“YOU LOOK BETTER.” CALEB looked up as she came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later. “I found some tea bags. No coffee.” He was pouring hot water from a kettle into the cups. “Not classy but adequate.”
“Where’s Jock? Still on the phone?”
“No, he went out to reconnoiter the area and make sure the house is secure. But he said to tell you that Venable should have that artifacts expert out within two hours. His name is Professor Joseph Tischler, and he’s highly qualified.”
“Good. I wish it was sooner.”
“He had to get his equipment from the university lab.” He handed her a cup. “Venable told him that preservation was essential, and Tischler was arguing that he didn’t want to do the inspection on site. He wanted to take the bottle to the university and take his time.”
“There is no time.” She took a sip of the tea. It was bitter but hot. She needed the heat. “Two hours?”
“And then the time it will take to X-ray and give us his findings.” He lifted his cup. “We’ll hurry him along, Jane.”
But in the meantime she was going to have to sit here and do nothing but wait for him, wait for a call from Millet.
No, there was something she could do.
“I can’t waste the time.” She gazed directly into his eyes. “I have to go to sleep, Caleb.”
He went still. “Yes?”
“I’m so wired that I won’t be able to do that.” She paused. “Not without help.”
His eyes narrowed on her face. “Why do you want to sleep, Jane?”
“ ‘To sleep, perchance to dream,’ ” she quoted. “I have to dream, Caleb.”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “But aren’t you the woman who is too grounded in reality to accept that dreams are anything but bullshit?”
“Eve told me that I had to stop hiding and accept the dreams. She said my dreams had to do with the Judas coins years ago, and when they started again, it had the same connection. She said that maybe there was some kind of reason for it all. And you told me that I could be doing some kind of remote viewing. I’ve no idea if any of that is true.” She wearily shook her head. “I just don’t know. I don’t know if there’s some mysterious reason. I sure don’t know if I can do any of that CIA viewing bullshit. I don’t even know if I can reach Eve. All my dreams have been of past events. But if there’s a reason I’m having these dreams, then I’ve never had a greater reason than now. I’m going to try because they could be a weapon. I need weapons. Lord, do I need weapons.” She looked down into the amber tea in her cup. “I saw the sacrifice of a little boy in a dream. I saw the mosaic of Judas on the wall. I followed the boy and his mother from outside the temple to the sacrificial chamber. I’ve been trying to remember all the twists and turns they took as they went down that corridor. But it’s not enough. Eve may not even be in that temple. I have to find out where she is.” She looked up at him again. “I have to dream about Eve.”
He stared at her thoughtfully. “You want me to go in and give you a suggestion to sleep?”
“A damn strong suggestion. I feel as if I’ll never be able to sleep again.”
“Oh, I can make you sleep.” His brow knitted in a frown. “But I can’t control the dream process. That’s out of my area of capability. Dreams are will-o’-the-wisps and can disappear as soon as they drift by.”
“My dreams aren’t will-o’-the-wisps.”
He smiled. “And that’s why we know that perhaps there’s a way to use them. But you’re the one who will have to do all the work. I’ll give you a suggestion about Eve, but you’ll have to run with it.”
“I don’t know how to do that.” Her lips tightened. “But I’ll learn. I’ll make it work.”
“I know you will.” He took the cup from her hand and put it on the bar. “Go lie down on the couch.”
“I thought I’d go to the bedroom… by myself.”
He smiled. “And close me out.” He shook his head. “I’m in this, Jane. I won’t do anything to you that I can’t monitor and make sure that you’re safe.”
“It’s just sleep.”
“And what do they call death? The long sleep. I won’t leave you. But you won’t even know I’m here.”
She hesitated, then went to the couch and sat down. “Very well. It’s not important.”
“No, it’s just your nature.” He pushed her down and tucked the couch cushion beneath her head. He went over to the easy chair and sat down. “I won’t leave you,” he repeated. “Whatever happens, you don’t have to be afraid. It might help if you think about Eve. I don’t know. It’s alien territory to me.”
