Elisha's Bones - Don Hoesel [63]
“That’s Miles Lincoln,” Brown says as the man walks away.
I know that name and, when I connect it to the man who is now disappearing out the door, I have to fight the urge to chase after him. “Miles Lincoln, the art specialist?”
Brown nods.
I shake my head, envious of Brown and his opportunity to work with someone like Lincoln. The man’s presence, however, sets off a few alarm bells—which I’ll have to attend to as soon as I can. Right now I file the fledgling thoughts away and focus on the task at hand. And since I’ve already taken a step down the path of direct inquiry, I see no harm in continuing.
“What brings you two—three—to Lalibela?”
I see a wall come up, but it’s of the general kind. I think he actually missed my earlier reference to our having similar purposes. He thinks this is a random meeting. I see Sarah smirk— an indication that, unlike her companion, she heard my every word.
“We’re doing a fluff piece for Archaeology Quarterly on the churches,” he lies. “They wanted it for their December issue, to run before Christmas, but I wasn’t available until now.”
I offer an interested nod, but I almost feel badly that I haven’t given him sufficient time to come up with a more believable prevarication. There isn’t a periodical in the world that would send an archaeological team halfway around the world to conduct noninvasive research that could be accomplished with existing records. That’s throwing money into a stiff wind.
“Sounds interesting,” I say in what I hope is taken as patronization.
He looks embarrassed and, even worse, Sarah appears discomfited for him.
“Why are you here, Jack?” Brown redirects.
“Would you believe that I’m working for a billionaire, who’s hired me to hunt for religious artifacts?” I grin and shake my head. “What a way to spend my winter break, huh?”
I don’t know who is more incredulous: Brown, who has been blindsided, or Esperanza. I’m not looking forward to what words she will use on me later, once we’re alone. Sarah, on the contrary, has a twinkle in her eye that tells me she put it together as soon as she saw me. I give her a wink, and the gesture is not lost on Espy.
The brilliant Dr. Brown Billings is speechless, and despite the fact that the man has never done me a disservice, I am tickled by the whole encounter. At some point, perhaps even today, he will find out that I’m no longer in Reese’s employ, and yet we’re far beyond even the billionaire’s reach.
“Who do you think Reese is paying more?” I prod.
The comment earns a laugh from Sarah, one that pulls red to Brown’s cheeks. I’m enjoying myself—until I catch Espy’s eye. I have a feeling that I’m going to pay dearly for the last five minutes.
CHAPTER 14
The place where the rocks and stones cry out.
I know that the biblical allusion is poetic rather than literal, but as Esperanza and I stand on the edge of a forty-foot drop-off, looking down on the roof of a nine-hundred-year-old church carved from a single piece of granite, I would be hard-pressed to think of another place on the planet that better embodies that description.
The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are among the architectural marvels of the world, and they’re among the short list of things I’ve seen which assure me that, under the right circumstances, man can accomplish anything he sets his mind to. It’s early morning, the breeze is blowing through the valley, and there are few sounds to interrupt us. Espy and I might as well be standing at the edge of the earth for the sense of almost alien beauty that rises from the granite cathedrals.
“It’s unbelievable,” Espy whispers.
I’m in perfect agreement, especially considering the tools the medieval Christians had to work with; but I’m also cognizant of time. I have no idea how many days Brown and his team have already put in. And I’m certain that Reese now knows we survived that unpleasantness in San Cristóbal.
“Ready?” I start down the narrow steps, themselves carved out of the rock, my hand trailing along its cold surface. It