The Revelation Code (Wilde/Chase 11) (31 page)

‘Maybe you should wait here,’ Cross suggested to Dalton.

‘Like hell,’ Dalton replied. ‘I want to see the look on Wilde and Chase’s faces when we take the angel from them.’

‘As you wish.’ The white-clad man turned his back on him, waiting for Simeon to cross before starting his own journey. ‘Come over after Anna. Hatch, watch out for him.’

One by one the group traversed the cenote. By the time the last man made it, Cross had already instructed Simeon and Norvin to advance. They crept along the decorated passage, guns raised. The voices became louder as they neared its end. ‘I see lights,’ Simeon whispered.

‘Careful,’ said Cross, but he was already almost unconsciously increasing his pace, glimpsing wonders waiting ahead. Gold glinted under a strange rainbow glow. He forced himself to slow and listen. ‘It’s definitely them.’

Nina’s voice reached him. ‘. . . way beyond what I’d expected to find. I mean, we came looking for the angel, but to discover this as well? It’s incredible.’

‘Yeah.’ The other speaker was Eddie Chase. Simeon’s hands tightened on his weapon, while Dalton gulped faintly, his mouth suddenly dry.

‘This will change Biblical archaeology for ever,’ Nina went on. ‘It’s quite possibly the biggest thing I’ve ever discovered. The actual Ark of the Covenant, intact, and in God’s temple as described in the Book of Revelation? Amazing!’

‘Uh-huh,’ came the reply.

Simeon reached the entrance, silently panning his gun across the chamber. The voices were coming from a tent at the far end, lights glinting through thin patches in its ancient coverings. ‘They’re in that,’ he said, his own voice barely above the volume of a breath. ‘Room’s clear.’

‘The Tabernacle . . .’ Cross whispered, astounded. The cult leader entered the room, then stepped aside to let his armed followers past as Dalton stood beside him. He knew where he was, almost overcome by religious awe at the sight of God’s throne beneath the shaft of spectral light, but managed to restrain his wonderment. His first priority was securing the angel.

Which would be easy. The archaeologist was still talking, her husband muttering the occasional reply. Cross issued an order: ‘Take them.’

Simeon took command, using hand signals to direct the others towards the tent. The men spread out to surround it, while Anna hung back inside the circle of thrones to cover a wider area. The African-American silently made his way to the entrance, reaching out to pull back the curtains . . .

‘Ay up.’

The voice came not from the tent – but from behind Cross and Dalton.

28

B
oth men whirled – to see Eddie and Jared emerge from behind the tapestries, guns raised. ‘Chase!’ Dalton cried.

Simeon and the others spun, but the two ambushers had already moved to use Dalton and Cross as human shields. ‘Drop your guns!’ Eddie commanded, grabbing the politician and spinning him around to shove the Desert Eagle’s blocky muzzle hard into his back. Jared simultaneously jammed his own gun into Cross’s face. ‘Do it, or they die!’

‘Drop them!’ shrieked Dalton. ‘He’s a psycho!’

Cross was more restrained, but his face still creased with anger as Jared pulled him around. ‘Do what he says.’

The team lowered their weapons to the floor – with the exception of Simeon, who brought up his MP5 and took careful aim at what he could see of Jared. ‘Let them go,’ he growled.

Cross raised a hand. ‘Put it down, Simeon. That’s an order.’

Confusion crossed Simeon’s face. ‘But—’

‘We’re in God’s temple. I won’t allow it to be desecrated. Only God has the right to take a life in here.’ When Simeon did not respond at once, he shouted, not in fear but anger: ‘
Do it!
’

With deep reluctance, Simeon placed his sub-machine gun on the floor. ‘Okay, hands up and kick ’em away,’ said Eddie. Guns skittered across the floor, Simeon’s ending up between two of the thrones. ‘Nina? You can come out now.’

Nina emerged from the tabernacle, even with Eddie’s assurance nervous at the sight of Anna, Simeon and five other men watching her. She gingerly slipped past them and crossed the chamber. In one hand she held the angel; in the other, Eddie’s phone, its voice memo app playing a recording. ‘Right,’ said Eddie’s voice from the speaker. She thumbed the screen to silence it, then pocketed the device.

