Chapter 11 #3
“And that’s the point. You didn’t. Because we do have a great deal of power, and that power will protect you while you are in this hospital and beyond.
Because the power of the curse tablets is a lie, and someone is manipulating those around them, those who are lost, like you,” Shelly said very gently.
“You will use your power to protect me?”
“We will use all the mortal power that is good and strong,” Shelly assured him.
Her words seemed to calm the man. He’d caused a man to kill himself. He’d tried to kill them.
And Grant couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man.
She stood and looked toward the glass, and Grant saw that Sal was there, tapping his watch and warning them that they’d stayed their allotted time.
“Thank you!” Vincenzo whispered to them. “I will stay here. I will watch over this man. There is only so much I am capable of, but I can do a little banging and make some noise. Thank you.”
“You believe him? Everything that he has said? That he is crazy?” Shelly asked softly as they headed for the door.
“I do,” Vincenzo said. “Find the woman in the ancient city. Find the person who is causing all this to happen!”
“We will,” Shelly promised. “Signore, I swear to you, somehow, we do have certain powers, and we will use all of them to get to the truth.”
Grant nodded in agreement with her words.
The spirit of Vincenzo Mero moved on back into the room, taking a seat by the man in the bed who had now closed his eyes, restful at last.
Grant and Shelly moved on out to the hall, where Sal and Alfredo waited for them.
“The doctor told me the man suffers from serious psychosis,” Sal said. “He wasn’t a good candidate for surgery until they managed to get him sedated. He was sure that the gods of the curse tablets had ordered them to finish the job of killing him.”
“In English, a total nutcase!” Alfredo said.
“Yes, but a nutcase who just confessed to killing Vincenzo Mero and getting Antonio to confess to the crime and kill himself. And you can understand how he got to Antonio, because he believes everything that he’s saying himself,” Grant told them.
“But he also has things backward,” Shelly said thoughtfully. “The concept of the ancient curse tablets was that human beings begged the gods for help in cursing someone. This poor fellow believes that the gods are in control, and a woman is controlling it all. A woman in the ‘ancient city.’”
“I guess we are in the ancient city,” Alfredo said.
“Or Athens, or …” Shelly began, frowning. “Or perhaps neither. He seems to think that we all have history corrupted, that other places may have been the birth of beings before us or something like that. I’m not certain, not certain at all.”
“Well, we’re here, and he’s in the hospital—” Sal said.
“And he’s terrified that the gods are going to send their ‘mortal instruments’ to kill him while he’s in the hospital.”
“No one is going to let him die in here. He may be a nutcase, but he’s going to have to face the law for what he’s done. He’ll wind up in an institution for the criminally insane,” Sal said.
“Probably for the best, or the best possible,” Grant said.
He looked at Shelly. “I’d like to get a call through to Angela or Jackson and our fellow agents back in St. Augustine,” he said.
“And I’d like to see Armand and go through all the emails he’s received from his friend across the pond and see what else might be in there.
We need to have our people find Antonio’s friend, Geoffrey Gainer, and see why he was so certain Antonio was being accosted by—by a crazy man.
And it would be nice to know how Sam knew about Geoffrey Gainer. ”
“We didn’t ask that!” Shelly said, wincing. She looked at Sal. “Could I sneak back in, just for a second?”
“Be quick or the doc will be down on us like an enraged eagle!” Sal said.
Grant gave her a nod, and she slipped in by herself. In this case, Shelly’s voice had the gentlest cadence, and she seemed to be able to assure the man—and draw from him.
Grant stood with Sal and Alfredo, watching.
Shelly stepped next to the bed, whispering something, probably to the ghost of Vincenzo Mero, who remained by the patient’s side.
She softly touched one of the man’s hands, speaking to him. Sam Smith opened his eyes and looked at her. She touched his forehead, smoothing back his hair as she spoke.
Sam replied to her, and she nodded sagely. She spoke softly again, turned, and headed back out of the hospital room.
“Anything?” Sal asked anxiously.
“We’re definitely looking for a website!” she said.
“How did this drifter get to a website?” Alfredo demanded.
“Oh, come on, I’m not familiar with Italy, but coffee shops—” Shelly began.
“You bring your own computer,” Alfredo reminded her.
“Libraries, colleges?”
“Hmm. Okay, go on,” Alfredo told her.
“That’s how the woman, the mortal instrument of the ancient gods and goddesses, gives out all her assignments.
When people need help, they write to her.
She decides who deserves the help of the curse tablets.
And, of course, the mortal beings are bound to obey the will of the gods and goddesses,” Shelly told them. “It’s more important than ever—”
“Wait, wait,” Grant said. “How did he know about Geoffrey Gainer?”
“The name was apparently on the site,” Shelly said.
“We’ve had people who know what they’re doing working backward and forward. Of course, in today’s one big world, dozens of sites exist with info and groups fascinated by the things that have been found. But none of them suggested anything lethal,” Sal told her.
“Angela is pretty amazing; she needs to keep digging. But we need to think more about what this man, Sam, has told us, and determine if there’s something somewhere that we’ve missed.”
“Great. Let’s get out of here,” Sal said. “We’ll reconvene at your new abode. And rest assured, it’s one owned by the carabinieri—with security of all kinds.”
“That sounds great, thanks,” Shelly said. She looked at Grant. “It will be good to sit a spell and try to think.”
“There will naturally be all kinds of legal follow-up on our part regarding the attack and what you were told here today,” Alfredo said. “But …” He paused, looking at Sal.
“You’ve solved the case for us. With any kind of luck, we’ll discover that this man was their mortal instrument or whatever in Rome. Except that—” Sal continued.
“Except that we need to be completely sure, of course,” Alfredo finished. “Especially since it seems like we must find a woman in the ancient city.”
“And then again, Rome may not be the ancient city he was referring to. I doubt if he even knows. Naturally, in his crazed mind he believes that the ancients are ruling from some kind of an ancient place,” Grant told them.
“Too true. But let’s get on out of here!”
They did so. The morning was waning. They remained wary as they exited the hospital and headed to the car, but Sal mentioned the fact that none of them had even had a coffee or cappuccino, and they were working on very little sleep.
Alfredo knew of a place where he could get them drinks and breakfast sandwiches.
They stopped, all on lookout while Sal headed in to procure their food and drinks.
But then they were moving again. This time, there was a large yard, a guard station, and men on duty as they passed through the gates toward a large government building.
Shelly glanced at Grant and smiled. Indeed, the place looked safe.
They passed through more security and then were led down a hallway and given rooms. They were next to one another, and the rooms adjoined.
“Best for foreign dignitaries and help of any kind who need to work alone or together at night,” Sal said.
“Perfect,” Shelly said.
She smiled at him.
“I hope so,” he said softly.
“Just put your stuff down. The door down the hall leads to a little office space; we can make calls, get online … work,” Sal said grimly.
“Perfect again,” Shelly said, dropping her bag.
Grant did the same. “I can get that later,” he said. “Let’s get on this. I do need to reach people back in the States and maybe—”
“More coffee,” Sal said. “There’s a pot in there! Brewing strong coffee! Italian coffee.”
They walked back down the hall. As they did so, Grant’s phone rang.
It was Zach.
And what he had to tell him was about to change everything.