“It’s just another day. It’s you ghouls who have made it into something horrible.” She called to Marc, who was still at the controls. “Get out of here, Marc.”
The pilot’s gaze was on Roland. “You’re certain?”
“Go,” Caleb said.
A moment later, Marc was lifting off.
Jane handed Roland the portable container. “You turn the switch to open the case. Where’s your expert?”
He turned to a thin, tall man wearing glasses. “George Kandor. George, take the case and run a check on it.”
“Be careful,” Jane said. “And don’t remove the stopper.”
“I know my business.” Kandor took the case and turned back to his equipment beside the tree. “I won’t be able to tell much, Roland.”
“I just want to make sure that bottle contains the same objects that were in the photo.” Roland turned to Jane. “This won’t take long. I know you’re eager to be on your way.” His gaze shifted to Caleb. “You must be Seth Caleb. You’re something of an unknown factor to both Millet and me. We’ve been able to access your CIA and Interpol records, and they’ve come back with very little information. Which means that you’ve been exceptionally law-abiding or that you’re very clever.”
“Guess,” Caleb said.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve got both possibilities covered. Though I really expected Jane to bring Jock Gavin. Gavin has the reputation of being lethal.” He gestured to the fair-haired man, who had been silent throughout the exchange. “Carl Trobell. Naturally, I can’t tap Millet’s resources, but Trobell comes with excellent references.” He smiled. “He has almost as much experience as Jock Gavin, and he’s fully capable of protecting my coins.”
Trobell nodded, but didn’t speak.
Dead eyes, Jane thought. Like the photos of killers you see in the newspapers who had committed hideous crimes, and you realized that there was nothing behind those eyes that had anything to do with humanity. She quickly glanced away from him. “They’re not yours yet.”
“Soon.” Roland paused. “I’m sure you have a weapon. Give it to me.”
“Go to hell.”
He shrugged. “I can understand your concern. I’ll let it pass as a gesture of good faith.” He turned to Kandor, who was replacing the bottle in the case. “Well?”
“It appears to be the same as the photo you showed me.”
“I thought it would be.” He turned back to Jane. “You wouldn’t take a chance on cheating me. You have too much at stake. Shall we go? I have a jeep parked in the trees, as I’m sure you verified on that pass.”
She nodded and started to turn away but suddenly whirled back to face Caleb.
“It’s all right,” he said quietly. “Stop worrying, Jane.” He smiled. “I’m Samson, remember.”
But he hadn’t been Samson when he’d faced Faruk yesterday. He’d been tragically, almost fatally weak. What if Trobell was like Faruk? Or even if he wasn’t, every instinct was telling her that Trobell was every bit as deadly as Roland claimed.
“Eve,” Caleb reminded her.
Yes, Eve. Eve needed her, and she couldn’t change her mind now.
She whirled and headed for the trees.
“WHAT IS IT?” JANE GOT out of the jeep and gazed at the sign that was posted on the barbed-wire fence. “What does it say?”
“Contaminated. Deadly.” He swung open the gate. “Words to that effect, I believe. I don’t speak Russian.”
“Russian? In the middle of Syria?”
“Yes, the Russians did some bacteria experiments here during the Cold War.” He got back in the jeep. “Do you see that huge building over there? It was the main lab before the accident. One day there was an unfortunate leak in one of the tanks, which killed several scientists and about two hundred workers. They examined the ground surrounding the lab and decided that it was going to be deadly for the next century. The installation has been deserted ever since then.”
“ ‘Unfortunate leak,’ ” she repeated.
“Unfortunate for them. Fortunate for the chosen. The temple is in the mountains directly behind the lab. Hadar made sure that it was well hidden in the rocks, and it was safe for centuries as long as it was guarded. But modern-day technology made it more difficult to conceal.” He smiled. “So we decided to take advantage of the lab. After the accident, the Syrian government was only anxious to conceal the deal they’d made with the Russians. The Russians discreetly pulled out of the area.”
“And you falsified reports that the land was contaminated.”
“We have friends in high places. No one dares come near the lab now. So our members are entirely safe from discovery when they come to the Offering.” He parked in front of the rear door of the installation. “And Millet was able to build his secret tunnel from the lab to the temple.” He pointed to a bluff some distance away. “The temple is behind those massive boulders. The main entrance of the temple faces the other way.” He took out a flashlight from the glove box. “We’ll go in the back door.” He started to laugh. “It just reminded me of Adah. She was always fond of using the back door.”
TWENTY-ONE
THE PASSAGEWAY WAS LONG, dark, and winding, the ceiling barely seven feet high. It’s like the tunnels in tombs I visited in Egypt, Jane thought.
“Keep up,” Roland said, beaming his light on her face. “Mustn’t hang back. I’m judging that we may have another forty minutes at most before Millet comes roaring back. We have to be on our way before he gets here. Only a little farther to go. We should be under the Offering Room now.”
Under the Offering Room.
She deliberately slowed.
“Frightened?” Roland asked softly. “It’s easy to be brave and self-sacrificing when you’re not this close to the end.”
She stopped. “But you said that it wasn’t the end. We made a deal.”
“And of course, I’ll keep it.”
She didn’t move.
He pushed her forward. “Go!”
She staggered, lost her balance, and stretched out her hand to the wall of the passage to catch herself. “Don’t touch me. I can’t see anything. Shine that beam ahead of us.”
The beam focused on the dark corridor, and Jane strode forward. “Let’s get out of here. I hate close places.”
TROBELL WAS GOING TO MAKE a move, Caleb thought. But he couldn’t tell when or how.
The bastard was hard to read and when Caleb went in and tried to manipulate him it was like wading through tar. He was blank yet focused. Caleb had run across an occasional schizophrenic who had that same mental profile. Trobell was very likely genuinely insane.
He glanced at his watch-5:50. He’d been waiting until six to move, as he’d promised Jane, but Trobell seemed to be on his own schedule.
“You’re watching me,” Trobell said. “You want to kill me.”
“Do I?”
“Roland said whoever she brought would want to kill me.”
“And what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m not going to kill you.” He turned away and pulled out his gun. “Yet.”
The next moment he was gone, running for the trees. No, running toward one particular tree where Kandor, Roland’s coin expert, sat.
Kandor’s eyes widened as he saw the gun. “What are-”
Trobell shot the man in the chest.
Then he was whirling on Caleb.
But Caleb was gone, drawing his own gun as he streaked toward the trees, zigzagging in and out as Trobell got off two more shots.
Get to cover, then go on the offensive, he told himself. Too early, but he’d done his best to delay.
Sorry, Jane.
No, that was a lie. He wasn’t sorry that he had an excuse to break free and go on the hunt. He was never sorry about that. He was just sorry that he’d have to struggle to strike a balance that would please both him and Jane.
He’d reached the trees and glanced over his shoulder.
Trobell was starting after him.
“Come on,” Caleb murmured. “I have time. I’ll wait for you. Let’s see how good you are…”