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

“No one will think of looking for us in the open,” Jeremiah said.

Cindy tore into a cheeseburger with gusto and as soon as she had finished she ordered a second one. Jeremiah was eating as well, but much more slowly and he kept stopping frequently to stare at her. If she hadn’t been so famished it would have been distracting. After she finished the second
burger she took a long sip of Coca Cola. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter.

She took a deep breath and looked at him. “You put me through hell,” she said bluntly. She wasn’t overly fond of using that word, but it certainly fit.

“I’m sorry,” he said, dropping his eyes to the table.

He was hiding something from her. She could feel it. She just couldn’t figure out what it was.

“You certainly trusted Martin to play his role well,” she said with a slight dusting of sarcasm.

It was amazing how much more rational she felt on a full stomach. If only she could find some comfortable clothes then life would be good. Well, not good, but leaps and bounds beyond what it had been.

“It’s his job to lie to people,” Jeremiah said distractedly.

There was a lot of tension between them. She didn’t know how much of it had to do with everything that had happened at his parents’. She had said things and so had he. Hers had been true and she found herself wondering about the things he had said about them, their relationship. Then there was the fact that she really wanted to slap him again for all the grief he had caused her. Yet, in the back of her mind a little voice kept urging to not waste the gift that she had been given: a second chance to tell him how she felt about him.

“You said some very nice things back there.”

“They were true,” he said, refusing to look at her.

She could feel her heart begin to beat a little faster.

“Thank you.”

He still refused to look at her and she realized it might not be the ideal time to have a heart-to-heart.

“What’s going to happen in the morning when we meet up with the others?” she asked.

“Hopefully one of them will have come up with a plan.”

“Why aren’t we working on a plan?” she asked.

“Because we have limited resources and an overwhelming need to stay alive.”

She thrummed her fingers on the table. He was being so closed off it was both annoying and frightening. She glanced outside. There was a drugstore open on the other side of the street.

“Do you think that store would have sweats, jeans, or something other than what I’m wearing?” she asked.

He looked up at her with a frown. “Are you still wearing your other clothes under those?”

“Yes, and I’m not sure which is more uncomfortable. Maybe I can just go take a look.”

He stood hastily. “I will look. You stay here.”

She watched him cross the street and enter the store. She kept her eyes glued to the door. She had a fear deep down that he’d somehow manage to sneak off, thinking it was safer to leave her in the restaurant.

A couple of minutes later he reemerged with a bag. She relaxed when he finally walked back into the restaurant. He sat down and handed her the bag.

“It’s the best I could do. It’s still a dress, but it should at least be more comfortable.”

She nodded and thought with longing of her suitcase full of clothes at the hotel. When this was over would she see any of those things again? There was a restroom in the restaurant and she got up.

“If you’re not sitting right there when I get back, I’ll kill you,” she said.

He nodded absently.

She headed to the restroom to change clothes. The dress he’d bought was a very soft cotton one that was grey in color. She kept her slip that she’d been wearing under the other clothes but dumped the rest of them in the trash. She scrubbed her face in the sink. She was almost starting to feel human again, although she really could go for a shower. Hopefully when this was over she could find a nice hot one and just stay in it for a day. Feeling better she headed back to their table.

Jeremiah looked up as Cindy sat back down across from him. She looked beautiful and how she managed to do that despite everything he didn’t know. He started to tell her, but then snapped his mouth shut. It seemed like everything that happened, every word that was spoken, just made the inevitable harder on both of them.

They finally left the diner and were able to take a taxi for a short distance. The cab driver was openly curious about them and eventually Jeremiah had him drop them off in front of a hotel. As soon as he was out of sight they took their time making it the rest of the way to the Temple Mount. It was a long walk and they had to stick mostly to shadows. Cindy’s steps were dragging by the time they got close.

“How do you know we’ll catch the terrorists here today?” she asked.

“They’re running out of time on their original time table. Plus, they will have accelerated things knowing that we know at least some of their identities.”

“They may still think you’re dead,” she said.

“Perhaps, perhaps not.”

He stopped. “We’re here,” he said.

“Where?”

“The Western Wall.”

“You mean, the Wailing Wall?” Cindy asked, a note of awe in her voice.

“Yes, it is one of the four walls that encompasses and supports the Temple Mount,” Jeremiah said. “Many believe that it is the sole remaining remnant of the Temple, part of the outer courtyard. It is as close as Jews can come to the site of the Temple and pray since it is forbidden by law for any but Muslims to pray inside the walls. Many believe that when the Holy of Holies was destroyed with the Temple that G-d sent his spirit to reside here. People come to weep, pray. Mystics come to have visions of G-d. Every year on
Tisha B’Av tens of thousands gather to commemorate the destruction of the Temple.”

“Isn’t that the date which one of the conspirators was hoping to set off the destruction of the Dome of the Rock?”

“Yes. Doing so would destroy one of the Muslim’s most sacred sites, clearing the way for the rebuilding of the Temple, but it would also kill almost one hundred thousand Jews if the blast was large enough. We are both lucky and unlucky that they will not wait the extra few days to strike.”

“It is here that people write prayers and put them in the wall?” Cindy asked.

“Yes, if you wish to, please do.”

“I have nothing to write with.”

“Perhaps one of our friends can help,” Jeremiah said as he saw the figure of a man begin to walk toward them.

A moment later Martin was standing with them. “I figured this was where you meant to meet,” he said.

Jeremiah nodded.

“Do you have paper and a pen?” Cindy asked.

