Book of Souls

He took out his laptop, and while it was booting up, he told them about the retrieval of the memory stick and the deadly encounter with the watchers. He hadn’t seen Frazier, but he sensed his presence. “Let’s finish our business before we watch any movies, okay?” he urged.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Spence said. “Besides, I already know all about Rosebud.”

Will opened Shackleton’s database and unlocked it with the password. He announced he was ready.

Spence took a deep breath and wet his dry lips with his tongue. He wanted to know but the process was going to be agonizing. He spoke the first name. “William Avery Spence. Baltimore, Maryland. He’s my oldest son.”

Will started typing, then, “He’s BTH.”

Spence exhaled and coughed a few times. “Thomas Douglas Spence, New York City.”

BTH.

“Susan Spence Pearson, Wilmington, Delaware, my daughter.”

BTH.

“Good,” he said calmly. “Let’s move on to the grandchildren. I’ve got lots of them.”

All BTH.

There was a list of daughters-in-law and sons-in-law next, his younger brother, a few close cousins.

One of the cousins had a DOD, in seven years’ time. Spence nodded at the news.

He was nearly done now, relaxed and satisfied, his tension melted away.

Then finally, Spence said, “Alf, I want to know about you too.”

“Well I don’t!” Kenyon protested.

“Then leave us alone for a minute. You don’t have to hear it, but you’ve got to grant a dying man’s wish.”

“Christ, Henry, that’s all I’ve been doing for the past two weeks!”

“Your burden is coming to an end. Now get out of here.” The two men gave each other brotherly smiles.

A couple of minutes later, Kenyon came back in with a tray of coffee mugs. He looked at both men and clucked. “I’m not asking, and you’re not telling. I don’t want you messing up my nice, organized relationship with God. I want the Lord to surprise me. The natural way.”

“Suit yourself, Alf,” Spence said. “I’ll take one of those coffees. I’m all done now. Will’s given me a great gift. I can die in peace.”

The narcotics were kicking in, and Will felt himself wanting to sleep. “I need to get online.”

“There’s a wireless network,” Spence said. “It’s called HenryNet.”

Will clicked on it. “It’s looking for a password.”

“Can you guess it?” Spence asked with a twinkle.

“No, I can’t.” He didn’t feel up for games.

“I’ll bet you can.”

Glass shattered.

A mass of hot air rolled off the hillside and blasted through the broken sliding doors.

There were two more men in the room.

Then, from the hall, a third.

Will was looking at a couple of Heckler &Koch machine pistols resting in the hands of heavily breathing, fit young men. Frazier was sporting something lighter, a Glock, like his.

Will didn’t have the strength or the speed to pull his gun from his waistband. One of the watchers plucked it away from him and threw it through the broken glass, splashing it into the swimming pool.

Frazier ordered his man, “Get the computer.”

It was pulled from Will’s weak grasp.

“Where’s the memory stick?”

Will reached into his pants pocket and tossed it onto the floor. There was no point being cute. He’d lost.

“You could’ve knocked, Frazier,” Spence said.

“Yeah, next time. You don’t look so good, Henry.”

“Emphysema.”

“I’m not surprised. You were always a big smoker. You used to break the rules and smoke in the lab, remember?”

“I remember.”

“You’re still breaking the rules.”

“I’m just a retiree who runs a little social club. You might want to join one day. We don’t charge dues.”

Frazier sat down wearily on a chair across from them. “You need to give me the 1527 book and all the materials you recovered from Cantwell Hall. Every piece of it.”

“Why don’t you just leave us alone?” Kenyon protested. “We’re just a couple of old men, and he’s hurt. He needs medical attention.”

“I’m not surprised you’re involved with this, Kenyon. Always palling around with Henry.” He waved his gun toward Will. “He killed two of my men,” Frazier said evenly. “You think I’m going to get him to a doctor? Who do you think you’re talking to? You think I’m going to turn the other cheek?”

“Greater men than you have done it.”

Frazier laughed. “Save it, Alf. You were always one of the weak ones. At least Henry had balls.” He turned his attention back to Spence and Will. “Give me the book and tell me what you found in England. I’ll get it one way or the other.”

“Don’t give him anything, Henry,” Kenyon said indignantly.

Frazier raised an eyebrow, and one of his men swatted the side of Kenyon’s face with the back of his hand. He fell to the floor onto his knees.

“Leave him alone!” Will shouted.

“What are you going to do about it?” Frazier spat. “Squirt blood at me?”

“Go to hell.”

Frazier ignored him and spoke to Spence. “You know what’s gone into keeping the Library a secret all these years, Henry. Do you think we’re not going to pull out all the stops to find out everything there is to know about the missing book? This is more important than any of us. We’re just little pawns. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

“I’m not telling you anything,” Spence said defiantly.