by Mark Goodwin
They eventually reached the town of Rize. It looked completely abandoned. Anyone with any means of escape would have no doubt gotten as far away from the morbid waters and the accompanying scent as possible. Everett wondered to himself if Sadat would still be at his villa when they arrived. “We must be pretty close, Ali. Do you see anything familiar?”
“Not yet. I come here only one time and coming from direction of Tarsus. Never this way.”
Everett didn’t feel reassured by Ali’s statement but kept driving several more miles.
Suddenly, Ali pointed. “This bridge! I know this bridge. I see before!”
“Great!” Everett livened up. “So you know where we’re at?”
“No, but close.” Ali watched intently. “Very close.”
Everett slowed down to allow Ali more time to study the surroundings. “Just let me know when you see the road.”
They continued for what seemed like ten more miles, but Ali saw nothing else.
The sound of the paper map crinkling could be heard in the back as Tobias studied it. “We’re more than halfway between Rize and Trabzon. Are you sure we didn’t pass it?”
“I don’t know.” Ali sounded frustrated.
“Should I turn around?” Everett inquired.
“I said I don’t know!” It was the closest thing to yelling Ali had ever done since Everett met him.
Everett kept driving.
“That is it! That is the road to Sadat house!” Ali pointed feverishly at the other side of the road.
“Roger that,” Everett said optimistically. “Gideon, Tobias, I’ll turn around and slow down right before we get to the road. You guys bail out and stay low unless you hear gunfire.”
“You got it,” Tobias said.
Gideon added, “Gunfire is the international language for trouble. If we hear shots, we’ll be coming in hot, so get low.”
Everett made the next available U-turn, then slowed down just enough for Gideon and Tobias to exit the vehicle and take cover in the brush.
Everett turned onto the single-lane road, which took a sharp turn to the right and had a steep incline up the hill.
“Go slow. Sadat have guard before you get to gate.” Ali pointed up the winding path.
“Courtney, keep your rifle ready.” Everett turned another sharp twist in the roadway.
Ali furrowed his brow. “Don’t worry. We don’t have problem.”
Courtney replied, “You’ll have to excuse us, Ali. We haven’t known Sadat quite as long as you have.”
Everett saw the first guard. “Do you recognize this guy?”
Ali shook his head. “No. Must be new guy.”
“And that’s why we operate with extreme caution.” Everett’s tone betrayed his lack of confidence about the situation. He rolled down his window as he reached the guard.
“Turn around. You cannot drive on this road,” the guard said. A second guard held his rifle at low ready.
Ali lowered his window to speak with the guard. “Call to Sadat. Tell him Ali is here.”
The second guard lifted a walkie-talkie with one hand but kept his finger on the trigger guard of his rifle with the other. Everett listened, but could not understand what he was saying over the radio.
Soon, the gate opened and four more gun-toting guards emerged from the enclosed area. Two were humongous and bald. Even though they were in less formal attire than the last time he’d visited the Turkish gangster, Everett thought he recognized the sizeable men.
One of them approached the vehicle, Uzi pistol in hand. “Ali!”
“Doruk! Happy to see you, my friend,” Ali said cheerfully.
“This is Americans that come to Sadat in Tarsus?” Doruk seemed to remember Everett and Courtney when he looked inside the vehicle.
“Yes. I stay with these guys since MOC take over Tarsus,” Ali affirmed.
“Sadat will see you, but I don’t know about Americans.” Doruk looked the SUV over suspiciously.
“He like these guys. Call him. He will say okay,” Ali assured Doruk.
Doruk walked back from the car and called on his radio. Minutes later he waved Everett through the gate.
As Everett expected, he, Courtney, and even Ali had to leave their weapons locked up in the Mercedes. Doruk and the other guard escorted them up several stairs that led to a three-story villa with a red tile roof. Magenta bougainvilleas flanked the white stucco walls of the structure that looked out over the black sea.
“I bet that was quite a view before the sea turned to blood,” Courtney said to no one in particular.
Doruk winced as a breeze from the sea wafted the hideous fragrance of dead fish toward them. “Now it is worst view in all of Turkey. When I open door, go inside fast. Sadat gets very angry if we let in the smell.”
Everett nodded that he understood.
Doruk opened the door. “Go! Quickly!”
Everett led the way and continued through the entrance to make room for Courtney, Ali, and the two guards. The smell of cheap incense permeated the interior of the dwelling. The smoke from it was so thick that it formed a haze.
Courtney waved her hand in front of her face and coughed. “Wow. That will definitely cover up the fish smell. What is that, strawberry?”
“Cherry. The cheaper the incense, the better job it make of covering the smell,” Doruk said unapologetically as he led the procession through a hallway, down a flight of stairs and into the finished basement.
Two much-younger girls sat on a large sectional couch on either side of Sadat as he drew a long toke from the stem of a smoking brass hookah. The girls were dressed in short dresses that looked cheaper than the cherry incense burning upstairs in the foyer.
