Shiva (32 page)

Bunny looked up.
“
Tell me that isn
’
t about the Disciples.
”

“
And the Egyptian connection?
”
Prenner asked
,
still looking a bit skeptical.

Bunny flipped through several pages on the laptop that Stark had jury-rigged for her. Wires poked out from the frame and she had gotten more than one shock from using the trackpad, but hey
,
it was untraceable.

“
Rebecca and I were not the only ones making the Viking connection,
”
Bunny explained.
“
As a matter of fact
,
we followed this article
—
The
Found
Tribe of Dann: Did the
S
cales of
J
ustice
M
igrate as
F
ar as Newfoundland?
”

From the blank look on both of their faces, Bunny was pretty sure neither Prenner nor Emily
was
well schooled in ancient Jewish studies.

“
Dann is one of the
‘
lost tribes.
’
As a matter of fact
,
it was the northernmost tribe of Israel until they got booted out of the
H
oly
L
and by the Canaans
.
”
O
ff of their blank expressions, Bunny asked
,
“
Ring a bell?
”

“
Vaguely,
”
Emily answered.

Great. They wanted quick answers
,
but it was going to take Bunny a semester to get them up to speed.

Prenner leaned back in his chair.
“
I think we get the whole lost tribe thing. Those Jewish tribes disappeared from the historical record after the Canaans invaded. But why the focus on the Dann tribe
?
Isn
’
t it as lost as the others?
”

“
Al
l
right, this is a bit more obscure but all the more important for it,
”
Bunny said as she brought up the passage Rebecca had found.
“
The legions of Dann
…
”
Bunny stopped to explain.
“
Dann was the second
-
largest tribe.
”
She restarted.
“
The legions of Dann will leap from
Bashan
to become those prophesized.
”

Bunny looked up.
“
So you can see why we were so interested.
”

“
No,
”
Prenner said with a chuckle. Maybe the guy
was
human.
“
Not at all.
”

“
Bashan is to the
east
,
”
Bunny emphasized. Still
,
they didn
’
t seem to get it. And people called
her
an airhead. She brought up a map of ancient Israel.
“
The Danns settled to the far north. That passage makes absolutely no sense. The Danns had never been granted or settled land to the east. And not a single scholar
knows
why the passage clearly says they would come from the east.
”

“
Okay…
”
Emily said.
“
I am sure that just gets religious scholars
’
panties in a bunch
.
H
owever
,
I am with Prenner in that I still don
’
t
care
.
”

“
Well
,
Nyura Massari would certainly disagree,
”
Bunny said as she brought up the Viking article again.
“
He has brought together a huge amount of research on the Jewish tribes and where their genetic markers have spread across the globe. He has spent his whole life trying to track down the Dann tribe.
”

“
I am sure Rebecca is fascinated by this stuff
—
”

Bunny cut
off
Emily.
“
It is more than academic minutia.
You really don
’
t see it?
”

The woman cocked her head, squinting her eyes. The CIA operative clearly did not like being behind the curve. You could see her mind trying to unwind the mystery. Finally
,
Bunny put her out of her misery and pointed to the author of the article
’
s name.

“
Massari? It means
‘
Egyptian
’
in Arabic,
”
Bunny explained.
“
It is the equivalent of saying you are Mr. Smith.
”

“
So he is using a false last name?
”
Prenner clarified.

“
Oh yeah,
”
Bunny said as she brought up the letters and shuffled them.
“
But when you shake them just a bit
,
you get…Saramias.
”

Emily sucked in a breath and stepped back from the laptop.

“
What?
”
Prenner said.
“
What am I missing?
”

Bunny smiled
,
then looked to Emily.
“
Should I tell him
,
or will you?
”

Emily just waved her off as she opened her phone and walked toward the corner of the café.

