Twisted Linen (16 page)

As Simon and Genovi walk toward the exit,
Aaron groans, then staggers to his feet. Standing in a hunched
position, he shouts to them: “And there will be no more suffering.
For the old order has passed away.”

Simon and Genovi turn around to observe Aaron
awkwardly galloping toward the golden bull statue, gaining speed as
he approaches it. With a final, unintelligible shriek Aaron impales
his chest with the statue’s large horn. He wheezes and gurgles
slightly before going silent. Then, after a momentary contortion,
his lifeless body collapses over the head of the beast.

Genovi has nothing to add to the verdict; the
punishment is just. Genovi steps outside villa and says, “We are
short on time.”

* * *

36

No Coincidences

Genovi leads a disorderly Simon down a dark
alleyway, heading toward their waiting Hummer. Simon follows at a
questionable distance, and one of Genovi’s dark-suits trails even
farther behind.

"I can finish this," Simon shouts forward to
Genovi.

Genovi abruptly stops and turns back to
reprimand Simon, "No! You're ruining everything."

“No, I’m fighting,” Simon contends. “I’m
fighting for Grace…for God.”

“You’re making it worse for Grace,” Genovi
says in a grave and threatening tone. “Baculo may take retribution
on her for your actions tonight!”

The words startle Simon and he struggles to
swallow, demoralized by the thought of what Baculo might do to
Grace.

“We must hurry,” Genovi adds as he turns
toward the waiting Hummer.

Simon’s shoulders stoop and he begins a
brooding shuffle in pursuit. As they near the Hummer, a dark-suit
exits the SUV and opens the passenger doors for Genovi and Simon.
Genovi turns back toward Simon and waves his hand for him to
hurry.

“Get in the car,” Genovi demands, puffing
slightly.

“Buckle up!” commands the dark-suit behind
the wheel, and the Hummer roars off in route to the San Telmo
Museum.

Silence fills the Hummer cabin during the
drive. The only sound heard are from the tires that solemnly beat
the road; it’s a rhythmic sound that resonates throughout the
Hummer. Four noggins gently bob in synchronicity to the thumping
battle sound of the tire versus road. It’s a solemn and temporary
moment, like the eerie silence within the eye of a storm.

Simon is the first to break the silence.
“What is wrong with these people, Genovi?” His voice now has the
edge of someone well on the way to being strung out. “They are so
convicted in their beliefs. They are certain of God’s will.”

Genovi turns one eye toward Simon in the back
seat and declares, “In the Last Days…and I believe we are in those
times, many will be deceived. The Bible warns that even His elect
could be deceived if He permitted it.”

“So how can we be sure?”

“I can’t provide that answer, but I’m sure
that God is sovereign over all things and His will prevails in the
end. In the end, He imposes His Kingdom on this earth so we must
never lose hope and continually seek spiritual discernment.
Otherwise, we risk being left outside the gates.”

“Hope?” Simon asks in a dejected manner.
“Hope is not going to save Grace from evil like this.”

Genovi turns completely around to face Simon,
“All your battles are fought in the flesh…the physical world.”

Simon aggressively asserts, “That's the world
we live in.”

“No, there's so much more.”

Simon turns away, pretending to look out the
window.

“Look at me, son. Grace's life depends on
it.”

Simon briefly glances at Genovi, as if
saying, “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“Now is the time where you need to decide:
Are you going to save Grace or avenge her? If you want to save her
then we'll do it together with the Shroud. But if you want to
avenge her, then go on another rampage and kill as many as you can.
If you choose to avenge, you’ll go alone.”

This is gut-check time for Simon. Being
physically passive is not his training, nor his upbringing; he has
always surrendered the things of “faith and hope” to Genovi.

Genovi offers some perspective as
encouragement.

“Cohen's creation has changed everything.
There is no running from this.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asks
Simon.

“His blood gives him authority that nobody
can deny. He’ll usher in the prophesized New Jerusalem.”

