The 13th Enumeration (30 page)

“Rachael, look,” Zane said in awed tones. “Rachael . . . look.” Taking her arm, he gently turned her around until both their lights shined on the opposite wall.

Rachael gasped again. Carved into the wall were three columns of beautiful Hebrew text, above which were written four Hebrew words. Involuntarily Rachael read the four words at the top out loud.
“Yagid, echad, habhab, ahabah.”

Zane repeated them after her in English, translating them in his mind. “Tell or inform . . . One . . . offering or gift . . . love or loved. Tell one offering loved. What do you think it means, Rachael?”

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,” she replied. Reading further, she started on the first of three columns of single Hebrew words. Zane, following along, recognized the words and translated them to English in his mind:
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Phares, Esrom, Aram, Aminadab, Naasson, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David.

Rachael, goose bumps rising on her skin, skipped to the final name in the third column, hoping to find the name she expected. “Yeshua—Joshua,” she whispered in English. Tears in her eyes, she said, “Zane, this is the list from the first chapter of the book of Matthew. This is the list of Yeshua’s generations.”

Speechless, Zane reached out and touched the name carved into the stone wall. Finally finding his voice, he said in a hushed tone, “This is one of the greatest archeological discoveries of our lifetime, Rachael.”

With his words, they were both brought back to reality. He cleared his throat. “We need to get Efran and William. This site needs to be secured. The last thing we need is treasure hunters in here. If you feel comfortable staying here by yourself, I’ll go get them.”

Rachael looked up, almost overwhelmed. “I’ll stay here. I don’t want to leave. This is the most exciting night of my life.”

Zane set down his pack and removed two new batteries from a side pocket. “Here, put these in your pocket. If your light goes out before I’m back, you’ll have fresh batteries close at hand.” Taking two more for his own light, he started to turn.

Rachael grabbed him by the hand. Pulling him close, she looked into his eyes and said, “Thank you for sharing this with me, Zane.” With tears welling in her eyes, she continued, “You don’t know how much finding this means to me.”

Without a word, Zane headed back up the dark tunnel.

Walking as fast as he could, it took him several minutes to reach the end of the tunnel. Looking up, he saw faint moonlight shining on the edge of the square opening. He grabbed the rope and pulled himself up hand over hand until he reached the edge. First with one hand, then the other, he let go of the rope and grabbed hold of the edge to pull himself up and out.

Just as he was raising himself out of the last few inches, a dark form materialized from the shadows. Two large feet stepped to the edge of the hole and stood on his hands, crushing them against the stone edge. A blinding light snapped on and shined in his face, and a familiar voice said, “Well, well, what have we got here? Looks like I’ve caught treasure hunters in the act of stealing national artifacts.”

Laughing, the voice turned the light away from Zane’s face and pointed it upward, revealing his own. Zane recognized the face of Efran, with an evil grin on his lips. In one hand he was holding a flashlight, and the other held the steel crowbar Zane and Rachael had left up on top.

“Mr. Harrison, I wanted to thank you for finding me the artifacts. It looks like I will become quite famous for my discovery. I also wanted you to see the person who is going to kill you. Oh, and don’t worry about your dear Miss Neumann . . . I will see to it that she suffers greatly before she joins you and your Christian god.”

Efran swung the crowbar with brutal ferocity. Zane, sensing the coming blow, tried to move his head to one side. The heavy steel bar came down like a sword. Zane felt nothing, only saw a brilliant explosion of white light.

Chapter 64

A sudden move of Zane’s head, just as the blow was descending, saved his life. As Efran swung, the momentum of the glancing blow caused him to shift his weight off the balls of his feet, thus releasing Zane’s hands. The unconscious body of Zane Harrison fell the twenty-five feet to the floor of the tunnel, along with the crowbar which had slipped out of Efran’s grasp. Efran shone the light down into the hole and saw the beginnings of a crimson pool spilling out from under Zane’s head. Watching for a minute in morbid fascination, he made sure the body did not move.

“One down and one to go,” he muttered. “Rachael Neumann, I will be back shortly to deal with you.” Pulling the rope out of the opening, Efran slid the rock back over the hole and sealed Zane and Rachael in their cold, dark tomb.

Looking at his watch, Efran saw it was 11:36 p.m. If he left right now, he could make it to his apartment in Tel Aviv by 1:00. If he rushed the process, he might be able to send a message to his contact by 2:45 a.m. and be back here at the dig by 4:15. Sunrise was at about 6 a.m., and that would leave him just enough time to deal with Rachael and return to his tent before the other members of his team awoke.

Efran ran to the parking lot. He started his car and headed for Tel Aviv as fast as he thought he could go without being stopped for speeding.

As he drove to Tel Aviv, he formalized a plan in his head. For this to work, he had to be back to deal with Rachael before the rest of the team woke up in the morning. He needed them to see him leave his tent. After tomorrow, all the staff would be gone. Efran would have the dig to himself, and he could dispose of the bodies and move the artifacts. He would sell the most valuable and leave the rest so that he could take credit for their discovery. No, that wouldn’t work . . . he would have to leave the artifacts in the cave until the search for Zane and Rachael was over. If he dumped the bodies where they could be readily discovered, the search would be over quickly and he could move the artifacts. Yes, that would work better.

