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

anyone else. And maybe along the way we can pay them back for destroying our houses.”
     
     

5
    Jerusalem, Israel
     
    Arranging the flights to Israel took a little more doing than usual, even for someone like Tommy who had full-time access to a private company jet. The on-call pilot wasn’t typically available twenty-four hours a day, though he did endeavor to be ready at a moment’s notice. On this occasion, he was already asleep, and by the time he received the messages, it was early the next morning. The man was efficient, though, and had filed the flight plan and made arrangements with Israeli air traffic control so that they would have as little trouble as possible coming in.
    The Gulfstream left Atlanta’s Hartsfield International airport in midmorning. When it landed several hours later in Israel, darkness had already fallen across the ancient, sacred land.
    Tommy had called his friend, Karem, who lived in the area, and asked if he could be their driver for a few days. Karem had been more than happy to oblige. The forty-two-year-old Israeli was the curator at one of the local antiquities museums. It was a small operation but one that saw tens of thousands of visitors visit every year. His museum contained several important items from Jewish history, including a few that were extremely rare.
    Karem also had unlimited access to nearly every high-security site in the land. During Tommy’s last visit, he’d taken the American to see the heavily guarded Isaiah Scroll, one of the most precious and sacred texts the nation of Israel possessed. The scroll had been written on an enormous sheet of thin copper. In the museum display, it was wrapped around a giant stone cylinder so that it could be read from beginning to end. The museum was basically bombproof, and in case of an attack, the scroll and its stone dropped several stories down into the ground, protected by hundreds of feet of concrete.
    It had been an impressive sight, and one that very few outsiders were afforded the privilege of seeing.
    Karem picked them up at the airport and drove them to the outskirts of Jerusalem where they’d arranged for a room at a hotel where Tommy had stayed once before. They were fortunate a room had been available, though it was one of the most expensive in the place. Luckily for the two Americans, money was no object. The finances Tommy had been left when his parents died years before were significant. Thanks to clever investments and shrewd dealings over the better part of the last decade, his substantial inheritance had grown to the hundreds of millions. With the money, his International Archaeological Agency had been lucky with countless opportunities to save hundreds of priceless treasures from around the world.
    After a night of restless and precarious sleep, the two Americans woke up, showered, and got dressed. On the elevator, heading down for a quick breakfast, Tommy glanced over at his friend and shook his head disapprovingly. “Always with the khaki pants.”
    Sean glanced down at his pants and then back to Tommy. “What? They’re comfortable. And the last thing I want to be wearing in this hot weather is jeans.”
    “You could wear cargo shorts like me.”
    “I prefer pants. So sue me.”
    Their banter ended as the elevator dinged. They walked through the lobby, a contemporary design with faded olive-green walls contrasted by dark-brown wood flooring. A beautiful young woman with chestnut hair stood behind the concierge desk, greeting people as they came in through the entrance or down from their rooms. Off to the left was a cafe where people were busily eating their breakfasts and talking about the things they looked forward to seeing.
    Holy Land tours were big business in the area. Christians, Muslims, and Jews from far and wide came to see the places their respective religions so revered. Tourists were more than happy to pay out thousands of dollars to see the Via Dolorosa, the supposed site of Golgotha, the