Lopez pocketed the truck keys and raised his rifle.
Brandt gave the nod.
Time to find a little girl and kick Vanderwalt’s pasty-white ass.
* * *
Rebecca fell into line with the men. At the head was Levont. The men’s flashlights crisscrossed the synagogue. While it looked like a tabernacle from the outside, the inside was just a small house of worship not unlike any other synagogue. The pews, the alcoves, the bema where the Torah was read during ceremonies.
Then the ark, which held the sacred scrolls.
The synagogue was one large open room. With no one in it.
It took the men a few more seconds to clear the space, but empty it was.
Brandt looked to her. “Well?”
She didn’t have a clear answer for him. This was the place, Rebecca was sure of it. This synagogue had been built in exactly the site of the first Jewish Tabernacle. It had served as the sacred gathering place for Jews for centuries. Excavations around the area had confirmed religious activity in the region for millennia.
This had been the first Shekinah. The term that Nori had spoken as her last word on earth and the word etched into the back of the monk’s artifacts. Shekinah translated as the place or the dwelling of God. It could be used in just about any synagogue or temple. However, it was normally used to refer to the First Temple.
The one that Solomon had built, moving his people’s capital from Shiloh to Jerusalem. Exploring under the Temple Mount would bring all the threads of this mystery together. Unfortunately, all she was left with was a handful of frayed ends.
One of them being that Shekinah was the feminine version of the word. Many scholars argued that the ancient Hebrews chose the word to reflect the duality of God. To bring the feminine element into their religion. That the temple was the womb, so to speak, for their faith.
What if it was for an entirely different reason? What if it had always been meant to bring forth a woman savior?
“Rebecca?” Brandt urged.
She brought her mind to the present puzzle to solve.
Where had Vanderwalt and the others vanished?
* * *
Davidson checked out the door as Rebecca answered.
“Solomon had an affair with the queen of Sheba,” she announced.
Not even Davidson knew where she was going with that one.
“And that’s important because?” Brandt asked.
Rebecca walked up to the bema, checking up and down the length of the wooden pedestal. “They had a son,” she said as she moved onto the ark. “And legend has it, Solomon gave him the Ark of the Covenant.”
“What?” Brandt said.
She nodded vigorously. “I know, right? Solomon supposedly gave away the Jews’ most precious artifact. Just that fact alone helped keep the Ethiopian royalty in power until the nineteen seventies.” Opening the side of the ark, Rebecca sorted through the scrolls. “Anyway, right about that time is when he turned his back on the priests and started building a whole swath of temples. Many in Shiloh.”
“Great history lesson, babe, but I need—”
“I think…” Rebecca blurted out, then stalled. Davidson had seen it before. It was when her analytical brain worked faster than her interpretive brain. She was on to something. To prove his theory, Rebecca stroked the side of a papyrus roll, a smile slowly spreading. “I think those other temples were just to keep his wives happy. But I think he built in Shiloh to cover his true ambition.”
They all waited as she sat cross-legged on the floor, reading through the scroll she had picked. But she just kept reading. Her eyes sliding across the ancient Hebrew words. Davidson didn’t think she was actually comprehending the information. He guessed that she was just letting the language roll over her, allowing her to sink into the mind of Solomon. She could probably feel the dust in her throat. The feel of coarse cotton upon her skin.
Davidson had been raised amongst antiquity. So much so that he felt that he’d almost walked alongside Mary and Peter. But never had he felt as close as Rebecca seemed to be to Solomon right now. He did not envy her. Davidson’s scars were a constant reminder of the price one paid for getting too close to the past.
“Babe?” Brandt prompted.
Rebecca’s eyes were still unfocused as she set the scroll down beside her. Rising, she laid a hand upon the top of the ark. On top of the winged angels.
“I think Sheba convinced Solomon to open the covenant,” she said, sounding miles off. “I think he read what I read.” She paused, letting her finger run down the course of the gilded wing. “I think he decided to build a new temple. A temple to the new Messiah.”
