Excerpt
PROLOUGE

October 13, 1307
Arques, Southern France
Will d’Arques stared in horror at the remains of his castle outside the village of Argues. It was a pile of smoking ruins. He had been on a 10-month journey to the farthest reaches of the known world, the Holy Land, ancient Persia, Lebanon, and Syria. The dirt and dust of a long journey soiled his clothes. His white tunic with the scarlet Templar cross on it was tattered and stained.

There were jewels, gold and silver coins, and a variety of other treasures that he had returned with. But the most important thing he had returned with was knowledge and wisdom. He had learned many things on his journey: customs and rituals, cures for a variety of medical illnesses, and concepts of philosophy and mathematics. He had intended to share his knowledge with his Knights Templar brothers and add this treasure to the great treasure lode hidden at in the cellars and tunnels under the Commanderies in Paris.

He rode his horse up to the base of his destroyed and ancient home. Who dared do this? There was a rustling in the bushes at the face of the Castle. He turned toward the sound and drew his sword. An old man stumbled to him. It was his faithful and loyal servant, Miguel.

“Miguel, what happened?”

“They came this morning looking for you!”

“Who came?”

“King Phillip’s soldiers. They’re arresting everyone. Every Templar in France is to be rounded up and arrested on charges of heresy. You weren’t here, and they destroyed the Castle. They will be back looking for you. I heard them talking as I was hiding in the bushes. So far, they rounded up almost 600 Templars.”

Will thought quickly. There were between 15,000 and 20,000 Templars living in France. It would take quite a while to get every one of them.

He turned back to Miguel. “Miguel, you have been a faithful and loyal servant. I want you to return to your family. Stay hidden in case they want to question you. Here is a parting gift for you. It should sustain your family for quite a while.” He walked to his horse and drew out several gold and silver coins. “Take care, Miguel. Thank you for your years of service.”

“Master Will, will I ever see you again?” The loyal servant’s eyes flooded with tears.

“I think not Miguel. Godspeed and good luck.”

Will got on his horse and raced toward the Commanderies at Albi. From Albi he would travel north to Paris. He never made it and he and his faithful servant, Miguel, never saw each other again.

#
Berlin
April 30, 1945
Hitler’s bunker

“These are fake!” The Fuhrer’s mood had gone from bad to worse when the generals told him Berlin had fallen. The eleventh-hour counteroffensive from the 11th Panzer Army had not begun. He suspected everything connected to the SS, including the cyanine pills, were fake. That was bad enough, but when he learned Himmler was negotiating with the Allies for a separate peace, he went ballistic.

“Malignancy is rife,” he screamed. He walked outside the bunker.

He tested one capsule on his dog, Blondi, and the dog died quickly. That seemed to satisfy him. After returning to the bunker, he gave a capsule to each of his personal secretaries, wishing he could have provided a better parting gift.

Earlier that morning at 2:00 am Hitler had called all his staff to the bunker. Hitler arrived with Martin Bormann. His glazed eyes shrouded a lock of hair plastered to his sweaty forehead and he walked with a limp. The right side of his body trembled uncontrollably and saliva drooled from his mouth. He was a physical wreck. It would amaze the German people to see the weakened condition of their Supreme Leader.

All in that room knew the end was near. By noon, the Russian Army had penetrated the Chancellery. The Tiergarten was in enemy hands. The Potsdamer Platz and the Weidendammer Bridge were taken.

At 2 pm, he took lunch with his secretaries and cook. His wife, Eva, was not there. Their marriage was a little more than a day old.

After lunch, Hitler and his wife appeared together and gave their farewells to the staff. Hitler dismissed all his staff and he and Eva retired to their private quarters. Within minutes, there was a single gunshot.

Bormann was the first in the room after the shot. A smell of cyanide hung in the air and all had to wait until the air cleared.

Hitler was sprawled on the left side of the couch, and Eva lay on the right side of the sofa. Her blue dress was wet from a spilled vase of tulips. They took the two bodies outside to the Chancellery Garden and poured gasoline over them. A staff member lit a soaked rag and dropped it on the bodies. Everyone stood at attention while flames consumed the two bodies.

Someone announced that the Russians were 200 meters away near the Stadtmitte U-Bahn station. All the staff fled to the shelter of a wide porch and waited for the inevitable. 













Chapter One

What kind of day was it? A day like all days. Or so I thought. I was wrong. It would be filled with an event that would alter and illuminate my life. This day began when the doorbell rang. Who the hell is it? I wondered. Probably some encyclopedia salesman. I ignored it.

It was the morning of September 4, 2016. It would have been my father’s birthday had he been around. I rarely did anything special for his birthday. Today, I was working on my book discussing my new theory. It was the role that money laundering had played in developing International Finance. I had developed a new theory about shell companies and money laundering, and I was stuck. I berated myself trying to find the documentation to support my new theory. This theory if confirmed would elevate my professional standing. I returned to the computer to search again.