“He dead?” Sean asked.
“Not sure,” Tommy said between breaths. “Doubtful, unless he landed on his head.”
“That leg is definitely broken.” He motioned with a nod at the black pants bent to the side.
“If he’s not dead, he’s going to wish he was when he wakes up. That’s probably a compound fracture.”
Sean nodded, taking a moment to catch his breath as well.
They heard a commotion back in the doorway and spun around with fists in the air, ready for another round. Karem stood on the threshold with eyes wide and mouth agape. He looked back into the apartment at the body on the floor and then again at the two Americans.
“Is he dead?” Karem asked in a trembling voice as he jerked his thumb at the man on the inside.
In the ruckus, the two friends had forgotten he was still inside the apartment.
“No, not yet,” Sean answered. “But he’ll be out for a while.”
Karem walked onto the landing like a zombie. When he reached the railing, he looked down and saw the second man. He put his hand over his mouth as if to prevent himself from vomiting. “Is he…?”
“We don’t think so,” Sean answered. “But we’ll go check in a minute.”
“His leg…”
“Oh it’s broken, guaranteed,” Tommy said. His breathing had finally slowed from the struggle.
Karem stared blankly at the two friends, then down at the man below, and back at the Americans again. His lips trembled as he spoke. “Who are you two?”
Sean glanced at Tommy and then back at Karem. “It’s a long story.”
12
A shell-shocked Karem dropped Sean and Tommy at their hotel on the edge of the city. The drive back had been relatively quick. Karem, it seemed, had no desire to spend any more time with the two Americans.
They didn’t blame him. After all, they tended to be bullet magnets on occasion. The sooner Karem could be done with them, the safer he would be.
The drive from Jerusalem back to the thriving coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv took just over an hour. Sean had been to the city several times during his first go-around with Axis. Even in the last decade, he’d been shocked at how quickly it had grown. The surrounding metropolitan area boasted around half a million people. New buildings were being constructed in perpetuity. The city, it seemed, was in a massive state of expansion, in spite of living under constant threat.
Tel Aviv had become one of the world’s trendy places to visit. High fashion could be found everywhere, with women walking in brightly colored dresses to and from expensive clothing shops and boutiques. Restaurants and bars were thriving, especially over near the sea. Tel Aviv’s beaches had become one of the country’s top destinations and seemed to attract the most beautiful people, anxious to bathe in the constant warmth of the Israeli sun.
As Sean and Tommy got out of the car, thanking Karem for his help, the smells of the city simmered together with the salt air of the sea. A cornucopia of food scents wafted over the two Americans, flooding their nostrils with the aroma of fresh pita bread, falafels, schnitzel, sabih, shawarma, and a flaky, round pastry known as malawach. His nose reminded Sean of how hungry he’d got since leaving the hotel earlier. A shawarma stand across the street called his name. He could see the spit of lamb meat turning slowly over the cooking heater. There was no time to eat right now, though. He would have to settle for something on the flight.
The two hurried up to the hotel room and gathered their few belongings. Traveling light had been their choice. It made getting around easier, and quick getaways even more so.
Sean grabbed his laptop case, rucksack, and messenger bag. Tommy grabbed his backpack and laptop bag. They were checking through their things when Tommy’s phone started vibrating. He looked down at the screen and hit the green button.
“Hey, kids. What’s up?”
Tara’s voice came through the earpiece first. “We looked up those engravings you sent. Where did you find those anyway?”
“The high priest’s tomb of early seventh-century Israel. Why do you ask?”
Tommy’s blunt and surprisingly exact answer caused her to pause for a second. “Okay…anyway, this language is really old. It took our computers a bit, but we were able to get you the names.”
“Names?” Tommy raised an eyebrow and looked over at Sean. “I’m going to put you on speaker so Sean can hear.” He tapped another button on the screen and set the phone on the bed.
“Can you both hear me?”
“Yep,” the two said simultaneously.
“Like I was saying, the two words you sent us to translate are names.”
“What names?” Sean asked. “Who are we talking about here?”
Alex jumped in on the other end. “The first name was one we didn’t recognize. It’s a historical Jewish name, not used very frequently anymore, but back around three thousand years ago it was fairly common. The name was Lamesh.”
Sean and Tommy glanced at each other, but neither had any clue who that might have been.
“The other one,” Alex continued, “is definitely one that you’ll recognize. We aren’t 100 percent sure if it’s the same guy, but based on what Tommy said about the timeframe of the high priest’s burial, it would be a logical conclusion to jump to.”
“What’s the name, Alex?” Tommy pressed, trying to be polite. His assistant tended to ramble from time to time.
“Oh, sorry. It’s Daniel.”
Tommy and Sean gave each other an intrigued glance.
Sean spoke before Tommy could. “Daniel? As in, the Old Testament prophet, Daniel? Like Daniel in the lions’ den?”
“That’s what we believe,” Tara jumped back in. “We can’t confirm that was the guy the name is indicating. There may have been thousands of Daniels around that time. However, based on the fact that this Tovar was a high priest and that he would have likely had connections with a known prophet, I would say it’s highly probable that it’s the same Daniel from the Bible.”
Sean and Tommy pondered the implications.
“Is it possible that Daniel was one of the guys the priest sent away to protect the relics?” Sean was talking to Tommy, but the two on the phone also heard him.
“What?” Alex asked awkwardly.
“Sorry,” Tommy offered. “Earlier, we figured out what the riddle meant. At least we think we did. Tovar sent two men, each with a precious temple object, to two places far apart from each other.”
“Why?” Tara asked.
“To protect the relics from the invading Babylonian army,” Sean explained. “The items were considered to be extremely powerful, and if they were to fall into the wrong hands, it would have meant catastrophe for the entire world. At least that’s what we’ve gathered from the records.” He embellished a little, but it was based on what Karem had told them. “One of the relics is called the Hoshen; it’s the breastplate that the high priest wore in the temple. The other is two stones known as the Urim and the Thummim. They were probably kept together, from what we can tell.”
Tommy cut back in. “If Daniel was one of the emissaries used to protect one of the relics, he would have had to have been the one sent back into Babylon.”
“Thus the part of the riddle that talks about the belly of the beast. Several places in the Bible refer to Babylon as the beast — in Daniel and Revelation, in particular,” Sean added.
“Right,” Tommy agreed. “Daniel spent a great deal of time in Nebuchadnezzar’s court before and after the second invasion of Jerusalem. It’s entirely possible that the king sent him to parlay with the king of Judah to negotiate terms. If Daniel had a chance to get to the temple and meet with the high priest, he would have. In fact, I’d say that was his first priority, unbeknownst to Nebuchadnezzar.”