Genovi reminds Simon that a genetic clone of
Jesus provides irrefutable scientific proof. Cohen will use his
genetic relationship to justify his authority over all men. Simon
mentally equates Genovi’s claim about the New Jerusalem to what he
had read earlier in Revelation.

“You left that Bible for me?” inquires Simon.
“The Bible on the plane… didn't you?”

Genovi nods and then pauses to prepare his
response.

“Do you know how I was led to the Lord?”

Simon doesn’t respond; Genovi continues
anyway.

“The Lord left a Bible for me once. I was
young, ambitious for things of this world, much like you were and
still are. I thought the things of the world would make me secure,
so God let me run. Now looking back on it, He was taking me through
a process of learning to trust Him. It all came to a head when I
was just one step away from realizing my goal.”

“What goal?”

“Power, fame…taking a company public on the
London Stock Exchange.”

“You never told me you were a business
man?”

“I was a young company Founder, in the right
place at the right time. All I had to do was keep the hype going
and the company would turn public, and I’d be a rich man.”

Simon is stunned. He knew that Genovi lived a
very different life before entering the priesthood but not about
his “power seat” in the business world.

Genovi continues to tell the story. “The
'road show' required I fly all over the place but nothing seemed to
be going right. Presentation material was lost and analysts poked
holes in our financials. Well, I was waiting in the airport to
catch a flight for the biggest presentation yet: The Big One; it
would determine the company's fate. The airport got socked in with
snow and I was trapped. That’s when I noticed a Bible in the seat
next to me. I had been sitting in this seat for a long while and
honestly don't remember anybody leaving it behind. Something called
me to pick it up, and I randomly opened it to James, Chapter 1. As
I read it, a guy tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘I claimed
those verses about seven years ago.’”

“Really?” Simon comments in shock.

“That's what I said.”

“Was it his Bible,” Simon asks.

“No. I don’t know whose Bible it was or even
how it got there, but this guy rattled off a story about his life
and it paralleled mine in so many ways. He had a different career,
but the events and struggles were eerily similar to mine.”

“And?”

“And, like this man, I surrendered everything
of myself to Jesus Christ. I repented of my sinful past and
acknowledged I could not live a sinless future. My salvation would
be solely dependent on Jesus Christ. That lone Bible was no
coincidence. And, neither is you reading Revelation on the plane
last night.”

A heavy quietness envelops the Hummer as
Simon tries to absorb everything Genovi just shared with him, but
he wonders why Genovi never mentioned this before; apparently
Genovi is full of secrets. Simon is befuddled; he has lots of
questions but nothing to say. The roar of the Hummer does all the
talking for the rest of the drive.

* * *

37

Two Blisters

The Hummer turns a corner and slows as it
approaches the San Telmo Museum. The old museum is located in a
historic area in the outskirts of San Sebastian. It’s a remote
location far away from the town residents. But, Grace is near;
Simon can sense her presence.

As the SUV rolls to a stop in the cobblestone
alley, Genovi looks at his watch: it’s almost midnight. Then he
says, “We’re here. It’s time.”

You could cut the tension with a medieval
dagger as Genovi turns to look hard at Simon in the back seat.

“It's time to put that gun away,” he soberly
declares.

Simon’s upper lip curls slightly, but he
understands Genovi’s point.

“The museum doors are open,” Genovi
continues. “They'll be waiting for you inside.”

“And you?”

“I’ll wait in the background…protect the
Shroud. You make sure they release Grace. Call me when she’s
free.”

“And then what?”

“I can’t answer that,” Genovi says after a
short pause. “If we don’t see each other again, lean on the Bible.
Let the Word be a light unto your path.”

Simon lays his hand on Genovi’s shoulder and
says, “This isn’t over.”

Simon waits for a response from his mentor,
the closest thing he’s had to a father, but it doesn’t come and
something doesn’t feel right. An eerie feeling brews within, but
Simon throws caution to the wind and climbs out of the SUV; the
agent in the back seat closes Simon’s door from within.

Simon reaches for his 9mm, and pulls the
slide back just far enough to confirm there is a round in the
chamber.

“Genovi, let’s go…” Simon says in a halting
voice, wondering why Genovi is taking so long to exit the
Hummer.