Bunny turned her attention to the lieutenant.
“
Saramias is Aunush
’
s last name. I believe the author of that article is Aunush
’
s father
—a
pparently the only person to ever get away from the Disciples
.
O
f course, until
us
.
”

Stark looked over his shoulder.
“
Why do you think he isn
’
t
with
the Disciples?
”

“
You do not publish work on the genetics of ancient Jewish genes showing up in current populations if you are with the Disciples.
”

“
Why not?
”
he asked.

Bunny sat down, pointing at the screen.
“
He is obviously trolling for their new Messiah. He is scientifically trying to find…
”
Bunny had to stop herself before she blurted out one of the most tightly held secrets in the world.
“
He is trying to find an individual of high value to them.
”

“
But why publish if he is in hiding?
”

Rebecca and she had asked the same question before heading to Iceland.
“
I don
’
t think Saramias can travel freely
,
so he has been publishing to try and induce others to follow up on his research. We call it
‘
leapfrogging.
’
You take someone
’
s conclusions and go out and prove or disprove them, moving the research forward.
”

“
So you are sending Brandt to Egypt to interrogate this Mr. Saramias regarding the Disciples
’
interest in the African girl?
”
the lieutenant clarified.

“
I gotta give it to you, Prenner,
”
Bunny said
,
glad that he
hadn
’
t
ask
ed
why the girl was such a priority for them
,
“
y
ou do catch on quickly.

* * *

Brandt tried to dry off. Except
,
that meant he had to apply pressure to his bruised and scraped skin. The deep purple of his most recent shoulder scar stood out against his skin. His finger followed an older, lighter scar that ran ragged along his side and down his groin. He looked like a patchwork doll, sewn by someone not all that skilled with a needle. Brandt knew he was lucky. Damned lucky.

The shower had proved a great wake
-
up
,
though. Now to get some thick Egyptian coffee, basically a hit of straight-up caffeine, and he might actually be ready for the day.

As he dressed
,
the only sign that the plane
had
landed was by the slightest rattle of the gilded faucet. These luxury jets certainly were worth every penny. Now
,
if he could only convince
C
ommand to put a couple hundred million into one for his team, he
’
d be a happy man.

Pulling on a bulletproof vest over his shirt, Brandt walked out into the plane
’
s
“
great room.
”
A crystal chandelier hung in the center of the
“
room.
”
Gold
-
veined mirrors lined the
“
walls.
”
A huge sectional couch wrapped around in a
“
U
,
”
creating a conversation
“
circle.
”

Like he said.
Luxury
.

Last night
,
when they
’
d
boarded
,
all Brandt
had
cared about was the fact
that the
plane was dry and had no wildlife. Now
,
though? The place was insane. Like they
’
d walked into an oil billionaire
’
s mansion.

Rebecca turned, unconsciously smoothing back her hair. She hated those strands that framed her face when they got all wavy and unruly. She called them her
“
little seditious streaks.
”
Brandt
,
though
,
liked the way they went their own way. Smiling, Rebecca walked toward him.

So you know what? Strike that whole two
-
hundred
-
million
-
dollar luxury plane. He was already a happy man.

Vakasa spotted him and jumped off the stool that was cozied up to the old-fashioned ice cream parlor counter, on a
plane
. That was the super rich. Gilded mirrors and strawberry malts. As a matter of fact, Vakasa
’
s lips were rimmed in bright pink from her shake.

It had killed him to leave the little girl back in Africa. Even with a medicine man
who
swore to protect her. But Brandt hadn
’
t even bothered to ask the brass to extract her from the Congo. He knew the policy regarding noncombatant civilians, even orphans. They just couldn
’
t take
home
every kid. Besides, if he had asked
,
then
C
ommand had declined, someone might have asked what the hell they were doing that day and
a
half it took to stash her deep in the jungle.

Now
,
though? Now that the Disciples were interested in her? Now she got her own luxury jet, at least for the next little while.

Vakasa ran to him, arms up, so when she was close enough, despite all his injuries, Brandt swooped her up in his arms and spun her so fast that her feet flew out behind her. She giggled as only a child could. All the horror she must have witnessed erased, at least for a moment, by a good spin.