The Lost Symbol

As they rounded the corner at the top of the stairs, Katherine stopped short and pointed into a sitting room across the hall. Through the bay window, Langdon could see a sleek black helicopter sitting silent on the lawn. A lone pilot stood beside it, facing away from them and talking on his radio. There was also a black Escalade with tinted windows parked nearby.

Staying in the shadows, Langdon and Katherine moved into the sitting room, and peered out the window to see if they could see the rest of the field team. Thankfully, the huge lawn outside the National Cathedral was empty.

«They must be inside the cathedral,» Langdon said.

«They’re not,» a deep voice said behind them.

Langdon and Katherine wheeled around to see who had spoken. In the doorway of the sitting room, two black-clad figures aimed laser-sighted rifles at them. Langdon could see a glowing red dot dancing on his chest.

«Nice to see you again, Professor,» said a familiar raspy voice. The agents parted, and the tiny form of Director Sato sliced effortlessly through, crossing the sitting room and stopping directly in front of langdon. «you’ve made some exceedingly poor choices tonight.»

«The police found Peter Solomon,» Langdon declared forcefully. «He’s in bad shape, but he’ll live. It’s over.»

If Sato was surprised Peter had been found, she did not show it. Her eyes were unflinching as she walked to Langdon and stopped only inches away. «Professor, I can assure you, this is nowhere near over. And if the police are now involved, it has only become more serious. As I told you earlier this evening, this is an extremely delicate situation. You never should have run away with that pyramid.»

«Ma’am,» Katherine blurted, «I need to see my brother. You can have the pyramid, but you must let — »

«I must?» Sato demanded, spinning to Katherine. «Ms. Solomon, I assume?» She stared at Katherine with fire in her eyes and then turned back to Langdon. «Put the leather bag on the table.»

Langdon glanced down at the pair of laser sights on his chest. He set the leather bag on the coffee table. An agent approached cautiously, unzipped the bag, and pulled the two sides apart. A little puff of trapped steam billowed up out of the bag. He aimed his light inside, stared for a long, puzzled moment, and then nodded to Sato.

Sato walked over and peered into the bag. The wet pyramid and capstone glistened in the beam of the flashlight. Sato crouched down, looking very closely at the golden capstone, which Langdon realized she had only seen in X-ray.

«The inscription,» Sato demanded. «Does it mean anything to you? ‘The secret hides within The Order’?»

«We’re not sure, ma’am.»

«Why is the pyramid steaming hot?»

«We submerged it in boiling water,» Katherine said without hesitation. «It was part of the process of deciphering the code. We’ll tell you everything, but please let us go see my brother. He’s been through — »

«You boiled the pyramid?» Sato demanded.

«Turn off the flashlight,» Katherine said. «Look at the capstone. You can probably still see.»

The agent flicked off his light, and Sato knelt down before the capstone. Even from where Langdon was standing, he could see that the text on the capstone was still glowing slightly.

«Eight Franklin Square?» Sato said, sounding amazed.

«Yes, ma’am. That text was written with an incandescent lacquer or something. The thirty-third degree was actually — »

«and the address?» sato demanded. «is this what this guy wants?»

«Yes,» Langdon said. «He believes the pyramid is a map that will tell him the location of a great treasure — the key to unlocking the Ancient Mysteries.»

Sato looked again at the capstone, her expression one of disbelief. «Tell me,» she said, fear creeping into her voice, «have you contacted this man yet? Have you already given him this address?»

«We tried.» Langdon explained what had happened when they called the man’s cell phone.

Sato listened, running her tongue over her yellow teeth as he spoke. Despite looking ready to erupt with anger over the situation, she turned to one of her agents and spoke in a restrained whisper. «Send him in. He’s in the SUV.»

The agent nodded and spoke into his transceiver.

«Send who in?» Langdon said.

«The only person who has any hope of fixing the goddamn mess you made!»

«What mess?» Langdon fired back. «Now that Peter is safe, everything is — »

«For Christ’s sake!» Sato exploded. «This is not about Peter! I tried to tell you that at the Capitol Building, Professor, but you chose to work against me rather than with me! Now you’ve made an ungodly mess! When you destroyed your cell phone, which, by the way, we were tracking, you cut off your communication with this man. And this address you uncovered — whatever the hell it is — this address was our one chance to catch this lunatic. I needed you to play his game, to provide him with this address so we would know where the hell to catch him!»

Before Langdon could reply, Sato directed the remainder of her wrath at Katherine.