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Paul. He'll try to keep abreast of what this Valoni is doing, but it won't be easy. Anything untoward could expose him to scrutiny. In my opinion, master, we should stay back, keep low, do nothing-just watch." The speaker was tall, athletic, in his mid-fifties, with graying hair and sculpted features that might have belonged to a Roman emperor.
    The man whom he had addressed surveyed the others.
    "Anyone else?"
    Everyone concurred; for the moment they would simply observe from a distance as Valoni went about his work, and their contact, Paul, would be instructed not to press too hard for information. They went on to set a date for their next meeting and to change the code keys they would use until then.
    They were preparing to leave when one of them, his accent French-inflected, asked the question on all their minds:
    "Will they try again?"
    The master shook his head. "No, not immediately. There's too much risk. This group will try to get out of Italy, then contact Addaio. Even if they're lucky and make it back to him, it will take time. Addaio will be in no hurry to send a new team."
    "The last time it was two years," recalled the man with the Roman face.
    "And we will still be there waiting for them, as we've always been," his master replied.

6
    Josar followed Jesus wheresoever he went. Jesus' companions had become accustomed to Josar's presence and would often invite him to share a moment of quiet brotherhood with them. It was through these companions that Josar learned that Jesus knew he was to die. He also learned that, despite their counsel that the Nazarene should flee, Jesus insisted that he would remain, to do as his Father had bidden him.
    It was difficult to comprehend why the Father would wish the Son to die, but Jesus would speak of it with such serenity that it seemed thus was it indeed meant to be.
    Whenever Jesus saw Josar, he would make some gesture of friendship toward him. One day, addressing him, he had said:
    "Josar, I must do as I am bidden to do. That is why I have been sent here by my Father. And in just that way, you, Josar, also have a mission you must fulfill. That is why you are here-you shall speak of what I am, of what you have seen, and I shall be near you when I am no longer among you."
    Josar had been puzzled by these words, but he had not had the courage to ask for explanation or to contradict the master.
    In recent days, the rumors had grown more persistent. The priests wanted the Romans to solve the problem of Jesus of Nazareth, while Pilate, the governor, was attempting in turn to incite the Jews to judge the man who was one of them. It was only a matter of time before one or the other acted.
    Jesus had gone off into the desert, as he was wont to do. On this occasion he had fasted, preparing himself, he said, to carry out the will of his Father.
    One morning Josar was awakened by the owner of the house in which he was lodging.
    "The Nazarene has been arrested."
    Josar leapt up from his bed and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Seizing a jug of water from a corner of his chamber, he splashed his face. Then he took up his cloak and hurried to the temple. There he found one of the companions of Jesus standing among the multitude gathered there, listening in fear.
    "What has happened, Judas?"
    Judas began to weep, and he drew harshly away from Josar, but Josar caught him and held him, his hand upon his shoulder.
    "What has happened? Tell me. Why do you flee me?"
    Judas, his eyes bathed in tears, tried again to free himself from Josar's grasp, but he could not, and at last he answered him:
    "He has been taken. The Romans have taken him away, they are to crucify him, and I…"
    Tears coursed down his cheeks, as though he were a child. But Josar, strangely, was unmoved by his grief, and he continued to hold Judas tight so that he might not escape him.
    "I… Josar, I have betrayed him. I have betrayed the best of men. For thirty pieces of silver I have delivered him up to the Romans."
    Wrathfully,