Conspiracy of Silence

by Ronie Kendig

“Connected?”

  “The censers unleashed the plague. The leaf can tell us how to stop it, I bet.”

  Tox nearly laughed. “You’re saying this is supernatural?”

  “I’m saying we need to get to Israel.”

  ****

  They’re hiding something. Why would Cole not trust her? Did he still see her as just the little sister? The huddle around him tightened, the men intense, focused. Their gazes were down—what was he showing them? Their body language. . . .

  “Kasey,” Robbie called, “were you able to reach the SCTH or IAA?”

  After glancing back to Cole, bent over a table with his team, Kasey joined her. “I reached someone at SCTH, but I don’t think they were well-informed. Do we have another contact there?”

  “Not a friendly one,” Robbie said. “Why do you think they weren’t well-informed?”

  “He didn’t know about the bombing. Went into a rage and hung up on me.”

  Robbie mulled over the information, then lifted her chin. “Try again.” She looked to Vander. “Any word from Tzivia and Dr. Cathey?”

  “Negative.”

  Robbie scratched her scalp frantically with a growl. “I need something, guys. Something to get us past ‘stuck.’”

  “Trying SCTH again.” Kasey tugged her phone free and dialed. She set it to speaker and placed the phone on the table. It rang six times then went to voicemail.

  Levi jutted his jaw to Vander. “What about IAA? Did you reach them?”

  “Not yet.”

  Robbie nodded to Vander. “Get Ariel Bloomberg. And Levi—how’s that plan coming with Wraith to get the journal?”

  “Waiting on a source for the layout of the temple and its security. Once we have that, we can put things together.”

  Vander pointed to a phone cradled on the table. “Secretary’s putting us through.”

  “Hello?” Robbie hit the speaker button. “Ariel, it’s Robbie Almstedt.”

  “Shalom, my friend. How are you?”

  “A little left of center. Listen, we needed to talk to someone with knowledge of the site at Jebel al-Lawz.”

  Hesitation gaped over the line. “Terrible tragedy that. Looters have no respect for history,” Ariel growled.

  “So you think it was looters?”

  Kasey wished for a live feed to read his facial expressions and body language. Instead, she listened to what he didn’t say as much as what he did.

  “It is reasonable. A report from the DoD said the dig site was robbed, yes?”

  Robbie swallowed. “Yes.”

  “There you have it.”

  “But how many looters do you know who can bomb with missiles?”

  “Missiles?”

  “Don’t patronize me, Ariel. The satellite images show impact rings consistent with an air strike.”

  “You think we have done this thing?”

  “An artifact was recovered, one believed to be important to your country, then suddenly the site is bombed.” Robbie drummed her fingers on the table. “A little too coincidental for me. We need to stop this, Ariel. There’s a plague—”

  “I hope you do. A plague—there is already enough trouble in this world.”

  Was he toying with them? Why would he, when lives were at stake? Eyes darting back and forth, Robbie sat with a smile half frozen on her lips. “I realize we all walk a tricky path with anything related to—”

  “Sorry, Robbie. Wish I could be of more help.” He hung up.

  ****

  “We don’t need to go back to the temple.” Tox directed the team farther into the corner and away from the prying eyes of SAARC.

  “Why’s that?” Ram asked.

  From beneath his belt, Tox withdrew a small leather-bound notebook. He held it close, so only his team could see it. Chiji leaned in, awe in his face.

  Ram smirked. “That’s why it took you so long to get back here.” Shouldering to the side to block SAARC’s view, he accepted the journal and untwined the thin cord around it. “D’you read it? Copy it?”

  “Took pictures with my phone.” Tox pointed as the guys huddled around. “There’s some interesting stuff. Sketches are important, I think.”

  “It’s not even in English,” Cell complained as he peeked over Ram’s shoulder.

  “Arabic and Hindi, mostly.” Ram flipped another page, his finger tracing the script back and forth, right to left, then left to right. He paused over a spot, a flash of uncertainty or concern in his expression. He resumed reading. “He was looking to make some quick money. A French guy recruited him, offered payment for information about what was discovered at Jebel al-Lawz. Bhavin took the censer and fled while the others were distracted by the sickness.”

