“SHE LEFT MACDUFF’S RUN by helicopter fifteen minutes ago,” Millet said when Roland picked up the phone. “She was with Jock Gavin and Caleb.”
“What direction? Edinburgh?”
“Yes. But they might change directions,” Millet said. “She only took a small duffel. She may come back.”
“And she may not. She’s had time to have that tablet translated. She could be going after the coins. You’ve lost her again, dammit.”
“What could I do? There were all kinds of security guards watching from the castle, and they know we’re here in the hills. We might have been able to take her down, but I won’t do that. I have to have her for the Offering.”
“Then you’d better find a way to get hold of her damn quick. We’re running out of time.”
“Go screw yourself. I’ll get her. I’ve called my man in Edinburgh and told him to get out to the airport and locate that helicopter and find out if they’re changing to another flight. And I haven’t been sitting here just twiddling my thumbs looking at that castle. There are still ways to pull her into the net. Eve Duncan is still there at the castle, and I think I know a way to get beyond those security guards all around her.”
“Then wouldn’t it be wise to stop thinking and start acting?”
Millet hung up on him.
Bastard. Roland pressed the disconnect and stuffed his phone into his jacket pocket. He should have handled Millet better, but his anger had erupted, and he hadn’t been able to control it. It would be easier trying to reason with an orangutan. And the primate would probably have been more intelligent in getting his hands on Jane MacGuire.
Forget him. He was expecting an important OPEC oilman to come to see him today, but he’d call and cancel. It was time he stopped relying on Millet and started to take all the reins in his own hands. This sudden move on Jane MacGuire’s part was making him nervous. His every instinct was screaming that she was going after the coins.
His coins. All the years of searching, bribing, manipulating, and he might lose them to that bitch.
No! He would not let her have them. They belonged to him, and he would slice her to pieces himself if she tried to take them.
But first he had to find her. What are you up to, bitch?
Day Six
JANE CALLED EVE AFTER THEY landed in Edinburgh. Eve listened quietly, then said, “You could have awakened me. We both know why you didn’t.”
“Yes, I knew you’d be upset.” She paused. “But it’s not as if I’m going after Millet or Roland. This is much safer.”
“Tell that to the Israelis and Palestinians,” she said dryly. “That area is so volatile that it changes from minute to minute.”
“I’ll call you as often as I can.” She was silent a moment. “I wanted you to be safe. That’s the only thing that’s important to me, Eve.”
“If I didn’t know that, I’d be much more pissed than I am right now.” She added thoughtfully, “Twenty-eight pieces of silver instead of thirty. And the potter’s slave’s name was Dominic. Didn’t you tell me that in your dreams of Cira years ago, her servant’s name was Dominic?”
“Yes.”
“Stop closing up on me. I can feel it even over this phone. All I’m saying is that it’s odd that this servant, Dominic, appears in Hadar’s Tablet as having received two of the Judas coins. And that a Dominic appears a little later in Herculaneum as Cira’s servant. Those two Judas coins could well have been added to the treasure chest Cira brought with her when she fled Herculaneum. Interesting connection.”
“Connection. You sound like Caleb. He’s been probing and searching ad nauseam. Do you know he even thinks there’s a possibility I do some kind of weird remote viewing and can actually mentally go to a place like that temple? Crazy.”
“I can see how he’d be looking for the way the puzzle is fitting together.”
“You told him about the Cira dreams.”
“And you resent it. Tough. I’ve been tiptoeing around the subject for a long time. Those dreams are too closely founded on historical fact not to be accepted on some level. It’s time you came to terms with them.” She paused. “And I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m finding it curious that both the Cira dreams and the ones you’ve had recently have a bond with these Judas coins. It’s as if there’s a kind of reaching out… Oh, I don’t know. Just think about it. Don’t reject it because you don’t want to believe that you could be a little less than totally grounded in reality. What the hell is reality anyway?”
“You’re real. Joe is real. I’m real. I’m working on accepting all this other eerie crap, but I have trouble when it applies to me.”
“Keep working on it.”
