The Heretic: Templar Chronicles Book 1 (11 page)

Commonly used by law enforcement groups worldwide, the flash bangs were designed to emit a blinding light while at the same time punishing the eardrums with a loud crack. Cade had always pictured it as being caught between a thunderclap and a lightning bolt. The assault on the senses was enough to send most suspects to their knees, their senses reeling. He hoped it would have the same effect on the revenant.

“If we get in there and things go to shit, don’t hesitate to take it down.”

“Roger that,” said Riley.

“We ready?”

The other three men nodded.

“All right then, let’s do it.”

As the priest moved deeper into the nave so that he was well out of the way, the other four men got into position. Cade and Riley on the right-hand side of the door, Olsen in front of it, key in hand. Duncan stood several feet back, his gun pointed directly ahead in case the creature somehow got past the others.

Cade counted it down on his fingers — one, two, three. On four, Olsen slid the key smoothly into the lock, gave it a sharp twist, and pulled the door partially open, giving the others time to toss their flash bangs into the room, before slamming it shut once more.

This was the dangerous moment, with the door unlocked and all of them looking away so that the pulsing light of the devices wouldn’t blind them, too. If the revenant chose that moment to charge the door…

But it did not.

The flash bangs went off, then Cade and Riley were rushing inside, Olsen at their heels.

A few moments later they stepped back out of the sacristy carrying the revenant between them, its hands and feet secured with Zip-ties and the purple stole it had been holding doubling as a gag. Cade received his weapon from the grateful Father Burns, while Riley called the chopper in for the extraction.

The priest watched from the rectory door once more as the Templars crossed the lawn, tossed their captive into the back of the helicopter, and lifted off without a backward glance.

*** ***

Once back at the commandery, Cade left Olsen in charge of the prisoner’s relocation. He needed some time alone to try and marshal his thoughts; things were happening quickly and he hadn’t had nearly enough time to consider the implications.

After informing the captain of the guard where he would be, he set off on a long walk around the commandery grounds.

He puzzled over the information his team had uncovered so far. There were gaping holes in it, but he thought he was beginning to see a form to it, a sense of pattern appearing out of the chaos.

He had yet to determine how the Enemy was learning the locations of the commanderies, however, and that set him to thinking about the idea that there was a mole in the Order. Despite the Preceptor’s suspicions, he had yet to see anything that might confirm that idea. There was more than one way to uncover the Order’s existence.

Which brought him to the issue of the revenants. Obviously, the former Templars would know the location of the Order’s hideaways. It was reasonable to think that the Enemy was resurrecting the dead in order to question them, to learn as much about the Order and its various sites as possible. That also might explain some of the haphazardness to the individual attacks. Obviously crisscrossing the Atlantic region wasn’t the most effective way to assault the Order, but if they were forced to attack only the sites revealed to them in this fashion, they’d have little choice in the selection process.

Yet that didn’t seem right to Cade. It was cumbersome, for one. And it certainly didn’t guarantee success. From what he’d seen so far, their enemy had been well organized and pulled of its operations with skill and expertise. A foe like that wouldn’t rely on the random chance that it might learn something from a half-crazed revenant.

Full circle again; back to the mole. Cade couldn’t ignore the fact that somehow the Enemy had learned about Ravensgate. Enough that it had been able to penetrate the defenses and slaughter every soldier stationed there, without leaving behind a single witness or physical clue for anyone to work with.

That implied inside knowledge, as the Preceptor had suggested.

Frustrated and knowing his lack of understanding about the Enemy’s objective was probably coloring his ability to make sense of the details in front of him, Cade decided it was time to see if they could learn anything from the man they’d captured in Broward.

Turning toward the manor house, he headed back in that direction with a determined stride and a fresh sense of expectation.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The rest of his command squad was standing around the table in the observation area of Interrogation Room Four when Cade arrived.

Duncan moved to confront him the moment he entered the room. “This is ridiculous,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder to the prisoner they had secured in the next room. “That
thing
needs to be destroyed. Immediately.”

