Staff of Judea by Alex Archer

Author:Alex Archer [Archer, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2013-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

It was well after dark when she climbed back up the ridge, another bottle of Gatorade and a rehydrated meal in one hand, her flashlight in the other.

She was expecting to be stopped by whoever had sentry duty at this point, but she reached the ruins without anyone calling out to her. It was dark.

They’re just keeping a low profile, she told herself. Don’t want to give away their position.

But it was more than that, as she discovered moments later when she reached the place where the prisoner had been secured. No one was there.

Had they done something to him? She paused. Maybe he’d escaped. Annja didn’t think he’d managed to get free. If he had, surely his hands would have been left on the ground. Someone had come to get him.

Grimes.

Annja quickly turned around and headed down the ridgeline to the camp below. She made her way through the tents until she came to the larger one. There was a guard stationed outside—Gardner, the scout from the night before—but he waved her inside without a word.

Grimes and Connolly were bent over the camp table. A large-scale topographical map of the surrounding area was spread out before them.

They were discussing the expedition’s next target. Several red X’s were marked on the map, presumably locations they had either selected for themselves or obtained from Ephraim.

The prisoner wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Connolly noticed her first. “Ah, Annja!” he said, gesturing her forward. “You’re just the person we need. We’re trying to decide where we’re headed next and—”

“Where is he?” Annja interrupted him.

Connolly’s head cocked to one side. “I beg your pardon. Where is who?”

“The prisoner.”

It was Grimes, rather than Connolly, who answered. “We turned him over to the authorities.”

Annja looked at him. “The authorities?”

Grimes nodded. “We reached out by radio earlier and brought them up to speed on the situation. When their two officers arrived, they took statements from us and, based on the strength of those statements, they arrested him. I doubt he’ll be troubling us for a long time,” he finished with a laugh.

As if on cue, Connolly stepped into the conversation. “Rest assured, Ms. Creed, that I kept your name out of things as best I could. I know how little you like the spotlight outside of your duties as host of that cable show you work for.”

“Is there some reason I wasn’t informed?”

Grimes’s eyes narrowed. “Informed? Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, “maybe for the simple reason that I’m the one he tried to kidnap?”

He laughed, but there wasn’t anything pleasant about it. “I’m sorry, Ms. Creed, but you were hired to help translate the scroll and for your expertise in uncovering artifacts. I don’t presume to tell you how to do your job. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from telling me how to do mine.”

“Has the embassy been informed?” she asked, ignoring him.

Connolly frowned. “The embassy?” He exchanged a look with his second in command.

“Yes, the embassy. An attempt was made to kidnap a U.

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