Eight Days to Live

by Iris Johansen

  “It shouldn’t take me long.” She was scrolling down the pages on the computer. “It’s very clean. You’ve done a great job.”

  “I know. I always do.” She was opening the door. “Which proves I’m not a sex toy who is only good for having babies. Imagine that. I will call you when I wake.”

  “Yes,” she said absently as she scanned the text before her. “Sleep well.”

  She was barely aware of the door’s closing as she continued reading. The contents of the tablet were ugly, disjointed, and definitely unbalanced. It gave the general rules of Hadar’s Church of Judas, including the yearly sacrifices to be offered to honor him. He had set himself up as a high priest, and evidently the first sacrifices were people in the village who opposed or suspected him. Later, during Hadar’s control of the religion, the sacrifices were chosen by Hadar and his acolytes for their worthiness to ascend to Judas.

  She shivered as she remembered her dream of the young boy being sacrificed in the temple. Hadar was a terrible man who had spawned an even-more-terrible cult.

  She quickly skimmed through the sacrifices to the section where Hadar was considering going back for the Judas coins. She felt excitement stirring. Exact directions, indeed . . .

  Why was she getting excited? Hell, for all she knew that cave could have been bulldozed to the ground and become a major highway. Yet what if that cave was still there?

  Her gaze lifted and she stared out at the pink and lavender clouds clustered in the sky outside the window signaling the coming dawn.

  What if?

  Opportunity. Far-fetched but not totally impossible.

  And she’d never know unless she went to see for herself.

  She reached for her phone and dialed Caleb. “That helicopter you told me you could have here in fifteen minutes? Call him and tell him to come.”

  JOCK WAS STANDING IN THE FOYER when Jane came down the stairs fifteen minutes later. “I know there’s no use trying to talk you out of this. But this isn’t going to be a walk in the park.”

  “No, hopefully it’s going to be a walk in a field.” She smiled as she headed for the door. “I’m glad to see you. I told Caleb we needed you, but I wasn’t sure he’d ask you to come with us.”

  “I may object to his methods, but not his intelligence. He said that he’d have no problem coming to an understanding with MacDuff’s security guards, but he was concerned about interference on a higher level. To leave here, he knew that he would have to deal with me or MacDuff since this castle is an armed camp. He prefers the devil he knows.” He shrugged as he opened the door for her. “And it only means that I’ll have to do the dealing with MacDuff when we get back.” He glanced at her. “But I’d rather deal with MacDuff than Eve. Did you tell her?”

  “She knew I’d probably be leaving today. Not that we were going to Jerusalem.”

  “You’re quibbling.”

  “Yes, I am. I’ll tell her once we’re under way.” She moved past the fountain toward the courtyard gates. “Okay, so I’m a coward. I didn’t want her trying to go with us. I didn’t want to worry her until I had to do it.”

  “Because you knew this is a crazy idea.”

  “It’s actually less dangerous going after the coins than it would be directly confronting Roland or Millet.”

  “As long as they don’t manage to follow us.” His gaze went to the hills. “They’re out there. They’ll know we’re leaving.”

  “We change to a private jet in Edinburgh, and you call Venable and make sure that the pilot doesn’t have to file a flight plan to Tel Aviv. Make certain the only person Venable tells anything about this trip is Joe. We won’t even tell the pilot the destination until we’re in the air.”

  “And once we’re in Tel Aviv? The Israelis are tough customers, and they’re not going to let us stroll around the area without keeping an eye on us. There are checkpoints and unbelievable security. And what about the Palestinians? They’re likely to blow us up just on general principles. Even taking Millet and Roland out of the equation, it’s still crazy.”

  “If we didn’t have Caleb, it would be crazy. With Caleb, it’s marginally possible.”

  “If he doesn’t lose it and start a blood binge.” He shook his head. “Even you don’t trust him.”

  “I trust him . . . sometimes.”

  “That’s not reassuring.”

