As he drove, the afternoon sun disappeared behind a single cloud hanging low on the mountainous horizon.
One lone cloud in an otherwise cloudless September afternoon.
He checked his watch and realized he was running out of time. He needed to secure the recovered treasures. Too risky taking the treasure into a potentially hazardous situation. On his way to Interstate 81, he drove through the small town of Elizabethton, Tennessee where he stopped at Security Federal Bank and paid a year's advance rent on a safety deposit box.
After securing the gold and silver in the bank, Jake went to the local post office and mailed the safety deposit box key to himself at his parents' address in Newnan, Georgia.
Jake slipped on his headset and placed a call. Francesca, the man she was following, and Abigail Love should have made it to Nashville by now. Francesca's familiar voice answered on the second ring.
"Jake." Francesca's voice sounded frantic. "Do you have any idea what I'm looking at right now?"
Jake fumbled around trying to lower the volume in his earpiece. "I have a suspicion, but tell me anyway."
"The van pulled into a funeral home under a side awning. Looks like a delivery door."
"A funeral home?" Jake asked. "I was afraid of that."
Suddenly the objective of acquiring the book got a lot more complicated. It now made sense why Wiley would go to Nashville. "Where are you?"
"Across the street is as close as I can get without the risk of being spotted. I'm using the infrared spotting scope. An old woman is helping unload a casket from the van." Francesca paused. "Jake, the sign out front reads Katzer Funeral Home. Is that who I think it is?"
Jake was quiet. He could only imagine the whirlwind of thoughts running through Francesca's head. Probably the same ones he was having.
"I'm afraid so," He finally said.
"The man and the old woman just rolled the casket inside on some kind of gurney. What should I do?"
"Stay put," he said, "if anyone comes out, let me know."
"Jake? What does this mean?"
Jake spent the next few minutes explaining to Francesca everything that had transpired and what he and Fontaine had discovered about the book. He'd suspected Wiley had held something back. Now he knew what it was.
"Have you talked to Wiley?" Jake asked.
"I've tried calling several times," she said. "But, he won't answer."
"I'll give him a try."
"What makes you think he'll talk to you when he wouldn't talk to me?"
"Because I know something he doesn't." Jake hung up. While he was talking to her he realized the stakes had escalated to dangerous proportions. For Wiley. For Rudd. For the country.
Jake gathered his thoughts and placed his call to Wiley. As expected, he didn't answer and his call was sent to voice mail. "Mr. Wiley. I know about the connection between the book and President Rudd. I know you're on your way to Nashville and I know why. Call me back…or I'll call her."
He owed a lot to Elmore Wiley. The man had taken Jake under his wing during one of the lowest points in his life. The man had trained him, taught him self-control and restored his confidence. Wiley had shown him a new world and with it, a new life. In every sense of the word, Wiley had been Jake's mentor. And more.
Through the Old Man, Jake had met Kyli.
He was happy in his new role as emissary for Elmore Wiley but he couldn't help but sense the Old Man wasn't thinking clearly when in came to Rebecca Rudd. What their relationship was, he might never know, but he also served the President. She had taken him into her confidence during their private meeting. He'd felt like he was personal emissary to the President of the United States. In a way, he was.
Jake smiled when his cell phone rang, Elmore Wiley, right on time.
"Where are you, Jake?" He could hear the strain in Wiley's voice. For the first time since they'd met, Wiley sounded like an old man. And this time, a little rattled. His cool, polished demeanor gone.
"On the way to Nashville." Jake paused. "Mr. Wiley, if this is true, you can't protect her."
"There are issues larger than this in jeopardy right now and President Rebecca Rudd is a key player. The world powers are at the precipice of a major alliance. That's what the emergency summit meeting tomorrow in Indianapolis is all about. Rudd has to be there. Without her, negotiations will likely fail and the global economy will be on the threshold of collapse." Wiley paused. Jake could hear labored breathing. "Don't you see, it doesn't matter whether it is true or not, it can never become public knowledge."
Which meant the unthinkable. Indeed, the stakes were high.
"Why didn't you wait for backup in Butler?"
"I didn't have time. Ashley Regan was on the move. If I didn't act when I did, then she would be gone and we would still be guessing her next move."
"What happened in Butler?"
Jake thought about it and gave Wiley the shortened version. "With George's help, I got there first and waited on Regan and her friend. Unfortunately, Abigail Love showed up and killed Ashley Regan."
"Is Butler secure?"
"No pun intended," Jake said, "but I literally closed the lid on that casket."
"And the book?"
"The reason I'm headed to Nashville. Abigail Love took the book from Regan. Then a man abducted Love and now he has the book. Both are in Nashville at this time. And sir, they're at the Katzer Funeral Home."
"Scott Katzer," Wiley said, "I figured as much."
"We need to get in the funeral home," Jake said. "Maybe we should storm the castle."
"You don't storm the castle until you know the lay of the land, Jake. What we need is a ruse to get us inside."
"Katzer knows what I look like," Jake said. "It'll have to be just you and Francesca. I'll be the cavalry."
Wiley was silent for a few seconds. "Then, here's what we'll do. Tell Francesca to meet me at the funeral home at eight o'clock in the morning. We'll go in under the pretense of making prearrangement for my comatose and terminally ill wife. That'll get us inside. We'll be wired so you can listen. If it goes south, come and get us."
"Not bad," Jake said. "What are you going to do when you get in there?"
"Don't know. I guess I'll figure it out as I go along." Wiley paused. "Get Francesca onboard and we'll talk again in the morning." Wiley hung up.
Jake's sixth sense told him Wiley wasn't being forthright with him. The Old man was still hiding something but Jake couldn't figure out what it was.
41
President Rebecca Rudd relaxed for the first time since she'd arrived in Indianapolis, her briefcase open on the coffee table in front of her. Her suite at the JW Marriot was surrounded by Secret Service. The suites on each side, above and below, and across the hall were filled with her protection detail. Sharpshooters perched on rooftops covered every angle with an exposure to her windows.
Tomorrow's emergency meeting was scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. in the hotel's exhibit hall. Her presence was essential to the success of the global summit meeting.
This was her first public meeting since Evan Makley's murder. Even though he'd somehow become involved with the assassin Abigail Love, she'd come to rely on his advice and his expertise in managing her schedule. His replacement was of no use to her tonight. Makley was the only one on her staff that was up to speed on this meeting.
Wiley's stern warning about Makley raised her suspicions about his untimely death. Did Elmore Wiley have Evan Makley killed to protect her? That was, after all, what precipitated their first meeting when she was Secretary of State. In the past, Wiley's organization only sanctioned a hit after the White House had unofficially authorized it. Had he stepped beyond his bounds this time?
She and Wiley had been friends for many years and she'd placed her faith in his wisdom on more than one occasion. She'd considered him her guardian angel. Maybe that's the way he felt too.