Hassad looked out the window over a dead landscape and sighed. “We had everything, Ahmed. We were grooming soldiers for the Quest. We had the weapons to go along with a promising plan that was coming to fruition, all gone because of your ineptness.”
Ahmed remained quiet though he trembled terribly, which was something Hassad clearly saw from the corner of his eye.
That was when the built-in phone system started to shrill. The number on the monitor’s screen that was attached to the console before him was immediately recognizable. It was the restricted number that had been ascribed solely to Ali’s satellite phone.
Hassad pointed to the screen. “Isn’t that the number of your satellite phone?” He whipped around on Ahmed with fierce eyes and said: “You idiot! You told me that the phone was destroyed in the aftermath of the explosion!” With a stab of his finger, Hassad hit the enable app on the screen and, in Arabic, said, “Hello.”
“Good morning, Hassad,” the person on the other end greeted in English. “Now, I know you speak perfect English, so let’s go with English, OK? My tongue hurts whenever I speak Arabic, too many guttural sounds.”
“Who is this?”
“Who is this? I’m your friendly neighborhood CIA operative who wants to see you dead. Now I know you’re with Ali because we’ve been watching you ever since we tapped into Ali’s satellite phone and tracked the signal from it to you. See how this works? Once we received the signal, then we were able to zoom onto your precise location. Then we watched you and Ali get into the vehicle, and we’ve been tracking you ever since. Don’t you just love the magic of technology these days? I most certainly do. And here I thought you were a person of intelligence given the capabilities of today’s electronics. But the truth is, Hassad, you’re dumber than a bag of hammers. So, let me leave you two with this. Have a good time in Paradise. I’m sure it’s going to be one Hell of a ride getting there. And I do mean that literally.”
Then there was a noticeable click of the call being severed.
Hassad was stunned as his mouth dropped to utter something to Ali in protest, no doubt an admonishment that had locked deep inside his throat. But then he turned his attention on the driver and yelled, “Stop the car! STOP THE CAR!”
Paradise had come to them first as a fireball, and then absolute darkness.
* * *
The moment Hassad answered the call, a Predator drone released a Hellfire missile from fifty-thousand feet. While Jacoby was enjoying his communication with Hassad, he was also watching the Hellfire descend upon Hassad’s vehicle, after the missile had locked onto its designated target remotely from a base in Nevada.
As the nose of the Hellfire approached, Jacoby signed off and, less than three seconds later, watched the vehicle explode into a flaming wreckage of twisted metal and steel.
With a smile of satisfaction, Jacoby licked the tip of his finger and drew an imaginary ‘number one’ in the air. “Chalk one up for the good guys,” he said.
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
Three Weeks Later
Three weeks after the raid on the ISIS training camp, Father Savino went back to ministering faith among those in countries with weak political infrastructures, this time in Nigeria. With all the upheavals going on inside that country, Father Savino’s service was invaluable to those who needed him most, until his vehicle crashed into a ditch. Though the passenger walked away with minor cuts and abrasions, the impact on Father Savino was severe. With the steering wheel causing blunt force trauma against his chest, the priest’s heart had ruptured, killing him instantly. From Nigeria, his body was flown to the Vatican where a service was performed with his brother, the Secretary of State, in attendance with the cardinal carrying about his own heavy heart.
Doctors Mayne and Gregor chose not to practice as physicians with Doctors Without Borders, resigning their posts to enter private and stateside practices on opposite coasts.
Shari Cohen proved to be an asset to the Company and went deep undercover in Russia. Able to get close to her targets, she was able to gather relevant communication between Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad’s pro-Syrian forces and forwarding the data to her contacts in Prague, and from there to Langley. To date, she remains undercover as Natasha Bogachev.
At the Vatican, one man continues to heal.
EPILOGUE
The Vatican, Vatican City
Early Morning
Kimball! . . . You stay with me, you hear me? . . . Don’t you leave me! Not now! . . .You come back!
. . . PLEEEEEEASE . . . COME BACK! . . .
The pull of the Ethereal Light.
The voice of his angel.
The pull of the Light.
The voice of the angel.
The pull.
The voice.
Kimball Hayden shot up in bed with his chest heaving and pitching, as if he labored greatly, and confronted his reflection in the mirror that was situated above the wash basin inside his chamber. With the sheet pooling around his midriff in a wild tangle, he examined every scar, bullet pock and the paler discoloration of his burned arm, with every one of these past wounds a history that marked his tribulations as a Vatican Knight.
Kimball! . . . You stay with me, you hear me? . . . Don’t you leave me! Not now! . . .You come back!
. . . PLEEEEEEASE . . . COME BACK! . . .
The voice of his angel was a voice he had heard many times before, an intonation that had eluded him by skirting his memories, but something he could now identify.
Kimball! . . . You stay with me, you hear me? . . . Don’t you leave me! Not now! . . .You come back!
. . . PLEEEEEEASE . . . COME BACK! . . .
Kimball smiled because he now recognized the voice of his angel.
Then softly and with added endearment to his whispery voice, he stated, “Shari.”
Maintaining somewhat of a faraway smile that could have been considered dreamy, Kimball Hayden, who was once a man that was completely broken and then mended, looked at his reflected image and said, “Welcome to the afterlife.”
THE END
Table of Contents
PART ONE STREAMERS OF NEW LIGHT
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
PART TWO SIX WEEKS LATER
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
PART THREE THOSE WHO STANDS BETWEEN GOD AND DEVIL
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY- FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY- FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY- SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY- SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY- EIGHT
PART FOUR WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES
ANOTHER ONE OPENS
CHAPTER FIFTY- NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
Table of Contents
PART ONE STREAMERS OF NEW LIGHT
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
PART TWO SIX WEEKS LATER
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
PART THREE THOSE WHO STANDS BETWEEN GOD AND DEVIL
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY- FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY- FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY- SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY- SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY- EIGHT
PART FOUR WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES
ANOTHER ONE OPENS
CHAPTER FIFTY- NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE