Sean shook his head. “Based on my knowledge of the life of Daniel, I don’t think he would do that. He seemed like a loner. His three best friends were already dead when he met his end. Since they were gone, I doubt he would have trusted anyone else, especially the Persians when they took over.”
“So you think the stones are buried with him?”
“Maybe. What do you know about Daniel’s burial place?”
Tommy thought about it for a minute. He scratched the stubble on his right cheek as he considered the question. “I know a lot of biblical history but am a little shady on that. The city of Susa in Iran comes to mind. From what I recall, the supposed burial site is pretty elaborate.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go. It’s our only lead.” Sean’s face was determined as he stared at the floor, rocking back and forth on his makeshift seat.
Tommy shook his head. “That’s assuming we can get out of this death chamber.”
The sound of metal on metal squeaked from the other end of the corridor. There was another noise, something moving inside the mechanical part of the door, then a click and the creaking hinges as the portal swung open. A bright-white LED light shone into the passage and approached slowly. Sean stood up and peered into the light. Tommy reached for his gun, but Sean kept his arms to his side. The two monks stood up off to the right of the tunnel opening and took a step back.
When the person with the light reached the chamber threshold, they lowered the cell phone with the light on the front. The glow from the candles stretched over and revealed the face of their new visitor: Adriana Villa.
26
Adriana smiled mischievously. When she spoke, her Spanish accent made her words sound as sweet as honey. “Are you okay, Tommy? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
His mouth was wide open, and his eyes matched the expression.
Sean stepped over and wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his lips against hers and kissed her hard for a moment. He hated to let go, but now wasn’t the time for catching up on missed time. Nehem was still in trouble.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
“I can tell,” she answered, still grinning.
“We need to hurry. They have the Hoshen, and they’ll likely be going after the two stones next. We can’t let them get there before us.”
Tommy was still bewildered. “How did you find us? I mean…how were you able to follow them undetected?”
“You really don’t have much faith in me, do you Thomas?”
He blushed. And whenever she called him that, it made it worse.
“We’ll talk about that later,” Sean said. He turned his attention to the abbot and bowed low. “Thank you. We’re sorry for the…” he motioned with his hand, “however you say all of what just happened.”
The young monk didn’t interpret this time. Instead he just said, “Go, and stop them.”
“Will do.”
The two Americans led the way back out the tunnel and through the secret passageway, with Adriana close behind. They kept their conversation to a minimum until they reached fresh air and the waning daylight.
When they were outside, Sean spoke up first as he put on his shoes. “I saw you in your car on the other side of the parking lot.”
“Yes. I stayed in the car and watched. Soon after you two started up the trail, I noticed those men follow you. Once I was satisfied none of them lingered behind, I got on their tail. It was a little trickier to go unnoticed once we were out of the woods, but they were so focused on catching up to you two, I didn’t have too much trouble.”
Tommy slid into his second shoe and stood up. “I wonder how they were able find out that we were coming here.”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Sean said as he stood. “And I guess this answers the question as to whether or not Sharouf survived the crash.”
“Where are you going next?” she asked as she stepped down onto the path leading to the bridge.
“Susa, Iran,” Tommy answered. “It’s the supposed burial place of Daniel the prophet.”
“The fact that they were willing to lock you two in that cave means they probably know where they’re going next.”
Sean nodded. “Yeah. Which means Nehem is probably still alive. I doubt Mamoud and his henchmen would have figured any of this out.”
“It’s why they needed him in the first place,” Tommy added. “I wonder if he had anything to do with them showing up here in Bhutan.”
“Could be. But we’ll have to wait for those answers. For now, we have to get back to the car.”
A sinking feeling crept into Sean’s chest. His eyes drifted over to the bridge and the nightmarish staircase. Not again, he thought.
Having made it over the difficult obstacle less than an hour before helped give Sean enough confidence to make it down the steps and up the other side faster than the first time around, but it still took much longer than his two companions. When he reached the top of the steps near the cafeteria, Tommy and Adriana were already standing by a tree. Tommy’s chest was heaving as he tried to catch his breath, while Adriana seemed to be unaffected by the climb.
“Sorry, guys. Went as fast as I could,” Sean offered.
“Don’t worry about it, bud. We’ll catch up to them.” Tommy tried to grin through his labored breaths.
“Good job,” Adriana said without an ounce of sarcasm. She knew how difficult it was for Sean to deal with heights.
“No time for a snack,” Sean said, changing the subject. “We’ll need to hurry. We’re at least twenty to thirty minutes behind them now.”
The three took off down the mountain at a gallop. At certain points on the trail, they had to slow to a jog, eventually barely moving faster than a brisk walk. Still, they pressed on, trying to keep pace with the group they were tracking. Getting down to the trailhead took almost half the time it took to go up. Along the way, they passed a straggler or two who had almost lingered too long at the information center up top.
By the time they made it to the bottom, there was barely any sunlight left. The sky radiated with bright oranges, pinks, and purples. They slowed down just before going over the last crest that led to the parking area. If they’d somehow caught up to Mamoud’s men, they could find themselves running into an ambush. They moved in tandem, keeping to the tree line, moving laterally at first and then down, from behind one tree trunk to another to keep visibility at a minimum. Once they were close enough, Sean surveyed the parking area and saw that only a few cars remained. Adriana’s was off to the far side, Sean and Tommy’s was a little closer, and three other vehicles sat empty, parked in random places along the edge of the forest. One probably belonged to whoever was closing the cafeteria at the top. The other two were likely the stragglers they passed on the way down. Whatever the case, Sharouf and his men were gone.
Relieved wasn’t exactly how Sean would have expressed his feelings. He was glad not to be walking into a trap. Then again, the men who’d stolen the Hoshen believed the Americans were still on top of the mountain, trapped in a forbidden cave with no way out.
Even though he was happy to put off a shootout, he knew that now Mamoud’s cronies had the advantage. And they also had a head start.
He peered into the window of their rental and saw Pak’s outline. He was lying in the driver’s seat motionless. Sean’s heart started pounding a little quicker.
They hurried down the hill to the car. Sean got there first and started to bang on the door when Pak shot up from the seat with wide eyes.
He unlocked the doors and got out quickly. “Hey. You made it back before dark. I sorry. I started to take nap. Get very tired when I sit for long time.”