Lee Child: MatchUp

He couldn’t help smiling. “I don’t know the man, but since people I trust in turn trust him, you could say that. At this point, however, it’s important that the good bishop not be drawn into this incident any more than he has been already. He could be in mortal danger, as could you.”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Anselm bristled, “but you still haven’t told me what Martin Price and his cohorts were searching for. And speaking of his teammates, what about them. Are they even still alive?”

He shook his head. “I doubt it. The Gnostic Observatines operate either individually or in teams. The same is true for the Knights of Saint Clement. Their teams refer to themselves as extramuros. Believe me, they are utterly ruthless. I can’t imagine how Martin managed to escape their clutches. As for his teammates? I would hazard a guess that they’re both dead and their bodies will never be found.”

“Which now means we’re interfering with the investigation into three crimes rather than just one?”

He nodded.

“And what exactly was Father Price’s team searching for?”

Knowing he was going all in, he sighed. “What do you know about the Veil of Saint Veronica?”

The nun’s eyes widened. “The cloth used to wipe the blood and sweat from Jesus’s brow along the Via Dolorosa?”

“We had reason to believe that centuries ago it was hidden somewhere here in the Arizona high country. Martin and his team were dispatched to search for it. Two weeks into the hunt, Martin texted me that he thought they were getting closer, but he gave me no further details. His last text to me said they were being attacked. After that, he didn’t answer repeated texts and calls.”

“The phone wasn’t found with him?”

“No, the elk hunters who brought him to the hospital said he was stark naked when they found him. The only thing he had in his possession was this crucifix.”

“It sounds to me as if you . . . and I,” she said, “have some serious opponents.”

He agreed. “The Knights of Saint Clement want the veil as much as we do. In fact, given what’s happened, they may already have it. If not, once Martin awakens, I have no doubt that they’ll stop at nothing in trying to gain its possession. Centuries ago, their original purpose was to eradicate our order, and that is still high on their list. These days, however, their agenda has shifted. They take our operatives out when they can—as they did here, but they are far more focused on grabbing power, which they do through a cabal of corrupt cardinals inside the Vatican.”

“Then we’ll have to stop them at once, won’t we,” she said, sitting bolt upright. “And I happen to know of someone who could help.”

“Please,” Bravo said. “No help. I must insist on absolute secrecy. I simply can’t afford to involve anyone else.”

“Tell me about Father Price’s phone,” she said. “You said that he left you a message just before he was attacked. But you don’t know exactly where he was at the time.”

“I have the names of the two hunters who brought him to the hospital. I’m hoping that if I speak to them, they’ll be able to give me the general location. The clerk in the ER said something about a place called Mingus Mountain, although I have no idea where that is.”

“But it may be close to where the attack took place.”

He nodded. “A good place to start the search.”

“Except it’s November,” she said. “Did you happen to notice the snow on the ground outside? There’ll be snow on Mingus Mountain, too, and I’ve heard it’s likely that a storm is blowing in from the west. We can’t risk going out searching blind. We need help, but you have to agree to let someone else into our little circle.”

He was intrigued. “And who might that be?”

“Ali Reynolds, a close friend I trust absolutely. She and her husband live in Sedona and run a cybersecurity company called High Noon Enterprises that operates out of Cottonwood. If you’d give me Father Price’s phone number, I wouldn’t be surprised that they’d be able to give you the exact coordinates on the phone when it was last in use.”

“But the phone’s battery is probably dead.”

“That doesn’t necessarily matter. If it pinged somewhere, they’ll be able to find it. In addition, Ali grew up in this area. Her father was an avid outdoorsman in his day, and Ali tagged along with him wherever he went. She knows the backwoods around here like the back of her hand. I’m sure she’d be able to help.”

This nun knew a lot about things that nuns don’t usually deal with. But still he had to object.

“Sister,” he began.

“Ali has had police training. She’s quite resourceful. And she has Bishop Gillespie’s stamp of approval.”

“That may well be,” he said. “But, as I said before, I don’t want to endanger anyone else in this endeavor.”

An audible ding on her iPad announced the arrival of an e-mail. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you happen to look at the arrow tip I gave you?”

He shook his head.

“If you had, you might have noticed that it’s stamped with a serial number of some kind. Before I bagged it, I took a photo and sent it to Ali. Turns out it’s from a high-end hunting arrow sold at only a few outlets in the area. The one you’re holding in your hand was sold a week ago at a specialty hunting store in Phoenix that caters specifically to bow hunters. Does this person look like anyone you know?”

She passed him her iPad. Bravo studied the photo. He said nothing, but the slight stiffening of his jaw spoke volumes.

“One of those Knights?” she asked.

“How did you get this?” he asked.

“As I said before, Ali Reynolds is resourceful. Her people were able to trace the serial number on the arrow tip, the manufacturer came up with the batch number that went to a specific retailer, and the retailer remembered the woman. The way she talked, the arrows she requested, he assumed that she was an expert bow hunter. The owner located the security footage, Ali’s team enhanced it, and there you are. Who is she?”

“Her name is Maria Elena Donahue. She works with an extramuros team leader named Anson Stone, sometimes referred to as the Archer. She’s one of the only females inside the Knights. She wasn’t worried about being seen purchasing the arrow. It was never supposed to be found.”

“But Father Price escaped,” Sister Anselm said thoughtfully.

“Martin is probably one of the best team leaders I’ve ever trained.”

He stood abruptly.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I need to go back to the beginning and find the place where the attack took place. If Martin really did find the Veronica, there’s a chance it’s still there.”

“He was tortured,” she said.

“Doesn’t matter. He wouldn’t give up the veil no matter what.”

She frowned. “You’re suggesting that perhaps the veil is still there, but what if the phone is, too? You said that Father Price texted you that he and his team were under attack, and that was the last communication you had from him. What if there was a struggle and the phone somehow disappeared in the course of that? Maybe the Knights didn’t know he had a phone with him and they didn’t bother to look for it.”

“I know cell-phone companies can track the pings on phones, but getting them to do it is a complicated, time-consuming process, even for cops. And as I said before, we’re not involving cops.”

“I understand,” she said. “But as I told you earlier, Ali’s company, High Noon Enterprises, is a cybersecurity company. In order to do what they do, they deal in a lot of cyber insecurity. I have every reason to believe that Ali’s people will be able to track Father Price’s phone regardless of where it may be at the moment.”