Time and Again(64)

Henry looked out of the window at the end of the hall, then shook his head, and turned back to Mike. “She’s the Falcon.”

“You knew?!”

“No, but I suspected. I have been avoiding the signs, her returning, our case involving the art underworld, and the way she seemed to to avoid my questions. I let myself get drawn in. Mickey once told me, ’Never let Dames fog your mind.’ I didn’t listen. But I am now.” His voice was low and sad, but resolved. He accepted what he had suspected and was ready to move on.

“Does this mean…”

“I am not ready to jump to that conclusion, but I am prepared for it to be true.”

“She isn’t working alone.”

“I agree. We should bring everyone up to speed.” Henry turned and walked back to the office.

When they joined the others the professor had just finished his nickname story. Henry sat down behind his desk. Celine jumped up, “We have saved some for you Mike.” Her beaming voice made Henry feel a little less dreadful. “He's eaten. Go ahead, Mike, tell them what you learned.” Henry flipped open his notebook.



***

Across town Katarina flipped up her collar. She had left her hat at the restaurant, as she figured Mike would find it odd, her wearing a fedora. Another five minutes and Patrick would pick her up for the viewing. She couldn’t wait. She believed in the Eye of God, she believed it with every fiber of her being.

Katarina couldn’t put into words her love of art. She didn’t remember why she had wandered into that museum when she was sixteen. She only remembered how she felt seeing the 19th century Russian icon, “St. Nicholas –Woodworker”. It was a show full of Russian iconography, but this one piece, in the corner, had drawn her in. She stood looking at it for a few minutes, but it must have been hours, because afterwords it was dark outside.

The gallery had been mostly empty when she bought her ticket. A docent at the front desk asked if she wished to have a tour and she had declined, saying she preferred to just look. This one icon stopped her in her tracks and after looking over every detail, she suddenly felt as if she was surrounded by people. She sensed them all about, but was frozen, like in a dream. She tried to break eye contact with St. Nicholas, but could not. She couldn’t see anyone in her peripheral vision, but she heard them, talking, filling the room with sound. They spoke in different languages, this crowd, but there was one tongue which seemed clearer than the others. It was Aramaic. She knew it, but didn’t know how, as she had never even heard of Aramaic, let alone heard it. Then she heard a voice talking to her, but she couldn’t understand the words. The icon let her go, she turned to see the crowd, but was alone. An hour later the fog of time had hidden this memory from her.

It was years later, at a lecture in Syria, she heard a professor read a passage in Aramaic, “The Eye of God can see all and knows when to listen.” The professor explained that this meant God was always watching and knew to which prayers he must pay special attention. Katarina knew that his interpretation was mistaken, that it referred to something else entirely, something specific. The fog which had clouded her memory of that day burned away. Suddenly, she remembered all of it, the people, the Russian Icon, and what they were all talking about. It was the Eye of God, and they told her she would find it. She carried this with her, and now, standing on the cold street, she took strength knowing she was on the right path.

A car pulled up. Patrick opened the door and she got in. “Did you enjoy your dinner?”

“I did. And you?”

“It was fine. Randy will take us to his next amazing hiding place.”

Randy looked over his shoulder, “It is a ways from here and with the traffic, it will take a while, but soon you will be in the presence of the Eye of God.”

She didn’t appreciate his cavalier tone. The showmanship seemed to be mocking the sacred treasure. She leaned back and tried to relax, but she was uneasy. She had good reason to be, as they were being followed.





Chapter Fifty-Four



Arthur and Hans pulled away from the curb after Patrick and Katarina and another car drove past. The traffic was typical for that time of night, and they stayed a ways back. Arthur smoking, with one hand on the wheel, “They don’t’ seem to be in too much of a hurry.”

“Just don’t get close enough that Patrick notices, he is very careful, but don’t lose them either.”

Arthur resented the implication that he didn’t know how to tail someone. It wasn’t the time for a debate with Hans, so he let it go. “So what's the plan for tomorrow?”