He stared hard at the writing on the wall. “All the money. All the time. Everything we’ve done. To come this far...all for a hoax.” Lindsey’s voice was filled with regret and bitter resentment. He shook his head slowly, still staring at the wall. His breaths were coming quickly in big heaves. “Why would someone leave this here?”
DeGard looked back at the inscription for a moment. “I do not know, Monsieur. Why do people create giant rings in corn fields and then claim Aliens did it?”
The words went in one ear and out the other as the old man shuffled close to the wall. As he neared it, he felt something shift underneath his feet. There was a clanking noise deep from within the mountain then silence again. The four stepped back away from the wall, scanning the walls to see what was happening. Will’s flashlight fell on the spot where his employer had been standing only a moment before. Suddenly, the section of the floor dropped away, sending a gust of warm air up into the space.
Will put his hand against the wall to maintain his balance, and crept closer to the gaping hole in the floor. He leaned over and shone his light down into the abyss, but the beam never reached a surface, only deflecting off of dust and steam.
“There’s nothing down there,” Will said in an even tone. “It’s an old booby trap. Whoever built this place didn’t want anyone coming out of it.”
Lindsey’s face lightened slightly despite the terrifying realization that he had nearly died. He moved back toward the cavity in the floor, investigating it carefully from a safe distance. His eyes narrowed as the dust settled.
“It must have surely been designed to collapse sooner than that,” he realized out loud.
“But it didn’t,” Will comforted.
The old man nodded and rose back up. “The question is, why someone would go to the trouble of putting a trap here, if there was not something to hide elsewhere?”
DeGard let out an exasperated sigh. “Are you suggesting you are going to continue this ridiculous charade? Because if you are, I am going to ask that you pay me my fee and let me go.”
Lindsey’s eyebrows raised in surprise at the Frenchman’s bold comment. He’d had enough of the foreigner’s doubt, his lack of conviction, and his tedious fear.
“If that is what you wish, Monsieur DeGard, then we will let you go.” Lindsey gave a quick nod to Will.
Kaba understood the unspoken order and grabbed DeGard from behind as her partner snagged the suddenly panicked professor. They forced the man toward the hole then spun him around, each gripping one of his wrists.
“What are you doing?” he screamed, sounding more like a terrified little girl than a grown man. “We had a deal!”
Lindsey stepped toward him, menace covering his face. The wrinkles on his skin seemed to frame wicked emotions fueled by anger.
“You said you wanted out, and to be let go. So I will let you go.” The low voice was rough, and the loose skin beneath his neck shook as he spoke. “Unless, of course, you wish to continue your employment with me.”
Kaba and Will shoved the skinny man out over the abyss, holding his life by thin wrists. His head went back and forth, trying to look down yet desperately not wanting to see what waited below.
“Please!” he pleaded. “I’ll do whatever you ask. Just don’t kill me!” His voice sounded like a whimpering, nasally dog.
Lindsey thought he saw tears welling up in the Frenchman’s eyes.
“So, you will continue to assist us in this charade?” The last word carried a sarcastic air with it.
DeGard nodded frantically. “Oui! Oui! I’ll do whatever you say.”
Lindsey nodded and his two associates jerked up the trembling professor, and pulled him to safety. DeGard quickly moved away from the hole and put his hands on his knees. Bile rose up through his esophagus, and for a moment, it appeared he might vomit.
“Now,” Lindsey spoke in a commanding tone again. “What are we missing here? We know that someone set this trap. And we believe based on the good professor’s earlier assessment that it was probably built around the late third century. That is what you said, correct Monsieur DeGard?”
The Frenchman was still bent over his knees catching his breath and trying hard not to throw up. “Yes,” he nodded, breathing heavily. “The Latin and the style of the engraving would suggest that time frame.”
“That means that the people who built this cave, knew about the ark. And they also knew about what the ark contained, based on the contents of the message.”
Will’s eyes opened wider. He could see where his employer was going with the line of thought. “So, you think the people who carved out this cave found something. But where is it now?”
“The monastery,” DeGard gasped and leaned back against the craggy rock wall.
His flashlight had fallen on the floor and was now aimed at his feet. The other three shone their lights on his face, causing him to shield himself from the brightness with one hand.
“What did you say?” Lindsey demanded and shuffled over to where the shaking Frenchman stood. “What monastery? You better start making sense quickly.”
DeGard began to regain his composure, becoming angry over the fact that his boss had threatened to drop him into a bottomless pit. When he spoke, his voice was still shaky. “We flew by a monastery on the way here. Khor Virap. Your assistant here asked about it.” He pointed a crooked finger at Will.
Lindsey turned his attention to Will then back to DeGard, as if trying to size up whether or not the man was telling the truth. Will confirmed it with a nod, but that still didn’t explain what the monastery had to do with the missing clue to the ark. The old man was irritated, angry, and growing tired of the search. He had come to the eastern border of Turkey believing he would find the greatest treasure ever known to man. Only a few people ever even believed it still existed.
