Shiva (59 page)

“
Maybe they are planning an ambush,
”
Emily suggested.
“
Stayed at the village and are lying in wait.
”

Bunny couldn
’
t help it
—
her thumbnail found its way between her teeth.

Prenner shook
his
head.
“
With Lopez
’
s
speed and control? I think Brandt would have taken to the road. Setting up an ambush could backfire, leaving them trapped.
”

They both looked at
Bunny
like she was some kind of Brandt expert. Okay, maybe she was as close as they could come.

“
His priority is going to be protecting Vakasa and Rebecca.
”

“
Not exactly helpful,
”
Prenner commented
—
unnecessarily
,
in Bunny
’
s opinion.

Stark threw up his hands.
“
They would have to be crawling to have missed each other by now.
”

“
So Brandt
did
plan an ambush,
”
Emily stated
,
seeming a bit more pleased with herself than usual.

“
Without satellite feed, we
’
re blind…
”
Stark said even though his fingers still tapped away.
“
But maybe I can pick up some audio
—
”

Static burst from the speakers
,
nearly rupturing Bunny
’
s eardrums. Stark couldn
’
t dial the volume down fast enough
,
but then the sound abruptly stopped on its own.

“
What was that?
”
Bunny asked, rubbing her ears
.

Stark didn
’
t answer her
,
though
.
H
e just kept typing, scanning the screens until the static returned, albeit at a quarter of the volume. Then he pushed back away from the keyboard like it had zapped him.

“
No,
”
he said, cocking his head at the screen.

“
What?
”
Prenner asked
,
studying the same screen
.
H
owever
,
he clearly had no idea
what
information it held.

“
That was a high
-
frequency homing beacon.
”

Emily frowned.
“
It couldn
’
t be.
”

“
Care to fill us in?
”
Bunny suggested.

“
The frequency?
”
Prenn
er asked
,
somehow in the know
.

“
Twelve hundred ninety
-
eight.
”

Prenner and Emily shared a look.

“
Guys,
”
Bunny insisted
,
“
t
ell me what is going on.
”

Emily stepped back
,
clearly turning over the task of educating Bunny to Prenner. The lieutenant cleared his throat before explaining,
“
Someone from Brandt
’
s team is broadcasting their location intermittently.
”

No, no, no.
“
It
’
s gotta be Talli or Levont.
”
Talli was lazy
,
and Levont was new.

“
Twelve hundred ninety
-
eight HZ was Davidson
’
s signal when he was with the Knot.
”

Bunny felt her knees shake. If Prenner hadn
’
t put a chair under her butt, she probably would have fallen to the floor.
“
It can
’
t be.
”

Stark gave a sympathetic smile.
“
It is
,
though.
”

She looked down to the phone still in her hand. The same phone she
’
d called Davidson with. The same phone she
’
d informed Davidson of
t
he exact location and speed of the Disciples.

And now someone was using his beacon to draw the Disciples to them.

“
So it
’
s not so much going to be an ambush as a massacre,
”
Bunny stated
,
putting the phone on Stark
’
s desk.

Surprisingly
,
Prenner was the one to put a hand on her back.
“
We
’
re just going to have to wait and see.
”

Somehow that didn
’
t really comfort her.

* * *

Frellan got out of the SUV as his men swept the area around the church. One of the men put a hand on the only car parked in front of the chapel.

“
Still warm.
”

So Brandt was still here. An ambush on his mind? Funny
,
that was what Frellan had
planned
. Monnie joined him as
Benedicto
smoothed his robes.
“
Ah, how quaint,
”
he said as he studied the small church. Such an odd little man.

“
It looks like all of
t
he vill
agers are inside the church,
”
Ugudo reported.
“
No sign of Brandt and the others.
”

Good. So much easier than rounding them up for
questioning
. It was looking more and more like Brandt had simply gone to ground, hoping to hide his way out of a confrontation. Clearly
,
the sergeant did
not understand exactly how efficient
Frellan was at teasing information out of people.

His man held open the door to the church. Frellan stepped inside. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust from the stark sunshine outside to the murky light of the chapel. The men fanned out down the side aisles as Frellan
walked
up the mai
n passage. He would have time to enjoy the villagers and their resistance
.

For how many centuries had the residents of Lennore
been lying to the Disciples? They had sworn they knew nothing of Bor
ogoñ
a
’
s work. Nothing of the Black Madonna
s
lost to history. Nothing of the blessed child to come.

Liars.

They would be his finest works of art
.

One of his men
’
s face
s
twisted into a scowl. Frellan picked up his pace, arriving to the first set of pews. He grabbed the woman by the shoulder and turned her to him.

Blood splatter
ed
across his s
hoes as it gushed from her neck
. The woman
’
s body knocked into the man next to her, sending him reeling into the next and then the next.

“
They
’
re all…
”
Monnie stated, her hand to her mouth.

Benedicto
had a bit more fortitude and checked the next row.
“
Yes, I believe they all committed suicide.
”

“
Rather than give up Brandt
’
s location
.
”
Frellan
had underestimated those of Len
n
ore. They would rather die than see the
M
essiah in his hands.
Frellan turned
to
Ugudo.
“
Search every millimeter of this village.
Find them
.
”

“
Don
’
t bother,
”
Benedicto
stated
,
waving the men toward the car.

“
You
have no
—
”

The priest
waved him off.
“
I know. I am not in charge. I have no authority. I am not the boss of you.
”
Frellan could feel his cheeks flush
as Benedicto
continued
.
“
However
,
I think I might know where they headed.
”

Frellan
’
s eyes narrowed. The man was insufferable
.
H
owever
,
Frellan did not have time to be choosy regarding his source of information. They were so close on Brandt
’
s heels. They could not fall f
a
rther behind.

“
And how would you know such a thing?
”
Monnie asked.

“
Oh, I have a little bir
die
.
”
Benedicto shrugged.
“
We
’
re hitting the road
,
then?
”

After only a moment of introspe
ction, Frellan turned to Ugudo
.
“
Do a quick sweep of the area. If nothing turns up
,
we will follow the priest
’
s direction.
”

Benedicto
took in a deep breath, patting his expanded girth.
“
I really should get out of the abbey more often.
”

* * *

Brandt crested the ridge, joining Levont. The guy had set a hell of a pace, but they
’
d made it. Well, most of them.

“
That was a workout,
”
the point man said, stretching out his calves. No shit.

Brandt shifted Vakasa on his back and gave Rebecca a hand. Davidson had to help Talli up the last section. Through the break in the trees, they could look down u
pon the outskirts of the town, Cuellar.

“
Well
,
at least the priest wasn
’
t exaggerating,
”
Rebecca said as she pointed to a small church at the foot of the hill.

When the man had said,
“
Y
ou
’
ll know the place,
”
Brandt
had
had his doubts. Spain was riddled with old churches and chapels. You couldn
’
t throw a baseball without hitting one. However
,
it turned out this one truly was unique. And not necessarily in a good way.

This church had flying buttresses, except they were attached to the first
-
floor walls and the ground. Brandt wasn
’
t quite sure what a mildly rounded ground
-
level wall needed huge flying buttresses for, but hey
,
it made the El Salvador church easy to find.

“
Notice anything weird?
”
Davidson asked as he pulled the rifle
scope from his eye.

“
Besides one well
-
secured church wall?
”

“
The people
—
or lack thereof.
”

Levont lowered his binoculars.
“
He
’
s right. There
’
s no one around.
”