“I will. I promise.” She changed the subject. “Will you take care of Lina? She’s going to be as upset as you when she finds out we left her. I don’t want her leaving the Run and setting off on her own toting that AK-47. By now Millet and Roland know she’s been doing the translation for us. They mustn’t get their hands on her.”
“I’ll see what I can do. But she seems to be very determined.” She added ruefully, “If I stand in her way, she may turn that AK-47 on me.”
“She won’t do that.” Jane hesitated. “She’s… solid, Eve. She’s abrupt and sometimes rude, but I feel as if she’s-” She tried to put her thoughts into words. “She’s a survivor, but she doesn’t know how to enjoy that survival. She hardly ever smiles. I want to-”
“Help her,” Eve finished. “Another lost puppy, Jane?”
“Tiger, maybe.”
“Good comparison. Tigers are beautiful, and Lina is exceptional.” She added, “I like survivors. I feel a kinship for them. I’ll see that your Lina doesn’t run afoul of Millet.”
“Thank you. I have to board the plane now. I’ll call you from Israel.” She hung up.
Eve slowly turned away as she pressed the disconnect. Jane had better call me from Israel, she thought grimly. She was getting tired of staying behind and watching Joe and now Jane go off into heaven knew what danger. She wasn’t going to put up with it for much longer.
“They’ve gone.” Lina stood in the doorway, her hands clenched at her sides. “Jock just called me. I told Jane what she needed, then she left me.”
“We seem to be in the same boat,” Eve said. “I just spoke to Jane, and she was all apologies, but it all came down to the fact that I wasn’t wanted.”
“She had no right. They burned my home. I had the right to go after them.”
“She was very clear that wasn’t the purpose of the trip.”
“Purpose? It doesn’t matter. One thing will lead to another. Millet and Roland will go after them.”
That was what Eve feared. “Then we have to hope we’ll be able to join her before it’s over.”
“ ‘Hope’?” Lina’s eyes were blazing. “I’m not going to wait here and hope. I’m going to go after those bastards. I don’t need anyone to help me.”
This was just what Jane was afraid would happen, Eve thought. And she had left Eve with the task of dissuading this angry woman from doing what she thought was her right.
And it was her right. She was protecting her way of life and avenging the loss of her home. Eve was in perfect agreement with her. She would have felt the same.
“Jane was mistaken. She took it upon herself to try to protect both of us.” She stared Lina in the eye. “That’s Jane’s way. She can’t help herself, but it was wrong of her arbitrarily to try to run your life.” She shook her head. “And mine. But we’ll have to reclaim them. Together.”
“You have nothing to do with my life.” Lina was gazing at her warily. “And you mean nothing to me.”
“But you came here with Jane and the others because you could see that you’d be more effective if you had a backup. Isn’t that true?”
“Partly.”
“I’m a very good backup, Lina. Suppose we team up and see what we can do about getting Millet?”
“I don’t need you. You’d get in my way.”
She shook her head. “You’ve heard Jane talk about Joe Quinn. He’s with the CIA in Rome right now. We could join him there.”
“The CIA,” Lina repeated. “I knew someone once who worked with them. He got me out of Afghanistan. They can help… if they want to do it.”
“Joe will make sure that they want to do it.”
“When would we go?”
“As soon as I contact Joe and make arrangements. Perhaps tomorrow morning?”
Lina thought about it. “I guess I can wait until then.” Her gaze narrowed on Eve’s face. “You’re not fooling me? You’re being honest?”
“I’m being honest. I admit I’m like Jane in that I tend to be overprotective, and I understand her reasons. But it’s time I stopped letting her run the show.” She was feeling an overpowering relief at the decision. It had been completely uncharacteristic of her to have been so patient when she had only wanted to dive in and help Jane. “Yes, I think going to Joe would definitely be for the best.” She smiled. “You help me. I’ll help you. And Joe will help both of us. We can’t lose.” She got to her feet. “Now let me go and call Joe. It will take a little persuading to make him see we should leave here. Joe is very protective, too.”
“But it will happen?” Lina asked. “Men like to have it all their own way.”
