John Lyman - The Secret Chapel

Once onboard the yacht, they climbed the stairs to the helipad and jumped into the waiting chopper with Nava. In less than a minute, the chopper lifted off and skimmed the waves until they passed over the rugged coastline, staying low and speeding north through twisting valleys on their way to the airport outside of Rome.

All of the teams were now on their separate diversionary paths to the city. They were under orders to enter the city and drive around to see if they were being followed, then speed to the harbor when the Carmela arrived in Fiumicino harbor.

Daniel and Sarah had been the team chosen to drive to Morelli’s seventeenth-century house. It was located forty-five miles south of Rome along a narrow, tree-lined road in a valley below the ancient hilltop town of Sermoneta. The immense reddish-colored structure was the size of a small palazzo and was fronted by a circular gravel driveway with a four-hundred-year-old fountain in the center topped by the weathered statue of an angel. The house had been built among the remains of the abandoned medieval village of Ninfa, and the entire area had been converted into lush gardens, where clear streams and waterfalls punctuated the strikingly beautiful grounds surrounded by crumbling ruins.

Sarah’s eyes grew wide as the house came into view and they stopped next to the fountain by the entrance. “Oh, my God, Daniel. Look at this place!”

“It’s really spectacular. Father Morelli had excellent taste.”

A middle-aged couple came rushing down the front steps.

“ Buon giorno . Welcome,” the man said. “Father Leo called yesterday and told us you were coming. You must be Daniel.” He bowed slightly from the waist. “And you must be Sarah.”

“ Si. Piacere di conoscerla ,” Sarah said.

The man and woman beamed, while Daniel stared at her with his mouth hanging open. “I didn’t know you spoke Italian.”

“I’m a woman of mystery,” Sarah said, laughing. “I just told him that we were pleased to meet them.”

The couple grabbed their bags from the trunk and led them up the stone steps through weathered front doors, all the while speaking to Sarah in rapid Italian.

“They act as though we were long lost relatives just returning home from a long trip,” Sarah said. “Wouldn’t it be fun to live in Italy for awhile someday?”

Daniel just smiled and took Sarah by the hand as they passed through the doorway into a large entrance hall with inlaid terrazzo floors. To their right was an enormous ballroom-sized space with gilded wall coverings and crystal chandeliers. A magnificent curved marble stairway led to the rooms above, while a wide hallway passed through the center of the building to an open country-style kitchen and dining area with red brick floors and sienna-colored walls.

The caretakers insisted on feeding their new guests, and after showing Daniel and Sarah their rooms upstairs, they escorted them back down to the rustic kitchen. Throwing a loaf of freshly baked bread onto a cutting board, the man winked as he told the two how romantic the surrounding gardens were and encouraged them to explore the grounds after lunch.

Covering approximately thirty acres, the estate had a gentrified rural ambiance that included a swimming pool surrounded by marble statues and extensive terraced flower beds. The most striking feature of the house was a twelfth-century medieval stone tower that was constructed five hundred years before the house was added. The tower dominated one end of the structure and could be reached by a long hallway that led from the kitchen.

After they were finished with lunch, the two briefly explored the grounds before Daniel went to work, setting up his laptop computer and communications gear in one of the upstairs bedrooms. With nothing for her to do at the moment, Sarah informed Daniel that she was going off to explore the tower.

An hour passed before Daniel was satisfied that all his equipment was functioning properly. He wandered through the house carrying a large duffle bag and climbed the winding stairs of the tower before opening a wooden trap door into the room at the top. Looking around at the thick stone walls, he spotted Sarah gazing at the grounds below through one of the medieval arrow slits. “Hi. I thought you might be getting lonely up here.”

“This place is gorgeous,” Sarah said. “Just look at all the flowers.”

“It’s really beautiful. Makes me wish we were here under different circumstances.”

Sarah turned away from the opening and gave him a sympathetic look. They both stared across the room at each other before Daniel opened the bag, exposing an Israeli-made Uzi submachine gun and a shotgun. “Sarah, do you know how to shoot a gun?”

“I used to shoot skeet with my father at his gun club.”

“Perfect … you take the shotgun. I have no idea what dangers Leo thinks we might face out here in this beautiful spot, but we have to be prepared. If any of the others have to make a run for it out of Rome, this is where they will come.”

“Do you think anyone else knows about this place?”

“It’s possible. Morelli entertained a lot of people from the Vatican here, so this house is probably common knowledge to the security men there. The question is whether or not anyone who might be after the book will correlate this location with any of us.”

“You used to be some kind of Israeli commando or something, didn’t you?”

“I was in crypto.” He saw the puzzled look on her face. “I was a code breaker. I saw some combat on the Lebanese border when we were fighting Hamas, but I was never a commando. You’re probably thinking of Alon.”

“Oh, the big guy, Nava’s boyfriend.”

“Yeah, that’s him. He can really tell you some stories.”

“I’d rather hear yours.” She crossed the room and stood close, looking up into his eyes. They reached out and held each other tightly, listening to each other’s heartbeats in the stillness of a twelfth-century medieval tower built for defense. It reminded them both that they were locked in a battle with humanity’s oldest enemy in a setting eerily appropriate.

Daniel gazed down at Sarah’s head nestled on his shoulder. “We need to keep a watch over the grounds and the highway leading here. This tower is as good a spot as any. I can stay up here while you get some rest.”

“That’s OK. I couldn’t sleep now if I wanted to. I’ll take the first watch.”

They held each other for a while longer before Daniel kissed her lightly on the cheek. “There’s also a walkie-talkie in that bag. Use it if you need me in a hurry.” With that, Daniel disappeared through the trap door and descended the tower stairs. Sarah picked up the shotgun and made sure the safety was on before returning to her lookout spot at the slit in the ancient tower wall. The contrasting beauty of the gardens below made danger seem very far away.

The air traffic control tower at Leonardo da Vinci Airport was keeping Nava’s helicopter in a holding pattern while a United 747 passed by on final descent for a landing. Next in line, she navigated the small chopper carrying Moshe and Alon to an area designated for private aircraft. Now they would wait.

In the harbor at Maratea, the yacht shuddered as the engines came to life. The Carmela slowly eased away from the dock and passed through the entrance of the harbor, picking up speed as she made her way north along the coast in a part of the Mediterranean known as the Tyrrhenian Sea. They were now destined for Fiumicino, homeport to some of the finest luxury yachts in the world. Fiumicino was a large fishing town on the central Italian coast known for its great seafood restaurants, but more importantly, it was also home to Rome’s main harbor and the busy Leonardo da Vinci Airport. This strategic location would make the port an excellent choice for their new temporary base of operations.