The Shadow of Death (Psalm 23 Mysteries Book 9) (11 page)

“Unfortunately, we have reason to believe that what’s about to happen will completely change everything and will plunge the entire region into war. That war will pull in other countries from outside the region until we are all trapped in World War III.”

Jeremiah blinked. When he had known Solomon the man had not been prone to exaggerations. He looked deadly serious at the moment which led Jeremiah to believe that what he was saying was true, even if unthinkable.

“There are some on both sides who would welcome such a war, even at the threat of extinction.”

Jeremiah frowned. “There’s only one thing I can think of that would cause such a chain reaction. It would have to affect
Kipat Hasela.
”

“Unfortunately, someone else has thought of that same thing, and that’s what we’ve gotten wind of.”

Solomon shifted his eyes again to Cindy. “My dear, you are familiar with the Temple, are you not?”

“The one built in Jerusalem by the Biblical Solomon? Yes,” Cindy said.

“And what else do you know?”

“It was destroyed. Prophecy states that before the end of the world comes it will be rebuilt.”

Solomon nodded approval. “And do you know why it has not already been rebuilt?”

Cindy nodded slowly. “I believe that on the location there is currently a Muslim mosque.”

“That is correct. There is also a shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which is one of the most sacred sites for Muslims. Where it sits is holy ground for Muslims, Jews, and Christians. While it stands the Temple can not be rebuilt.”

Cindy turned to stare at Jeremiah who nodded slowly.

“What are you saying?” Cindy asked, her voice little more than a whisper.

“Only this. Someone is planning to blow up the Dome of the Rock.”

9

“I’m glad the baby’s going to be born on the fifth,” Mark said suddenly.

Geanie and Joseph, who had both had their heads bowed and their eyes closed, looked up at him, startled.

“It’s not fair to a kid when they have to share their birthday with a holiday. A guy I went to school with was born on Christmas. He hated it. He didn’t even get extra presents.”

Geanie nodded slowly. She probably thought he was crazy for talking like this when everything hung in uncertainty. He couldn’t stand the dark thoughts chasing each other through his mind anymore, though. He needed some happy thoughts, or, at least, non-depressing ones. Otherwise he was going to go crazy.

“I read somewhere once that one of the presidents had a daughter born on the Fourth of July and that she grew up thinking the fireworks were for her,” Joseph chimed in.

“Can you imagine?” Mark said. “Here, Crystal, your dad’s just a poor working stiff, but he’s gotten people from all over to set off fireworks just for you.” He was trying to make a joke, but he got a lump in his throat. “It’s a girl, you know. Traci didn’t want to know, but I did.”

“Congratulations,” Geanie said.

“I hope so. I hope everything is okay. I want to be able to see her, hold her, through the good times and the bad. I want to give her the best birthday parties she could ever
have even though I won’t ever be able to give her the pony she’ll always ask for. Don’t little girls always ask for ponies?”

“I did,” Geanie answered.

“I wouldn’t worry about the pony,” Joseph said.

Mark took a ragged breath. “I know, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Given what’s happening I might not even have a little girl to raise.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Joseph said
quickly. “I meant that you don’t have to worry about getting her a pony because her Aunt Geanie and her Uncle Joseph will get her one. And we’ll get her the riding lessons to go along with it.”

“You guys would do that?” Mark asked.

“In a heartbeat,” Geanie said.

“Look, we don’t plan on having children of our own for a few years, and neither of us have any siblings, any nieces or nephews to spoil silly, so we’re going to have to play Aunt and Uncle to our friends’ kids,” Joseph said with a warm smile.

“I don’t know if I should be grateful or afraid,” Mark admitted.

“Be afraid. Very, very afraid,” Geanie said with a wicked smile.

It actually made him smile for a moment. Then he shook his head. “Why is it that it seems like our little cadre is always in crisis mode?”

“Well, not always. After all, until a couple of hours ago none of us had stepped foot in a hospital for four months. That has to be some sort of record,” Geanie said with a wan smile.

Mark shook his head. “I could go four lifetimes without ever being in a hospital again.”

Cindy tried to take in everything that Solomon was saying. Jeremiah looked worried and even if she hadn’t known anything about history, prophecy, religion, or politics his expression would have been enough to tell her that what they were dealing with was very, very bad. A few years back they’d had a guest pastor speak on Revelation and the end times. He had talked about the rebuilding of the Temple and it had made the whole thing seem far away since she knew that the site for the Temple was occupied by another structure at that point. Of course, she had never really stopped to think about the fact that one good sized explosion could change all of that.

“We don’t know where the threat is coming from?” Jeremiah said.

“No. Everyone is accusing everyone. Naturally fingers are being pointed at us since who wants to see the Temple rebuilt more than Israelis? Of course, there are others who theorize that Muslim extremists are behind it.”

That seemed strange to Cindy. Why would they want to blow up one of their sacred places? She kept her mouth shut, though. It was better to listen than speak in this situation.

Jeremiah was nodding slowly. “Because Jewish extremists would be the obvious ones to blame for such an act, it would give Arab nations a chance to strike at Israel with impunity.”

“Yes, since most of the civilized world would object to the destruction of a holy place.”

“But even if they believed Israel was responsible, her allies would not allow her to be destroyed completely.”

“Hence, World War III. Of course, there is also the very real possibility that neither Arabs nor Jews are to blame for this coming disaster.”

“Some countries would have a lot to gain from a war in this region.”

“Precisely. There are intelligence operatives from dozens of countries crawling all over right now. All have heard the rumors. None can determine where they come from.”

