The Solomon Scroll (11 page)

"For what?" Nick asked.

"It doesn't say," Stephanie said. "That's where something ate the scroll."

"He'd been traveling for more than two months," Selena said. "Assuming he left from Jerusalem, where would that put him?"

"How far could a caravan get in a day?" Diego asked.

"That depends on the country and what they were using for pack animals," Nick said. "Donkeys or camels. Those are both stubborn animals. They'll only go so far unless you drive them to exhaustion."

"On a good road, flat, you can get about twenty miles out of a donkey in a day," Diego said. "That's pushing it."

"How do you know that?"

"We had donkeys on the farm. The town was about ten miles away. I remember my grandfather saying that when the truck broke down he'd hitch two of them up and take a wagon to town. He said it took him all day to go there and back and that the animals were worn out."

"Ephram wouldn't have had a road like that," Stephanie said.

"I don't think he would've used donkeys," Selena said. "Too many things can go wrong in bad country. Camels would be a better choice. They can go farther without water and they can carry more than a donkey."

"You don't think they had wagons?" Nick asked.

"I doubt it. A caravan track would have been impossible for wagons"

"Okay, camels. How far can they go on a day?"

"I don't know."

Stephanie entered a few keystrokes. The answer appeared on the monitor.

"Looks like a camel can travel about twenty miles a day loaded down."

Nick said, "Let's cut that a little bit and allow for things like rough terrain or unavoidable delays. Say fifteen miles a day, loaded to the max. How far would he have gotten when Ephram wrote that part of the scroll?"

Stephanie tapped her keyboard and a map of Saudi Arabia and surrounding areas popped up on the wall monitor.

"Two moons and a Sabbath is a little over two months. If we assume fifteen miles a day, call it a thousand miles."

She drew a line on the screen that went along the eastern edge of the coastal range of Saudi Arabia. The line ended near the modern city of Abha, in the Haraz Mountains.

"That's almost into Yemen."

"Yemen was where the Queen of Sheba is supposed to have ruled," Selena said. "Back then it was all part of Arabia. This coded fragment pops up right after Ephram mentions her. And he uses the word wisdom again. He wrote that in the other scroll."

"If you seek wisdom. What does that mean?" Nick asked.

"Solomon is called the wise king." Stephanie said. "You all know the story about the wisdom of Solomon. If you substitute the word Solomon for the word wisdom it means to look between those three columns of rock he describes in the scroll. It's a landmark."

Elizabeth had been quiet, listening to her team work through the meaning of the coded message. Now she said, "You think Ephram is telling us where Solomon is buried."

Stephanie nodded. "It's possible. Somewhere in the south of what's now Saudi Arabia, right in the middle of those three columns. We find those, we find Solomon."

"Seems too easy," Nick said. "Think about it. Here's this guy who's gone to a lot of trouble to get Solomon and the treasure out of Jerusalem before the Romans get there. He spends two months traveling into Arabia. He decides that's far enough and buries Solomon and the loot right in the middle of a distinctive landmark. Then he writes it down. He leaves a trail a mile wide. Why?"

"The Romans would have had people who could crack a code written in Aramaic," Selena said. "Ephram must have known that sooner or later they'd catch him."

"Exactly," Nick said. "He had to consider that possibility. Remember, the scroll was found in a library that belonged to a Roman. Why make it easy for the Romans to find out where he'd hidden everything if he was captured?"

"Why write it down in the first place?" Ronnie asked.

"In case he got captured or was killed," Nick said. "He wanted to make sure there was some way everything could be recovered in the future."

"I suppose that makes sense," Elizabeth said. "We know Ephram was caught and executed. He was probably tortured. If the Romans did read the scroll they would've sent someone to look for the treasure. I wonder if there's any record of a Roman expedition into Arabia about then?"

"I thought of that," Stephanie said. "I couldn't find anything at all. Even if I had, it wouldn't necessarily mean they were looking for Solomon."

"Has there ever been any record of the Temple treasure being found?" Nick asked.

"No."

"Then there's a good chance it's still out there somewhere."

"If we get an idea where that might be you can verify that for yourself," Elizabeth said.