  “He won’t do anything to get us killed. He’ll help us to the best of his ability to get Millet and Roland. That has to be enough for me right now.” She could see Caleb standing at the helipad, and her pace quickened. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before everyone in the castle wakes up. We’ve got to be on that helicopter and away within a few minutes. The noise is bound to wake the household.” Her mind was working at top speed. “And I’ll need to type those directions in Hadar’s tablet into the Internet and Google it. I have to pull up a map of the area as it was during the time of Christ, then superimpose a current map on top of it. It was a clay potter’s field, so the topography might be a help. No, that’s only contour. I’ll have to find something else. I want to see if I can bring up a match anywhere around Jerusalem.”

  “It’s possible,” Jock said thoughtfully. “The Internet satellites have amazing map capability.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping. Once we’ve zeroed in on a site, we can get Venable to scope out the area and find a way to get us to that field. Tell him we want to be met in Tel Aviv and that I want a .38 Special revolver.”

  “To go treasure hunting?”

  “No, I’m just tired of not having a weapon with these scumbags after us. I was beginning to envy Lina her AK-47. I’ll also need a backpack, some kind of heavy protective wrapping, magnifying glass, a small sifter shovel, a brush, and tweezers. Maybe a spoon.”

  “A spoon?”

  “That’s what I used when I went on archaeological digs when I was in college. A spoon is gentle and controllable and less likely to do damage.”

  “All these preparations. It may all be for nothing, you know.”

  “And we may hit the jackpot. If we get our hands on those Judas coins, we’ll have a lure that Roland won’t be able to resist.”

  “That’s all it means to you?” Jock asked curiously. “Those coins are a treasure that will be worth billions if there’s any authentication at all.”

  “What would I do with billions? I don’t need it. Would it make me a better artist? It would just get in the way. I could give it to Eve and Joe, but they get along just fine.” She shook her head. “MacDuff is the only one interested in treasure or anything else that would preserve his precious castle.”

  He nodded. “MacDuff would definitely make use of any spare billions that he could beg, borrow, or steal.”

  “Then he can work on finding his family treasure.” Her lips tightened grimly. “I have a use for the Judas coins.”

  SIXTEEN

  “SHE LEFT MACDUFF’S RUN by helicopter fifteen minutes ago,” Millet said when Roland picked up the phone. “She was with Jock Gavin and Caleb.”

  “What direction? Edinburgh?”

  “Yes. But they might change directions,” Millet said. “She only took a small duffel. She may come back.”

  “And she may not. She’s had time to have that tablet translated. She could be going after the coins. You’ve lost her again, dammit.”

  “What could I do? There were all kinds of security guards watching from the castle, and they know we’re here in the hills. We might have been able to take her down, but I won’t do that. I have to have her for the Offering.”

  “Then you’d better find a way to get hold of her damn quick. We’re running out of time.”

  “Go screw yourself. I’ll get her. I’ve called my man in Edinburgh and told him to get out to the airport and locate that helicopter and find out if they’re changing to another flight. And I haven’t been sitting here just twiddling my thumbs looking at that castle. There are still ways to pull her into the net. Eve Duncan is still there at
the castle, and I think I know a way to get beyond those security guards all around her.”

  “Then wouldn’t it be wise to stop thinking and start acting?”

  Millet hung up on him.

  Bastard. Roland pressed the disconnect and stuffed his phone into his jacket pocket. He should have handled Millet better, but his anger had erupted, and he hadn’t been able to control it. It would be easier trying to reason with an orangutan. And the primate would probably have been more intelligent in getting his hands on Jane MacGuire.

  Forget him. He was expecting an important OPEC oilman to come to see him today, but he’d call and cancel. It was time he stopped relying on Millet and started to take all the reins in his own hands. This sudden move on Jane MacGuire’s part was making him nervous. His every instinct was screaming that she was going after the coins.

  His coins. All the years of searching, bribing, manipulating, and he might lose them to that bitch.

  No! He would not let her have them. They belonged to him, and he would slice her to pieces himself if she tried to take them.

  But first he had to find her. What are you up to, bitch?

