CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 19

GREGORY EVANS FELT incapacitated, after all, how could he say no to a senator who could demand his head at any moment, and obviously, the man wanted him away from the investigation of the case that directly involved his son in a satanic ritual in which they would kill a boy innocent.

THE JOHN F. KENNEDY International Airport in Queens, New York, is 26 km from the city center, making it the fifth busiest airport in the United States and the first for international flights in the country.

JFK is equivalent in size to 1,776 hectares, including 880 of them in the Central Terminal Area, known as the CTA. The airport has more than forty-eight kilometers of roads and is four meters above sea level.

In 1963, the airport was renamed John F. Kennedy Airport, in honor of the President of the United States of America who had recently been assassinated in Dallas.

On March 19, 2007, JFK was the first airport in the United States of America to receive the new Airbus A380 with passengers on board.

Over the years, there have been several plane crashes at the New York airport. On December 16, 1960, a United Airlines aircraft collided with a TWA aircraft as they approached the runway and both crashed to the ground. One hundred and twenty-seven people on board the planes and five on the ground died.

On June 24, 1975, during a storm, an Eastern Airlines Boeing failed to land and one hundred and twenty-two people on board died. On November 12, 2001, an American Airlines Airbus crashed in Queens, shortly after taking off from JFK, killing the two hundred and sixty people who were on the aircraft, as well as five people on the ground.

In almost all of these events Greg was out of the country and he was always worried about his beloved homeland every time he walked into JFK.

GREG JOINED the two of them on the plane.

— Hmm! Apparently our paths crossed again, Detective — Nicole said.

The priest looked at him as if he were going to question her. The detective then continued.

— I don't think I would know how to answer all these questions that life inadvertently poses to us, would I?

— You are a lucky man, Father Green — you will be accompanied by the best policeman in the United States and a competent future historian.

— I still haven't been told why I was called.

— I think the senator has a guilty conscience and wanted to give you a vacation in Europe, that's all, relax and enjoy the trip.

— And where are we going?

— Rome… more specifically, the Vatican.

— So I'm going on the senator's benevolence?

The two laughed.

— You're right to say that, Gregory — the priest agreed proudly — the senator is a lovely person.

— And what would our student here do during this trip?

— I'm the only one who knows what my grandfather was working on, so it's only fair to follow it closely.

Now it all made even less sense.

— There are things you shouldn't worry about, Mr. Evans, I know there's an overwhelming desire on your part to know the truth of everything that surrounds you, but we're on a diplomatic mission for the sake of history.

— That way, Gregory will think you brought me in for the housework.

— Sorry, young lady — he said smiling — but as our guest has already noticed, few people in the world can match you in that regard. But let's do justice to your prodigious family in the world of historiography, Gregory. In addition to being beautiful, she is one of the smartest girls at New York University.

— Father, please! — Nicole Hulmann had blushed completely.

— It looks like you've known each other for a long time.

— I was friends with her grandfather, we discussed many historical concepts about the bible.

— They were incredible matches — Nicole interjected.

— I guess...

Unable to help noticing Gregory Evans' visible embarrassment, the priest changed the subject:

— What's your background, Greg?

— I studied law to understand how the whole legal process works and to be able to arrest a certain person.

— To arrest someone in particular? — Nicole asked.

That used to be very painful for him, but nowadays it wasn't anymore.

— Yes, my father... — he reaffirmed with conviction.

That took both of them by surprise.

— Did you arrest your own father? Wow!

— No... I arrested a murderer who killed my grandfather, the fact that he was my parent was mere chance.

— Here we have the true expression of the hero's crossroads.

The sweetness gave way to the indignation of a beast that had its space violated.

— I don't see it as heroism to do your own work.

— And your throwing yourself at the Senator, what was it? — Heroism or madness?

— The fact that he's a senator wouldn't change anything, it could be any one of you.