Riley pulled hard on it a couple times. “It looks secure enough,” he said. “You go up first, and I’ll catch you if you fall. Do you think you can make it?”

  “I’m sure I can,” Abigail said. They were deadly booby-traps and just as deadly Vortex agents behind her. Ahead was the surface. Abigail was going to make it up that rope one way or another. She only hoped the rope had been put there sometime after the first century B.C.

  Abigail had thought it wasn’t too far to the surface, but climbing up the rope, it felt ten times longer than she had estimated. Dirt and debris fell on her as she climbed. Her hands and shoulders ached and her legs felt like jelly. Finally, she managed to pull herself through the narrow opening at the top. There was a small tree nearby, the one, no doubt, whose roots were protruding through the pit walls. She grabbed it and hauled herself over to it, and then lay on her stomach, panting.

  The bright sunlight forced Abigail to blink rapidly several times in succession. She gulped the fresh air. Abigail never wanted to see the inside of a cave again as long as she lived.

  She looked around. It looked like any other bright sunny day on a pleasant Lydian hillside.

  “Appearances can be deceptive,” Abigail muttered to herself. She called down to Riley, “It looks perfectly safe. You can come up.”

  It was an anxious wait for Abigail. What if the rope wouldn’t hold Riley’s weight? At least she knew where he was and could fetch a rope from somewhere, but what if Vortex agents beat her to him?

  To her relief, Riley climbed the rope quickly. He then pulled the rope from the pit. “That will stop anyone else coming up,” he said with satisfaction. He looked around. “I wonder where the car is in relation to our present location?”

  “The car? Wouldn’t Vortex have slashed the tires or something like that?”

  Riley shook his head. “No, because they’d leave it for Thatcher.”

  Abigail tapped herself on the side of the head. “Of course!”

  “We will have to go carefully. There could be more Vortex agents about,” Riley said, looking at his watch.

  It took Abigail a moment or two to realize his watch was also a compass.

  Abigail followed Riley to the top of a sheer rock face. She wished she could feel relieved, but wasn’t going to allow herself the feeling until she was safely in a hotel room, or maybe even back home. All her life she had wanted adventure, but now was thinking that maybe adventure was overrated.

  Riley pointed to the dirt road just below them. Abigail couldn’t see the car from her position, but she had a good idea where it was. Now, if only she could manage to avoid being shot.

  They turned around.

  Abigail gasped at the sight before her. It couldn’t be true!

  28

  SARDIS: ANCIENT SITE

  A man was standing there, silhouetted by the brilliant white glare of the sun.

  As Abigail’s eyes adjusted, she saw the man was Berat. He was holding a gun.

  Riley pushed Abigail behind him.

  “Isn’t this a stroke of luck!” Berat said. “Imagine finding you two here. Where are your two friends?”

  Riley held up both hands, palms outward. “They’re both dead. Look, we’re on the same side here. There are agents from the covert organization I told you about in the Temple to Artemis right now. They followed us inside. My agency is trying to cover up the existence of the treasure.”

  Berat uttered a harsh laugh. “Do I look like I was born yesterday? I’m not stupid. Your government wants to get their hands on the treasure.”

  Riley hurried to assure him otherwise. “I work for an international organization that wants to stop valuable relics falling into the wrong hands.”

  Abigail peeked out from behind Riley. Berat looked hesitant. Did he possibly believe them?

  Berat gestured into the pit. “Is there anyone alive down there?”

  “Not close to the pit as far as I know,” Riley told him, “but I can’t be sure. We were attacked.”

  Berat dropped something into the pit. He waved the gun and gestured that they move to a position behind some rocks. Abigail took that as a good sign—Berat hadn’t shot them yet.

  The ground shook. Abigail staggered and Riley put out his hand to steady her.

  “The pit has caved in now. Nobody will ever find that entrance.” Berat raised his gun.

  “You’re not a bad man,” Riley said. “You don’t want to shoot innocent people. Our mission was to hide the treasure and now it’s hidden. We’re on the same side.”

