Silas sat in the passenger seat of the parked Jaguar limousine near the Temple Church. His handsfelt damp on the keystone as he waited for Rémy to finish tying and gagging Teabing in back withthe rope they had found in the trunk.
Finally, Rémy climbed out of the rear of the limo, walked around, and slid into the driver's seatbeside Silas.
"Secure?" Silas asked.
Rémy chuckled, shaking off the rain and glancing over his shoulder through the open partition atthe crumpled form of Leigh Teabing, who was barely visible in the shadows in the rear. "He's notgoing anywhere."Silas could hear Teabing's muffled cries and realized Rémy had used some of the old duct tape togag him.
"Ferme ta gueule!" Rémy shouted over his shoulder at Teabing. Reaching to a control panel on theelaborate dash, Rémy pressed a button. An opaque partition raised behind them, sealing off theback. Teabing disappeared, and his voice was silenced. Rémy glanced at Silas. "I've been listeningto his miserable whimpering long enough."Minutes later, as the Jaguar stretch limo powered through the streets, Silas's cell phone rang. TheTeacher. He answered excitedly. "Hello?""Silas," the Teacher's familiar French accent said, "I am relieved to hear your voice. This meansyou are safe."Silas was equally comforted to hear the Teacher. It had been hours, and the operation had veeredwildly off course. Now, at last, it seemed to be back on track. "I have the keystone.""This is superb news," the Teacher told him. "Is Rémy with you?"Silas was surprised to hear the Teacher use Rémy's name. "Yes. Rémy freed me.""As I ordered him to do. I am only sorry you had to endure captivity for so long.""Physical discomfort has no meaning. The important thing is that the keystone is ours.""Yes. I need it delivered to me at once. Time is of the essence."Silas was eager to meet the Teacher face-to-face at last. "Yes, sir, I would be honored.""Silas, I would like Rémy to bring it to me."Rémy? Silas was crestfallen. After everything Silas had done for the Teacher, he had believed hewould be the one to hand over the prize. The Teacher favors Rémy?
"I sense your disappointment," the Teacher said, "which tells me you do not understand mymeaning." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "You must believe that I would much prefer toreceive the keystone from you—a man of God rather than a criminal—but Rémy must be dealtwith. He disobeyed my orders and made a grave mistake that has put our entire mission at risk."Silas felt a chill and glanced over at Rémy. Kidnapping Teabing had not been part of the plan, anddeciding what to do with him posed a new problem.
"You and I are men of God," the Teacher whispered. "We cannot be deterred from our goal." Therewas an ominous pause on the line. "For this reason alone, I will ask Rémy to bring me thekeystone. Do you understand?"Silas sensed anger in the Teacher's voice and was surprised the man was not more understanding.
Showing his face could not be avoided, Silas thought. Rémy did what he had to do. He saved thekeystone. "I understand," Silas managed.
"Good. For your own safety, you need to get off the street immediately. The police will be lookingfor the limousine soon, and I do not want you caught. Opus Dei has a residence in London, no?""Of course.""And you are welcome there?""As a brother.""Then go there and stay out of sight. I will call you the moment I am in possession of the keystoneand have attended to my current problem.""You are in London?""Do as I say, and everything will be fine.""Yes, sir."The Teacher heaved a sigh, as if what he now had to do was profoundly regrettable. "It's time Ispeak to Rémy."Silas handed Rémy the phone, sensing it might be the last call Rémy Legaludec ever took.
As Rémy took the phone, he knew this poor, twisted monk had no idea what fate awaited him nowthat he had served his purpose.
The Teacher used you, Silas.
And your bishop is a pawn.
Rémy still marveled at the Teacher's powers of persuasion. Bishop Aringarosa had trustedeverything. He had been blinded by his own desperation. Aringarosa was far too eager to believe.
Although Rémy did not particularly like the Teacher, he felt pride at having gained the man's trustand helped him so substantially. I have earned my payday.
"Listen carefully," the Teacher said. "Take Silas to the Opus Dei residence hall and drop him off afew streets away. Then drive to St. James's Park. It is adjacent to Parliament and Big Ben. You canpark the limousine on Horse Guards Parade. We'll talk there."With that, the connection went dead.