  Ram kept reading, pushing the beanie back from his forehead. The casual demeanor that so often marked the Israeli fled. In its place came a stern mask, one that didn’t seem to like what it had seen.

  Tox waited, though he itched to ask what was wrong.

  “He came home—here, India—and was followed . . . evaded them . . .” Ram swatted another page, frowning. Reading. Scanning. He flipped back a page. “He speaks of a guardian.” He shook his head, scowling as he continued reading.

  Tox couldn’t wait. “What?”

  “Stranger things,” Ram muttered.

  “Hey. Fill us in,” Thor insisted.

  Holding up a hand, Ram read: “‘I’m sick. I have no idea if it is what made the others sick, but I hope not. I heard they are dying.’” He turned a page. “‘I was very frightened tonight. Two Western men I’d seen earlier in the market were in our building. I got away, but I am scared for my life.’”

  Eyebrows climbing into his hairline, Ram widened his eyes. “‘Now that I have met with Ti, I believe the danger is much greater than I thought. He says this artifact is related to’”—Ram’s face fell—“‘the Codex.’”

  “Just as you thought,” Tox whispered.

  Alarm rang through Ram’s eyes as he brought them to Tox. “This Ti showed him a text that says the fourth censer and leaf were to remain together. That without them within proximity to the other three, the plague would go unchecked.”

  24

  — Day 10 —

  New Delhi

  Jealousy poked hot daggers into Kasey’s conscience as Vander announced that Tzivia Khalon and Dr. Cathey had returned to the warehouse. Tzivia held a large black satchel, moving with confidence as she threw a flirtatious smirk at Cole. “Still alive. I’m impressed.”

  “No thanks to you.” Cole closed the door and secured the locks.

  Their easy, casual relationship smothered hope that he might see Kasey. As it had done all those years ago with Brooke. But it was time to put away childish things, wasn’t it?

  Robbie joined the group. “Ms. Khalon, did you find it?”

  “The censer?” Ram asked, sidling up next to her.

  She slid a coy smile at her brother. “Safe.”

  Robbie shifted. “I’m sorry? Where is it?”

  Lifting her chin, Tzivia looked coolly at Robbie. “It’s safe.”

  Robbie frowned, more severe than usual. “That’s government property.”

  “Actually,” Tzivia said, “it’s not. Right now, it belongs to Saudi Arabia. Technically.” She wrinkled her nose. “But we aren’t letting them know just yet that I’ve recovered it.”

  Dr. Cathey shuffled forward. “We believe it in the best interest of stopping the plague that we find all the censers first.”

  “All?”

  Dr. Cathey scratched his salt-and-pepper beard. “Yes, all three of the originals. I have contacts in Israel I’d like to talk to since you’re headed that way.”

  “We are?” Robbie’s voice pitched.

  “You should be sure Mr. Narang is secured,” Dr. Cathey said. “Especially after what Tzivia learned from Dr. Benowitz.”

  Bristling, Robbie clearly wasn’t used to having her operations overrun by so many rogue elements. “When did you speak with him?”


  Kasey eased into the conversation. “What did you learn?”

  With a smile, almost a collusion against the Alpha personalities, Tzivia homed in on her. “They’ve verified the markers for the cancer, but there’s still much unexplained.” She sighed, looking to where Chatresh had been in the isolation chamber. “He’s gone?”

  “Quarantined,” Robbie said.

  “No visible signs of the virus?”

  “General malaise and a headache.”

  Tzivia gave a shake of her head.

  “You think he had the virus?” Cole stuck close to Tzivia. Too close, within personal space. What was their history?

  “I’m no physician or virologist,” Tzivia said, “but yes—that’s what we were seeing at Jebel.”

  “Your report says the time from exposure to onset of symptoms for the other patients was four to five hours.” Robbie stole back control. “Chatresh was with us all night without any visible symptoms.”

  “I can’t explain it,” Tzivia said, “but yes—four to five hours was normal. Viruses can mutate. Some are more potent as gases, some more so as liquids.”

