My brother, Joshua, arrived today. I met him at Natbag (Ben Gurion Airport) where he greeted me in his street clothes. Funny, but I have not seen him in anything but his robes since he joined the Cistercians. Reminded me of our childhood on North Island when we would hunt and fish and have nothing more serious on our minds than girls and, well, hunting and fishing. That all ended when Asgeir Jorgensen, just a little boy, was killed, found dead on a beach the afternoon of the last day of school. That day something in me snapped, but my life path was set. I was going to find his killer. I have found many killers since that day, but not his. Joshua’s being in street clothes means that his superiors accepted his request to help me in finding the killer of the girl on North Island. This means, also, that he may end up infiltrating The Order. That means that he will have to do things that fly directly in the face of his sacred vows. Neither he, nor his superiors, take this lightly and permission was granted only after months of prayer and deliberation by all involved parties. The grave, yes, deadly, nature and mission of The Order presents a threat not only to me but to literally the entire world. They would see us all perish if they could. This is possibly a mortal sacrifice for Josh. Certainly leaving his own order, even temporarily, is a sacrifice of a magnitude I cannot imagine. Thank you, Father Joshua, my brother. May God have mercy upon both our souls.
North Archipelago 