Judas and the Vampires (11 page)

“What kind of shrine is it?” Alistair had his nose buried in the map Cedric mentioned.

“We really don’t know.” Cedric set his empty manila folder inside his briefcase and closed it. Our little meeting had come to a close. “The local folks don’t think much of it—or at least they rarely talk about it to outsiders. The area around it is badly overgrown with thick brush, and loaded with all kinds of vermin that you’ll need to watch out for—”

“Vermin? What kind of vermin??”

If ever there was a deal-breaker for my son’s involvement, this was it.

“Snakes—poisonous ones. Vipers.”

“’Vipera’, you mean.” Alistair moved into his most natural defensive position, dipping into his broad academic knowledge. Light beads of sweat suddenly appeared above his brow line. “That’s how the natives living in and around the Alborz refer to these nasty creatures!”

“It could be worse,” countered Cedric. He set the locks on his briefcase. “There are scorpions and spiders, too.”

The playful glint in his eyes told me—and should have announced to my boy—that Cedric was only having fun at his expense. Unfriendly critters abound throughout the world, and hell, we encountered far worse than this down in South America.

“Dad, don’t worry about it,” I sought to assure Alistair. “Really, we should be more worried about panthers and bears.”

I laughed and patted him on the back, which is one way I’ve been able to get him to relax in the past. His frown became a sheepish smile, as if he suddenly realized how silly his reaction was.

“I’m not afraid of bugs and reptiles—even the venomous ones,” said Amy, grinning wryly at Alistair. “I don’t mind running my hands through that stuff, as long as I’ve got some gloves.”

“There are three pairs of light-thermal gloves already packed for you in your vehicle.” Cedric took a step to the door after glancing at his wristwatch. “They are puncture proof too. Man, I hate to run, but I’m already late for a meeting at the Swiss Embassy. There are a few things left to confirm for when we head home next weekend. I’ll check in with ya’ll tomorrow morning at breakfast—be downstairs at 6:15 a.m. Are we cool with that arrangement?”

With his hand on the door handle, and one foot already out the door there wasn’t much room for negotiation. But then he paused to look behind the dresser where the room’s TV sat.

“Man, I almost forgot about this,” he said, while coming back into the room and reaching behind the dresser. He pulled out a bottle of wine and handed it to me. “Sam smuggled this in here per my request. Whatever you do, don’t get caught with it. When finished, pack the empty bottle with your luggage and we’ll take care of getting it out of the country.”

“Yet another means to earn jail time in Iran,” quipped Alistair, but then his eyes grew wide when he saw the label. “
Romanée-Conti!”

“Think of it as a gift from the good ole ‘U.S. of A.’,” said Cedric, beaming as he watched Amy’s expression soon mimic my boy’s. “Far bigger rewards await for your success in this mission, and this is a nice down payment.”

“Circa 1996…a burgundy like this has got to be worth, what, five to ten thousand dollars?”

Alistair took the bottle from me, gently handling it like the far more expensive artifacts we had uncovered during the past few years.

“If it went to auction…yes. But, it’s only intended for the palates of three very important people. So, drink it wisely.” He moved back to the door. “I’ve got to get out of here—Sam’s probably wondering where I am. See you tomorrow at breakfast!”

“See you then, boss,” I told him, speaking for us all. “Be careful out there.”

“I always am.” He offered one last playboy smile to Amy. Then he was gone.

“So, we’re all good to go with this?”

I closed the door behind Cedric and set the security lock. I then moved back toward my window, confiscating the wine from Alistair along the way, for the time being. I intended to close the drapes entirely, but for some reason felt inclined to peer down into the hotel driveway below us. The limo idled directly below me, so it must have backed up to allow other hotel patrons to park ahead of it. Courtesy that once was common in the states, but nowadays hard to come by.

“I’m good with it,” said Amy, after taking nearly another minute to review her espionage role again. She sounded more upbeat and cheerful than I expected at this point, nodding approvingly as she folded her itinerary and placed it in her purse.

“Me too, Pops,” added Alistair. He had already placed his copy inside the briefcase he brought with him into my room. “I won’t worry so much about the snakes, but I do have a concern about—”

“What the hell was that??”

I had already moved back to the window after hearing multiple gunshots—even before Amy finished her panicked interruption of what my boy was saying. She and Alistair joined me as I peered down below us. Immediately my heart sank. In the fading sunlight, a gray Volvo sedan sped out of the parking area, while our limo driver and his assistant ran over to a body lying nearby…face down in a growing pool of blood.

Even from upstairs I could tell who it was.

Cedric.

Chapter 10

“So, now what in the
hell
are we supposed to do?”

Alistair had fallen into his panic mode, destroying my hopes of delaying this response until later in the trip. Then again, maybe it was best to get it out and over with right then.

“Well, obviously it’s too damned dangerous to continue here.” I fought to keep my tone detached emotionally. “I’ve already made an initial inquiry into flights out of Tehran tomorrow morning. You would at least get to view the sites in Frankfurt you lamented about yesterday, and then we’ll continue back to the states on Monday.” I added a ‘father knows best’ smile to help sell the notion.

“No...
no
, we
can’t
leave yet!” Amy protested. At the moment, we sat around the small table in my room. Alistair and Amy had waited there for my return, nursing their mutual misgivings in my absence. “You’ve got to understand, William, that I’m
not
leaving without my brother!”

“Do you really need further proof that we aren’t welcome here, in dear old Iran?” I was growing more and more irritated. We had already been over the ‘why we need to leave’ portion of our discussion twice already. “You must have a serious death wish, little lady, and sure as shit these bastards will step up their assaults the longer we linger around here! I can’t think of a more effective ‘Keep out!’ sign than a bullet riddled body left at your doorstep—especially a body as U.S.A. medal honored as was Cedric Tomlinson!”