Opening his cell phone, he pushed a familiar number. “Kameel, I need your immediate assistance in a matter involving some merchandise. Yes, a substantial amount. Yes, your cut will be the standard twenty percent. And Kameel, there is an unsavory matter of dealing with persons who know too much . . . so make sure you come prepared. This is one of the biggest finds in many years. Meet me at Kfar Nahum Junction at four a.m. Don’t be late. We must take care of the dirty business before sunrise.”

Efran didn’t wait for an answer. Kameel was the best in the business. He was ruthless but also discreet. He would be there with several of his men and do what was necessary. Efran stepped on the gas, his heart racing. This was almost too good to be true. He would be rid of Rachael Neumann’s ever watchful eyes; then he would be free to sell the valuable artifacts and take credit for their discovery.

* * *

Rachael watched as Zane disappeared into the dark tunnel. As soon as he was out of sight, she decided she should keep busy. She removed her camera from its pouch and began to systematically take pictures of the artifacts. Rachael started with the inscription on the granite wall, taking pictures from several angles. Then she moved on to the artifacts on the opposite wall. After taking several pictures from as far back as she could, she took multiple closeups of each artifact individually. As she worked her way through, she was amazed at the number and diversity of records. Not since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls had there been a find of this importance.

Pausing, she turned to listen. She thought she had heard something. After waiting a minute without hearing anything more, she returned to photographing the artifacts.

Glancing down at her watch, she was surprised to see that it had already been an hour since Zane left. He should be back by now. As the minutes slowly passed, Rachael began to get uneasy. After all, she was alone in a dark subterranean cave, and now she was just waiting. After another fifteen minutes passed, Rachael could stand it no longer. She decided to go see what was delaying Zane. Maybe he couldn’t find Efran or William? Yes, that was likely it.

With cautious steps, Rachael headed up the tunnel toward the opening. The tunnel seemed endless—much longer than when they had come this way together. After passing the large open room off of which the well was located, Rachael knew she was getting closer. With a little less caution, she hastened her steps. Finally, the beam of her flashlight played across the end of the tunnel and then up toward the opening.

Looking up as she approached, she fell over something on the floor. Her flashlight rolled a few feet across the floor, the beam finally coming to rest on a crimson pool of blood and the head of Zane Harrison. Rachael screamed. The pool of blood was not large, but it was already beginning to congeal. Getting up off the floor, she quickly reached for the flashlight and then bent over Zane. Sobbing, she prayed, “Dear Yeshua, please let him be alive.”

Zane was lying on his back on top of his backpack. With trepidation, Rachael reached over and touched his neck with her fingers, feeling for a pulse. To her surprise, she felt a strong, steady heartbeat through the tips of her fingers. With thanksgiving, she gently rolled him onto his side and removed his backpack. Then she rolled him onto his back once again, careful not to touch his bloody wound.

The pool of blood was not as large as it had first appeared. It looked like it had come from a gash on his head. He had a huge swollen bruise on the side of his head near the gash. The blood had clotted, and there did not appear to be any more fresh blood.

Opening Zane’s pack, she found a bottle of water. In vain she searched for a piece of cloth or clothing to wet and wipe his bloody face. “No time for false modesty,” she said to herself as she removed her shirt, leaving only her tank top underneath. Carefully, she poured water into her shirt and began to wipe away the blood.

After a couple of minutes, Zane’s eyes fluttered open, and a weak smile came to his lips. Looking up into Rachael’s concerned eyes, he asked, “Did I die and go to heaven?”

With relief, Rachael replied, “No, you’re not in heaven, you’re with me—deep in the bowels of the earth with a bloody gash on your head. What happened anyway? Did you fall?”

With an angry look, Zane replied, “No . . . I had just about climbed out of the hole when Efran appeared out of the darkness. He stood on my hands, and I was helpless. He told me he was going to kill me, and he said he was also going to kill you and sell the artifacts. After which he would take credit for the find. Then he struck at me using the crowbar we left up there. Thankfully, I jerked my head to one side . . . I guess it knocked me unconscious, because I don’t remember anything else.”

With indignant anger, Rachael replied, “I never trusted that monster. He was just waiting for his opportunity, and we handed it to him on silver platter. Can you move your arms and legs? Is anything broken?”

Carefully Zane moved his legs; everything seemed to be fine there. He was able to move his right arm without any trouble. Then he tried his left arm. It felt okay, but his left shoulder was very sore. Reaching over with his right arm, he felt it carefully. It was tender. The glancing blow of the crowbar must have hit there too. Thankfully, nothing appeared to be broken.

Slowly, Zane rolled over onto his hands and knees and began to stand up.

“Careful, Zane,” Rachael said, concerned. “You should lie down. You’re in no condition to get up.”

“Rachael,” Zane replied, “I have to get up. Efran might return at any moment, and I can’t just lie here for him to finish me off.”

Rachael stood beside him, helping him stand. As he straightened, he began to see stars and thought he was going to pass out. Grabbing onto Rachael for support, he waited for it to pass. Now his head was really pounding. After several minutes, he felt better and let go of Rachael. He took a few steps, and after a moment a few more. Several minutes later, with his head still throbbing, he could walk with little trouble.

“What time is it?”he asked.

Rachael glanced at her watch. “Just after one a.m. You’ve been unconscious for over an hour.”

“So how much time do you think we have?”

“I’m not sure, but we need to try to find a way out of here before Efran returns.”

Zane thought for a few moments, his pounding head making it hard to concentrate. “We’ve explored most of the upper tunnel . . . the only part left is just past where we found the artifacts. So I’d say let’s go back down the tunnel and see if we can find a way out.”