“It’s alien territory to me, too,” she said. “I keep wondering what if I’m wrong? What if Eve was killed at MacDuff’s Run. What if she’s dead?”
“Then if you do find her, this search may have an ending that’s both unusual and mind-blowing. Are you afraid?”
“No, not for her. She’s never been afraid of death. She’s gone through so much since she lost her daughter, Bonnie, that she came to terms with it. She might even look upon it as a wonderful adventure.” She whispered, “But I’m afraid for me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
“You won’t have to worry about that. Remember, you said you’d know.”
“That’s right, and I have to stop having second thoughts.” She closed her eyes. “Do something. I don’t feel sleepy.”
He chuckled. “What a demanding woman. It will come. Gently. I have an aversion to any roughness connected to you, Jane. Which is pretty astonishing when you consider that gentleness isn’t my forte.”
“I’ve noticed.” She moistened her lips. “I didn’t thank you for doing this.”
“I accepted it as a given,” Caleb said. “And you’d have trouble not being a little resentful at giving up your will to anyone.”
“I’m not giving up anything. This is my will.”
“You see? You’re going down deeper. It’s time to start thinking about Eve.”
She had never stopped thinking about her. Not really. Deeper? She didn’t feel as if she was drifting off into…
DARKNESS.
No, misty grayness.
Sleep, but not sleep.
Eve.
She wasn’t here.
Bring her. Get past the darkness. Get to her.
But perhaps she was lost in that darkness. Maybe she was lost forever.
No, keep searching.
Eve!
VIBRATION. A FAMILIAR hum of sound. Stale air.
I’m on an airplane, Eve thought hazily. Her second thought was of the throbbing pain in her right shoulder. Why…
The courtyard at MacDuff’s Run.
Millet.
Her eyes flew open.
“Are you comfortable?” Millet was standing over her, gazing down at her. “Medford told me that you’d regained consciousness. He was eager to make sure I knew that he hadn’t killed you. I was a little upset with him.”
“I can’t imagine your being upset about any kind of brutality,” Eve said. “You told him to kill Lina.”
“She wasn’t important.”
“She’s a human being, young, smart, with her whole life ahead of her.”
“And totally unimportant. She was helping Jane MacGuire, and that is a sin.”
She gazed at him in disbelief. “And what you do isn’t a sin?”
“I’m one of the chosen. I can do as I please as long as I serve the Master.”
“You’re certifiable.” She gazed around the interior of the plane. It appeared to be more of a cargo than a passenger aircraft. There were several wood boxes stamped with a crescent surrounded by a circle. Seven or eight men sitting on long hard benches on either side of the plane. She was lying on a stretcher close to the door that must lead to the cockpit. “How many people did you shoot back at the castle.”
“I didn’t count. Whatever was necessary.”
“Shooting Lina wasn’t necessary.”
“It was a way to get you into the helicopter faster. Then you stepped in front of that bullet and spoiled everything. I thought Medford had killed you.”
She looked down at her shoulder that had been roughly bandaged. “How bad is it?”
“Not too bad at all. You lost some blood, but you’ll survive to be useful.” He smiled. “And I may be able to play with you a little if I have time. I understand that Jane MacGuire cares a good deal about you. It would make her suffer to know that you’re in pain.”
She gazed at him coldly. “Don’t bullshit me. I’ve known men like you before. You don’t have to have an excuse to hurt and maim.” She paused. “Though it’s curious that you think that your master is going to protect you from every consequence when he’s probably in hell.”
“Liar!”
Her head snapped back as he slapped her with all his strength.
The plane whirled around her, and it was a moment before it steadied enough so that she could focus on his face again.
Ugliness. Pleasure. Eagerness. What a sicko, she thought dizzily. He was a crazy fanatic with his sadistic soul in overdrive. “Where are you taking me, Millet?”
“The temple. We should be landing fairly shortly.”
“Syria?”
