34.

Breaking and Entering

Wednesday, April 24 - 1:00p.m.

When Jennifer turned the key to the lock on Mike’s apartment, it turned easier than it should have. When she opened the door and looked inside, she found out why. The place was a disaster. Someone had picked the lock, broken into the apartment and turned the place inside out. Every drawer was open and all the contents were on the floor. Every cupboard was open and food and dishes were spewed all over the kitchen. All of Mike’s books were thrown to the floor, and every lamp was broken. Someone had obviously been looking for something. On his desk in the livingroom stood his keyboard, monitor and mouse, but the computer was gone. Jennifer spat, “Shit. Those bastards stole Mike’s computer.”

“Well,” Goldberg said, “at least this substantiates your suspicions. What I don’t understand is: why did they trash the place? They got the computer.”

Bailey said, “They were probably looking for backup computer disks. Copies of the manuscript. We can’t let them get away with it this time. This manuscript is too important.”

Jennifer asked, “What do you mean, ‘this time’? Do you know something we don’t?”

Bailey said, “Do you realize how many thousands of magical and sacred texts have been stolen and are kept hidden in the locked vaults of the Vatican? For the past two thousand years, every time some opposing religious force came along, the Catholic Church stepped in, called them heretics, got rid of them one way or another, then stole their sacred documents and squirreled them away to the vaults of the Vatican. I’m sure Mike’s computer is on its way there now.”

Jennifer asked, “Okay, so what do we do about it?”

Bailey said, “Possession is nine-tenths of the law. I say we steal it back.”

Jennifer was terrified. “Are you out of your mind? What if we get caught?” As a journalist, she sometimes needed to go to extreme measures to find the truth. She wasn’t averse to flirting or showing a little cleavage to get what she needed from a man. It was more effective than begging and it was even kind of fun. But burglary was way over the top. It was a felony and she could be locked up for a very long time.

Bailey, however, remained calm. “I have an idea. First, we call the police and report that the apartment was ransacked and your computer was stolen. If we’re caught, we just tell the police the truth: The computer legally belongs to you as Mike’s heir. We’ve got the legal documents to prove it.”

Goldberg said, “Maybe it’s not the police we should be worried about. We already suspect the Church–or some part of it–wants Jennifer dead. It could be a trap,” echoing Jennifer’s fears.

Bailey said, “Well, if either of you have a better idea, I’m listening. I just don’t want to let them get away with it again. Besides, who knows how much Mike had on that computer. This is like the Holy Grail to me. We have to try.” The frustration of being so close came through in her voice.

Jennifer was torn. She looked at the Rabbi for a sign of support. She asked him, “Are you okay with this? I mean, you’re a Rabbi and everything so I don’t want to get you in trouble. Don’t you think we’re in over our heads?”

Goldberg walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Could we be in over our heads? Yes, we could. In fact, I’m sure we are. But let me explain something to you, Jennifer.” He looked serious. “The whole concept of a Messiah is not a Christian idea, it was a Jewish idea that was passed on to the Christians.”

Bailey interrupted. “The Jews got it from the Zoroastrians . . . ” Debating about religious history was a big part of her friendship with Goldberg.

He cut her off. “Whatever.” This had obviously crossed over the line between debate and religious responsibility. He continued. “Regardless, the Jewish faith doesn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah. We believe the Messiah is still coming. As a Rabbi, I consider it my duty to keep a watchful eye for when the Messiah does come. I don’t know what to think of Mike, but he piqued my interest for two reasons. First, he had gifts foretold by the prophets of Israel. Second, his document may be a key piece of evidence regarding the legitimacy of Jesus. I can’t just walk away from this thing.”

Jennifer looked at Bailey with her academic reasons, then at Goldberg with his religious reasons. She was embarrassed at how easily she had been willing to walk away from this, away from Mike’s dying words. Then she looked away from them and down to her own belly, knowing that what she was contemplating would place her baby in danger.

