One incident of infighting happened at the beginning of the Common Era, when some high priests accepted Jesus as the anointed one, including James, the high priest who was Jesus’s brother. Still, the priesthood stayed intact until the Roman siege that forced them to scatter across the earth.
His heredity should have been a source of pride, not so much for possessing hallowed blood, but for being entrusted to ensure the secret lineage continued without any further oppression. However, the whole family and their secret had an evil cast to it. In Michael's mind, his father possessed a mental imbalance, unfortunately coupled with a brutal streak. Frequently, Jacques was violent, twisted with disappointment in his son, whom he considered unworthy to be the keeper of the secret. When Michael was young he was fraught with shame that he was not good enough in his father's eyes.
Now, he only felt like he wanted to escape from this malevolence. The rites of his father's self-proclaimed mystery school were convoluted gibberish to Michael, recitations and re-enactments of historical occurrences in Egypt or about Hiram Abif, the architect of Solomon's temple. The sacrifices were horrific and seemed to serve no purpose.
As he grew older, his mind returned more often to the thought of freedom. Jacques was weakening daily, becoming frailer before his eyes. When he died, Michael would be released from his burden. If Luc wanted to be the patriarch of the family, let him continue the madness.
****
Later that day, Ty watched from the foyer as Elizabeth Harkness, anchor for the news program, Eye on What’s Happening, questioned Ashi about her life story and her abilities as a healer. Ashi explained everything with perfect aplomb, her head held regally in front of the bright lights and cameras. As the interview continued, Ty's heart flooded with emotion for Ashi. He had loved Jenna but this was different. It was as if every single cell in his body felt completely and totally in love with her.
She completed the interview by healing one of the assistants of poison ivy, which covered his neck and right arm. The red, crusty skin disappeared, leaving his arm smooth and clear. Elizabeth’s attitude morphed immediately from that of a reporter who asked the tough questions, to one of reverence.
“Can you explain how you heal?”
“It's a matter of minds being connected. You must find the connection.”
“That's all? It seems a little more involved than that.”
“It really is not. The healer, mind-to-mind, helps the patient remember his connection with the All. Simply, the healer shines the light into the patient's mind and reminds him of his own light.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Elizabeth said, laughing.
“Don't laugh. I am telling you, anyone can do it. The only time there is not a healing is when it goes against a plan your soul made deep down.”
When it was over, Ty was the first to approach her. “You were great!”
“Do you think people will understand?” Ashi asked. She looked worried. “I do not want anyone to think I am special or different.”
How can anyone think she is not special? Ty thought.
Elizabeth overheard what Ashi said. “You’ll find out the day after tomorrow. That’s when your interview will air.”
“So soon?” Ty asked, surprised.
“One day to edit,” Elizabeth said with a smile. “We want our news show to keep its finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the world. We can’t have a big lag time or anything we air will be old news.”
After the crew was packed up and gone, it was late.
“You know we still have a lot of homework,” Ty said.
“Yes, and...?” Ashi’s eyes twinkled. “Do you feel like doing it?”
“Not really.”
Ashi settled on the sofa in the family room while Ty started a fire in the fireplace.
“You know, there are consequences if you don’t do your homework,” Ty said, teasingly.
“What can they do to me?” Ashi said, laughing. “Maybe I won’t be around long enough to see the consequences.”
Ty froze, thinking about what she just said. “You’re not thinking about going back to Bhutan, are you?”
“Every so often I think about it, but I have a mission here…and people I care about very much.” She looked at him pointedly, then got up and returned with her laptop. “I know you think we’re at a dead end but I disagree. I think we are very close to finding some answers and the key to it all is Charles de Charney.”
Ty pushed thoughts of Ashi’s leaving out of his head. “Yeah, that’s why we keep being shown scenes from Phillipe’s life that include his father.”
Ashi googled de Charney and got over a million hits. She began to go through them methodically, with Ty looking over her shoulder. After hours of searching and reading until late at night, they found nothing except that the de Charney estate was still standing, still owned by the de Charney family. Ashi snapped the laptop closed and yawned.
“That’s how I feel too,” Ty said.
They drowsily watched the dying flames in the fireplace. The next thing he knew, Ashi was shaking him. She was dressed in fresh clothes and her hair was hanging in damp strands down her back.
“I let you sleep a long time but we will already be late for school.”
“Oh, no.” Ty felt his eyes roll. He liked the relative anonymity of entering the school in the middle of a mass of students. Now the kids were already in class and there would be a crowd of people waiting for them, reporters and sick people looking to Ashi for a cure. When they arrived at school there was the usual bunch standing at the fringe of the parking lot, just barely off the school property. When they spotted Ty and Ashi, they called out questions and requests for healing. Ashi maintained her typical half-smile and did not appear to be bothered by the attention.
