The Guardian (37 page)

They were on complete radio silence, the only exception being an emergency. Still, she thought about calling for a radio check. She contemplated it for a few seconds, waiting to hear the sound again. She didn’t, so she dismissed it and continued on another twenty yards or so.

There it was again. She stopped. Now she was concerned. The same sound twice in three minutes. And it wasn’t normal. She decided not to break radio silence just yet. Instead, she thought about the stage plot for their positions. Ramon would be closest to her. She headed that way.

He wasn’t there.

Now she wasn’t just concerned. She was worried. While she was one of the most skilled people on Christopher’s team, she wasn’t one who necessarily always followed the rules. Christopher would get on her case about it all the time. The fact that she was better than anyone else on the team gained her some leeway. Ramon, on the other hand, was mister rules-and-regulations. There’s no way he’d leave his post unless he had a direct order from Christopher

or received a code red on the radio. And he wasn’t here. That was it. Time to break radio silence.

She reached at her waist to press the radio. She stopped. There it was again. That sound. It was just a quick squeal. She’d heard it before. And not just the two previous times in the last ten minutes. She reached for the button. She stopped. She felt the blood drain from her face. She knew where she’d heard that sound before. It was the sound of the transmitter cord being ripped out of the radio.

She found cover and drew her weapon. Her entire body tensed, fully alert. She swept the area around her. Nothing.

She crouched behind a parked car and keyed her radio. “Command, this is Bravo One. Check in. Over.” Nothing.

“Bravo Two, this is One. Check in. Over.”

Nothing.

“Three, check in.”

Nothing.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. This was bad. No one was checking in. She knew they were dead. How, she didn’t know. She only knew that it was true. Otherwise, someone would have found her or contacted her by now. When one of the team broke radio silence, it was understood that no matter what the circumstance was, you always checked in. That was the rule.

She moved from behind the parked car to check out the other posts and confirm her suspicions.

Twenty feet away she spotted a dumpster tucked back in an alley. Something stuck out from the other side. She hugged the wall and moved in, all the while sweeping her weapon from side to side and up and down.

Ramon was slumped over, soaked with blood. His throat had been cut from ear to ear.

Quickly she made her way back out the alley and headed toward the Dome of the Rock. That’s where Christopher was supposed to be.

She hadn’t gone very far when she saw a brilliant flash light up the night sky no more than a hundred yards in front of her.

Immediately, she heard people screaming. Seconds later she was thrown backward as the concussion from the bomb threw her against the brick wall.

F
ive … four … three … two … Jason pushed the button as he and Anna shielded themselves behind the door opening. They felt the ground tremble and heard the explosion. Dust and heat flew at them from the cavern behind the door.

They flipped on their flashlights and hurried into the dark passageway. The gate had blown, exactly as Benjamin said it would. There was an opening large enough for a single adult to crawl through.

Jason readied his pistol and poked his head through the opening, sure that he was about to be fired upon.

Nothing. He could make out the outline of a small room with a hallway that led upward in the back. It was the hallway that Benjamin told them would lead them to the Holy of Holies.

Jason and Anna quickly stepped into a room that was really nothing more than a cellar. The walls were rock and the floor was dirt. A few boxes were strewn about, making it look more like a storage closet than anything else. They pushed a few of them out

of their way and slipped into the hallway.

As they crept up the winding path, they could hear muffled voices coming from above, along with the sound of many feet running. Obviously, Benjamin’s distraction was working. It sounded like total chaos above.

Less than twenty meters up the hallway, they were met with another door. This is where it would get tricky. Benjamin had told them that this door led to the main underground tunnel network. Not even Benjamin knew what would be waiting for them on the other side of the door. The only thing he did know was how to get to the Holy of Holies from here. If they ran into any worshippers—or worse, guards—they would have to decide for themselves how to proceed.

Jason tried the door, he and Anna both poised with their pistols outstretched. The knob turned easily, and the door opened a crack. He could see a dimly lit open area, not very big, that looked a lot like the cellar they had just come from. This one, however, had a set of stairs at one end and two other tunnels on either side of the stairs. He could see two people standing with their backs to him just a few feet away. Both held AK-47 rifles.

Jason silently closed the door and whispered to Anna, “Two guys, both armed with automatic rifles—backs to us. Here’s what we’re going to do.” He finished telling Anna his plan and then opened the door again.

This time it was Anna who took the lead. She stumbled out of the door, holding her side and coughing as if she were injured. She was doubled over with her head down. She was motioning to the two guards to come to her, as if she needed help.

They reacted in shock. They didn’t expect someone to come in from behind them. As far as they had known, the only thing down there was some storage cellar and no entrance into it, except from

their end. And they hadn’t seen anyone come down those stairs since the explosion just a few minutes ago.

As Anna looked like a fellow Arab in her disguise, they quickly took the five or so steps over to her as she continued to cough and convulse. They let their assault rifles drop to their side, hanging from the shoulder strap. As they did, she straightened up just as Jason flung open the door and knocked one of them over the head with his 9mm. The man instantly fell to the floor, limp. The other was fumbling with his robe, trying to get a hold of his own weapon. Since he was already caught off guard, it was easy for Anna to step around him and knock him in the back of the head as well. Both men now lay unconscious on the floor.

“Quick,” Jason said, “let’s get these guys out of the way.”

They each grabbed a man and dragged him through the door that they had come through. Anna retrieved a small roll of duct tape from the backpack she had concealed under her robe and quickly taped the men’s hands, feet, and mouths. The only way these guys were going to get any help was if someone found them. She hoped someone would find them—eventually. While she didn’t want them hindering what she and Jason were trying to do, she certainly didn’t want the men to come to any harm. Someone would find them. She was sure of it.

