He turned on the bedroom light and didn’t move, expecting something or someone to jump out and try to knock him over the head. He shook his head while forcing a chuckle.

  Too much late night television.

  As he looked around, he felt safer than when he first entered the room. There was a knock on the door. He jumped in fear—startled. But he managed to collect his thoughts and walk back into the living room.

  He was convinced in his mind that it was Magena. He believed it was time to call Alan, but he wanted her there too, just in case she had any questions. He did wonder why she didn’t give him a harder time about running though. Maybe she wasn’t as bad as he originally thought.

  He smiled as he pulled open the door. “Hey Mags!” He stopped short when Magena was not the female on the other side.

  There was a short, older woman, dressed in a uniform with the Jet Motel logo on the upper right corner of her top. She had a cart with her filled with all kinds of cleaning supplies. “Housekeeping,” she said with a smile, with her broken English and strong Italian accent. “I was here earlier and cleaned your room, because you didn’t have a sign on the door knob. I hope everything is to your satisfaction.”

  Daniel managed to catch his breath, after the shock of seeing someone other than his new partner. “Yes. It looks immaculate. Thank you. Although, I find it quite strange that you would come back just to tell me that you cleaned my room. That’s some crazy good customer service.”

  She looked confused. “I’m sorry. I came back to tell you that I let in an officer of the law to your room. He showed me his badge, so I had to let him in. I was hoping that he would have left some sort of message for you that he was here.”

  Daniel could feel the cold chill all over his body. Without the safety net of his parents, he was literally all alone. That thought scared him enough, but add to it the fact that he was caught up in something unnatural and he allowed the fear to take precedence.

  “Did... you...” He cleared his throat. “...get a name of this officer?”

  “My memory’s not so good,” she said, in a disappointed tone. “He acted like more of a friend than it being on business, but since he was an officer, I had to let him in. No matter what.”

  “Do you remember anything he said?” Daniel felt a tightness in the pit of his stomach.

  She thought for a moment and then said, “He said something about being your partner and that he needed to leave you a message. Did you find his message?”

  Daniel’s eyes widened, as he glared back into the room wondering what possible message the supposed officer left for him. “Thank you,” he said, without turning toward her.

  ***

  Magena put on her blue jeans and brown turtleneck. She hurried to finish putting on her tennis shoes, so that she could answer the door. Whoever it was, had been pounding for a few moments. “Alright! Alright!” she yelled, as she rushed toward the impatient person on the other side of her door.

  She grabbed a towel with one hand, because she didn’t have time to dry her hair after her shower. She pulled the door open with one hand, while drying her hair with the other.

  Daniel looked nervous, as he pushed his way into her room and bolted the door behind him. “Is it safe? Has anyone been in your room too?”

  She wasn’t shocked at his words. She suspected as much. “No. No one has been here that I know of,” she said calmly. “I did check the room and didn’t see any signs of an intruder.”

  “I didn’t see any signs of one either!” he exclaimed. “Someone still came in! The maid told me that someone who said he was an officer and my partner showed her a badge and she let him in!”

  “What?” Magena ran to her window and raised the blinds to look outside. She saw the street lights and neighboring businesses lights were on, which helped her see the same man who was watching them earlier. The priest. He was glaring at her with a blank expression on his face.

  She closed the blinds quickly and looked at Daniel. “We need to talk.”

  He sat down on the armchair. “Okay.”

  “Do you want some water?”

  “Do you have any soda?”

  “I don’t drink soda, Daniel. It’s bad for the body.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Oh, great. A health nut. I’m all about a lean physique too, but...”

  “It’s all I have!” she interrupted. “I’m sorry for being short, but we don’t have a lot of time. I’m going to blow dry my hair and then we’re going to have a chat.”

  NINE

  Magena returned to the living room with her dry hair now braided. She sat on the sofa looking intensely at Daniel, who was still nervous.

  “Daniel,” she said, trying to remain calm. “The Shroud of Turin has been approved by several popes, as being authentic, but the church as a whole has neither endorsed nor rejected it. It’s respected by several religions, yet still causes debate among theologians and historians. I am one of the few historians that I know of, who sees the shroud from several points of view. As a Christian, I believe the shroud to be real, however...”

  “I don’t want a history lesson, right now!” Daniel closed his eyes out of frustration and then reopened them. “Can we just talk about calling Alan?”

  “Okay,” she answered, showing some frustration. “I tried that already. All I got was an answering machine, so I left several messages. I tried to explain that I’m not just griping about him not telling me about you.”

  Daniel shook his head in disbelief. “For someone that’s not supposedly bothered by that, you sure bring it up a lot.”

  “Daniel,” Magena said, with a serious tone. “This isn’t a joke. Someone set us up. I’m not sure if it’s to take responsibility for the priest’s death or for the missing shroud.”

  Daniel stood up, but made sure to avoid the window. “What I don’t get, is if they thought we were guilty, they could hold us for questioning. Instead, they let us go pretty quickly.”