“That thing, as you so quaintly put it, is a former member of this Order.” Cade replied sternly. “You will treat him with the respect he deserves, no matter what his present condition. Is that clear?”

But rather than getting him to acquiesce, the reminder that the thing in the next room had once been one of their own only inflamed the young Templar further. “Treat him with respect? You’ve got to be kidding me! The only way to do that is to put a bullet through his skull and let him rest. This,” - he indicated the revenant seated in the next room - “this is simply obscene.”

It had been a long, difficult day, and Cade had had enough. He stepped close, crowding the other man with his bulk, and this time his voice had a steel edge to its tone. “Your opinion has been noted. Now shut up. My duty is to find the threat to our Order and put a stop to it. I intend to do that. Right now, that man in there is our best hope of doing so, and I’m going to use him as much as I have to in order to accomplish that goal. If you don’t like it, you can remove yourself from the room. Is that clear?”

They stared each other down for several tense seconds before the younger man looked away, nodded, and stepped aside.

Cade crossed the room and looked through the one-way mirror into the interrogation room, where their guest was shackled to the wall. The chains were long enough to let him sit on the floor with his head between his knees, so Cade was unable to see his face.

But he didn’t need to.

“You recognize him, don’t you?” Cade asked, looking back over his shoulder at his second-in-command.

Riley grimaced but nodded his head. “George Winston. Bravo Team, wasn’t he?”

“That’s right. Assault squad, if I remember correctly.” Cade turned to Olsen. “What’s happened since they brought him in?”

“He fought against the restraints at first, pulling on the chains as if he might get them to pop free through brute force alone. Ended up slamming himself against the wall a couple of times too. When that didn’t work he tried chewing through his arm, but gave that up when he tasted his own flesh. Since then he’s just sat there, waiting, as if he knows we’ll come to him eventually. He’s been that way for over an hour now.”

“Just what, exactly, do we hope to learn from this…thing?” Duncan asked.

“I don’t know how much we can learn,” Cade replied without turning. “But right now he’s the only clue we’ve got. If there’s a possibility he can tell us anything, we have to try.” He looked at Riley. “What do you think?”

“I wouldn’t want to be trapped in that room if it gets loose, that’s what I think.”

“Agreed. Which is why I want you and Olsen on the other side of this doorway. If anything goes wrong, don’t hesitate. Get inside and put it down, clear?”

Both men nodded.

Cade continued. “Duncan, get with Captain Stanton and find out if there is anyone here who served with Bravo Team during the last five years. If there is, I want him here ASAP. Having a priest nearby might not be a bad idea either, so see who you can scare up.”

“Will do.”

“Good. Let’s move, people.”

When Cade turned back to the mirror, he found Winston staring at it from the other side.

Despite the fact that the mirror was one-way, Cade was sure the revenant could see him.

To test his theory, Cade took three steps to his right.

Winston’s head turned to track his movement.

Back to the left.

Again, the revenant watched him move.

It seemed to Cade that, in the revenant’s eyes, there was a deep sense of longing.

But whether that longing was over what he had lost or simply the desire for his next meal, Cade couldn’t tell.

It took fifteen minutes to get the details squared away.

Duncan returned with two men in tow. “Father Garcon, Corporal Reese, this is Knight Commander Williams.” To Cade he said, “I’ve explained to them both what we need. Reese spent three years with Bravo before being transferred here last year.”

Garcon, a heavyset, balding man, was clearly the priest. Which made the younger man dressed in technician’s coveralls the former Bravo Team member. Cade led him over to the observation window and let him get a good long look at the former Knight on the other side, then said, “How well did you know him?”

Without taking his gaze away from the glass, Reese said, “We were on the same squad for about eighteen months, sir. Spent some of our downtime together on leave.”

“So he would know you on sight?”

“Normally, I’d say yes, sir.” He didn’t have to explain his hesitation, given Winston’s condition.

