Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Eliana groaned. “I don’t want to be here. I want to be where Carlos is.”
Maizie reached over and squeezed her hand.
Eliana held on to it, staring out over the lobby of the Shrine, which had been transformed into what looked like a gala event.
More like a fundraiser than a gathering of religious leaders who’d all agreed to work together for the good of Chicago.
The room was packed with people. Not just the leaders and their colleagues, friends, and family, but also an entire section of tables occupied by reporters from not just the city but across the country—and the world.
Sylvia, wearing a blue velvet gown, threaded through the tables to the stage at the far end.
She got behind the podium and spoke into the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming here tonight. And for allowing the Shrine to host this momentous event. Throughout history, we have learned that it is only by working together and setting aside our differences that we can truly make a difference in the world.”
The crowd, seated at their tables, erupted into a swell of applause.
But nothing about it sat right with Eliana. Even with her sister beside her, she could tell something was amiss. The way she had noticed the atmosphere at the community where the Reverence Sisters lived. A sense of instinct, or discernment.
At least they weren’t parading her in front of people like a mascot. She’d opted to wear her security guard uniform so that people understood her role here, and carried the knife she’d been given on her.
Just in case.
Sylvia continued, “I’d like to introduce you to a new acquaintance of mine, a woman who has already proven herself to be a community leader. I hope she will become a dear friend in the future.” She motioned with a sweep of one hand. “Ladies and gentlemen, Lydia Rosenberg.”
Sylvia applauded, and the crowd of people joined in. Celebrating the woman who now made her way to the front of the room.
Eliana leaned over to her sister and whispered, “Are we really supposed to just smile and wave, and pretend like nothing’s wrong? Anything could be happening to Carlos right now.”
“This is a horrible thing to say,” Maizie whispered back, “but if they wanted him dead, they would’ve just killed him. They wouldn’t have bothered taking him somewhere else.”
Eliana squeezed her eyes shut for a second.
Maizie squeezed her hand.
From behind the podium, Lydia Rosenberg cleared her throat.
“Ladies and gentlemen. We have all been witnesses to the historic events that have occurred across Chicago in recent weeks. In light of these events, it has been made clear to us all that for the first time in the history of the city, our differences should be set aside.”
Camera shutters clicked over in the crowd of journalists, and lights flashed.
So long as they all stayed in their designated area, Eliana wasn’t going to have a problem with them.
She’d already dealt with one reporter today, Neil Lorne, the guy who had been splashing articles on the front page for days about how they were in the end times.
As if all the goings-on in Chicago were somehow an indication that the prophecies in the book of Revelation were now coming to pass.
Sylvia skirted the edge of the room, looking like she was making her way to them.
Lydia continued, “It is with humble thanks that I take my place as the head of our organization, a seat from which I can fully realize my place in this grand design we call life.”
Sylvia came to stand on the other side of Eliana. She leaned across Eliana and spoke to her and Maizie. “Can you believe this drivel?” she whispered. “I’m surprised she doesn’t float away, spouting all this hot air.”
Maizie snorted under her breath, but the look she shot at Sylvia told Eliana that her sister might not completely trust the director of the Shrine.
“Something isn’t right.” Eliana looked around the room. She didn’t see Tony, but he was on duty somewhere nearby. Watching out for the event as much as he was watching out for her. But with her sister by her side, Eliana doubted she was the one in danger.
It was everyone else she was concerned about.
Gathering people together made them a target.
Lydia went on about “new eras” and “cooperation”—using a whole lot of words but not actually saying much of substance.
“She going to make a point sooner or later?” Maizie muttered.
Eliana couldn’t get what she knew out of her head. Or the conversation she’d had with Lydia the night before. “She’s a murderer. Maybe she could tell everyone that she killed Doctor Splitfield, and my neighbor, and all of those other people.”
Maizie glanced over at her. “Do you know why she killed the doctor? It was here in the museum, right?”
Sylvia nodded. “We believe he might’ve been working on something sensitive.”
Eliana said, “I thought it was to get in the vault, like he had information about how to access it that she needed. But now I’m not sure. I mean, it didn’t work. A guy died trying to enter it, and all the people she sent were caught.”
Maizie whispered, “What if it was a test to see how the system worked?”
“How does that help us?” Eliana asked.