Sadat wore an open robe, no shirt, and cargo shorts, with his bare feet propped up on an ottoman. He stood up and held out his arms. “Ali! It is so good to see you my friend. I always knew you were okay.”
Ali rushed over and embraced the heavy-set bald man. “It is good to see you as well, Sadat. You remember Everett and Courtney.”
“Yes, of course. And Sarah, where is Sarah?” Sadat asked politely.
“She was killed by a MOC car bomb.” Courtney swallowed hard.
Sadat’s face lost its brightness. “I’m so sorry to hear this. These are troubling times indeed.”
Everett nodded in agreement as he shook Sadat’s hand. “Even so, it’s good to see you again, sir.”
“Please, sit down. Can I offer you a drink?” Sadat returned to his place on the couch.
“No thank you. We don’t drink.” Everett sat on the end of the sectional and motioned for Courtney to sit beside him.
“Cream soda then.” Sadat waved at another girl who obviously functioned as a waitress.
“Cream soda? Where did you get that?” Courtney sounded surprised.
“I specialize in living the good life, even in the worst of times.” Sadat laughed.
The girl returned and handed ice-cold bottles of cream soda to Everett, Courtney, and Ali.
Everett thanked the girl and retrieved the black velvet pouch from his pocket. “Then you’ll be interested in what I have to offer.”
“I’m sure I will be.” Sadat held out his hand as Everett passed a six-carat, princess-cut, white diamond to him. He spoke to Doruk in Turkish.
Doruk left the room and quickly returned with Sadat’s loop, placing it in the gangster’s eager hand.
Sadat looked the stone over for several minutes. “I’m assuming you are looking for more than a vehicle and a place to sleep for the night in exchange for this one.”
Everett poured out ten more stones, each one over four carats, onto Sadat’s coffee table. “Lots more.”
Courtney said softly, “We need twenty up-armored vehicles with fifty-caliber machine guns and a hundred thousand rounds of fifty-caliber ammunition, three hundred shoulder-fired surface-to-surface missile systems, a thousand hand grenades, a thousand RPGs, and five anti-aircraft guns with ten thousand shells.”
&n
bsp; Sadat sat with his eyes wide open. “Anything else?”
“Oh, yes. I almost forgot. At least one thousand of the anti-aircraft shells should be tracer rounds.”
Sadat looked at Everett as if he expected him to say that Courtney was only joking.
He didn’t. Instead, Everett added, “We have more diamonds. These are just examples of our inventory.”
Sadat turned to Ali to confirm.
He nodded. “It is true. I have seen one stone, eight-carat. Many stones like these, Sadat.”
Sadat kissed the girl on his left. “Give us a minute. We need to talk business.”
Both girls took their cocktails and left the couch.
Sadat turned to Ali and held up his hands. “You know I deal in the instruments of pleasure, not death. Why do you come to me about these things?”
“What about Sheik Tariq? You can make bargain for us. Anytime Tariq want drug or need make exchange for art or diamond, he come to you.”
Sadat shook his head as he stared at the diamonds on the table. He didn’t seem to want to step out of his normal scope of operations, but neither did he seem able to take his eyes off the glimmering gemstones. “I make no guarantee.” Sadat picked up a five-carat stone and showed it to Everett. “I keep this for my trouble, regardless of whether I make a deal or not.”
Courtney took the diamond out of Sadat’s hand and replaced it with the smallest stone on the table. “That one is for your trouble. If you want any of these big boys, you’ll have to make something happen for us.”
Sadat grunted and squeezed the smaller rock in his hand. “I need a full inventory of the stones you’ll be negotiating with. Carat, cut, color, and clarity. And don’t play around with the appraisals. Get a real professional. If you overestimate the specifications and make me look like a fool to Tariq, I will take it as a personal insult.”
Everett nodded slowly. “I think I might know a guy that can give a fair valuation.”
“Good.” Sadat wrote down a radio frequency on a piece of paper. “Call me back with the specifications of each stone as soon as you can.”
“We’ll call you tonight,” Everett said.
“Okay. Then give me until Saturday night to speak with the sheik. That should give me time to put something together.” Sadat wrote down code words for the weapons Courtney had requested. “I don’t talk about guns on the airwaves. These are the words I will use instead of the items you want.”
Everett took the paper, folded it, and tucked it in his pocket. “Thank you very much. We appreciate your efforts.”
CHAPTER 6
And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Revelation 16:4-7
Everett gritted his teeth Friday evening as he stood on the bank of the river waiting for sunset. Courtney held his hand. Next to her was Tobias and Ali. Gideon, Dinah, her sister Batya, and Batya’s husband, Levi, were also present.
Ali looked at the water, then up at the sky. He turned to Everett. “Only a few more minutes.”
Everett nodded. “Yep.” He fought to not allow his anger to show on his face, but he was utterly disgusted with the situation. If everyone would have simply stuck to the plan, they’d all be safely underground right now, rather than standing on the shore of the Chorokhi River, waiting for it to run red with blood.
The light faded behind the mountains to the west, casting a crimson hue across the sky. Courtney looked down at the river. “I can’t tell if the reflection of the sky is making the water look red, or if it’s starting.”
