The Solomon Scroll (24 page)

Nick almost smiled. Axton reminded him of himself when he was younger.

"I don't think you want to take on my men," Yosef said.

"I don't think you want to take on mine," Axton said.

Nick interrupted. "There's no need for a pissing contest. Nobody's going to take anything out of that tomb until the big shots figure out how to handle it. Major Yosef, you're forgetting something."

"What's that?"

"We're on Ethiopian soil and this is a sacred site for them. The tomb is a shrine of the Coptic church, as you'll see for yourself. Addis Ababa is sure to make a claim on everything in it."

Selena had been watching the testosterone levels building.

"If I could make a suggestion?"

Nick and Dov turned toward her. Lieutenant Axton gave her an appreciative once over.

"Nick's right. Nothing is going to happen here until the politicians sort it out. Major, there's no reason why Lieutenant Axton's men and yours can't post a joint guard. I assume that would be all right with you, Lieutenant?"

"Yes ma'am, I think it would. As long as my men are on site to prevent any unauthorized access. Nothing is to be removed. By the Israelis, the Ethiopians or anyone else."

"Major?"

"It's a solution," Yosef said. "No one except my men are to go inside the tomb. The objects in there are sacred to us."

Axton said. "We don't have to go in as long as nobody takes anything out."

This young officer will go far
, Nick thought.

"Agreed," Yosef said.

"Thank you sir. With your permission, I'll have my Sergeant pick men to work with you. Perhaps you would like to do the same?"

"Very well."

"Then I'll get to it." Axton saluted and turned to Nick. "When you're ready, sir."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

Dov watched Axton go back to his men. "Not much seems to bother him."

"He's a Marine," Nick said. "What else would you expect?"

"More company coming," Lamont said. "Looks like the Ethiopians are joining the party."

He pointed off to the east. Two military helicopters were headed their way.

"Let's get out of here," Nick said. "I've seen enough of Ethiopia for a lifetime."

They picked up Diego's body and headed over to the American helicopter.

*****

Al-Bayati and Badr had reached their vehicles an hour before the Israeli helicopter landed. They'd stopped at the same spot where Nick had left the Toyota.

"Disable all of them except one," Bayati said. "Tear out the wires."

It only took a few minutes. Al-Bayati and Badr got in the last vehicle and drove away.

Badr drove. Al-Bayati felt the glow of Solomon's ring in his hand and thought about what he would do when he got back to Lebanon. He'd bind the ring to him with the blood sacrifice, as the ancient book of magic passed down to him by his ancestors instructed.

The book dated from before the thirteenth century, a collection of Arabic incantations and formulas copied with painstaking care onto pages of yellowed vellum. Among its secrets was the hallucinogenic formula of the
Hashishin,
Hassan-i-Sabbah's society of assassins
.
Sabbah had used it to reveal paradise to his followers and control them. Al-Bayati used it for pleasure. It was the drug Rhoades had preferred.

Thinking of Rhoades soured Al-Bayati's mood. He'd been a useful asset and it would be difficult to replace him. Badr could be trained to perform the part Rhoades had played in the monthly ritual, it was simple enough and Badr could be trusted. Someone else would have to be found to take the dead spy's role in the West.

Al-Bayati felt cheated. To have come all this way and then to have been denied entrance to the tomb. Denied the gold, the pleasure of holding Solomon's skull in his hands, because of meddling Americans. It was unfair. He imagined exploring Carter's capacity for pain with one of the ancient instruments of torture he had in his collection. As for the woman, his thoughts turned to how acceptable she would be as an offering to the god, after he'd sampled her wares, of course. The god didn't care about that. It was unlikely he would see either one of them again. If he ever had the opportunity, Al-Bayati vowed he would turn imagination into reality.

CHAPTER 50

Nick looked out the window of the hotel room in Addis Ababa at a row of flags flying in front of the United Nations conference center. He was waiting for new instructions from Elizabeth. Diego's body was waiting for shipment back to the states, courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

Selena came out of the bathroom wrapped in a hotel robe, combing her hair.