‘Clever,’ said Cross, almost approving. He looked at the tent. ‘So you found the angel, but . . . is the Ark of the Covenant
really
in there?’

‘It is,’ said Nina, joining Eddie. She gave Dalton a scathing glare. ‘Oh, hey, Mr President. You’re a long way from the campaign trail, aren’t you?’

‘What are you going to do with us?’ Dalton demanded. He had outwardly regained his composure after his near-panic at finding himself face to face with the Englishman, but there was still fear in his eyes.

‘We’re gonna leave you in here,’ Eddie told him. ‘The Israelis can pick you up once we’ve taken that statue somewhere safe.’

‘And how exactly are you planning on holding us?’ asked Anna, sidling closer.

‘Stay where you are,’ Jared warned. ‘Keep your hands up. All of you.’ The biochemist’s hands were already half raised; she scowled, but brought them higher.

‘We’ll take out that bridge,’ said Eddie, answering her. He addressed Cross. ‘So you’ll have plenty of time to spend with the Ark.’

‘What’s inside the Ark?’ Cross asked Nina. ‘Is it what the Bible described?’

There was no sense that he was trying to buy time to regain the advantage; he was genuinely desperate to know the truth. ‘It is,’ she replied. ‘The angel was in there, but so were Aaron’s staff, a scroll of the Torah – and the Ten Commandments.’

‘I have to see them.’ He tried to move towards the Tabernacle.

Jared yanked him back. ‘Don’t move!’

‘Let him go!’ Anna darted closer, halting only when the Israeli pushed his gun into the cult leader’s cheek.

‘It’s okay,’ Cross told her. ‘Stay where you are.’

‘And you, back off,’ Eddie warned Simeon, seeing that he had used the moment of confusion to move closer to his gun. The black man scowled, but retreated. Jared lowered his weapon, pressing the muzzle into his prisoner’s back.

‘Consider it a trade,’ Nina said to Cross. ‘The Ark for the angel. Whatever you wanted the statue for, after what happened at the Mission there’s no way we’re going to let you take it.’

Dalton shook his head in aggravation. ‘You got something to say?’ asked Eddie.

‘Only that you two have already caused great harm to America by refusing to see the big picture, and now you’re going to do it again,’ he complained. ‘Yes, what’s inside the statue is extremely dangerous, and yes, regrettably lives have been lost. But what I’m doing will strengthen the security of the entire nation, whether or not you’re willing to realise that. That’s what being president is all about: knowing when force
has
to be applied, and making hard decisions for the greater good.’

‘Nice speech,’ Nina said. ‘Just one minor point – you’re not the president. And the reason you’re not is that you proved you can’t be trusted.’

‘The reason I’m not is because Travis Warden and those other cocksuckers in the Group threw me to the wolves rather than getting their media outlets to spin things my way!’ Dalton exploded. Cross gave him a disapproving glare. ‘Oh, don’t get up on your damn moral high horse, Ezekiel. Not with what you’re going to do. A bit of bad language is nothing compared to—’ He stopped abruptly.

‘Compared to what?’ Eddie prompted. ‘Come on, don’t make this the one time in your life when you don’t want to hear the sound of your own voice.’

Nina stood before Dalton, holding up the angel. ‘You thought you’d have two angels, so I imagine you also had two targets for them. What are they?’

‘Damned if I’m going to tell you,’ the former president growled.

‘Damned if you don’t.’

‘
Dead
if you don’t,’ added Eddie.

Nina shook her head. ‘Face it,
Victor
, you’re finished. You’ll be directly linked to what happened in Antigua; the place was full of security cameras, so there’ll be plenty of proof that you were there when Cross killed almost a hundred people.’ A flash of fear in the politician’s eyes told her that was something he had either not considered, or been fervently hoping nobody else had. ‘The best you can hope for is to plea-bargain your way into a minimum jail term, but there’s no way you’ll ever get so much as a sniff of power again.’