  “Maybe, they either didn’t feel that they had enough evidence, or they wanted to see if we would lead them to the real killers,” she added. “The ones that interrogated me said that I shouldn’t have been able to get a private viewing. Even the highest ranking Italian officials can’t accomplish what I did. That’s what they said, anyway.”

  Daniel leaned closer to Magena as he lowered his voice to a whisper. “Alan showed me a file about the shroud. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but it contained pictures of it from every side imaginable, and there was a guard schedule with it. He said I could take it with me, but it freaked me out, so I didn’t want it. I even told him that it looked like something a thief would use.”

  “Really!” She took a large gulp of water and smiled. She looked encouraged by what he told her. “That’s good. We can use that! We have to find out from Dr. Cranston what that file is really all about, but first we need to question someone who has a strong interest in us. How are your interrogation skills?”

  “I don’t know,” he replied, with absolutely no confidence. “I can fake it, I guess.”

  Magena smiled. “Just pretend you’re asking dear old daddy for a new car or something like that. Become the part of interrogator, as you have become the part of suck-up.”

  He just smirked, which was not the response she expected at all. “A skill is a skill if it gets me what I want.”

  She sighed. “Right now, we want answers, Daniel.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “From who? The cops?”

  She stood up and went to get her jacket. “No. From the priest who’s been following us.”

  Daniel followed her outside.

  TEN

  “Boo!” Magena said quickly in his ear, after she stepped behind him.

  The priest was more than just startled. He turned and clutched his chest, speaking Italian. “Ma sei matta? Mi hai dato un attacco di cuore!” He pressed his back up against the alley wall, breathing heavily.

  “Forgive me.” Magena had trouble figuring out what he said, so she looked at Daniel for an interpretation.

  “He says you’re a whacko for scaring him,” he said, nonchalantly. “He looks okay.”

  The priest had shoulder length dark brown hair, but was clean shaven. His eyes were small and matched his hair in color.

  Magena got in his face. “Do... you... speak... English?” she asked with a condescending tone.

  The priest glared at her with disdain. “Yes. I am fluent in several languages.” He was breathing smoothly now.

  “Oh cool!” Daniel said, as he responded enthusiastically. “Me too!”

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Yes, but don’t ever do that again.”

  Inhaling deeply, the priest breathed out slowly and sighed. “I am glad you two came to me. I believe I made it quite clear that I was here. There is no more need to hide.”

  Magena narrowed her eyes. Her trust level wasn’t very high at the moment. “So you wanted us to approach you? That means you have something to tell us.”

  “Yes.” He nodded, as he looked around to make sure they were alone. “Not here. It is not safe to be out in the open.”

  Daniel and Magena looked at each other. The priest had just verified that they weren’t crazy. They really were involved in something big, with the Shroud of Turin in the middle of all of it.

  “We are not going to my room!” Daniel protested, before any decision was made. “There’s some weird stuff going on in there.”

  “Maybe my room will be safe,” Magena volunteered. She tried to muster a smile for the priest. “My name is Magena Nightcloud and this is my... uh... traveling companion, Daniel DiBenedetto.”

  The priest smiled at Magena. “I know all about who you are, Ms. Nightcloud. I am Cardinal DiStazzi.”

  “Cardinal?” Daniel exclaimed, with quite an amount of surprise. “This must be something huge to have the Catholic big guys on it!”

  The cardinal frowned. To Magena he said in a quiet tone, “Someplace safe please?”

  She nodded. “Right now, I’m not sure of just how many places are safe, but we’ll go to my room.”

  He repeated, “It must be safe.”

  Daniel looked over at the Jet Hotel and smiled deviously. “I have a plan. Follow me.”

  ***

  Daniel asked Magena and Cardinal DiStazzi to wait, behind a trash bin in the alley, until he came back for them.

  He then proceeded to go to the office of the hotel and spoke with the manager, explaining that he had, just moments before, asked Magena to be his wife. In an attempt to impress the manager, he put on an amazing show of smiles and compliments for the woman working in the office. The manager seemed impressed.

  Daniel also informed the pleased manager, that they would now just need one room for both of them. There was an understanding that the money paid for two rooms would not be refunded, which was fine with Daniel.

  As the young visitor to Italy continued to lie, he mentioned that he and Magena did not want to tell their families just yet, because they would make too much of a fuss and the young couple did not have a chance to make any plans for the wedding. “Everything has to be quiet about the rooms being changed,” he said. The supposed lovebirds had a plan to reveal the impending nuptials.

  The manager agreed to pass on any messages for the couple that would arrive at their previous rooms. He also agreed not to tell a soul. He was given a hundred dollar bill to seal the deal.

  Daniel told the manager not to bother with the luggage. He would take care of moving his and Magena’s bags himself.

  The two men firmly shook hands and Daniel took his leave to retrieve the cardinal and Magena, with the new room key held tightly in his hand.

  ELEVEN

  Daniel took the cardinal to the new room. “This is a total secret,” he said. He then took the liberty of moving all of Magena’s luggage and his bag to the new room, while she and the cardinal checked out the room carefully for anything out of place.