"It's good to get clean again," she said.

"Yeah."

She walked up behind him and put her arms around him and leaned against his back.

"I liked him," she said. "It was too quick. I hardly knew him."

"It's better quick than slow. It still stinks. You know what bothers me?"

"What?"

"I keep thinking that if someone had to get it, I'm glad it wasn't you or Lamont or Ronnie."

"And you feel guilty about that? About caring more for your friends than for someone you've only known for a little while?"

Nick was silent.

"I understand but I'm not sure that's what's bothering you."

"What do you mean?"

"I think what bothers you is that you couldn't stop what happened. It could have been any one of us. You knew we'd have to come out of that room shooting."

"If you hadn't, Bayati would have killed all of us."

"That's right. And you couldn't have known he'd show up," Selena said.

"I should have been prepared. I should've anticipated it."

"How? There wasn't any reason to think he knew about Ethiopia. We blew up the stone with the map. This wasn't supposed to be a combat mission, it was supposed to be a reconnaissance."

"Yeah, but recon has a funny way of changing into something more lethal."

"In a war zone, that makes sense. In this case it doesn't make any sense at all. It's not your fault Diego is dead."

Nick turned away from the window. "I know you're right. It's not the first time I've lost someone. I've never gotten used to it."

"That's why you're one of the good guys," Selena said.

Nick's satellite phone signaled.

"It's Harker." He made the connection. "Yes, Director."

"I spoke with the president. You're leaving for Turkey."

"What's in Turkey?"

Selena heard his end of the conversation. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Incirlik Air Base. Transport will be in Addis Ababa tomorrow. A driver from the embassy will pick you up at your hotel and take the four of you to the airport. Keep your guns. You're getting on an Air Force plane. At Incirlik you can fit yourself out with the gear you need."

"Where are we going after that?"

"President Rice has been talking with the Israeli prime minister about what you found. By the way, you are all up for an Israeli Medal of Distinguished Service. It's quite an honor for a foreigner."

"It won't do Diego much good," Nick said.

"No, it won't. What I'm about to tell you might make you feel better."

"Go on."

"Rice and the Israeli PM agree that Al-Bayati must not be allowed to keep possession of Solomon's Seal. Various options were discussed, most of which resulted in an assault on his compound that would likely start a new war. The Israelis would like to go storming in there but they have their hands full with the Shia/Sunni civil war heating up. The president and the prime minister feel a military assault is not expedient."

"Where have I heard that before?" Nick said. "Usually when politicians say something isn't expedient they're ducking responsibility or they have something up their sleeve."

"This time it's you they have up their sleeve," Elizabeth said. "Al-Bayati is back in his villa. From Turkey you're going to Lebanon. Your instructions are to get into that compound, find that ring and get out again. While you're there, nobody would be upset if you took out Al-Bayati."

"How am I supposed to do that? That place is damn near invulnerable."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out," Elizabeth said.

CHAPTER 51

Incirlik AFB was in the south of Turkey near the city of Adana, not far from the Mediterranean and the coast of Syria and Lebanon. They were met at the plane and taken to guest quarters reserved for visiting VIPs like the Secretary of State.

Lamont looked around the suite of rooms that had been assigned to them.

"Nice digs," he said. "My mom would've liked that chandelier."

"Your tax dollars at work," Nick said. "The president must've told them to give us the royal treatment."

"Why is it that the big shots always seem to need stuff like this?" Ronnie said.

"It makes them feel important."

"It makes me feel like I'm on a movie set," Lamont said. "Seems like there might be better ways to spend the money. Like better armor for our guys. Stuff like that."

"Tell that to Congress," Selena said.

"I already have, along with a lot of other people. Problem is they never listen."

"Better enjoy it while you can," Nick said. "We're leaving as soon as we figure out how we're going to do this. Harker sent satellite shots of the compound. She's waiting for us to tell her what we need."

