The Prophecy - 26. Chapter 26

The doors of the black compact car in front of the apartment house opened and two men climbed out of it. They were dressed entirely in black and they wore sunglasses despite the rainy morning. One of the men looked at his watch and then gave the other a nod. They approached the apartment house slowly and then entered it. One of the men pressed a button. The door of the elevator opened and the men stepped in. They reached into the pockets of their coats and pulled out their guns. The elevator stopped and the men entered the empty corridor. They placed the silencers on their guns and then walked down the hallway. They stopped in front of Jason Bolding’s apartment. One of the men looked at his watch.

Jason and Leonard had joined Gary. They looked out of the window.

"Shit," Jason exclaimed.

"We must instantly leave," Leonard said hysterically.

Jason tore open the window and leaned out. "We can’t. They’ve already entered the building," he said.

"The locking system doesn't work properly. I told the facility manager several times," Leonard said.

"Call the police, Jason," Gary said urgently.

Jason hurried into the corridor, seized the receiver of his fixed phone and typed the emergency number. "Gun shots," he shouted into the receiver. "In the house. In the staircase. Someone's running amok." He gave his name and address and then ended the call.

He joined the others. They looked at each other in despair.

"I must block the door," Jason exclaimed.

He hurried back into the corridor and shoved a cabinet to the entrance door. And then he stood, holding his breath. Were the men already standing in front of the door?

He hastened back to the living room. Gary and Leonard had meanwhile joined Alec. Alec looked at the screen. Dave's programme showed a window. Alec was shaking his head.

"How many more minutes?" Jason asked nervously.

"Five," Alec said.

They heard a siren. Jason hurried into the kitchen and looked out of the window. A police car stopped in front of the house. Two policemen climbed out and hastened towards the building. Jason looked back at a sudden noise that came from the corridor. Someone was trying to open the door.

Leonard and Gary retreated to the far end of the living room.

Jason made a few steps back from the window, turned around abruptly and ran into the kitchen counter. A grunt escaped his mouth and he bowed forward in pain. He spotted the package with the psychotropic pills that the psychiatric consultant had prescribed him. He had placed it on the counter a couple of days ago. Jason involuntarily read the name of the brand.

He gazed at the package. He seized it and once again read the name of the brand. And then he suddenly felt totally calm. There is yet time. Now it's up to you, he heard the monk's voice in his head. The voice was distinct and clear. The monk spoke with dead certainty.

A gun was shot. Alec shrieked and jumped from his chair. He joined Leonard and Gary at the far end of the room. They heard another police car siren.

Jason felt calm and confident, almost buoyant. He went to his desk and sat down. His mind blocked out every sound. Jason looked at the time display of Lefèvre’s automatic programme. One more minute. Sixty seconds. Enough time to type a word.

Jason looked at the window that required entering the code: If you would like to abort before the end of countdown, enter password. Jason placed his fingers on the keyboard and typed the brand name of the drug: Tryptizol. He checked the word again and then pressed the enter key.

A new window showed on the screen. Aborted. Self-destruction initiated.

Lefèvre Industrie’s lab in Ahmedabad, India, self-destroyed five minutes later. The lethal viruses were eradicated and the lab exploded and caught fire.

Alexandre Lefèvre gazed at the screen. The window with the time display had closed and another window showed on the screen. Alexandre Lefèvre winced as he read the words: Aborted. Self-destruction initiated. He reread the message in disbelief and it took him a minute to realize that his plan had failed and that the dark order was defeated, but then the man acted quickly. He seized the receiver of his red telephone and made a brief call and then he opened the drawer where he kept his false passports. A couple of minutes later, Alexandre Lefèvre hastened out of the company building. A helicopter took him to Brussels, Belgium, where he took the next flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Geraldine Lefèvre arrived at Jason’s apartment house just when the second police car stopped in front of it. She realized at once that their plan had failed and ordered the driver of the Bugatti to take her to London Heathrow. She checked her Gucci handbag for her false identity papers and then called her father. According to their emergency plan, which she had never thought would ever be put into action, Geraldine took the next flight to Argentina. Several members of their society also sought to instantly leave France. The automatic programme had sent them a message.

Antoine Lambert opened his cell phone and looked at it. Like he had expected, he had access to the internet. He logged into his private email account and checked the documents he had stored there. He had copied them from the protected folder. Antoine Lambert took a breath, but then he didn't hesitate any longer. He sent the documents to all major newspapers in the world. He had compiled the email addresses in the previous days, wondering himself what he was doing. But then, suddenly, from one moment to the other, his own odd behaviour had made total sense to him. Antoine Lambert looked at his cell phone. The messages and the attachments were sent. He closed his phone and sat quietly for another couple of minutes. Then he rose to his feet and returned to his car. He drove back to Paris in order to take the final step and hand himself over to the authorities. Antoine Lambert felt content. He was at peace with the world and himself.

When they saw the policemen, the killers tried to escape. They ran down the corridor, shooting their guns, and then hastened down the stairs. The policemen ran after them. One of them shot his gun. Two other policemen were waiting in the street, observing the entrance. Jason, Leonard, Gary, and Alec were watching the chase from the windows. Police finally overpowered the killers.

"Congrats," Alec said, turning to Jason. "You found the password in the very last minute."

"Yes," Gary said, patting Jason’s shoulder, "Good you kept calm, young man."

"It was his destiny, after all," Leonard said in a sober voice.

Jason shrugged and then smiled. "It’s all over now, but I still do not know why I was chosen. I have no idea why the monk contacted me. And more so, how he did it. After all, he died a thousand years ago," he said.

"So many questions, so many riddles. We’ll answer and solve them all. Some time or other," Leonard said lightly.

"Sure," Jason said cheerfully. "How about coffee now? Biscuits, Leonard?"

A short time later, they were sitting in the living room. Alec called his mother and she informed him of a global scandal. All TV stations were reporting on it. Jason switched on the TV. They saw an image of Antoine Lambert’s face on the screen. An excited reporter said that Antoine Lambert had revealed Lefèvre Industries’ criminal activities to the public.

"Well, this really takes me by surprise," Leonard said, chewing on a biscuit. "I did not think he was that courageous."

They watched the report and then the door bell rang. Two detectives had come to question them.

Jason slept deeply that night. No dream disturbed his sleep. However, when he awoke, he heard a faint and distant voice. Thank you, the man in his dream said. He sounded relieved and contented.

"My thanks to you," Jason said under his breath. "Without your help, I would not have made it."