Free The Fraternity of the Stone by David Morrell

Static crackled. "George, what the hell are you doing, taking a leak? You're supposed to check in." More static.
    Drew relaxed, feeling the urgency drain from his muscles. He approached the sound of the voice. The walkie-talkie hung near the knapsack on the tree, formerly sheltered by the nylon sheet but now exposed to the rain.
    "For Christ's sake, George. Check in."
    Drew almost pressed the send button, strongly tempted to answer - not to pretend to be George, however, for Drew had no idea of whether George's voice was high or low, whether George had a distinctive accent or even a cold. It was highly unlikely that the man on the other end would be deceived. But Drew nonetheless wanted to answer, to imagine the shock that the man would feel if an unfamiliar voice came over the walkie-talkie and suddenly announced, "I'm sorry. George can't come to the phone right now. He's dead. But can I take a message?"
    Get control, Drew thought. When you start imagining jokes like that, you're close to the edge.
    He restrained the impulse. But already he knew more than he had a minute ago. The spotter had not been out here alone. Somewhere close, the spotter had a partner.
    He assessed the possibilities. This hill above the monastery was the best spot from which to study all the exits from the compound. But was it practical to put two men up here? Did it make more sense for the men to work in shifts, taking turns so that they each had a chance to get out of the cold and sleep?
    Sleep where? Did the surveillance team have a vehicle in the area? As much as Drew wanted answers, he also needed transportation, but he didn't have much time to look for it.
    "George, what the hell's going on?" the crackling voice demanded from the walkie-talkie. "Quit fooling around! Are you okay?"
    Before the man on the other end became sufficiently disturbed to search for his partner or else drive away from the area, Drew had to find him. And if Drew's logic was valid, he had a good chance by searching along the road.
    He left the trees, pushed by the rain, descending the gloomy slope. But coming to the dead man, he stopped abruptly. He'd asked himself what else he would need to survive in the world. An object on the naked corpse, the only thing that Drew hadn't thought to remove, attracted his attention. Totally artificial, completely unnecessary for the past six years, it suddenly seemed essential.
    He knelt in the rain and took the wristwatch from the body.
    Buckling it on, he felt a change come over him. Yes, he thought with immense sorrow, tears again flowing. He'd rejoined the world now.
    Time had begun again.

    Chapter 25.
    At the bottom of the slope, Drew angled right, shifting quickly through another stretch of forest till he came to a section of the high chain-link fence that enclosed the land around the monastery. The noise of the storm persisted, hiding the jangle that the fence made as he climbed it. The moment he dropped to the mud on the other side, he assumed an instinctive defensive crouch. He'd crossed yet another threshold. Like the watch on his wrist, the fence was one more shift from the peace of the monastery toward the turmoil of the world.
    But he couldn't allow his regrets to disturb him. He had to reach the Church, specifically Father Hafer, his contact, his protector. He had to accept the conditions that had been forced upon him, to go where necessity took him. The answers, the dead monks in the monastery, they were what mattered. Not his reluctance.
    He proceeded through the storm down the next wooded slope until he reached the road. A flash of lightning revealed that, as he'd remembered, it was paved. Rain glistened off it. After the difficult landscape through which he'd struggled, the smooth, unobstructed surface invited him. But he didn't dare show himself; he'd have to creep through the undergrowth along its border.
    He paused to assess his location. The monastery was now to his left. Farther to his left, several miles away along