Iris Johansen - Eight Days To Live

Crazy. Too late when those coins had been lost for two thousand years? One more day would make a difference?

Yes.

Okay, then go with it. Unreasonable and completely insane though that instinct might be she couldn’t ignore it.

She had searched this area thoroughly. She’d have to go farther up the-

“I’ve found something.”

Jock!

She whirled and ran toward the slope where Jock had been searching, her feet slipping on the uneven dirt. He was on his hands and knees, tearing at rocks and shrubs.

“What is it?”

“An opening of some kind behind these bushes. Not very big… Give me a hand.”

“I’ll do it.” Caleb was beside him, pulling at a huge rock. “You’re right. This entrance isn’t over four feet. I don’t know. This may not even be-” The rock came away, revealing a dark cavity, “Or then again it might.”

Yes .

Jane dropped to her knees and started to crawl toward it.

“No.” Jock’s hand was on her shoulder. “We don’t know how unstable the ground is here. The entire hill could collapse on you. Or it could be infested with snakes. It seems an ideal habitat for them. You can’t go in there without turning on your flashlight. And we can’t be sure that those guards back at the farmhouse won’t see it.”

She knew everything that he’d said was true. It didn’t matter. “I have to go in.” She was wriggling forward on her hands and knees. “Do whatever you have to do.”

“Then let me go in first,” Jock said.

“No.” She was already crawling through the opening. “My job.”

Caleb muttered a curse, turned on his flashlight, and pressed it into her hand. “Stop and look around, dammit.”

She lifted the flashlight and cast the beam around the cave. Small, so small. The interior was no more than five feet high by eight feet in length and jutted up a rocky wall. The ceiling of the cave wasn’t stone but earth.

“Snakes?” Jock called.

“No snakes.” But Jock’s other concern about the cave’s collapsing was definitely valid. It was a wonder that the dirt ceiling hadn’t fallen in over the years. “The ground in here has high clay content, so that part of Hadar’s writings could be correct.”

“Move to the side,” Caleb said. “I’m coming in.”

“No, there’s barely enough room for me, and I have to maneuver around in here and see if I can find the place where Hadar buried the bottle.” Her gaze shifted around the small area. “He said it was close to a stone wall. This is basically a dirt cave. The only stone wall I can see is the one at the far end of the cave.” She was wriggling toward it. “Let’s hope that he didn’t bury that bottle too deep. You’d think that Hadar would want to get rid of the coins and be on his way fast.”

“Hadar had just crucified and burned four people. And he stayed there to watch them burn,” Jock said. “That doesn’t indicate a man who was in any great hurry.” He added, “But could you hurry a little? I’m trying to block the glimmers of light coming out of the cave from your flashlight, but all it would take is one glance from the guards at the wrong time.”

“I am hurrying.” She had her small pick out of the backpack and was gently digging into the clay. “I don’t want to break the bottle.”

“What difference does it make? Why worry about the bottle. It’s the coins that matter.”

“If there’s any documentation with the coins, I don’t want to destroy it. Just exposing it to air could cause serious damage.” She adjusted the flashlight and went back to carefully scratching in the dirt. “The ground is moist, at least on the area nearest the surface. It’s a good thing that the bottle was alabaster and not clay.” But the ceiling of the cave was dry, and her movements had caused dirt particles to begin falling.

Not good. Best not to mention that to Jock.

HE COULDN’T JUST stand here, dammit.

Caleb glanced back at the farmhouse. No lights yet, but that didn’t meant they might not pop on at any minute.

“Go on,” Jock said quietly.

Caleb’s gaze flew to Jock’s face.

“We’re sitting ducks out here,” Jock said. “Time to alter the situation. Go do it. I’ll stay here and stand guard over her.”

Jock didn’t have to tell Caleb twice. He whirled and started down the hill. “Take care of her.”

And he’d take care of clearing the path. First, get back to the car and make sure that Gillem didn’t take it into his head to leave no matter how hot the situation became.

Then locate the two guards Jock had mentioned and remove them from the equation.

He could feel his blood start to pump hot and heady as he ran across the field. He felt strong enough to take on the whole damn world.

Alter the situation, Jock had said.

Consider it done.

THE AIR WAS SUFFOCATINGLY hot in the cave, and Jane could feel the sweat beading her nape.

Ignore it.

Go slowly, carefully.

She was going slowly, dammit. It had been over fifteen minutes since she had started digging, and she had gotten only a foot or so down into the earth.

Be patient.

Go slowly.

GO SLOWLY, CALEB told himself.

The guard was leaning against the tree, a cigarette hanging from his lips and gazing moodily at the farmhouse a few yards away.

Evidently he doesn’t like sentry duty, Caleb thought, as he moved silently behind him. It was clearly his duty to save the bastard from his boredom. He’d already liberated the first sentry a few minutes ago at the back of the house.

Now he had only to make sure that this morose fellow was sent to the happy hunting grounds.

No problem.

A GLEAM of metal.

Jane inhaled sharply, her gaze fixed on the small, corroded bronze object she’d uncovered.

A stopper?

She carefully cleared more earth away from the object.

Yes, a stopper.

She cleared away more earth.

A bronze stopper sealing a bottle.

She sat back on her heels and drew a deep breath.

“Hadar, you bastard. I think I’ve found it,” she whispered. “Now to get it out of the ground and we’ll see what we-”

“Jane, get out of there,” Jock’s voice was sharp. “Lights in that farmhouse.”

Shit.

“I can’t go yet.” She was digging frantically around the bottle. “A few more minutes.”

“You don’t have a few minutes.” Jock was cursing. “Caleb must have blown it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” She was digging the earth away from around the bottom of the bottle. “Never mind. I don’t give a damn. Just keep them off me for one more minute. I’m almost there.”

“Two men are running out of the farmhouse. Get out of that gopher hole, and let’s get away from here.”

Careful…

She cautiously, slowly pulled the smooth, opaque bottle from the earth. It was over eighteen inches high; the width varied from seven inches at the bottom to about four inches at the top, and it was sealed by a bronze stopper. And it’s heavier than I expected, she thought as she lifted it.

“Jane.”

“I’m coming.” She carefully wrapped the bottle in several rolls of protective plastic and put it in her backpack. She started wriggling through the cave toward the entrance. “I found it, Jock.”

“Great.” He reached down as her upper body emerged from the cave, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to her feet. He took her flashlight and dropped it fully lit to the ground in front of the cave. “We’ll leave it here to light their way. Now let’s move , Jane.”

She could see the lights of several flashlights bobbing across farmyard toward the Field of Blood as Jock half pulled, half dragged her down the hill.