The Columbus Affair: A Novel by Steve Berry Read Free Book Online

ceiling supported by gilded beams and a ring of twelve Ionic columns—symbolic, she knew, of Jacob’s twelve sons, the progenitors of the tribes of Israel. A star-speckled, sky-blue dome loomed overhead. She’d visited here many times over the past month, the building’s shape and elegance making her feel as if she were inside a jeweled egg.
    What would it mean for the Jews to have their Third Temple in Jerusalem?
    Everything.
    And to complete that accomplishment her adopted faith would also require its sacred vessels.
    Her gaze drifted around the dimly lit sanctuary and her eyes watered.
    She could still feel hands groping her body. Never had anyone touched her like that before.
    She started to cry.
    What would her mother have thought? She’d been a good woman, who rarely spoke ill of her ex-husband, always encouraging her daughter to forgive him.
    But she never could.
    What she’d just done to her father should bother her, but thoughts of what lay ahead helped with her rationalizations.
    She stemmed the tears and calmed herself.
    The Ark of the Covenant would never be found. The Babylonians had seen to that. The golden menorah, the divine table, and the silver trumpets? They could still exist.
    The Temple treasure.
    Or what was left of it.
    Gone for 1,940 years.
    But, depending on her father, maybe not for much longer.

CHAPTER NINE
    Z ACHARIAH WAS PLEASED . T HE VIDEO HAD PLAYED OUT PERFECTLY . Rócha made the point, albeit a bit more forcefully than they’d discussed.
    Tom Sagan seemed to have grasped the message.
    And this man was even more vulnerable than his daughter had described.
    Never had there been any mention of suicide. Alle had simply told him that her father lived a solitary life in a small house in Orlando, among two million people who had no idea he existed. He’d moved back to Florida after losing his job in California. Anonymity had to be a major change for Sagan, considering that he’d stayed on the front page for over a decade. He’d been a regular on cable news, public broadcasting, and the networks. Not only a reporter, but a celebrity. A lot of people had trusted Sagan. The background investigation made that clear. Which probably explained, more than anything else, why so many turned on him so completely.
    “You’re a Jew?” Sagan asked.
    He nodded. “We are both Children of God.”
    “Speak for yourself.”
    “You were born a Jew, and that you cannot renounce.”
    “You sound like the man who once owned this house.”
    He noticed that Sagan never used the word
father
. Alle had told him of the estrangement, but the divide seemed even greater than she believed. He pointed a finger and said, “Your father was a wise man.”
    “Let my daughter go and I’ll do what you want.”
    He caught the exasperation in the statement but decided not to concede anything just yet. “I studied what happened to you eight years ago. Quite an experience. I can see how it would bring you to this end point. Life was especially cruel to you.”
    And he wondered. Could this poor soul even be motivated to act? Was anything important to him any longer? His background work on Sagan ended a few weeks ago, and there’d been no mention of suicidal tendencies. Obviously, some major life decision had been made. He knew that another manuscript had just been completed, written so anonymously that not even the publisher or the “author” knew Sagan’s identity. The literary agent had suggested the tactic, since it was doubtful anyone would have consented to Sagan even ghostwriting for them.
    That was how complete the downfall had been.
    Five of the seven books Sagan had written became top-ten
New York Times
bestsellers. Three had been number ones. Critical praise for the cover authors on all seven had been admirable. Which was why, he supposed, work had continued to flow Sagan’s way.
    But apparently, it had all taken a toll.
    This man was ready to die.
    Perhaps he should allow him?
    Or maybe—
    “Your father