Contract With God Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1 - RESIDENCE OF BALTHASAR HANDWURZ

  Chapter 2 - ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN EL GLOBO

  Chapter 3 - KAYN

  Chapter 4 - HEADQUARTERS OF KAYN INDUSTRIES

  Chapter 5 - HOTEL LE MERIDIEN

  Chapter 6 - HEADQUARTERS OF KAYN INDUSTRIES

  Chapter 7 - EDITORIAL OFFICES OF EL GLOBO

  Chapter 8 - ANDREA OTERO’S APARTMENT

  Chapter 9 - RELICS CRYPT

  Chapter 10 - EXCERPT FROM RAYMOND KAYN: THE UNAUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY

  Chapter 11 - ON BOARD THE BEHEMOTH

  Chapter 12 - OUTSIDE THE OFFICES OF NETCATCH

  Chapter 13 - ON BOARD THE BEHEMOTH

  Chapter 14 - COHEN FAMILY HIDEOUT

  Chapter 15 - ON BOARD THE BEHEMOTH

  Chapter 16 - ABOARD THE BEHEMOTH

  Chapter 17 - ABOARD THE BEHEMOTH

  Chapter 18 - THE RED SEA

  Chapter 19 - ANDREA AND FOWLER

  Chapter 20 - TAHIR IBN FARIS’S APARTMENT

  Chapter 21 - ABOARD THE BEHEMOTH

  Chapter 22 - OFFICES OF NETCATCH

  Chapter 23 - ABOARD THE BEHEMOTH

  Chapter 24 - ON BOARD THE BEHEMOTH

  Chapter 25 - SOMEWHERE IN FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA

  Chapter 26 - ON THE WAY TO THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 27 - MP3 File Recovered by the Jordanian Desert Police from Andrea ...

  Chapter 28 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 29 - HUQAN

  Chapter 30 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 31 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 32 - 2,700 FEET WEST OF THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 33 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 34 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 35 - KAYN

  Chapter 36 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 37 - Some Facts about the Arc of the Covenant, Transcribed from the ...

  Chapter 38 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 39 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 40 - SOMEWHERE IN FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA

  Chapter 41 - INSIDE THE SOLDIERS’ TENT, FIVE MINUTES BEFORE

  Chapter 42 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 43 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 44 - FOWLER AND HAREL

  Chapter 45 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 46 - Al Qaeda Training Manual Found By Scotland Yard in a Hideout Pages ...

  Chapter 47 - WASHINGTON SUBURB

  Chapter 48 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 49 - ORVILLE WATSON’S SAFE HOUSE

  Chapter 50 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 51 - ORVILLE WATSON’S SAFE HOUSE

  Chapter 52 - ORVILLE WATSON’S SAFE HOUSE

  Chapter 53 - SOMEWHERE IN FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA

  Chapter 54 - HUQAN

  Chapter 55 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 56 - ELLIS ISLAND, NEW YORK

  Chapter 57 - KAYN

  Chapter 58 - ANDREA AND DOC

  Chapter 59 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 60 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 61 - MP3 File Recovered by the Jordanian Desert Police from Andrea ...

  Chapter 62 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 63 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 64 - Document Recovered from the e-mail Account of Kharouf Waadi, used ...

  Chapter 65 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 66 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 67 - LOWER EAST SIDE

  Chapter 68 - Josef Cohen’s Letter to His Son, Yudel

  Chapter 69 - HUQAN

  Chapter 70 - KAYN TOWER

  Chapter 71 - MP3 File Recovered by the Jordanian Desert Police from Andrea ...

  Chapter 72 - KAYN TOWER

  Chapter 73 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 74 - KAYN TOWER

  Chapter 75 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 76 - KAYN TOWER

  Chapter 77 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 78 - INSIDE THE DINING TENT, FIFTY-THREE SECONDS BEFORE

  Chapter 79 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 80 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 81 - RELICS CRYPT

  Chapter 82 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 83 - AL-QAHIRA METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE

  Chapter 84 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 85 - Transcript of the communication between the crew of the Behemoth ...

