The Lincoln Myth (Cotton Malone 9)

“Find out about the elder. We must know where he stands.”

“Is he a traitor?” he asked her, motioning toward Rowan with the weapon.

ROWAN HAD ALLOWED SALAZAR A FREE REIN AND ASKED precious few questions, but he’d honestly never factored murder into the equation.

“Did you kill that man in Michigan, as Ms. Nelle says?” he asked.

“We needed his journal and he would not sell it. So he was atoned for his sin.”

“Which was?”

“Greed. What else? And we’re here today partly because of my act of kindness toward him.”

“Is that how you describe murder?” he asked. “Kindness?”

“It is as the prophet declared.” Salazar’s attention returned to Nelle. “How is this apostle a traitor?”

“You’re here to find a document Abraham Lincoln entrusted to the Mormons. So ask him, where is it?”

A question Rowan had been asking himself. He’d assumed that things would be obvious once here. But there was nothing inside Falta Nada except rocks, the pool, and a statue. Yet this was where Lincoln had directed. He’d seen the inside of the watch. But that was assuming both the watch and the image were genuine.

He pointed at Nelle. “She told me this was the place.”

“And it is,” she said. “This is the location Brigham Young gave Lincoln. Where the Mormon gold was stored. Lincoln etched it inside the watch. So where’s the document?”

She’d posed the question straight to him.

He saw that Salazar was waiting for an answer.

But he had none.

Nelle lowered her arms. “He has no answer because there’s nothing here. He’s not your ally. In fact, he’s your enemy. He tells you it’s okay to form the Danites, then is upset how they operate. He wants results, but complains how they’re obtained. He’s a respected member of the U.S. Senate. Part of the government of the United States. Do you think for one moment he’s going to assume any responsibility for any illegal acts you might have committed?”

She was baiting Salazar.

“Quit listening to her,” he yelled.

Salazar faced him. “Why? Because she speaks the truth?”

“This has to end, Josepe.”

“And it’s about to get much worse,” Nelle said. “There are more agents on their way here. All of this will soon be over. Senator Rowan knows that. We planned it together.”

Rowan advanced toward Salazar.

The gun swung his way, halting his approach.

“Josepe,” Rowan said in a calm voice. “You must listen to me.”

CASSIOPEIA STOOD SILENT, LISTENING, TRYING TO GAUGE THE depth of Josepe’s madness. He claimed to see Joseph Smith, right here, right now. But she’d also caught the hurt in his eyes when, for a second time in his life, she’d wounded him.

“None of you move,” Josepe said to Rowan.

“Is the prophet still here?” she asked.

“He watches all of you, as he watches over me.”

“How long have you seen him?”

“Many years. But only recently did he reveal his true nature. I always thought him Moroni.”

“Did the prophet tell you to kill my agent?” Stephanie asked.

Josepe threw her a glare. “He told me to offer him an atonement for his sins so that he might enjoy eternal happiness. And that is what I did.”

“You’ve been played for a fool,” Stephanie said. “By Rowan and by Cassiopeia.”

“Yet here I am, with a gun on you.”

Cassiopeia realized that Stephanie was trying to provoke a reaction and, if she kept pressing, she’d get one. “Josepe, I’m asking you to lower the gun and end this. It’s over.”

“Over? It’s only begun. Tell her, Elder Rowan. Tell her of the grand vision that is to become reality.”

“Yes, Senator,” Stephanie said. “Tell us of the coming glory. Of course, you’ll need the document, signed by the founders, to make that happen. Have you remembered where it is yet?”

“You set me up,” Rowan spat out. “You led me along and set me up.”

“I told you the truth—every step of the way. Falta Nada was written inside Lincoln’s watch. Mary Todd’s letter was real, as were Madison’s notes. I provided all of those to you. And by the way, did you share any of that with your cohort here?”

“Stop it,” Cassiopeia yelled.

“Really?” Stephanie said. “You want to stop now? You certainly didn’t want to stop when you went to Austria. Or when you flew to Iowa. Of course, your ex-lover didn’t know the truth. You were lying to him. Using him. Doing my bidding.”

“Shut up.”

Stephanie homed in on Josepe. “Ask your prophet what the penalty is for lying.”

