The Oracle (Fargo Adventures #11) - Clive Cussler Page 0,122

don’t get,” José said as he poured coffee into a mug, “is why Hank would plant a wire when he was here the whole time?”

Sam examined the photo, then passed the phone to Remi. “It gave him a way to let Tarek know what was going on without it being obvious he was the one passing on the info.”

“I feel terrible,” Renee replied. “How did I ever believe Warren was guilty? How did I never realize how deep in debt Hank was?”

“Because Hank went to extreme pains to cover it all up.”

Lazlo drew himself from the window, looking back at them. “Now that it’s all proverbial water under the bridge, is it too soon to see if there’s any truth to this vision of Amal’s?”

“You’re serious?” Sam asked. “You realize she only came up with that vision to help us find the mole.”

“Whether the vision’s real or not,” Lazlo said, “there’s a valuable scroll out there. And Narcissus is definitely pointing to an oddity in the reflecting pool in the mosaic. That deserves looking into.”

“I’m with Lazlo,” Renee said. “It’s just the thing our crew needs to get past all of this.” She picked up her phone. “I’ll text Osmond and Amal to see if they want to head down with us to the ruins. If it’s not there, we cross it off as a possible location for the scroll and move on to the next.”

“What do you say, Fargo?” Remi smiled at her husband. “Shall we make a last stab effort? Who knows what we might find.”

“Why not?”

* * *

—

An hour later, after they visited the villa to take a closer look at the mosaic—just in case it really was a map—the entire group, including Nasha and her uncle, traipsed through the olive grove toward the ruins. As they emerged from the trees, the blue sky above them, Remi was glad that there was little evidence of the shoot-out that had gone on just a couple days before, since it would only add to Renee’s stress.

“Doesn’t look like anything much, Dr. LaBelle,” Nasha said, stopping.

“A mudslide covered part of the ruins,” Renee told her. “The rest is covered by ivy. But once you know what to look for, it changes everything. That row of trees, for example,” she said, pointing to the ancient olives that Sam had hidden behind with Hank, “actually follows the road that leads to the ruins. You’ll see some of the pavers as we get closer. And those two olive trees growing at the base of the hill flanked the front of the temple. If you look carefully behind the tree on the left, you can see part of the steps leading up to it. And the area in front of both trees,” she added, “where nothing’s growing, would’ve been the reflecting pool. On a moonlit night, the entire temple would’ve been mirrored upon the surface.”

Nasha looked over at her. “How can you tell all that from what looks like nothing but dirt, rock, and bunch of old ivy?”

Renee laughed. “Part imagination and part because that happens to be what’s depicted in the mosaic down in the villa we’re restoring.”

A light breeze rippled through the grove. Remi brushed back her hair as she moved beside Renee. “Now that you mention it, I can picture the resemblance to the mosaic. The right tree is the one Echo was hiding behind. And to the left of it, Narcissus was lying on the bottom step, pointing into the water . . .” She turned to Lazlo. “But a hidden staircase in the reflecting pool? Beneath the water? I doubt any scroll would survive. Unless, of course, we’re looking for something chiseled on a tablet.”

“Not necessarily,” Lazlo said. “I doubt that reflecting pool has seen water in centuries. Dr. LaBelle would know better, but I suspect the temple was in ruins before either Hilderic or Gelimer reigned.”

Renee studied the hillside as they walked that direction. “Sadly, I have to agree with Remi. There’s not much hope if it was indeed buried.”

“The Dead Sea Scrolls survived in clay pots,” Lazlo said.

“Which were in open caves,” Renee replied. “But buried beneath the reflecting pool? I’ll be happy if we find a few fragments in a pot.”

Mr. Atiku looked down at Nasha as they walked. “You actually have roots here in Tunisia.”

“Me?”

“You’re Nigerian on your father’s side, but your ancestors on your mother’s side were Numidian.”

“What’s Numidian?” she asked.

“Parts of ancient Tunisia and Algeria.”

Nasha stole a glance at Amal. “Maybe we’re long-lost