  Chapter 86 - HUQAN

  Chapter 87 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 88 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 89 - AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE CANYON, TEN MINUTES BEFORE

  Chapter 90 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 91 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 92 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 93 - INSIDE THE CAVE, FOURTEEN MINUTES EARLIER

  Chapter 94 - THE EXCAVATION

  Chapter 95 - ON THE ROAD TO AQABA

  Chapter 96 - EPILOGUE

  Acknowledgements

  Contract with God

  JUAN GOMEZ JURADO

  Orion

  www.orionbooks.co.uk

  First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Orion Books,

  an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group Ltd

  Orion House, 5 Upper St Martin’s Lane,

  London WC2H 9EA

  © Juan Gómez-Jurado 2007

  English translation © A.V. Lebrón 2009

  The right of Juan Gómez-Jurado to be identified as the author of

  this work has been asserted in accordance with the

  Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  ‘How to Create an Enemy’ from Faces of the Enemy by Sam Keen

  reproduced with the kind permission of the author.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

  reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

  in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

  photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior

  permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and

  incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are

  used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead,

  events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available

  from the British Library

  eISBN : 978 1 4091 0724 8

  ISBN 978 1 409 10076 8 (Trade Paperback)

  Typeset by Input Data Services Ltd,

  Bridgwater, Somerset

  Printed in Great Britain by

  C PI Mackays, Chatham, Kent

  The Orion Publishing Group’s policy is to use papers that

  are natural, renewable and recyclable products and

  made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging

  and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to

  the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

  orionbooks.co.uk

  For Matthew Thomas, a greater hero than Father Fowler

  How to Create an Enemy

  Start with an empty canvas

  Sketch in broad outline the forms of

  men women and children

  Dip into the unconsciousness well of your own

  disowned darkness

  with a wide brush and

  strain the strangers with the sinister hue

  of the shadow

  Trace onto the face of the enemy the greed,

  Hatred, carelessness you dare not claim as

  Your own

  Obscure the sweet individuality of each face

  Erase all hints of the myriad loves, hopes,

 
fears that play through the kaleidoscope of

  every infinite heart

  Twist the smile until it forms the downward

  arc of cruelty

  Strip flesh from bone until only the

  abstract skeleton of death remains

  Exaggerate each feature until man is

  metamorphosed into beast, vermin, insect

  Fill in the background with malignant

  figures from ancient nightmares - devils,

  demons, myrmidons of evil

  When your icon of the enemy is complete

  you will be able to kill without guilt,

  slaughter without shame

  The thing you destroy will have become

  merely an enemy of God, an impediment

  to the secret dialectic of history

  from Faces of the Enemy

  by Sam Keen

  The Ten Commandments

  I am the Lord thy God.

  Thou shalt have no other gods before me

  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image

  Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy

  Honour thy father and mother

  Thou shalt not kill

  Thou shalt not commit adultery

  Thou shalt not steal

  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour

  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house

  Prologue

  AM SPIEGELGRUND CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

  VIENNA

  February 1943

  Arriving at the building where a large flag with a swastika was flapping overhead, the woman could not suppress a shiver. Her companion misinterpreted and drew her closer to him in order to warm her. Her thin coat offered meagre protection against the sharp afternoon wind, which warned of an approaching blizzard.

  ‘Put this on, Odile,’ the man said, his fingers trembling as he unbuttoned his coat.

  She loosened herself from his grip and hugged the package closer to her chest. The six-mile walk through the snow had left her exhausted and numb from the cold. Three years ago they would have made the trip in their Daimler with a driver, and she would have been wearing her fur. But their car now belonged to a Brigadeführer and her fur coat was probably being shown off in a theatre box somewhere by some Nazi wife with painted eyelids. Odile composed herself and pressed the buzzer forcefully three times before answering him.

  ‘It’s not because of the cold, Josef. We don’t have much time before curfew. If we don’t return in time . . .’

  Before her husband could reply, a nurse suddenly opened the door. As soon as she took one look at the visitors, her smile disappeared. Several years under the Nazi regime had taught her to recognise a Jew immediately.

  ‘What do you want?’ she asked.

  The woman made herself smile, even though her lips were painfully cracked.

  ‘We want to see Dr Graus.’

  ‘Do you have an appointment?’

  ‘The doctor said he’d see us.’

  ‘Name?’

  ‘Josef and Odile Cohen, Fräulein.’

  ‘The nurse took a step back when their surname confirmed her suspicions.

  ‘You’re lying. You don’t have an appointment. Go away. Go back to the hole you came from. You know you’re not allowed here.’

  ‘Please. My son is inside. Please!’

  Her words were wasted as the door slammed shut.

  Josef and his wife looked helplessly at the huge building. As they turned away, Odile suddenly felt weak and stumbled, but Josef managed to catch her before she fell.

  ‘Come on, we’ll find another way to get in.’

  They headed over to one side of the hospital. As they turned the corner, Josef pulled his wife back. A door had just opened. A man wearing a thick coat was struggling to push a cart filled with rubbish towards the rear of the building. Keeping close to the wall, Josef and Odile slid up to the open doorway.

  Once inside, they found themselves standing in a service hall leading to a maze of stairs and other corridors. As they proceeded down the hallway, they could hear distant muffled cries that seemed to be coming from another world. The woman concentrated intently, listening for her son’s voice, but it was useless. They went through several corridors without running into anybody. Josef had to hurry to keep up with his wife who, compelled by sheer instinct, moved forward swiftly, stopping only for a second at each doorway.