“So do we. It’s all a balance, Lina.” But that had never been Lina’s experience, Eve realized. “Joe is very special. It will be fine.”
“If you say so.” Lina turned away. “But I trust you to tell me if you have a problem with him.”
She chuckled. “I always have problems with him. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s what makes our life together a challenge.”
Lina shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“I hope you will someday. Now go away, and I’ll make the arrangements. Then I have to do some work on my reconstruction and go and talk to MacDuff about our plans. He’ll probably be as dead set against them as Jane would be. Too bad. Will you join me for dinner later?”
Lina hesitated, then slowly nodded. “Yes. I think I’d like that very much.”
“Good.” She pulled out her phone. “It will probably be just the two of us. MacDuff isn’t going to be in a sociable mood. He likes control and he’s lost Jane and is about to lose both of us. There’s not much left to protect but this grand pile of boulders he calls a castle.”
“HOW DID SHE TAKE IT?” Caleb asked, as Jane got on the plane. “Or need I ask?”
“She resented my leaving her behind.” Jane sat down and opened her laptop. “I don’t blame her. I’d feel the same way. She did say she’d take care of Lina.” Her voice was absent as she gazed down at the screen. “I think I’ve found the map I need. Oxford University did a study in 1997 for the Church of England. They did all kinds of topography and historical data searches to create a map that would show Israel and Syria as they were at the time of Christ.” She pointed to two areas north of Jerusalem. “Both these areas have low hills, and the one closer to Jerusalem looks like it might possibly have a flatter sunken field adjoining it. The fields from which potters took their clay were basically rock and silt with high iron content that were windblown or brought in and deposited by rivers or glaciers. I don’t see any riverbed, but it could still be Hadar’s Field of Blood.”
“It’s pretty flimsy.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” She pointed to a wall that enclosed the southwest side of Jerusalem. “But look at this.” She did an overlay of ancient Jerusalem with a modern-day map. “This is a thematic soil content map of the area that Oxford did at the same time. Do you see that heavy clay content in the valley of Hamman? That’s the supposed Field of Blood, where the tour guides take the tourists. The clay content looks the same in that area north of the city.”
“Does the Oxford study mention any historical information about another potter’s field being north of Jerusalem?”
She shook her head. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist. For Pete’s sake, it was almost two thousand years ago.” She gazed down at the map. “We have a chance. Soil content doesn’t change that much unless there’s some gigantic natural event like an ice age. Will you call Oxford Mideast Studies and see if you can find out if that clay content could have been heavy enough to be a potter’s field?” She was flipping through other maps and superimposing them. “I’d do it, but I need to get as much information as I can about the area before we get airborne and I lose the Net.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He turned away and pulled out his phone.
It could be the field.
Excitement was slowly taking hold as she gazed down at the map. Keep it under control. It’s a long shot, she said to herself.
Long shots weren’t based on scientific maps and university studies.
She was lying to herself. She wanted it too much.
The plane was taxiing down the runway.
One more map…
“Bingo,” Caleb said as he hung up the phone. “That area definitely had the potential for heavy clay content in biblical times. And they did a current day scan two years ago, and the potential still exists. Very high iron content.” He smiled. “Which means we still have a chance that your potter’s field isn’t under a freeway.”
“No.” She was looking down at the map she’d just superimposed on the ancient map. It wasn’t a thematic but a political map. Her forefinger touched the field. Did she feel the slightest tingle? Imagination. “I think its farmland. In Palestinian territory.”
Tel Aviv, Israel
“I DO BELIEVE WE’RE BEING welcomed,” Jock murmured as he gazed out of the window of the jet as it taxied toward the private hangars at the far end of the runway.
A sleek black car was parked at the hangar, and a slender, dark-skinned man in a navy blue suit was getting out of the car.
“Looks like CIA issue to me,” Caleb said. He got to his feet as the jet came to a halt. “But let me go ahead and make sure. Stay in the plane until I tell you to come.”
Jane nodded as she unbuckled her seat belt. She was stiff from sitting for so many hours but eager to get out and get going.