“Yes. The situation may become tense, and I need to be on my own territory.” He smiled. “And I would have had to come anyway. The Offering is day after tomorrow.”
“And you’re hoping to have Jane as that Offering.”
“Not ‘hoping.’ I will have her. Roland has done extensive research on your relationship. I don’t think there’s any doubt that she’ll be ready to make a trade when I give her the opportunity.”
No, Eve didn’t have a doubt either, and it was scaring her to death. “Why bother with her? You have me.”
His brows rose. “You surprise me. You’ve already suffered a great deal, and now you wish to give your life for her? You’re very strong. You’re going to prove entertaining.”
“What difference does it really make? You and your scumbag cohorts won’t care who dies under the knife.”
“Oh, but we will. Jane MacGuire has to be made an example. More than one of the members has seen that photo of the painting and called me. She’s the Blasphemer, and it will please the members that she’s punished. Besides, I have to determine how she was able to duplicate the mosaic. I have to have my time with her.”
Torture. The bastard was practically salivating. “It was purely coincidental.”
“Perhaps. Since she hasn’t revealed the location of the temple in the time since she did the painting, there is that possibility. Or perhaps she was just afraid of my retribution.” His smile deepened. “I’ll enjoy the process of discovering the truth.”
And she couldn’t even give him an explanation more substantial than coincidence. He’d laugh if she told him that Guilt was born of dreams. It wouldn’t do any good anyway. He wanted his pound of flesh and would fight anyone who tried to cheat him of it. What was important was that she couldn’t convince him not to try to trade for Jane.
So she had to find a way to get away from him.
“You’re very thoughtful.” Millet’s gaze was on her face. “You’re a scheming bitch, just like her. I hear you work on skulls. Maybe I’ll give you MacGuire’s head to play with. Yes, I believe I’d enjoy having you do that.”
Keep cool. He was only trying intimidation, to play on her fear, to hurt her. But she was almost certain he’d follow through on any threat. “I’d rather work on yours. I think that possibility is considerably more likely.”
His smile faded. “I’m growing tired of your-”
“Captain Faruk said that we’re on the approach.” A dark, thin, man was at Millet’s elbow. “He asked if you’ll need him after we land or if he can return to Damascus. He’s received several requests from other members wanting to hire him to take them to the Offering.”
“You remember Medford, Eve,” Millet said. “He’s the fool who almost killed you.”
Medford cheeks flushed. “I didn’t expect her to jump in front of-”
“You made a mistake,” Millet said. “It’s beginning to be a habit.”
“Faruk,” Medford repeated.
“I won’t need him. I expect to be busy until the Offering. If I do, I’ll call.”
Medford turned and strode back toward the cockpit.
“You see, everyone is excited to come to this Offering,” Millet said to Eve. “How could I disappoint them?” He turned and sat down in a seat across from her stretcher. “I’ll permit you to rest for a little while before we land. I’ve decided that I’ll let you walk to the temple. We have plenty of time. I’m going to let your Jane worry about you for a while. It will make her more amenable when I do call her.” His tone became mocking. “A strong woman like you would be insulted to be carried on a stretcher.”
Eve closed her eyes. Think. Is there a way of escaping after we land or would it be better to wait? Lord knows, I’m weak right now, and they will be more alert during a transfer. It would probably be smarter to be patient until they reached this temple and I can access the situation.
It was going to be hard to wait…
DRIFTING…
Darkness.
Gray mist…
No! Jane struggled desperately. She couldn’t leave Eve. She had to stay with her, help her.
But the grayness was now disappearing, too.
“Stop fighting it,” Caleb said softly. “You’re back, Jane.”
Her lids slowly lifted. It took a moment for her to focus. “I have to go back. I have to help her.”
“Not now. You were going too deep. I had to pull you back.”
“Help me.”
“I won’t help you. Not that way.”
“Dammit, she’s alone.”
“But not dead evidently. That’s a good thing.”