  She turned to Cole and touched his arm. Which drew him even closer. Was that really necessary? Their words dropped to hushed whispers. Wreathed in shadows and mystery, they wandered to the corner with her brother, talking quietly.

  “So much for that openness and honesty,” Levi said, standing beside her with his hands on his belt.

  “Because we were so good at it,” Kasey muttered.

  “Ms. Khalon?” Robbie’s voice rang through the warehouse. “Would you care to share with the rest of us?”

  Tzivia turned. Her dark eyes spat daggers, but she came to them. “As you know, the site was destroyed, but we’d sent samples to Oxford, some back to Johns Hopkins. We suspect a connection between the censers and the underground springs in the outbreak of the disease.” She seemed to draw up at the end. As if she had additional information she wasn’t willing to share. “It’s more important now than ever that we find the other stolen censers.”

  “They were all stolen?”

  Tzivia acknowledged with a nod. “By different men, so the challenge is great.” Her dark eyes shifted to Kasey. “But we’ve already recovered one, thanks to your lie detector.”

  “Deception expert,” Kasey corrected.

  “At least at this point the contagion hasn’t spread,” Tzivia continued. “But according to my brother and Tox, it’s even more dire than that.”

  What was Cole’s relationship with this woman? Why would he trust her with information, but not Kasey and SAARC?

  “It is normal to protect a site against the elements and treasure hunters,” Tzivia said. “But not every dig hits a gold mine. Or a significant one.”

  Curiosity piqued, Kasey forgot her jealousy. “The censers were significant?”

  “Yes, and somehow, Bhavin Narang knew it.”

  “What is the significance?” More Clark Kent than Kasey had seen him before, Levi narrowed his eyes.

  “To be honest,” Tzivia said, “even with my degree and experience, I’m not sure I fully understand the significance—or implications. That’s why I’ve asked Dr. Cathey to join me in the hunt.”

  “We’re running out of time.” Cole positioned himself at the head of the long tables that bisected the room. “Circle up.”

  “What’s going on, Tox?” Levi asked from the rear of the group.

  “We have new intel. We need to break into teams and tackle this in a two-pronged approach.” Cole was used to being in charge, and he did it naturally. “First—the intel.” He nodded to Tzivia, who drew in a breath and faced the others.

  “As you know, at our site we dug up artifacts dating back to the Bronze Age. Some of them were typical finds. Nothing to draw attention.” Tzivia glanced at her brother, who stood with one hand over his chest and another stroking his stubbled chin. He gave her a nod. “There were, however, artifacts that appeared to be consistent with the biblical story of Moses and Joshua, when the earth swallowed men involved in a rebellion.”

  “Uh, which story is that exactly?” Cell asked with a lazy, apathetic shrug. “Not all of us are Bible scholars.”

  “None of us are,” Cole clipped.

  “Except Dr. Cathey,” Tzivia added, the older man inclining his head.

  “Korah’s rebellion,” Kasey said, thinking of the passages she’d studied. When the others looked at her, she shrugged. “Biblical deception is a hobby.”

  “Biblical what?” Cell frowned.

  “It’s . . . well, it doesn’t matter right now.” She nodded to Tzivia. “The story she’s talking about is when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram set themselves against Moses, asking why Moses was so special. Korah said they were all gods, that Moses shouldn’t get special treatment.”

  “Right.” Tzivia bobbed her head. “The rebellion was a power-grab, and according to the Bible, Moses asked God to answer. So they all burned censers before the Lord in the tabernacle. Then the next morning, the ground opened up and swallowed the men who’d started the rebellion.”

  “Indeed,” Ram said, smiling. “Then a volley of fire rushed out of the Tent of Meeting and wiped out all 250 who followed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

  “‘And they served as a warning sign.’”

  The rumbly voice sent chills down Kasey’s spine. She, as did most everyone else, looked at the tall black man behind Cole.

  “Verse 10 of Numbers 26.” Chiji stood tall, resolute. And made a stark impression with that ominous phrase. “But what of Numbers 16, verse 47?”

  Tzivia seemed to shift under his gaze.

  “‘So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly,’” Dr. Cathey recited from memory. “‘The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered incense and made atonement for them.’ Verse forty-eight says, ‘He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.’”