“It could’ve been purely recon,” Sylvia said. “To see what we’d do when someone tried to get in there.”
As if she, as director of the Shrine, didn’t know, considering she’d interviewed them all. But without telling the rest of them what those people said, Sylvia was the only one who knew. The fact that she wasn’t giving up the information freely meant none of them had spilled anything useful.
“That isn’t good,” Eliana said. It meant that whoever had learned what they needed to know to get into the vault might come back and try again. And what better night to do that than when everyone in the building was focused on what was happening up here?
She pushed off the wall she was leaning against, and the women on either side of her tugged her back.
Eliana gritted her teeth. She had promised them all that she would stay within arm’s reach of Maizie until this event was over and until they had a way to find Carlos.
She had made so many promises she couldn’t remember what each one entailed.
Probably not going and looking at the vault by herself. Just to check.
Lydia continued, “As for the events of the past few weeks, occurring in and around Chicago, I direct your attention to the screen behind me.”
The display changed, and a timeline of the events laid out in the book of Revelation flashed onto the screen.
Eliana frowned. “You’re not serious. She’s buying into what that reporter said?”
“Who is to say that the future will happen one way or another?” Lydia waved a hand toward the screen.
“Who is to say that the future is not here and now, and we are living in unprecedented days? A time when the world will look to us for direction. To know how to weather the coming storm. As your appointed leader, I vow to navigate the times we are living in with grace and dignity. Knowing that the events yet to unfold will bring unforeseen destruction to the city and the world.”
A murmur began across the room, undercutting what Lydia was saying.
“As your appointed leader, I vow to support each one of you. To lead your flocks with wisdom as we all head into the future.”
“Liar!”
Eliana whipped around, looking left where someone shoved between a few gathered people and started to make her way through the tables. She wasn’t wearing the evening attire everyone else in the room had on, but a heavy coat over her clothing.
“You did this!” the woman screamed, shoving her way past a guy who tried to stop her. He fell to the ground, and she clambered over him, continuing toward the front.
Security guards from around the room broke from their positions and headed toward her.
“It’s Carolena.” Eliana didn’t look away, but she reached out and grabbed Maizie’s hand again. “That’s my friend, Carolena.”
“Don’t worry,” Maizie said. “They will escort her out of here.”
Behind the podium, Lydia said, “Precisely what part of my speech are you referring to?” She chuckled lightly into the microphone, as if this was all some kind of joke.
Carolena stopped, her hands tight by her sides. That big coat on, making her look bigger than she was.
Where had she been for the last few days? And what was she doing here now?
“You did this!” Carolena cried. “The world is ending. And it’s your doing!”
“Security!” Lydia glanced around. “Where is Security?”
At least four of the guards Eliana worked with made their way to Carolena. One called out, “Ma’am?”
Carolena whipped off her coat and tossed it to the floor.
A gasp rippled across the room.
“You did all of this to us,” Carolena yelled, “but today it all ends in fire and blood!”
A man shoved his chair back and stood. “Bomb! She’s got a bomb!” He started to run, shoving past a woman who cried out.
Others across the room got up and ran out. Within seconds, the whole place was chaos. People pushing others out of the way. Security guards yelling at people to slow down and move carefully.
The wave of people headed for the doors, over to the left. A few others went into a hall on the far side, to the right. But most people didn’t know the museum the way regulars and employees did. They simply raced for the front doors.
Maizie and Sylvia both had their phones out, talking fast to whoever was on the other end of the line.
Eliana watched the people reach the doors, slamming their hands on the glass and screaming to be let out.
Carolena yelled, “No one is going anywhere! You all die with Lydia, in the world she has made!”
Eliana scanned the crowd, aware of the chaos but somehow one step removed from it. Able to process the whole scene without being swept away by panic. Again, the idea of a mega distraction rolled through her mind. In a way that she couldn’t let go of it without going to check on the vault.
She pushed off the wall, out of reach of the two women, and headed for the reception desk, behind which was the door where she could get to the back hall.
As she moved, she slid the radio from her belt and held it to her mouth, squeezing the button.
“Tony, come back. I want to check the vault. Just to be sure nothing is happening downstairs.”
Maybe he was busy. Maybe he was in the middle of the chaos.
“Tony? Are you there?”