“Great.” Brandt announced. “Where?”
Rebecca seemed startled by the question as she shook off the trance she’d been under.
“Oh, I have no idea.”
CHAPTER 27
══════════════════
Undisclosed Location
2:26 a.m. (EST)
“What is taking them so long?” Bunny asked as she stared at the screen that showed the Tabernacle. The boring, nothing happening Tabernacle. Just a few lights shown through the windows and that was it. For over half an hour.
She didn’t expect Stark or his mom to answer. They were hella hard at work trying to keep the hackers out. Bunny turned to Prenner. “Well?”
The man’s chiseled jaw worked up and down as he studied the screens. “Vanderwalt clearly went in but didn’t come out. Brandt is betting on Rebecca following in his footsteps.”
Bunny had already figured that out, but how long would Brandt stay? When would you finally give up? When would Rebecca’s skill and Lopez’s luck run out? And they couldn’t give any aid. With the violent eruptions and aftershocks from the Mediterranean, even if Vakasa produced micro-tremors again, they wouldn’t be able to see them amongst the jittering needle of the seismograph.
She knew what it felt like to be out in the field. To have no idea what you were doing, yet having the fate of the world on your shoulders. Rebecca must have been going out of her mind right about now.
A screen off to the far left flashed briefly. Out of the dozen or so alarms blaring, this one barely seemed worth mentioning. Only, it was perhaps the most important one, as Frellan’s face filled the screen.
The Disciples had not only survived the crash, but were in route to Shiloh.
“What can we do?” Bunny asked Emily, knowing she wouldn’t have any better answer.
The CIA operative shook her head. “The area is a disaster. An internationally declared natural disaster. Even if I could raise Israeli forces, and even if they could mobilize anything, I doubt after Jordan they would be any kinder than the Disciples.”
Bunny turned to Prenner.
“The United States military has no knowledge or hand in the events occurring in Shiloh, Israel.”
She could have punched him, but the lieutenant was right.
Rebecca and the rest were on their own.
* * *
Brandt lifted a Star of David from the wall. Nothing happened. Just like nothing happened the last five times he had lifted this particular item. The synagogue was not all that big and not all that elaborately decorated. They had tested each and every piece of iconry in the place and come up with squat.
Rebecca had wandered back to the ark. He joined her. “Any inspiration?”
She shook her head. “I must be losing my mojo.” Then she cocked her head. “The ark is never supposed to touch the ground.”
“Okay…” Brandt said, backing up as Rebecca searched around the replica. “It also isn’t supposed to have doors on the side, either…”
“And this is way too big,” she said, hurrying on. “It should only be two and a half cubits in length.”
“Again,” Brandt stated, “also not supposed to have doors in the front.”
Rebecca’s hand ran over the back wall.
“We’ve already moved everything on—”
“And where are the gold rings to hold the shittim wood rods?” She was really getting amped up, shoving on the ark. Apparently single-handedly trying to tip the thing over. “I mean, this is one of the ancient resting places of the ark. You’d think they would get it right.”
Yes, you would, but he didn’t quite see what bullying the ark was going to get them. “Rebecca, let’s take this slow and—”
“The parachot,” she said, spinning on her heel. “Where is the veil?”
Rebecca began tugging at the other wall hangings.
“Honey, you’ve got to tell me what you are—”
“God ordered Moses to always have the ark covered by a veil.” Rebecca climbed up on the ark, searching up high for something. She found a curtain rod. A bare curtain rod. “Vanderwalt took it.”
“And that means?” Lopez asked.
Rebecca smiled fiercely. “Vanderwalt doesn’t know ancient religions as well as he thinks he does.”
“We’re talking about Solomon, aren’t we?” Davidson asked.
Brandt looked from his sniper to Rebecca.
“Why, yes, we are,” she said, walking back and forth atop the ark. “And one of his most famous legends? The conundrum of two women who claimed the same babe. What was Solomon’s advice? Split the child in two.” Rebecca looked down at the ark. “And what does this ark represent?” she asked.