  “This,” Chiji pronounced with a nod to Cole, “is your task. To stand between the living and dead. Stop this plague.”

  Cole seemed to shiver.

  Tzivia wet her lips. Interesting—the stories must make her uncomfortable. “We all know the biblical story,” she said, “but the context is important—when the rebellion happened, plagues were coming and going in that region. Israelites were dying by the thousands. At the time they were settled just outside what would be the Promised Land, there was a plague—as Chijioke referenced.” A faint smile. “I believe the censers we uncovered were somehow infected with trace bacteria from the plague.”

  “This is what you believe?” Chiji challenged.

  Tzivia straightened, her jaw set in defiance.

  “You tell the story as one reciting the code of a computer program, not as one who believes.”

  “I—”

  “If you read the Holy Word, you will see it was God who sent the plagues of which you speak, the ones that came and went, in accordance with the disobedience of His chosen people.”

  “So . . . what, God sent this plague on these people? On us?” Tzivia’s eyes lit with anger. “Tell me how Bhavin’s brother was guilty. He came to us to help—”

  “Bhavin stole. Chatresh lied. Not one of us is without sin,” Chiji said.

  Tzivia swallowed. Shook her head with an empty laugh. “If you need religion to make you feel better about bad things—”

  “Easy,” Cole warned, touching her arm and silencing her in the act. “Regardless of the source—”

  “No, Ndidi,” Chiji said. “If the plague is otherworldly—”

  “We are dealing with a scientific plague in a scientific way,” Tzivia snapped. “There is nothing religious about this. It’s an archaeological site with historical and cultural value.”

  “Without its significance to the Israelites—”

  “Can we stick to the facts?”

  “Okay, hold up.” Cole lifted a hand. “Just . . . stop.” He placed his palms on the table, took several long breaths, then l
ooked around the room. “I don’t have all the answers. Not what started this. Not the source. But I have one answer to the attacks—us.” He pinned each person with a gaze. “We’re going to stop them. Stop this plague from spreading. And that path starts in Israel.”

  “Israel?” Levi growled. “How do you figure?”

  “Russell,” Robbie said, her thin impatience emanating. “I understand you—”

  Cole tossed something onto the table. Thud! It landed inches from Kasey’s fingertips. She instinctively picked it up. Surprise spiraled through her. “Bhavin’s journal?”

  Why hadn’t he told them he had it? He had plenty of opportunity. But she buried the questions as she flipped through the pages. Most of it was in Hindi, which she couldn’t read. Every few pages, he drew something—and those were more telling than the Hindi.

  “Many of his notes are about his last I-don’t-know-how-many years.” Ram nodded. “Toward the end, his notes grow chaotic. Disorderly.”

  “Wait,” Robbie said, her expression speculative, “it’s in Hindi. How do you know what it says?”

  “Lady,” Cell snickered, “Ram’s like the walking encyclopedia of languages.”

  Ram’s jaw muscle twitched. “I speak several languages, including Hindi—can we focus?”

  Arms folded, Cole tossed his chin toward the journal. “Bhavin mentions fearing for his life and a deal he brokered with a Frenchman.”

  Tzivia drew in a sharp breath.

  Cole met her wide-eyed gaze. “Yeah . . . he says the Frenchman was hunting him.”

  “Yeah, what?” Levi asked.

  “Tzivia encountered a Frenchman three years ago on another mission,” Cole said.

  So they did have history. Nudging aside the jealousy, Kasey riffled through the pages. “Is this the censer?” She angled the book to Tzivia, who nodded.

  “But there are a few symbols and lines of text in there that lead us to Israel,” Cole explained.

  “Show me,” Robbie demanded, “since I’m not a walking encyclopedia of languages.”

  Instead of a bullet point, Bhavin had drawn an arrow next to a line of script. “What does this say?” Kasey showed it to Ram and his sister. “I assume it’s important because—”

  Tzivia snatched the journal. “This!” She pointed to the arrow and wagged it at her brother, then Cole. “I saw this tattooed on one of that Frenchman’s guards. And also on the man at the dig site, your assassin.”