The Jerusalem Creed: A Sean Wyatt Thriller (4 page)

Atlanta

Sean peered through the huge window’s blinds. He surveyed the parking lot, making sure no one was coming or going.

It was late at night, technically early morning, and the only cars in the lot belonged to Tommy’s research team he affectionately referred to as
the kids.
Tara Watson and Alex Simms spent more time at the IAA labs than they did at home; at least that was the joke around the offices of the International Archaeological Agency. The two twentysomethings loved their work, and when Tommy had called them after the fire at his home to see if they were still around the lab, he wasn’t the least bit surprised to find they were still busily working the night away.

While the motorcycle ride to IAA headquarters had been awkward, it was at least fast, taking Sean and Tommy less than twenty minutes to reach the secure building. It wasn’t until they were inside, safely behind locked doors and a slew of security measures, that they began to relax. That respite was tempered by the fact that someone had tried to kill both of them earlier, and questions remained as to why.

Sean backed away from the three-inch-thick glass and let go of the blinds. “Still no signs of anyone that might have followed us.” His report was barely acknowledged by Tommy, who was deep into a stack of papers he’d printed earlier.

Tara and Alex were at separate computer stations nearby, working across from each other at an open table. They preferred to operate like that in case they needed to bounce ideas off each other.

Both of them had been working on Tommy’s newest project for the entirety of the day, and for the last couple of days, which caused him concern for their safety. Fortunately, they each had an empty office that doubled as dorm rooms in case they ever wanted to stay at the labs overnight. That happened more than he’d anticipated. Tommy was lucky to have such dedicated researchers. Once they started on something, both Tara and Alex had trouble walking away from it until the job was done.

Such was the research they were doing at the moment.

Tommy had received an email from a friend in Israel by the name of Nehem Ben Asher. Nehem was a colleague, a student of ancient Israeli history by profession. He’d been working in the field of archaeology for nearly three decades and was considered one of the foremost experts on the late kingdoms of Judah and Israel. One of his preferred areas of study was the many prophets of the old kingdoms. His knowledge of the Biblical prophets was greater than most historians on the planet. Tommy had often wondered what his friend’s fascination was with that particular area of Israeli history. He attributed it to the man growing up in that culture, and likely to religious teachings as a boy. After all, a researcher had to pick a niche. Prophetic history was Nehem’s.

The correspondence from Nehem had been somewhat of a surprise. Tommy hadn’t spoken to the man in almost a year, and even then it had been only a short phone call about a question Tommy had regarding a translation of Old Hebrew. There’d been few pleasantries exchanged between the two other than the usual chitchat. Both men’s time was highly valuable, especially Nehem’s, so when they talked, Tommy didn’t like to beat around the bush too much.

Tommy sat at his computer station, off to the side at a different worktable from the kids. He was shuffling through the papers, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. They’d been at it for the better part of two hours now. Sean had been given a desk of his own but was still being brought up to speed with what the other three were trying to do.

A few days ago, Nehem sent Tommy an email containing images of a peculiar object, the likes of which the latter had never come across. It was a stone tablet in the shape of a wide rectangle, almost a square. Cut into the surface were twelve smaller sections, each a rectangle as well. Above the grid were two additional sections, separate from the others. What was most perplexing, though, were the symbols at the bottom of the tablet. The symbols were the reason Nehem requested Tommy’s assistance. He claimed that he’d been unable to decipher them, and as he knew Tommy had software that Nehem did not have access to, he hoped his old friend could lend a hand and save him some time. The last words in Nehem’s email had been cryptic, though.
“They’re coming.”

The line had frozen Tommy and sent chills up his spine. When he tried to reach out by phone to clarify the task Nehem had requested of him, there’d been no answer. Tommy replied to the email, but still nothing. It was as if Nehem had disappeared as soon as he sent the message.

The man’s lack of availability could have been attributed to him being in the field, working on another dig site. There were times when Tommy had been on a dig and didn’t have cell service other than his sat phone. If that was the case, he completely understood. Nonetheless, he found it odd that Nehem would make the request and then vanish like that. He should have expected Tommy to reach out with questions.

That reasoning caused Tommy to worry. Coupled with the recent events surrounding his and Sean’s homes, there was little room left for doubt. Nehem might have been the victim of an abduction, or worse. The question was why. And that question was the reason the four of them were working to unravel the meaning of the symbols on the tablet.

Maybe it was a huge conclusion to jump to, but given the circumstances, it was the only explanation they had.

Sean sat back down at his temporary desk and flipped through the copies Tommy had given him. The symbols were different from any hieroglyphs he’d ever seen. Some of them were repetitive, which he and the others took to mean they stood for letters.

The computer screen flashed quickly in front of Tara, bouncing light off her black-framed glasses as she took another sip of her second cup of coffee. Her blonde, curly hair looked almost yellowish in the dimly lit lab. Tommy suggested keeping the lights low to make it look like no one was there, just in case they’d been followed.

Across from Tara, Alex clicked his computer mouse busily, letting the software do its thing by running an analysis of the different possibilities the symbols could represent. The computers had been running for the last couple of days, pretty much nonstop. Even with the incredible power and speed of the latest technology, deciphering something so vague and ancient could take a long time.

Their two computers beeped simultaneously, and the screens froze in place. The noise caused both Tommy and Sean to peer up from having their noses in paperwork.

Tara clicked the screen a few times, zooming in on something. “I think we’ve got it,” she exclaimed. She wasn’t typically the excitable type, not like Alex, but when it came to deciphering codes, it was her guilty pleasure.

Tommy and Sean popped out of their seats and hurried over to the two wide computer screens. IAA had provided nothing but the best as far as technology went, and Tommy made sure that everything was updated on a yearly basis. Their processors were some of the fastest in the world, and the monitors were state of the art.

