The Judas Strain - James Rollins [185]
He needed help.
“Kowalski! Where are you?”
A voice answered out from the pillar to his right. “I’m hiding! Like you said to!”
Gray hauled up. “I need you over here!”
“What about the bomb?”
“Forget about the bomb. Get your ass over here!”
Kowalski swore sharply, then headed over, grumbling under his breath. “Why is it always a goddamn bomb…”
The large man ran up to him, practically sliding behind the pillar, like he was stealing from third to home.
Gray motioned with his chin to the left. “Help me move Susan down that way.”
Kowalski sighed heavily. Using the tarp like a stretcher, they slung her form between them and rushed off along the wall. As they hurried, the curve of script ignited along with them, brightening as they neared, fading again after they passed.
Seichan had been hiding behind the next pillar. She crossed toward them, drawn by the brilliant display and their frantic actions. “What are you—oh my God!”
Gray lowered Susan to the floor, keeping her uncovered, basking her glow on the wall, setting fire to the script. All except for a recognizable patch of darkness.
“Vigor!” Gray called out.
“I’m coming!” he answered. Plainly the monsignor had seen the sight all the way across the chamber. Gray heard the double tramp of steps as Lisa trailed Vigor.
They all stood before the wall, gaping at the sight.
Not at what was glowing—but what wasn’t.
“Friar Agreer,” Vigor said. “He must have left this marker, by washing down the wall. Cleaned the patch here as a sign.”
“A sign of what?” Seichan asked.
“A clue to a hidden doorway,” Gray said. “There must be another way down to the cavern.”
“But what does the clue mean?” Vigor asked.
Gray shook his head, knowing they were running out of time. If they didn’t find the door, get Susan somewhere safe and away from the Guild, it wasn’t just their lives. According to Lisa, a pandemic was already spreading.
Nasser called down to them. “Say your last prayers!”
“Jesus H. Christ!” Kowalski blurted out, though it wasn’t meant as a prayer. He knocked Gray and Vigor aside, crossed to the wall, and shoved hard in the center of the cross.
The stone door swiveled on a central pivot, revealing a passage beyond.
Kowalski turned. “It’s not always rocket science, guys. Sometimes a door is just a door.”
They piled through the exit. Gray and Kowalski again slung Susan between them. Once through, Seichan and Lisa shouldered the door back closed behind them.
Ahead, a stairway led down, cut out of the limestone bedrock.
No one doubted where it led.
As they started down, a muffled explosion echoed to them, a single boom of thunder. Gray sent a silent prayer of thanks to Friar Agreer.
He had saved Marco in the past.
And now he had saved all their lives.
Though relieved, Gray could still not escape a horrible dread. While he might be free, his parents were not. When Nasser found his prisoners gone, Gray knew who would be made to suffer for it.
12:18 A.M.
SEATED ON THE warehouse rooftop, Harriet drowsed in her husband’s arms. It was a warm evening. Overhead, the moon moved imperceptibly across the night sky. Despite the terror, exhaustion had taken its toll. For the first hour, she had listened to the ebb and flow of shouts and barks. Then she stopped caring. Time stretched, long enough that Harriet was startled to find herself dozing when the first shout rose from the other side of the roof.
“They’re here,” Jack said, sounding almost relieved.
He shifted and motioned for Harriet to retreat inside the hollowed out HVAC unit behind them. There was barely room for two. Once Harriet was inside, she held out her hand toward her husband.
Instead, he collected the door grate from the tar paper.
“Jack?” she whispered out to him.
He lifted the grate between them, pushing it in place.
“No…” she moaned.
His lips were at the grate’s slats as he snugged it closed over her. “Please, Harriet, let me do this. I can lead them away. Buy you more time. Give me at least this.”
Their eyes met through the thin slats.
She understood. For too