The man to whom Caleb was talking did not look like a threat. He reminded her of some kind of diplomatic bureaucrat.
“Let’s go,” Jock said, as Caleb turned and waved to them.
“Jane, Gavin, this is Bill Gillem,” Caleb said, as they approached. “Venable asked him to take us to the general location where you think the field is located.”
Gillem shrugged. “ ‘General’ is right. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree. It’s only a barren piece of land surrounded by farmland.”
“Barren?” Jane asked. “Because there’s too much clay in the soil?”
“Maybe. But it hasn’t been used to extract clay since the 1930s. There was some bullshit rumor about the place being cursed. The Palestinians tried to reclaim it and use it as farmland, but it didn’t work out.”
“Surrounded by farmland,” Jock repeated. “No hills or plateaus where there could be a cave? It showed something on the topographical map on the Net.”
“Not much. Maybe a few shallow hills on the edge of the field. You’ll have to check that out for yourself.” He opened the back door of the car. “If you want to go, let’s get on the road. I’ve called in all kinds of favors with the guards at the checkpoints, but it’s a whole new ball game after the shifts change. We’ve got three hours to get in and get out.”
“Then go back and get us more time. Bribe them.”
“What are you talking about? This is Israel. These people have seen their friends blown up by suicide bombers. They wouldn’t risk taking a bribe. If they didn’t trust me, you’d be shit out of luck.” He shook his head. “And I’m not ruining contacts I’ve spent ten years in this country building because you want to take your time. It’s going to be rough enough to have you tramping over that field without getting shot. There are rumors that several farmhouses near the field are being used by drug dealers who furnish money to the PLO.”
“What if that three hours isn’t enough?” Jane got into the car, followed by Caleb. Jock got into the passenger seat. “What do we do then?”
“You’re on your own. Venable only gave me orders to get you in and out in a timely manner. Three hours is plenty of time considering that there’s nothing much to see.” He got into the driver’s seat. “I brought that.38 Special and some additional firepower, your backpack, and that equipment you requested. They’re all in the trunk. I don’t know what you’re searching for, but I think you’re going to come up with zilch.”
“Very negative,” Caleb murmured to Jane as Gillem started the car and drove away from the hangar. “Do you want me to adjust his attitude?”
“No. It sounds as if this trip is damn risky. He has a right to his feelings.”
“As long as they don’t get in the way.” His glance shifted out the window to the lights of Tel Aviv. “I’ll check back when we reach the field.”
Or he’ll use his own judgment and do as he pleases, Jane thought.
He glanced at her and smiled. “Probably,” he said as if reading her thoughts. “But I did want to involve you in the decision.”
“As long as I don’t get in the way,” she paraphrased his own words.
“Sometimes there isn’t time to consult and discuss.”
“There may not be any urgency connected to this trip at all. Maybe Gillem is right, and this is a wild-goose chase.”
“It could be. But it’s worth a shot. Don’t let him bring you down.”
“He’s not. I’m just trying not to get my hopes up.” But that wasn’t going to happen. She was charged with excitement. That breathless moment on the plane when she’d seen that tiny square superimposed on the computer map was still with her. She wanted to be there, see for herself. “It’s hard to be cool and analytical when I want to move, to fly.”
“Cool, you’re not,” he said. “I’ve never seen you anything but intense and charged with emotion even when you’re trying to hide it. And I like the idea of your flying.” He added softly, “So screw anyone who wants to keep you grounded.”
She felt warmth surge through her. She had to tear her gaze away from his. She said lightly, “That’s what I say. Screw them.”
MacDuff’s Run
“WILL THERE BE ANYTHING ELSE?” Mrs. Dalbrey asked as she set the tray down on the table in Eve’s room. “It’s soup and sandwiches as you asked. I made lemon pudding for a sweet. Would you like me to take off the covers and set the table?”
“No, Ms. Alsouk will be here any moment.” Eve closed her suitcase and fastened it. “I’ll do it then. Thank you, Mrs. Dalbrey.”
“You’re very welcome.” The housekeeper hesitated. “I’ll be back to pick up the tray when you call me. If that will suit you.”