He pressed buttons on his phone. "The photos are supposed to show up on that monitor over there on the desk. I can't get it to work."

"Give it to me," Selena said.

She did something with the phone and the pictures of Al-Bayati's compound appeared on the screen.

"How did you do that?"

"I'll show you another time," she said.

Ronnie studied the shots. "When were these taken?"

"This morning," Nick said. "Why?"

"It's different than the last time we looked." Ronnie pointed at the gate and the street outside. "His security is Hezbolla, right?"

"That's right."

"So where are they?"

The four of them contemplated the photos. There were civilians passing by the compound but the armed thugs they'd seen before were gone.

"Still looks like trouble," Lamont said. "He's got men inside the walls and they've moved that Quad .50 into the center of the courtyard, covering the gate."

"Not as many men," Nick said.

"Something must have pulled them off," Ronnie said. "Is there another war starting up?"

"A lot of them are going to Syria to fight the Sunni rebels," Selena said. "That might have something to do with it."

"Whatever the reason, it's good news for us," Nick said.

"I don't think we can climb up on the water side," Lamont said. He pointed at a swirling chaos of water and foam where the Mediterranean broke against the cliff. "Those rocks at the base would cut a zodiac to pieces and there are whirlpools. The currents would suck us under before we got close enough."

"Then it's the walls or the gate."

"I don't like the walls." Ronnie pointed at the razor wire. "Aside from the wire, they're high and everything is lit up at night. We'd be spotted and picked off."

"That gate looks like something from a crusader castle," Lamont said. "All that's missing is a moat. If they don't want to open up we're not getting through it without blowing it."

"That will attract too much attention. We can't do that."

"There are no windows on the ground floor. Al-Bayati is a little paranoid, isn't he?" Selena said.

Ronnie nodded. "He should be. He's got good reasons."

"Now he's got four more," Lamont said.

"If we don't go up the cliff in back and we don't go over the wall or through the gate, I guess we'll have to drop in on him," Nick said.

"You want to use a chopper?"

"You have a better idea?"

"What about that Quad .50? If they don't like what they see, they'll blow us right out of the air with that baby."

"We don't have to use a helicopter," Selena said. "We can make them open the gate."

Nick looked at her. "How do you plan to do that?"

"Al-Bayati has a big ego, right? What if we think of something that strokes his ego? Something that makes him want to open the gate for us?"

"Like?"

"Like a television interview, say from Al Jazeera. We set it up ahead of time."

"What's the hook?"

"Doesn't he contribute to the cause? Hospitals for the fighters, things like that?"

"Shia fighters. Al Jazeera is biased towards the Sunni."

"They make a token effort to appear balanced and the Shia/Sunni thing is big news right now. If Al-Bayati thinks they're going to present a program showing him in a favorable light he might go for it."

"Let me guess," Ronnie said. "You're supposed to be the interviewer."

"Why not? We steal one of Al Jazeera's vans and pull up to the gate. His guards see me step out of it dressed like a Muslim woman should be, someone who's expected. They'll relax. They open the gate, we drive into the compound and that's when we take them out."

"It could work," Lamont said.

"You have a devious mind," Ronnie said to Selena.

"You just figure that out?" Nick said.

Lamont turned to Selena. "Once we get through the gate all hell's going to break loose. How are we supposed to get out of there when we're done? Whoever's left will be waiting for us."

"That's when we need a helicopter. Just for extraction."

"However we do it, we're not going to have a lot of time once we get inside," Nick said.

Nick activated the satellite link and put it on his speaker.

"Yes, Nick."

Harker's voice came through with a slight echo. An odd noise rumbled in the background.

"Director. What's that noise? It sounds like a lawnmower."

In Virginia, Elizabeth stroked the huge orange cat sprawled across her desk. He was purring. It sounded like a motorcycle engine with a carburetor problem.

"It's just Burps. Where are you with the mission planning?"

Nick told her about their idea to pose as a news crew. "We need a helicopter to get out of there."