04 The Edge of Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page A

clutching the seat with both hands. As his feet landed on the bumper that ran around the car, he hunkered down and held his breath.
    It was not a moment too soon. A rush of wind tousled his hair as two eighty-pound blocks of cement smashed into the seat where he had just been sitting.
    Another millisecond and I would have been dead
, he thought.
How do I keep getting into things like this?
    Murphy held on as he rode the bumper behind the last seat. Methuselah had a way of playing for keeps in his little contests.
    After a dozen more turns of the track, Murphy could see streams of light around the edges of two swinging doors ahead.
    The exit
.
    As he hurtled toward the double doors, something didn’t feel right.
Too easy
, he thought.
    He jumped off the car a moment before it shot through the doors. He rolled to soften the fall as he tumbled along the track.
    He looked up as a loud crash filled his senses. He got to his feet, walked toward the doors, and carefully opened them.
    About ten feet outside the doors the railway tracks had dead-ended into a block wall. The roller-coaster car was crumpled in a heap. His backpack was inextricable from the wreckage and this was one impact that his impact case couldn’t handle.
    So much for Laser. Knew I should’ve insured the darn thing
.
    Then Murphy saw it. It was another one of Methuselah’s three-by-five cards, taped to the block wall above the destroyed car. He took it off the wall and tried to make out the familiar handwriting in the dim light.
    Well, you must be alive

if you are reading this card
.
Since you have come this far
,
you deserve your reward
.

    Murphy turned the card over.
    Thirty degrees northeast

of the altar
…
press the king’s head
.

SIX
    Jerusalem, A.D. 30
    THE MARKETPLACE WAS TEEMING
with vendors selling their fruits and vegetables. Weavers of purple cloth were yelling and holding up their materials, hoping to gain the attention of passersby. Shepherds led their sheep to be slaughtered, skinned, and hung up with other meats. The pungent odor of perspiration was heavy in the hot, dusty air
.
    Caiaphas was nervous. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him, hoping he would pass unnoticed since he was not wearing his normal priestly robes. He sighed and stepped under the shade of one of the arches that led toward the temple. He raised his hand and motioned for the men to approach
.
    Eshban poked Zerah in the side
.
    “Stop that!” said Zerah with irritation in his voice
.
    Eshban pointed. “He is giving us the sign to come.”
    Caiaphas watched the two swarthy men approach. He was beginning to have second thoughts. Would anyone really believe them? They were poor men of little influence. Well, better to fail in the attempt than not to try
.
    Eshban spoke. “How may we be of service to you, Your Excellency?” There was a sarcastic curl to his smile
.
    “I want you to follow the teacher. The one they call Jesus. I want you to listen carefully to everything he says and then report back to me each evening.”
    Eshban and Zerah nodded their heads in agreement and exchanged conspiratorial glances
.
    “Now go. I must not be seen talking to you.” He then turned and walked away into the crowd
.
    Zerah looked at Eshban. “How much did the high priest give you?”
    Eshban opened the small leather bag. “Four silver coins. Two for me and two for you.”
    Zerah eagerly took the coins and put one of them between his teeth and bit down to test it. It was real silver. He smiled. The remnants of his last meal were visible between his teeth and his breath reeked of garlic
.
    The teacher and his followers were walking toward the eastern gate. Zerah and Eshban followed, moving steadily closer
.
    “Who is the big one talking with the teacher?” Zerah muttered
.
    “I heard someone call him Peter. A few more steps and we shall be able to hear all.
”
    “Master, look at these tremendous buildings! The stones are massive. I wonder how they ever moved them