Eve smiled. “That will be fine.”
Mrs. Dalbrey still stood at the door. “I understand you’re leaving us. I want to say that I’ve enjoyed serving you, Ms. Duncan.” She paused. “I hope all goes well with you. Oh, I do hope that.” She turned, and her voice was muffled as she went out the door. “Good luck and God bless.”
“Thank you. You’ve been very-” But the housekeeper was gone.
Eve frowned, puzzled. The woman had always been pleasant, but they hadn’t done more than exchange a few words in the time she’d been here. Yet those last words had been tinged with emotion. It struck her as odd that-
A knock on the door.
MacDuff stood there when she opened it. “I wish you to stay,” he said curtly. “Change your mind. Nothing has changed because Jane has taken it into her head to go on this wild-goose chase. You’re still in just as much danger. Maybe more. Millet’s men are still moving about the hills above the castle waiting to pounce. Leave here, and you give them their chance at you.”
She shook her head. “I can’t hide away here forever while Jane goes trekking about the world. I have to be out and doing something. Joe and I have taken care of ourselves for a long time. We’ll be all right, MacDuff.”
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Perhaps. I’ve made them before.” She smiled. “And so have you. It’s what makes us what we are. Thank you for mounting guard and keeping me safe, MacDuff. I know it was for Jane’s sake, but it was kind nevertheless.”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “It wasn’t entirely for Jane’s sake. I have a liking for you, Eve Duncan.” He started to turn away. “Enjoy your dinner. I’ll see you in the morning before you leave. I’m going to the hills to check with my men there to make sure Millet’s men aren’t moving closer. There have been some signs that may be happening. It wouldn’t do to have your helicopter blown out of the sky, would it?”
“What a pleasant thought.”
“I’m not feeling pleasant. I’m frustrated and angry and dour.” He strode down the hall. “I’ll take you to your helicopter tomorrow and see you safely off my land.”
So much the Laird. In this moment, she could clearly see in him the Robber Barons who had been his ancestors.
And she had a liking for MacDuff, too.
“He’s angry,” Lina said as she came down the hall from her own room. Her gaze was on MacDuff’s straight back and the barely contained tension of his carriage as he started down the staircase. “What did you do to him?”
“I said no.” She stepped aside to let Lina enter. “He doesn’t like the word.” She gestured to the table. “Mrs. Dalbrey already brought our meal. She wished us good luck.”
“That was kind.” She looked at Eve. “You made the arrangements?”
Eve nodded. “Joe is coming himself. He’ll be arranging for the helicopter and will be on the helipad at eight tomorrow morning.”
“He didn’t argue?”
“Yes, I told you that Joe is never easy. But I think you’ll like him.” She moved toward the table. “Now help me set out our meal, then we’ll talk. I’ll tell you about my work and Joe, and you can tell me whatever you feel safe sharing with me.”
“Safe?”
She removed the silver covers from the dishes. “I imagine you’re not accustomed to feeling safe in confiding many experiences. I’m the same way. Perhaps we can work our way through to some kind of understanding.”
Lina stared at her for a moment, then moved across the room to help her set out the plates. She said quietly, “Perhaps we can.”
“IT’S OVER THERE BEYOND that farmhouse,” Gillem said as he parked the car beneath a tree. “I’ll wait for you here.” He checked his watch. “You have less than two hours now. I won’t be here if you come back later.”
Caleb glanced at Jane as he got out and held the door open for her. “Attitude adjustment?”
“No.” She was barely aware of what he had said. Her gaze was fixed on the farmhouse, and she began moving toward it. Her excitement was growing by the moment, and she could feel her heart start to pound. It was there. She knew it was there.
Beyond that house she’d be able to see the field.
“Suppose I scout around a little.” Jock had caught up with her, and his gaze was raking the farmhouse. “This place doesn’t seem to have had very good upkeep. Gillem mentioned terrorist activity and possible drug dealers. I think it would be a good idea to see if he’s right.”
Jane nodded. “Do what you like.” Her pace quickened. “I’m going to find that field.”
