“I’ll have unmarked cars no more than three miles from you in any direction. If there is any indication of trouble at all, you call immediately and abort. We’ll be all over these guys.”
Murat just shrugged. “We both know that’s not going to happen. They want the CDs. They don’t care about the messenger.”
“I hope you’re right,” replied Yusuf, “You know that I wouldn’t normally send you at all, but I don’t want this getting out. If our plan to quietly out these low-life bastards is going to work, secrecy is crucial.”
Murat smiled as he opened the door to leave. “Don’t worry about me,” he said over his shoulder. “I’ll be fine.”
Yusuf’s cell phone rang as the door closed.
“Hello.”
“Hello, friend.”
Yusuf recognized Zeki’s voice immediately.
“I was wondering when you were going to call.”
“I told you I’d call as soon as I had a chance. Sounds like the natives are restless, and you have your hands full.”
“That would be an understatement,” sighed Yusuf wearily.
“I figure you’ll be needed at the scene of the crime in Istanbul. Pretty messy down there. You should pick up some reading material for Leyla while you are in town. I hear there is a new book out about Atatürk that she would enjoy.”
“I’ll be sure to look for it,” replied Yusuf.
“What time does the fast end tonight?” asked Zeki.
“Sunset is at 7:48,” he replied.
Zeki cleared his throat. “Look, I don’t want to keep you. I know things are crazy right now. Give my love to Leyla and don’t forget to duck when you hear shooting,”
“Like that would do any good,” replied Yusuf dryly.
“Well, if you hear the shot, you know they missed. The next one may not.”
The line went dead. He was always like that. Short and sweet. No wasted words.
So, Zeki is back and wants to meet at the Atatürk Library in Istanbul. He knows how frantic our department is right now so this must be big.
CHAPTER
47
I
STANBUL
Gilbert walked along the left side of Istiklal Boulevard so he could see the shops on the right side of the street. He saw Gwyn, Zeki and Gary before he saw the House Café sign. Gwyn was the first to spot him. She waved excitedly, but her enthusiasm became more subdued when she saw Matt walking behind him.
“Gil, I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and wouldn’t let go. He could feel the tension in her body.
“It’s great to see you too. But what in the world did you do to your hair?”
She grimaced. “I had to travel as a man. Zeki only carries men’s passports. Logical, given his gender, but not so convenient when a female decides to tag along.”
“Well, I think it looks fine,” said Gilbert. “It’s weird to be here in Istanbul. All I can think about is Dad dragging us to every old Byzantine monument he could find, through the underground cisterns, to the hippodrome, the old churches and constantly lamenting that so little had been preserved.”
“Yeah, I remember.” Gwyn turned to Matt and stuck out her hand. “Thanks for coming. We all appreciate it.”
Matt gently took the hand she offered and squeezed it slightly. He felt awkward and wondered if it showed. She was so beautiful, so elegant, so feminine. Seeing her again was more painful that he had thought it would be.
“You know I would do anything to help the O’Brien clan. It’s nice to see you again.”
Zeki interrupted. “I hate to cut reunions short. It is very un-Turkish, but we have a lot to talk about, and I have another meeting tonight.”
He led the way and everyone followed. Gwyn walked beside him. She felt safe there. He felt like an uncle. Zeki took them down several narrow streets with buildings towering up on either side. It was clearly an older part of town. Gilbert was careful to note the route. A right, a left, another right and then two lefts. Ten minutes later, they were climbing the stairs in a building that didn’t have an elevator.
The place needs a lot more than a paint job
, thought Gwyn,
but that wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
They climbed to the third floor, Zeki removed a key from his pocket, opened the door and ushered everyone in, reminding them to take off their shoes.
Gwyn looked around the flat. It wasn’t impressive. The place was clearly unoccupied. It smelled musty and needed airing out. She walked over and opened the curtains to let in some light. Sunlight streamed into the room, transforming the cloud of dust into a golden mist in the middle of the room. The windows hadn’t been washed in ages either. Not that there was anything to see. Only another drab building across the street. Zeki immediately crossed the room and closed the curtains.
“Sorry,” he said, “But, I think it’s best if we keep those closed.” Then, he walked back to the door and locked it. Gwyn introduced Zeki to Matt, and then he proceeded to show them around the place.
“First, let me say I’m sorry that I couldn’t arrange better accommodations. This belongs to a good friend. There are three bedrooms and some of you can sleep here in the living room if necessary. There is only one toilet and it is the old Turkish style, so I hope you’re comfortable squatting. My friend said there’s no hot water. Hopefully, you all had showers at your hotel. I promise it’ll be ready in the morning.
“Now, if no one minds, I’d like to get down to business right away. There is a wireless connection here. The password is 73311337. I’ll have to leave about thirty minutes before the sun sets.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and he pointed towards the living room. It was furnished with elegant, though somewhat dated, Ottoman style divans.
“If you don’t mind,” said Zeki. “I’ll just put some tea on,” and with that he disappeared into the kitchen.
