C. Palov - Templar's Quest

‘Grabbing the bull by the balls is the only way that I can get justice for Corporals Dixon and Kelleher. The Dark Angel will pay in a court of law for what she did to my two buddies.’ Homily delivered, Finn figured a little bolstering was in order as Kate was obviously suffering from a bad case of battlefield jitters. ‘Do you have any idea how much it costs to train a special ops soldier? I’ll tell ya – it costs three quarters of a million dollars.’ He paused, letting the fact soak in. ‘In other words, I know what I’m doing. Besides, they have no idea that we’re even here.’ ‘They’ being the Seven, who had their headquarters on the thirty-fifth floor of the Grande Arche. The penthouse suite directly below them.

According to Fabius Jutier’s calendar, an eleven o’clock board meeting of the Seven Research Foundation had been scheduled. With all of the principal players in attendance, it was Finn’s chance to storm the castle gate.

‘You’re right.’ Kate smiled sheepishly. ‘Sorry for being such a nervous Nellie.’

‘Hey, it’s understandable.’ Glad they’d got over the hump without incident, Finn sat down beside her.

Granted, it wasn’t the most comfortable seat in the house, but he’d seen one too many uniformed police prowling around below deck. Just as worrisome, with the exception of the rooftop, there were video cameras mounted everywhere. If his image was captured and matched to his military photo – enabling the authorities to close in on him – he’d have no choice but to abort the mission. And leave Dixie and Johnny K hanging in limbo. No way in hell was he going to let that happen.

In this man’s army, you don’t leave your comrades behind.

Leaning against the metal bench, Finn put an arm around Kate’s shoulders while he took in the view. While the Grande Arche came in at a respectable height, the marble- clad structure was dwarfed by the towering steel and mirrored glass buildings that surrounded it. The reflected light near blinding, Finn slipped his shades back on.

‘I’m curious, Finn … why did you join the army?’

An innocent enough question but, unbeknownst to Kate, it struck a deep chord.

Seventeen years may have come and gone, but Finn could still vividly recall his treeless South Boston neighbourhood with the ramshackle three-storey terraced houses and chain-link fences, the streets lined with dented aluminium trash cans. Oppressive as hell. It became even more oppressive after his brother Mickey joined the McMullen Gang. On more than one occasion, Finn was picked up by Boston’s finest, the bad-ass badges mistaking him for his twin brother. That’s when Finn decided to get out of South Boston before some rival gang member mistook him for Mickey and pulled the trigger. The US Army offered the perfect means of escape.

‘Since I’ve always been something of an adrenaline junkie, the military was a natural choice,’ he told Kate, that as good an answer as any. ‘In addition to all of the action, along the way I’ve picked up an interesting skills set.’

Kate folded her arms over her chest. A challenging tilt to her chin, she said, ‘Let me guess? All of these skills have to do with guns, ammo and chasing enemy combatants.’

‘Not true. Back in ’92 when I first got out of basic training, I was stationed at a refugee camp along the Iraq–Turkey border. That’s where I learned how to deliver a baby.’

Almost comically, Kate’s mouth fell open. ‘Are you kidding me? You , the rough, tough, macho commando, delivered a baby?’

‘No easy feat given that those camps were like the wild, wild west. Except instead of six-shooters, they carried Kalashnikovs. I was with the army battalion responsible for maintaining order in the camps. Because of the Islamic prohibitions, I wasn’t supposed to look this pregnant woman in the eye, let alone peer at her, um –’ Finn cleared his throat, no further explanation needed. ‘I’d already radioed HQ that I needed a female nurse, doctor, soldier, anyone female to come to my assistance.’

‘Did anyone arrive?’

‘Just as I’m standing there holding this itty-bitty bloody baby in my hands, tears of joy streaming down my face that the kid was even breathing, the nurse finally showed up.’ He chortled, able now, years later, to see the humour in it. ‘From South Boston to Kurdistan. Of course, I’ve been all over the world since then.’

‘Which no doubt explains why you’re so jaded about Paris,’ Kate retorted, good-naturedly elbowing him in the ribs.

‘If you think I’m unaffected by all this –’ he gestured to the Arc de Triomphe L’Étoile, visible in the hazy distance – ‘think again. The difference between us is that I refuse to let the romance of the place go to my head. The Seven know that we’re in Paris. Trust me, they’re just waiting for that split-second when I go all ga-ga because I’m standing in front of some famous Parisian landmark and I drop my guard.’

A dubious expression on her face, Kate shook her head. ‘I cannot imagine you going “ga-ga” over anything.’

Oh, you’d be surprised.

Last night, sacked out on a hard floor, he kept dreaming about Kate. Talk about going ga-ga. Hot dreams full of wild, writhing sex, he was finally forced to sneak off to the bathroom to get some relief.

Removing his arm from her shoulders, Finn unzipped his Go Bag and retrieved a bottle of water. ‘Here you go.’ Unscrewing the cap, he handed it to Kate.

‘Thanks.’

He watched as she took several sips, the muscles in her throat rhythmically working with each swallow. Thinking it was a sexy sight, Finn snorted caustically. Great. Another night of getting in touch with myself.

‘Do you think the Seven Research Foundation is actually going to give you the Dark Angel in exchange for the Montségur Medallion?’ Kate asked, returning the bottle to him.

‘I won’t know until I make the offer. If they accept, the exchange will occur at the place and time of my choosing. Probably as close to the American Embassy as can be arranged. Then, when I have the Dark Angel in my custody, I’ll alert Marine Security at the embassy that we’re on our way.’ And if they didn’t accept, he had a back-up plan.

‘You do know that if the Seven Research Foundation has the Montségur Medallion, they can use it to find the Grail?’

‘Like I care.’ He glanced at his watch. 1110. Time for Phase One of the mission op to kick off. ‘The scheduled meeting started ten minutes ago.’ He unclipped his cell phone from his waist. He then removed a small digital voice recorder and earbud microphone from his Go Bag. ‘We’re wheels up in fifteen seconds. You ready?’

Kate nodded weakly. While not as gung-ho as he would have liked, the tepid response was to be expected. Scrolling through his phonebook, he selected the number he’d earlier programmed for the Seven Research Foundation.

The call was answered on the first ring by a French-speaking female.

‘Hey, how ya doin’? This is Finn McGuire calling. I’m trying to get a-hold of the Seven Dwarfs. It’s real important that I speak with Dopey. Although if he’s not available, you can patch me through to the head dwarf, Ivo Uhlemann.’

‘ Un moment, Monsieur McGuire .’

‘So far, so good,’ Finn said to Kate in a lowered voice as he inserted the small earbud into his left ear and connected the cable into the jack on the digital recorder. One of his newly purchased toys, the earbud mike would enable him to record both sides of the cell-phone conversation on the digital recorder. The digital recorder would, in turn, date and time stamp the conversation. Absolutely necessary for an evidentiary recording. He knew it wasn’t enough to capture the Dark Angel and turn her over to the authorities. He needed proof that the Seven Research Foundation had ordered the hits on Dixie and Johnny K.