Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code

‘Sevki,’ she called as she caught the railing and hurled herself up the steps. Her motion caught the eye of another man coming down the hallway from the other end to the dead-eyed man.

‘I see him.’ Sevki had hacked into the college security camera system. ‘You should get out of there.’

Cleena was of the same opinion. Over the last couple of days she had managed to get Brigid out of Boston with the aid of some of her business contacts. They had also agreed to keep her little sister at a safe house until Cleena told them everything was finished. Brigid hadn’t been happy about that, but she had been scared enough to go without making too much of a fuss.

The man who had contacted Cleena had phoned on a regular basis, usually every four hours or so, to check in. She had given him reports about Lourds and he had seemed satisfied. The man hadn’t mentioned Brigid’s disappearance and Cleena felt certain he hadn’t noticed.

Despite Sevki’s advice, Cleena continued to fly up the stairs.

‘What are you doing?’ Sevki demanded.

Cleena saved her breath for running.

Sevki cursed vehemently. ‘Come on. Be sensible. It’s time for you to get out of there. That man looks dangerous. So does the one following you.’

The one following me? Cleena spared a glance over her shoulder and saw that the other man she had spotted was indeed following her.

‘Both of those guys look like Americans,’ Sevki said. ‘They also look like the type of guy the CIA would send in to hit someone.’

Cleena knew that. That was why she was running. ‘They’re after Lourds.’

‘It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.’

‘If they kill him or take him, I’m not going to be able to find out who hurt Brigid and threatened us. I’m not going to let whoever that was escape without getting a chance to even the score.’

‘Having that guy forget about you would be the best-case scenario.’

Holding tightly to the railing, Cleena powered into the third floor hallway. She had familiarized herself with the layout while Lourds was lecturing Olympia Adnan’s class.

‘I’m not going to forget about him,’ Cleena said.

‘You’re going to get yourself killed.’

‘I am if you continue to distract me. All the negativity is killing my confidence.’ Cleena stepped to the first open doorway and entered. The lights were off and the room was in semi-darkness. She stepped behind the door as she heard the man’s foot scuff the top step. For the moment she left her pistol holstered at the back of her waistband. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a lead-filled leather blackjack. Her father had taught her how to use one when she was ten years old.

‘He knows you’re there,’ Sevki told her.

Cleena didn’t reply. If the man hadn’t known where she was, he would have been a fool. Even so, he couldn’t expect what she was about to do. He would count on his gun and his size and dismiss any possibility of her overpowering him. That was going to be a mistake.

She heard him outside the door. He barely made any noise, but shoe leather scraped the floor, and she heard him let out his breath. In the hall the conversations outside the door abruptly quieted. He leaned through the door cautiously. Once his body was inside, Cleena swung the door towards him with all her strength. The door banged against his boot where he had jammed it to keep from getting battered by the door. As quickly as she could, Cleena slammed the blackjack into the frosted glass and shattered the pane. Razor-sharp shards poured over the man. Instinctively, he raised his arms to protect his face from the flying glass. Before he realized what was happening, Cleena reached through the empty door frame and was on him with the blackjack. She swung it viciously, holding nothing back, striking as quickly as she could with enough strength to damage but not kill. Her first blow broke the man’s wrist and sent his pistol spinning from his numbed fingers. She hit him four more times, aiming for his face and head. Blood covered his features as he went down. She hit him once more at the back of the skull to knock him unconscious.

Breathing raggedly, more from the adrenaline rush and physical exertion, Cleena stood over her opponent.

‘Are you all right?’ Sevki asked. The security cameras he had taken over weren’t in all the rooms.

‘I’m fine.’ Cleena dropped the blackjack into her pocket and wiped the man’s blood from her face. She knelt quickly and went through his pockets. ‘Where’s the other guy?’

‘Covering the second floor. Are you robbing that guy?’

Cleena found the man’s wallet and passport, then dropped both into her jacket pocket. ‘Getting his ID. It might be helpful to know who these people are.’

‘It might be helpful for you to get out of there.’

Moving again, Cleena headed for Olympia’s office at the end of the hall.

‘You shouldn’t be planning on making this a hobby,’ Sevki said.

‘They came after me. Do any of those security cameras you’ve hacked into allow you to see the grounds round this building?’

‘Yes.’

‘Check to see how many men out there might match up with the men in here. The guys in here didn’t come alone.’

Sevki cursed. ‘I’d have to be a fly to keep an eye on everything you want me to keep an eye on.’

Cleena halted outside the office. Voices came from inside but they were too low and indistinct to understand. She got the definite impression that Lourds and his lady friend were trying to hide something.

‘One other thing,’ Cleena whispered.

‘Yeah?’ Sevki sounded both distracted and worried, a dangerous combination.

‘If we can’t get out of the building through the exits, see if you can find another way for us to escape.’

‘And why would you try to escape with the professor?’

‘Because he’s got answers to some of what’s wrecked my world. I want to know those answers.’

‘Want some advice?’

‘No.’ Cleena reached behind her and freed the pistol.

‘It sounds to me like whatever hole you stepped into over here, you’re only digging yourself in deeper.’

‘You’re really harshing my mellow, Sevki.’

At that moment, the scar-faced man reached the top of the stairs at the other end of the hallway. He locked eyes with Cleena. She cursed and reached for the doorknob only to find it locked.

‘There’s an organization,’ Olympia told Lourds, ‘a society pledged to secrecy, that protects these documents. That book that you stole from those men in the catacombs was part of those documents.’

‘But Qayin and his people aren’t part of this protective organization?’

‘No.’ Olympia shook her head emphatically. ‘Qayin and his followers are something else. They want the Joy Scroll for their own purposes.’

‘What purposes?’

‘They want the power represented by the Joy Scroll.’

‘What power would that be?’

‘We don’t know for sure. John of Patmos was in ill health when he saw the visions. He was already an old man. Seeing those visions, and dictating what he had seen to the acolytes, exhausted him. He never again climbed from his bed.’

‘So this protective group, I assume, came from the acolytes?’

Olympia nodded. ‘They call themselves the Brotherhood of the Last Scroll of John.’

‘I suppose they had to call themselves something, but that’s not going to fit easily on stationery.’

‘This isn’t humorous. There’s a lot riding on it.’

‘The fate of the world,’ Lourds said, and couldn’t help feeling completely ridiculous when he said it.

‘I asked for permission to bring you here,’ Olympia said softly. ‘There was a lot of resistance to my suggestion, but after you found Atlantis, the Elders were more open to the idea.’