Then she realized that Father Lowry didn’t know how involved she was in this, so he had to assume the worst. That meant she was in danger either way. She had to get the documents back. In fact, the only way to protect herself and her baby was to tell the world what she knew. Once the contents of the manuscript was revealed, it wouldn’t do any good to kill her. She had to get that computer back. She looked up, and the answer was on her face. “All right.”

Bailey smiled at Jennifer. “All right then. Let’s go.” She walked out the door and Jennifer and Goldberg followed.

Wednesday, April 24 - 2:30p.m.

The threesome rented a minivan under a false name. They bought some artificial window tinting and stuck it to the windows. Then they drove the van to Father Lowry’s rectory and watched through the tinted glass windows. Using a cell phone, Bailey called directory assistance and asked for the phone number of the church. When she called the number, Lowry answered. Bailey disguised her voice. Trying hard to sound like a schoolgirl, she asked, “Is Tracy there?”

Lowry said, “I’m sorry. You must have the wrong number.”

“Oh, sooorry,” and she hung up. She looked at Jennifer and Goldberg. “He’s home. We just need to wait for him to leave.”

Jennifer smiled and laughed at Bailey’s enthusiasm. She felt a confidence that would be gone in a few hours. Right now, she felt better, more purposeful than she had felt since Mike’s death. She just hoped that they wouldn’t be spotted.

They watched the rectory from inside the van for almost three hours. Then Lowry finally opened the front door and left the house. He got in his car and drove away. They didn’t know how long he would be gone, but they knew it was their best chance to retrieve the stolen computer, or at least find out if it was at the rectory. They put on rubber gloves, got out of the van and walked to the front door. It was locked. They walked to the back of the rectory, testing every window as they went. All locked. Then they tried the back door, but it was locked too.

Bailey, now bent on getting the complete manuscript, took a brick from the pastor’s flower garden. She flung the rock through the door’s glass, reached in and opened it. The reality of what they were doing hit both Goldberg and Jennifer with the sound of the shattering glass. With grim faces, the three slipped inside.

Jennifer led the way to Father Lowry’s office, hoping to find the computer and get out as soon as possible. When it wasn’t in the office, they decided it was best to stay together and do a systematic search from room to room. They were still empty handed when they came across a locked door in the lower level.

They looked at each other solemnly. Alice said in a quiet voice, “We’ve come this far.” With that, Goldberg slammed his right shoulder against the door, forcing it open. From the light of the hallway, they could see that it was a small room. More importantly, they could see a desk inside, and on that desk was a computer.

Jennifer rushed in and turned the computer to catch the light from the hallway. “This is Mike’s,” she exclaimed. There, reflecting the dim light was the characteristic “Harley Davidson” sticker Mike had used to cover the computer’s “Intel Inside” label.

Goldberg grabbed the computer and they started up the stairs. When they got to the main level, they heard a car door slam and voices talking outside.

“What are we going to do now?” Jennifer whispered. “Which way should we go? We’re in serious trouble.” She looked like a trapped animal.

“You stay here. I’ll see if they’re heading for the front or back” Goldberg said trying to calm her. He handed the computer to Bailey and ran to the front window. He peaked through the colored segments of the stained glass window, trying not to be seen.

“Darn Christians and their stained glass,” he mumbled. “I can’t see anything. . . ” Then he saw a priest and another man walk into view. They were heading for the front door. The man with Lowry was wearing a black suit and smoking a thin cigarette. He perfectly matched Jennifer’s description of Tony Malone, the man who tried to assassinate Mike.

They only had seconds now. Goldberg ran back to Jennifer and Bailey. “It’s them. They’re coming in the front door. Everyone out the back.”

“What do you mean ‘they’?” Jennifer almost screeched as she ran for the back door. She knew without Goldberg answering that “serious trouble” might have just changed to “seriously dead.”

Bailey trailed behind a little, cradling the computer like a newborn infant. “This is goddam heavy.” She grumbled as she came out the back door, temporarily blinded by the bright Las Vegas sun. “What now? Can you tell if they are inside yet?”

