Page 103 of The Last Kingdom

He did want all that.

“That’s when I knew that it was time we work together,” Albert said. “I have not the life left in me to achieve much. But you, brother, can do it.”

“Is it possible to succeed?”

Albert nodded. “It could very well be. That is why I involved the Americans. That deed to Hawaii was meaningless in 1886. But, by the time of Ludwig III, in 1918, it had become quite important. Inside this journal, Ludwig recounts how the American government inquired about that deed. Hawaii was, by then, one of their protectorates. Land they wanted to keep. Then, in the Second Great War, both the Nazis and the Americans searched for the deed. Our grandfather tried to barter it to the victors in return for our kingdom, but they refused. So he kept the secret. And it has stayed secret all these decades. Until now.”

“The Chinese want that deed,” he said, deciding to be honest. “Badly.”

“I know. There is much at stake for them, for America, for Germany, and, most of all, for Bavaria. They are all tied together, though their ultimate interests are quite diverse.”

“We have to compel the Bundestag to grant us a secession vote,” he said. “It’s the only way to make any of this happen. That’s what I have been working for.”

“I know, brother. I know. And I apologize for being an impediment. But not any longer. You must know what our great-grandfather knew. It is my hope that with such knowledge, and your own will and determination, we can be successful and find that deed for ourselves.”

Albert pointed at the journal.

“It is yours now.”

Chapter 57

COTTON LED THE WAY AS HE AND KOGER ENTERED A REARVESTIBULE. They’d have only a few moments. Each looked at the other and knew what had to be done. The way ahead was unlit and Terry Knight could be lying in wait. But the immediate threat was behind them and Cotton had an idea. He spied a gold-colored braided rope with decorative tassels at each end and snatched it off a wall hook. Probably used to close off one of the openings in the stone railings that encircled the main altar.

They passed through an archway and he motioned for Koger to huddle to one side and he crouched down at the other, tossing one tasseled end across while holding the other. They each stashed their weapons in coat pockets and he motioned for the rope to stay on the floor. Koger seemed to understand exactly what he had in mind. Say what you want about the big man, he was cool under pressure.

Footfalls could be heard coming their way.

The two officers would have to proceed with some caution and not just rush past the curtain. Surely they realized their targets were armed. And nobody would just rush right in—

Except these guys.

Who pushed through the curtain and ran into the dimly lit vestibule, coming straight for where the rope lay. He and Koger timed their movements perfectly and brought the line taut just as the officers made it to the archway. The legs of the first one came out from under him as he tripped and plunged forward. A collision from momentum then brought the second officer down. Cotton took one of the policemen and Koger the other, both delivering punches to the face that sent the two to the floor, lying still. They each reached for a weapon the policemen were carrying.

“We’ve got a lot of guns,” Koger said. “Now let’s get out of here.”

He agreed. “I’d say we have about a minute or so before this church is full of trouble.”

They hustled ahead and found a rear door that exited to an alley on the church’s far side. Probably the same path Knight had taken. They rushed out and kept moving, finding a busy street a block over and dissolving into the crowd. The guns rested within their coats, out of sight. They kept moving, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the church, mindful of cameras that were surely everywhere.

After a few minutes Koger stopped by a trash bin. “Shut your phone off and give it to me.”

He did, then handed it over. Koger shut his off, too, then tossed both to the ground, grinding the sole of his shoe into each one. Repeatedly. Cotton had already determined how they were being tracked.

“The damn things are like homing devices,” Koger said.

Cotton retrieved both phones off the ground and tossed them into the bin. He also added one of the guns he’d retrieved.

Koger tossed a gun in too. “What did you find out at the library?”

And he told Koger all that Dianne McCarter had said. In turn, Koger reported what he’d discovered at Randy Miller’s apartment.

“We have another piece of the puzzle,” he said. “But we need help.”

Koger seemed to get what he meant. “Back to the crazies in black hoods at the castle?”

Cotton smiled. “Yep.”

* * *