CHAPTER 21

Everyone liked Chinese food and occasional meals meal at the Happy Family Chinese restaurant were a chance to unwind and socialize outside of work. Stephanie's car was in the shop. Lucas had come to pick her up. Elizabeth usually went with them. Tonight she'd begged off to catch up on work. Stephanie was trying to persuade her to come.

"You know you want to," Steph said. "Come on. A couple of hours, that's all. Lucas will drive you back."

"I can't, Steph," Elizabeth said. "This report has to go to the White House tomorrow."

"Hey Steph," Ronnie called. "Let's go."

"Go and enjoy yourself," Elizabeth said. "Have an egg roll for me."

Outside, Stephanie got into Lucas's Audi. Nick, Selena, Ronnie and Diego climbed into Ronnie's Hummer. It was a humid July night, last light fading under a darkening sky. Flickers of lightning sent jagged streaks of light across banks of ominous dark clouds building overhead.

"Gonna rain," Ronnie said.

"Soon, I think," Selena said. "Smell the air?"

"We can use it."

They followed Lucas out of the compound and onto the highway, headed for Alexandria.

On the side of the road a man sitting in a gray sedan spoke into his radio as the cars went by.

"On their way. Two cars, a dark blue Audi in front and a black Hummer right behind them. Hell, they might all be in there. I can't tell. They got tinted windows."

"Just the two cars?"

"You think I can't count? Yeah, two. They should come up to you in about three minutes."

"Come join the party."

The man in the gray sedan started his car and pulled out onto the highway.

Ahead, traffic was heavy. Lucas reached over and turned on the radio. Soft jazz filled the comfortable interior of the car.

"How's Junior doing," he said.

"Junioress is just fine," Stephanie said.

The sex of their child was an ongoing joke between them. The truth was that they really didn't care if it was a boy or a girl.

Lucas looked over at Stephanie and thought he'd never believed he could be this lucky.

The first spray of bullets took out the windshield and the passenger side window. The car filled with pieces of flying glass. Stephanie screamed as the glass exploded. Lucas felt something rip into the side of his face. Instinct kicked in and he swerved left, away from the bullets. More struck the car with dull metallic sounds as he wrenched the wheel over. A harsh burning pain smashed into his shoulder. A tire blew. The car shot across the middle of the road and slammed into an oncoming SUV. In seconds, traffic on the other side of the highway turned to chaos in a snarling pile up of metal and glass.

"Holy shit!" Diego said.

"There," Selena said. She pointed. "On the right. That white van." Two men stood next to the van, holding AK-47s.

Ronnie's Hummer was modified with armor and a heavy grill welded onto the front. The glass was inch-thick and bulletproof against everything except a .50 caliber round. The engine had been modified far past stock. The Hummer was basically a fast tank. In this case it made a good battering ram. Ronnie cut the wheel over, floored the gas and drove straight at the van.

The assassins saw the black machine bearing down on them, swung the guns and began firing on full auto. The windshield starred in a dozen places. The 7.62 rounds weren't powerful enough to break through.

The Hummer plowed into the van and drove it off the side of the road. Ronnie kept his foot down until the van tipped over into an irrigation canal running by the side of the highway. It landed on its side, wheels spinning. Ronnie backed away and stopped. Nick and Diego were out of the car before it stopped moving, pistols drawn.

The two shooters had gotten out of the way before the van crushed them. They raised their rifles and fired. One man cursed and dropped an empty magazine. He reached for another.

Nick held his Sig straight out and ran toward him, firing fast as he went. Some of the rounds missed. Enough found the mark to send him tumbling into the ditch. From the corner of his eye, Nick saw Diego hit the dirt as bullets ricocheted off the pavement around him. Selena knelt by the Hummer, firing at the white van. Diego rolled, came up and fired at the remaining shooter until the slide locked back on his pistol. The man staggered, clutched his gut and crumpled over, his AK firing into the ground.

"The driver," Nick yelled.

He ejected, reloaded and moved toward the overturned truck. Diego came up on his left. He crouched down and moved to the front of the grill. Nick tried to see into the truck. Then Diego raised up and fired four shots at the shattered windshield of the van. Somebody screamed.