The two stood over Tara’s shoulders and stared at the screen that proclaimed a match had been found.

“I’m not sure what this means,” she said, clarifying her earlier statement. “The translation is either gibberish, incomplete, or is some kind of riddle.”

Sean peered at the lines and read them silently to himself.

“One to the north, into the belly of the beast. May it rest with him forever. One to the east, may it find safe harbor in the high tower of the seekers of light.”

A pall fell across the room. The only sound came from the exposed air ducts near the ceiling, twenty feet above, as cool air poured from the vents.

“One to the north and one to the east?” Alex asked. “What could that possibly mean? And what is the
it
it mentions?”

History wasn’t necessarily his strong point, nor was figuring out the meaning of ancient texts. In translation and technology, there were few better than he and Tara. Riddles, it seemed, weren’t his strong suit.

“Where was this tablet found?” Sean asked in response to the younger man’s question. He directed it at Tommy.

Tommy pulled out his phone and scrolled down the screen until he came to the email from Nehem. He read through some sentences and then said, “Looks like he was working an excavation of some important person’s tomb; in the valley just outside of Jerusalem.”

“Important person? Like a governor or a king?”

“No,” Tommy shook his head. “Seems that Nehem believes he discovered the tomb of a Hebrew high priest. The tablet in these images was found with the priest’s remains.”

“I don’t suppose he sent you any dating they might have done with the body.” Sean looked hopeful, but he was realistic. If Nehem had just discovered the grave, it was unlikely he’d had time to date it.

“No. But according to the email, Nehem believes it to be the tomb of a high priest named Tovar.”

Sean considered the new information while Tara sent the translation to a nearby printer. She stood up and walked over to it, grabbed the newly printed sheets, and brought them back to Sean and Tommy. “Just in case you need to take these with you.”

She smiled and sat back in her seat and continued to analyze the tablet’s translation.

“Tovar?” Sean wondered out loud.

“Already on it, Mr. Wyatt,” Alex said. His fingers flew across the keyboard faster than anyone Sean had seen. The kid was easily typing a hundred words per minute.

“Please, don’t call me that.”

His comment didn’t slow Alex at all. “Sorry, force of habit, Sean. It’s how I was raised.”

Sean smirked. Pushing forty years of age didn’t bother him, but he still had a few years of thirties left and was in no hurry to give that up for the title of Mr. Wyatt and a seat at a bar where 1980s music played all the time. Not yet anyway. Alex was a good kid. Sean cursed himself in his mind. The fact that he and Tommy referred to Alex and Tara as kids validated the fact that he was worthy of the title.

The computers hummed as the internals worked at the speed of light. Less than ten seconds later, Alex motioned for the other two guys to come over to his side of the table.

“I think this might be our high priest.”

He pointed at the screen covered in images of ancient scrolls. In the right-hand sidebar, the text translations were displayed in plain English. In several places, the name
Tovar
was highlighted in yellow.

“What are all these old scrolls and documents?” Sean asked.

“I’m not sure,” Alex confessed.

“I am.” Tommy leaned closer. “I’ve seen these scrolls before. They were found at the Hebrew monastery at Qumran.”

Sean frowned. “Dead Sea Scrolls?”

“Sort of,” Tommy shrugged. “These aren’t part of the collection of the actual Dead Sea Scrolls. These are something else. But I recognize the signs of aging and the way they’re written. The library that was discovered at Qumran was unique in many ways. It would surprise me if those scrolls weren’t part of that collection.”

“Bet me a Coke?” Sean grinned wryly.

“You’re on.”

Alex’s fingers pounded away at the keyboard once more. Tara glanced around the side of her monitor to see how the faux drama would play out. Alex hit the return key and waited for a second before he pointed to the screen. “I’m impressed, Tommy. These were some of the historical records discovered at the monastery. It seems they weren’t included in the Dead Sea Scrolls because they were considered mundane, due to the records having more to do with the day-to-day operations of the temple and the lineage of the priests.

Sean smiled over his shoulder at his friend. “I’ll hit up the vending machine on the way out.”

“Thanks, but I’m not thirsty right now,” Tommy joked. With the next breath, he returned his attention to the matter of the tablet translation. “So, we think we know who the man was that Nehem was researching. Great. That still doesn’t explain to us what the riddle means on the stone they found in his tomb.

He quoted the lines again, paraphrasing as he did so. “One to the east and one to the north. Belly of the beast? Seekers of light? Any of you have any thoughts as to who or what those might be?”

Sean found a chair nearby and rolled it close. He plopped down into it and crossed his arms, thinking deeply about the issue. “The problem with these pesky ancient puzzles is that people have been trying to solve them for thousands of years, without success.”

“Yeah,” Tara agreed, “but we can accelerate those thousands of years with the best software. It takes things we would have needed centuries to understand, and pieces them together.”

She tapped a few keys on her computer and then clicked the mouse. “Most of the references for beasts in the
Bible
are related to prophecy. This says the term beast is used most frequently in the books of Daniel and Revelation.”

Sean nodded. His knowledge of Jewish and Christian religions ran deep, way deeper than most people probably realized, with the exception being Tommy. “Yes. Both of those books talk a great deal about beasts that symbolize different countries.” Despite his extraordinary Biblical knowledge, Sean moved on to the other part of the riddle. “Did you search for the seekers of light term?”

She pecked away again, and in a few minutes the screen changed once more. Her face twisted noticeably. Tara didn’t try to hide her disappointment. “I’m finding a few different results, but not much. There isn’t a group that goes by that name. It might have been an ancient society of some kind, but it will require more research before I can tell you definitively.”