Adam Palmer - The Moses Legacy

Without a trace of hesitation, Gabrielle rolled clear. Goliath, for his part, pushed himself up on to his hands and then stood up, turning around in the process.

For a second, Daniel and Goliath eyeballed each other and Daniel wondered if he was dead. Then Goliath smiled at him, turned abruptly and left the cave, still holding the linen shroud.

Daniel watched with puzzlement as the giant disappeared from view. Meanwhile, Gabrielle rolled back into a seated posture gasping for breath.

‘What the hell was that all about?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know. I thought he wanted the Book of the Wars of the Lord, not some stupid piece of cloth.’

He looked round at the supine form of the Bedul sheikh, but there was no trace of movement or even breathing.

‘We need to get out of here,’ said Gabrielle, helping Daniel to his feet.

‘What are you talking about? We need to report this.’

‘And we will, only not now.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We don’t know how the authorities will react. Two people from Israel and a dead Bedouin sheikh. What do you think they’ll make of it?’

‘But we can’t just run – not again.’

‘We don’t have any choice. Look, at least let’s get out of here for now. That’ll give us time to think. We have to get back to the visitor centre anyway, and the only way back is on foot. It’s too late for him. Let’s get back there and then decide.’

Daniel nodded reluctantly. As they were about to leave the cave, he noticed that Gabrielle had gone over to where Sheikh Ibrahim had put the red clay tablets.

He saw immediately the writing on the first tablet. It was Proto-Sinaitic.

‘ The Book of the Wars of the Lord,’ said Daniel.

Gabrielle nodded and carefully put them into Goliath’s carrier bag.

‘This is what we came for,’ she said.

‘I’m not sure if that’s the most important thing right now,’ said Daniel.

‘Why do you say that?’ asked Gabrielle.

‘That man killed your uncle and several other people and tried to kill us for something. If it wasn’t for those tablets or the Book of the Straight, then what on earth was it for?’

‘What the hell do you think you were playing at?’

Dov Shamir had flown in from Herzliya by helicopter and asked Sarit to join him there so that he could talk with her in private. It wasn’t every day that someone was murdered in the National Library or that a helicopter landed in the grounds of the Hebrew University, so the whole scene had already attracted a certain amount of attention.

When he had first arrived in the lab, he had found Sarit looking remarkably calm considering what she had just been through. She had been about to throw her arms around him, but he gave her a look that warned her off; he didn’t want their romance becoming any more public than it was already. There was a certain amount of whispering about it in Mossad – that was in the nature of things where female officers were concerned and even non-existent romances assumed the aura of reality in the tight-knit world of intelligence – but he wanted to keep a lid on it as far as possible.

‘I’d like to speak to her alone,’ Dov had said to the senior police officer at the scene, flashing his ID in time with the request.

‘Of course.’ The officer signalled the other police there to let them leave unhindered. Only once they were inside the helicopter, where they had complete privacy, did Dov give vent to the full force of his anger… and his concern.

‘After you told me about Aryeh Tsedaka, I figured he’d come here.’

‘ Who, Sarit? Figured who’d come here?’

‘Whoever killed Tsedaka.’

‘And I told you that was the business of the General Security Services, not Mossad.’

‘Not any more it isn’t. They’ve gone to Petra.’

‘What are you talking about?’

She explained about the body and the message that the high priest had left for them, written in his own blood.

‘That still doesn’t explain why you came here in the first place.’

‘I was worried that we were going to lose them. I guess I feel bad because I cocked up in Egypt. I wanted to make up for it.’

‘And it didn’t occur to you that stepping on the toes of GSS out here might cock it up even more?’

‘If I’d seen any sign of GSS I’d’ve backed off, but I didn’t. Look, it seems to me that GSS aren’t exactly on top of the situation.’

He didn’t like the way she had turned the tables on him like that. But what she had said was true.

‘The fact is, now that we’ve got ourselves involved, it gives them leverage for blaming us.’

‘Is that what this is about, Dovi? Inter-service fucking rivalry?’

‘It’s politics, Sarit. Something you have the luxury of not having to deal with!’

‘All right. Look, I’m sorry I jumped the gun and didn’t tell you what I was doing. But the fact is it’s a whole different ball game now. He’s gone to Petra and he’s got two hostages with him.’

‘I know that. I’ll get on to our contacts in Amman.’

‘Why don’t you send me out there? To work with them?’

‘Look, Sarit, I’m not going to send you to Jordan, okay? That’s final! We’ve got a liaison office out there to deal with that. I can’t send unauthorized officers without clearance from the Jordanian government – not after some of the other cock-ups we’ve had in that area.’

‘So get authorization. Tell them it’s an emergency – for them as well as us.’

‘I can’t do that, Sarit,’ he said, his tone almost apologetic.

‘Why not?’

‘Because you’re suspended.’

‘Suspended?’

‘Yes, suspended. I don’t even want to see you in the office! God knows how I’m going to clear up this mess.’

He looked at her, wondering what her reaction was going to be.

‘So what am I supposed to do? Just sit around doing nothing?’

‘You’re due for some leave anyway. Why don’t you spend some time at that kibbutz in the Galilee? The one where they have that great fish restaurant you’re always going on about?’

‘I can’t just sit around. I need some excitement.’

‘I’d’ve thought you’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.’

‘I guess it’s like what we call the hair of the dog. The only cure for too much excitement is more excitement.’

‘Then have an adventure holiday. Do some paragliding in Tel Aviv.’

‘It’s too humid on the Med.’

‘Well, stay in Jerusalem.’

‘I just said I wanted some excitement and you want me to sit out my vacation in the most boring city in Israel?’

He looked at her with a brotherly smile. ‘Are you trying to be difficult?’

‘Not really. I’m just trying to say I feel like doing some scuba diving in Eilat.’

‘Well, at least we’ve found something to occupy your time,’ he said with a sense of relief.

‘Not to mention all the excitement of driving through Palestinian territory and army checkpoints.’

Something in the way she said this alerted Dov.

‘You know… I’m not sure if I can trust you.’

‘What – to go to Eilat? You can if you fly me there in that chopper.’

‘I think I might just do that.’

An hour and a quarter later, the helicopter landed in Eilat at the north end of the airport. Dov saw Sarit into a waiting taxi which would take her to the hotels that were all grouped around the lagoon and the beach. Then he had the helicopter refuelled and took off for Herzliya.

From inside the taxi, Sarit watched the helicopter vanish into the distance before jumping out, apologizing to the taxi driver and dashing to the main building to hire a car with four-wheel drive.