Luis Rocha - Papal decree

‘Certainly, sir,’ Nicolas replied, getting up. There was work to do.

‘Wait. Kneel down with me. We’re going to pray the Our Father together. He’ll give us strength to finish this business.’

Nicolas kneeled down promptly, hands joined, head bowed, eyes closed, and repeated the Lord’s Prayer.

No matter how many turns the earth makes around the sun, it always ends up in the same place, as if it were a faithful servant of an unknown order, and although the orbit is always the same, day after day, night after night, year after year, the blue firmament is always different.

Life imitates this rotation, turning on itself and around others, passing the same places but in constant evolution, mobile, changing.

Sarah saw him and blushed immediately as soon as he entered the plane cabin behind Gavache. She had seen him a little more than six months before in this same city, and despite not being the same person herself, it was as if she had just seen him yesterday.

She hated blushing, but fortunately Gavache made sure all the attention was on him.

‘Commander, get us on our way. First stop Paris, and then wherever you want. It doesn’t matter to me,’ he said while he took off his overcoat and sat down heavily in a seat.

‘We’re going to Paris?’ Jacopo protested. ‘What great service.’

‘How many times do we save lives every day, Jean-Paul?’ Gavache asked as he looked out the window.

‘Once, Inspector,’ Jean-Paul promptly answered, seated next to Sarah.

Gavache looked back at Jacopo and frowned. ‘My work is done for the day.’

Rafael and Sarah exchanged looks quickly, then the priest sat down next to Gavache.

An attendant came out of the cockpit and entered the passenger cabin with a cell phone in her hand. ‘Captain Frank Terry has ordered electronic devices turned off. We’ll be taking off in twenty minutes. We’ll make a brief stop in Paris and continue on to Rome, our final destination. Estimated time of flight is four hours. I wish you a pleasant flight, and I look forward to serving you.’ She immediately went to Sarah with the phone. ‘You have a call, miss.’

Sarah lifted the phone to her ear and blushed again on hearing, ‘Good afternoon, my dear.’ It was JC. ‘I hope this hasn’t been a boring day.’ Always cynical. He never changed.

‘On the contrary,’ she replied sarcastically. ‘The part when you suggested that Ben Isaac kill me was a brilliant touch.’

‘I couldn’t resist, Sarah,’ JC confessed. ‘And it worked, as you see.’ He changed the subject. ‘I just left your beloved at the airport. Tonight he’ll be back in the hotel where you’re staying. You should be proud of him. He played his part perfectly.’

‘I heard.’ Sarah suddenly felt guilt for not thinking about Francesco. ‘How is he?’

‘I gave him five-star treatment, Sarah.’

I imagine so, she thought. But she also knew that Francesco wouldn’t appreciate it for a moment. She would have a lot to explain.

‘Do you want to give me a message for Cardinal William?’ she asked.

‘No, thanks. I’ll get in touch with him personally. But give my thanks to Inspector Gavache. I’ll arrange for his daughter to get into the Sorbonne, but don’t tell him that. I’m only bragging. I have to ask you another favor, Sarah. Nothing too difficult.’

Sarah closed her eyes. She remembered William in the Palazzo Madama, saying the same thing. JC told us that Sarah was the right person for the job and no one else. He kidnapped the son of a famous Jewish banker. We’re going to put you in contact with him to get back the parchments I spoke about.

‘How will I do that?’ Sarah had asked incredulously in the middle of the gallery displaying the faces of Christ.

Just follow the instructions he’ll send you during the operation. He gave her a cell phone. You can’t imagine how grateful the church will be for all you are doing.

Everything had gone well. He’d sent her a message to say that he’d asked Ben Isaac to get rid of her, which made her apprehensive, but then he told her that Gavache and Garvis were on the way. Everything happened according to JC’s plan.

Now he was asking her for something else. This man never stopped.

‘Tell me,’ she forced herself to ask. She couldn’t avoid it.

‘Under the seat you’ll find a package. Just follow the instructions. My regards to our favorite priest, also. He must not be very happy to have been left on the sidelines all this time. Until the next time, Sarah,’ he concluded with a chuckle before hanging up.

Sarah put the phone down on the arm of the seat and reached under. There it was. A white plastic bag. Marks amp; Spencer. She took out the contents, and her initial suspicion gave way to a suppressed laugh. On a Post-it stuck to the package was written, Follow the instructions on the back. JC was priceless. Always a step ahead. She read the text and remembered they were taking off in twenty minutes. There was time. She stuck the pregnancy test kit back in the sack, got up, and went to the lavatory.

In the front seats Jacopo sat next to a window with no one at his side, and on the other side, Gavache by the window, with Rafael next to him. Passing them, Sarah bent down to the inspector. ‘JC is extremely grateful.’ She stepped back to look at the priest. ‘He sends his greetings.’

‘What does JC have to do with this?’ Rafael asked heatedly.

‘So you can talk after all!’ Sarah exclaimed sarcastically, leaving the men and going to the toilet.

‘Are you relaxed enough to tell me what the hell’s going on?’ Rafael asked irritably.

‘The deceived husband is always the last to know,’ Jacopo spoke from his seat with a smile.

‘I’ll take care of you later,’ Rafael warned him.

‘Well, well, well,’ Barry’s voice was heard. He’d come up from a compartment in the back of the plane to talk to Rafael, who was surprised but didn’t want to show it. ‘Look who’s here.’ He approached Rafael.

‘You’re here?’ Rafael welcomed him. He had no idea what was going on but didn’t want the American to know. ‘I thought we were going to have dinner tonight. Couldn’t you wait? You missed me so much?’

Barry gave him a victory smile. ‘That trick with the taxi was very good.’ He shook his hand in greeting.

‘It was one of my best moments,’ Rafael returned. ‘I see you’re in JC’s service also.’

‘Always in the service of the American people,’ Barry corrected him. ‘JC left us out of this, but he offered us this small participation as a reward for being so diligent in pursuing the truth.’

‘He has a special knack for getting people to do things for him without having to ask.’

‘I thought to myself, why not give him a little hand? What could it be that the church wants back so badly that they have to ask a living legend like JC to do it?’

‘I understand you,’ Rafael said ironically. ‘They have to be pretty desperate to ask the pope’s assassin to do something like this.’

‘The alleged assassin,’ Barry corrected.

‘The assassin of who?’ Aris asked curiously, joining the group.

‘I’d like to introduce my operative, Aris,’ Barry said. ‘This is the famous Jack Payne.’ He looked at Gavache. ‘And you are?’

‘The no-less-famous Inspector Gavache of the French police.’

‘Pleased to meet you.’ Barry offered his hand.

Aris greeted the two men also, looking at Rafael more closely than good manners might dictate. ‘The assassin of who?’ he asked again.

‘Rafael was talking about JC, the alleged assassin of Pope John Paul the First.’

‘This is getting more interesting by the moment,’ Aris said.