Everett and the others looked down at the water.
Dinah pointed at the confluence of the Acharistskali and Chorokhi Rivers. “Look!”
“The Acharistskali has turned to blood,” Gideon pulled his wife close. “That’s no optical effect from the sky.”
Everett watched as the steady stream of blood flowed into the Chorokhi River, staining its waters scarlet as well. “I’m going to go check the stored water. I’ll be back.”
“I’m coming with you.” Courtney clung to his hand and followed him up the bank, across the road and around the back of their small cottage.
Everett lifted the lid from one of the blue barrels. A clear water glass sat atop the adjacent barrel which had been pre-positioned for this particular test. He dipped the glass into the barrel and pulled it out.
Courtney tapped the tail cap of her flashlight, sending a beam of light through the glass. “It’s clean. We should have enough drinking water for a while.”
“Yeah, but not enough for bathing. Hygiene is a priority. Without any means of staying clean or washing dishes, disease won’t be far off.” Everett sipped the water as if it were the most precious commodity on the planet.
“Let’s go tell the others that the stored water is still good.” Courtney allowed Everett enough time to enjoy his water and replace the lid on their treasure, then led him back to the river’s bank.
Tobias seemed anxious when Everett returned. “What’s the verdict?”
“It’s good.” Everett offered an affirming nod.
“Praise be to Jehovah who has proven Himself to be faithful once again.” Ali stretched his hands toward heaven.
“Yes, praise be to HaShem.” Batya put her arm around Levi and looked skyward.
Dinah’s eyes were downcast as she watched dead fish begin to float on the surface of the river in the fading light. “Too bad Moses isn’t here to turn the blood to water.”
Gideon let his hand slip from her back as he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, too bad.”
Courtney pressed her lips together to echo Dinah’s sentiment. Then, her brows knitted together. She turned to Everett as if trying to remember a distant dream.
“What?” he said.
“Do you remember what you told us when Sarah and I were trying to convince you that we had to bring Moses’ staff back to him?”
“Not even remotely.” Everett thought back. “Something about it being a crutch?”
“No, not that part.”
“I can’t remember. That was three years ago, and we’ve been through a lot since then.”
She glared into his eyes. “You said that maybe he left it in the cave on purpose; for us.”
Everett immediately caught on to what she was implying but dared not get his hopes up. “Don’t say anything else. We try it out first. I don’t want to disappoint everyone if it doesn’t work.”
“Okay, but we need to try it now,” she said quietly.
“We’ll be back.” Everett waved to the others as he led Courtney back to the cottage.
She sprinted ahead to retrieve the staff from above the fireplace mantle and met Everett on the porch. She offered him the staff. “Do you want to do the honors?”
“It was your idea. Go ahead.”
“Thanks!” She pulled the staff close to her body and grinned at him.
Everett held her hand to keep her from running ahead. “Let’s temper our enthusiasm until we know.”
“Right.” She took a deep breath and slowed her pace.
When they returned, the others had dispersed and were on their way back inside Tobias and Ali’s house.
The remnants of daylight had grown too faint to see the color of the river. Everett directed the stream of light from his flashlight toward a spot near the edge. “Put it in right there.”
Courtney sighed with eagerness. “Okay.” She pierced the blood with the wooden stick, in the center of the beam from Everett’s flashlight.
Everett watched as crystal clear water ran away from the location where the staff met the river.
“It’s working!” Courtne
y exclaimed.
“I see!” He redirected the flashlight to inspect how far the clear water ran before it was completely diluted by the blood. “It runs clear for about ten feet.”
Courtney took out her light and shined it in the other direction. “Look. The blood is turning to water upstream.”
Everett followed the light with his eyes. Sure enough, the blood was clearing upstream. Only for about three feet, but it was growing. “Take out the staff and see if it stays clear.”
Courtney lifted the stick out of the river. The flow of blood immediately polluted the clear water and the translucent liquid quickly melted back into the thick red river. “Gone. I wonder if we found the source of the river. Could we turn it back to water?”
Everett looked upstream. “Both the Chorokhi and the Acharistskali run for miles. It’d be easier to isolate the source of the creek behind our cottage. But not at night. We’ll try it first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Can we tell the others now?” Courtney asked enthusiastically.
“Sure. Let’s get a bucket from the back of Tobias’ house and do a little demonstration.” Everett led the way to get a container for the exhibition.
“Great idea!” she exclaimed.
Before dawn Saturday morning, Everett awoke to the sound of a door knock. Groggily, he got up to answer it. “Ali? What time is it?”
“5:30. Everett, Sadat call on radio. He say Tariq the Sheik have samples ready. We are to go to Sadat house with half of diamonds. Be there by eight, then meet Tariq at eleven o’clock.”
Everett needed caffeine before being bombarded with such a weighty matter. “Come in. Let me start some tea.” Everett filled the tea kettle and took it out to the rocket stove on the back porch. “What does he mean by samples?”
“Probably like four or five vehicles that we ask for, some rocket, some grenade. I don’t know.”