Ronnie had just gotten out of the Hummer when shots sounded behind him and a round whistled past his ear. He turned and saw a gray car bearing down on them. Someone leaned out a window, firing one-handed with an assault rifle. Ronnie crouched into a two handed stance and squeezed off rounds at the oncoming car in a steady rhythm. Holes appeared in the windshield. The car swerved right, sailed over the irrigation ditch and crashed into a field beyond. Steam rose from the radiator. Nobody got out of the car.

Ronnie and Selena came up to Nick.

"Could be more inside the van."

"Check it out," Nick said.

One of the doors in back had sprung open. Ronnie ducked and glanced inside.

"Clear," he said. "One man lying on the passenger side. There's a lot of blood. Looks like he's dead."

In the distance a siren sounded.

Nick said. "Diego, make sure they're all dead. Go through their pockets and take everything you find. Then get over across the highway. Don't talk to anyone except us."

"Copy that."

"Lucas and Steph," Selena said.

She sprinted across the highway toward the wrecked Audi.

Nick holstered his pistol.

On the highway people were getting out of their cars. Wreckage littered the road, twisted bits of metal and broken glass. Nick and Ronnie ran between cars until they reached Selena standing by the Audi, trying to open Stephanie's door. Oil and gasoline pooled on the road under the wreck.

The Audi had stopped with the hood buried in the side of a Cadillac SUV. The windows and windshield were shattered. Lucas was slumped over a deflated airbag, unconscious. There was blood everywhere. Stephanie was lying back against a broken seat. Her face was covered with blood. She was unconscious. Her breathing was harsh.

Fumes from gasoline spreading under the wreck were thick.

"We've got to get them out of there," Nick said. "This whole thing could go up in a second."

"I'll get Lucas," Ronnie said. He went around to the driver's side of the car.

Nick tried Stephanie's door. It was crumpled against the frame.

"It's jammed tight," Selena said.

"Need a hand? Looks like it might be hard to get that door open."

Nick turned. A man wearing a baseball cap who looked like he worked construction for a living stood nearby. He had thick, muscular arms and a chest like a gorilla. A faded globe and anchor tattoo decorated his forearm.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Let's give it a try," the stranger said. He grasped the upright side of the door with two hands and set his feet. "You grab the door through the window."

Nick nodded.

"Now."

The two men pulled. With a torturous sound of protesting metal the door came open.

"Steph," Nick said, "we're here. Don't worry, you'll be all right."

Nick couldn't tell how badly she was hurt. Her eyes fluttered and opened. There was blood on her lips.

"The baby..."

"The baby's fine," Nick said. He had no idea if the baby was fine or not but he wasn't going to say anything different.

"Here." The stranger handed Nick a knife. "For the seatbelt."

Nick cut the belt and handed the knife back. He reached behind Stephanie's back and under her legs and eased her out of the car. She moaned.

"Got you, Steph," he said. "It's okay. You're going to be okay."

He turned to the stranger. "Thanks."

"Glad to help."

Ronnie and Diego came around the wrecked Audi carrying Lucas. Gas spread in a thin flood underfoot. They carried Lucas and Stephanie toward the flashing lights of an ambulance coming up on the shoulder of the highway on the other side. More lights were right behind it. They'd reached Ronnie's Hummer when there was a deep thump that vibrated underfoot and a sudden burst of heat. The night lit with orange light. In seconds, the interior of the Audi was engulfed in flame.

Steph was unconscious again. Blood oozed from cuts on her face and a wound in her chest. There was a whistling sound as she breathed.

Sucking chest wound
, Nick thought.
Bad news. She could drown in her own blood.

Ronnie knelt next to Lucas. He looked up at Nick, his face tight and angry.

"He's hit pretty bad."

It began to rain.

CHAPTER 22

The hospital emergency room at night was like every other city ER Nick had ever seen, and he'd seen plenty of them. The floors were covered with a kind of scuffed, neutral colored composition tile that made it easy for the orderlies to mop up blood and vomit without leaving stains. It looked like there was going to be plenty of mopping to do. Wide glass doors went out to a covered entrance where the ambulances could pull up and unload.