04 The Edge of Darkness by Tim Lahaye Read Free Book Online

Is that Dagon god sort of like a male type of mermaid?”
    “I guess you could say that, Clayton. The likenesses that have been found show him as a fish from the waist down. The upper body is like a man. He is depicted with a beard and wearing a tall and rounded hat, or crown, of some kind.”
    “What kind of bait would you use to catch him?”
    Murphy smiled.
    “Well, personally, Clayton, I’d use wisecracking Preston University students.”
    Everyone laughed and went “Oooooh.”
    “He got you, dude!” said one of the students. Murphy gestured for quiet.
    “Some of you may recall the story of Samson from the Bible. He gave the Philistines a lot of trouble and they plotted to capture him. His girlfriend Delilah betrayed him and his captors blinded him. Later they took him to the temple area where the priests were offering sacrifices to Dagon. They were celebrating the fact that he had been caught.”
    Many who knew the story nodded their heads.
    “The Philistines then brought forth Samson to make sport of him. While Samson was waiting to go before the people, he asked one of his guards where he was. He was told that he was in the temple area, standing between two pillars. Samson then pushed with his mighty strength against the two pillars, literally bringing the house down. The building collapsed, killing at least three thousand people, including Samson himself, and destroying the house of Dagon.”
    Murphy continued with the lecture until the bell rang. Immediately the students jumped up and began to leave. As Murphy began to gather his things, he scanned the lecture hall.
    The striking blonde had left.
    Murphy was still thinking about the blonde when he entered his office. His attention was diverted when Shari spoke up.
    “Guess who called while you were in class?”
    “It must have been the president of the United States. I told him that I would be in class at that time. He must have forgotten.”
    “You’re quite the comedian today … but don’t quit your day job. It was Levi Abrams. He said that he’s back in Raleigh and would liketo get together with you. I told him that I would call him back with a time you both could meet.”
    “Levi! That’s great! After he was shot, I got him to the hospital and then he just disappeared. That was months ago. Did he say anything else?”
    “No. He sounded like he was calling from a pay phone. There was lots of noise in the background. He gave me a number to call. He said it was an answering machine and he would pick up the message later.”
    Murphy consulted his calendar for a good time to meet with Levi.
    “By the way, Professor, I also received a call back from your friend at the FBI. He said that they could find no match for the fingerprint you got from the Reed Gold Mine. Methuselah remains a mystery. When you meet with Mr. Abrams, why don’t you ask him to see if he can help with the fingerprint? He may have some international contacts unavailable to the FBI.”
    “Good thinking, Shari. It’s worth a try.”

TEN
    MURPHY PARKED his old, beat-up Dodge in a spot outside the diner. As he approached the door, he smiled to himself.
I’ll bet they haven’t spent a cent on improvements since they opened thirty-some-odd years ago
.
    It was moderately crowded. The décor left much to be desired, but the food was great. He paused for a moment and looked around. Rosanne, the gray-haired waitress, was moving as fast as her heavyset body could. She was in the process of clearing a table when she looked up and saw him standing there.
    “Good afternoon, Professor. There’s an empty booth in the back. I’ll be with you in a moment.”
    “Thank you, Rosanne.”
    Murphy made his way to the back, slid across the green vinyl bench, and sat down. There was no need to look at the menu. He was going to order his old standby, a chicken sandwich and a cup of coffee.
    After a few minutes, Bob Wagoner entered, wearing tan slacks and a polo shirt that mostly concealed his