It was a crowd but it was nothing, compared to the swarm they encountered one day later when they drove into the parking lot.
“Wow…,” Ty said. “It’s a zoo.”
“Zoo--doesn't that mean a place to keep animals?” Ashi asked.
“It’s a saying, Ashi.”
“Why are there so many people here?”
Ty shook his head. “Remember, I warned you? They’re here for you. Your interview aired last night.”
“Oh.”
They looked over the crowd. A police presence, complete with blue, sawhorse police barriers separated them from the crowd. When they saw Ashi the noise from the crowd swelled.
Besides the reporters and people who were quietly watching, there were people on their knees. Some were crying, their hands held out to her. Others were chanting her name.
“They adore you, Ashi.”
“No, no, that is not what I wanted. They should not adore me,” she said adamantly. “They should be looking inside their own selves. I made it clear in the interview.”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just easier to worship someone than to look inside yourself.”
“Oh, aint that the truth.”
Ty stared at her with his mouth open.
“It's a saying, Ty,” she said, smiling.
Ty opened the front door and turned around to look at the crowd again. They were four or five deep behind the barriers. There was undulating movement throughout as they pressed forward, waving their hands, shouting, reaching.
They entered the school, intending to go to class but the principal intercepted them, asking them to come to her office. She explained how she saw Ashi’s interview and understood the crowds outside. She and the staff were dedicated to helping her in any way, including keeping school as normal as possible for her. She asked the police to come and keep the crowds off the school grounds.
“Is that all right with you, Ashi?” Mrs. Henchel asked. “Is there anything else we can do?”
Ty suppressed a grin. Mrs. Henchel was deferring her authority to Ashi. Her tone was profoundly respectful. He had never thought she could act that way toward a kid.
Whereas Ashi had a following before her interview, now it was huge, over-the-top. Kids saw her in the halls, turned around and followed her to her classes. After each class there was a crowd, waiting to follow her to her next class.
After school Ty and Ashi stopped in the cafeteria to make phone calls, calling a team meeting for after school. He called Richard first, remembering his decision to bring him back to the team. The professor was in his office at the college.
“I heard you might want to rejoin the team,” Ty said.
“Yes, I’m interested.” Richard’s voice was clipped and strained.
“How about coming to our next meeting tonight?”
Richard hemmed. “Um, I don’t really know. I, um…”
“Did I call at a bad time?” Ty asked, puzzled.
“No, no not really. I, um, I…”
What is wrong with him? Maybe Preston or Tullio is in the room with him and he doesn’t want them to know he’s rejoining the team.
“Are you alone, Richard?”
“No.”
“Is it Preston or Tullio? Is that why you don’t want to commit?”
“No, not at all.”
There was a silence as Ty waited for Richard to make a decision.
“No, I don’t think so. Not a good idea,” Richard said. “I will talk to you soon.”
Ty heard the click and stared at the dead line. “That was so weird.” He made the other phone calls. “First he wants to join and now he says no thanks. I don’t get it.”
“Ty, maybe he is in some sort of trouble.”
“Do you think?” Ty thought for a few minutes. “Maybe we should stop by on the way home and make sure everything’s all right.”
They walked through the halls, which were uncharacteristically silent. Usually there were plenty of kids hanging around for clubs and sports. They found nearly the whole student body in the lobby, waiting for Ashi. Those who couldn't fit in the jammed lobby were just outside the front doors. It was packed and the crowd pressed in on Ashi, who remained calm even though she was surrounded by people who were larger than she was. Ty took her by the arm and steered her through, making a path for her, asking people to step back.
“Thank you, Ty,” she murmured.
A policeman appeared, and even though everyone was polite and orderly, he ushered them to Ty’s car.
They drove past the barriers. The crowd knew Ashi was in the car and were again, reaching, supplicating, crying out her name with tears rolling down their faces.
Ty kept his eyes on the road. “Even Vincent couldn’t get that kind of a response.”
They arrived at the college and parked outside the building Ty knew so well. He had come there since he was a toddler. He realized he hadn’t been there since before he went to Bhutan, before Vincent’s death. He walked down familiar halls, greeting several people he knew. He poked his head into an office and said hi to the department secretary.
They walked past Vincent’s office and Ty was startled to realize he no longer had full access to it. A youngish-looking professor, who Ty didn’t recognize, now occupied it. He stood before Richard’s closed office door and tapped lightly. Nobody answered and he tapped again, hesitating to try the doorknob. Ashi reached across him and tried it. It turned and she pushed it open.