Goldberg straightened his hair and jacket. “Cut through backyards, alleys or whatever.” He started down the sidewalk to the front of the rectory. He said over his shoulder, “Make your way to the next street over and I’ll pick you up.”

Father Lowry and Malone saw him just as they reached the front door. “Can I help you?” the priest asked, confused by the sudden appearance of a man coming out from the back of the building.

“Oh. Hello. I didn’t think anyone was here.” Goldberg said, a little out of breath. “I’m Rabbi Goldberg. Is this your parish?” he asked Lowry. The wheels in his head were spinning fast. He needed to concoct a story they’d believe. And he needed to keep them busy long enough to give Bailey and Jennifer time to get out of sight.

“Yes. I’m Father Lowry. This is my. . . associate, Tony Malone.” Lowry answered, stumbling over the words to describe Malone. Malone took a drag on his cigarette and eyed the Rabbi with suspicion. Lowry could tell that Malone didn’t trust this man. And, really, why was a Rabbi visiting a Catholic Church, anyway?

But by then Goldberg had his story straight. “I was just eating lunch in my van when I heard a crash. When I didn’t see anyone coming out from the church to investigate, I thought I should take a look.” The Rabbi continued, trying to adopt a tone of religious camaraderie. “I don’t know if churches have the same problems with vandals, but the damage I have seen done, Oi Vai. Anyway, as I was saying, when I didn’t see anyone, I decided to investigate. I found no signs of damage until I went around to the back. Then I noticed that a window was broken and the door was open.

Malone headed straight for the back door, and Lowry followed. Goldberg, still buying time for Bailey and Jennifer, tried to slow them down. “The vandals may still be inside. I think we should call the police. . . I have a cell phone in my car. If we go back to the front we can call them together.” Goldberg was starting to get desperate.

When they got to the back, they found the open door and broken glass. Malone headed straight inside. Goldberg could have been imagining it, but he swore he saw him reaching for a gun as he disappeared into the dimly lit rectory. “The police?” he said, looking at Father Lowry.

“No, No, don’t you worry. I’ll call them. Thank you, Rabbi.” Lowry said as he looked toward the disappearing Malone. “I’m sure that you scared them away. Thank you again. We’ll take it from here.” He hesitated, ”It might be best if you leave now.” He looked back at Goldberg.

Goldberg didn’t need a second invitation. He turned and headed toward the street as fast as he could, hoping they didn’t think he was running.

He got in the van and drove slowly around the block, so it wouldn’t look suspicious. He found Jennifer and Bailey walking down the street at a good clip, computer in hand, a look of panic still on their faces. When they saw the van, they looked relieved.

“What took you so long?”

They got in the van and sped off.

Wednesday, April 24 - 4:51p.m.

They drove in silence back to the rental car company. After returning the van, they climbed into Goldberg’s car, and carefully set the computer in the back seat next to Bailey. Goldberg pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the UNLV campus. The stress slipped off them as the car put miles between them and the rental car lot.

By the time they arrived at Bailey’s office, they were laughing with Goldberg over his quick story telling at the rectory. The danger was behind them; they had survived and gotten Mike’s computer back. Between the adrenalin and their success, they felt invincible.

Bailey carried the computer up to her office. She handed it to Goldberg while she fumbled with her office keys. She unlocked the door and turned on the lights. Embarrassed by the clutter in her office, she grumbled about exams while she made room for the computer on her desk. Goldberg smiled at her and set the computer down gently. He had known her a long time; enough to know that exams were usually not this early in the semester.

She quickly recovered her composure. If she was right, the holy grail of biblical history was only a hard drive away. She opened the middle desk drawer and pulled out a Phillips screwdriver. She held it up like a piece of lost treasure. With a mischievous smile, she said, “Don’t try this at home.”