In a cracking voice, Genovi shouts from
within the Hummer, "Free Grace! You must free Grace!”

Simon immediately snatches at Genovi’s door
handle, but his arm jerks against a door that’s been locked from
within.

"Unlock the door!" Simon barks.

At that moment, the dark-suit in the back of
the vehicle rolls the window down a few inches, and commands:

"Keep your hands off the gun and make your
way to the center courtyard. Baculo will look for you there." He
says these last words as he rolls the window up.

I knew it
, Simon rails in thought.
These agents couldn’t be trusted!

In an instinctual and fluid motion Simon
draws his 9mm and fires two shots in quick succession at the
agent’s window. Both shots blister the window, marking the exact
spot where the agent's head should be. But the shots don’t
penetrate the bullet-resistant glass, and the Hummer lurches
forward, accelerating down the street. Simon steps down off the
curb and follows the fleeing Hummer with two more shots aimed at
the rear tire, but there’s no effect. The Hummer squeals as it
makes a power-turn around the corner, out of sight.

Simon stands frozen in a firing position,
still looking down the gun sights, looking into the dark shadows. A
desperate feeling suddenly hits him in the gut: they now have
Genovi and the Shroud, so what collateral does he have to free
Grace?

* * *

38

Sacrifices

Footsteps are audible in the dark halls of an
ancient monastery that is now the San Telmo Museum. The clattering
sound of shoes against a stone floor indicates a man of substance,
walking quickly and purposely. The ceiling above is ornately carved
in stone, separated by the occasional column and arch. His brisk
footsteps come to an abrupt stop at the end of the hall; it’s Simon
attempting to regain his composure before proceeding into an open
courtyard.

The space is a dark “arena” type of
enclosure, towering over a large grass-covered courtyard. The
courtyard is open to the night sky and vulnerable to multiple
points of attack around its perimeter. The lowest level, where
Simon will enter, is surrounded by numerous archways covering
tunnels that lead back into the interior of the museum. The second
level is wrapped with a balcony railing about thirty feet above the
courtyard.

As Simon pauses under the cover of an
archway, he clears his throat and then draws in a deep breath,
trying to ease the tension in his body. He swallows hard and
thinks:
It’s time
.

“Baculo! I’m here,” he yells in a bold
voice.

Only his echo responds.

Simon waits another minute, just listening,
hoping his eyes will adjust to the darkness. The courtyard is open
and exposed, and it’s too dark to see much of anything in the
archways that surround it. With no other option, Simon resolutely
treads into the center of the courtyard, stopping two times along
the way, straining to see into the dark shadows, hoping to gain
some sense of this meeting place, trying to gain some sense of
what’s coming. Things can’t be any grimmer.

Suddenly his phone rings. In a spastic
attempt to answer it, he babbles, “Yes…Yes!” before placing the
phone to his ear.

“Mr. LaCroix,” Baculo sternly responds.

“I’m here,” Simon says. “Where the hell are
you?”

“Of course you are…but are you done playing
games?”

“Where is Grace? Bring me Grace.”

“I understand you got a little sidetracked
earlier. I find that very irritating.”

Simon weighs his answer carefully. “I’m done.
It’s over. You can have the Shroud. Just bring me Grace.”

Baculo breathes deeply into the phone for a
long moment, then declares, “Not until we shed blood…make a
sacrifice.”

Simon’s eyes narrow. “It won’t go down that
way,” he responds with a hint of desperation. “Genovi will destroy
the Shroud if you don’t let Grace go.” He says these last words as
a threat.

Baculo chuckles, and then the line goes dead.
The muscles in Simon’s legs twinge and his knees feel week as a
dreadful silence lingers. But the silence is soon broken by the
banging sound of bright floodlights coming to life. The blinding
light descends on Simon from all directions, shining down on the
center of the courtyard from high above. The light illuminates the
courtyard, but the glare makes the perimeter very hard to discern.
Simon spins to look around in every direction, realizing the bright
light now makes the shadows within the surrounding archways
completely opaque.