exchanged a look with Romero and saw that his friend had the same thought, except that while Jack was willing to trade his life for Espy’s, Romero appeared ready to charge the man. Which would force the Egyptian to turn his attention to Romero and in turn allow Espy to escape. Jack knew they were both poor plans, yet he felt they were running out of options.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Duckey step out from behind the freestanding wall, leading with his gun. And from where Imolene stood, he couldn’t see him.
Even as Duckey approached, though, Martin Templeton came out from the cover of the trees. Without hesitating, he walked up behind Imolene, raised a gun, and pulled the trigger.
For the first time since he’d met Templeton, Jack was convinced the man would shoot him if need be. His fevered expression revealed just how much he’d allowed his passion for the holy relic to consume him. His striking down Imolene had just confirmed the truth of that.
“I’m leaving with it, Jack,” Templeton said, breathing hard.
“How did you get here, Martin?” Jack pointed to Imolene’s lifeless body. “With him?”
The Englishman released a harsh laugh. “You abandon me to him and then you question why I might have joined him?”
“No one’s questioning anything,” Jack said, holding his hands up by his shoulders. He could see over Templeton’s shoulder; Duckey hadn’t budged.
Jack stepped forward and saw Templeton’s hand flinch. Very slowly he crossed to where he’d dropped the staff. He bent to retrieve it, all the while anticipating the shot. But after a second look at Templeton, and after using his head to gesture toward the bed sheet, he walked the few yards and gathered it up. He made his way back and then quickly and carefully wrapped the staff. When finished, he approached Templeton but stopped several feet away, placing the staff on the ground between them. He then retreated, backing up to where Espy and Romero waited. Without looking at her, Jack reached for Espy’s hand.
Templeton watched the trio for several seconds, and during that time Jack saw the sane part of the man begin to surface, although only for a moment—until desire swallowed it up again. With the gun still trained on them, the Englishman stepped up to the staff and lifted it from the ground. Once he had it in his possession, he held it aloft.
As he did so, Jack felt a sick feeling building in his stomach. The look Templeton aimed at the staff was almost frightening in its intensity. It lasted only a short while before he lowered the artifact and turned his attention to Jack, who wondered why Duckey hadn’t made his move yet.
“I want to know what happened to my brother,” Templeton said.
It was in that moment Jack understood that none of this was about the staff. Templeton was fixated on the artifact but only as a substitute for something else—something he considered more valuable.
He wanted answers.
“What happened in Australia is between me and God,” Jack said, realizing how absurd that sounded but knowing that few people in the world had as tangible an example as he. He gave Espy’s hand a squeeze and then slipped away from her, getting her and Romero out of the line of fire. “You have what you came here for,” he said. “You’re walking away with a once-in-a-lifetime find. Isn’t that enough, Martin?”
“Normally, yes,” he said. “But not today.”
“Tell him, Jack,” Espy said quietly.
He and Espy—and the few friends who knew—had made a pact to keep the events of those days to themselves. But Jack was no martyr; he wouldn’t take the secret to his grave. He knew as well that Templeton wouldn’t fall for a lie. He wouldn’t even ask why the man needed to know. When Jack had lost his own brother, when an accident in a dig in Egypt had killed him, Jack would have given anything to have answers for all his questions. Only now, many years later, did he know that the kinds of answers Martin was seeking would be of no help. He also knew that Templeton would not come to that place for a long while.
He began recounting for Templeton how he’d come to kill the Englishman’s brother.
Yet as he was speaking, Imolene stirred behind Templeton—the twitch of a hand at first, then a fluttering of the eyes. Jack didn’t notice until Imolene raised his hand and by then it was too late.
Templeton staggered beneath the force