Rafael didn’t leave until he watched them fly out of his sight in their new Gulfstream before he pulled out his cell phone and called his wife to tell her to pack for Miami, they wouldn’t be coming back to Cuba.
Once they were airborne, everyone fed, watered, and snuggled in with blankets and pillows, Mike pulled Helen Kohath’s notebook out of her jacket pocket.
Nicholas stared from her to the notebook. “I thought it went into the lava. How did you get hold of it?”
“It was lying on the grate at the end of the catwalk. I thought it had fallen out of your pocket.”
“I never had it. Cassandra, she must have dropped it.”
“I only saw her carrying the cherubim’s wing. Well, in any case, I grabbed it up on our race to the boat.”
Louisa called out, “Kitsune said something about Helen Kohath’s notebook being in the vault, said she didn’t know what happened to it. What’s in it, Mike? Adam, wake up, it’s from Helen Kohath, you want to hear this.”
Adam’s head appeared from beneath his blanket. “Okay, okay, don’t rip my arm out. Yeah, I want to hear about this notebook.”
Mike said, “As we all know, the Kohaths liked to keep journals, Appleton Kohath’s was the fodder for Elizabeth St. Germaine’s biography of him. But in this notebook, there’s no journaling, no entries at all. There is only a letter from Helen to her father, written a few days after she went missing in the Gobi in 2006.
“After she went missing, not before.
“And that means, of course, that Jason Kohath knew she was still alive and he never told Cassandra and Ajax. I’ll read it to you.”
My dearest father,
I found the Ark. I am now its guardian. It is up to me to protect it forever. The power of the Ark, it is overwhelming, Father, it fills my head, my body, my soul, it imbues me with life.
I belong to it now, only me. I’m sorry I cannot come home, but it simply wasn’t ever intended to be, the Ark made that very clear to me. My greatest pain to bear is the loss of Cassandra and Ajax and what will happen to them. But neither you nor I can change the future for them, though I know you will continue to try until the time comes when you are no longer able to.
I must leave now, so this is my goodbye. I love you, I have always admired you, and been astounded by your genius. Please believe I am happier than I have ever been in my life. The Ark—we will be well. No one will ever find us.
All my love,
Helen
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
Over the Atlantic
Only Mike and Nicholas still had their eyes open, but just barely. Nicholas was massaging her shoulders, and telling her they could visit to his parents at Farrow-on-Gray, or maybe a trip to see her parents in Omaha.
The button at Nicholas’s elbow beeped.
It was Clancy. “Nicholas, I’ve received a secure email from the Metropolitan Police of London. Gareth Scott?”
“Thank you, Clancy. Send it to my mobile. You remember my old second at Scotland Yard, right, Mike?”
At her nod, he added, “Penderley promoted him when I left to join the FBI. Let’s see what Gareth has to say.”
Nicholas, update on St. Germaine and Maynes cases. Coroner’s court confirms both were poisoned with high doses of digitalis—foxglove—present in the tea tins from Fortnum & Mason. Caused cardiac arrest in both victims. Believe Lilith Forrester-Clarke is responsible, but seeing as she’s dead, I doubt we’ll ever know the complete truth. If you want details, give a shout. Do try not to get killed in the meantime. Oh, yes, your ex-wife, Pamela, is in London. We had dinner.
Nicholas texted back, Thank you. Watch yourself with Pamela, Gareth.
He paused, then texted, Really. And he pressed send.
Mike touched her fingers to his face, then yawned again.
“Gareth is right, we’ll never know the whole truth, about Cassandra and Ajax and all the things they did. You know what? I don’t think I really do want to know.”
Nicholas said, “Hopefully the Genesis Group will continue their legitimate work with honest people at the helm.”