The Babel Codex Read Free Page B

by
surprise.
    “For those of you who don’t know Dr. Sordi, he has uncovered
two previous rare digs. He was involved in the discovery of the first complete
Etruscan house at Poggiarello Renzetti in Vetulonia, Italy, in 2010, and in the
dig site of the vampire skull on the island of
Lazzaretto Nuovo in 2009.” Burris smiled. “Ooooh, vampires! Wish we could have
been there for that?” He mugged for the camera. “Me, too. Dr. Sordi gets around,
but not nearly as much as the beautiful Annja Creed.”
    Burris waved Annja forward.
    She folded her arms and frowned at him. She so did not want to be part of whatever freak show the
radio personality had planned. “It would have been nice to have gotten prepped
for this.”
    One of the cameramen looked up. “Want us to cut, boss?”
    “No.” Burris waved a hand in a circular motion and kept his
eyes on Annja. “Keep rolling. We’ll edit and clean up later. We can work with
this.”
    Struggling to keep from getting angry, knowing that Doug had
spoken the truth when he’d said Burris Coronet and his radio show could bring
attention to Chasing History’s Monsters , Annja
forced herself to look around the room.
    “Do you recognize anything, Ms. Creed?” Burris’s tone was
singsong, stopping millimeters short of taunting.
    “Other than the fact that most of these artifacts are souvenirs
from the market?” Still, there was something about that clay brick under the
mummy’s feet that sparked her interest.
    “Hey.” Burris had lost some of his jokey demeanor. “These are
first-class fake artifacts. The best money can buy. I had guys scrounging the
city looking for this stuff.” He picked up a spear from where it leaned against
the wall and brandished it.
    The spear looked like it might have been genuine. It was almost
five and a half feet long, and the narrow fluted blade was at least eighteen
inches long. At least the spearhead looked like it might be real. The haft was a
fairly recent addition.
    “Do you know what this is?” Burris whipped the blade around
theatrically, spinning it end over end with skill that showed martial arts
experience.
    “Ethiopian military spear. Probably dates back to the mid- to
late 1800s. The government checked them in and out as warriors needed them.
Which was often given this country’s history. The spearhead looks original, but
that haft is a definite new addition. If the spearhead is that old, it probably
went missing in the 1990s when an accidental explosion destroyed the government
arsenal.”
    Burris halted the spear’s spin and gazed more critically at the
weapon before shifting his attention back to Annja. “How do you know the
explosion was accidental? ”
    Ignoring the question, Annja knelt on the floor and looked at
the clay brick beneath the mummified monkey’s feet. She set her backpack on the
ground within easy reach. The brick was plain and chipped, ancient. It was
square instead of rectangular as most modern-day bricks were made. The light tan
color showed some wear, but the brick was cleaner and in better shape than Annja
would have thought possible.
    “Ah, the monkey got you, right?” Burris put down the spear and
picked up the mummified monkey. “I thought it might. Who can resist a dead
monkey all wrapped up like a baby?” He prodded one of the exposed feet with a
forefinger. “Looks like he could just reach out and grab your finger, doesn’t
he?”
    Annja ignored Burris and took a mini-Maglite from her pocket.
She turned on the flash and played the beam over the brick. Spotting writing on
the brick’s face now that it was revealed, she took out a brush from her shirt
pocket and whisked the dust away.
    “You’re passing up a dead baby monkey for a rock?”
    “That monkey isn’t a baby, it’s an adult.”
    “It’s still little.” Burris looked the monkey in the face.
“Kind of cute in a dreadful, ugly sort of way. But it’s too big to put on a key
chain or hang from a rearview mirror. Probably give