In the distance she saw a tall, circular tower. That being the only building in sight, she headed in that direction.
As she got closer to the tower, she saw a large canvas-covered truck parked outside. It was the kind of vehicle one might see on a military installation. Hoping it wasn’t loaded with armed soldiers, she headed toward it. Trying to keep as low a profile as possible, she hunched over, running in a crouched position. The way people scurried about in the movies.
She hadn’t gone far when she saw a bear of a man emerge from the tower and head toward the truck.
Boyd Braxton.
Terrified, Edie came to an abrupt halt. Needing a weapon, and needing one quick, she snatched a jagged rock from the ground.
Give me strength, God.
The same kind of strength that had enabled Samson to slay a thousand foes with the jawbone of an ass.
Edie glanced at the harmless-looking rock clutched in her hand.
If only she had the jawbone of an ass.
CHAPTER 85
Pondering his next move, Caedmon stared at the watchtower that loomed a hundred meters away. Absently, he stroked the smooth metal of the H&K MP5, wondering if a little shock and awe wasn’t in order. That would certainly ensnare MacFarlane’s attention.
And, no doubt, would get him killed in the bargain. Without ever having set eyes upon the Ark.
No, he needed a far more subtle tactic. An unexpected trap. Something that would lure MacFarlane’s men away from the tower where he presumed the Ark was being stored, enabling him to sneak inside and decapitate the serpent. And maybe, if he was lucky, he could then exit the tower with none of the bully boys the wiser. The wily fox outwitting the ferocious pack of hounds.
But how best to create the necessary diversion?
If he were anywhere else in the world, he would start a fire. However, other than a few windblown brambles, there was no combustible tinder to be had. He did have the portable laser light, a last-minute purchase. Perhaps he could do something with that.
Like a man mesmerized by a dangling crystal, he continued to stare at the tower. The Ark of the Covenant was near at hand. Yet completely unattainable.
Had Stanford MacFarlane deciphered its secrets? Had he donned the Stones of Fire, stood before the Ark, and communed directly with God?
“We’ve got a breach on the northwest quadrant. Somebody just tripped the security laser.”
Hearing that disembodied voice in his earpiece, Caedmon’s breath caught in his throat.
Edie.
He scanned the promontory, searching for that familiar, curly-haired silhouette, knowing he had to find her before MacFarlane did.
CHAPTER 86
Standing as still as a Grecian marble, Edie surreptitiously watched as Boyd Braxton threw back the canvas tarp on the military-style truck and swung open the tailgate. She assumed that he was about to unload something. Or else he was getting the truck ready to be loaded. Whichever scenario it was, it had to have something to do the Ark. Of that she was certain.
Taking deep measured breaths, she continued to watch Braxton, curious as to why he suddenly pressed a finger to his ear. Just before he pulled his gun out of its shoulder holster, turned on his heel, and took off running.
Something had spooked the man. But what could possibly have—
Oh, God! They’d found Caedmon.
Swiveling her head back and forth, squinting to better see in the murky shadows, she searched the rocky promontory.
It was like searching the dark side of the moon.
Belatedly realizing that it really was a whole lot like being on the moon in that there was no place to hide, she began to shiver.
A few moments later, four men emerged from the tower, carrying what looked to be a large shipping container. Two other men, stubby machine guns at the ready, followed in their wake.
Without being told, Edie knew that the Ark of the Covenant was inside the shipping container.
Her heart painfully thudding against her breastbone, she watched as it was loaded into the back of the truck. That done, the two armed guards took up a position on either side of the vehicle, the four load bearers returning to the tower.
Slowly, she backed away from her observation post.
She’d taken no more than three tentative steps when a large hand was slapped over her mouth, an unseen assailant bodily lifting her off the ground.
CHAPTER 87
“Keep your hair on!” a distinctly English voice hissed in her ear. “We don’t want to alert them to our position.”
Releasing his hand from her mouth, Caedmon stepped in front of her; Edie was surprised to see a machine gun strapped to his chest. A disgusted look on his face, he snatched the rock that she still had clutched in her hand.
“First they would have to know that we’re here before—”
“They do know!”
Cinching a hand around her upper arm, he unceremoniously pulled her to the ground, the two of them squaring off in a low squat.
“Have you lost your bloody mind?” His warm breath hit her full in the face. Not bothering to ask permission, he yanked one of her hands to his face. The palm of her scraped hand was smeared with blood.
“Don’t say it. I’m here. Deal with it.”
“I can render you unconscious at any moment, so kindly do not tell me what I can or cannot do.”
“That reminds me . . . did you have to hit me so hard?”
“Be thankful it was me doing the hitting and not one of MacFarlane’s thugs. And before you rail at me further, I had no choice in the matter. You were the one who issued the ultimatum.” For several seconds he stared into her eyes. Then, raising his left hand, he gently caressed the side of her face. “I am truly sorry, Edie, that I hurt you.” Both his features and his voice had noticeably softened.
“My feelings are more hurt than anything else. Mainly because you didn’t trust me enough to—”
“I trust you with my life. And I will do all in my power to safeguard yours.” He removed his hand from her cheek. Taking her by the elbow, he urged her to stand upright. “You are to follow my lead. No harebrained heroics or I will stuff my kerchief in your lovely mouth before binding you hand and foot.”
“If you did that, I wouldn’t be able to tell you that they loaded the Ark into the back of that big truck. Oh, and how about giving me a weapon?”
Reaching into his pocket, he removed something that resembled a capped ink pen. “Here.”
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Shine it directly into an assailant’s eyes. I don’t have time to explain the laws of photonics, except to say that it will instantaneously induce a state of temporary blindness. So please be sure that the business end is pointing away from you when the light is activated.”
Edie reluctantly took the portable laser light. “I was hoping that you might give me your diving knife, seeing as how you managed to find yourself a machine—”
Just then, she heard a sound—the friction of rubber on stone—emanating from a booted footfall.
Frantically, she glanced at Caedmon.
Amazingly calm, he put his left index finger to his lips, cautioning her to silence, while at the same time he placed his right index finger on the trigger of the submachine gun strapped across his chest.
Suddenly, surprising Edie with his quickness, he pulled off a lightning-fast one-eighty spin.