The Guardian

by ROBBIE CHEUVRONT

  Jerusalem

  “The ark of the covenant! Are you serious?” Anna stopped in her tracks. They were standing just outside the hotel. “Forget going for a walk. Let’s go back to the suite so we can talk.”

  They didn’t say much on the way back to the hotel. At the suite, Anna closed the door. Then she reopened it, hung the Do NOT DISTURB sign, and shut it again with a click.

  “Jason, what are you talking about? Do you mean that my grandfather was looking for the ark of the covenant?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Then what?”

  Jason pulled the chair out from the little desk that sat along the wall and sat down. Anna plopped down on the sofa.

  “Okay. This is gonna sound really outrageous, but trust me. I think I’ve figured it out.”

  Anna sat there with raised eyebrows.

  “Okay. Your grandfather has all these maps of temples and churches, right?” He watched Anna’s head bob up and down. “Well, we know that he dismissed all but two: the temple here and, from the looks of the maps, the Vatican.” Anna was still nodding in agreement. “Okay. Now back to the riddle. ‘The key is found in the temple.’ I think your grandfather knew what the key was. And if he’s right, then this is really big, Anna. I mean really big. The ark. See—and when I finish explaining, this will all make sense—the ark was kept in the temple. Inside the ark there were some things—the most famous were the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments inscribed on them. But what we’re looking for is Moses’ staff.”

  “Why would we need Moses’—”

  “I’m getting to that.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Okay. So here’s the deal. Throughout the Bible, there were narrow escapes and miraculous getaways. The most famous of these is probably the parting of the Red Sea. Just like the second part of the scroll says, God opened the way. There was another time later when Joshua needed to cross the Jordan. The Israelites didn’t know what to do. Joshua commanded the priests who were carrying the ark to go stand in the water. When their feet touched the river, it opened up, just like the Red Sea, and they all passed over the Jordan, completely dry. Some people believe that because Moses’ staff was in there, it had the same effect on the river that it did on the sea. We need Moses’ staff, which is supposedly still in the ark. Like the scroll says, it will open the way. I think it’s the key. And it’s in the temple.”

  Anna sat there, jaw open, staring at him. She finally let out a “Whew!” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Jason, I don’t know a lot about this Bible stuff, but didn’t I hear somewhere that the temple was destroyed, with everything in it?”

  “Yes. You did, but here’s the thing. When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, the ark became a thing of legend. No one knows what happened to it. Some believe it was taken back into heaven by God. Some people believe it’s buried somewhere in the Middle East. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church actually claims it has possession of it. They say it’s hidden in a ‘treasury’ that only their high priest can visit. Most people think that’s a pretty bunk theory. Here’s what I think. And apparently your grandfather thought it, too.” He hopped up from the desk and settled next to Anna on the sofa. “I think that at some point, after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, the ark was brought back here and is inside the mosque. The other theory is that it’s in the Vatican. There’s our two temples your grandfather wrote about. Now, I adamantly disagree with the thought that it’s in the Vatican.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, think about it. If the Vatican had anything like that, something that could lend that much credibility to the Roman Catholic Church, don’t you think it would’ve been made public? Not to mention, your grandfather was in with the pope, just as you are. Well, I mean—you know …”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. But why do we need Moses’ staff?”

  “I’m getting to that.” He stood up and started pacing. “See, this is where it gets a little far-fetched. It was the first thing the scroll said that was the real mystery. ‘What once was perfect has now been broken.’ I mean, what the heck does that mean?” He stopped with his arms outstretched, as if waiting for an answer. “Then I started to study the maps your grandfather left us. You remember all the maps of the Middle East?” “Yeah,” Anna said, unsure. “I think so.”

  “At first I thought your grandfather subscribed to the theory of the ark being buried in the Middle East. But I had to dismiss that when I realized that’s what he was looking in the temples for. So here I was, staring at these maps. I looked them over. Then I looked them over again. Then I saw it.”

  “What?” Anna was on the edge of the sofa. Her eyes were wide with anticipation. “What? Saw what?”

  “The rivers.”

  “The rivers?” She sat back again, frowning.

  “Each one of the maps had different rivers marked on them. But they were all the same map of the same region.”

  “So what does that have to do with anything?”

  “It has everything to do with everything.” He stopped pacing and sat back down. “Okay. It’s like this.” He shifted and pulled one leg up under him so he was face-to-face with her. “I didn’t think much of it because of the names of the rivers. But the more I studied them the more it made sense to me. Those rivers had different names long, long ago. All except one, the Euphrates. It still has the same name.”

  Anna stared blankly at him. “So?”

  “I did some studying on my own. Many people believe that their names were the Pishon, the Gihon, and the Hiddekel—all very important rivers named in the Bible.”

  He grabbed his Bible off the desk, opened it to the book of Genesis, and handed it to her. As she read the section he pointed out, her eyes became wide. Her finger traced the words as she read them. She looked up at him with disbelief. He nodded a “yes” to her. She read it again. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

  “I know,” he said. “Pretty cool, huh?” “I don’t believe it.”

