Cross Found: An Omega Files Adventure (Book 4) by Rick Chesler

Author:Rick Chesler [Chesler, Rick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Back at the hotel, Carter and Maddy embraced for a long time while Jayden showered. She breathlessly recounted the TV and internet news reports she had watched as the incident unfolded, as well as what she could see from her hotel window. After Carter relayed to her what they had gone through, he pulled the T-shirt off the box and placed it on one of the beds.

“You’ve got to see this thing. Maybe you can shed some light on what it is.”

“Wow, that wood looks very old. It’s a well-constructed box, I can say that much already. A lot of craftsmanship went into making that. What’s with the slot cover there?”

Maddy moved to the box and gingerly touched the raised wooden slot. “Oh, look at this, it slides back and forth.” She was in the process of demonstrating how that worked when Jayden emerged from the bathroom, now clad in fresh jeans and a T-shirt, this one a more straightforward tourist shirt with the Old City skyline and simply reading, JERUSALEM.

“Whoa, should I wait another couple of minutes since you two are sliding things back and forth already?” He chuckled until he saw the box on the bed. “Oh, you don’t waste any time, do you, Carter? On getting an expert opinion, that is.”

“My expert opinion so far is that this box is extremely old, at least hundreds of years if not more. It also has the sliding feature you’re so enamored with, although I confess that at this point, I don’t know what that’s for.”

“We’re getting somewhere,” Jayden said with a smile. But how about we talk it out over dinner? Those rescue granola bars just aren’t cutting the mustard.”

“Let’s give her a quick look at what’s inside first, then we’re out to eat,” Carter suggested. He gently slid the metallic plate from the box and laid it next to its container on the bed. Maddy immediately caught her breath.

“Oh, my goodness! It’s astonishing! So much detail!” Her hand subconsciously went to her mouth as she took in the meticulously rendered image. Then, almost under her breath, she added: “The crucifixion.” Another pause and then: “This must go back to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. I don’t know how old it is yet, but it’s obviously extremely valuable. The closer back in time to the crucifixion event itself, the more realistic the works of art describing it are likely to be.”

“I know it has to be given over to them,” Carter said, “but I wanted to have it authenticated first so we can not only present it to them but give it to them with verification of what it actually is.”

“Which would hopefully give the bad thing—the bombing—at least a little bit of a silver lining,” Jayden added.

“So how do we go about getting it authenticated?” Maddy asked, eyeing Carter. “Let me guess. You already have someone in mind?”

***

Downtown Cairo

Between bites of lamb kebabs and sips of a traditional Israeli liquor known as Arak, Carter outlined to Maddy and Jayden his plan for the unknown metal plate image.

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