Read The Solomon Scroll Online
Authors: Alex Lukeman
Tags: #Fiction & Literature, #Action Suspense, #Mystery & Suspense, #Espionage, #Thrillers
The Solomon Scroll (27 page)
They walked toward the car, a white Rolls-Royce with a uniformed chauffeur. He held the rear door open for Selena. On the smooth leather seat was a package wrapped in white paper with a white bow. An envelope was stuck under the bow. He could make out part of what was written on the envelope.
To my...
"Where did that come from?" Nick asked. His ear began itching.
"I don't know, sir."
"Have you been with the car all the time?"
"I did take a short break for a call of nature, sir."
"Are you English?"
"As a matter of fact, I am, sir. They like to use me as the driver when a client requests the Rolls. Is something the matter, sir?"
Lucas came over.
"Hey, you guys are supposed to be on your way to the reception. Everybody's waiting."
"Someone put a package in the back of the car," Selena said.
"There goes normal," Nick said. "Lucas, move everyone back will you? Selena, you too."
"Nick..."
"I've got a bad feeling about it."
"It's probably a toaster."
"It's too big for a toaster."
The itch was turning into a slow burn. Nick tugged on his ear and looked at the package, wondering what was inside. Even on his wedding day he had to worry about people trying to kill him. It pissed him off.
"I think it's a bomb," Nick said. His voice was quiet.
"Okay," Lucas said.
"You're pretty cool."
"I'm a fatalist. How do you want to handle it?"
"We all back off. If it is a bomb, there could be somebody watching us right now with a detonator."
"Waiting for you and Selena to get in the car," Lucas said.
"You're full of cheerful ideas, aren't you?"
"You're the one that thinks it's a bomb."
Clarence Hood and Elizabeth were on the steps of the church looking at them, wondering what the delay was about.
Nick turned to Selena. "Let's stroll over toward the photographer and tell him we want some more shots with the wedding party. If someone's watching and they see us moving away for more pictures it will look natural. Assuming it's a bomb and not a toaster, that is. And smile, will you? Laugh a little."
Nick took her arm and steered her back toward the church. He saw the chauffeur. His name tag said that his name was James.
"Lucas, get everybody back into the church. I have an idea."
He stopped by the chauffeur. "Is there a phone in the car?"
"Yes, sir, there is. It's used to contact me if the owner wishes to advise me of traffic or a change in plan."
"Good. Come with us into the church."
"Very good, sir."
If the chauffeur thought this particular wedding party was acting a little bizarre, he put it down to the increased security surrounding the Director of Central Intelligence. It was all rather exciting, something different from the normal wedding or evening hire.
They went inside the church and Nick closed the heavy oaken doors. Everyone moved up toward the altar.
"Mister Carter..."
"Don't worry, Reverend. Everyone, there may be a bomb in the car. Get behind something. James, does that Rolls have a remote start?"
James looked indignant, as if anything could be missing from a Rolls-Royce.
"Of course, sir."
"Start the car."
James took out his key and pressed a button. The car started, although it was hard to tell it was running.
"Good. Now call the phone in the car for me."
The chauffeur took out his cell phone and dialed the number.
In the street outside, the Rolls vanished in an explosion that shook the stone walls of the church and set the bells in the tower ringing. The force of the blast blew the stained glass out of the front of the church and shook the heavy doors.
Dust drifted down from the rafters of the church, settling on Nick's tuxedo. He brushed it off his shoulder.
The Reverend picked himself up from the floor. "Good God," he said.
"How did you know?" Lucas asked.
"I didn't, except when my ear starts burning like that it means trouble. I figured that since it didn't go off when the car started, it wasn't set on an ignition or movement trigger. I think someone was waiting down the road and watching. All they had to do was dial that number when it went by."
Selena took his hand. "Bastards. This is our wedding day. Our day. Who would do this?"
"I don't know," Nick said, "but I'm going to find out."
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The Project Series
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Acknowledgments
Gayle, who believes in me, a necessary condition for being a writer and for my overall peace of mind.
Special thanks to Seth Ballard, Gloria Lakritz, Paul Madsen, Eric Vollebregt, Nancy Witt. Your keen eyes made this a much better book.
Neil Jackson for a classic action cover.
Notes
The Project books take advantage of developments in weapons technology that may sound futuristic but are far from fictional, like the stealth helicopter used to penetrate Saudi Arabian airspace. These helicopters exist. It might have been one of these that was destroyed during the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.
Onyx is also real, a sophisticated satellite ground penetrating radar system which surpasses anything else of its kind anywhere in the world. You can bet that the Pentagon is using it to scan for underground sites where rogue governments and potential enemies might be hiding something nasty.
The Kord heavy machine gun used by Al-Bayati's mercenaries is a good example of the developing sophistication of Russian weapons. It's rugged, light, accurate up to 2000 meters and fires a devastating 12.7 X 108 mm cartridge. It has the unique advantage of being light enough to mount on a bipod as an individual infantry weapon. There are many other weapons in the modern Russian arsenal as good or possibly better than anything in our own but I'll leave those for another time.
Moloch, or his alter ego, Baal, was a principle male god of the Carthaginians. There is significant evidence to indicate that human sacrifices were offered to him. The name Baal later morphed into Beelzelbub.
My apologies to the scientific world for destroying one of the great achievements of modern science, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility at Grenoble. The scrolls of the Villa Literati in Herculaneum exist are one of the intriguing mysteries of the ancient world. Crystal x-ray tomography is an advanced technique developed at the facility. It has recently been used to begin unraveling the secrets of the ash encrusted scrolls, just as described in the book.
The remains of Solomon have never been found and identified. There is still much controversy over whether or not he actually existed. My personal preference is to believe that he did and that the story of the Queen of Sheba's visit found in the Old Testament is very likely based on actual events. The line identifying Sheba on her ossuary in the Ethiopian shrine comes from the
Song of Solomon
, one of the great love poems of all time.
About the Author
Alex Lukeman writes action/adventure thrillers featuring a covert intelligence unit called the PROJECT and is the author of the award-winning Amazon best seller,
The Tesla Secret
. Alex is a former Marine and psychotherapist. He uses his experience of the military and human nature to inform his work. He likes riding old, fast motorcycles and playing guitar, usually not at the same time. You can email him at
[email protected]
. He loves hearing from readers and promises he will get back to you.
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