Page 25 of Bitter Burn
“Don’t worry about the NSA,” I say, waving a hand she can’t see. “We have a friend there now.”
Lox snorts. “You want me to trust your sister? I was in intelligence too, Mark. I heard the stories about her.”
“Then trust me.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Fair. But I’ll pay double your usual rate.” I quickly explain about Father Minch’s Bible and my little library excursion in Rome.
Lox is immediately interested. “A Vatican archivist? Killed by a saint?”
“On Cashel’s orders. I feel like it isn’t saint business but Ys business. I have no evidence for this, however. Only a gut feeling.”
“And you think the scribbles in the priest’s Bible are the evidence you need?” She doesn’t sound skeptical, more like a mathematician drawing up an equation and tagging the unknowns.
“I can’t even say think, because it implies some logic behind it. But he wanted me to have the Bible. He made it sound like what he’d written in there was important.”
“Okay,” she says. “So what do we need to do?”
“I’ll send the pictures of the book over to you and the other titles Minch wrote down. I can’t read Latin but…”
A snort. “I’ll have it translated.”
“Thank you.”
“What do you think it will say?” she asks. “What could any of these books say that would have made Minch run away?”
“Something about Ys. Maybe something that connects Ys to the Catholic Church. Perhaps he went to Cashel, or perhaps he was smart enough to run away the minute he realized.”
“Makes sense. Okay, I’ll call once I have something.”
“And, Lox?” I ask before she can hang up.
She groans. “What now?”
“Could you find someone for me too?”
“Possibly,” she says warily. “Who?”
I stare out at the river. “Cara Sims.”
“I’ll do my best,” replies Lox.
“I’ll pay you double for that too.”
“You better.” And the call ends.
With a sigh, I turn back to my desk, where I see my prepared folder for the day, unopened from earlier this morning. I flip it open, seeing Sedge’s neat and organized mind all over it, and let out a long, regretful exhale.
In another life, maybe. I dislike causing him pain in this one though.
There’s a printed news article in the folder too with a brief note from Andrea. I thought you’d find this interesting, she’s written.
Disgraced Carpathian Leader Melwas Kocur Dies in Prison; Preliminary Investigation Points to Heart Medication
As it happens, I do find it interesting. There will be an inquiry, an investigation into the Carpathian prison’s healthcare services, but he was an unhealthy man at the end, or at least that’s what one hears through the grapevine.
I tap my thumb against the paper, granting myself a small breath of satisfaction. This at least has gone to plan.