Now, to be so close only to get presented with another obstacle was almost more than he could bear. Lindsey’s patience was running out. And his last hope was in a Frenchman who had been ex-communicated by his profession for unethical behavior. Despite Lindsey’s belief in his own mission, the irony was not lost on him.
His eyes peered deep into DeGard’s soul. When he spoke, it was nearly a hiss. “Why are you bringing up this monastery now? What is it about that place that is so special?”
DeGard took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He bent down and picked up his flashlight while he spoke. “As I told your associate before, Khor Virap was initially built around the turn of the same century I believe this passage was constructed. It would make sense that the people who built it may also have taken the clue and hidden it somewhere.”
“Go on.”
“Khor Virap was originally a prison. Saint Gregory was kept in the dungeon there for over a decade. He is the patron saint of Armenia and was responsible for converting the king, and eventually the entire nation as a result of his ministry.”
Lindsey was beginning to lose interest in the story about the priest. “I don’t care about any of that. What is so special about that monastery? And I warn you, if you are wasting my time, I will not hesitate to drop you in that hole.”
The Frenchman swallowed hard while trying to convey a look of disdain. “It was said that Saint Gregory had miraculous healing powers. That he was able to heal the king. Rumors suggested he had access to some ancient power. To many, it was evidence that he had the power of God at his disposal. The healings made it easy to convert tens of thousands of Armenians.”
Lindsey took a step back, lowering his flashlight. He looked over at Will, whose face was barely illuminated by the whitish-yellow glow of the beams. Will cast him a glance that basically said they didn’t have any other play at that point.
“How far away is this place?” Lindsey asked finally.
“Not far,” DeGard shook his head. “But we will have to cross the border to get there.”
Kaba spoke up. “Not a problem. The border is not heavily patrolled in an area not far from Khor Virap. We
should be able to cross over without any problems if we fly low.”
The old man hesitated for a moment, deciding the best course of action. He couldn’t afford any more mistakes. Back in the United States, over two thousand crates awaited his orders to be shipped all over the world. The longer it took to find what he was looking for, the riskier the entire mission became. If the legends about Saint Gregory were true, he may have had access to the fruit of the tree from Eden. The story description certainly aligned with every bit of research he’d done through the years.
The ability to heal, energize, and grant immortality were all components of the tree God had placed in the Garden of Eden. With it, he would be able to live forever and destroy all the sinful people of the world.
Lindsey raised one eyebrow, but his face remained stern. “Very well. Let’s investigate the monastery. Perhaps our friend, Saint Gregory, left us something of interest after all.”
Chapter 26
Cartersville, Georgia
“So, tell me again what it is you’re doing?” Joe watched as his wife scanned through what looked like a complicated spreadsheet.
Helen had accessed the Biosure database using a bunch of terms he’d not understood. She’d said something about going in through their back door, but after that, everything had been mumbo jumbo to him. Whatever she did, it had worked, and now they were staring at hundreds of order manifests for Biosure influenza vaccines.
“It looks like they’re shipping these all over the world,” Helen remarked as she scrolled down the list of shipping addresses and orders. “I wonder why all the dates are open. Wouldn’t they all be queued to leave on specific days and times?”
Her face expressed the same confusion as Joe’s. It didn’t make sense. Hundreds, maybe thousands of orders were listed there on the screen. But none of them had a shipping date. Joe’s mind was turning as his wife continued to look through the spreadsheet.
“If what Sean said was correct, it sounds like Lindsey is planning to use Biosure to distribute some kind of super virus out into the world. But he wouldn’t do that unless he could protect himself from the virus.” Helen could tell the wheels were turning in Joe’s head.
He rubbed his beard for a few moments before continuing. “So, that is what he’s looking for. He’s trying to find the tree of life from the Garden of Eden because he thinks it will make him immune to whatever it is he’s going to unleash. He must believe it has some kind of medicinal properties that can override the virus.”
Helen looked up from the computer while Joe finished his thought. She glanced back at the computer for a second then returned her gaze to him. “These shipments are all some kind of super bug?” Her face contorted, disturbed at the idea. “They are ready to be sent to major cities all over the globe. It will be a pandemic within days.
Joe nodded. “So it would seem. We have to make sure those shipments don’t go anywhere until we can get a sample to the CDC, and confirm what it is we’re dealing with.”
Helen acknowledged what Joe had said with a quick nod. She turned her attention to the computer screen and began typing furiously. Several different windows popped up while she worked, but before he could see what they were, the boxes disappeared. He had never seen anyone type as fast as his wife. Come to think of it, he had never really seen his wife do anything on the computer. Joe assumed that she used it for browsing the Internet or Pinterest, typical things. Now he could see there was a layer to his wife he’d never known about. She was a government trained computer hacker. The thought actually excited him for a second before he redirected his focus back to task.
She hit the “enter” key and watched as a flurry of numbers and letters passed across the screen. At last, a window popped up that read, “account created.”
Joe leaned over and saw the message. “What does that mean?” he asked over her shoulder.
Helen smiled at his reflection on the monitor. “I just created an all access pass for us to get into Biosure’s headquarters.”
“Are you serious?” his face was in utter disbelief. “You just broke into the Biosure computer system and gave us access to the building?”