  Day Six

  JANE CALLED EVE AFTER THEY landed in Edinburgh. Eve listened quietly, then said, “You could have awakened me. We both know why you didn’t.”

  “Yes, I knew you’d be upset.” She paused. “But it’s not as if I’m going after Millet or Roland. This is much safer.”

  “Tell that to the Israelis and Palestinians,” she said dryly. “That area is so volatile that it changes from minute to minute.”

  “I’ll call you as often as I can.” She was silent a moment. “I wanted you to be safe. That’s the only thing that’s important to me, Eve.”

  “If I didn’t know that, I’d be much more pissed than I am right now.” She added thoughtfully, “Twenty-eight pieces of silver instead of thirty. And the potter’s slave’s name was Dominic. Didn’t you tell me that in your dreams of Cira years ago, her servant’s name was Dominic?”

  “Yes.”

  “Stop closing up on me. I can feel it even over this phone. All I’m saying is that it’s odd that this servant, Dominic, appears in Hadar’s Tablet as having received two of the Judas coins. And that a Dominic appears a little later in Herculaneum as Cira’s servant. Those two Judas coins could well have been added to the treasure chest Cira brought with her when she fled Herculaneum. Interesting connection.”

  “Connection. You sound like Caleb. He’s been probing and searching ad nauseam. Do you know he even thinks there’s a possibility I do some kind of weird remote viewing and can actually mentally go to a place like that temple? Crazy.”

  “I can see how he’d be looking for the way the puzzle is fitting together.”

  “You told him about the Cira dreams.”

  “And you resent it. Tough. I’ve been tiptoeing around the subject for a long time. Those dreams are too closely founded on historical fact not to be accepted on some level. It’s time you came to terms with them.” She paused. “And I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m finding it curious that both the Cira dreams and the ones you’ve had recently have a bond with these Judas coins. It’s as if there’s a kind of reaching out . . . Oh, I don’t know. Just think about it. Don’t reject it because you don’t want to believe that you could be a little less than totally grounded in reality. What the hell is reality anyway?”

  “You’re real. Joe is real. I’m real. I’m working on accepting all this other eerie crap, but I have trouble when it applies to me.”

  “Keep working on it.”

  “I will. I promise.” She changed the subject. “Will you take care of Lina? She’s going to be as upset as you when she finds out we left her. I don’t want her leaving the Run and setting off on her own toting that AK-47. By now Millet and Roland know she’s been doing the translation for us. They mustn’t get their hands on her.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. But she seems to be very determined.” She added ruefully, “If I stand in her way, she may turn that AK-47 on me.”

  “She won’t do that.” Jane hesitated. “She’s . . . solid, Eve. She’s abrupt and sometimes rude, but I feel as if she’s—” She tried to put her thoughts into words. “She’s a survivor, but she doesn’t know how to enjoy that survival. She hardly ever smiles. I want to—”

  “Help her,” Eve finished. “Another lost puppy, Jane?”

  “Tiger, maybe.”

  “Good comparison. Tigers are beautiful, and Lina is exceptional.” She added, “I like survivors. I feel a kinship for them. I’ll see that your Lina doesn’t run afoul of Millet.”

  “Thank you. I have to board the plane now. I’ll call you from Israel.” She hung up.

  Eve slowly turned away as she pressed the disconnect. Jane had better call me from Israel, she thought grimly. She was getting tired of staying behind and watching Joe and now Jane go off into heaven knew what danger. She wasn’t going to put up with it for much longer.

  “They’ve gone.” Lina stood in the doorway, her hands clenched at her sides. “Jock just called me. I told Jane what she needed, then she left me.”

  “We seem to be in the same boat,” Eve said. “I just spoke to Jane, and she was all apologies, but it all came down to the fact that I wasn’t wanted.”

  “She had no right. They burned my home. I had the right to go after them.”

  “She was very clear that wasn’t the purpose of the trip.”

  “Purpose? It doesn’t matter. One thing will lead to another. Millet and Roland will go after them.”

  That was what Eve feared. “Then we have to hope we’ll be able to join her before it’s over.”