He nodded and pulled them out of his coat pocket. Jeremiah watched as she scribbled a note. He wondered what she was praying for.

“I would think it’s been more than thirty days, Rabbi, since you’ve seen the Wall. Aren’t you required to rend your clothes in grief?”

“Not on the Shabbat,” Jeremiah said evenly.

“Forgive me, how could I have forgotten?”

“Yes, and none of us is covering our heads and I’m sure each of us is carrying an electronic item. We are all desecrating the place,” Jeremiah said.

“But as I remember, all Sabbath rules may be broken to save lives.”

“You are correct,” Jeremiah acknowledged.

Cindy folded up her piece of paper and stuffed it in a crack of the Wall. She returned the pen and pad of paper to Martin just as Solomon appeared out of the darkness.

“I’ve stationed men I can trust from the Israeli military at the Mugrabi Gate. They will allow only us to pass that way,” Solomon said without preamble. “What other men I have that I can trust I have patrolling the walls.”

“That’s fine unless our enemies are already inside,” Martin said drily. “I have ten men already inside the walls. Two are inside the Dome of the Rock itself, hiding, waiting.”

“Which is fine unless our enemies are outside the walls,” Solomon said.

Cindy fought down the urge to tell them to play nice with each other.

“I will remain outside, see if I can find anything suspicious,” Solomon said.

“I’ll be going in to be with my men.”

“Aren’t there three structures on the Temple Mound?” Cindy asked.

“Yes,” Jeremiah responded. “There is the al-
Aqsa Mosque, the shrine that is the Dome of the Rock, and also a free-standing dome that is used as a prayer house called the Dome of the Chain.

“Then how do we know they’re going after the Dome of the Rock and not one of the other two?”

“Because the Dome of the Rock is the one sitting exactly where the Temple is supposed to be rebuilt,” Solomon said. “It would be the biggest target, the most obvious call to war for all sides.”

“We will go inside as well,” Jeremiah said. “We need all the eyes we can get if the bomb or bombs have already been placed. And, if they haven’t, we’re going to need all the fighters we have to keep them from being installed.”

“Okay, lead the way so you can tell your men we’re good to pass,” Martin said to Solomon.

“Remember, if you see anyone, we need to take at least one of them alive for questioning. We need to make sure we take down this entire cell,” Solomon said.

Something was bothering Cindy as she walked with Jeremiah toward the Dome of the Rock after having been waved through the gate by Solomon’s men. Everything that people said about blowing up the Dome of the Rock made sense. Israeli zealots looking to rebuild the Temple could certainly be tempted to blow up the shrine. It did also make a certain amount of sense that Arabs wanting to have an excuse to destroy Israel would target it. However, she had a hard time believing that Muslims would blow up a site that was so sacred even for a chance to strike at their enemy. It was possible that whoever was behind this plot was only recruiting Arabs who weren’t overly religious, but it still bothered her.

Even as her mind was working overtime she couldn’t help but be awed by the massive structures that were looming up out of the ground. It was not yet daylight but she could still see the gold colored dome against the early morning sky. Once inside Martin switched on a flashlight and swept it over millions of brilliantly colored tiles. Arch topped columns reached for the heavens.

Cindy could make out at least half a dozen other flashlights casting back and forth in the darkness. One of them shone right in her eyes as its bearer approached.

“Found anything yet?” Martin asked.

“Nothing,” the man behind the light answered.

“Okay, leave half the men inside and put the other half outside. Kill the flashlights, we don’t want to telegraph our presence if we don’t need to.” Martin sighed. “And now we wait.”

Jeremiah grabbed Cindy’s hand and pulled her over to one wall where they slowly sat down. As soon as she was seated Cindy felt her eyes starting to shut.

“It’s been a long time since you slept, go ahead,” Jeremiah urged.

She shook her head trying to clear it. “No, I can’t.”

“Why not? It could be hours before anyone shows, if they even make it past the guards outside.”

“Something’s wrong, I can feel it,” Cindy told him.

“What?”

“I don’t know.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “So, if this is a shrine, what’s it to?”

He pointed toward the middle of the floor, beneath the dome. “The Foundation Stone.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“According to many Jewish scholars it is the stone on which Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac. It is also thought to be either the stone that sat beneath the Ark of the Covenant or the stone that sat beneath the altar in the Temple. Its resting place being the location of the Holy of Holies is the most agreed upon. Jews from all over the world pray in the direction of the Foundation Stone.”

“I did not know that,” she said.

“Muslims used to pray facing the Foundation Stone as well. Only they believed that it was Ishmael that Abraham almost sacrificed instead of Isaac. Mohammed eventually claimed to have a revelation which deemed that Muslims should start praying facing Mecca instead. They still have many legends associated with this place, though. Directly beneath the rock is a cave that is called the Well of Souls. It is significant in both Jewish and Muslim tradition.”

Cindy’s growing feeling of unease exploded within her, and it was strong enough to catapult her to her feet.

“What’s wrong?” Jeremiah asked sharply.

“This is. All of it.”

“You said that before; tell me what it is you’re feeling,” Jeremiah said, rising to stand next to her.

“I had a hard time believing that Arabs would purposely blow up this shrine even if it meant they would have a chance to wipe out Israel for good. Now, I know that this is the wrong place. Even if I could believe that, I refuse to believe that zealous Israelis would blow up this structure. They wouldn’t want to risk harming the Foundation Stone or the cave below it. No, they want to destroy this place and rebuild the Temple, but they’ll tear down the shrine with bulldozers and hammers. They won’t blow a crater in the Mount.”