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“It’s possible.” The father looked off into the distance, thinking. “He was close to Father Nucci and he’s not in Lazo’s pocket. I could see what I could find out.”

“I’d appreciate it. I also intend to make my presence known at the Vatican and see what plays out. In the meantime, I’ll continue my search to see if I can find who’s blocking Gio’s wedding.”

“I’ll work on that issue, as well.” They both rose from the bench. “Should I alert security to the potential bug in my office?”

“I would urge you to wait, if you feel comfortable doing so. If your office is indeed bugged, then we would tip our hand if we reveal we’ve found it. We may yet be able to use the bug to our advantage. If there is no bug, we may paint ourselves as paranoid.”

“Understood. Then I will say nothing for the time being. But please, Nicolo, be careful.”

He smiled. “You sound like a certain someone I know.”

“I imagine I do.” Father Armando offered a small smile of his own. “Let’s wrap this up as quickly as possible so you can get home to her.”

He put a hand on the priest’s shoulder. “Trust me. There’s nothing I want more.”

Chapter Fourteen

Lexi

I set my alarm for five o’clock in the morning to get up and check the progress of the claim on the package. Although I’d told Slash I didn’t think I was in danger, he clearly believed I was. That meant whoever sent the statue held some kind of power over Slash, which indicated the real threat wasn’t against me, but him. To hell with that! I wasn’t going to let someone use me to get to him.

After brewing some coffee, I got to work, still in my pjs, and gave myself three hours to snoop online before I had to leave for work.

I reentered the CAI email system to check on my claim. It had been read and the claim’s process started, so I typed an email and made it appear to come from one of Europin’s staff. I said in the email that data corruption had occurred on several of their claims. Files with multiple addresses had been mistakenly merged with the senders who were filing claims. As a result, I requested that a new list of package numbers and sender information for shipping numbers, that included mine, needed to be generated at once to confirm the correct pairing. I provided a bogus email that I’d created within the system and sat back to wait.

Within forty minutes, I had what I needed and was grateful for CAI’s efficiency. In order to hide my tracks, I cancelled the claim, so I didn’t alert the sender I was on to him.

Now I had to track down the sender. I had a name but was about ninety-nine percent sure it would be bogus. It took me another half hour to confirm that, but I still had to rule it out. The sender used an electronic wallet to pay anonymously, but it didn’t matter. I had a number and that was all I needed. It did mean, however, I would have to cruise the murky alleys of the Dark Web looking for what I needed, and that was extremely dangerous because I was searching for a credit card number and that was illegal. I didn’t intend to use the card number for nefarious reasons, but that didn’t make it any more legal. Plus, most of the agencies like the FBI and the NSA had penetrated the Dark Web and had agents who were pretending to be sellers, buyers or offering goods and services. They were clever, so I had to be smarter. I had been one of those agents once, so I was experienced and knowledgeable about their methods, but I still had to be exceptionally careful not to trigger any alarms or get noticed in ways I shouldn’t.

Cloaked in anonymity and using a special browser that hid my IP address, I plunged into the Dark Web, my heart accelerating. It was truly nerve-racking work, even for an experienced hacker like me. My experience worked in my favor. Thirty-two minutes later I had a name.

Julian Koenhein.

Meant nothing to me, but I disconnected from the Dark Web, then stretched my arms above my head and rolled my neck. Time to get ready for work, but I wanted to do a quick search on Mr. Koenhein first. A brief overview provided quite a bit of interesting information. Julian Koenhein happened to be a priest at the Vatican. He apparently worked as a clerk for Cardinal Jacopo Lazo. No way did I think that a coincidence, especially because Cardinal Lazo was the current president of the Vatican, a position I didn’t know existed.

“Holy conclave,” I muttered. I didn’t need Basia to translate the significance of that. Slash needed to know as soon as possible what I’d discovered. A clerk from the office of the president of the Vatican had sent a statue from the Congo to me. I had no idea what it meant or what kind of importance it held for Slash, if any.

I checked the time. It was almost eight o’clock in the morning, which meant it would be about two o’clock in the afternoon Slash’s time. Hoping that after I gave him the info, we could try to talk and sort things out, I swiped open my phone and called him. It went to voice mail immediately, which meant he likely had his phone turned off. Swallowing my disappointment, I left a message.

“Hi, Slash, it’s me. Call me back when you get a chance. I’ve got something important to tell you.”

I hung up, letting out a deep breath. I wasn’t sure how my information would impact him, but the sooner he found out what I’d discovered, the better.

Chapter Fifteen

Slash

He needed access to a weapon.

In truth, he felt fine most of the time with just his hands and training, but he had no idea what was going on, and it was always prudent to be prepared. Keeping that in mind, he’d secured some specialized equipment that he felt might be needed and assembled the unlicensed and unregistered weapons in a spot more central to his planned location in Rome. He didn’t carry anything on his person yet because at this stage of the game, he couldn’t afford to be caught with unlicensed and unregistered guns. But he’d secreted what he needed in close proximity to his current area of operations, so they would be available as needed.

As he drove up toward the hotel, his phone vibrated. It was a text from Father Armando with nothing more than a phone number. He knew what it was.

Father Nucci had come through with a number. That’d been fast.

While scanning his phone, he noticed he’d missed a call from Lexi, and she’d left him a message. He’d figured she’d be busy at work, so he’d ring her later. For now, he instructed his phone to call the number Father Armando had sent.

The phone rang several times before it was picked up.