Richard was sprawled in his chair, eyes bulging, tongue swollen and hanging out the side of his mouth. His skin was a shade of gray, which contrasted with the purple strip around his neck. A thin white rope neatly bisected the purple strip. Ty looked up and saw the light fixture had given way, leaving the desk covered with broken sheetrock, dust and the light. Richard was dead...hanged!
“Oh, no!” Ashi said, and backed out the doorway, staring.
Ty held her arm, steering her into the hallway, glancing all around.
“Help!” he called. “We need some help here,” he yelled, as he frantically punched numbers into his phone.
He shouted his message to 911 and then continued to shout for help. Time slowed. It seemed like it took forever for someone to arrive but at the same time, there were people hurrying from every corner of the hallway. Cheryl arrived and stopped short at the doorway.
“Oh, God!” She staggered backwards, aghast. Ashi took her arm and led her out of view of the horrible scene.
Sirens howled in the background, nearing the college campus. Two policemen arrived, then there was a flood of blue uniforms. The plainclothes detectives arrived, stringing yellow tape around the doomed department. Some of the police were stationed at each door, taking information from everyone leaving the building so they could interview them later. Others were searching the whole building, trying to account for every person. Ty was able to take a glance out the large window at the end of the archaeology department hallway. The ubiquitous reporters and news vans were right outside.
“Wait ‘til they see we’re here. They’re going to think that every time there is some sort of news, we’re in the middle of it,” Ty remarked.
They sat in the hall with their backs against the wall, waiting to be interviewed by the police. Ashi sat between Ty and Cheryl.
“He didn’t seem to be the type to…,” Cheryl said quietly.
Cheryl, usually tough, was sporting red-rimmed eyes. Every so often she wiped her tears across her face with the back of her hand.
“Type to what?” Ashi asked, uncomprehending.
Cheryl sniffed. “To kill himself. I know Preston and Tullio kind of kicked him around but…”
“He didn’t kill himself,” Ty asserted.
“Ty talked to him just an hour ago. He sounded strange. That’s why we came here,” Ashi said, in a hushed tone.
“He was definitely not alone. He told me,” Ty said.
“Well, who then?” Cheryl looked at them with wide eyes. “Not Preston or Tullio.”
“No, I asked if they were in the room with him. I thought that maybe they were there and that’s why he didn’t want to acknowledge he was speaking to me. Maybe if we knew a motive we could figure out who wanted him dead,” Ty said.
Rishi Varghese appeared, sauntering down the hall. Ty watched him approach without calling a greeting. Rishi stopped short when he saw them.
“I came to find out what happened. Do you know anything?” he asked.
“Not any more than you do,” Ty replied. He remembered how rudely Rishi spoke to Ashi when he met her. He remembered his sneering, arrogant manner the last time Rishi was at his house, when he decided to no longer be part of the team. He turned his face away, determined to ignore Rishi.
Instead, Rishi squatted on his heels in front of them. No trace of his former arrogance was apparent on his face, concern taking its place.
“Someone's picking us off, one by one, just outright killing us.”
Ty listened without a trace of emotion.
“I am sorry, Ty. I said things I shouldn’t have said and I think we should have stayed together as a team. It was a mistake to break the team up.” He didn’t wait for Ty’s reply. He contemplated his words carefully before opening his mouth. “I especially owe you an apology, Ashi. I thought you were a charlatan, a pretender. I thought you just wanted to hitch a ride with Vincent to the United States. You didn’t even know who Vincent was or even that you were going to the States, did you?”
Ashi shook her head.
“I'm sorry about my behavior towards you. I saw you on the news show. You're not the kind of person I thought you were.”
“It is okay. You just made a mistake,” Ashi said with a smile. “No harm done.”
Ty relented too, softening toward Rishi.
Cheryl began to sob again.
“I heard Richard was dead, but I didn't hear any details,” Rishi said.
“Rishi, someone killed him. He was hanged,” Cheryl said, distraught.
“Hanged…” Rishi mused. “I wonder who…”
“We can’t even guess,” Ty said. “It’s just another senseless death.”
“It made sense to someone,” Rishi replied. He turned to Ty. “I don't suppose you'd consider...um...Richard was my advisor.” He took a deep breath. “I really felt as if I made a contribution only when I was part of Vincent's team. I'm adrift and I've felt that way since the night at your house…” He looked down, thinking about his next words.
Ty didn't wait for him to stumble his way through his next question. “So why don't you join us again?”
“Yes. Yes, I'd like that.”
“Okay then.” Ty attempted his first smile since seeing Richard's gruesome corpse. “You're back on the team. That was easy, right?”
When the police finished questioning them and finally let them go, it was dark outside.