“I’ll go with her,” Caleb said. “Catch up with us, Gavin.”
“Right.” Jock faded away toward the rear of the farmhouse.
Jane moved down the dirt road bordering the farmyard. The moon was behind a cloud, and she could barely see her hand in front of her face. Damn, she hoped she didn’t run into anything.
Oh good, the clouds were starting to drift away, and there was bright moonlight. Just in time she skirted a rake in the middle of the path. She had seen a few tools scattered in the farmyard before she had started down this path. Again, not a good sign. Good farmers took care of their equipment. Perhaps Jock was right to check up on-
She stopped, her gaze going to the earth that stretched before her. “Good Lord.”
Caleb gave a low whistle. “Yes, I could see this land being cursed.”
The field was large, perhaps eight or ten acres and stretched out flat and puckered like the bottom of a riverbed. In places it appeared scored by some kind of sharp tool that had formed wavy, snakelike indentations that seemed to writhe as the light changed. Even in the dim illumination cast by the moonlight, she could see the dark earth that must have been rusty-red. Surrounded by the lush crop planting of the farmlands, the solitary field appeared stark and barren, yet teeming with eerie life.
She could almost see Hadar standing beside her watching those four crucifixes burning in the darkness.
She shuddered.
“Those rolling hills bordering the field to the south are our only hope for a cave,” Caleb said. “Let’s get moving.”
“Right.” She braced herself and started toward the field.
The red earth was quicksand soft, squishy, yielding beneath her feet, and she tried to ignore the feeling that any moment it would pull her down and suffocate her. She found she was even trying to avoid stepping on the scored snakelike indentations.
Ridiculous. Imagination.
Yet there was no question that her pace was quickening as she was halfway across the field.
“I don’t see any openings in the face of the hill,” Caleb said.
“Even if the cave was once there, it might have collapsed over the centuries.” Her gaze was raking the hill. “Or it might be completely covered by shrubbery. According to Hadar’s directions, the cave entrance was several yards away from the field, but the earth in the cave was also clay. He dug down and buried the sealed bottle deep in the ground.”
“We can only hope the clay remained moist and didn’t crack the bottle. You go to the left, I’ll take the right. Don’t use the flashlight unless you need to do it. I’m not sure that-”
“Good advice,” Jock said from behind them. “There are two guards outside that farmhouse, and I don’t think they like strangers.”
“PLO?” Caleb asked.
“No, I’d bet on drug traffickers. They probably have pot stashed all over this property and make periodic rounds. If we’re going to search, let’s do it and get the hell out. I’ll take the area straight ahead.” He strode past them up the hill.
Jane moved swiftly toward the left.
An hour later, they were still searching.
“We have a choice,” Caleb said as he joined her. “Either you let me go back and persuade Gillem that it’s the sensible thing for him to wait for us, or we give it up and come back tomorrow night.”
“We still have time.” She pushed her hair back from her face. She was hot and tired and had a painful scratch on her arm from pushing through the thorny bushes. “Keep looking.”
He shook his head. “Stubborn.” He turned and disappeared into the shrubs.
It wasn’t only stubbornness. It was here, dammit. She was feeling a desperation that wouldn’t go away. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow night. It would be too late.
Crazy. Too late when those coins had been lost for two thousand years? One more day would make a difference?
Yes.
Okay, then go with it. Unreasonable and completely insane though that instinct might be she couldn’t ignore it.
She had searched this area thoroughly. She’d have to go farther up the-
“I’ve found something.”
Jock!
She whirled and ran toward the slope where Jock had been searching, her feet slipping on the uneven dirt. He was on his hands and knees, tearing at rocks and shrubs.
“What is it?”
“An opening of some kind behind these bushes. Not very big… Give me a hand.”
“I’ll do it.” Caleb was beside him, pulling at a huge rock. “You’re right. This entrance isn’t over four feet. I don’t know. This may not even be-” The rock came away, revealing a dark cavity, “Or then again it might.”
Yes.
Jane dropped to her knees and started to crawl toward it.
