It took Schrader a long time to remember where he was. Stress, fatigue, and pain medication had clouded his mind. The bed, the nightstand, and the view of the city through the window were all unfamiliar. What had happened? Where were Alice and Melanie? Why did he hurt?
It was the antiseptic smell that struck a chord. He was in a hospital. Someone had brought him here, but who?
Like watching a movie running backward, a series of murky images swam past his mind’s eye.
Blood and bandages.
A huge man with a ponytail carrying him like a baby into the emergency room. That couldn’t be real.
A breakneck ride in a stolen jeep. But whose jeep?
Lying on the ground, gazing up at a man with eyes the color of the sea. What was his name?
And then it all came back in a rush. He and the girls had been kidnaped and held captive by Muslim extremists. They had been rescued by two men whom he had met at the lodge. Maddock and Bonebrake were their names — their real names, that is. Schrader had been shot. Fearful that his secret, no, the secret he had stolen, would die with him, he had told Maddock everything.
He felt his cheeks warm at the memory of his confession. What would Maddock do with the information? Would Schrader get the chance to find the ark first, or would Maddock spill the secret, maybe even try to locate the ark himself?
The door to his room opened, and a tall, black man with a shaved head stepped inside. He wore a white coat, but nothing else about him suggested he was a doctor. The man moved with the lithe grace of a predator, and he stalked to Schrader’s bedside with grim purpose in his eyes. He didn’t consult any charts or monitors, but instead folded his powerful arms and stared down at Schrader.
After a few heart-pounding seconds of wondering who this man was and what he wanted, Schrader finally summoned the courage to speak.
“Can I help you?”
The man smiled. “Yes you can.” He had a slight accent, Jamaican, perhaps.
Schrader waited, but the man said no more. “What do you want?”
“I want to know about the men who brought you here.”
Schrader frowned. “Why? Are they in trouble?”
“No, but you and your family will be if you do not tell me what I want to know.”
A jolt of fright shocked Schrader to wakefulness. He tried to sit up but lacked the strength. “Where are my girls?”
“They are in another room in the hospital, being watched over by one of my associates. The quality of the information you give me will determine their fates, and yours.” The man pulled up a chair, sat down, folded his hands, and looked at Schrader with polite interest. “You may begin whenever you are ready. I suggest you make it soon.”
Once again, a feeling of helplessness overwhelmed Schrader, and he was reminded how weak he truly was. What use was the armor of God against powerful people who seemed bent on harming him and his family?
“Are you one of them?”
“The people who abducted you? No. My organization and its aims are not so pedestrian as all that. Please, time is short, and the sooner you help me, the sooner I can return your family to you and leave you in peace.” He laid a hand on Schrader’s arm. “You are not a threat to me, Mister Schrader, so I truly have no interest in doing harm to you and yours.” His long fingers closed around Schrader’s wrist and he began to squeeze. “But I promise you, you will work with me, voluntarily or otherwise.”
Schrader had managed to summon a measure of resolve, but he was wise enough to see he had few, if any, options here. The story spilled out of him like an upended bag of marbles. He told the man all he knew about Maddock, Bonebrake, and the attractive young woman with whom they traveled. It wasn’t much. When he finished, he searched the man’s eyes, trying to read his thoughts.
“Thank you. That is helpful.”
Schrader relaxed and closed his eyes.
“Where did they go after they left you here?”
Schrader’s eyes snapped open. “I can’t say.”
“You can’t say, or you won’t say?”
While Schrader sat, tongue-tied, the man reached inside his coat, took out two syringes, and held them up. “Pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride — two of the chemicals used in lethal injection. The first causes complete paralysis, impairing even your ability to breathe. The second stops your heart. If I inject you with these you will be dead in a matter of minutes.”
Schrader found his voice and what remained of his pride. “Kill me, then. If I know something that’s of use to you, it will die with me.”
The man sighed and clicked his tongue. “I thought you might say that. You are, indeed, a man of strong will.”
Schrader hated that a small part of him enjoyed the praise.
“My patience and courtesy are almost at an end. Dane Maddock is looking for Noah’s Ark. I have it on good authority that, while you were being treated last night, you were mumbling something about the ark.” He stood and took out his cell phone. “My associate has in his possession similar syringes. Perhaps a video chat is in order? You can watch him administer these chemicals to your daughter.”
“No, please.” Schrader took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll tell you.” He swallowed hard, fighting against the bile rising in his throat. Was he condemning Maddock to death? He couldn’t say for sure, but he was definitely issuing a death sentence upon his own daughter if he didn’t tell this man what he wanted to know.
“They’ve gone to Engaruka.”
Chapter 41
The remnants of Engaruka spread out across the hilly terrain. First recorded by explorers in the late nineteenth century, the system of ruins was regarded as one of the region’s most important archaeological sites. Though explorers had compared the features to castle ruins, and had remarked on its stone circles and impressive structures, its significance was due to its irrigation and cultivation structures. Even knowing this, the site was hardly what Maddock had expected. Rather than impressive feats of masonry, what remained of the ancient city amounted to little more than terraces and the foundations of buildings. In some places, only a few piles of stone remained.
“Doesn’t look like much, does it?” Bones mopped his brow and squinted against the midday glare.
“Who cares what it looks like as long as we find what we’re searching for?” The heat and their fruitless search were clearly getting to Dima. She rounded on Maddock, hands on hips. “Tell us again what Schrader said about this place.”
“Like I said, he was getting less and less coherent. The first thing he said was, ‘They came up from the ground.’ He didn’t say who ‘they’ were, but given the context, I can only assume he meant Noah and his family, and maybe the animals.”
“But he also mentioned the Mountain of God,” Bones said, turning his eyes toward Ol Doinyo Lengai looming on the horizon. “It makes it sound like Noah didn’t come down the side of the mountain, but instead he came out through an underground passageway.”
“Volcanic tubes,” Maddock agreed. “We know from experience that’s a possibility.”
“Yeah, but that’s an active volcano up there.” Bones nodded toward the peak. “Even if we find the passageway, do you really want to go inside?”
“Tell you what, when we find it, Dima and I will go in and you can stand guard out here. How does that sound?”
“Screw you, Maddock. What else did he say?”
“He said, ‘Remember the sacrifice.’ I seem to recall Noah made sacrifices to God after the flood waters subsided.”
“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it,” Dima recited.