"Nephilim - 03 - The Revealing" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marzulli L A)

"Do you think it has something to do with the scroll? Does Johanen know it was stolen?" Mac asked.
"I sent a communique to him, via the Major, shortly after we received the news," Elisha said.
"You told me that you believed the same people we shut down in Yemen were responsible for the theft," the Major stated.
Elisha shrugged. "The evidence points to them. After all, we disrupted their broadcast and thwarted their plans to reveal the extraterrestrial presence ... at least temporarily."
"You know what is really strange?Ф Mac asked. Maggie was supposed to fly in, and at the last minute she canceled because my daughter, Sarah, had come do because with appendicitis."
"God is looking after you, Mackenzie,Ф Elisha stated.
Mac nodded, wondering what awaited him in Rome with Johanen.


6


Johanen paused at the iron gate that led to the small courtyard and rose garden that had once been tended by the late Cardinal Fiorre. He ran his hand over the brass handle and prayed, asking for strength and wisdom. He had gone with-out sleep for the last twenty-four hours, flying from Israel to Naples and then to his castle in the Alps. There he was informed of the jailhouse suicide of Stephan, once one of his most trusted aides, who had betrayed him and his organization known as Spiral of Life. He was greatly troubled further by the news that Cardinal Fiorre, a longtime trusted friend and Vatican informant, had apparently died of a massive stroke. Fiorre had left him some papers, but no trace of the papers could be found at the castle. Johanen believed that Stephan had destroyed them. So now he had come in haste to Rome, to see if Father Thomas knew anything about their content.
He unlatched the gate and entered the courtyard. A small fountain gurgled in the far corner and the scent of roses and freshly turned earth filled the air. He stopped, gathered a cream-colored rose in his fingers, and inhaled its fragrance. He then made his way to the heavy wooden door, grabbed the head of a hideous-looking gargoyle, and let the knocker fall with a muffled thud.
A young priest with a boyish face and a shock of red hair opened the door. "Johanen?" he asked, a smile spreading across his face.
Johanen extended his hand. "Yes, good to meet you, Father Thomas. I came as soon as I got your word."
"Cardinal Fiorre spoke often of you. Come in, won't you?"
After Johanen entered the house the priest closed the door behind him, then gestured to a seat at a dining room table stacked with papers and books.
"I will miss him," Johanen said as they seated themselves.
Thomas nodded, then leaned forward in his chair. "He was like a grandfather to me. But something very pressing is happening." Thomas lowered his voice. "I have wanted to tell someone . . . but . . . there has been an incident concerning His Holiness."
Johanen frowned and waited for the man to continue. "It's being kept quiet. His Holiness has had a stroke. I have even heard that he is not expected to live past tonight." "When did this happen?"
"Only a few hours ago . . . I only know because I was working late at the Vatican, in Cardinal Fiorre's private chambers. His Holiness was saying Mass in his private chapel when it happened. They rushed him secretly to a hospital."
"It won't be long before the media gets wind of it," Johanen replied.
"Cardinal Fiorre's funeral was scheduled for tomorrow, but now . . . who knows?"
"If the pope dies, then, I agree, most things will be put on hold until his successor is elected."
'Are you aware that His Eminence requested an autopsy to be performed in the event of his death?" Father Thomas said, changing the subject.
"No, I wasn't aware of that. Has it been carried out?"
"Yes. The results confirmed that he died of a massive stroke. But there's something that you should know."
Johanen waited.
"I saw the body, and his face was contorted . . . He looked like a man who had seen the Evil One himself."
"What did the coroner say about that?"
"That facial contortions often accompany severe strokes. But there's something else. When I arrived, I found this." Thomas held up a silver cross. "I found it lying next to the wall there." He pointed behind Johanen. 'And what's more, there is a mark, a deep indentation in the plaster where the cross hit. Look." The man got out of his chair and went over to the wall. He placed the cross next to the indentation.
"It's like it was thrown with great force, yes?" Thomas stated.
Johanen got up from his seat and went over to get a closer look. He let his finger trace the indentation. "I agree, this certainly is very strange."
'Another thing that is very odd. His Eminence was working on something that had been directly commissioned by His Holiness."
"Cardinal Fiorre spoke to me of the manuscript he completed," Johanen said.
"I've searched everywhere and the manuscript is gone," Thomas said.
"I received a message that he was going to send me a copy of it."
"Yes, I was aware of that," Thomas said. "You said you never received it?"
"I believe it was destroyed."
"He left some very specific instructions in the event of his death. I was entrusted with an envelope. I was told in the event of his death to mail it immediately."
"Where was it addressed?"
"To an address in New York. It was addressed to a Brian Fitzpatrick."
"Did the cardinal ever mention him to you?"
"Here." Thomas took a photograph from the sideboard behind him. "It's a picture that was taken almost ten years ago."
Johanen looked at the photo. "Is this Fitzpatrick with the cardinal?"
"Yes."
"Then he was ordained?" Johanen said with surprise as he looked at the collar around the man's neck, marking him as a priest.
"He was a Dominican," Thomas answered.
"Was?"