He hoped she was asking Davidson, because Brandt had no idea.
“The moment that Moses stood before God,” Davidson filled in the gaps, “he stood between two cherubims.”
Before he could stop her, Rebecca raised her foot and slammed it down on the ark. Wood split as grinding filled the room. And then she tipped over backward, disappearing into a dark passage.
Brandt charged the ark, leaping up onto it as the wall behind her closed. He punched the wall to no avail. It was as solid as it could get. The top of the ark, though? Not so much. He kicked the remaining wood, hitting some sort of metal rod. Then he, too, felt the world tip as the other men rushed forward.
Slipping and sliding down the long, slick shaft, Brandt didn’t bother trying to find purchase, as there never was any. Instead, he spun around, feetfirst, prepping his weapon. Light shone up ahead—the ramp was about to dump into a chamber. He’d done this dance enough to know that Vanderwalt would have a guard posted at the bottom. If he didn’t, the Brit was a way bigger idiot than Brandt had thought.
Ready for the end of the line, Brandt hit the floor at a run, using the momentum of the slide to carry him into the chamber.
Unfortunately, Vanderwalt was just a douche, not a stupid one. He had posted not just one, but four guards. The rightmost of whom had Rebecca by the neck with a gun pointed at her temple.
“Drop your weapons,” the second guard said in crisp British, “or she dies.”
Brandt didn’t even bother to argue as Rebecca mouthed, Sorry.
He ditched his rifle, kicking it over to the nearest guard. Then he pulled his sidearm out of its holster and slid it across the stone floor. Next came his knives, two grenades, and a pack of C4. What could he say? He was prepared this time.
“Follow us,” the guard stated, shoving Rebecca toward him.
“Super sorry,” Rebecca apologized.
“New rule,” Brandt said. “No kicking artifacts until you are secured on a line.”
A smile flickered on her lips. “You got it.”
Then they walked out of the simple rock-hewn chamber and into…well, into King Solomon’s temple.
* * *
Rebecca sucked in a breath. The vestibule wasn’t very wide, but it was stunning. Every surface—the walls, ceiling, floor—was gilded. So much gold that it glowed a ruddy yellow under the light of the burning torches. Many scholars argued that King Solomon could not possibly have been as rich as the Bible implied. That there was no way for an ancient king to have collected 666 talents of gold per year.
By the sheer square footage of the gold lining the walls, Rebecca guessed the number was way, way, way higher than that.
They passed through the vestibule into the Greater House—and greater it was. Columns soared to the ceiling a good twenty feet above their heads. Again, everything was covered in gold. Well, not just gold. This gold was etched with drawings, passages, and pagan gods. Each of which were adorned with gems. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds. Especially the ancient goddess Astarte.
Many had guessed that Solomon had begun worshipping this deity after his affair with Sheba. None, however, knew the extent. But it all made a type of logic, though. If Solomon had read of the female Messiah, why wouldn’t he look to the strongest female god to grace his world?
Later, Astarte had been adapted by the Greeks as Aphrodite, relegating her to the goddess of love. But in ancient times, Astarte was so much more. She was the goddess of the evening star, the goddess of virility, and the goddess of war. To hear the Phoenicians tell it, she had birthed mankind.
However, Solomon did not build this temple to Astarte exclusively. As a matter of fact, if you looked hard enough, you could find every major god upon these walls. And the inscriptions? They might as well have been made by Vakasa. They were written in every conceivable language. Was it a jumble of foreign words meant for one specific little girl to understand?
“Thor!” a familiar voice yelled.
Rebecca had been so fascinated by the columns she didn’t even see Vakasa at the front of the temple. The little girl ran hard across the marble floor and leapt into Brandt’s arms.
The rest of Vanderwalt’s party stood on the steps, which climbed up to the Holy of Holiest’s door. The innermost temple. The chamber where the ark was normally kept. Although, looking around her at the plethora of pagan gods, Rebecca was pretty damned sure they would find something altogether different inside.
“Brandt,” Talli—or whatever his name was—said, nodding to his old sergeant.
