Solomon's Gold

CHAPTER 29

The sun had just cleared the horizon, casting a soft glow over the safe house grounds. Ari Herzog stepped from his helicopter and walked over to the commander of the Shin Bet team. He talked with him for several minutes and then went to where Nick and the others stood on the patio of the safe house. Broken glass crunched under his feet.

"Ari."

"Nick."

"Rivka said something before she died. 'Bashert,' she said. What does it mean?"

"It's Yiddish. It means 'meant it to be.'"

Ari paused. "I'm under a lot of pressure to send you back home. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"One good reason?" Nick worked to control his temper. "How about Israel owes us? You wouldn't know anything about the gold, if it weren't for us. The fact that the Iranians are trying so hard to stop us proves we're getting close. You send us home now, they win."

"My superiors think we can take it from here."

"You know what your superiors can do with what they think," Lamont said.

Nick held up his hand.

"Come on, Ari, give us a break. What makes you think you can do any better than we have? You turn this over to the bureaucrats, you'll have people fighting turf wars and arguing about the best way to go about it. By the time anyone gets around to doing something, Iran will have found the gold and you'll be out of luck."

"You and I both know the Iranians are behind this," Ari said, "but there is a strong faction in my government that is afraid of confrontation with Tehran. They see you as a provocation, not a solution."

"Tell that to Rivka," Nick said. "We're in a race. If we don't find the gold before the Iranians do, your superiors are going to need a scapegoat. I'd lay odds it's going to be you. I guarantee, you send us home, you won't like the result."

"You don't mind saying what's on your mind, do you?"

"So I've been told."

"You shouldn't waste their lives," Selena said.

"What?" Herzog looked surprised.

"Nick's right. If you send us home, by the time anyone does anything the Iranians will have found the gold and cleaned it out. Alan, your people, all those deaths will have been for nothing. Is that what you want?"

Herzog's face turned dark. "You have no right to imply that I'd abandon pursuing justice for Rivka and the others."

"I wasn't implying that," Selena said. "I'm saying that if the Iranians succeed, those deaths will be wasted. Your best chance of finding justice is to let us finish doing our job."

"So far four of my people are dead and you still haven't found the gold," Herzog said. "Is that what you call doing your job?"

"I guess I was wrong about you," Selena said. "I didn't think you were such an asshole."

She turned her back and walked away.

"Think I'll join her," Lamont said. "Ronnie, you coming?"

"Lead the way," Ronnie said.

Herzog and Nick watched them go.

Herzog took a deep breath. "All right. Forty-eight hours, Nick."

"That might not be long enough, Ari."

"Forty-eight hours."

There was no point in arguing. "We need transportation."

"I'll have a vehicle sent over. Try not to turn it into scrap."

Herzog left Nick standing on the patio and went back to his helicopter. Nick saw him talking to the pilot. A moment later the rotors began to turn. Soon after, the bird lifted into the air.

Nick went over to a chair on the patio and sat down. The others pulled up chairs next to him.

"So, we going home or what?" Lamont asked.

"He gave us forty-eight hours."

"That's not enough time," Selena said.

"It will have to be. He meant what he said."

"Who's our new minder?" Ronnie asked.

"He didn't say."

"We're on our own?"

"Looks that way," Nick said. "But I wouldn't bet on it. Even if they don't have somebody with us, they know where we are. It's easy enough to track us. We haven't gone dark on them."

"Maybe we should," Ronnie said. "We don't need them."

"What about wheels?" Lamont asked.

"Herzog is sending over something."

"We need a new plan," Selena said. "Assuming we're right about what that last marker meant, we must be getting close to wherever the gold is hidden."

"Assuming we're right?" Nick asked. "Are you thinking we might be in the wrong place?"

Selena shrugged. "It's possible."

"The writing you translated was water and cave, right?"

"Right."

"How many places are there like that in Israel?"

"There are several, but most of them are of no particular significance. Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there aren't many unexplored caves where something could be hidden. Ein Gedi seemed like the best bet, especially if we consider the biblical reference to David coming here. There are still a few caves high up in the mountains near here that are difficult to get to and haven't been explored. There may even be a few no one knows about."

"Two days isn't much time to find the right one," Nick said. "We need more information."

Selena took out her phone and worked her thumbs over the keys.

"There's an archaeological society in town. They should have records identifying the caves that have already been examined. They might have aerial shots of the area."

"Good idea. We'll leave when our vehicle gets here."