"Nineteen monks were poisoned. Two others were shot I was the primary target, but I escaped. I vowed to find out who'd killed my fellow monks and threatened my chance for redemption. In the end, I discovered that the man who'd ordered the hit was Ray. He feared that one day, because of my breakdown, I'd reveal secrets about him. He'd been searching for me all those years, and when he finally learned where I'd gone to ground

... Well, as you said about the man who ordered your foster brother's death, I found Ray, and I killed him."

18.

Saul listened, deeply moved. The parallels between his story and Drew's were unnerving. But Chris had been killed. And Drew had survived, resembling Chris, with his fan- hair, fiery eyes, hint of freckles, and strong-boned rectangular face. Saul had the sense that a niche had been filled in his life, that a ghost had come back. "You didn't say if you had any brothers," Saul said. "No brothers. I'm an only child." Saul smiled. "If you want a brother, you've got one now.

You wouldn't have told me your background if you didn't recognize the similarities between... It's uncanny."

"I noticed the parallels," Drew said, "and I can't explain them either."

"Running into each other. How could--? I can't believe it's just a coincidence."

"The question is,"

Arlene interrupted, "how many other similarities are there?"

19.

The two men turned to her. Arlene had listened with growing distress as

Saul and Drew talked to each other. It was startling enough that two men who'd never met before should quickly become so open with each other. Even more startling were the parallels between Drew and Saul's dead foster brother. What Saul had said just now was true--it was uncanny. And the most disturbing part was that she didn't think the surprises were over. "Other similarities?" Saul asked. "You showed up in the Vatican gardens at the same time as we did--to force information from Father Dusseault," she said. "Doesn't that make you wonder? You've got to be curious what we were doing there. I'm sure curious to know what you were doing there. In different ways, did we come there for the same reason?"

"Your wife's father was missing--isn't that what you said?" Drew asked.

"And three men tried to kill you? Men who wore a ring identical to

Father Dusseault's?" Saul didn't answer for a moment Then he shuddered, and it seemed to Arlene that he did so to force his attention back to this conversation. Because, if she guessed correctly, the disappearance of his wife was related to everything they were discussing. "Right,"

Saul said. "And we traced those three men to Father Dusseault. To what you called the Fraternity of the Stone. All priests. What is the

Fraternity?"

"Soldiers of God," Drew said. "Church militants."

"Explain."

"The order dates back to the twelfth century, the Third Crusade," Drew said. "They follow a tradition established by an Arab who converted to

Catholicism, became a priest, and used his knowledge of Arab ways to help the crusaders try to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims."

"Help the crusaders? How?"

"Since he was an Arab, he could easily infiltrate the enemy. His mandate was to execute Muslim leaders in the same brutal way that their assassins had executed leaders of the Crusade. Specifically, he came upon his targets while they slept and cut off their heads."

"Graphic,"

Saul said dryly. "And no doubt dramatically effective."

"The theory was to fight terror with terror. Of course, the crusaders felt that their tenor was holy."

"And the Church condoned this?"

"At the time,"

Drew said. "You have to remember the religious fervor that motivated the Third Crusade. The Pope gave a dispensation for any sins committed during what was supposed to be a divinely inspired war against the heathens."

"Times change, though."

"Yes, but the order founded by that assassin-priest didn't. Unknown to the Church, the Fraternity of the Stone continued to practice holy terror throughout the centuries--whenever they considered it necessary to defend the Faith."

"And the ring?"

"A way for them to identify each other. It's a replica of the ring King

Richard wore during the Third Crusade. A ruby that signifies the blood of Christ."

"But why would they want to stop me and Erika from finding her father?"

Saul asked. "Are they involved in Erika's disappearance?"

"Maybe Father Dusseault will tell us when we question him," Arlene said.

"The reason we came to the gardens to meet him involved a disappearance as well. A cardinal named Krunoslav Pavelic. Father Dusseault is his assistant."

"I've heard about the disappearance. But why are you looking for him?"

'To pay off a debt,"

Drew said. "A priest who belonged to the Fraternity tried to recruit me into the order. When I refused, he tried to kill me to protect the order's secrets. Arlene's brother shot him to save my life."

"The Fraternity thought Drew had killed the priest," Arlene said. 'To protect my brother, to thank him for saving his life. Drew fled as if he were guilty. For the past year, he's been living in Egypt. Three weeks ago, a member of the Fraternity came to me in New York. He said the order had learned where Drew was hiding. He asked me to go to Drew and convince him to provide a service to the Fraternity. In exchange, the order would consider the debt paid in full for the death of the priest."

"What was the service they wanted?"

"Drew had to find the missing cardinal."

"Why couldn't they handle the job themselves?"

"That's what we wondered, too," Drew said. "A Fraternity priest we met in Cairo told us that someone in the order was trying to destroy it, that the key to finding whoever was responsible had something to do with

Pavelic's disappearance. If Arlene and I wanted to live in peace, we had to find the cardinal and in so doing find whoever was trying to sabotage the Fraternity. I have a suspicion that Father Dusseault is involved in the betrayal, so some things are starting to come together.

But what puzzles me is that two other people are looking for the cardinal. Two assassins, the sons of Nazi assassins."