By the time I reached the next floor up, the sound of my thundering steps and the cries of the officers behind me had drawn priests to doorways set close together either side of a long corridor. Two lines of faces surveyed me fearfully.
I rounded the landing and bounded up the next flight of stairs, lungs burning, legs aching, and was soon on the next floor,which had fewer doors. I could hear the cries and shouts of the Vatican police behind me and the hammering of their shoes against the wooden stairs. There was another flight and I started toward it, but stopped in my tracks when a door opened ahead of me.
Father Vito appeared in the doorway. Once he got over the shock of seeing me, breathless and harried, he beckoned me over.
“Come, my son,” he said. “I will give you sanctuary.”
CHAPTER76
I RAN TOWARD the kindly priest. He stepped aside to allow me to pass before closing the door. He had simple but comfortable lodgings—a small living room overlooking the courtyard, a bedroom off to the right with its own bathroom, and a kitchen of sorts tucked behind a threefold floral screen in one corner of the living room.
“Please sit,” he said, indicating an armchair away from the window.
It faced a couch across a low table covered in old newspapers. There was a stovetop coffee maker steaming on a burner in the kitchen area.
“I’ve just made coffee if you would like some,” Father Vito remarked.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My heart was racing, I was trying to catch my breath and my attention was focused on the soundof Vatican police officers hammering on doors farther down the corridor.
“Fate will decide what happens to you,” Father Vito said.
He wore black trousers and a white T-shirt, which robbed him of some of his gravitas. It was fascinating to see the difference the black robe made. He seemed less divine, more human somehow.
“Fate? Or God?” I asked.
“I used the word I knew you’d be more comfortable with,” he replied with a smile. “You look as though you already have enough on your mind without having to wrestle with questions of faith.”
There was a loud knock on the door, and whoever was on the other side tried the handle. Thankfully, Father Vito had locked it.
“Quick,” he whispered. “Into the bedroom.”
I nodded and hurried into the next room, shutting the door behind me. I took a moment to settle, pressed my ear against a panel, and heard Father Vito working the locks. There was a creak as the sitting-room door swung open, followed by a voluble exchange of words. Father Vito sounded calm and considered; whoever he was talking to, angry and imperious. I held my breath and listened to the movements on the other side of the door.
I looked around the room for somewhere to hide, but it was little more than a cell with a small window, a low single bed and a wooden closet. There was a bathroom about half the size of the bedroom, and I edged into it now.
I steeled myself for inevitable discovery. With no means of escape I’d have to fight my way out, and these cops would bewell equipped, possibly armed. I hated making enemies of the cops, but I couldn’t risk being taken into custody.
I heard movement beyond the bedroom door, and then the handle turned. I readied myself to charge at whoever came through. I took a step before registering it was Father Vito and that he was alone.
“Would you like that coffee now?” he asked, and I smiled at him and nodded.
“How did you get rid of them?” I asked, following him out.
“I told them about the sanctity of my chamber and said I would complain to their superiors if they doubted my word that I hadn’t seen you,” he said, pouring me a cup of coffee from the aluminum stove-top pot.
“You lied?” I asked.
“A small transgression to prevent a greater one,” he replied, handing me my coffee.
It was just the right temperature. I took a sip before sinking into an armchair. He sat on the couch opposite.
“This is good,” I said, over my cup.
“Thank the coffee growers of Colombia.”
“Why would you lie for me?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Because you’re a good man. I see it in you,” he replied. “I’ve also read about you on the Internet. We are not totally backward here.”
