The Frenchman threw up his hands. “Based on what? A hunch? If there were a giant boat in the middle of these godforsaken mountains, we would have found it by now. Someone, at least, would have discovered it centuries ago.”
“It is here,” Lindsey repeated and trudged over to the nearest mattress and sat down. He had a tired look on his face. Will wasn’t sure if it was from the exhaustion of the journey or from the frustrating banter of their French companion.
“We will stay here for the night,” Will interjected, seeing the conversation was going nowhere. “In the morning, Kaba and I will head up to the top of the mountain and see if we notice anything out of the ordinary.”
Lindsey nodded then laid his head down on the mattress. He propped his feet up on the edge of the inflatable bed and closed his eyes.
Kaba gave Will a concerned look. DeGard, too, was somewhat thrown off by the old man’s odd behavior. Lindsey’s face had become pale, making him seem even older than his years belied.
“Is he going to be alright?” DeGard said with mocking empathy.
Kaba shot him a warning glance. “He will be fine, Monsieur DeGard. Your quarters will be with the other men. If I were you, I would get my bed prepared for the night. From the looks of it, this storm is going to keep us in until the morning.”
DeGard appeared indignant, but didn’t argue. Kaba clearly had no problem with taking physical action if necessary, and the look on her face expressed exactly that.
“Very well, Mademoiselle. I will leave you and your prophet. I only hope he lives through the night. It would be unacceptable if I did not receive my full payment.” He threw in the last insult as he stepped back through the door and disappeared into the cold wind.
Will carried a blanket over to the bed where the old man was now sleeping. He draped it over him and stepped back. “I know you want to kill DeGard, Kaba.” Will spun around slowly and stared at her.
She stood up from finishing the last mattress and stared back at him. “What do you care?” she asked.
Even in her winter coat, he could make out the outline of her taut body. She had felt amazing the other night. And part of him wished they could have a repeat performance. There was no privacy at the moment. He wondered if she was thinking about the same thing. Quickly, he diverted his thoughts back to her question.
“You should know that I get first dibs on him when the time comes. So, take a number.” He smirked as he answered.
She strolled towards him deliberately, one step in front of the other. “And why do you get to have all the fun?”
“Because I saw him first.”
“Fair enough. But at least let me watch when you do it.”
She stopped a few inches from him. Her chest heaved slow, deep breaths. He wanted her. Suddenly, Lindsey coughed from behind where Will was standing, and he turned to make sure the old man was okay.
The old man’s eyes were still closed. He must have just been racked by a fit of coughs in his sleep. When Will turned back around, Kaba was headed out the door into the cold.
“Where are you going?” he asked, curious.
“To get him a pillow and some more supplies. I hope we find the tree soon. I don’t know how much longer he can make it.” She slipped through the door and into the waning light of the early evening.
Will looked back over at the old man. Alexander Lindsey had saved his life, and had given him a future he could have never dreamed. He owed everything to Lindsey. And Will would do anything to save the man’s life and bring his vision to fruition.
Chapter 34
“We should find a place to hole up for the night,” Sean suggested as the group climbed back into the SUVs.
Snow had begun to fall, and from the looks of it, the storm wasn’t going away anytime soon. Little snowflakes were settling on the windshield. While none was accumulating on the ground yet, Sean had a feeling that would only be a matter of time.
Darkness had begun to settle in as well, as if the clouds themselves had ushered it. The few derelict people on the sidewalks had disappeared, apparently unwilling to stay outside in the cold any longer.
“I suppose finding a hotel is out of the question,” Sean joked with Jabez as they closed the doors to their vehicle and brushed off some of the snowflakes from their jackets.
Jabez must not have gotten the joke because he cast Sean a curious glance. “There are no hotels near here. But there is a church we might be able to take shelter in.”
Sean let go of the fact that the Arab had missed the joke. “Do you think there will be anyone there?”
“I doubt it,” he replied. “It looked like it had been abandoned when we passed it.”
“Oh,” Sean raised his eyebrows.
Jabez cast a wry grin and stepped on the gas. The two vehicles whipped around the town square and headed back in the direction they’d come. “Remember the direction we need to go. We will come back through this part of town on our way out in the morning.”
Adriana was busy in the back seat with a tablet in her hands, scanning through aerial images of the mountains to the northeast. Firth couldn’t help but ask.
“What are you looking at?” he said in a polite a tone as he could.
“These are satellite images of the mountains where we believe the ark may be,” she pointed at the screen and made a circular motion. “I’m looking for an anomaly, the footprint that we discussed earlier. I imagine it would closely resemble a small canyon at this point. So, it would remain unnoticed to someone who didn’t know what they were looking for.”
The professor seemed impressed. He slid a little closer and continued staring at the screen as she scrolled through the regional view. It all pretty much looked the same. There were some spots where erosion had cut away deep valleys, but other than that, spotting anything unusual was more difficult than she had first suspected.
“What is that, right there?” he jabbed a finger at a point on the screen where there was something strange sticking out from one of the seemingly endless mountains.
She shook her head. “It’s an old rock quarry.” Adriana continued scrolling through the images for a few more minutes.
“This is it,” Jabez announced and slowed the vehicle to a stop.
The little convoy was parked in front of a ragged old building. The sign dangling over the front entrance was barely hanging on by one point. Sean wasn’t sure what the lettering said on it, but he wasn’t impressed by the facility.
“Jabez, this thing looks like it’s been closed for a long time.”
“It probably has,” the Arab shrugged. “Most of the Christian church members left this region a long time ago when Muslim influence became overwhelming. Some still clung to their homes, though, and their churches. This one was probably one of the last ones to be left behind.”
To say the gray building was dilapidated would be an understatement. But the roof was intact, and except for a few spots where it looked like the paint had cracked and rotted, the walls seemed sturdy enough.
Jabez sensed Sean’s hesitation. “It is either this or we head on into the mountains. My men have tents we can pitch. But it will be dark before we can get them ready, and by then the temperature will have dropped significantly.”
Sean knew he was right. They didn’t have many options. At least Jabez had prepared for the worst. “Ok,” he said after a few more seconds of consideration. “This will do.”
They stepped out of the vehicles into the darkening town. There were a few lights on in some of the buildings, but no signs of life. It was one of the strangest things he’d ever seen, like an entire city had been abandoned, but with some of the lights still on.
Snow flurries had been falling on their drive to the church. Now they were full-fledged snowflakes, dropping and an ever-increasing pace. The men in the rear vehicle began unloading black plastic supply crates and black bags. One of them marched over to the front door of the church, and after discovering it was locked, kicked the thing in.