  Berat appeared to be thinking it over. After what seemed to Abigail to be an age, he said, “That might be true, but I can’t take any chances.”

  “At least let the woman go,” Riley said. “She’s an academic. She most certainly doesn’t want anyone finding the treasure. Check our pockets; you can see we haven’t taken any of the gold.”

  As he spoke, Abigail saw a figure creeping up behind Berat. It was Ellis.

  She did her best not to gasp and stare at him. She tried to focus on Berat while watching Ellis out of her peripheral vision.

  Was Ellis working for Vortex? She didn’t think so. Thatcher had been, and he told them he had done away with Ellis. She supposed she would find out soon enough.

  It was over in a flash. Ellis jumped on top of Berat. The gun went off, causing little bits of stone from a nearby rock face to shatter over Abigail’s face. She put her hands over her eyes. When she took her hands away, Ellis had disarmed Berat and was standing over him holding Berat’s gun.

  “Ellis!” Riley exclaimed. “We thought you were dead.”

  Ellis put his hand behind his head and pulled it away, holding it out for Abigail and Riley to see. It was covered with blood. “Thatcher hit me hard over the back of the head. I’ve probably got a concussion. I must’ve been out cold for a while.” He hesitated before adding, “At least I think it was Thatcher. I was with him when I was hit from behind.”

  Riley gave him a nod of affirmation. “Yes, it was Thatcher. He was working for Vortex.”

  Ellis shook his head and then clutched it with both hands. “Ouch! I had no idea. I should have seen it coming.”

  “We both should have seen it coming,” Riley said. “How did you find us?”

  “When I came to, I heard an explosion, and I saw this man heading up the hills. I figured he was responsible for the explosion, so I thought I should follow him.”

  “Just as well you did!” Abigail said.

  Ellis afforded her a thin smile. He pulled Berat to his feet. “What are we going to do with him? I take it he’s not working for Vortex?”

  “No, but Thatcher had called other agents. There were Vortex agents in there,” Riley said.

  “You can let me go,” Berat said. “I only want to protect the treasure and I’ve already done that.”

  “There was no treasure in there,” Riley said.

  Abigail did her best not to look shocked at his statement.

  “It was obviously looted centuries ago,” Riley continued.

  Berat gasped. “What? No treasure? But you said…”

  “Not so much as a small gold brooch,” Abigail said, catching onto Riley’s intent to keep Ellis out of the loop. “Looters had obviously removed it all at some point over the centuries.”

  “But how?” Berat said. “It was booby-trapped.”

  “We got out of there, didn’t we?” Riley said. “Obviously, the booby-traps were removed by the looters.”

  Abigail studied Berat’s face to see if he would believe them.

  Riley pushed on. “Still, it is a significant archeological find. We need to keep it safe. It would be terrible if the Temple of Artemis was removed and placed in a museum.”

  “Yes, it’s a perfectly intact piece of architecture,” Abigail said. “It’s magnificent. If any archeological team found it, they could damage it in the excavation. Don’t forget, the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon is now in a museum in Berlin. Only the podium remains at Pergamum. I’d hate that happen to the Temple of Artemis.”

  Berat appeared to be digesting their words. “Maybe the treasure your ancestors wanted you to guard was the ancient architecture itself,” Abigail added.

  Berat shook his head vigorously. “No, it was the Croesus treasure. I’m certain of that.”

  Abigail waved one hand at him in dismissal. “The treasure is long gone. Only the temple remains.”

  “Look, you have a choice,” Riley told him. “Either we take you and throw you in prison where you will never see the light of day or…”

  Berat interrupted him. “You can’t. What would you arrest me for? Illegally discharging explosives? I’d be out of prison in no time.”

  Riley shook his head. “You won’t have a trial. You will be in a special prison, one provided by my government.”