“Yes.” She sat up and brushed her hair away from her face. “It’s her right shoulder. It was throbbing. It looked as if it had been bandaged very clumsily. She’ll be lucky if it doesn’t get infected.”
“If we get her away from him quickly enough, we won’t have to worry about that.” He handed her a glass of water. “Now clear your head and let’s see if we can find a way to do it. You definitely made it through? You were dreaming about Eve?”
“Yes. And I think it was that remote viewing you told me about. It was too real to be anything else.” She drank a few sips of water and handed the glass back to him. “How long was I asleep?”
“Over an hour.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s odd. Dreams are supposed to last only minutes, seconds.”
“But then your dreams aren’t exactly run-of-the-mill, are they?”
She shook her head. That was an understatement if she’d ever heard one. “He told Eve he wants a trade. He’s not going to kill her just as a way to punish me the way he did with Celine.” Her lips twisted. “There’s not enough time to waste when he needs me for the Offering.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“She was on a plane on her way to the temple in Syria. They were almost there when I had to leave her.”
“And where is this temple located?”
“I told you, Syria. I don’t know anything else.” She gazed at him accusingly. “They hadn’t landed yet when you made me leave her.”
“It was necessary.”
She knew it was probably true, but it didn’t lessen her disappointment. “Okay, it’s done. There has to be something else I can use to find her.” Her brow knitted as she tried to sift through that ugly conversation Eve had had with Millet. “A man named Medford shot her. Millet wasn’t pleased with him. The plane they were on was some kind of a cargo aircraft. A few seats but mostly benches on either side of the plane. There were huge boxes that-”
“Any writing on the boxes?”
“Yes, but it was in Arabic.” She made a face. “There was no way I could decipher that script. But there was some kind of symbol under the writing. A crescent in a circle.”
He reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small notebook and pen and handed it to her. “Draw it for me.”
As she began to draw the symbol, she suddenly stiffened, her gaze flying to meet his own. “I just remembered something else. Why the hell didn’t I zero in on it immediately? The pilot was a Captain Faruk,” she said. “He was going to return to Damascus to bring back other members to the Offering.”
“Jackpot!” he said softly. “Any description?”
She shook her head. “Eve never saw him. Medford was only talking about him.”
“Never mind. The name may be enough.” He got to his feet. “I’m going to go outside and get Gavin. I need to fill him in and have him stir Venable into getting us information about Faruk.” He opened the door. “Damn fast. You try to think of anything else we can use.”
As if she weren’t doing that already. But searching her memory word by word, the pilot’s name had been the only thing that even had a chance of being helpful. Excitement was beginning to build within her the more she thought about it. Faruk could be a major help to them. He wasn’t just a hired pilot. He knew about the Offering. Therefore, he must know the location of the temple.
And, in Damascus, he was relatively vulnerable and isolated from Millet’s gang of thugs.
As Caleb had said.
Jackpot.
“FARUK, AHMED,” JOCK SAID as he came into the house fifteen minutes later. “Formerly a copilot with Alitalia Airlines. He moved to Damascus four years ago and opened his own cargo line. He makes regular runs between Damascus and cities in Italy and does a bustling cargo and charter business out of Rome.” His brows lifted. “Now I wonder where he got the money to start his own business?”
“Does Venable show any connection with Millet?”
He shook his head. “And no criminal record. He’s clean.” He turned to Caleb, who had come in behind him. “Did you find anything else about him on the Net?”
“Only his home address in Damascus,” he said. “But that was really all I was interested in.” He inclined his head to Jane. “I believe I should take a run to Damascus and pay Faruk a visit.”
“No, Millet hasn’t even contacted me yet. What if something went wrong, and it got back to Millet? I don’t want to rush in and risk Eve unless we have a sure thing.”
“That’s not going to happen, Jane,” Jock said gently.