For a moment Dalton seemed about to break . . . but then he summoned up a reserve of haughty defiance. ‘I’m not telling you a goddamn thing. And you, Chase,’ he snapped, looking back at Eddie, ‘get that damn gun off of me, you Limey son of a bitch!’

He tried to pull out of the Englishman’s hold. Eddie responded by driving a knee into the back of his leg, making him cry out and stumble.

Jared instinctively glanced towards the scuffle to see if his friend needed help—

A sharp metallic
snick
, and Anna charged at him, brandishing a glinting switchblade that she had pulled from her sleeve.

Jared caught the movement, but his line of fire was blocked by Cross. He hesitated for an instant, not wanting to shoot a prisoner in the back – then shoved Cross aside—

His shot caught Anna’s left arm, blowing a chunk of flesh from her bicep. She screamed – but had already dived at him, the blade held out before her like a lance.

It stabbed into Jared’s thigh.

He yelled, leg buckling as she crashed against him. Eddie hauled Dalton around as he tried to aim at the wounded woman, but she was shielded behind the fallen Mossad agent.

‘
Anna!
’ cried Simeon. He hurled himself behind the circle of thrones and snatched up his fallen MP5. Eddie spun to face the new threat—

‘Nobody shoot!’ boomed Cross. ‘No one shoot!’ He raised both hands, turning to address both Eddie and his own followers. ‘There won’t be any killing in God’s house.’

‘Don’t bet on it,’ Eddie snarled, pulling Dalton closer as he kept the Desert Eagle locked on Simeon’s cover. The metal of the throne was thick, but a .50-calibre round was more than capable of punching a hole right through it, and the man behind.

‘He shot Anna!’ Simeon shouted.

Cross glanced at her wound. ‘She’ll live.’

‘You won’t,’ gasped Jared, bringing up his gun—

Anna wrenched her blade around, tearing it deeper into his muscle. His cry this time was a full-blown scream of agony. But despite the pain, he swung the gun towards her . . .

She swiped it from his hand. The pistol clattered across the stone floor to end up near a tapestry.

‘Nina, get the gun!’ Eddie shouted.

She started forward, only for Cross to block her way. ‘Dr Wilde,’ he said. ‘It seems we have a stand-off.’

‘Like buggery we do,’ said Eddie.

Cross glanced towards his men, some of whom had recovered their weapons in the chaos. Washburn, his slashed cheek now home to a line of stitches, glared at Eddie. ‘We outgun you, over two to one,’ the cult leader said. ‘But I’m not willing to see a bloodbath in this holy place. Unless,’ he added, ‘you leave us with no choice.’

Nina regarded him coldly. ‘Yeah, I was wondering how long it would take before you gave yourself a get-out clause.’

‘I don’t want to do it. But I’m being completely honest; I’m willing to offer a deal. Let us leave with the angel, and I give you my word before God that as long as you remain in this temple, we won’t kill you.’

‘Prophet!’ protested Simeon. ‘Anna needs medical attention. We can’t let these—’

Cross raised an angry hand, silencing him. ‘Those are my terms, Dr Wilde,’ he continued. ‘They’re non-negotiable. If you want to stay alive, hand over the angel.’

Eddie drew Dalton closer, tapping the gun against the grey-haired man’s head. ‘Aren’t you forgetting something? You want me to go all Lee Harvey on your mate here?’

Cross gave his prisoner a dismissive look. ‘You can keep him. I don’t need him any more.’

‘What?’ said Nina, shocked.

‘
What?
’ echoed Dalton, with considerably more anger.

‘His political connections were useful, and he did suggest that you were the best person to find the angels,’ Cross explained. ‘But right now, the office of the President of the United States is a symbol, if not the embodiment, of the utter corruption of the so-called elites of this world. Do what you like with him.’

Dalton shook with fury. ‘You slimy little son of a bitch!’

Eddie was barely more pleased. ‘We don’t want him either!’

‘Time to make a decision, Dr Wilde,’ said Cross, ignoring him. ‘You can have a shootout that will leave you, your husband and your friend dead—’

‘And you too,’ Eddie warned, keeping behind Dalton as he shifted his aim to the cult leader.

