Page 119 of End of Days

Michelangelo answered immediately, saying, “Yes, I’m here. What’s happening?”

“You need to initiate the attack. Do it now.”

There was a pause, then, “What happened to Raph and Leo?”

“They’re gone. Execute the attack and I’ll meet you back in Tel Aviv for the flight out.”

He heard a pause, then, “What happened?”

“I don’t know, but they were stopped. It’s just you and me now. We’re the only ones standing.”

“Okay, okay, I’m on the way.”

The manner in which he said it gave Garrett concern. He said, “What do you mean, you’re on the way? You mean you’re on the way to the Temple Mount? Is that it?”

“No, I mean I’m on the way to Jerusalem. I’m still at the hotel.”

Garrett wanted to throw the phone through the windshield. He said, “Are you still in Tel Aviv? I told you to go to Jerusalem this morning.”

Hearing the accusation in Garrett’s voice, Michelangelo said, “Yeah, that was before the damn sun had risen. I had to shower, eat, and get packed. I’m going, I’m going. I didn’t know this was time sensitive.”

Through gritted teeth, Garrett said, “Get your ass there, plant the explosives, and get out. There are people hunting us. You need to go—now!”

He heard a scrambling of feet, then, “Okay, sir, I’m on it. I’m on the way.”

Garrett pulled back onto the highway, knowing he was going toleave Michelangelo to his fate. He would not be meeting him in Tel Aviv. His only solution was to get to Lebanon, and he knew where to do that.

At the very tip of this highway was a place called the Rosh Hanikra Grottoes, a tourist site where people could go underground to see the sea wash inside. It also held an old railway system that connected Lebanon to Israel through the tunnels carved by the ocean and the original British Mandate, built before Israel existed as a country. He’d visited it once and seen how the tunnels worked, even walking down the railway of one tunnel through the splashing water until he was told to turn back by the tour guide.

The connection between the two countries had been closed decades ago, but it existed. He didn’t know how he would penetrate it, but it was the closest escape. The crossing to Lebanon on the above-ground section of Rosh Hanikra was a nonstarter, as it was heavily fortified by the IDF, but the tunnels underneath weren’t patrolled. If it didn’t pan out, he’d reassess, maybe trying to go south, to the Eilat crossing point and into Egypt.

He checked his watch, wanting to do a reconnaissance before he tried to penetrate in the night.

I hit the gas on our vehicle, pulling out onto the highway at a rate of speed that was most definitely not allowed.

I said, “Call Jennifer and Aaron. Tell them to get ready. I don’t know where the lost Turtle is going, but the guy we’re chasing does.”

She nodded, staring at me intently. I said, “What?”

She glanced away, embarrassed. She dialed the phone and said, “You believe. You think he’s bringing about Armageddon, like I said all along. That’s all.”

I said, “I think he’s a lunatic killer that almost started a war, andhe’s still on the loose. And he’s got some other nutjob out there. Is that good enough?”

She patted my arm and said, “Yes, Nephilim. That’s good enough. You don’t know what you see, but you see it, just like I do.”

I turned to her, ready to shut down the crazy conversation, and she held up a finger, telling me to shut up, her phone to her ear. It was the second time she’d done it, and it aggravated me.

I bit my tongue and excised my annoyance by increasing my speed. She looked at me and said, “Don’t kill us before we can kill him.”

I said, “Don’t hold your damn finger in my face.”

I saw her eyes open wide and she said, “Is that not something I should do with Aaron?”

I couldn’t believe it. Even in the heat of this thing, she was still trying to learn how to be a human in a relationship. And I realized she had meant nothing by it. I laughed and said, “Carrie, you really need to spend more time with Jennifer.”

She held her finger up again, then started talking on the phone, saying, “We’re on the trail of Garrett. When we find him, we’ll find the final Turtle. Pike wants you guys ready to go. Wherever that may be.”

She listened, then looked at me, saying, “Nephilim will tell you when to launch. I’ll tell you when Garrett’s dead.”

---