“As close to a sure thing as we can make it.” It was hard to be patient when all she wanted to do was rush forward as much as Caleb did. “Millet is letting me stew, so that he can have a maximum effect when he does contact me. We’ve got to take that time and try to turn it against him.” She turned to Caleb. “Look, find Faruk, zero in on him. Get ready to pounce. But hold off.”
He just looked at her.
The hunter, again.
Not now. She didn’t want to have to deal with that savage side of him. Dammit, he was such a complex blend of lethal aggression and sophisticated persuasiveness that she could never know which one was going to surface. It made her feel angry and helpless and she wanted to strike out.
She couldn’t strike out. The last thing she wanted was for him to strike back. She had enough battles looming on the horizon.
She drew a deep breath. “Please.”
He gazed at her for another moment. “That was extremely hard for you.” He shrugged. “If you like.” He turned and headed for the door. “I’ll head for the airport. I should be in Damascus within an hour or so, and I’ll locate Faruk. But keep in touch with me. I have to know that we’re moving or it becomes… difficult.”
“It may be difficult anyway,” Jock said as the door closed behind him. “What Venable knows, Joe Quinn will know. How are you going to keep Joe from going after Faruk? That would be the first thing I’d do. Caleb won’t let anyone else take his prey while you keep his hands tied. It could be major mayhem.”
Dammit, she hadn’t thought that far ahead. She seemed to be operating purely on instinct, and that wasn’t going to work. “I’ll have to call Joe.” She took out her phone. “In the meantime, can’t you see if you can get that artifacts professor here any sooner?”
He nodded. “I’ll call Gillem and check on his progress.”
She went into the bedroom and quickly dialed Joe’s number.
“Are you all right?” Joe asked curtly when he picked up. “I meant to call you, but I’ve been scrambling.”
“I know.” It was what she had expected. “I’m scared. Frantic. But working through it. You got Jock’s report?”
“Yes, I’m heading for the airport now. I’ll be in Damascus in a few hours.”
“No!”
“Jane, don’t tell me no.”
“I don’t have any choice. Do you think I don’t know how you feel?” she asked fiercely. “I’m not letting there be even the smallest chance of anything going wrong until we have some kind of trap in place. I’m not going to let either you or Caleb run your own show. We have to work together, dammit.”
“What the hell are you thinking? I won’t do anything to risk Eve.”
“Listen to me. Millet took Eve because of me. All of this is because of me. He knows about you and Venable and that he has to walk very carefully. But that’s not going to stop him from trying for a trade.” She paused. “If I feel as if I’ve lost control, and there’s a risk, he’ll get his trade.”
Joe was cursing. “That’s crazy. He won’t let her live regardless.”
“Then stop and clear your head and help me get a plan together. I won’t have you rushing to Damascus and grabbing Faruk and trying to force him. I gave you and Venable this lead to Faruk. He’s mine.”
He was silent. “God, I’m scared, Jane,” he said hoarsely. “She’s… everything.”
“I know. Me too.” She couldn’t speak for a moment. “It’s going to be okay,” she said unevenly. “I know it will.” She steadied her voice. “The temple is definitely in Syria. We don’t know where yet. You and Venable go on to Damascus, but leave Faruk alone. That’s as good a jumping-off place as you can get. I’m going to call MacDuff and tell him to join you there. You’re going to have your hands full just keeping him in line.” She paused. “I’m not trying to close you out of this, Joe. If you or anyone else can come up with a foolproof plan that’s safe for Eve, then I’ll grab it.”
“I hate this. I don’t know enough to have a plan. But I’m not going to sit in Damascus and twiddle my thumbs for very long.”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about that,” she said dryly. “Millet’s not going to give me very long. Day after tomorrow is the day of offering.” She added, “I’ll let you know what’s happening as soon as I do.”
“You’d better,” he said. “And don’t do anything stupid. Eve isn’t the only one I care about.” He hung up.
But Eve is the only one who makes his world worthwhile, Jane thought. She knew Joe loved her, but Eve was the center of his universe. It was amazing that he’d let her talk him into restraining that explosive anger and fear that was tearing at him. But the situation was still volatile, and keeping Caleb and Joe in check was going to be a delicate balance.
