Maurcio shook his head. “No, gracias. We must be going. Just the bill, please.”
The food had been so delicious, everyone felt a little disappointed that they wouldn’t get the chance to see what dessert would be like. There was a sense of hurry, though; they couldn’t get to the church soon enough.
Sean doubted they would find anything tonight. They would probably have more luck in the daylight. From his experience, those sorts of things could take weeks or months to uncover. Ancient secrets didn’t remain secrets because they were easy to find or decode.
After a few minutes, the waiter returned with the bill, which Tommy called for. Mauricio seemed indignant. “Please, my friend, allow me.”
Tommy shook his head and smiled. “Tell you what, I’ll get this, you get the cervezas later.” The stout Ecuadorian seemed satisfied with the accord and allowed Tommy to pay the tab.
The group stepped out into the cool, fresh air. A little rain had come through while they were eating, coating the cobblestone sidewalk and road. They got back into their vehicles and, few minutes later, were weaving their way back down the mountain towards the town.
“Have you ever been to Cuenca?” Mauricio directed the question towards Adrianna.
“Yes. But it has been a long time,” she responded, looking out the window at the shops and colorful buildings as they passed in the streetlight.
“Sean tells me you have some friends here in the city you want to see. Perhaps I can take you where you need to go while they investigate the church.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she said quickly. “I can get there myself.”
“Fair enough,” he ended the conversation, sensing she didn’t care to keep it going any further.
Sean smiled. She was a confident, strong woman. But there was something so mysterious about her. He had realized that whatever she was doing in Cuenca was her business and interfering or asking too many questions might upset the apple cart. He was glad to have her along, though. She’d proven herself more than useful in the short time he’d known her. And though he hoped they wouldn’t need that usefulness again, he doubted they would be that lucky.
He’d seen organizations like Golden Dawn before. Men who were bent on something didn’t give up easily, especially when they had lots of money. Kill two henchmen, four more pop up in their place. It was part of the reason he’d quit working for the government. In two short years, he’d lost track of all the men he’d killed. While some people had problems dreaming about victims or some sort of post-traumatic stress, Sean had never experienced those things. And that fact bothered him. To him, killing the men who were trying to kill him was justified. They were bad people trying to bad things. What got to Sean in the end was the fear of never knowing when someone would get the drop on him. With every mission he’d completed during his short career, the paranoia grew a little stronger.
The more he traveled, the more he realized how many things he wanted to do in his life, how much he wanted to see, how much he wanted to learn. He could sense these things slipping away as his life went deeper and deeper into government work. A life of international intrigue was definitely exciting, but he began to realize that the life he could have outside of it was worth living. Sean had forged few, lasting relationships throughout the years. While living a typical, suburban life wasn’t ideal, it certainly had some benefits: friends, stability, not getting shot at, maybe even a wife and family.
Sean thought about the day he’d quit the agency. When he approached Emily about retiring, she’d scoffed. “This is who you are, Wyatt. You’re a machine. You’re the best Axis has.”
“You’re the best agent Axis has, Em,” he’d replied.
The comment had made her blush.
“I appreciate that but you know it isn’t true,” she paused. “We need you. The government needs you. Your country needs you, Sean.”
“I’ve heard that speech before, Em. I’ve done my time. And that time has done me. I can’t sleep at night. I’m tired every day. I’m slipping. I know it. If I keep going at this rate, I won’t last long.”
She knew he was right. She had seen it in his eyes.
“What will you do?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet. Something else.”
“Here we are,” Mauricio announced as he opened his passenger door. “Iglesia de Carlos Crespi.”
The small caravan of vehicles had come to a stop just outside an enormous church. The enormous stone structure was breathtaking. Lights had been positioned pointing upward to accentuate rounded columns at various points of the church. Great wooden doorways presented three entrances into the building near where they had parked. The group exited the car and stared at the building. Standing on the side street, they could see the glorious domes at the other end of the cathedral.
Adriana touched Sean’s shoulder. “I’ll be back in an hour,” she said quietly. He just smiled and nodded. She took off at a jog and disappeared around the corner of the street.
“Where’s she going?” Tommy asked.
“I don’t know but she can take care of herself.”
Mauricio never saw her run off. He got out of his car and stepped close to the three visitors and gave an odd tip of the head to his two drivers. They immediately got in their cars and drove away. “There is something you should know,” he said quietly, just above a whisper. “This is not the church you came to see.”
Chapter 51
Emily turned around with a glass of scotch. Jennings was standing in the doorway of her kitchen pulling something out of his jacket pocket. For a second, she wasn’t sure what he was doing.
“Please excuse me,” he said as he withdrew a handkerchief from the folds of his coat. “Coming in out of the cold and all the stress has made me sweat a bit.” He dabbed at his forehead as she brought the drink over to where he was standing. “Thank you,” he said gratefully.
“If you aren’t going to call the police, you need to lay low for a bit,” she spoke suddenly and walked by him back into the living room.
“I have an extra room upstairs you can sleep in tonight and for the next few nights if you need to.”
“Emily,” he cut her off. “I can’t impose like that. I don’t want to put you in any kind of danger.”
“I’ll be fine,” she responded quickly. We have no social or personal connections so there is no reason for anyone to think you came here.”
He followed her back into the living room and sat down with a sigh. “You’re sure I’m not imposing?”
She shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll get the guest bed ready for you. Tomorrow we can figure out what is going on.”
He nodded and took a drink. It seemed like he was beginning to settle down.
Emily headed up the stairs, satisfied that her guest was going to be ok for a while. In the back of her mind, though, something didn’t quite add up.
Chapter 52
“We are in position and have the targets in sight.”
Agents Weaver and Collack heard the transmission as they sped down the bumpy road leading into Cuenca. “Good,” Collack answered. “Let them find whatever it is they’re looking for. Then take them out. But leave Schultz alive. The rest are expendable. We are en route. ETA is ten minutes.”
“Roger that,” the voice responded.