Yeah, I was getting seriously pissed. I must admit that I don’t do so well with bullheaded females.

“But, Cedric’s not dead, Pops,” Alistair corrected me. “You said so yourself, that he’s in serious condition after surgery. Is he really going to be all right, or was that a load of bullshit you served up fifteen minutes ago?”

Yes, it was the truth. Somehow—miraculously—the nine bullets that hit his torso missed Cedric’s heart, liver, and any other immediately vital organs. Two hit his stomach, and three other bullets pierced his lungs. That alone could’ve killed him—
would’ve
killed anyone less ornery than Cedric Elijah Tomlinson the Third. But the man is one stubborn SOB.... It makes me wonder what he’d be like if he ever were to become immortal in the flesh.

Of course, some credit needs to go to the ambulance service and the paramedics, nurses, and the surgeon who wasted little time in getting the bleeding stopped and the bullets removed. And all at the fraction of what it would cost in America if he’d been gunned down in the streets of D.C.

“Yes, he is going to be okay...that’s the current prognosis.” I pictured what Agent Sam Daniels told me less than a half hour earlier. I decided right then to take a more relaxed posture, since I was getting nowhere with these two by using a heavy-handed approach. “The assassins might still return for him, and I’ll bet our presence anywhere near Tehran or Stanislav’s operation in the Alborz will weigh heavily in that score.”

Alistair nodded slowly as if trying to digest my point of view.

“Then maybe you two should go back to the states!” huffed Amy.

She leaned back in her chair with her arms folded severely across her chest. Her face was flushed, and her lips became a thin line. She didn’t need to do anything else to tell me that she’d just become a thousand pound dead weight. Amy wasn’t budging on her conviction to stay in Iran.

“We’re not going anywhere without you. And, despite what you might be scheming to do, you’re not going anywhere without Alistair and me. Period.”

I’m sure the scowl on my face did little to enhance my allure to her, but she left me little choice. Even if I couldn’t nudge her to consider abandoning our proposed mission, I’d damned sure do everything in my power to make sure she stayed put in this hotel.

“I’m...
not
...leaving Iran!”

We were losing precious time sitting there, and due to the fact another death squad could be sent to finish the job started by the dudes in the gray Volvo I moved to end our little disagreement and get my kid and our princess on to more important things.

“Okay,” I told her, pulling back my hands in surrender. “You win for now. I suggest we chill for now in our rooms, and I’ll treat us all to a steak dinner in my suite within the hour. Let’s not decide on anything else until we’ve had a full night’s rest and a lot more time to consider all of our options. I promise that I won’t put any pressure on you one way or another...at least for tonight. How does that sound?”

Silence...but at least she nodded, though sullenly. I figured any acknowledgement beyond compliance was a victory at this point.

“How about you, son?”

“I can wait until the morning.” He glanced over at her. She offered him a weak smile and a more emphatic head nod, to which he sheepishly grinned.

“Then I guess that settles things for now,” I said, rising from the table. They both seemed hesitant to follow my lead. It didn’t matter. I’d already made up my mind to wait as long as it took to get them to agree with me.

Even if it took all night.

***

“Then you agree with me on this...yes?” I said, firmly, into the landline handset in my room.

Michael Lavoie was on the other end of the line, and for the past hour, we had filled in missing details for each other. He had the latest on Cedric’s steady improvement as well as confirmation that the Russians undoubtedly sponsored the hit. Me? I relayed the news that my kid and our suddenly surly female companion seemed bent on following through with Plan A.

9:05 p.m. Nighttime in Tehran.

“Well?” I persisted, when the only immediate response was a low sigh on the other end.

“I can see your point, William,” he said, with a touch of angst in his tone. “But I also see Amy’s perspective, as well. I’ve known this kid for years, man. When she gets an idea stuck in her head it’s harder than hell to get her to compromise. Even if I grant you the approval to get her out of there forcibly, you’ll still have a helluva time getting her to comply.”

“You know as well as me that she and my dad can’t stay here—it’s too damned dangerous!” I was finding it hard to hide my misgivings about this whole affair. “If you need me to stay behind and get the details on the FGRs Stanislav is using, I’m more than willing to do it. But please leave them out of this!”

“I can’t do that!” His anxiety ratcheted up a few more notches. “If they’re not continuing the mission, then neither can you!”

“Shit!”
I was becoming more and more convinced that silver coin number twenty-two would have to wait for some other trip to Iran...a trip that could very well get hijacked as this one had.

“Why don’t you follow your commitment to Ms. Amy and Alistair, William and just sleep on it?” he suggested. “Who knows, you might see things differently in the morning. If nothing else, you’ll know for sure how to handle this by then.”

After Michael hung up, I thought about my parting words with both my boy and Ms. Golden Eagle. We had just finished our dinner, and one last glass of Cedric’s expensive wine. “Don’t let worry or desperation make your decision for you—make it from that most peaceful place within your hearts,” I told them. “Share it with me first thing in the morning and we’ll go from there.”

Maybe it was the liquor talking after we polished off the bottle. Yet, I felt encouraged when Alistair and Amy wavered in their previous stance to ignore me. They both smiled and told me that they would indeed sleep on it all. No anger or hard feelings, just a quick promise they wouldn’t keep me hanging the next day with their decision.

If only it was true.

Chapter 11

I got out of bed at 3:40 a.m. and waited.
Listening
and waiting, I should say, on high alert for any door noises and footfalls moving down the hallway outside my room. After nearly half an hour passed in silence, I crept over to my window and peered down into the main parking area below. Other than a few noisy patrons arguing under the gazebo near the main entrance, I didn’t detect anything or anyone of note.