Well, she’d just have to do it. But one thing at a time. First, she had to see if that bottle possessed the genie that would make all this terror go away.
She opened the door and went to see if Jock had any news about the professor who was going to free that genie.
“HE’S STILL CALIBRATING HIS equipment,” Jock said as he walked out of the bedroom where Professor Tischler had set up shop over an hour ago. “He doesn’t seem to be in any hurry. I’ve never seen anyone this painstaking.”
Jane leaned back against the couch. “Good. Then he won’t damage anything.”
“That backpack was heavier than I thought it would be when I took it into the bedroom. How much does thirty pieces of silver weigh?”
“It’s actually shekels of silver. Each shekel is about twenty-nine millimeters in diameter and thirteen grams in weight. It’s a little smaller than a half-dollar. Then you take into consideration the alabaster bottle. It’s not really heavy, but it’s substantial.” She shook her head. “That’s why Adah Ziller’s red herring of those two little ancient coins she left around for Weismann to find was so pitiful. I don’t think she did her research. They weren’t even Shekels of Tyre. Though it might have just been a teaser. Or maybe she thought that Weismann wouldn’t have done his research.”
“What’s a Shekel of Tyre?”
“It’s the only coin that the priests of the temple would use or accept. That was why Judas would have had to be paid in Shekels of Tyre. They were minted in Phoenicia, but were in common usage in Jerusalem.”
“Evidently you did your research.”
“Part of that bundle of books you got for me. But Professor Tischler will know a hell of a lot more.” She glanced at the door again. “He has to be close to getting answers. I don’t need museum-type authenticity. All I need is to know that it’s a possible.”
“Which may take a while. You could take a nap. I’ll wake you.”
She shook her head. “I’ve already had a nap.”
“So Caleb told me.” He looked down into the tea in his cup. “Dreams. Strange.”
“You mean I’m strange,” she said.
He shook his head. “I don’t have as much problem accepting dreams as I do the weird stuff Caleb does. Dreams happen to everyone. I can see how a dream might wander off into the deep end.”
“That’s an odd way to put it.”
He smiled. “Is it? I know a lot about getting lost in the deep ends. You just have to hold on and keep going until you see a break ahead.”
“That’s what I’m doing.” She added quietly, “With a little help from my friends. Thank you for being my friend, Jock.”
He inclined his head. “It’s my pleasure.”
“Not at the moment. Right now being my friend is a pain in the ass.”
“Well, I’m not bored. There’s something to say-”
“I’ve finished,” Joseph Tischler stood in the bedroom doorway. He was a small, wiry man in his early fifties whose rust red hair was streaked with gray and whose dark brown eyes glittered with vitality. “As much as I can complete without actually breaking the seal and opening the bottle. I refuse to do that. The scroll could disintegrate.”
“You X-rayed it?”
“In a manner of speaking. I’ve developed my own digital-process X-ray-based CT scans of rolled papyrus and carbon-based ink samples. It’s been done before, but I’ve combined it with some rather sophisticated imaging. I used it extensively in Cairo when they discovered several scrolls that would have been destroyed or remained unopened for the foreseeable future. It lets you slice through an object and develop a three-dimensional data set without having to open it. Then you can digitally unroll the scrolls on a computer screen. It was the only possible solution with that bottle.”
Jane sat up straight on the couch. “And?”
His lips tightened. “Come and see for yourself.” He turned on his heel and went back into the bedroom.
“Very curt,” Jock said. “Too bad Caleb isn’t here to give him an attitude adjustment.”
“I don’t care how polite he is,” Jane said as she got to her feet. “As long as he did his job.” She moved toward the bedroom. “Let’s go see what he came up with.”