  “Believe it. This is what your grandfather was looking for. This is what the riddle on the scroll is about. ‘What once was perfect, has now been broken.’ The only thing that has been perfect in this world, since God created it, was our relationship with him. It was perfect. Then we screwed it up. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. The relationship was broken when Adam and Eve sinned against God.” He opened the Bible and pointed to the page. “And that’s the only place where it was ever perfect.”

  Anna looked at him, still in disbelief. “The Garden of Eden.”

  CHAPTER 53

  Outside Rome

  Wickham finished his breakfast and hailed another cab. He told the driver to take him to his house in the country. The place was a mess. He had rented it out for a social event last night, and the cleaning crew hadn’t been by yet today.

  He pushed his way through the foyer and into the living room, moving chairs and end tables out of the way. Dirty wine glasses and paper plates were everywhere. Some still had the remnants of food on them. The whole place stank of bite-sized sausages and merlot.

  He walked upstairs to his private study, protected by a dead bolt lock and a keyless number pad. He undid the locks and went inside to his desk to retrieve another key. He crossed the room to a wall where a Picasso hung and removed it, revealing a safe also protected by a two-lock security system.

  He entered his code and turned the key. There was a grinding sound as the metal from the dead bolts retreated. He turned the lever of the handle, and the door swung open.

  A small leather briefcase sat on the shelf inside. He took it out

  and relocked the safe. After setting the case on his desk, he opened it and grabbed the small .38 caliber handgun concealed inside.

  He’d bought the gun on the black market several years ago. The serial numbers had been filed off, and the whole firing mechanism had been replaced twice. When he bought it, he was told that the gun was a ghost. He’d only hoped that was correct.

 
He pulled the clip and checked the ammo. Still full, minus two rounds. The only two he’d ever fired. That night he’d first used the gun was one he would never forget. It was the reason he bought the gun. A young, vibrant college exchange student from Russia named Alexi.

  Needless to say, she would never talk to the media and tell them about the wild weekend they spent together in Monte Carlo. That’s what she’d threatened to do unless he gave her a half million dollars and bought her a nice apartment in the city. He would’ve been ruined.

  What he did that night was what led him to find people like Jonathan. He’d spent the next month looking over his shoulder, living in fear. He vowed never again to get his own hands dirty with something like that. He liked the power of wielding life over death. He just didn’t want to do it himself. It was enough simply knowing he ordered it. So he spent the next month in back alleys and seedy places asking questions about people who could “get things done.” He was actually amused at how easy it was to find such people.

  But now things had changed. If Jonathan screwed up again, Wickham would be dead. The risk was too great to rely on someone so inept. He had no choice but to get his own hands dirty. If everything worked out the way he envisioned it, not only would he have the scroll in his possession by tonight, but there would also be no more loose ends.

  CHAPTER 54

  Ben Gurion Airport, Jerusalem

  Wickham’s plane touched down and pulled to the private terminal. He stepped off the aircraft and immediately into a car that was waiting for him.

  The car took him to his hotel, where he quietly made his way to his room. He stretched out on the bed and massaged his temples—something he liked to do after a flight.

  After a fifteen-minute rest, he opened his bag and took out his phone.

  Jonathan answered on the fourth ring. “Hello?”

  “Where are you?”

  “In Jerusalem. I told you that.”

  “I mean specifically.”

  “In an old CIA safe house. What does it matter?” “It doesn’t, I suppose.”

  “Well, did you call me just to ask where I was, or did you need something? I’m kind of busy right now.”

  “I called for a progress report,” he said agitated. “I do pay you,

  you know. I think I’m entitled to know what’s going on.”

  “Where are you, Wickham?” Jonathan asked with hesitation.

  “What? What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Nothing,” Jonathan said. “She’s staying at the King David Hotel. We are watching her.”

  He almost lost his breath. The King David Hotel. She was here. In the same building. “If you know where she is, then why haven’t you taken her yet?”

  “Four or five guys snatching a young American girl off the street would gather some attention, don’t you think? Why don’t you let me do my job and get off my back!”

  He was too excited to let Jonathan’s tone upset him. The girl was right under his nose. This might be easier than he thought. “Yes, Jonathan. You know what—never mind. Just do your job and get me that scroll. Oh, and I need you to send me a photo of her.”

  “What’s going on, Louis?” he demanded. “What—oh, nothing. It’s just very busy around here. You know. I’m a little distracted right now.” “You called me.”

  He cleared his throat. “I need to go. Do your job and get me what I’m paying you for. Send me that photo. You can send it to my PDA. You have that number, yes?”

  “Yeah, I have it,” Jonathan said. “I’ll send it.”

  Wickham hung up the phone and tried to contain the excitement that was coursing through his veins.

  Jonathan heard the abrupt click through his earpiece. Wickham had hung up on him again. One of these days, he was going to have to teach a certain cardinal some manners.

  His team was up and moving around the house, getting ready to leave. He had two men watching the King David, ready to call the minute the girl left the building. Everything was in place, and the plan was a good one.