“Or if they’re even true,” Jeremiah countered.

Solomon nodded. “That had occurred to me as well. It could be a scare tactic, though to what end I’m not certain. It could also be an attempt to divert attention away from something else.”

“From a real attack somewhere else entirely?” Jeremiah asked.

“Perhaps. Whatever it is, we have to find the truth.”

“Did any of these rumors have any connection to Iran?” Jeremiah asked.

“Yes, how did you guess?”

Jeremiah shrugged, but didn’t answer.

“A few months ago a boy was admitted to a hospital, very sick with a high fever. He’d been found wandering in the desert. While in the hospital he began to rave that the men who were going to destroy Qubbat As-Sakhrah had killed his brother. Both a C.I.A. agent being treated for a broken arm and one of our agents working locally undercover heard him.”

“The boy could have been hallucinating.”

“That seemed to be the consensus. That is, until the boy was found dead in his room, smothered by a pillow. That same night one of the young nurses on staff disappeared. For the last few months everyone’s been scrambling, trying to get more information. Unfortunately, the boy’s body disappeared and no one knew who he was or where he came from.

“Then, four days ago, the nurse showed up in Jerusalem, dead with his throat cut. There was one witness, a woman who was hidden from sight, who heard the nurse arguing with another man.”

“What were they arguing about?”

“She wasn’t sure, but it had something to do with the timing of an event. The killer kept insisting something would happen in two weeks. The victim argued that it was better to
wait until
Tish'a B'Av because of the symbolism. They started fighting and the victim ended up dead.”

Jeremiah turned to look at Cindy. “
Tish'a B'Av is a fast day that commemorates the destruction of the first two Temples. Making it a perfect symbolic day to destroy the one thing standing in the way of the Temple being rebuilt. It’s just a few weeks away.”

“But apparently, his co-conspirator didn’t want to wait that long.”

“And now we have a little over a week to stop him and those he’s working with.”

“Yes.”

Cindy could feel her heart racing. That was barely any time, especially since it sounded like they were trying to find a needle in a haystack.

“So, where do I come in? You’re wanting me to talk to some Arab contacts I used to have, is that right?”

“For the most part.”

Cindy really didn’t like the sound of that. That meant there was more that they wanted from him, and they just weren’t willing to admit yet what that was. Odds were it was the worst part of the job. She expected Jeremiah to push for more information, but before he could she felt the limo swerve slightly to the right.

Moments later the limo came to a halt and Solomon nodded. “We will talk more tonight. I have a few things I must take care of now and the two of you need to get some rest, particularly after your most unpleasant flight.”

Tired as she was Cindy felt like she might never sleep again. At least, not until these madmen were stopped. She managed to keep a sarcastic retort off her lips, but just barely.

Solomon pulled a keycard out of his pocket and handed it to Jeremiah. “Room 437. I trust you’ll make yourself comfortable.”

Jeremiah took the card from him just as the driver opened the door for them to get out. Jeremiah stepped out first with Cindy practically stepping on his heels. The driver retrieved their luggage from the trunk as she noticed that they were standing in front of what appeared to be a nice hotel.

Jeremiah took her hand and they entered the lobby, rolling their suitcases behind them. Without hesitation he made his way straight to the elevators. Less than a minute later they were entering their room.

It was larger than she would have expected with a sitting area to the right and the bedroom area with a king sized bed to the left. Seeing it drove home to Cindy just how tired and sleepy she really was. She glanced back at
the sitting area. At least there was a couch. It didn’t look as comfortable as the bed, but she should volunteer to take it since it was far more important that Jeremiah get good sleep than she did.

“I’ll take-”

He turned and placed his hand over her mouth, cutting her off. She stared at him in surprise. He shook his head slowly and then very deliberately moved his hand and tugged on her ear.

He thought the place was bugged and that they were being listened to. She remembered how the C.I.A. agent had bugged her phone and hotel room in Las Vegas when she’d been visiting her brother in the hospital. She nodded her understanding. Next he pointed to his eyes and then to her.

She picked up instantly on what he was trying to say. Not only were they being listened to, they were being watched as well. She shivered, feeling intensely uncomfortable at the thought. It reminded her of how she had felt at the airport when she thought they were being watched. Only this was ten times worse because she knew it was true.

“I know it’s been a long journey and you’re exhausted,” Jeremiah said, turning and moving farther into the room.

“I am. You must be, too.”

“I am. Is it okay if I use the bathroom first?”

“Fine.” She really needed to use the restroom but the thought that there might be cameras in there freaked her out.

Jeremiah rolled his suitcase to the closet, opened it, grabbed a few things, and headed for the bathroom. Three
minutes later he emerged wearing only a pair of boxer shorts and a T-shirt. He walked over to her smiling.

“You look beautiful,
neshama.”

He put his arms around her and hugged her close, startling her. He put his lips against her ear and her skin tingled. “No camera in the bathroom,” he whispered.

She nodded slightly, relieved at the information, but completely distracted by the embrace. He pulled away from her and smiled at her.

She managed to smile back. She put her suitcase in the closet, grabbed her pajamas and toiletry bag and headed into the bathroom. Jeremiah had packed her pajamas that had cavorting cats on them.

She changed clothes quickly and brushed her teeth. When she emerged a few minutes later she saw that Jeremiah had turned down the covers and was sitting on the edge of the bed. He stood up and walked back over to her. He hugged her again, but this time she was more prepared for it. When his lips touched her ear he whispered, “Trust me.”