An unmarked envelope caught Samantha’s attention and she slid a stainless steel letter opener under its side. The envelope opened easily, spilling a handful of papers onto the floor. Samantha knelt to retrieve them, muttering a bit under her breath. Her scarlet colored skirt rustled about long legs as she rose to her feet and she became aware that someone was watching her. Looking over her shoulders she saw Morgan Watts gazing with admiration. "Something I can help you with, Morgan?" she asked.
"Not at all. You’re just a welcome ray of sunshine, that’s all."
Samantha rolled her eyes but silently welcomed the attention. Morgan was a handsome man but he was a good bit older than her and had a checkered background. A former gangster himself, Morgan was the Chief’s eyes and ears on the street. Samantha, who came from a high-class background, found Morgan’s past exploits somewhat exotic but she would never think to ruin their friendship by pursuing romantic interests. She believed Morgan felt the same but he was a man, after all. He was bound to look upon occasion. "Look at these," she said, flipping through the pages. "Strangest things I’ve ever seen."
Morgan took one of the pages from her and studied it. That it was quite old was undeniable. It felt like calfskin and the page was crammed with writing, all in Latin. Each sheet was extremely long, measuring nearly three feet in length. "Who sent these?"
"There’s no return address."
"Too bad my Latin’s so rusty."
Samantha smirked, knowing that Morgan knew as much about Latin as he did about ladies’ fashion. In other words, virtually nothing. "I’ll take them to the Chief."
"Sounds like a plan." Morgan handed over the sheet he’d been holding and cleared his throat. "Listen, doll, you doing anything Saturday night?"
Samantha blinked, wondering if she’d heard correctly. "Just the usuaclass="underline" hanging around headquarters and waiting for something to happen."
"Well, I have these tickets for the movie house. It’s nothing fancy, mind you — one of those Evelyn Gould adventure flicks — but I was thinking that since I have two tickets and there’s only one of me that I should take somebody with me."
"Are you asking me on a date?"
"No!" Morgan guffawed and Samantha wasn’t certain if she should feel relieved or insulted. "It’s just two friends, doll. Nothing more than that. Believe me!"
Samantha fought to keep a frown off her face. "That’s fine. We can do that, Morgan. But I can’t promise anything, really. I mean, anything might come up between now and then."
"Of course. Same here."
"Good." Samantha turned away and headed toward the stairs. She didn’t look back at Morgan but if she had, she would have seen him wincing. Their conversation hadn’t gone anywhere along the lines of what he’d intended and he was beginning to wonder if there was something about Miss Grace that would always leave him tripping over his feet.
Lazarus Gray was not a particularly large man but there was something about him that made men pause when they saw him. It might have been the mismatched eyes, one a sparkling emerald and the other a brooding brown. Or it might have been the stern, almost emotionless cast of his features. But most likely it was the way he moved, with the elegant grace of a dancer and the dangerous tread of a panther.
Eun Jiwon normally considered himself a very dangerous individual. Quick and athletic, the young Korean had proven himself capable of dealing with two or three grown men in combat but against Gray, he found himself simply outclassed. The two men were sparring now, throwing punches and kicks so quickly that they were little more than blurs to the naked eye. But Eun knew that Gray was holding back, a supposition that proved correct when Samantha entered the training area, an envelope in hand. Gray ducked another one of Eun’s fists and delivered two quick chops to the younger man’s midsection, knocking the breath from his lungs. Gray then finished him with a kick to the knee that left Eun temporarily hobbled.
Gray straightened and gave his opponent a polite bow. "Excellent work, Eun."
The Korean stared at him in disbelief. Though he was far younger than Gray, he was panting and covered in sweat while the older man looked fresh as a daisy. Eun gingerly walked over to pluck up a towel and was using it to wipe off his brow when Samantha handed over the papers to Gray.
"This came in the mail this morning, Chief. No return address. I took Latin in school but I can’t really make heads or tails of this."
Lazarus studied the pages very carefully, his eyes raking over the words. "Everyone needs to come together in the briefing room. Immediately."
The tone in his voice brooked no further discussion. Samantha whirled at once, heading off to fetch Morgan. Eun, meanwhile, set the automatic recording devices that answered the phones when the team was busy. Within moments, all four members of Assistance Unlimited were gathered around a sturdy oak table.
Gray sat at the head of the table, the papers arranged in two rows of four in front of him. He was dressed in black slacks and a white shirt today, the sleeves of which were rolled up to the midpoint of his forearms. It was a fairly casual look for Gray but even so his ever-present tie was in place. "We have an interesting case before us," Gray said at last. "These pages are extracted from a tome known as the Codex Gigas."
Morgan leaned forward. "How do you know that?"
"The content of the pages leads me to that conclusion but it’s borne out by the size of the sheets themselves. The Codex Gigas is the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world. It weighs over 160 pounds and has measurements of 36 inches in height, nearly 20 inches in width and over 8 inches in thickness."
Morgan glanced over at Eun, who gave a shrug of his shoulders. None of them were surprised that their leader would be able to quote such figures off the top of his head, but it was impressive nonetheless. Despite the fact that his own past was a mystery to him, Gray’s head was filled with data about subjects both famous and obscure. "Okay. So it’s an old book. What’s it about?"
Gray picked up on one of the pages and studied it. "The tome contains the Vulgate Bible, as well as many historical documents. The entire thing is written in Latin and legend has it that Herman the Recluse compiled it in the Benedictine monastery of Podlazice near Chrudim. It’s drifted from hand to hand since then but was seized in 1648 as plunder by the Swedish army. The rest of the book is currently part of the National Library of Sweden. People have known for years that there were eight missing pages and these appear to be them."
"Are we going to contact the Swedes, then?" Eun asked.
"No. Not yet. You see, there is a bit more to the story. There is a legend attached to it and these pages may shed some further illumination upon that. I daresay the secrets contained here are worth dying for."
Morgan sat back and grinned. "Well don’t keep us in suspense, Chief. Spin the yarn for us."
Gray stood up, clasping his hands behind his back as he began to pace slowly back and forth. His voice remained low and even but all of his aides found themselves leaning forward as he talked, drawn in by the tale he was weaving. "The story goes that Herman the Recluse broke his monastic vows and was sentenced to be walled up alive in the monastery."
"Must have been some nasty business he took part in," Morgan muttered, drawing a stern frown from Samantha.
Gray continued as if he hadn’t heard Morgan’s interruption. "In order to avoid this fate, the monk promised that he would create a book that would contain all the knowledge of man. The other monks, hungry to see his fall from grace, demanded that he do this in a single night. Having no other choice, he agreed and began to work. At some point in the night, he gave in to despair, knowing that he would never have a hope of succeeding. And so he turned to the one being who might help him: the Devil himself. Satan claimed the monk’s soul and completed the book for him, going so far as to insert a self-portrait on page 577. The image is a horrific depiction of the Devil and all those who gaze upon it feel a shiver go down their spines. It’s like staring into the abyss. Modern scholars who have studied the manuscript are adamant that a single hand wrote it all, with no discrepancy due to age, sickness or simply the passage of time. It’s estimated that it would have taken twenty years or more for a single person to create such a work."