The Solomon Scroll

CHAPTER 14

"Did you have to kill him, Nick? You were just supposed to question him."

"I didn't have a choice."

Elizabeth sighed. It was two days later. No one had made the connection between the foreigners visiting Beirut and Yusuf Abidi's death. It was just one more murder in a city that had seen thousands die over the past decades. Life was cheap in Beirut.

"All right. Moving on, Stephanie thinks she's found something," Elizabeth said.

"We know that the man who wrote the scroll was named Ephram," Stephanie said. "I plugged that into the computers and set search parameters for the first century CE. There was an Ephram back then who was part of the revolt against Rome. I think he's the one who made that scroll. He wrote in Aramaic, which fits. The Romans caught him the year after they took Jerusalem."

"Sounds like our guy," Nick said. "What happened to him?"

"He was crucified."

"Did you find anything that might lead us to the tomb?" Selena asked.

"There's another scroll in the British Museum written by Ephram that mentions the Queen of Sheba. There are stories that connect Sheba and Solomon, so there might be something in that. It's the only thing I found that might be related."

"I thought Sheba was a legend," Diego said.

"Most scholars think she was real," Selena said, "although they argue about it, like everything else in the Old Testament. She probably ruled in what's now Yemen. Some think it was Egypt or Ethiopia. In the Bible she visits Solomon, bringing treasure as gifts. She's called the black queen in some legends and the Queen of the South in the Gospels. That could be anywhere south of Galilee. A lot of different cultures claim her for their own."

"I couldn't find out much about the scroll in the British Museum," Stephanie said. "There's no translation posted, just a note that it mentions Sheba. It was written by Ephram around the same time as the other one. I know it's a reach. It's all I could find."

"It might be worth checking out," Elizabeth said.

"We should go look at it," Selena said. "With my academic credentials they'll let me see it. I'll tell them its research for a lecture."

Elizabeth nodded. "Go ahead and set it up."

"What's the next move, Director," Nick asked.

"You followed Abidi to the compound of a man named Al-Bayati," Elizabeth said. "The connection with Abidi makes him our only lead at the moment. I decided to take a closer look at him. Steph, run the shots."

The first picture on the monitor was of Al-Bayati.

"Meet one of the thorns in Langley's side," Elizabeth said.

The picture was in black and white, taken from a distance. It was clear enough to show the brutality in Al-Bayati's features. His head was large, with jutting brows and a sloped forehead. His hair was black and thick. His arms seemed unusually long and powerful, almost simian.

"Primitive looking dude," Diego said. "Reminds me of a guy I knew a long time ago, back in Colorado."

"You're from Colorado?" Ronnie asked.

"Born and raised. I come from outside of Fort Collins, north of Denver. My grandfather emigrated there from Mexico back in the 40s. He grew beets. Now the water's been ripped off and the land's dried up. It would break his heart if he could see it."

Elizabeth tapped her pen.

"Let's stay focused. Al-Bayati sells classified information to the wrong people. Hezbolla protects him and leaves him alone because Tehran tells them to. As you heard from Lucas, he sells black-market arms and stolen technology. There are disturbing rumors about him but no one has ever been able to substantiate them."

"What kind of rumors?" Ronnie asked.

"That children go into his villa in Lebanon and never come out again."

"Sounds like a charming fellow," Selena said

"He seldom leaves his villa. Show us the house, Steph."

The picture changed to show Bayati's sprawling mansion, set on a steep cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. The villa had the classic look of whitewashed walls and red tiled roof. It had been built in the shape of a U around a tiled courtyard. The open part of the U featured a broad fountain surrounded by shade trees and manicured shrubbery. On the Mediterranean side, a wide patio behind the main part of the house ended at a large pool. Beyond the pool a triple row of gleaming razor wire lined the edge of the cliff. Hundreds of feet below, the dark waves of the Mediterranean Sea crashed and foamed against jagged rocks rising up from the water.

The cliff and the water formed a security barrier for one side of the compound. The other three sides were protected by a high, whitewashed stone wall topped with loops of razor wire and shards of broken glass. There was one entrance in, through a massive iron gate. A guardhouse inside the compound sat next to the gate. Several cars were parked on the left side of the compound.

Nick said, "He has a Quad .50 sitting there in the shade. See it? By the wing where all the cars are?"

"I'll be damned," Ronnie said. "I thought those were all in museums."

The Quad .50 consisted of four Browning .50 caliber machine guns controlled by a motorized turret mounted on a truck or platform. Once those guns opened up, anything in front of them was chopped into mincemeat. Low-flying planes, vehicles, buildings and people stood no chance against it.

"Think it's operational?"

"Bet on it," Nick said. "If we end up going in there we'd better make sure nobody gets a chance to use it."

"That wall must be sixteen feet high if it's an inch," Ronnie said. "That razor wire looks tough."

"The cliff might be the best way in," Diego said. "Looks like about an hour climb, maybe more, depending on the rock. He's got wire there, too, on the edge of the pool."

"You've done a lot of climbing?" Nick asked.

"Free and roped," Diego said. "I like the challenge."

Selena listen to the interchange and thought Diego was fitting right in. He'd proved himself in Beirut. Still it was odd without Lamont here. She wondered if Ramirez had any dive training. With Lamont gone, she was the only one on the team with any serious experience. No one else was qualified for the deep work.

Elizabeth interrupted her thoughts.

"This is early days and we need more Intel. Just the same, I want to begin thinking about what it would take to get into that compound and interview Bayati."

"You make it sound like something for the evening news," Ronnie said.

"You know exactly what I mean," Elizabeth said. "Nick, I want you and Selena to leave for London tonight and check out that scroll in the British Museum. You'll fly commercial on your own passports."

"What about weapons? Every time we check our weapons and get to England there's a hassle about claiming them."

"Leave them. You're just going to the museum. I'll arrange something with the embassy just in case. If you start shooting people over there the Brits won't be the only ones that are unhappy. I'll be unhappy. I don't think you want that."

"Diego and Ronnie?" Nick said.

"I want Ronnie here working with Sergeant Ramirez. Ronnie, bring him up to speed on how we do everything around here. There are lots of things he needs to know. Diego, you and Ronnie start working out how you would take that villa if it becomes necessary. When Nick and Selena get back, we'll go over it."

"Copy that, Director."

"Any questions?"

There weren't any.

"Have a good flight, Nick."