“No.” Jock’s hand was on her shoulder. “We don’t know how unstable the ground is here. The entire hill could collapse on you. Or it could be infested with snakes. It seems an ideal habitat for them. You can’t go in there without turning on your flashlight. And we can’t be sure that those guards back at the farmhouse won’t see it.”
She knew everything that he’d said was true. It didn’t matter. “I have to go in.” She was wriggling forward on her hands and knees. “Do whatever you have to do.”
“Then let me go in first,” Jock said.
“No.” She was already crawling through the opening. “My job.”
Caleb muttered a curse, turned on his flashlight, and pressed it into her hand. “Stop and look around, dammit.”
She lifted the flashlight and cast the beam around the cave. Small, so small. The interior was no more than five feet high by eight feet in length and jutted up a rocky wall. The ceiling of the cave wasn’t stone but earth.
“Snakes?” Jock called.
“No snakes.” But Jock’s other concern about the cave’s collapsing was definitely valid. It was a wonder that the dirt ceiling hadn’t fallen in over the years. “The ground in here has high clay content, so that part of Hadar’s writings could be correct.”
“Move to the side,” Caleb said. “I’m coming in.”
“No, there’s barely enough room for me, and I have to maneuver around in here and see if I can find the place where Hadar buried the bottle.” Her gaze shifted around the small area. “He said it was close to a stone wall. This is basically a dirt cave. The only stone wall I can see is the one at the far end of the cave.” She was wriggling toward it. “Let’s hope that he didn’t bury that bottle too deep. You’d think that Hadar would want to get rid of the coins and be on his way fast.”
“Hadar had just crucified and burned four people. And he stayed there to watch them burn,” Jock said. “That doesn’t indicate a man who was in any great hurry.” He added, “But could you hurry a little? I’m trying to block the glimmers of light coming out of the cave from your flashlight, but all it would take is one glance from the guards at the wrong time.”
“I am hurrying.” She had her small pick out of the backpack and was gently digging into the clay. “I don’t want to break the bottle.”
“What difference does it make? Why worry about the bottle. It’s the coins that matter.”
“If there’s any documentation with the coins, I don’t want to destroy it. Just exposing it to air could cause serious damage.” She adjusted the flashlight and went back to carefully scratching in the dirt. “The ground is moist, at least on the area nearest the surface. It’s a good thing that the bottle was alabaster and not clay.” But the ceiling of the cave was dry, and her movements had caused dirt particles to begin falling.
Not good. Best not to mention that to Jock.
HE COULDN’T JUST stand here, dammit.
Caleb glanced back at the farmhouse. No lights yet, but that didn’t meant they might not pop on at any minute.
“Go on,” Jock said quietly.
Caleb’s gaze flew to Jock’s face.
“We’re sitting ducks out here,” Jock said. “Time to alter the situation. Go do it. I’ll stay here and stand guard over her.”
Jock didn’t have to tell Caleb twice. He whirled and started down the hill. “Take care of her.”
And he’d take care of clearing the path. First, get back to the car and make sure that Gillem didn’t take it into his head to leave no matter how hot the situation became.
Then locate the two guards Jock had mentioned and remove them from the equation.
He could feel his blood start to pump hot and heady as he ran across the field. He felt strong enough to take on the whole damn world.
Alter the situation, Jock had said.
Consider it done.
THE AIR WAS SUFFOCATINGLY hot in the cave, and Jane could feel the sweat beading her nape.
Ignore it.
Go slowly, carefully.
She was going slowly, dammit. It had been over fifteen minutes since she had started digging, and she had gotten only a foot or so down into the earth.
Be patient.
Go slowly.
GO SLOWLY, CALEB told himself.
The guard was leaning against the tree, a cigarette hanging from his lips and gazing moodily at the farmhouse a few yards away.
Evidently he doesn’t like sentry duty, Caleb thought, as he moved silently behind him. It was clearly his duty to save the bastard from his boredom. He’d already liberated the first sentry a few minutes ago at the back of the house.
Now he had only to make sure that this morose fellow was sent to the happy hunting grounds.
No problem.