Back in the tunnel network, the noise above was getting more intense. It had only been three minutes since they entered the room below them. They needed to find the Holy of Holies fast. Another group of armed guards could come down here any second. What then? Would they be forced to shoot someone? Anna pushed that thought out of her mind.

“Come on,” she said. “Benjamin said it’s down this hall.” She grabbed Jason’s hand and they entered the tunnel.

The tunnel wound down and around a good twenty or so

meters. The last few or so, they were met with a set of seven steps made of marble. They were lined with what looked like solid gold. And inside the solid gold lining there were rubies and diamonds. At the bottom of the steps stood a great curtain, which looked like it was made of a very thick wool. It stood every bit of twelve feet in the air and was hung by bronze curtain rings. And last but most exciting to Anna and Jason, it was torn from top to bottom and was parted down the middle.

Jason couldn’t breathe. He had heard about this his whole life. He had read about it in the Bible. Heard preachers talk about it. Had seen it—or at least a Hollywood representation of it—in movies. And now here he was standing in front of the curtain that was torn when Jesus expelled his last breath, signifying that no longer would man have to come to God through another man. From that point on, Jesus was the bridge between man and God. The new covenant.

It seemed like hours. But after only a few seconds of staring in awe, Jason felt his arm being pulled by Anna.

“Jason, come on! We don’t have much time!”

“I—I know. It’s just that …”

“I know, Jason. It’s real! It’s incredible, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Anna, it is,” he said in awe.

Anna pushed aside the curtain as she and Jason stepped into a small room. It was exactly as Benjamin described. Nothing more than what looked to be about the size of a small bedroom. There were a few carvings on the walls. Words mostly. And they looked to be in Hebrew. This floor also was marble tile with jewels in the center.

A golden box with four handles protruding from it sat on the ground. It looked to be about three feet tall, three feet wide, and roughly five feet long. It was covered in dust, but that didn’t

obscure the intricate carvings that lined its top and sides. The lid held jewels that were as big as a man’s fist. The sides were draped in silk cloths and beads, and drawings of an altar were expertly carved into it. Even someone with little knowledge of the Bible would know this box.

Jason began to weep. He fell to his knees and whispered, “My God, my King, I am not worthy.”

Anna didn’t know what was happening to her. She couldn’t see for the tears that flooded her eyes. She trembled with fear. But it wasn’t the kind of fear that one would normally associate with being scared. It was more of a respectful fear. She felt her knees give out, and the next thing she knew, she was lying prostrate on the floor next to Jason.

Three feet from the ark of the covenant.

P
atrice dusted herself off and checked that she didn’t have any major injuries. A scraped knee, a few singed hairs, a knot on the back of her head—which, by the way, felt like an egg and was throbbing to beat the band—and a couple of bruised ribs. Nothing serious.

Someone had killed Ramon, and God only knew who else. She found her radio and keyed the mike. “Bravo One to command. Come in, over.”

Nothing.

With her weapon drawn, Patrice continued down the street to where Christopher was supposed to be. She knew that she had only a few seconds to do this. Right now, whether her team was dead or not didn’t matter. Anna and Jason were in danger. She needed to find them and get them out of here. But where in the heck were they? Christopher was the only one who would know that, because he was the one watching them. She and the rest of the team were simply posted around the area to watch for

suspicious activity. Guess they’d get an A plus on that one.

She found Christopher lying facedown behind a couple of trash cans. He had some newspaper over his body. He looked like a homeless man who was trying to keep warm.

When she turned him over, she saw that he had been shot three times. Twice in the chest and once in the hand. He must’ve had his gun shot out of his hand.

She was about to leave when she felt a small squeeze on her arm. He was alive. She rolled him onto his back to give him CPR.

She was pushing on his chest, trying to pump his heart, when she heard the gurgling sound come from his mouth. He was trying to tell her something.

She leaned down and put her ear to his lips. “What, Chris? What is it? Who did this to you? To us?”

His words were strained and came in short gasps. “Listen … to me …. Find them …. Anna …”

“Yes! Yes! Where are they?”

“Mossad … old man … helping them …”

“What? You’re not making any sense!” She patted his cheeks. “Stay with me Christopher! You hear me?” She beat on his chest. “This mission is not over! You open your eyes and debrief me right now. That’s an order!”

His eyes fluttered open a little bit and a smile creased his lips. He coughed a little blood out of his mouth and pulled her back down.

“They … are with … a Mossad agent …. I saw them … go into … that building.” He pointed to the abandoned building down the street at the end of the block.

“Are they safe?”

“No.” He coughed. “Find … them …. Must get back … to London.”

“Come on, Christopher! Stay with me,” she yelled as he coughed up some more blood.

“Mossad … is okay …. Trying to help … only one guy … friend of Thomas … Riley … have seen him … before.”

“What about Anna and Jason? How do I find them?”

“Don’t … know …. Find Mossad guy.” He coughed some more. This time a lot of blood came up. “Hurry … leave me … mission not over—”

And with that, a small bubbly breath escaped his lips. Christopher Wallace was dead.

Patrice held his head in her hands for another moment. She closed his eyes and said good-bye. She checked her weapon and stood up. She needed to find this Mossad guy. She went exactly where Christopher told her to go. The abandoned building.

Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies

Anna felt as if it had been hours since she and Jason had been lying on the ground, though it was only a minute or two. She stood up first, wiping the tears from her eyes. She touched Jason on the shoulder, and he stood up with her.

“Anna, do you realize that we are staring at the literal place where God’s presence dwelt with his people! This was
the
most sacred thing in all of Israel.”

She was about to say something when she heard another voice. They both were startled. The voice came from all around them, but there was no one there.

“Welcome, Anna, Jason.”

And then they saw him. Or it. They weren’t sure.

A little white light appeared before them, hovering at eye level.