“Josepe,” Rowan said. “I speak the truth. This woman is a spy. She’s no different from those who turned on us during the Time of Troubles. How many of our brothers went to prison thanks to spies? I’m your elder. I have never lied to you, and I am not lying now.”
But Salazar’s focus was not on the senator, but toward the statue on the plinth, his eyes far off, head toward the cavern ceiling.
Odd.
Salazar’s right hand held a gun.
Stephanie found her own weapon.
No.
That would only inflame the situation.
There was just one way. She’d been unsure what to do when she entered, but now the path was clear. She laid the gun down, stepped from her hiding place, and called out, “He’s telling the truth.”
All three whirled her way.
“I’m his source.”
ROWAN WAS SHOCKED AT STEPHANIE NELLE’S APPEARANCE.
She had no business here.
He watched as she slowly approached. Salazar’s weapon was now trained on her, and he did not like the wild look in the Spaniard’s eyes.
“Who are you?” Salazar demanded.
“Stephanie Nelle. United States Justice Department. Tell him, Cassiopeia. Tell him the truth.”
“What truth?” Salazar called out.
Nelle kept her eyes locked on Vitt. “Tell him what you’ve wanted to say to him.”
“Rowan is right. I am a spy.”
An incredulous look came over Salazar’s face. “That can’t be. I refuse to believe that.”
“It’s true,” Vitt said. “This woman asked me to make contact with you on behalf of the American government, and I did. But I stayed on my own.” She paused. “I remember you as a good, kind, gentle man. Those memories were dear and precious. What happened, Josepe? What changed your soul?”
Salazar did not answer. Instead his attention seemed again diverted to the statue, lips moving but no sound emanating.
“What is it you see?” Vitt asked.
“Brother Salazar,” Rowan said.
“The Prophet Joseph is here. He has been with me for some time.” Salazar pointed with his gun at Vitt. “He, too, was deceived by you.”
“She’s not the only one who fooled you,” Nelle said, pointing his way.
“The senator is a spy, too.”
SIXTY-SEVEN
LUKE MEANT WHAT HE’D TOLD MALONE. HE HAD HIS BACK. Stephanie had misled them both and was now in deep trouble. They had to work this together. No bickering, no debate. Malone had read Cassiopeia Vitt perfectly in Iowa, staying one step ahead. He also knew Stephanie better than Luke did. Unfortunately for them both, they were now at least two steps behind the pack.
They’d jogged up the forested incline. Inside the tunnel they’d quickly reconnoitered a small lit chamber, then fled out another tunnel that led to a second interior hall. Everything was surreal, the rock formations like works of art, the lights working as paint on a canvas.
Malone raised a hand and signaled for them to stop.
Voices could be heard beyond the tunnel’s exit.
They crept close to the end and he could see Vitt, Rowan, and Salazar, a gun in Salazar’s hand pointed directly at Stephanie, who stood twenty feet from the Spaniard, her arms in the air.
His first instinct was to burst in.
They had two guns to Salazar’s one.
But Malone seemed to read his mind and shook his head.
MALONE DID NOT LIKE ANY OF WHAT HE WAS SEEING.
Stephanie had either been compromised or had compromised herself. He opted for the latter, especially after spotting her Beretta lying on the floor nestled close to a large boulder, hidden from view. She’d deliberately misled him and Luke to buy herself enough time to get here. She would have to assume that they would head back to Charles Snow, where they’d learn about the cavern, counting on the fifteen to twenty minutes of time she’d bought herself.
Thankfully, they’d cut that in half and were already here.
Think.
Be right.
STEPHANIE STOOD WITH HER HANDS IN THE AIR AND FACED Salazar. She was not afraid, though she should be. Danny Daniels had told her that if a third party happened to intervene and cause havoc, who were they to interfere? But she’d understood what the president of the United States had not said. And if you can cause that havoc, so much the better.
“What do you mean Elder Rowan is a spy?” Salazar asked.
“He’s a long-standing member of the U.S. Senate. He’s taken an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of this country. He is one of the most powerful men in Washington.”
“I’m also a Latter-day Saint,” Rowan said. “A duty I take even more seriously than my oath to this country.”
She had to work this carefully.