“I’ll have a picture for you in a minute.” Tischler was arranging one of three cameras he had surrounding the small pedestal on which the bottle sat. “The interior of the bottle will be projected on the computer monitor over there on the wall. It’s probably not exactly what you want, but I won’t expose the contents in the bottle to air without proper precautions. The writ is probably goatskin leather instead of papyrus, or it wouldn’t have survived. If it had been plant-based papyrus, it would have disintegrated already. I’m not risking it.”
“You said that before,” Jane said. “I never asked you to open the bottle. That’s why you’re here.”
He gave her a cool glance. “No, you didn’t ask, but I know with whom I’m dealing. I had no idea what was in that bottle when they told me to come here. I was only pressed by the prime minister to cooperate with the CIA because Israel needs United States good-will. We need everyone’s goodwill if we’re going to survive the next decade.”
She ignored the coldness and leaped on the inference in that second sentence. Excitement was zinging through her. “But now you’re able to tell what it is?”
He didn’t answer directly. “You and your CIA really care nothing about history or religion. This discovery is probably going to end up as just another chess piece. It doesn’t matter that this find could prove of gigantic importance to the religions of the world.”
“It matters.” Jane stared him in the eye. “But life means more to me. If this chess piece will save a life I value, I’m not about to let you take it to your lab to study and publish all your erudite findings in journals. Can you guarantee that if you take this back to your university, it won’t become just another reason for your government and the Palestinians to try to blow each other up? We took that bottle from Palestinian-held territory.”
“Which should have been our territory.” He looked at her defiantly for an instant, then his gaze wearily shifted back to the monitor. “There are no guarantees. Not in this world. The deaths never seem to stop.”
“Then tell me what’s in that bottle.”
“I’ll let you see it.” He turned on the machine and adjusted the focus. “The difficulty was fine-tuning so that I could see both outside and inside the pouch with the flick of the button.”
A grayish haze appeared on the wall.
He sharpened and zoomed in, and the haze began to take a defined shape. A crumpled cloth container at the bottom of the bottle.
The pouch?
“There’s a document of some sort on the other side of the pouch.” Tischler revolved the picture and focused on what appeared to be a piece of rolled leather. “As you can see, it was apparently crammed carelessly into the bottle. It wasn’t even rolled properly, the writing is on the outside instead of protected on the inside of the scroll.”
Jane could see that, but the leather was cracked, the writing was smeared and almost indistinguishable. She couldn’t make out anything. Not that I would have been able to decipher it anyway, she thought ruefully. “It’s ancient Aramaic?”
“Yes, the temple priests were practically the only ones who used Hebrew, but they often were forced to use Aramaic when dealing with commoners like the potter, who couldn’t read Hebrew.” He made another adjustment. “It’s damaged, but the protection of the bottle itself and being buried in the clay kept it in better shape than I would have thought. But it would take months to be able to decipher the entire document.”
Her gaze flew to his face. “You’d be able to do it?”
“With time and care and the right technology. Yes, I could do it.” He looked at her. “But you’re not interested in a complete translation, are you? That’s not what you want.”
“And what do you think I want, Professor?”
He zeroed the camera in on a wrinkled upper corner of the document. “I think this is why you brought me here.”
She looked at him in bewilderment. “If this is supposed to be some great dramatic revelation, it’s not working. I can’t read the damn thing.”
He zeroed in a little more toward the edge of the folded scroll and hit the laser. “This word is a name.” He paused. “Judas.”
She inhaled sharply. “Yes.”
“Of course, it could be another Judas. It’s not as if there weren’t other men named Judas during that time period.” He pointed the laser again. “But we can see two other Aramaic equilvalent letters before it reaches the fold. “I and S.”
Judas Iscariot.
“Interesting, isn’t it?” Tischler asked sarcastically. “You can see how it caught my attention.”
“And made you angry.”
He shrugged. “I always seem to be angry these days. Angry and sad.” He added, “If you’ll give me a minute, I’ll increase the depth of field so that you can look in the pouch.”
“You’ve already seen what’s inside?” Jock asked.