  And yet he had that awful sinking feeling in his gut—the one that told him he’d better have eyes in the back of his head or he might not have a head anymore. He’d only had that feeling four other times in his life. Three of them, it saved his life. The last one he ignored. And it got him a bullet in his leg and almost cost him his life, not to mention the six million Remy stole. He tasted the bile in his throat as he remembered the cathedral at Oloron-Sainte-Marie.

  “Listen up, everyone!” he shouted. Everyone stopped in their tracks and focused on him. “I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s not right. Keep your eyes open and your ears on full alert. When Frick and Frack call back here with an update, we’ll move. But, and I’ll only say this once, you do nothing without my explicit permission. Is that understood?”

  The men nodded.

  “All right. Then mount up and be ready to move.”

  He reached inside his briefcase and retrieved a photo of the girl he’d taken. He opened his laptop, scanned the picture, and sent it to Wickham.

  The laptop chimed and alerted him that his mail had been sent. The bile in his throat returned. Something definitely wasn’t right. That sinking feeling was getting stronger.

  The King David Hotel

  “Jason, what are we going to do?” Anna paced back and forth across the living room of the suite. “I mean, I’m sure that people have been looking for that place for thousands of years. Even before Jesus. And now we, a Baptist missionary and college student, are going to just miraculously discover it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jason”—she blew out a breath in exasperation—”this is crazy. We can’t do this.”

  Jason smiled. “Aren’t you the same person who, just five days ago, sat next to a special agent of the Israeli government and threatened him? That doesn’t sound like someone who thinks she can’t do something.”

  “Yeah, but that’s different. We’re talking about the Garden of Eden.”

  “Anna, think about it. You have in your possession the most significant Christian relic in the history of Christianity. Its sole purpose is to show the possessor of such relic—that’s you—how to get there! We can do it.”

  She let out a long breath and sat down on the sofa. Jason could see the worry on her face. He walked behind the sofa and massaged her shoulders. “We can do this. We can. Your grandfather thought so. So did Vin. And so do I.”

  The tension lessened from her neck and shoulders. “Okay. We can do this. Now what?”

  Jason leaned down and put his cheek against hers. “Now we go to a cosmetics store.”

  “What?”

  He straightened and sat on the back of the sofa. “We’re supposed to meet Benjamin in twelve hours. Neither one of us looks Arabic. So I was thinking we should try to find something that will change our complexion. And we need to get you a haircut.”

  “What’s wrong with my hair?”

  “Well, it’s long,” he said, stating the obvious.

  “Yeah? So?”

  “So, only women have long hair here. Not guys. And if you’re going to get into that mosque tonight, you need to look like a guy.”

  CHAPTER 55

  The king David Hotel, Jerusalem

  Anna and Jason stopped at the front desk and asked the concierge where they might find some shopping. He told them that the neighborhood of West Jerusalem was a very popular area of town for just that.

  They found a little boutique where they purchased a dark makeup base, some scissors, and some hair coloring. Hungry, they grabbed lunch at a sidewalk café.

  They hadn’t been sitting there for very long when a young lady passed by their table, dropping a small folded note onto their table. She didn’t stop or turn to look at either one of them. The note was simply dropped, inconspicuously, right in front of Anna.

  Anna almost called after the woman, but she remembered the note that was given to her before in the same manner at a café like this
one. After reading the note, she grabbed Jason’s hand. “We need to go. Now!”

  Jason didn’t bother to ask why or what was going on. He

  quickly retrieved a twenty shekel note, threw it on the table and hurried after her.

  “Anna, what’s going on?” he asked, falling in behind her. “What did that note say?”

  Pulling him by the arm, she used her free hand to open the door to a cab sitting on the corner. She jumped in the backseat and dragged him in with her. The door shut and the cab sped off. She turned to him, eyes wide, and handed him the note.

  Anna,

  Don’t make a big scene. As soon as you finish reading this note, get up from the table. There is a cab waiting for you across the street. It is yellow and has a black stripe down the side. Get into it, and it will take you to someplace safe. We’ll be waiting therefor you. We will explain when you get there. Do it now.

  Christopher Wallace

  Jason immediately sat up straight. “Anna,” his words were sharp and hushed, “what are you thinking? You don’t even know who these people are. This could be a trap! These people could be trying to kill you.”

  “No, it’s okay. The lady who dropped the note … she was the same person who gave us the note at that café before.”

  “Are you sure?” His question was almost desperate. “I don’t like this. How am I supposed to protect you—us—if you just take off like that without—”

  “It’s all right, Jason. I’m positive. I never forget a face. It was her.”

  He relaxed a bit. “Okay. If you say so, but I still don’t like it. Do you have your”—he pointed at her ankle—”you know.”

  She shook her head. “How could I? We flew commercial, remember?”

  The cab made a sharp turn into an alley and then immediately into a garage. Two men appeared out of nowhere and shut the big door behind them, casting the room into almost complete darkness. The locks in the doors snapped as the two men made their way from the garage door to either side of the cab. They opened the doors simultaneously and reached inside.