  “What my associate is trying to say but is putting in a nice way,” Ellis told him, “is either we shoot you now and leave you here for the vultures, or we imprison you for years, or you can go back to your home and continue to guard the whereabouts of the location.”

  “What’s there to guard?” Berat spat.

  Riley stepped forward. “If you feel that way, you can choose one of the first two options.”

  Ellis held the gun against Berat’s head. “Why even give him options? He might talk. We don’t need him alive.”

  “Yes, we do,” Riley countered. “If he goes missing, Vortex might make the connection between him and Eymen. They’re already aware of Murat’s connection. Obviously, his organization goes deeper than what he’s told us. It’s in our interests to protect them, as they will protect this site.”

  “Who cares about the site?” Ellis said. “There’s no treasure.”

  Abigail stepped forward. “I care about the site. It has massive archeological significance. It must be protected.”

  A look of realization passed over Berat’s face. Abigail figured it finally occurred to him that Riley did not want Ellis to know about the treasure. In that instant, Abigail could see Berat now trusted Riley.

  Berat nodded to Riley and winked at Abigail. “We have an understanding. Murat and our associates and I will continue to prevent anyone from finding the location. Do we need to hide from those agents?”

  Riley shook his head. “I doubt it. I think they’re all in there.” He pointed to the ground.

  Ellis pursed his lips. “You’re going to let him go?”

  Riley shot him a quelling look. Ellis looked away, but not before he said, “Go on, Berat. Keep in front of me at all times. I’ll give your gun back to you when we reach your car.”

  Riley helped Abigail over the rough going down the hill. She probably didn’t need his help, but she was grateful for it, nonetheless. They kept to the dubious cover of the sparse trees dotting the hillside, and kept a careful eye out for Vortex agents, despite the fact Riley doubted there were any survivors.

  Abigail touched Riley’s arm and brought him to a standstill. “I don’t see any vehicles,” she said. She looked out over the plains where once, thousands of years ago, the lower city of Sardis had stood, housing the reed huts of the poor people who were living close to the rich gold deposits of the river. It was ironic, she thought.

  He looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

  “The Vortex agents. How they many of them were there? There must have been at least one car.”

  Riley pointed down by the banks of the Pactolus River.

  It took Abigail a while to see it. The SUV was well camouflaged against the rocks. “I hope there’s no one in it,” she said.

  “They were all inside the mountain when I blew up the entrance,” Berat told them in a matter-of-fact voice. “I watched you arrive, and saw them too. I was posing as a tourist with a telephoto lens on my camera. I knew you would turn up at Sardis sooner or later.”

  There was merely a short rocky scramble and then they were down the hill. Riley lowered himself over the ledge and then signaled for Abigail to jump.

  She did so, and landed hard in Riley’s arms. He kept his arms around her for longer than he should have, judging by Ellis’s dour expression.

  “What now?” Abigail asked Riley when he finally released her.

  “We go home.”

  29

  PENNSYLVANIA

  Abigail walked back to her office. Her paper had been well received. Even the question time had gone well. Her part in the conference was over; now she could relax.

  She unlocked her door, entered her office, and took off her shoes. She walked over to her desk, spun her chair so it swiveled a few times, and then put her feet up on the desk and wiggled her toes.

  Abigail had loved being an academic, but now she’d had more than a little taste of excitement and adventure. And as terrified as she had been at the time, she already missed it.

  And where was Riley? He had been conspicuous by his absence. Was she only going to see him on missions? The thought saddened her.

  There was a knock on the door and Abigail at once took her feet off the desk. “Come in,” she called out.

  To her dismay, in stepped Professor Harvey Hamilton, his face flushed. “Your paper went well.” He said it almost as an accusation.

  Abigail shot him a bright smile. “Thank you.”

  “I thought I would offer you my congratulations before I give my paper tonight.”

  “I hope it goes well. Best of luck.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Thank you. So, after the conference is over tomorrow, all the faculty members are having dinner with the visiting academics.”

  Abigail nodded. “That’s right. I haven’t forgotten.”