“Good enough. Despite his present condition, the Winston you knew still exists inside that shell. We need to reach him, get him to talk to us. I’m hoping that a familiar face might help him focus on who he was, rather than on what he has become, so I need you to go into that room with us when the times comes. Can you do that?”

Reese hesitated, swallowed hard, and nodded.

Cade clapped him on the shoulder. “Good man.”

The commander walked back over to the priest. “Thank you for coming, Father. My sergeant explained the situation to you?”

The older man nodded, though he was clearly uncomfortable. He had studiously avoided glancing at the observation window since entering the room, and Cade noticed that Garcon’s hands were trembling as he unpacked his portable Mass kit on the table before him.

“This man is a former Knight of the Order. His belief in God might still survive his present condition. Your presence there could be a great comfort to him.”

Garcon finally looked up, meeting Cade’s gaze, and the commander immediately knew he had been mistaken. What he had taken for fear was actually anger. “And you, Knight Commander? Shall I pray for you as well?” The priest, obviously, did not approve of his methods.

Cade ignored the question and the thinly veiled insubordination. “Just do your job, Father. I’ll worry about my own soul, thanks.”

Turning away from Garcon, Cade addressed the rest of the men in the room. “All right. Let’s do this.”

When Olsen and Riley were in their places, Cade stepped inside the interrogation room and moved quickly to one side of the door, as Reese and Father Garcon did the same on the other side. Once they were in, Cade quickly closed the door behind them.

Winston watched them enter the room without getting up. His gaze lingered on Reese for several moments, and a low moan escaped his mouth when he caught sight of the purple stole around the elderly priest’s neck, but that was all. Neither man elicited more than a mild reaction.

The revenant turned to look at Cade.

He stared at him for a long moment, unmoving.

Then he went berserk.

Winston surged to his feet, straining at his chains and gnashing his teeth as an eerie howling cry burst forth from his mouth.

Reese and Garcon recoiled, moving for the door; but Cade remained steady, knowing the chains would hold.

Two feet away from the commander, the chains pulled Winston up short with a suddenness that yanked him off his feet. He slammed to the floor, only to thrash around wildly as he tried to pull himself closer to Cade.

Cade tried several times to get the revenant’s attention, to ask him some questions, but to no avail. The creature was starving and it was clear to Cade that he wasn’t going to get anything useful out of him until something was done about it.

Cade turned to face the one-way mirror, and said, “I need a knife. A sharp one. And a pressure bandage.”

It took only a few moments before the door opened, and the two items he’d requested were slipped inside. Cade took it, withdrew the commando-style combat knife from its sheath, and tested the edge.

A fine line of blood welled up where he ran his thumb along the blade.

It would do.

The creature settled down at the sight of the blood and watched Cade closely, as if sensing his intent. Winston’s hunger was like a phantom presence, palpable in its intensity.

Under the creature’s watchful gaze Cade knelt and rolled up the cuff of his right pant leg. He set the knife’s edge against the skin of his calf and drew it down sharply. A wafer-thin piece of flesh rolled up behind the blade and fell to the floor. Blood flowed, hot and sharp. Cade gritted his teeth against the pain and slapped the pressure bandage over the wound. Once he was certain the bandage would stop the bleeding, he bent over and carefully picked up his offering.

The creature watched him, his eyes wide and staring, his hunger a pulsing need that filled the room.

Cade cut the strip in half and tossed one section to Winston.

The revenant’s hand shot out and snatched the offering out of midair. He shoved it in his mouth and chewed quickly.

With that, Reese had seen enough. He banged on the door and exited the room quickly when Olsen opened it up. Surprisingly, Father Garcon remained inside. Cade could hear him whispering a prayer of mercy for the unfortunate man before them and turned to see if it would have any effect.

Winston, however, didn’t notice.

After feeding on even that small piece of flesh, an immediate change seemed to come over him. His gaze grew more alert, his attention more focused on the man standing before him.