“Yep,” she nodded. “I figured it would be safer to send it there than to our house.”
“Honey,” Joe beamed. “Did I ever tell you you’re amazing?”
“Not as often as you should,” she grinned as she looked up at him.
Up until that point in their relationship, Joe had never seen such guile from his wife. And they had been married for twenty years. He had always assumed she was overprotective of him out of fear of being alone. Now, he realized she had probably seen and done things that showed her a world of trouble. Her way of keeping him out of that trouble was to nag him.
Another thought occurred to Joe, interrupting the ones about his wife and her mysterious past.
“But will they know we hacked into their system? I guess what I’m asking is, will someone be able to track where the order came from?”
Her face became slightly more serious.“ Maybe. That is always a possibility. That is why we need to move fast. I doubt anyone at Biosure will notice, but I’d rather not chance it. We will have to act quickly and get a sample of whatever that stuff is over to Jenny.”
“Did I say you were good?” Joe smiled broadly from behind his beard. “I mean, you are really good.”
“Thank you. Now, we need to think about how to navigate that building,” she stated in a thick southern drawl.
“Right.”
Her expression turned serious as she switched back to the computer screen. The huge list of addresses on the manifest stared back at her. “I just hope we get to this in time.”
Chapter 27
Turkish/Armenian Border
The helicopters cruised over the border separating the two countries. Patches of snow dotted the plains in a few places. It had been a warmer season than the region was accustomed to. Even so, there had been a few snowstorms that had come through a little earlier than usual leaving traces of white in spots where the sun didn’t shine as long.
It hadn’t taken long to fly from the dramatic slopes of Ararat Mountain to the rolling plains of Armenia. The silhouette of the strange monastery rose up in the distance, almost as if it had been carved out of the hill on which it sat.
Lindsey had ordered the two pilots to swoop around and approach Khor Virap from the south. As the helicopters passed by the ancient site to the west, it seemed the lonely monastery was fairly empty. Seeing any vehicles was fairly difficult from the safe distance they maintained, but Lindsey had insisted they approach with caution. In the back of his mind, he continued thinking that it was still possible someone else might be on the same trail. And he didn’t want to spook anyone.
The pilots steered the flying machines around and landed them in a field near a small parking lot at the base of the hill. The occupants noticed a small guard shack at the foot of a narrow driveway that wound its way up to the top where a thick, rock wall wrapped around the premises. Engines began to shut down as the group exited the cabins and headed toward the flimsy gate.
A smiling monk appeared in the doorway of the shack, wearing dark robes and matching shoes. The priest welcomed the group in his native Armenia. There were a few other words he fired off, but no one in the group understood.
“Do you speak English?” Lndsey asked gruffly.
The monk ignored the older man’s rude demeanor, continuing to speak with a smile. “Of course,” he said in a strained accent. “Welcome to Khor Virap. Are you here to worship or just see the site? We will be having a service in a few hours.”
“We just want to take a look around,” Will answered for his employer.
“Very well,” the monk kept smiling. “It is rare that we get many visitors this time of year. Your group is the second in the last few hours. This must be a first.” He beamed at Lindsey with an overly-eager grin.
The young priest turned to open the gate, but Lindsey grabbed his arm, stop
ping him in his tracks. The gesture was the first thing that had taken the stupid smile off the monk’s face since Lindsey had laid eyes on him.
“Wait. You’ve had other visitors today?” the old man demanded.
The monk nodded, shaking the thin layer of brown hair that rimmed a shiny, pale head. “Yes,” the smile returned. “I believe they are Americans like you. You are American, yes?” He raised an expectant eyebrow.
Will’s eyes narrowed. “These visitors...did they have a woman with them, and an older man?”
“Yes,” the monk confirmed emphatically. “Do you know them? I can take you to where they are if you like. I believe they are viewing the—”
“No,” Lindsey cut him off before the monk could finish. “I think we may have to come back later.”
The monk seemed confused, momentarily. “So, you do not wish to see the chapel?”
Again Lindsey insisted. “We will return at a later time. Thank you.” He turned around and started walking toward where the helicopters were sitting.
DeGard was just as confused as the priest, unsure of why they were leaving. “You have them right where you want them. What is it you plan to do? Are you going to force them to give you whatever they have found?” he questioned insistently.
Lindsey ignored the query and motioned for Will and Kaba to come close as they walked away from the still gawking monk. The two sped up and leaned in close, listening carefully to his employer’s instructions.
“Get rid of the monk. Tell the men to grab their weapons. We will surround the chapel, and when Wyatt and his friends leave, kill them. Kill them all.”
Will nodded and turned around, heading back toward where the young monk was standing while Kaba sprinted in the direction of the helicopters.
As he neared the young monk, Will put his arm around him and ushered the young man toward the little guard shack. To the naïve witness, it would have appeared Will was sharing a secret or maybe a request with the priest. As soon as the two disappeared from sight into the confines of shack, there were a few faint pops. A moment later, Will reappeared in the doorway, concealing his pistol within his wool pea coat.
Sean Wyatt Compilation Box Set Page 75