  Once the luggage had been transferred, all three of them went over every item in the bags, including the bags themselves.

  “I assume that I get my paranoia from watching detective shows,” Magena said, with a smile. She looked at Daniel with a newfound respect. “I also assume that you won’t tell me how you managed to get us into this room, Daniel?”

  “You got that one right.” Daniel’s expression did not change. He was pleased with what he accomplished so quickly—all with one little white lie.

  Magena looked worried at what he might have done, but didn’t act judgmental. “I’m sure you’ll tell me, when the mood hits you. As long as it wasn’t something illegal or immoral.”

  Daniel froze at the word immoral, but was given a reprieve from answering when the cardinal interrupted.

  “I don’t have much time,” Cardinal DiStazzi said, impatiently. “I must tell you what I know and then the rest is up to you two as to what you’ll do with the information.” Breathing hard, he turned toward Magena.. “Do you know why you saw the shroud.”

  “Not really.”

  “You were able to get an appointment for a private viewing, because of the things that your grandfather has done for the Catholic Church.”

  “What?” Magena gasped and found it hard to regain her breath. “What are you talking about? I was never told about this!”

  “Please calm down and I will explain,” the cardinal said, with a soothing voice. “He assisted us several times with the retrieval of various church properties. He was a good man.”

  “You mean artifacts?” Daniel interrupted. “Sorry to play the devil’s advocate, but aren’t those things supposed to be for the world to see?”

  The cardinal looked angry. “I am not talking about the world’s treasures, sir.”

  “Apologize.” Magena kicked his leg.

  “We would never claim something is ours that isn’t,” the cardinal responded, without trying to sound like he had to defend the church. “I am talking about items that specifically belong to the Catholic Church. Various artwork and items have been created for the church. Ordinarily, we only pursue items that have already been legally in the possession of the Catholic Church. Your grandfather was immensely helpful. He even worked several times closely with the Vatican. He didn’t tell anyone, because he was a humble man. Plus, he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”

  “Sorry,” said Daniel. “I misspoke.”

  “I understand,” said Magena. “I am torn between being proud of my grandfather and mad at him for not letting anyone in the family know about his activities.”

  “He practiced humility,” said the cardinal.

  “That explains his absence from home so many times. My grandmother told me that if she didn’t trust and love my grandpa so much, she would have sworn that he had another woman on the side. They loved each other like no other. Except for my parents—they were in love, too.”

  Daniel stuck his finger in his mouth and down his throat. “Gag me with a silver spoon!” He pretended to be sick.

  “It’s true.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Oh please! Mr. and Mrs. Perfect Couple! Right! Okay! Can we get past this part of the story and get into the meat? Please?” Daniel did not try to hide his being uncomfortable at the subject of happy families. He did his best not to bring up his own family though. His parents had made their decision, and he was bound and determined to prove that he could handle life without them as his safety net.

  Magena patted his arm. It was as if she could feel Daniel’s hostility. At the same time she must have felt sympathy for his obviously unhealthy relationship with his parents. “I am grateful to be part of a loving and nurturing family, Daniel. Sorry about you.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “It is no secret about my parents.”

  Magena addressed the cardinal. “I wish I would have known that was the reason why I got in to see the shroud.” She was obviously independent and proud of her accomplishments. There was disappointment and sorrow in her voice. “I did nothing to make this happen on my own, but it happened nonetheless. Daniel’s right. We need to focus on the matter at hand. I still don’t understand why a cardinal would be involved.”

  Cardinal DiStazzi smiled, as if he had anticipated that very question. “As you may know the primary role of a cardinal is to elect a new pope when the time comes. However, we do not sit around and play video games until that time. Ha ha!” He looked at the couple, waiting for them to laugh, but sadly Magena and Daniel just looked stunned.

  “Anyway...” he continued hesitatingly, “...there is a Cardinal Secretary of State, who works similarly to your American Secretary of State. He represents the Vatican when it comes to foreign governments. Most of the cardinals are put into what we call congregations. These are different duties or groups of duties. I’m sorry if my English is not so good, but I’m trying to explain.”

  Magena smiled. “You’re doing just fine, Cardinal. Please continue.”

  The cardinal cleared his throat. “Cardinals also serve in the three high courts of the church. The Apostolic Signatura, the Roman Rota, and the Apostolic Penitentiary. One Cardinal oversees the bishops of the world, another congregation is dedicated to education and so forth. Then there’s me. My station with the church is to keep track of the artifacts of the church, as did my father before me and his father before him. My grandfather worked with your grandfather, Ms. Nightcloud. That’s how I know so much about you personally.”

  She said, “I understand.”

  Daniel got up and turned the television on to break up the monotony. “Sorry guys, but I have to...” His eyes widened, as he stepped back from the set.

  His incomplete sentence caught Magena’s attention, as she grabbed the remote and raised the volume.

  There was a special news report on that showed the front of the Turin Cathedral with several police cars blocking off the entrance.

  Captain Andellini was being interviewed by a reported who was off-screen. The voice over was obviously in Italian.

 

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