塞拉斯坐在停靠于圣殿教堂附近的"美洲虎"豪华轿车的乘客椅上。雷米在车后面他们刚才从汽车尾部的行李箱中找到的绳子将提彬的手绑了，并把他的的嘴堵上。等到他把这些事情做完，这才发现拿着拱心石的手有些潮湿。
雷米终于从车后面爬出来，绕着车走，然后钻到塞拉斯身边的司机座位上。
"你没事吧？"塞拉斯问。
雷米咯咯地笑起来，他擦去身上的雨水，回过头，越过那用铁栅栏隔开的区间，看了被绑起来的雷。提彬一眼，他蜷缩在车后的阴影里，几乎看不见。"他跑不了的。"
塞拉斯听见提彬模糊不清的喊声，这才意识到雷米将刚才堵住他嘴的破电缆线又拿来对付提彬了。
"闭上你的臭嘴！"雷米回头向提彬吼道。他把手放到造型精致的汽车控制板上，按了按钮。一道不透明的隔墙随即在他们身后升起，将车后的隔间封住了。于是提彬消失了，他的声音也听不见了。雷米瞥了塞拉斯一眼："这些年来我实在是受够了。"
几分钟后，正当雷米开着"美洲虎"加长豪华车，加大马力穿过街道时，塞拉斯的手机突然响了起来。是教主。他激动地接起电话："喂？"
"塞拉斯。"教主操着熟悉的法国口音说："听到你的声音，我就放心了。这说明你还没出事。"塞拉斯听到教主的声音，他同样感到释然。已经过去好几个小时了，但他们的行动却疯狂地偏离了原来的轨道。现在好了，一切似乎又回归到正常的轨道。"拱心石到手了。"
"太棒了。"教主问他："雷米在吗？"
听到教主这样称呼雷米，塞拉斯吃了一惊。"在。是雷米刚才救的我。"
"他是按我吩咐去做的。你被他们绑了这么长的时间，我真地感到过意不去。"
"肉体上的痛苦倒不算什么，重要的是把拱心石弄到手。"
"你说的没错，我现在要你们赶快把它送过来。时间真的很宝贵啊。"
塞拉斯想到终于能够见到教主一面，心情急切起来。"好的，阁下。我很荣幸。"
"塞拉斯，我要雷米给我送过来。"
雷米？塞拉斯不由垂头丧气。他为教主赴汤蹈火效犬马之劳，他还以为会让他亲手把拱心石交给教主哩。难道教主偏爱雷米？
"你是不是感到很失望。"教主说道："这说明你还没明白我的意思。"他压低嗓门："你要相信，我很愿意让你这位上帝的子民--而不是让一名罪犯--把拱心石送来，可我必须处理雷米。他没听从我的命令，因而犯下严重的错误，将我们整个的计划都搅乱了。"塞拉斯打了个冷战，他回头瞥了雷米一眼。原来绑架提彬并没列入计划之内，而且如何处理他是他们将要面临的新的难题。
"你我都是上帝的子民。"教主低声地说："所以决不允许别人阻止我们实现自己的目标。
"电话的另一端沉默了片刻，分明有种不祥的预兆。"就因为这个原因，我要雷米把拱心石给我送来。你听懂了我的意思没有？"
塞拉斯察觉教主生气了，他很奇怪这人竟然如此的不近人情。他迟早会露面的，这是不可避免的，塞拉斯心想。雷米只不过是在尽义务罢了，毕竟拱心石是他夺来的。"我明白了。"他敷衍了回去。
"那好，为了你自身的安全，你马上离开街道。警察很快会来寻找你们的汽车。我不想看到你被抓走。天主事工会在伦敦有栋房子对吧？"
"那当然。"
"那里的人喜欢你吗？"
"我跟他们情同手足哩。"
"那你赶快去。等我拿到拱心石，处理好眼前的问题，我再打电话找你。"
"你在伦敦吗？"
"如果你照我吩咐的去做，那就什么事也没有了。"
"那好。"
教主长叹一声，似乎对目前必须做的事情也深感遗憾。"我来跟雷米说几句。"
塞拉斯把电话递给了雷米，觉得这可能是他--雷米。莱格鲁德最后一次接电话了。
雷米接过电话，他明白这个可怜的、备受折磨的修道士还不知道前方会有怎样的命运在等待着他，因为他已经完成了自己的使命，变得毫无用处了。塞拉斯，你是被教主利用了。而你的主教，不过是他的爪牙罢了。
雷米还在为教主说服别人的高超技艺惊奇不已。阿林加洛沙主教相信一切，他完全被自己铤而走险的动机所迷惑了。阿林加洛沙过于心急，让人难以相信。虽然雷米并不是特别喜欢这位教主，但还是为自己赢得了此人的信任而感到自豪，并尽力去帮助他。我的好日子就快到了。
"你给我听好了。"教主开了腔："你先把塞拉斯带到天主事工会的住处，等再过几条街道后才放他下去，然后把车开到圣詹姆斯公园，那里离议会和大笨钟很近。你把车停在骑兵校阅场。我们就在那里碰头。"说完，他就将电话挂了。