When they got to the kitchen, the girl was just coming around. Ten minutes later, Indy gave up on trying to get her to talk. She remained completely silent, refusing to answer even one of his questions. He turned to Marion and said, "She's a professional. She won't talk."
Marion nodded. "What's the plan now?" she asked.
Indy rubbed his hand on his chin. "I'll go pack up everything I'll need to take to Ox. You two see if you can get anything out of her."
While Indy packed, Marion and Mutt both asked the girl some questions, but she completely ignored them, even when Marion gave her a slap. A few minutes later Indy came in holding a satchel full of documents. He looked at the girl and said, "No luck?"
"I'm afraid not," Marion said.
"We're not going to resort to torture, so we'll…" Indy opened his mouth to speak, and then turned a suspicious eye on the girl. He waved his family over to the kitchen door, and soon they were all standing outside with the door shut. "I'll take Mutt's motorcycle to the nearest airport, and catch the first flight to Israel. The two of you go back in there and call the police. Tell them you're house sitting for Joseph, and have that woman arrested for breaking in. As soon as you're done with the cops, use my car to go home."
"Wait a minute," Mutt said. "Why isn't Mom going with you? You guys could take the car to the airport, and I could stay here until the cops get here." He looked at his mother, but she simply shrugged, not knowing the answer herself.
Indy said softly, "I'm not going to leave you alone again until after you graduate." He saw his son scowl, and quickly added, "It's not because I don't trust you. I just… I don't want you to feel lonely or left out."
Marion smiled at her husband for the sweet gesture.
Blushing, Mutt said, "Jeez Dad, you make me sound like a big sissy. Don't worry about me. Take Mom with you."
"I do worry about you, like it or not," Indy said. "And I've already decided you're not staying alone."
"I'm an adult. I can stay by myself."
"Yeah you can, but you're not gonna." Indy held out his hand. "Give me your keys, and look after your mother while I'm gone."
"But I…"
"Mutt." Indy cut him off. "Stop arguing, unless you want to be grounded too." He touched his fingertips to his palm a couple of times, in a gesture for Mutt to hand over the keys. Frowning, the boy dug them out of his pocket, and gave them to his father. .
"Thank you." Indy pulled the unsuspecting boy into a tight one-armed hug. Mutt wasn't as angry as he had been earlier, and hugged his father back. Indy let him go, and then gave his wife a hug and kiss.
"Be careful," she said.
"Always," he said. With the satchel of paperwork in one hand, and the motorcycle keys in the other, Indy walked around to the font of the house.
Marion put an arm around Mutt's waist, and they waited to hear the motorcycle start up. After a few seconds, Marion started to tense up. "Something's wrong."
They heard a gun cock behind their heads. Both of them put their hands in the air and turned around. A large man with dark black hair and a mustache was pointing a gun at them. With a heavy Russian accent he said, "Keep hand where I see them, yes? Into house." He gestured towards the kitchen door with his gun.
"Okay." Marion said, and both her and Mutt went back into the kitchen.
The woman was struggling to get free with no luck. When she saw the dark haired man, she said something in Russian.
He answered, "Da." Mutt didn't know much Russian, but he knew that meant yes.
The woman smiled at Marion, while the dark haired man untied her. Mutt whispered to his mom, "What did she say?"
"She asked if they caught Indy, too."
The woman stood up, and walked up to Marion. She dug into Marion's pocket, and pulled the gun out of her pocket. Once it was in her hand, she glared at Marion, and backhanded her across the face.
"Mom!" Mutt yelled, and lunged towards the woman. The dark haired man stepped up to him, and punched the boy in the gut before he made contact with the woman.
"Mutt!" Marion yelled, "Don't fight them!"
Mutt fell to the floor on all fours, and tried to catch his breath. Marion held up her hands, and tried to get the man's attention. "We're not going to fight, okay? We'll do whatever you say. You don't have to hurt us."
"Hurt them, and I'll never help you find the Seal." Indy said from the living room.
Everyone looked up to see Indy standing in the doorway with his hands in the air. Two more men were standing behind him with guns pointed in his direction. They'd confiscated Indy's gun, his whip, and Joseph's papers.
"I think you have that backwards Dr. Jones," the woman said. "Help us find the Seal, and we won't hurt them."
"You okay kid?" Indy asked Mutt.
Mutt gave him a curt nod, while trying not to vomit.
The three men, and the woman, conferred in Russian for a few moments. While they were talking, Indy and Marion shared a worried look.
The woman finally said, "Looks like we're all going on a nice little trip to Israel."
"Leave the kid here," Indy said. "He has nothing to do with this."
The woman squatted down in front of Mutt and brushed the back of her fingers against his cheek. "Not a chance Dr. Jones. Keeping this one will assure your compliance." She leaned in and whispered in the boy's ear. "And if it doesn't, I'll have the pleasure of making you whimper, Puppy."
He jerked away from her. She laughed and stood up. She gave a command in Russian, and one of the thugs pulled out a needle, and plunged it into Indy's neck. Indy fell to the ground.
"No!" Marion yelled. "What did you do?"
"Calm yourself Mrs. Jones. It's a sedative." The woman gestured towards Marion and Mutt, and each of them got a shot as well. Mutt's world went dark for the second time that night.
# # #
When Mutt woke up, his head felt fuzzy. He opened his eyes slowly, and tried to get the blurry images to focus.
