John Lyman - The Secret Chapel

Lev looked at Leo and John, beaming like a proud father. “Well, what do you think of her? Isn’t she magnificent?”

“Magnificent would be a good word,” Leo said. “Palatial would be another that comes to mind.”

“I’m glad you approve of her, Leo, because I hope you’ll be spending a lot of time at the villa and on this boat in the future, my friend.”

Leo had never traveled in such wealthy social circles in his simple life as a priest, and a man like Lev was an enigma to him. Rich and smart, he also possessed a heart filled with love. He was generous to a fault and protected those in his care like a lion.

With the tour finished, Lev excused himself from the others and made his way forward to his cabin. The stress of the past few days was showing on his face when he slid beneath the covers of his bed for a much-needed nap. He had just fallen asleep when a knock on the door awakened him. “What is it? Is the boat sinking?”

A nervous-sounding voice echoed from the other side of the door. “No, sir. I’m sorry to disturb you. Father Leo wants to talk to you, sir. He says it’s very important.”

Leo was pacing the bridge when Lev found him. Obviously worried, his green eyes looked out over the rolling sea in the direction of the Italian coast. Over the course of the past few days, the priest had barely slept, and his scarred left eyelid drooped more than usual. His hand trembled as he took a sip of yet another cup of coffee.

“Why don’t you go below and try to get some sleep, Father?”

“How far are we from Italy?”

“At this speed, we’re already two-thirds of the way across the Med. Alex told me we should be approaching the southern Italian coast sometime later this evening.”

“Have you given any thought as to where we will dock?”

“We usually go into Fiumicino when we bring the yacht to Rome. It’s a large harbor close to the city and a good place to buy provisions, but …”

“We’ll stand out like a sore thumb there,” Leo said.

“You read my mind, Father. Moshe and I have been looking for somewhere less conspicuous and farther down the coast. A place where we can sneak into a small harbor in the middle of the night, somewhere they won’t be expecting us.”

“What about docking at a harbor on the opposite coast?” Leo asked. “Maybe somewhere along the Adriatic Sea.”

“Let’s take a look.” Lev called Alex over as he opened a polished wooden cabinet and pulled out several sea charts of the Italian coast. Even though he enjoyed his electronic gadgets and could have easily looked the same information up on the navigational computer, he was still a traditionalist at heart and loved his large paper charts.

Alex spread one of the charts out flat with his hands while Lev drew a mental line from the east coast of Italy to Rome. “I think any of these ports on the east coast are too close to the city. If anyone is watching the harbors there, we would be spotted in an instant. How about farther south … on the western coast?”

“Mmm.” Leo rubbed his chin and ran his finger over the map. “Have you thought about a port on one of these islands here?” The port he had pointed to was located on Lipari, one of the Sicilian islands close to the west coast of Italy. It was small and populated with a scattering of bars, restaurants, and hotels.

Alex studied it for a moment and nodded his head. “I’ve docked there before. It’s out of the way, and no one on the mainland would know we were in the area. I personally wouldn’t want to take the Carmela into that port.”

Lev continued to stare at the chart. “Why not?”

“If the volcano on that island is active, it makes the whole place smell like sulfur. The smell gets into everything and the whole boat stinks for days.”

Leo and Lev exchanged glances simultaneously.

“Let’s cross that one off our list,” Leo said with a straight face. “We probably need to be somewhere along the coast on the mainland.”

“How about this harbor?” Lev said. He was pointing to the port of Maratea along the southwestern coast about 180 miles south of Rome.

The captain’s face immediately lit up. “No problem. I’ve been in that harbor dozens of times. Small, discrete, and it can accommodate a yacht of this size. It’s perfect.”

“Good,” Lev said. “That actually works out better for us from a logistics standpoint.”

Leo placed a ruler over the map and measured the distance to Rome. “I think it might be a good idea to have a place near Rome to go to if we need to escape the city in a hurry. We could use Father Morelli’s country house. It’s about forty-five miles south of Rome … near the village of Sermoneta. He left everything to me, so technically, I own it now. I’ll call the caretakers and let them know some special guests of mine might be stopping by.”

“You’re getting good at this, Father. I’m beginning to think you have some Israeli commando training behind that Roman collar.”

“I have a feeling you and Moshe were already in the process of making plans. I just wanted to check on things.”

Lev gently took the cup of coffee from Leo’s hand and looked him in the eyes. “Why don’t you call the caretakers from your cabin, Father? There’s a phone by your bed. I’ll have some lunch sent down.”

“You haven’t slept either, Lev.”

“I’m heading for my cabin too. We’re in capable hands with Alex at the helm … and Moshe and Alon are onboard to watch over things.”

Lev set the coffee down and put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Captain, this priest is barred from the bridge until I say so.”

Alex winked. “Aye aye, sir.”

Leo knew he had lost this battle. He rose slowly from his seat and ran his hand across the stubble on his face before giving Lev a weak smile and sauntering off down the hallway that led to the stairs and his cabin below. Once inside, the exhausted priest closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes. He lay back on the soft comforter and rubbed his eyes in an effort to clear his thoughts. Dreams flooded his mind as sleep overcame him while he lay there still fully clothed with his legs dangling over the side of the bed.

Lev had lied. He had no intention of going to his cabin, at least not for another thirty minutes. He descended the stairs into a secure area below the bridge and opened a stainless steel door. Inside was a room bathed in red light that resembled the combat information center on a warship.

Lev paused and let his eyes adjust to the darkness before walking over to a console next to Daniel and Moshe. He looked up at a multicolored electronic image of Italy on the big screen above their heads. “Have you found anything yet?”

“Not yet, Boss,” Moshe replied.

“Keep at it. Leo and John are going to need all the help we can give them once we’re in Italy.”

While Leo slept, the yacht sailed on throughout the day. The calm sea and warm air formed a blanket of humidity that clung to the surface of the water as the big boat sliced through the tranquil ocean. News from America continued to dominate talk onboard, giving the Bible Code Team even more motivation to gear up mentally for the task ahead.

It was early evening, and the sun was setting on their port side, creating a melancholy visual effect over the yacht as it headed north and passed through the strait separating Sicily from the mainland of Italy. The decks were softly lit with dozens of tiny white lights strung overhead, while next to the grand salon, the chefs were preparing dinner in the galley.

Leo had awakened with a start, encircled by his comforter after seven hours of fitful sleep. He showered for a full thirty minutes in the black-and-gold-streaked marble shower and let the hot water flush the beach sand from his pores. He picked out a bottle of shampoo emblazoned with a French label and lathered up his thick hair twice before grabbing a washcloth and scrubbing the rest of his body until he finally felt clean.