The Revelation Code (Wilde/Chase 11) by Andy McDermott Page A

the Library of Pergamon, where John read it.’ He stared at the remains of the statue once more. ‘He might not have realised its significance, at least consciously, but when he had his visions in the Cave of the Apocalypse, his mind, guided by God, brought it all back to him. He wrote down everything he saw during the vision. It was all mixed up, scrambled, surrounded by other hallucinations, but it was still based on what he’d read about the Elders and the angels.’
    He whirled back to face Nina, white robes swirling. ‘ That’s what I believe the Book of Revelation is, Dr Wilde. It’s a code. And I’ve spent twelve years reading it, uncovering its secrets – cracking that code. The texts I found in the temple gave me the clues I needed to decipher it.’
    ‘This?’ Nina protested, waving at the laptop’s screen. ‘This is gibberish!’
    ‘You don’t need to read every word in a book to understand the story. It told me enough. I know where to find the angels – at least, I know which parts of Revelation contain the clues leading to them. What I don’t know yet is where these locations are in the real world.’
    Realisation dawned. ‘And that’s why you need an archaeologist.’
    ‘Exactly,’ Cross replied. ‘Someone with the knowledge and experience to join the dots, to make the connections between the places John saw in his visions and where they are today.’
    ‘But why me ?’ objected Nina. ‘Your followers have obviously given you plenty of money if you’ve been able to build all this. You could have just hired somebody to work it out. Why kidnap me and Eddie?’
    ‘I didn’t want to involve an archaeologist until now, because they have their own biases that would have made them deny the truth. Just like all scientists. But you don’t have the option to deny it. And . . .’ The cult leader smiled. For the first time, the sense of malevolence lurking beneath the surface came out into the open. ‘You were highly recommended by an associate of mine.’
    The words sent a chill through her. That suggested Cross was working with someone with a personal grudge against her – but who? She and Eddie had made a lot of enemies . . .
    She didn’t have time to worry further about it as Cross spoke again. ‘Three locations are given special significance in the text of Revelation: “the Synagogue of Satan”, “the Throne of Satan”, and “the Place in the Wilderness”. I think they’re where the other angels are hidden.’ He closed the laptop and gestured towards the door. ‘Your job, Dr Wilde, is to find them.’
    Nina suddenly realised that she already knew the true identity of one of the locations – but managed to hide her recognition of the fact, not wanting to give anything to her kidnapper. Instead she summoned up resistance. ‘I’m not doing a damn thing until I know Eddie’s okay.’
    Simeon advanced on her. ‘You were warned—’
    ‘Wait, Simeon,’ said Cross. ‘I was always going to let you see your husband, Dr Wilde. This way. Please.’ The unpleasant smile returned.
    That alone made Nina feel more worried than ever, but she followed him back into the control room, Anna and Simeon again shadowing her. The screens were still cycling through clips of her at the Mission and in New York, but her eyes went straight to the single monitor showing the live feed of Eddie.
    Cross went to his chair and tapped at a touchscreen. The dizzying display before him faded to black. Another command, and the curved video wall came back to life, the image of Eddie bound to the chair spread across it. The camera was offset to his right, looking down at him. ‘Mr Irton,’ said Cross. ‘Can you hear me?’
    ‘Yes, sir, I can hear you,’ came the reply. The new voice was American, like Cross and his lieutenants, the accent suggesting that the speaker was from one of the south-western states.
    ‘Dr Wilde is with me. Could you wake her husband, please?’
    ‘I sure can.’ Nothing happened