  Hamilton gave a small nod and made to walk out, his hand resting on the door. “So you’re not going to dispute being part-time?”

  “Dispute?” Abigail repeated.

  He shot her an irritated look. “You’re not going to take it higher than the Dean?”

  Abigail laughed. “No. I’m happy with part-time. It gives me time for my other interests.” Like relic hunting in exotic locations, she silently added.

  “Oh yes. Baking and quilting with your Amish friends.”

  “Something like that.”

  Professor Hamilton nodded once more and shut the door.

  Abigail put her feet back on the desk and laced her fingers behind her head. So that’s why Hamilton had come. It was out of character for him to congratulate her on her paper. Clearly, his purpose in coming was to ascertain whether she was going to contest the Dean’s decision. And why did he ask about tomorrow night’s dinner? Upon reflection, Abigail figured it was because he wanted to make sure she wasn’t having dinner with any of the visiting academics in person. Hamilton was quite competitive academically.

  Abigail smiled to herself. He could ingratiate himself to as many visiting academics as he liked. She didn’t care about such things.

  There was another knock on the door. Abigail wondered what Hamilton had forgotten. Once more, she removed her feet from her desk. “Come in,” she called again, steeling herself for another encounter.

  To her shock, Riley was in the doorway. “Riley!” she exclaimed, standing up. “I didn’t expect to see you.” She tried not to look too pleased.

  He walked inside and shut the door.

  “Do we have another mission?”

  Riley looked somewhat taken aback. “No. I came to ask you a question.”

  Abigail’s spirits fell. He had come simply to ask her a question? It must be important. And for a moment she had thought he was there to see her. “What is it?

  “After all your experiences in Turkey, do you still like Turkish delight?”

  Abigail frowned hard. What sort of question was that? “Yes, I do,” she said hesitantly.

  “And do you have any plans for tonight?”

  She smiled at him. “That’s two questions.”

  “I know a little Turkish restaurant not far from here,” Riley said, offering her his arm. “Would you care to have dinner with me?”

  “That’s three questions,” Abigail said as she took Riley’s arm and accompanied him out the door.

  Papyrus

  Relic Hunters Taskforce Book 2

  FACT

  King Amenemhat III (c. 1860 - 1815 BC) built the Black Pyramid at Dahshur. It was made of mud brick instead of stone (typical of Middle Kingdom pyramids) and started to collapse soon after it was built. Under it was a complex network of passages.

  Amenemhat III is famous for his labyrinth. He also had a pyramid complex at Hawara, and some Egyptologists believe the famous labyrinth was at Hawara rather than Dahshur.

  The fifth century BC writer, Herodotus, talks about the aboveground chambers of Amenemhat III’s labyrinth, and says that the Egyptian officials refused to show him the underground labyrinth. He said the road to the adjoining pyramid is underground.

  There is no extant papyrus detailing Goliath’s spear, but Pharaoh Shoshenq I (identified with the Biblical Shishak) marched against Jerusalem, as detailed in 1 Kings 14:25 and 2 Chronicles 10-12. He did take treasures, as well as shields of gold made by Solomon.

  1 Samuel 21:1-9 tells us that when David was fleeing from Saul, he went to the priests at Nob to request food. He then requested a sword. The High Priest, Ahimelech, took Goliath’s sword, wrapped in cloth, from behind the ephod, and gave it to David.

  To sum up, there was a great labyrinth of Amenemhat III which was either at Dahshur or Hawara. The origin of Goliath’s spear is unknown. Pharaoh Shoshenq I took Solomon’s treasure back to Egypt.

  The Sea Peoples did suffer a crushing defeat at the hand of Ramses III at Xois in 1178 BC. The Sea Peoples included the Peleset, who are identified with the Philistines.

  1

  XOIS, EGYPT, 1178 BC

  The Philistine warrior crept through the reeds by the banks of the Nile, watching in horror as Pharaoh Ramses III’s ships attacked his people’s fleet.