Patton wrapped an arm around Jean’s shoulders, trying to offer her some comfort, not because she herself felt any strong desire for human contact at the end. The fear of death, Patton discovered, was much worse than death itself. Now that the fear had passed and she had resigned herself to the end that we all must eventually face, she felt serene. It would be over in a flash, she thought. Not such a bad way to go.

Jean wept, silently not hysterically, and leaned into Patton’s embrace. Only Nemo seemed about to panic here at the end.

“Fuck,” he said. “I really wanted to find Jack.” Patton had never heard him mention anyone named Jack, but there was no time now for explanations, so she just listened as Nemo said, “I’m so sorry, Jack. I’m so sorry.”

They heard another click, and Patton felt Jean’s body tense, then came the searing light and . . . nothing else. Not an explosion, not the fleeting sensation of a body tearing apart, just a voice, cutting through the sunlight that poured into the sacristy.

“Stupid idiots left the key sitting on the altar.”

“Who are you?” said Jean, extricating herself from Patton’s arm and walking toward the voice, unable to see in the blinding light. “Are you God?”

“Christ, no,” said the voice. “I’m Alex Lansdowne. Who are you?”

“No time for chitchat,” said Nemo, stumbling into the light. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

Patton followed Nemo out of the sacristy and they all made for the door. As the fresh air hit her face and filled her lungs, Patton didn’t know if the surge of adrenaline that propelled her up the hill toward the van would plunge her into another traumatic episode or fill her with the elation of survival. For now, it made no difference, as long as she got away from that chapel before it exploded.

Two minutes later, they stood panting next to their van and Alex Lansdowne’s rental car. The sky was pink with the last tinges of sunrise and the cold Alpine air stung Patton’s lungs as she felt herself torn between laughter and tears. She managed to stave off both long enough to turn to Alex and say, “What are you doing here?”

“I came after you,” said Alex.

“But how?”

“I figured you might find some good Nazi memorabilia, so I put a tracking device in the stock of one of the guns I lent you,” said Alex. “I didn’t think much about it until yesterday when I happened to turn on the news—something I don’t do very often—and heard about the explosion in Munich. I knew Weiss was trouble and at that point you were all driving south through Germany, so I flew to Munich and followed your signal here.”

“I thought you said you were apolitical, that you were just a preserver of artifacts,” said Patton.