Like a ghost, Silas drifted silently behind his target. Sophie Neveu sensed him too late. Before shecould turn, Silas pressed the gun barrel into her spine and wrapped a powerful arm across her chest,pulling her back against his hulking body. She yelled in surprise. Teabing and Langdon both turnednow, their expressions astonished and fearful.

　　"What...?" Teabing choked out. "What did you do to Rémy!""Your only concern," Silas said calmly, "is that I leave here with the keystone." This recoverymission, as Rémy had described it, was to be clean and simple: Enter the church, take the keystone,and walk out; no killing, no struggle.

　　Holding Sophie firm, Silas dropped his hand from her chest, down to her waist, slipping it insideher deep sweater pockets, searching. He could smell the soft fragrance of her hair through his ownalcohol-laced breath. "Where is it?" he whispered. The keystone was in her sweater pocket earlier.

　　So where is it now?

　　"It's over here," Langdon's deep voice resonated from across the room.

　　Silas turned to see Langdon holding the black cryptex before him, waving it back and forth like amatador tempting a dumb animal.

　　"Set it down," Silas demanded.

　　"Let Sophie and Leigh leave the church," Langdon replied. "You and I can settle this."Silas pushed Sophie away from him and aimed the gun at Langdon, moving toward him.

　　"Not a step closer," Langdon said. "Not until they leave the building.""You are in no position to make demands.""I disagree." Langdon raised the cryptex high over his head. "I will not hesitate to smash this on thefloor and break the vial inside."Although Silas sneered outwardly at the threat, he felt a flash of fear. This was unexpected. Heaimed the gun at Langdon's head and kept his voice as steady as his hand. "You would never breakthe keystone. You want to find the Grail as much as I do.""You're wrong. You want it much more. You've proven you're willing to kill for it."Forty feet away, peering out from the annex pews near the archway, Rémy Legaludec felt a risingalarm. The maneuver had not gone as planned, and even from here, he could see Silas wasuncertain how to handle the situation. At the Teacher's orders, Rémy had forbidden Silas to fire hisgun.

　　"Let them go," Langdon again demanded, holding the cryptex high over his head and staring intoSilas's gun.

　　The monk's red eyes filled with anger and frustration, and Rémy tightened with fear that Silasmight actually shoot Langdon while he was holding the cryptex. The cryptex cannot fall!

　　The cryptex was to be Rémy's ticket to freedom and wealth. A little over a year ago, he was simplya fifty-five-year-old manservant living within the walls of Chateau Villette, catering to the whimsof the insufferable cripple Sir Leigh Teabing. Then he was approached with an extraordinaryproposition. Rémy's association with Sir Leigh Teabing—the preeminent Grail historian onearth—was going to bring Rémy everything he had ever dreamed of in life. Since then, everymoment he had spent inside Chateau Villette had been leading him to this very instant.

　　I am so close, Rémy told himself, gazing into the sanctuary of the Temple Church and the keystonein Robert Langdon's hand. If Langdon dropped it, all would be lost.

　　Am I willing to show my face? It was something the Teacher had strictly forbidden. Rémy was theonly one who knew the Teacher's identity.

　　"Are you certain you want Silas to carry out this task?" Rémy had asked the Teacher less than halfan hour ago, upon getting orders to steal the keystone. "I myself am capable."The Teacher was resolute. "Silas served us well with the four Priory members. He will recover thekeystone. You must remain anonymous. If others see you, they will need to be eliminated, and therehas been enough killing already. Do not reveal your face."My face will change, Rémy thought. With what you've promised to pay me, I will become anentirely new man. Surgery could even change his fingerprints, the Teacher had told him. Soon hewould be free—another unrecognizable, beautiful face soaking up the sun on the beach.

　　"Understood," Rémy said. "I will assist Silas from the shadows.""For your own knowledge, Rémy," the Teacher had told him, "the tomb in question is not in theTemple Church. So have n............