Pursuit of the Patriarchs

Chapter 27

Johnathon's instinct about Mrs. Burgess being the real Maxim was proven right. Thanks to Aleksandrov's laziness with security, everything led to her. She was the real deep agent and using Mr. Burgess position to spy for the Russian oligarch.

Thanks to a few agencies who had satellites in the area at the time of her supposed abduction, like the Iranians, they saw the moment she was taken from England and flown into Russia. Mrs. Burgess wasn't some unwilling victim, but active participant. There was no forcing her into the trunk. She got in without a single weapon being shown. Even sneaking out of the trunk and putting on a blonde wig to cover her black hair was her own doing.

The problem wasn't convincing them of what Johnathon already suspected, but Mr. Burgess. He knew anything could be faked, including the images and video they watched. Even though they had clear evidence, they couldn't use it. Mr. Burgess would never accept the truth as the truth. Not without something far more convincing.

William was meeting with Abraham and Jason to work out some plan to convince Mr. Burgess of the truth, while he and Donna rewatched the same footage. It wasn't Mrs. Burgess they were looking for, but others they could put close to Mr. Burgess.

They didn't expect to find Aleksandrov's people watching, but Collin's or Smith's. If they were really lucky, both. Any intelligence was valuable.

David and Yuri rushed in with grins on their faces. If Johnathon read them right, they knew where the patriarchs were taken by the Templars after leaving Nigeria.

"They were taken to Portugal," Yuri said with excitement.

Johnathon had been studying up on a bit of Templar history following de Molay's death. Portugal made sense, since it was one of the few safe havens for the Templars at that time. That's why the knights went there first, before going to Nigeria.

The problem with Portugal was the size and islands. They needed more to go on, but would blindly fly into the country, if that's what it took. God would lead them in God's time.

"Portugal's a large county. Anything to narrow it down a bit?" Donna asked before Johnathon had the chance.

Their rapid nods told him they had good news. Why didn't they just come right out and say something? They wanted to drag things out a bit, but hoped it wouldn't be much longer.

"We have to go to the Quinta da Regaleira estate. The patriarchs aren't there, but God will show us the way once we arrive," David said with absolute faith it would happen.

Johnathon wanted to know what God revealed to them, but didn't press for details. Whatever it was, God wanted it kept between the two of them.

"Time for some new identities. I'll get William on it when he finishes his meeting," Donna said glad to have something new.

She wasn't the only one. He was just as tired of sitting in the safehouse as the other three. They all needed to get out. Watching depressing images and being unable to do anything about it was dreadful, but was what God wanted of them. Who was he to question God's will?