“Liar,” Brandt retorted as menacingly as he could, with Vakasa showering him with kisses.
“She won’t tell us how to get inside,” Vanderwalt stated.
“And what makes you think she’ll tell us?” Rebecca asked, but then again, Vakasa was still planting kisses on Brandt’s cheek.
“Ask her,” Vanderwalt demanded, his disheveled hair no longer cute. Even his crooked teeth took on a menace. The ground trembled beneath their feet. Not even the glittering surroundings could take away Rebecca’s sense of dread.
* * *
Davidson kicked at the ark again, to no avail.
“Hang on,” Levont suggested, shining his light into the broken wood. “There was a rod, but it’s bent.” He tugged on the cherabim’s wing. “I think we just had to crank one of these bad boys down, but now…”
Yes, but now Brandt and Rebecca were under the Tabernacle and they were stuck up here.
“Um, new problem,” Lopez announced, cracking open the door. “Looks like the Disciples want to join the party.”
Davidson jumped down from the ark and made his way to the door. Sure enough, two SUVs snaked their way up the road to the hilltop.
“Blow it?” Levont suggested, indicating to the ark.
“No,” Davidson stated. He turned to Lopez. “I’ve got an idea, but it is a little risky.”
Lopez cocked his head. “You had me at idea, but now that I know it’s risky?”
Davidson could only hope all of Lopez’s enthusiasm was justified.
* * *
Brandt tried to extract Vakasa from his embrace, but she wouldn’t let her clutch hold of his neck go until he gave her raspberries against her neck. She giggled so loudly that the laughter echoed off the walls.
“The ark,” Vanderwalt said, pointing to the door.
Finally, Vakasa let Brandt lower her to the ground. “And if I get her to open it? What do we get in exchange?”
Vanderwalt grimaced. Not a good look on him. The affable boy-man worked a lot better. “First, you aren’t Davidson, so don’t try and charm me. Secondly,
I’ve got your woman and the kid.” The ground shook, hard. Golden dust rained down upon them. “Thirdly, I think the world might be coming to an end, so how about you just open the bloody door?”
The last part was more of a maniacal shout.
Brandt glanced to Rebecca. Vanderwalt might be losing it, especially keeping Talli back for close protection—had the Brit not read any of Brandt’s after-action reports?—but he wasn’t all that far off from the world ending part.
He gave the nod to Rebecca. His fiancée kneeled next to the girl.
“Vakasa, do you know how to get into the Holy of Holies?”
The girl reached out and touched the thick carpet that hung behind her. The central image was that of a huge lotus blossom.
Vakasa went to open her mouth, but a loud boom filled the chamber. Followed shortly thereafter by gunfire. Someone had breached the temple. Vanderwalt snatched Vakasa away from Rebecca.
“Tell your men to stand down!”
Before Brandt could answer, one of the British soldiers hauled ass out of the vestibule. “He can’t! It’s the Disciples.” The guy fired back into the antechamber. “And they are seriously packing.”
Brandt turned to Vanderwalt, his hand out. “Give me a weapon.”
The MI-5’s eyes flickered to Brandt, then Talli.
“Phhh, I say give him a gun.” Well, at least he could count on Talli for something.
Vanderwalt lowered his weapon and turned the grip to Brandt. “We are not done.”
Hell no. But right now, they needed to survive the next few minutes. Checking the chamber, he urged Rebecca and Vakasa behind the nearest column. Setting his sights on the arch that led to the vestibule, Brandt had only one question.
Where the fuck were his men?
* * *
Sitting tight was tough, Davidson thought. Especially when you could hear gunfire and corresponding screams. He could only pray they weren’t Brandt or Rebecca’s. But they had to stay hidden until it was clear.
Which hopefully would come soon, as the three of them were crammed down within a space under the floorboards. This was Israel, after all. This region had been occupied or exchanged hands a dozen times over. They knew the use of a good hiding place. Unfortunately, this one clearly was meant for small children, not three grown men.
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