Solomon's Throne by Jennings Wright Read Free Book Online Page A

secret. It has been safe for over four hundred years…” Gideon let his words hang, trying to goad the man into a response. A full minute passed before the thief spoke again, softly.
    “We are pledged to search for the letter. We have been searching for the letter for eight hundred years, when it was stolen from our monastery by those soldiers, those knights.” He spat out the word.
    “Knights?” asked Rei.
    “Templars. Thieves. They were killed and disbanded everywhere else, but in Portugal the King wanted them to remain. They were desonroso . Dishonorable. They did bad work for the king, and they amassed much power and fortune in secret by stealing. They brought humilar , shame, to my order. We will regain our honor.”
    Gideon looked at him in amazement. “You’re a monk?”
    The man sat up proudly. “We are a religious order. We have been in existence many, many centuries, nearly since the time of Saint Peter and Saint Paul themselves.” The man, now divulging his secrets, looked inordinately exhausted. “It is all lost if the letter is released…”
    “Mr. Xavier doesn’t want to release the letter. His family has never sought to release it. But he wants it back, and the book that was taken with it.”
    The man looked confused. “I know nothing of a book. Our team was briefed on the security of the building, but my irmao and I did not go inside the building. We were to stay on the outside and arrange the power and video lines. Our abade told us we were recovering what we had sought for so long. We all knew this to be the Achalichus letter.”
    “That’s what he said, ‘what you had sought for so long?’”
    “ Sim. Why should he say more? We are committed to this quest through our vows. It is well known among the brothers.”
    Gideon looked at Rei, unsure whether to tell this man about the journal or not. He would be going to jail, a fate that he seemed to have no interest in fighting. Or he’d starve himself do death. But it certainly seemed that he would be both isolated from his “brothers” and compelled to silence.
    “What’s your name, signor?”
    The man looked at Gideon, and then Rei. He seemed defeated, both by his confession of sorts, and the failure of his sect to contain the information in the letter. Apparently it had never occurred to those in the order that the letter would or could be copied.
    “Petros. I am Brother Petros. That is all. We die to our former lives when we join the order. We are only the brothers.” He rubbed his fingers lovingly over the tattoo on his forearm.
    “What is the name of the order?” Gideon asked.
    Petros shook his head. “No. I cannot say that. We cannot ever say that. No.”
    Gideon looked at Rei. It was worth a shot… She flashed him a small smile.
    Rei had her laptop open on the small table in the internet cafe they’d found a block from the police station. Espresso cups were scattered around, and Gideon was finishing a tortilla. He wiped his mouth and looked at his wife. “Anything?”
    “Well, maybe. I have skipped all the way to Father Eduardo’s conversion to Joao Xavier. What it looks like to me is that he found something in or around Goa, and he was able to cash in for a lot of money. I’m guessing he didn’t expose the whole treasure, whatever it was… He seemed to have enough money to be considered wealthy, and to cover his new identity as a trader. But he didn’t have fabulous wealth.”
    “The Xaviers have pretty fabulous wealth now,” Gideon said.
    “Yes, but by all accounts they’ve earned it. Father Eduardo may have been a poor Jesuit, but Joao Xavier had a mind for business. He started out in the spice trade, of course, and was able to purchase an entire shipload of merchandise to transport back to Lisbon with him when he returned. He came back and made a huge profit, and invested more in shipping. He didn’t travel again himself, but he built up clientele, hired a manager, and expanded into wood products from