The Crimson Dagger - Vatican Knights Series 23 (2020), Rick Jones [free ebooks for android txt] 📗

Smoke was beginning to build within the hallway, the hazy curls thickening.

Kimball realized that time was moving quickly and that their window of opportunity was closing. “Job, clear the rooms and make sure that those still alive move upward. Keep them close and keep them safe. Move quickly. And always assume that danger exists behind every door, so use caution.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The rest of the team will clear the upper levels with the assumption that Mustafa’s people are setting up positions to hold a perimeter. We’ll break the lines and press forward until we find the hostages. Stay on your mic and listen to everything I say. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

Kimball gave Job a wink and then a thumbs-up gesture. “Good man,” he told him. Then Kimball was on the move with Jeremiah and Isaiah right behind him.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Inside the Kristallpalast

Vienna, Austria

As soon as Kimball, Isaiah and Jeremiah reached the fifty-seventh level from the east stairwell, Kimball held them up. “All right,” he began. “We’re down a man. So, we separate and operate with both speed and urgency. And remember the primary objective here: find the hostages and neutralize the threat. In accordance with that directive, we will forge a path for Job to take a safe passage to the topside level. Let’s hope that the Austrian authorities are up to the task of developing a means of extraction.” Kimball then placed a fisted hand over his heart, the salute of a Vatican Knight, and said, “Loyalty above all else accept honor.”

Isaiah and Jeremiah mimicked his action and in chorus said, “Loyalty above all else accept honor.”

Kimball appraised the faces of his lieutenants and recalled past memories when they had shared good times together, both on and off the battlefield. These were his brothers not by blood but by faith and kinship devotion. No matter where he was, even an ocean away, he could always feel them. And then: “Look, I don’t have to spell out what we’re up against or how difficult the situation may be, but I want you two to know that you’ve served me well.”

Jeremiah gave him a one-sided grin and said, “You’re getting me all misty-eyed here. All of a sudden you’re a sentimentalist?”

Kimball did not return a smile. And because of this, Jeremiah believed it was because Kimball had little faith in a successful outcome. Jeremiah, after laying a hand gently on Kimball Hayden’s shoulder as a show of camaraderie, said in his Aussie accent, “Look, mate, you’ve led us through the impossible before. Many times, in fact. Besides, aren’t you the one who always said that the word ‘impossible’ doesn’t mean that something can’t be done, it only measures the degree of difficulty?”

Kimball nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then why the downside of thinking? It’s not like you.”

This was true. Kimball had always been the optimist when it came to combat situations. But this was different. They were inside a flaming tower with no downward escape, the inferno an impassable barrier that was unconquerable. The steel girders, the support beams, everything had their weak spots with some areas more susceptible to being compromised due to the astonishing heat that sometimes softens metal to molten levels. Even if the flames didn’t get them, the collapse of the building would. And this didn’t take into consideration those who fought for Mustafa, which was a fighting force of military elites. If there was one thing Kimball was always sure about, it was that there was never enough time when you needed it.

“Everyone locked and loaded,” Kimball finally said. “Do whatever is necessary to blaze a trail for Job. Remove all hostile elements. Secure the assets. And then maybe we’ll talk about having a beer or two afterwards. Sound like a plan?”

Isaiah smiled. “I don’t drink.”

“Yeah,” said Jeremiah, smiling. “Neither do I.”

Kimball gave them a wink. “Yeah. Me neither. I gave it up. Club soda then.”

Kimball Hayden realized that there was no real strategy of approach given the limited number of passageways. They were about to go into the battlefield with only their ultimate training and raw instinct, though a deadly combination that had served them well over past assignments.

As smoke continued to build on the level, Kimball stated evenly to his teammates, “You know what to do.”

Dispersing, Kimball’s message was all too clear: It was now time for the Vatican Knights to go on the hunt.

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Inside the Kristallpalast

Vienna, Austria

Judge Rosenberg was sitting in the corner of the room with his eye on the woman, an Asian, who appeared distraught by the way she rocked nervously. Cocking his head, he asked her, “And what is your name, my dear?”

The woman stopped rocking, then she communicated in her native tongue. Though the judge did not understand her, he did pick up a few words he recognized as Chinese.

The judge smiled at her. “I see,” he told her. “From China?”

She understood the English word for ‘China,’ but nothing else.

Judge Rosenberg chortled at this because he found the current situation oddly amusing.

“Something funny?” the cardinal asked him, the man obviously irritated.

“As a matter of fact,” he answered. “I do. The woman is from China, a Buddhist. I’m a Jew and you’re a Catholic.”

Cardinal Favino proffered the judge a quizzical look.

“Don’t you see?” the judge said to him. “Everything here has the makings of a bad joke. A man walks into a bar with three people: A Catholic, a Jew and a Buddhist—”

“Are you out of your mind,” the cardinal intervened. “This is not a joke.”

“No. It’s not,” said the judge. “But it is a moment to find hope within a terrible situation. I often see humor as the panacea to troubling times, and then I try make the best of things from worst-case scenarios.”

The cardinal, who sat with his back against the wall, continued to rake his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he simply stated.

“What? To see that the real world outside the protective bubble of the