  Before long they found themselves peering into a dark L-shaped ward. It was full of children, many of whom were strapped to their beds and whimpering like wet dogs. The acrid-smelling room was stifling and the woman began to sweat, feeling a tingling in her extremities as her body warmed up. She paid no attention to this, however, as her eyes raced from bed to bed, from one young face to the next, searching desperately for her son.

  ‘Here’s the report, Dr Graus.’

  Josef and his wife exchanged looks as they heard the name of the doctor they needed to see, the person who held their son’s life in his hands. They turned towards the far corner of the ward and saw a small group of people gathered around one of the beds. An attractive young doctor was seated at the bedside of a girl who looked about nine years old. Next to him an older nurse held a tray of surgical instruments while a bored-looking middle-aged doctor took notes.

  ‘Dr Graus . . .’ said Odile hesitantly, steeling herself as she approached the group.

  The young man gestured dismissively to the nurse without taking his eyes from what he was doing.

  ‘Not now, please.’

  The nurse and the other doctor stared at Odile in surprise, but said nothing.

  When she saw what was taking place, Odile had to grit her teeth in order not to scream. The young girl was deathly pale and appeared to be semi-conscious. Graus was holding her arm over a metal basin as he made small cuts with a scalpel. There was hardly a place on the girl’s arm that hadn’t been touched by the blade and the blood flowed slowly into the basin, which was almost full. Finally the girl’s head slumped to one side. Graus held two slender fingers to the girl’s neck.

  ‘Good, she has no pulse. The time, Dr Stroebel ?’

  ‘Six thirty-seven.’

  ‘Almost ninety-three minutes. Exceptional! The subject remained awake although her level of consciousness was comparatively low, and she showed no signs of pain. The combination of laudanum and datura is undoubtedly better than anything we’ve tried up to now. Congratulations, Stroebel. Get the specimen ready for dissection.’

  ‘Thank you, Herr Doktor. Right away.’

  Only then did the young doctor turn towards Josef and Odile. In his eyes was a mixture of annoyance and disdain.

  ‘And who might you be?’

  Odile took a step forward and stood next to the bed, trying not to look at the dead girl.

  ‘My name is Odile Cohen, Dr Graus. I am Elan Cohen’s mother.’

  The physician looked at Odile coldly and then turned to the nurse.

  ‘Get these Jews out of here, Fräulein Ulrike.’

  The nurse grabbed Odile’s elbow and with a rough push positioned herself between the woman and the doctor. Josef rushed to help his wife and struggled with the hefty nurse. For moments they formed a bizarre trio, pushing in different directions without anyone gaining ground. Fräulein Ulrike’s face grew red from the effort.

  ‘Doctor, I’m sure there’s been a mistake,’ said Odile, fighting to get her head past the nurse’s broad shoulders. ‘My son is not mentally ill.’

  Odile managed to free herself from the nurse’s grip and turned to the doctor.

  ‘It’s true that he hasn’t talked much since we lost our house, but he’s not mad. He’s here because of a mistake. If you let him go . . . Please let me give you the only thing we have left.’

  She placed the package on the bed, making sure she didn’t touch the body of the dead girl as she carefully removed the newspaper wrapping. Despite the d
imness of the ward, the golden object cast its glow on the surrounding walls.

  ‘It’s been in my husband’s family for generations, Dr Graus. I would rather have died than give this up. But my son, Doctor, my son . . .’

  Odile began to cry and fell to her knees. The younger doctor barely noticed since his eyes were transfixed by the object on the bed. However, he managed to open his mouth long enough to destroy any hope the couple had left.

  ‘Your son is dead. Go away.’

  As soon as the cold air outside hit her face Odile regained some strength. Holding on to her husband as they hurried away from the hospital, she was more fearful than ever of the curfew. Her mind was concentrated solely on getting back to the far side of the city, where their other son was waiting.

  ‘Hurry, Josef. Hurry.’

  They quickened their pace through the steadily falling snow.

  In his hospital office, Dr Graus hung up the phone with a distracted air and caressed the strange gold object on his desk. Minutes later, when the sirens from the SS vehicles reached him, he didn’t even look out of the window. His assistant said something about fleeing Jews, but Graus paid no attention.

  He was busy planning young Cohen’s operation.

  Main Characters

  Clergy

  FATHER ANTHONY FOWLER, agent working with both the CIA and the Holy Alliance.

  FATHER ALBERT, ex-hacker. Systems Analyst with the CIA and liaison with Vatican intelligence.

  BROTHER CESÁREO, Dominican. Curator of Antiquities at the Vatican.