Everyone sat down. Gary opened his bag, took out his laptop and started looking for a place to plug it in. Matt purposefully avoided eye contact with Gwyn and everyone could feel the tension in the room. Gwyn broke the silence.
“Gil, have you heard anything about Ginger and the kids?”
“In fact, I have,” he replied. “I got an email from Kiyomi right before you called. On her morning run, she received a call on her cell. The caller said she needed to contact me and have me provide a phone number where they could reach me if I wanted to ever see my family again. They said they would call back in two hours. That was an hour ago.”
He stopped not sure if his voice was going to crack or not.
“Oh my gosh,” exclaimed Gwyn. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing,” said Zeki, walking through the door with a tray filled with teacups, sugar and spoons. “At least, that is my recommendation. What did Kiyomi tell them?”
Gilbert took a deep breath. “She told them that she didn’t know where I was and that I wasn’t answering my cell phone.”
“Well, they know that’s true,” said Gary.
“Until they’ve spoken with you, I’m sure your family will be safe,” said Zeki reassuringly as he sat the tray down on the long coffee table in the middle of the room.
“Sooner or later, we are going to have to give them a number though,” said Gwyn. The frustration in her voice was intense.
“I know,” said Gilbert. “I’m working on it. I’m not sure we want them to know that we are in Istanbul right now, which means setting up a proxy call of some kind.”
“Have you thought about the exchange?” asked Zeki.
“Yes, I have, but you know that they’re going to set the terms. They’ll pick the spot. There is not much we can do in the way of preparation, and I will not endanger my family by involving the authorities.”
“Of course not. I suspect they might have people on the inside anyway.”
“What!” exclaimed Gwyn, “Are you guys out of your mind? We have to help Ginger now! I can’t believe she has been in the hands of these terrorists for three days already!” Her voice was trembling. “Who knows what they are going through? Let’s give them this document and get this over with.”
Everyone in the room lowered their eyes. She looked around the room in desperation.
“What are we waiting for?”
It was Gary who summoned the courage to speak first.
“Gwyn, that thought is torturing us as much as it is you. But it may not be that easy.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Zeki leaned forward in his chair.
“I think everyone is concerned about there being a trap of some kind. We know that this document is very important to them. They’ve been ruthless in their pursuit of it. They killed your father. They killed Haluk Bayram. They tried to kill you and were waiting for me in my room. I can think of no reason why they would allow you and your family to live after they have obtained it. For all they know, you have copies, which may not be as damning as an original, but again there’s just no reason to let you walk away. We need some leverage.”
Gilbert’s jaw hardened again. “That is the elephant in the room, Gwyn. There is no reason to dance around it when it’s staring us in the face. We will avoid contacting them and try to get something we can use against them. None of us want to be sitting here having an academic discussion about old books, secret societies or 16th century European history, but the more we know, the better equipped we’ll be.”
“Right.” said Zeki. “Let’s get down to business. You and your brother were going to go over everything Gwyn found about the G.O.B.”
“We did, but I should let Gary tell you about it. I think he understands it better, strangely enough.”
Gwyn looked at her older brother as if to say,
What was that supposed to mean?
Gary turned to Zeki.
“I want to say once again that we owe you a tremendous debt. I know our father thought highly of you. The last thing I would ever want to do is offend you. Ten lifetimes would not be enough to repay you for saving Gwyn.”
He paused, unsure how to continue. Zeki came to his rescue.
“Son, don’t worry about offending me. You may find it more difficult than you imagine.”
“Let me be frank. I know you are a Muslim and, well, most of what we learned about the Gospel of Barnabas, strangely enough, seems to be related to Islam and I . . .”
“Truth is what takes the chains off of our minds. It’s not something to be feared. Please, just tell us what you learned,” prompted Zeki.
Gary turned to Matt.
“We are working on two assumptions. The first is that the letter is related to an effort to destroy every trace of the Gospel of Barnabas. The second is that it ordered the assassination of George Sale. Zeki and Gwyn realized that the document my father found was in two parts. The order was written in Ottoman Turkish. Underneath that is a Spanish translation written with Arabic characters and that makes the case for Morisco involvement practically watertight. I think for that reason Zeki and Gwyn should tell us what they learned about the Moriscos. It might confirm some of my own conclusions. Besides, Zeki has an appointment tonight, so why don’t you guys start?”
Zeki was struck by the young man’s desire to show him honor and deference.
“Very well,” replied Zeki. “The Spanish completed the
Reconquesta
in 1492 when they conquered Granada, the last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula. They signed a treaty with the Muslims promising them the same freedom of religion and culture Muslims in other parts of Spain had enjoyed up until that time. However, the Spanish violated the terms of the agreement on several occasions and, just seven years later, the Muslims of Granada rebelled. They didn’t stand a chance against the rising super-power of Europe, so when Granada was subdued again in 1501, the Spanish issued an ultimatum to the residents of this province: convert or leave. By 1526, this was applied to every Muslim living anywhere in Spain. Deportation in an agricultural society based on land ownership was essentially the same as condemning them to poverty and slavery somewhere else. Most pretended to convert, but secretly continued to practice their Islamic faith.