NINETY-FOUR

Marcus drove on BenZivi service road as he entered into the Emek HaMatsheva Park. The Monastery of the Cross appeared beyond the verdant green terrain, ancient olive trees and exposed boulders. The monastery’s high fortress-like walls still stood after the earthquake. The round dome was barely visible above the timeworn sandstone exterior of the wall.

He pulled the car onto the grass, shut off the engine and said to Alicia, “Listen to me. You don’t have to go in there.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Rahim said he’d meet me in the courtyard.” Marcus wedged the Berretta under his belt in the small of his back.

“When Brandi is home, in the arms of Dianne and my mother, I’ll finally breathe easier.” She took in the expanse of the monastery with a sweeping glance. “Paul, look at the wall around that place. The monastery appears older than any building I’ve seen, and that’s saying a lot for Jerusalem. It looks even older than the Chartres Cathedral.”

“Somewhere right around here is believed to be the spot where the tree was cut that would be made into the cross they used to crucify Christ.”

Marcus and Alicia got out of the car and walked through knee-high grass acutely aware of the contrast between the beauty of their surroundings and the reason they were there. Wild Persian buttercups grew in patches near the rock outcroppings, its sweet fragrance drifting in the breeze. The sound of Jerusalem traffic seemed far away, overpowered by the birdsong orchestrating from the olive and cedar trees. Alicia said, “It’s hard to believe that the tree carved into the cross to hang Christ on was from right here,” she paused and inhaled the gentle wind, “and now we’re approaching this area two-thousand years later, finishing a deal with the devil. This feels so damn weird.” Alicia looked across the dark portals built into the fort-like walls. “Do you think they’re watching us?”

“Probably.”

“There are no cars near the monastery. No tourists. Maybe no one’s here because of the earthquake. I wonder what they use this place for today.”

“I heard that a few monks still maintain it, but not many people ever see them.”

They came to a closed wrought iron gate, which sat across an arched entryway built from massive stones. Marcus pulled the gate open, the hinges screeching from lack of oil. They walked into the old courtyard. It was laced in aged wrought iron banisters tiered along cobblestone paths, and dotted throughout with cedar trees, stone benches and tables. They stepped around a wall and into a garden area.

“Halt! Both stop where you are.”

Marcus and Alicia stopped walking. Rahim said, “Now, turn around, slowly.”

They turned to face Narsi and Rahim. Narsi gripped a pistol and pointed it in the center of Marcus’s chest. “Where is the flash drive?” Rahim asked.

Marcus reached into his shirt pocket. “Right here.”

“Hand it to me.”

“I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with a pistol pointed at me.”

Rahim gestured and Narsi lowered the gun. Rahim smiled. “Let me have the drive.”

“As far as I know, Brandi’s plane hasn’t landed safely.”

“Now that you have brought the drive, it will.”

“What assurance does Alicia have that her niece will not be harmed and that her plane will touch down without incident?”

“We are here, aren’t we?”

Alicia said, “That’s not good enough. Brandi still has two hours before landing.”

Rahim grinned and stepped closer to Alicia. “I follow the Koran. It does not permit me to lie if I am to follow it in every respect. And I do. Now, give me that drive.”

Marcus tossed the flash drive to Rahim. “That’s part A.”

Rahim looked at the drive in his hand. His eyebrows arched. “Part A?”

“Part B is in the safe inside my room at the Mount Zion Hotel.” Marcus pulled a business card from his shirt pocket and handed it to Rahim. “On the back of the card is the combination to the room safe. The room is rented for another three days. Here’s the key to the room. You can go get the other drive and you will have all you need. The drive you have, the red one, is to be inserted in the operation system first. It’s the key to unlocking the Myrtus worm. The second drive has the final dose of coding needed to kill it for good.”

“This wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Neither was a bomb! Your people made the decision to plant a bomb on a plane that’s carrying her niece and two hundred other innocent people. That’s a game changer.”

Rahim grinned and glanced at Alicia. “The woman comes with us.” Narsi pointed his gun at Marcus.

A man suddenly appeared.

In the courtyard, a monk stood near the base of a tall cedar tree, his face hidden by the hood, his body covered by a long, white cloak. Narsi looked at the monk.

It was all the time Marcus needed. He drew the Beretta from his back and leveled the gun at Rahim. “Tell him to drop the gun! If he doesn’t, I guarantee I’ll put a bullet in your heart before he can point that barrel my way.”

Rahim’s lips tightened. A vein wriggled above his right eyebrow. “Put your gun down, Narsi.”

“I can take him!”

“Do you want to chance that?” Marcus asked.

“Put the gun down!” shouted Rahim. Narsi did as ordered.

“You’ve got the drive,” Marcus said, motioning for them to leave. “You know where the other one’s located. You have the combination to the safe. Now go! I don’t want to ever see you two again.”

The men turned to leave. Rahim paused and said, “If these flash drives fail, part A and part B, part three is C, see us come for you. And we’ll start with the woman and the internal acid bath first. Payback is hell on earth.”

Marcus said nothing for a few seconds. “Hey, Rahim!”

The men turned around.

Marcus said, “Here.” He reached in his pocket, pulled out Taheera’s cell phone and tossed it to Rahim. “It’s Taheera’s mobile. I don’t want to ever see it again, either.”

Rahim dropped the phone into his coat pocket and the men walked out of the courtyard.

Alicia glanced back toward the monk. “Paul, where’d he go? The monk…he vanished.”

Загрузка...