The Solomon Scroll

CHAPTER 54

Diego's file was on Elizabeth's desk. She looked at her team, sitting across from her desk. They seemed subdued, Lamont in particular.

Stephanie was almost ready to come in. Joe Eggleston had gone back to Langley.

Elizabeth picked up Solomon's ring and studied it.

"He really thought this could call beings from another dimension?"

Selena nodded. "He was insane. I don't think he cared much about the things from the Temple. Just the ring."

Lamont rubbed his leg. "You wouldn't have believed it, Director. That statute was the creepiest thing I've seen outside of a horror movie. He was going to burn that little girl alive."

"I'm not sorry I missed it. The important thing is that you stopped him."

"He'd probably been doing it for years," Nick said, "sacrificing children to that thing."

"He won't be doing it anymore," Elizabeth said. "This is one we can chalk up in the plus column."

"What are you going to do with the ring?" Selena asked.

"Give it back. Rice has decided to send the ring to Tel Aviv. Everything else in that cave is being claimed by both Ethiopia and the Israelis. It will take years to straighten it out."

"Those things should go back to Jerusalem," Selena said.

"I agree with you," Elizabeth said, "but this involves religion and politics, not to mention gold. That makes it complicated."

"What else is new?" Lamont said.

"There's going to be fallout from what happened in Beirut," Elizabeth said. "Hezbollah's creatures in the Lebanese government are claiming the people you killed outside that gate were peaceful civilians. They want whoever was responsible tried for war crimes."

"Figures," Nick said. "They're good at accusing everybody else of the things they do."

"They don't know who it was," Elizabeth said. "The helicopter was unmarked. They assume it was us or the Israelis. It's not going to go anywhere, especially when the story gets out about what Al-Bayati was doing in there."

"The story will get out?"

"You can be sure of it."

"Director, I've been thinking," Lamont said. "Retirement isn't what it's cracked up to be. Besides, there's too many damn bugs down there in Florida. I'd like to get my old job back, if I could."

"What about your leg?"

"It held up pretty good this time around. Better than I thought it would, and it's getting stronger. I don't think it's going to be a problem."

Elizabeth looked at Nick.

"He's pretty beat up and he's getting old," Nick said. "I guess we could use him."

"I wouldn't talk about old if I were you," Lamont said.

Elizabeth smiled. "Welcome back."

Selena changed the subject. "How's Stephanie doing?"

"I talked to her this morning. It's going to take time to get over losing the baby. She wants to work as soon as she feels physically okay. She's tough and she knows she can have another child when she's ready. She'll be all right."

"This has been a rough one," Nick said. "Stephanie. Then Diego. He just got here and then he was gone. There was nothing we could do."

Elizabeth opened a drawer in her desk and took out a bottle of cognac and some shot glasses. They watched while she filled the glasses. They all took one, even Ronnie. She filled one more glass and set it down on Diego's file.

"There is one thing we can do, for him and all the others who have given their lives because of duty. We can honor their memory." She raised her glass. "Nick?"

They lifted their glasses.

"To Diego," Nick said. "A good man."