She opened Mike’s computer like a pro. She poked around inside a few minutes, mumbled words Jennifer didn’t understand, like IDE, adapter, and power supply. Then she quickly went to her own computer and within minutes she had that machine open too. Jennifer and Goldberg glanced at each other trying to decide if they should be worried. Bailey looked up at them with a big smile on her face. “Piece of cake. It’s a standard IDE hard drive. I have plenty of room in my machine and I’m only using one master and one slave. This will be a cakewalk.”

Back at Mike’s computer, she carefully disconnected all the cables and slid the hard drive from the case into her hands. Cradling it like a heart to be transplanted, she carried it over and inserted into her computer. At one point she went back to Mike’s machine and extracted a strange cable and attached it inside her computer.

When she had her computer screwed back together, she sat down at her desk and turned it on. Everyone in the room held their breath while they waited to see what would happen. Suddenly she exclaimed, “I can see it. I have access to his hard drive.”

She moved her mouse quickly, trying to get a feel for Mike as she searched his hard disk. She came across some very interesting files before she found what she was looking for. But then she had it. She found a directory with the name “VCDB1” and it contained hundreds of files. She quickly double clicked on the first one in the list. Another manuscript, which looked very much like the first one to an untrained eye, splashed across her monitor. “This is it,” she exclaimed with a huge grin, “I’ve got it.” She was instantly absorbed in reading this new material.

Jennifer and Goldberg sat down, exhausted just from watching Bailey. The Rabbi knew that Bailey would be lost for hours now that she had access to the full manuscript. He turned to Jennifer and asked her solemnly, “Have you thought about what you’re going to do now?”

Jennifer just shook her head no. Too much had happened, too quickly.

He gave her a stern look, “You need to start thinking about it. There was a man with the priest. I’m pretty sure it was the guy who tried to kill Mike at the casino. You’re not safe here. You have to make plans and you have to be careful. Seeing that man face to face made me realize that what we did this morning was very dangerous.”

Jennifer rebelled against Goldberg’s protective words. “I’m not afraid of them. I’ll be damned if I’m going to be intimidated by a bunch of goddam priests from the Vatican. I went into journalism knowing there would be risks. I’m going to expose everything they’ve done; everything from assassinating Mike to hiding the truth about Jesus.”

He said, “It’s not just your life, Jennifer. You have more to think about now.”

She looked at her hands. They were gently cradling her tummy again. She hadn’t even realized she had moved them. She knew he was right. The baby was all she had left of Mike. She could never have him back, but she would have his baby. But damn it, the baby would know the truth about his father. She would not let the Vatican stop her. There had to be a way to have both. “What do you think that I should do?” she asked.

“Disappear. Get out of town. Take the money from Mike’s estate and move to Morocco or some island in the Caribbean. Maybe some small town in Switzerland.” He smiled and winked at her before adding, “You probably want to avoid Rome for a while.”

She laughed softly. “That sounds like heaven on Earth, but what about exposing the truth? I’ve barely started on this book and I already feel like Salman Rushdie. How am I supposed to interview people for this book if I’m in exile?”

Now it was his turn to laugh, “Ever heard of telephones? E-mail? Conduct the interviews long distance. Any of the people who contact you about Mike could be from the Vatican. If you’re here in town, you will be in danger. I wouldn’t risk it.” He finished on a more solemn note.

She turned and stared out the little window in Bailey’s office. “You’re right,” she said, turning back to face the Rabbi. “I do need to leave town. I’ll find some place they won’t think to look for me. What about you and Alice? Do you think the two of you are safe?”

“We will be fine,” he said in his most authoritarian voice. “Nobody knows we were involved. So what do you have in mind? Where will you go?”

“First things first. I know that I can’t go anywhere without some things from my apartment. There are just some things that I can’t leave behind. Will you take me?” she asked.

He looked worried. “It will be dangerous. They must know where you live.”

“You can’t let fear rule your life.”

Excerpt from The Gospel According to Mike

He said, “God does not know vengeance and wrath, for She knows only forgiveness and love. God is not jealous, for there are no rivals to be jealous of. God does not have people chosen above all others, for She created all people for the same purpose. God does not want to be feared, for fear works against Her purpose, not for it.”