Cherry pipe tobacco filled his mouth, and he fought the urge to inhale. Only savor the flavor and let it out, he mused. Reclined on a very comfortable seat, Adams allowed himself a scotch as they entered the city. New York’s skyline loomed above a thick morning fog. The streets were already cluttered with cars and workers. The skyline was close; they would soon be in Manhattan, minutes from Grand Central Station. Sipping the scotch brought him comfort, briefly anyway. More than he’d received in quite some time.
Glancing over at the men, he offered a grin.
“Almost there, gentlemen.”
They were not amused.
“The Barrister put me in charge. These are his orders. What else do you want from me?”
One man looked away, but another maintained his cold stare.
“If this is true, then you have nothing to be nervous about.”
“Why wouldn’t it be true?” Adams smiled, but inside his nerves jumped.
He knew full well that he’d stolen the men from the Barrister, and he’d be hunted down for this, but he needed them, and he had better protection with them around—more effective than even the Vatican. The man he answered to could destroy these men with a single thought. They were only tools to reach the most valuable treasure in the history of man. With that power in his hands, even the Jesuits would shine his shoes at his request.
His nerves softened as he thought about his future. They wouldn’t be soft for long. One of the men jumped to his feet to look out the window. Adams thought his name was Christopher or one of the other saints. Hell, they were all named after saints except for the Barrister, who kept his secular nickname for intimidation.
“God help us,” he said.
Although his nerves were heightened, Adams didn’t want to know what Christopher had seen. Nevertheless, he casually leaned forward and took a look out the window. All composure suddenly crashed, and Adams dropped his pipe as he lurched to his feet. The last car of the train was sitting stationary on the tracks, far behind the moving train.
Without a word, he pulled out his pistol and bolted for the door. A cleverer member of his party immediately jumped up and pulled the emergency brake on the train. Horrific screeching bounded through the air as the occupants of the car tumbled onto each other. The surrounding city stopped to look. Many cars pulled over, passengers stepping out to see what the emergency was, and passersby ran up to the rail.
After he regained balance, Adams nearly lost it again. The train was curved enough on the track to allow them a very clear view of the last car. The back of the train had just exploded from the impact of a sedan parked inside. The sedan crashed onto the rail and squealed off into the city.
“DAMN IT!” Adams barked and squeezed his way off the passenger car in search of his own vehicle.
It was the last time he’d underestimate Will Shakespeare.
In the fall of 1947, Will Shakespeare saw the world collapse around him. Shakespeare, a secret soldier for the Knights Templar, barely escapes the slaughter of his entire knighthood at the hands of a rogue militant arm of the Vatican in a small Montreal church. With orders to escort Templar business associate Dorothy Wilkinson back to her home in Bermuda, Will must locate and rescue the most important secret treasure in human history before it is devoured by a hurricane in the watery caves beneath her father’s property. The spiraling quest sends Will and Dorothy into uncovering dark secrets that make up the origins of the knighthood as they confront the traps and puzzles that masterfully protect the world’s most coveted treasure.
Genre – Action, Adventure
Rating – PG