  “ ‘Hope’?” Lina’s eyes were blazing. “I’m not going to wait here and hope. I’m going to go after those bastards. I don’t need anyone to help me.”

  This was just what Jane was afraid would happen, Eve thought. And she had left Eve with the task of dissuading this angry woman from doing what she thought was her right.

  And it was her right. She was protecting her way of life and avenging the loss of her home. Eve was in perfect agreement with her. She would have felt the same.

  “Jane was mistaken. She took it upon herself to try to protect both of us.” She stared Lina in the eye. “That’s Jane’s way. She can’t help herself, but it was wrong of her arbitrarily to try to run your life.” She shook her head. “And mine. But we’ll have to reclaim them. Together.”

  “You have nothing to do with my life.” Lina was gazing at her warily. “And you mean nothing to me.”

  “But you came here with Jane and the others because you could see that you’d be more effective if you had a backup. Isn’t that true?”

  “Partly.”

  “I’m a very good backup, Lina. Suppose we team up and see what we can do about getting Millet?”

  “I don’t need you. You’d get in my way.”

  She shook her head. “You’ve heard Jane talk about Joe Quinn. He’s with the CIA in Rome right now. We could join him there.”

  “The CIA,” Lina repeated. “I knew someone once who worked with them. He got me out of Afghanistan. They can help . . . if they want to do it.”

  “Joe will make sure that they want to do it.”

  “When would we go?”

  “As soon as I contact Joe and make arrangements. Perhaps tomorrow morning?”

  Lina thought about it. “I guess I can wait until then.” Her gaze narrowed on Eve’s face. “You’re not fooling me? You’re being honest?”

  “I’m being honest. I admit I’m like Jane in that I tend to be overprotective, and I understand her reasons. But it’s time I stopped letting her run the show.” She was feeling an overpowering relief at the decision. It had been completely uncharacteristic of her to have been so patient when she had only wanted to dive in and help Jane. “Yes, I think going to Joe would definitely be for the best.” She smiled. “You help me. I’ll help you. And Joe will help both of us. We can’t lose.”
She got to her feet. “Now let me go and call Joe. It will take a little persuading to make him see we should leave here. Joe is very protective, too.”

  “But it will happen?” Lina asked. “Men like to have it all their own way.”

  “So do we. It’s all a balance, Lina.” But that had never been Lina’s experience, Eve realized. “Joe is very special. It will be fine.”

  “If you say so.” Lina turned away. “But I trust you to tell me if you have a problem with him.”

  She chuckled. “I always have problems with him. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s what makes our life together a challenge.”

  Lina shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “I hope you will someday. Now go away, and I’ll make the arrangements. Then I have to do some work on my reconstruction and go and talk to MacDuff about our plans. He’ll probably be as dead set against them as Jane would be. Too bad. Will you join me for dinner later?”

  Lina hesitated, then slowly nodded. “Yes. I think I’d like that very much.”

  “Good.” She pulled out her phone. “It will probably be just the two of us. MacDuff isn’t going to be in a sociable mood. He likes control and he’s lost Jane and is about to lose both of us. There’s not much left to protect but this grand pile of boulders he calls a castle.”

  “HOW DID SHE TAKE IT?” Caleb asked, as Jane got on the plane. “Or need I ask?”

  “She resented my leaving her behind.” Jane sat down and opened her laptop. “I don’t blame her. I’d feel the same way. She did say she’d take care of Lina.” Her voice was absent as she gazed down at the screen. “I think I’ve found the map I need. Oxford University did a study in 1997 for the Church of England. They did all kinds of topography and historical data searches to create a map that would show Israel and Syria as they were at the time of Christ.” She pointed to two areas north of Jerusalem. “Both these areas have low hills, and the one closer to Jerusalem looks like it might possibly have a flatter sunken field adjoining it. The fields from which potters took their clay were basically rock and silt with high iron content that were windblown or brought in and deposited by rivers or glaciers. I don’t see any riverbed, but it could still be Hadar’s Field of Blood.”