Hunter Carlson waited patiently, crouched behind a large tree just outside Iglesia de Maria Auxiliadora. He’d made his way to the church on a hunch. Even though the cathedral he’d visited earlier was much more prominent, it had been the wrong place. Fortunately, he’d been asking around earlier in the day and knew where another church was nearby. It was the only one that made sense. Now, it appeared that Sean Wyatt had left a few guys to watch the cars he explored the church. One of the men had slipped into an SUV and had been there for several minutes. For the attack to work, Hunter needed both guards out in the open.
If he went after the man in the car, any noise at all would alert him and give him a chance to let the other guard know something was wrong. He decided his original plan was best and continued to wait. The annoying laugh of the other man on the cell phone boomed through the square as he continued to carry on a conversation in Spanish that was apparently quite humorous. It was mind numbing to Carlson how men like these two were considered to be worth anything more than minimum wage. He knew, however, bodyguards were usually well paid in many circumstances. He quickly banished the thoughts so he could concentrate on the task at hand. The sound of the door slamming to the sport utility signaled that his mark was back on the street, in the open.
The four men stared at the odd, stone tree for a few silent moments.
“So what does it mean?” Will asked, breaking the silence.
Tommy scratched his head before responding. “I’m not entirely sure.”
Sean noticed something above where the two trunks came together. Carved into the stone bark was Revelation 22:14.
“Do you know what that verse says?” he asked his friend while he pointed to the engraving.
“Not off the top of my head, no,” Tommy shook his head.
Sean pulled out his smart phone and quickly typed in a few words into his Google app. A light breeze passed through the area again, carrying with it the scent of the city mixed with the familiar smell of rain. The wind picked up slightly and was joined by a few raindrops. A few seconds later, he was reading an information page about the verse written in the stone tree. “It says, ‘Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and go through the gates of the city.” A few more raindrops began to spatter the ground and the sculpture. The breeze whipped up again, stronger than before. “What do you think it means, Schultzie?”
“May I suggest we figure this out inside?” Mauricio interrupted.
The others nodded and jogged across the courtyard to the doors they’d come through a few minutes before. Once they were inside the shelter of the church, the rain started pouring in earnest almost instantly. The men brushed the water off their arms as they looked around, once again in the entryway of the church.
“Wash their robes,” Tommy muttered under his breath, still trying to figure out the meaning of the text. He put his hand to his mouth, focusing on the thinly carpeted floor.
“What robes?” Mauricio asked. “Priest’s robes? Where do they keep priest’s robes?”
“Those would be in an office somewhere in the building,” Sean answered. The expression on his face showed that the gears in his mind had started turning.
Tommy shook his head slowly. “I don’t think we’re looking for robes,” he contradicted the thought.
“No?” Mauricio questioned.
“No. The verse said that those who wash their robes will have the right to enter the gates. There are two parts to the riddle there, but the robes are not one of them. The verse is referring to common people. So the robes are a figure of speech. It could be any clothes a common person would wear. It wouldn’t even have to be clothes. The act of washing is the important part.”
“So what are we looking for, then?” Sean asked.
Tommy stared beyond where his friend was standing, towards the entrance of the sanctuary. Beneath the arched doorway and to the left, a large baptismal font made of stone sat on the floor just in front of the threshold. Strange engravings surrounded the outside of the container’s lip. Beneath the odd symbols, pictures of people were carved into the stone. They were in a line as if they were waiting for something. Tommy walked past his comrades to get a better view of the front of the object. As he got closer, his suspicions were confirmed. The others watched him as he went over to the large bowl and got down on one knee. He traced a shape with his finger. The men joined him, looking at the engraving from behind where he knelt. “Baptism,” he whispered. “All the people here,” he pointed to the line of patrons on the stone, “they are waiting for baptism. Baptism makes the sinner clean. And gives them the right to,” he pointed to another, familiar shape in the stone, “The Tree of Life.”
The gun’s sights followed the first guard. Hunter’s finger tightened slightly on the trigger. He would have only a second to take out the other guard as soon as he dropped the first.
Raindrops started pattering the leaves in the tree overhead. A large gust of wind rolled through the plaza. Carlson could see the guard on the other side of the SUV through the tinted windows. The man was about to clear the back end of it and would be in the open. The other guy on his cell phone would only hear a muffled pop from the sound suppressor and in his confusion would be an easy target.
Suddenly, the rain picked up as if a faucet in the sky had been turned on. The guard he was targeting stopped moving and looked up. Then, he turned back around and got in the front passenger side of the truck.
The other man did the same, effectively ruining Hunter’s plans. He didn’t have a clear shot. But maybe the storm would be to his advantage. He could take out one man in the rear vehicle; then take out the other. With the noise of the pouring rain falling on trucks, they wouldn’t hear anything. Plus the guard in the front SUV was still on his cell phone. Hunter decided to make the best of the situation and scurried quickly over to the rear of the second SUV, careful to stay low as he moved.
Tommy’s theory made sense, Sean thought as he ran his finger along the rim of the baptismal font. He still had a question, though. “What do these symbols mean?” he asked.
His friend stood from his kneeling position.
“I have no idea. They look similar to some of the things we saw from the pictures of Crespi’s collection.” He took out his smart phone and started taking pictures of the object.
“What are you doing?” Will wondered.
“We may need to investigate this further at some point.” Schultz took a few more pictures then placed the phone back in his front pocket.
“Now what do we do?” Mauricio asked.
The rain was coming down hard outside, evidenced by the deep sound of it impacting the roof overhead. The low droll echoed through the hallway and throughout the sanctuary.
This time, Sean got down on one knee and started looking at the floor surrounding the font. He didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. “It isn’t bolted down or anything,” he stated after a minute of investigation.
“You think we need to move it?” Will asked.
Sean tilted his head and shrugged. “I mean, yeah. We’ll move it back.” He smiled as he said it.
Mauricio was already on task, stepping over to one side of the container and rolling up his sleeves. The other three joined in, with Sean and Will on the opposite side of Mauricio and Tommy, pulling it while the other two pushed. All four men strained against the weight of the object. The stone font turned out to be much heavier than at first suspected. Mauricio leaned on the container, pushing hard with his shoulder against the edge.