Free The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

speak, but Sophie had already turned back to Langdon.
    “Mr. Langdon,” she declared, pulling a small slip of paper from her pocket, “this is the number for your embassy's messaging service. They asked that you phone in as soon as possible.” She handed him the paper with an intent gaze. “While I explain the code to Captain Fache, you need to make this call.”
    Langdon studied the slip. It had a Paris phone number and extension on it. “Thank you,” he said, feeling worried now. “Where do I find a phone?”
    Sophie began to pull a cell phone from her sweater pocket, but Fache waved her off. He now looked like Mount Vesuvius about to erupt. Without taking his eyes off Sophie, he produced his own cell phone and held it out. “This line is secure, Mr. Langdon. You may use it.”
    Langdon felt mystified by Fache's anger with the young woman. Feeling uneasy, he accepted the captain's phone. Fache immediately marched Sophie several steps away and began chastising her in hushed tones. Disliking the captain more and more, Langdon turned away from the odd confrontation and switched on the cell phone. Checking the slip of paper Sophie had given him, Langdon dialed the number.
    The line began to ring.
    One ring . . . two rings . . . three rings . . .
    Finally the call connected.
    Langdon expected to hear an embassy operator, but he found himself instead listening to an answering machine. Oddly, the voice on the tape was familiar. It was that of Sophie Neveu.
    “Bonjour, vous êtes bien chez Sophie Neveu,”
the woman's voice said.
“Je suis absente pour le moment, mais . . .”
    Confused, Langdon turned back toward Sophie. “I'm sorry, Ms. Neveu? I think you may have given me—”
    “No, that's the right number,” Sophie interjected quickly, as if anticipating Langdon's confusion. “The embassy has an automated message system. You have to dial an access code to pick up your messages.”
    Langdon stared. “But—”
    “It's the three-digit code on the paper I gave you.”
    Langdon opened his mouth to explain the bizarre error, but Sophie flashed him a silencing glare that lasted only an instant. Her green eyes sent a crystal-clear message.
    Don't ask questions. Just do it.
    Bewildered, Langdon punched in the extension on the slip of paper: 454.
    Sophie's outgoing message immediately cut off, and Langdon heard an electronic voice announce in French: “You have
one
new message.” Apparently, 454 was Sophie's remote access code for picking up her messages while away from home.
    I'm picking up this woman's messages?
    Langdon could hear the tape rewinding now. Finally, it stopped, and the machine engaged. Langdon listened as the message began to play. Again, the voice on the line was Sophie's.
    “Mr. Langdon,” the message began in a fearful whisper. “Do
not
react to this message. Just listen calmly. You are in danger right now. Follow my directions very closely.”

CHAPTER 10
    Silas sat behind the wheel of the black Audi the Teacher had arranged for him and gazed out at the great Church of Saint-Sulpice. Lit from beneath by banks of floodlights, the church's two bell towers rose like stalwart sentinels above the building's long body. On either flank, a shadowy row of sleek buttresses jutted out like the ribs of a beautiful beast.
    The heathens used a house of God to conceal their keystone
. Again the brotherhood had confirmed their legendary reputation for illusion and deceit. Silas was looking forward to finding the keystone and giving it to the Teacher so they could recover what the brotherhood had long ago stolen from the faithful.
    How powerful that will make Opus Dei.
    Parking the Audi on the deserted Place Saint-Sulpice, Silas exhaled, telling himself to clear his mind for the task at hand. His broad back still ached from the corporal mortification he had endured earlier today, and yet the pain was inconsequential compared with the anguish of his life before Opus Dei had saved him.
    Still, the memories