SALAZAR DID NOT WANT TO LISTEN BUT HE COULD NOT BLOCK out the words. Cassiopeia herself had admitted that she lied. And Elder Rowan had no idea why they were actually here. All of that made him wonder. Was he being set up? Nelle had proclaimed that more agents were on the way. Perhaps he should leave and call his two men. But that could not be done from inside this cavern. Then there was the matter of Cassiopeia, Nelle, and Rowan.

“She’s right, Josepe. The punishment for lying is severe. An atonement is in order. All three of these lost souls require your benevolence. Killing for the sake of the soul is no sin at all.”

SIXTY-EIGHT

MALONE HAD HEARD ENOUGH. SALAZAR WAS NUTS, THAT WAS clear. But the man was also armed. They could shoot their way in and be done with it, but that came with a risk of collateral damage.

Or they could finesse it.

He’d listened as Stephanie kept trying to provoke Salazar, confusing him with both Cassiopeia’s and Rowan’s betrayals. He had a good idea what she was doing, but he wasn’t going to sit back and allow her to keep placing herself and Cassiopeia in the line of fire.

He whispered to Luke, “We have to go in there.”

The younger man nodded.

He motioned with his gun and shook his head. “Not with these.”

Luke seemed to understand.

But he wasn’t foolish.

“I assume you carry two guns?” he whispered.

Luke slid up his right trouser leg to reveal a small revolver strapped to his lower leg. There was a time when he’d done the same thing. Luke freed the weapon and handed it over. He tucked it snugly at the base of Luke’s spine, tight behind the belt.

Stay in front of me, he mouthed.

STEPHANIE KNEW THAT THIS PLACE HELD NOTHING. BEFORE leaving Blair House the last thing Danny Daniels had told her was that the document had indeed once been housed here, during Lincoln’s time, but not since. Charles Snow had told the president everything, and he’d passed the information on to her. She’d omitted giving those details to Rowan because she wanted him here, with Salazar and Cassiopeia. If she was right—and twenty years of second-guessing people had made her an expert—Cotton and Luke were now nearby.

“The penalty for lying is severe,” Salazar said. “It always has been.”

“I’m not lying,” Stephanie said. “In fact, I’m the only one telling the truth. Senator Rowan still has not told you where the document is located. He can’t, because he doesn’t know. I’m the only one who knows. The idea was to get you here, so I could deal with you. He was a party to that.”

“Deal with me?” Salazar asked.

She leveled her gaze. “The penalty for killing my agent is severe, too.”

“Brigham Young made a mistake trusting the federal government,” Rowan said. “Lincoln was truly different, but the presidents who came after him were not. They were all snakes. This woman is just like them, Josepe. I’ve never trusted the government. You know that.”

“Reveal the document,” Salazar said.

Stephanie heard a new resolve in the voice.

A test?

“FEDERAL AGENTS,” MALONE CALLED OUT, KEEPING HIMSELF and Luke concealed in the passageway. “It’s over, Salazar. You’re finished.”

He peered past the tunnel’s edge and saw the Spaniard react, lunging toward Stephanie, wrapping an arm around her neck, jamming the gun into her jugular.

“Come out,” Salazar screamed.

He motioned and Luke led the way.

They both held Berettas, their arms in the air, weapons clearly visible. He was hoping Salazar was not thinking clearly and the obvious would be enough.

“Toss those guns into the water,” Salazar demanded.

They hesitated a moment, then obeyed.

“Is that all of you?”

“Just us two amigos,” Luke said. “But that ought to be plenty.”

He nearly smiled. Had to love that cocksure can-do.

He kept Luke ahead of him, the gun in sight, only a foot or so away. He caught Stephanie’s gaze and tried to register what she was thinking. He glanced at Cassiopeia, who stared at him with vacant eyes. Nothing about this had gone right, as far as she was concerned.

“I should have shot you in Salzburg,” Salazar said to him. “When I had the chance.”

“Who stopped you?” Stephanie asked.

Salazar said nothing.

Stephanie pointed at Cassiopeia. “She did.”

CASSIOPEIA KNEW ENOUGH ABOUT COTTON TO REALIZE THAT he hadn’t appeared without a fail-safe. Both he and the younger man, the same one from Iowa, had too freely relinquished their weapons. They could have just as easily kept themselves hidden and attacked at will. Instead, now they stood with their hands in the air, vulnerable.

Or were they?

“Josepe, please, I beg you,” she said. “Lay down your gun. Don’t do this.”

“Do you know Malone?”

She nodded.

“Are you … involved with him?”