Iris Johansen - Eight Days To Live

She put her phone down on the bedside table and turned toward the door. “Thank you, Professor Tischler.”

He didn’t answer, his gaze narrowed on the screen.

“Do you think he’ll keep his word?” Jock asked as he closed the door behind them.

“I don’t know. I hope he will. If he doesn’t, we’ll cope with the fallout later. I won’t have him hurt or even intimidated. There have been too many innocent people who have suffered because of those coins.”

Jock nodded. “I’m not arguing. It’s your call.”

And the decisions were becoming more and more terrifying. “Do you know, I don’t believe I actually thought the coins would be in that bottle. I followed the directions. I dug in that damn clay. And yet part of my mind wouldn’t accept that…” She shook her head. “I’m still not accepting that we found Hadar’s bottle. It seems impossible.”

“There are many stories in the Bible that seem impossible. The Bible is founded on wonder and miracles. Actually, everything in Hadar’s Tablet is fairly believable. Ugly, but that adds to the veracity. And, after all this trouble we’ve gone through, you’d better accept it.”

“I’m working on it.” She grimaced. “But the important thing is to make Roland accept it.”

TISCHLER CAME OUT OF THE bedroom fifty minutes later and handed her phone back to her. “It came out fairly clear. I was surprised it was that good.” He paused. “I’ll pack up my equipment and get out of here. You’re sure you wouldn’t consider letting me take the bottle back to the university?”

She shook her head. “But I promise I won’t damage it by opening the bottle and exposing it to air.”

“I won’t risk it. I’m going to leave a small portable metal container with you. It’s got an oxygen gauge. I’ll put the bottle in the container. All you have to do is press the button and it will take out the oxygen and keep the container airtight.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m not doing it for you. I’m trying to preserve a precious historical artifact from being destroyed.” He turned and started back toward the bedroom. “Besides the fact that you appealed to my curiosity, and I’m taking a chance that you’ll keep your word.”

“I’ll keep it,” she said absently, already accessing the photo on her cell phone.

He was right. The photos were amazingly clear. He had given her two of the script on the scroll and one of the coins themselves.

She handed the phone to Jock. “We got lucky. They’re astonishing.”

His lips curved in a faint smile as she gazed at the photos. “You might say almost miraculous, wouldn’t you?”

“I’ll take a miracle or two.” She took the phone back. “Now all I have to do is convince Roland that he should-”

Her cell phone rang.

Private number.

She tensed, then punched the button.

“I’ve been very eager to talk to you, bitch.” The man’s voice was mocking. “And I’m sure you’ve been waiting for my call with bated breath.”

“Millet?”

“You guessed. I thought you would. I had to keep myself from calling you before this. You’ve caused me a good deal of trouble, and I wanted to vent. But then I told myself wait, anticipate, let the bitch suffer. I took a great deal of pleasure thinking how frantic you must be about your Eve Duncan.”

“How is she? How badly is she hurt?”

“Not too badly. Yet. But I plan on entertaining myself with her after I hang up. She may be in considerably worse shape by the time the two of you are reunited.”

“Don’t hurt her.”

“But I must. Still, there’s a possibility that she could live if we could come to an agreement.”

“You’re talking about a trade.”

“Consider the situation. Look at all the innocent people that you’ve forced me to kill just so that you could keep on living. Do you want me to have to kill Eve Duncan? You know you’ve sinned. You may even be forgiven if you give yourself as the Offering.”

“I haven’t forced you to do anything. If you weren’t totally unbalanced, you’d realize that you’re the sinner. Murder is the ultimate sin, Millet.”

“I’m beginning to tire of talking to you. I think I’ll seek other amusement. Do you wish to speak to your Eve before I take her away?”

And she knew what that amusement would be. “Don’t hurt her. I’ll consider a trade. You can’t expect me to jump at the chance of having you stick your knife in me.”

“That’s not good enough. I don’t have time to let you hem and haw before you give in to the inevitable. The members mustn’t have a major disappointment at the last moment. I have to make preparations. Six hours from now, I’m going to send out a message to them either confirming that you’ll be the Offering or announcing a new sacrifice. I’ll give you those six hours, and no more, for you to tell me that you’re going to pay for your sins. After that, I’ll announce to the members that Eve Duncan will be the Offering.” He added, “They won’t be as pleased as having you, but she has a certain notoriety that will make the sacrifice titillating. It’s always exciting to bring down a star in any field. The most popular Offerings are always the rich, the famous, the brightest. You didn’t answer me. Do you wish to speak to Eve Duncan?”

“Of course, I do.”

“I’m turning up the volume so that you can share every precious word with me,” Millet said.

The next moment, Eve came on the line. “You know that I don’t want you to give in to this monster. I’ll work it out.”

“No, we’ll work it out. How is your wound? Did they change the bandage?”

“No, but I’ll survive. Stop fretting, Jane.”

“Fretting? I’m not fretting . I’m scared to death. I never dreamed that I’d get you into this mess.” She paused. “Though even if I had dreamed it, I wouldn’t know enough to get you out. I don’t know where you are, how to get to you. I feel helpless, Eve. Like I did when I was a kid, and I’d come running to you to make everything all right.”

Eve was silent. “I’ll try to do that now, Jane. But I imagine that in the end, it will be up to you.”

“Very touching.” Millet was back on the line. “But she’s right, it’s up to you. I’ll call you in six hours. I hope she’ll still be able to speak coherently.” He hung up.

That last threat was meant to drive me to panic, Jane thought as she hung up. It came close to succeeding.

“Did she understand what you were saying?” Jock asked. “It was pretty obscure.”

“It was the best I could do. He was listening to the conversation. I think she understood that she wasn’t alone, and I wanted her to find a way to let us know where she was in the temple.” She shook her head. “But I can’t be sure. I’m not going to rely on it.” She got to her feet and moved to the window and stood staring out into the darkness. She had to take a moment to steady her nerves before she dove into what she knew must be done. Professor Tischler was loading his equipment into his car, she noticed. He must have left the house while she was on the phone talking to Millet. She hadn’t even realized that he had passed through the room. “Eve called Millet a monster, and that’s what he is. He wants to hurt her, Jock. I can’t let him do it.”

He crossed the room to stand beside her at the window. “He won’t do anything critical. She’s important to him.”

“Critical? I don’t want him to touch her. But I can’t stop it. I’m not there. He won’t listen to me. And he believes anything he does to her will help bring me down.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

She reached for her phone. “I think it’s time that I brought someone on board who he will listen to.” She looked up the number in her directory and dialed.