He nodded as he pressed the button to show them the interior of the pouch. “Coins.”
Jane stared at the coins. They were discolored, oxidized, with just a hint of the original silver, none of them impressive. No one would guess that there was anything unusual or valuable about them.
“Are they Shekels of Tyre?”
“Oh, yes.”
“How can you tell?” Jock asked.
“They’re very identifiable,” Jane said. “One side has a laureate head of a man with a lion skin around his neck. The reverse side has an eagle with a palm-frond background.” She glanced at Tischler. “But they’re so discolored, I’m asking the same question. How can you tell?”
“It’s not as bad as it could have been. The brass stopper and being buried kept it almost airtight.” Tischler pointed his laser light at the coins. “First we select, magnify, then we zero in.” The image gradually grew larger and larger until it filled the wall. It was dark but distinguishable. “The noble laureate head of Melquart.”
Jane inhaled sharply.
He switched to another coin. “This one is turned on its side in the bottle.”
The eagle.
“The palm is partially blackened on it, but there’s a plus. See the two symbols to the left of the eagle? That indicates the year 130 in the Phoenician calendar, the Era of Tyre. That’s four or five A.D., squarely in the right time period.” He ran the laser over the stack of coins. “As you can see, they’re jumbled up, some on their sides. It took me a while to count them. But evidently Matthew was wrong. There were only twenty-eight shekels of silver.”
“He wasn’t wrong. The potter, Ezra, gave two to his slave, Dominic, after he freed him.”
Tischler’s brows rose. “You wouldn’t care to tell me how you know that?”
“Not now. But I will,” Jane said. “If you’ll do one more thing for me.”
“What is that?”
“Is it possible for you take photos of both the document and the coins?”
He nodded. “Of course, it’s possible. I brought the equipment to do it. I fully intended to make records.” He paused, “Whether or not you or the CIA liked it.”
“I do like it. Take all the photos you like for your own files,” Jane said. “I want photos of the coins, and I need shots as clear as you can make it of that text.”
“Very well.” He hesitated, then said belligerently, “It won’t only be for my own files. I’m going to go to the prime minister and report to him.”
“We can’t let you do that,” Jock said.
“You can’t stop me.”
“Oh, but I can,” Jock said softly.
“But he won’t,” Jane said hurriedly. “All we want is your promise to wait until after the first of April. After that, we don’t care who you talk to about the Judas bottle.”
He didn’t answer.
Lord, he was stubborn, she thought. Give him something else. “And I swear that I’ll come back and tell you what this is all about when I can do it safely for everyone concerned. If I can, I’ll even let you publish your findings.”
Tischler frowned, then finally said, “You’re only asking me to wait one day. I suppose it wouldn’t be irresponsible to wait.”
“No, not at all. When can I have the photos? And could you put them on my phone camera?”
He nodded. “I believe I could. Leave your phone and give me forty-five minutes.”
She put her phone down on the bedside table and turned toward the door. “Thank you, Professor Tischler.”
He didn’t answer, his gaze narrowed on the screen.
“Do you think he’ll keep his word?” Jock asked as he closed the door behind them.
“I don’t know. I hope he will. If he doesn’t, we’ll cope with the fallout later. I won’t have him hurt or even intimidated. There have been too many innocent people who have suffered because of those coins.”
Jock nodded. “I’m not arguing. It’s your call.”
And the decisions were becoming more and more terrifying. “Do you know, I don’t believe I actually thought the coins would be in that bottle. I followed the directions. I dug in that damn clay. And yet part of my mind wouldn’t accept that…” She shook her head. “I’m still not accepting that we found Hadar’s bottle. It seems impossible.”
“There are many stories in the Bible that seem impossible. The Bible is founded on wonder and miracles. Actually, everything in Hadar’s Tablet is fairly believable. Ugly, but that adds to the veracity. And, after all this trouble we’ve gone through, you’d better accept it.”
“I’m working on it.” She grimaced. “But the important thing is to make Roland accept it.”