“Why don’t you come over and get it yourself, Sharouf?” Sean sneered.
The Arab clicked his tongue and shook his head. “No. I do not think so. We do not have time for your games, American. I do not feel like sitting around and waiting out a stalemate with you. Here is what will happen. I am going to send this young man over to collect the breastplate. I will keep the old man with me. You will allow the young monk to bring the Hoshen back to me, and in return, I will let all of you live.”
Sean knew there was a catch to what Sharouf was offering, and he didn’t want to think about it. Unfortunately, he didn’t have an ounce of leverage at the moment.
“What’s the play?” Tommy whispered. “If we give him the relic, he’ll either kill us or lock us in here.”
“Either way, we’re dead. No one’s going to check for us in here. You heard the abbot. That door hasn’t been opened in five hundred years.”
“Do we have a deal?” Sharouf pressed the issue.
They were out of time.
“Okay,” Sean said. “Fine. Send the boy over. But if you screw around, I’m putting a hollow point between your eyes.”
“That is a big risk to take, American. I doubt you will do something that stupid. And if you do, my men will cut you down.” He paused for a second and pushed the young monk forward. “Here comes the boy. Give him the breastplate, and we will be on our way.”
The interpreter stumbled forward. When they’d first met him, Sean and Tommy figured the monk was young, but now that his life was on the line, he looked much younger.
“Just take it easy, kid,” Sean said, keeping his pistol pointed at Sharouf’s head. You’re going to get out of this just fine. We all are. Isn’t that right, Sharouf?”
“You’re in no position to question me,” the Arab answered. “But I will let all of you live, yes.”
The apprentice made it to the box and hesitated for a second. His eyes lowered and took in the sight of the glittering breastplate.
“Pick it up, and take it to him,” Sean ordered.
The monk’s eyes leveled with Sean’s. He swallowed and reached into the box. His thin fingers wrapped around the edges of the breastplate, and he lifted it out easily. Sean thought it might have been a little heavier.
“Bring it to me,” Sharouf said. His voice boomed through the circular chamber.
The young monk turned around slowly, holding the relic across his forearms and shuffled his way back across the floor to the tunnel. When he reached Sharouf’s position, he held out his arms, and the Arab reached out and snatched the breastplate. Sean and Tommy watched the whole thing play out, looking for a crack, a moment where they could seize the advantage. That moment never came.
“Good,” Sharouf said. He passed the relic back to one of his men and returned his focus to the two monks.
He put a hand on the abbot’s shoulder and pulled him back toward the door. Another hand reached out and tugged on the interpreter.
“Where’s he going?” Tommy asked, though there was a sinking feeling in his tone.
“Not sure,” Sean answered quietly.
The candle disappeared from view. Six seconds later, the door slammed shut, and they heard the lock click into place. Sean jumped up, placed a foot on the stone platform, and launched himself toward the door with his weapon fully extended.
“Sharouf!” he yelled as he hit the ground and sprinted forward.
“He’s gone,” a familiar and frightened voice said from the other end of the passage.
Sean’s heart jumped into his throat. The interpreter and the abbot reappeared at the edge of the room. The light from the Americans’ candles brushed across their worried faces. Sean lowered his weapon. Tommy did the same and stepped around the plinth.
“You two okay?” Sean asked.
The interpreter nodded, but the abbot’s face showed deep concern. He began speaking rapidly while the younger monk listened. When the abbot was finished, the boy translated.
“He says that the world is in grave danger, and there is no one to stop them. No one will come to get us out because visiting this part of the monastery is forbidden. Only he is permitted to go to the door, and no one has ever been in here. Even if someone knew about it, the only key that can open the door was taken by those men.”
Tommy sighed and shoved his pistol back into its holster. He turned away and kicked the air. “Well isn’t this just perfect!” he shouted. His voice echoed off the walls somewhat louder than he expected.
“Relax,” Sean said calmly. He put his weapon back into its holster as well. “Help is on the way.”
“Help?” Tommy asked incredulous. “What help? No one knows we’re in here. You just heard the man say that no one is permitted in this part of the monastery. And the only key that can open the door is gone.”
He pulled out his cell phone in the desperate hope that he could somehow get service. So deep in the mountain, though, there was no chance. “Of course.”
“We’re underneath, like, eighty feet of rock. No chance that thing’s going to work in here.”
Sean’s comment didn’t help, but Tommy couldn’t understand how he was staying so calm.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tommy asked. “We’re going to die in here.”
Sean walked back over to the platform and moved the empty box over to the side. He sat down and crossed a leg over one knee. “We’re not going to die. Help is on the way.”
The two monks listened closely as the two friends went back and forth, watching with keen interest.
“Why do you keep saying that? Who knows we’re in here?”
Sean folded his hands and placed them on top of a leg. “Who’s the best person you could think of to pick that lock and open the door?”
Tommy was exasperated. His hands shot out to both sides and then dropped, smacking his thighs. “I don’t know. A locksmith?”
Sean flicked an eyebrow at the obvious answer and then cocked his head to the side. “I was thinking more along the lines of a thief.”
“A thief? What thief…” he stopped himself before he could finish the sentence. “Wait a minute. How?”
“I texted her before we left Indonesia. She was closer to Bhutan than we were. I texted her again when we started our hike.”
“But how do you know those men didn’t see her?”
Sean shot him a glance that expressed what he said. “Really? I’m pretty sure she knows how to stay out of sight. She waited at the base of the mountain in the parking lot. I assume she followed those men when they started up the trail.”
“You assume? You assume?” He asked the question twice, somewhat more troubled the second time. “How will she know how to find this cave? Even if Adriana did follow those guys up the mountain, how would she be able to follow them and us through all those passages without being noticed?”
“Tommy, you need to trust me.” Sean turned to the two monks. “Don’t worry. We’re going to get out of here. And that breastplate is useless without the other relics. If they don’t get the two stones that go with it, it will just be a shiny decoration on their walls.”
The interpreter looked dubious, but he translated for the abbot. The old man nodded. He took a seat on the hard floor and leaned his back against the wall. The apprentice did the same.
Sean kept talking. “According to what Tara and Alex came up with, the Urim and the Thummim were taken into Babylon by Daniel the prophet. He was entrusted with watching over them until he died.”
Tommy broke away from his frustration and tried to focus on what Sean was saying. At least that way he could try to be productive instead of freaking out, which helped no one. “Okay. So if he kept it until he died, do you think he gave it to someone else?”