Free Europa Conspiracy (Babylon Rising 3) by Tim F. LaHaye Page A

much. You don't know what that means to me."
    Talon turned down the music, rolled up the window, and started the SUV. Now it's payback time for my little swim in the Black Sea, Dr. Murphy.
    His eyes focused on Murphy and his load of coffee and rolls.
    Patience. Just have patience. It's a virtue, you know.
    Murphy wasn't aware of the SUV behind him as he came out of the coffee shop. He was looking at Dr. Anderson, who was standing near a park bench. Murphy's hands were loaded with coffee and cinnamon rolls, and he was trying not to drop anything. Only as he neared Dr. Anderson did he notice that something was wrong. The old man's eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping open as he stared at something behind Murphy that terrified him.
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    Murphy's martial arts training instantly kicked into gear. Dropping the coffee and rolls, he leaped forward, trying to grab for the doctor. As their hands touched, he could hear the roar of the SUV closing in at great speed.
    Murphy tried to jump to the side and pull Dr. Anderson with him, but it was too late. He could feel the doctor being ripped from his grip as the left front fender of the SUV hit the old man and sent him flying in the air. Murphy had moved just far enough away that he bounced off the side of the SUV and rolled away, dazed but alive.
    Talon, not bothering to get out of the SUV, believed he had accomplished his task. Pleased, he stepped on the gas and disappeared around a corner. Murphy pulled himself together and limped over to Dr. Anderson. He seemed to still be breathing... but it was shallow.
    "Doctor! Doctor! Hang on! I'll get some help!"
    A feeble hand reached up. Murphy bent until his ear was close to the doctor's mouth. "The key. Around my neck," Dr. Anderson whispered.
    Murphy could see a chain around the old man's neck. Blood was oozing out over it.
    "I want to be like the thief...on the cross," Dr. Anderson murmured before his eyes fluttered closed one last time.
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    SEVENTEEN
    MURPHY KNEW that Levi Abrams was a complicated man. He had been born in Israel and had gone to college in the United States. Then, immediately upon graduation, he had joined the Israeli Army Tall and muscular, he soon came to the attention of Mossad--Israel's Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations. The group recruited Abrams for top-secret work. Murphy could never get him to talk about what he had done during his years with Mossad.
    Although Abrams said that he had retired from Mossad and was now living in the United States, Murphy wasn't too sure. He was too well connected in the Middle East and Arab countries, and he knew too much about current covert operations. Murphy believed that Abrams's job as a security expert for a high-tech company in the Raleigh-Durham area was just a cover. Levi might have just the information Murphy needed, so Murphy phoned his old friend.
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    "How are you, Michael? I heard about your wrestling match with an SUV," Abrams said as soon as he got on the line.
    "How did you hear about that?"
    "You'd be surprised what I know, Michael. But if I told you, you know I'd have to kill you." Abrams's grin could be heard in his voice.
    Murphy laughed. "I think you'd have a difficult time. I've learned some new karate moves."
    "You sound a little cocky for someone who barely escaped with his life. Don't forget you're talking to the master teacher."
    "Oh, I beg your pardon, O Great One. Is it possible for a lowly student to get some time with the Great Master?"
    "What's on your mind, Michael?"
    "Does the name Methuselah ring any bells?"
    "What does that old buzzard want now?"
    "I think he's given me a clue to another biblical artifact--the Handwriting on the Wall. The one written on Nebuchadnezzar's wall by the hand of God."
    "You've got to be kidding, Michael. Do you really trust Methuselah?"
    "Not very far. But he has led us to some great finds in the past."
    "So, how can I help?"
    "I need you to pull some strings and help me get back into Iraq. I have to go to