‘But we’ll still have the angel. My followers will carry out the plan. Babylon
will
fall, even if I’m not there to witness it. Or you can give us the angel and we’ll leave you to give this man first aid.’ He glanced at Jared, then nodded to Anna. ‘Which he’ll need.’ The young Israeli screamed again as Anna ground the knife deeper into his thigh.

‘God damn it!’ Nina cried. ‘You said we wouldn’t be hurt!’

‘I said you wouldn’t be
killed
. Your choice, Dr Wilde. The only way for all three of you to stay alive – all four of you,’ he added, gaze flicking to the apoplectic Dalton – ‘is to give me the angel.’

Nina regarded the statue in her hand, then looked helplessly at her husband. ‘Eddie . . .’

‘They’re going to kill us anyway,’ he rumbled.

Cross shook his head. ‘No. I gave my word before God. I won’t break it, and my followers won’t either.’ He gestured to his men. They hesitated, then lowered their guns. Simeon held out, but a second, more forceful signal finally prompted him to obey.

Eddie rapidly reassessed the odds. If he was accurate with the Desert Eagle, he would kill or incapacitate anyone he hit, but he doubted he would get off more than two shots before being cut down. He was also certain that Dalton’s presence wouldn’t deter the gunmen in the slightest, the ex-president now nothing more than a meaty bullet sponge.

But he still wasn’t willing to give Cross what he wanted. ‘If they take the angel, they’ll kill a lot of people,’ he reminded Nina. ‘I don’t want to say this, but the best thing to do is smash the fucking thing right now. Better twelve people die than twelve thousand.’

‘I know, but . . .’ The numbers made sense in terms of cold logic, a small sacrifice to save countless lives . . . but there were more than twelve lives in the chamber. She brought her palm to the small swelling below her waist. ‘I can’t,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t do it. It’s just . . . I can’t,’ she repeated.

‘Shit,’ said Eddie under his breath, though with full understanding and sympathy.

Nina looked back at Cross. ‘I absolutely have your word, before God, that you won’t kill us?’

‘We’ll take the angel and leave,’ he replied. ‘As long as you stay in this throne room, we won’t harm you. I’ve made you a promise, and my followers will keep it too.’ He locked eyes with each of his people in turn. All nodded, even Anna and Simeon. ‘Anna, let him go.’

Anna tugged the blade out of Jared’s leg. The Israeli let out a cry, clapping a hand over the wound as she stood painfully.

Cross held out a hand. ‘The angel?’

‘Nina . . .’ said Eddie.

‘I have to,’ she told him, conflict clear in her voice. She placed the statue on the floor, then stepped back.

Cross crouched to examine it with reverence before picking it up. He turned it over in his hands, paying close attention to the fine details, before announcing: ‘It’s real. It’s the last angel. And,’ he said as he stood, ‘it’s mine.’

‘You’re really going to let them live?’ demanded Simeon.

‘Yes, we are. I gave my word to God.’ He bowed his head to the central throne, then started towards the exit. ‘Everyone move out.’

Keeping his gun aimed in Eddie’s direction, Simeon scurried to Anna, giving Jared a poisonous glare as he checked her wound. The other men went to the exit. Eddie stayed behind Dalton, Desert Eagle at the ready. ‘Nina, get behind me.’ She retreated, using one of the thrones as cover.

‘You’re letting them
go
?’ Dalton asked Eddie with angry disbelief.

‘You want me to start shooting?’ he fired back. ‘’Cause you’ll be my bulletproof vest!’

‘Nobody needs to shoot anyone,’ said Cross, holding the statue up to the iridescent light coming through the opal. ‘Not in here. But if you leave the throne room before we’re gone . . .’

‘Knew there’d be a fucking catch,’ Eddie muttered.

Cross and Simeon exchanged whispered words, then the latter spoke to his troops. ‘Norvin, get the Prophet and the angel out of here. I’ll take Anna; the rest of you, cover us.’ He glanced at Cross, then went on, trying to suppress his frustration: ‘Don’t fire unless fired upon.’