The Jerusalem Creed: A Sean Wyatt Thriller by Ernest Dempsey Read Free Book Online Page A

was discovered at Qumran was unique in many ways. It would surprise me if those scrolls weren’t part of that collection.”
    “Bet me a Coke?” Sean grinned wryly.
    “You’re on.”
    Alex’s fingers pounded away at the keyboard once more. Tara glanced around the side of her monitor to see how the faux drama would play out. Alex hit the return key and waited for a second before he pointed to the screen. “I’m impressed, Tommy. These were some of the historical records discovered at the monastery. It seems they weren’t included in the Dead Sea Scrolls because they were considered mundane, due to the records having more to do with the day-to-day operations of the temple and the lineage of the priests.
    Sean smiled over his shoulder at his friend. “I’ll hit up the vending machine on the way out.”
    “Thanks, but I’m not thirsty right now,” Tommy joked. With the next breath, he returned his attention to the matter of the tablet translation. “So, we think we know who the man was that Nehem was researching. Great. That still doesn’t explain to us what the riddle means on the stone they found in his tomb.
    He quoted the lines again, paraphrasing as he did so. “One to the east and one to the north. Belly of the beast? Seekers of light? Any of you have any thoughts as to who or what those might be?”
    Sean found a chair nearby and rolled it close. He plopped down into it and crossed his arms, thinking deeply about the issue. “The problem with these pesky ancient puzzles is that people have been trying to solve them for thousands of years, without success.”
    “Yeah,” Tara agreed, “but we can accelerate those thousands of years with the best software. It takes things we would have needed centuries to understand, and pieces them together.”
    She tapped a few keys on her computer and then clicked the mouse. “Most of the references for beasts in the Bible are related to prophecy. This says the term beast is used most frequently in the books of Daniel and Revelation.”
    Sean nodded. His knowledge of Jewish and Christian religions ran deep, way deeper than most people probably realized, with the exception being Tommy. “Yes. Both of those books talk a great deal about beasts that symbolize different countries.” Despite his extraordinary Biblical knowledge, Sean moved on to the other part of the riddle. “Did you search for the seekers of light term?”
    She pecked away again, and in a few minutes the screen changed once more. Her face twisted noticeably. Tara didn’t try to hide her disappointment. “I’m finding a few different results, but not much. There isn’t a group that goes by that name. It might have been an ancient society of some kind, but it will require more research before I can tell you definitively.”
    Sean looked over at his friend, and Tommy returned the questioning glance. “So,” Sean said, “what do you think?”
    Tommy studied the screen for several more seconds before speaking. When he did, his tone was low and secretive. “Whatever it is that Nehem is looking for was important enough to someone that they tried to kill us and burn our houses down.”
    “So we’re for sure operating from the theory that it was his research that got us in trouble?”
    Sean wasn’t opposed to the idea, but it was a conclusion they were jumping to, and that wasn’t always a good thing.
    “It’s the only theory that makes sense right now,” Tommy defended. “It can’t be a coincidence that I get an email from an archaeologist who disappears, and then a few days later someone is trying to kill us. No way that’s a coincidence.”
    “I agree. So, what’s our next play?”
    Tommy considered the question and then sent it back to Sean. “I know what I think we should do. What do you think?”
    Sean’s mouth parted slightly in a narrow grin. “You know exactly what I’m thinking. We fly to Israel. Sooner or later, we have to find the people that tried to kill us before they hurt