"Mutt?" Indy's voice was right beside him.
"Dad?" Mutt turned to his left and could just make out his father's face.
"You okay?" Indy said.
"What happened?" He felt as though he couldn't wake up all the way.
"They drugged us. Remember? We were at Joseph's house, and then the Russians were there."
Mutt blinked a few times and looked at his surroundings. They were in a relatively small cargo airplane. There was rope around Mutt's chest, holding him upright against the bench seat that ran the length of one side of the airplane. His hands were tied together in his lap, and his ankles were tied together, with his feet resting on the floor. His father was sitting on his left, and when he turned to his right, he saw his mother. She was also tied to the bench, but her head was hanging low, and her head bobbed with each bump of the airplane.
"Mom?" He said, starting to panic. He looked back to Indy. "What's wrong with her?"
"Calm down, son, I'm sure it's just some kind of sedative. I've been awake for about twenty minutes now. If we all got the same dose, she'd be the last to wake up, because she has the smallest body mass."
On the verge of tears, Mutt said, "What if she doesn't?"
"She will." Indy said with conviction. "She can drink me under the table. She won't let a little sedative take her out for long. Don't you worry."
Wanting to believe that, Mutt nodded, and looked around. He saw a group of men with guns sitting on a bench along the other side of the airplane. And the woman who had ambushed him was sitting in the middle of the men, looking through the paperwork they'd taken from Joseph's house.
"We're on our way to Israel?" Mutt asked.
"Looks that way."
Feeling more awake now, Mutt said, "What's our escape plan?"
"None yet. We'll work with them until we find Joseph, the seal, or Ox."
"But…"
"No buts!" Indy winced at how sharp his tone had been, and eased up a little. "Listen kid, don't go trying to be a hero, especially while we're up in the air. We're outnumbered, and there's no place to run."
Mutt saw the truth in that, and reluctantly nodded.
Trying to lighten the mood, Indy said, "Looks like you're getting that adventure, like it or not."
"Guess so." After a short silence, Mutt said, "I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"For everything. Opening the letter, and going to Joseph's house. If it weren't for me, you probably wouldn't have even run into those guys." Mutt shifted on the bench, trying to relive some of the pressure off his butt.
"Ah kid, you've got it all wrong." Indy smiled despite the circumstances, "Look, I'm new at this parenting thing, so maybe I forgot this part earlier. After a punishment, the slate is wiped clean. I forgive you for opening the letter and going to Joseph's house. You shouldn't feel bad about it anymore."
Tentatively, Mutt said, "I do feel bad about it, but thanks for forgiving me. That means a lot."
Indy nudged his shoulder into Mutt's. "And you're not to blame for the danger we're in now."
Mutt scoffed. "How can you say that? Of course I'm to blame!"
"You didn't sedate me and put me on this plane, did you?"
"No but…"
Indy cut him off, "Then you're not to blame. Really I should be thanking you for getting me to Joseph's house so quickly. If I'd waited to leave until I got home from work, those Russians would have been gone, along with all the information Joseph had on the Seal."
Surprised at his father's view of things, Mutt smiled. "Well I guess it's good that we know where all the paperwork is at least."
"You bet it is. Now we just have to be patient until we land."
"Okay."
"Why don't you tell me what you know about the Seal of Solomon, and then I'll tell you what I know. That will pass the time while we wait for your mother to wake up."
Feeling much better, Mutt started telling his dad what he knew.
# # #
Half an hour later, Marion woke up, and a few minutes after that, the woman who had captured them walked over with a handful of paperwork. She stood in front of Indy and said, "Dr. Jones, we have two hours before we land in Israel. I'm going to untie your hands, so you can look through Mr. Marlow's paperwork." She held a knife up to show him, and then leaned in close to his face. "I want your word that you're not going to try anything stupid, because if you do, it will be these two…" She gestured with the knife to Marion and Mutt. "…who pay the price for your stupidity."
Indy glared, held his bound hands up towards her, and said, "You have my word."
She cut the rope off his wrists, and then handed him a stack of paperwork.
Mutt held up his hands and said, "I could help too."
She focused on Mutt, and smiled. Moving to stand in front of him, she leaned down, and rested her hands on his thighs just above his knees, with the knife handle pressed between her right hand and his left thigh. Getting a bad feeling, Mutt pressed his back up against the bench to get away from her. She put her mouth right up against his ear and said, "The puppy wants to help? That's sweet."
"Leave him alone," Indy and Marion said in unison.
The woman chuckled and leaned back so she could look Mutt in the eye. "Lucky puppy. You don't know how difficult it is for me to keep my knife and hands off you." She rubbed her hand up his thigh, and said, "I'd love to hear you yelp."
"Keep your hands off him, bitch!" Marion yelled, and struggled against her restraints.
"The name is, Marta," the younger woman said with a dismissive glare towards Marion.
Indy cleared his throat, held up the paperwork, and said to Marta, "If you're done, I'd like to get started on this."
Reluctantly, Marta stood up, and took her hands off Mutt. "Two hours Dr. Jones. I want to know where the Seal is."
Mutt sighed with relief when Marta turned and walked back to her side of the airplane.
For the next two hours, Indy looked through the paperwork with his family.
# # #
When they landed, the Russian men got up and started unloading the cargo plane, while Marta went to talk to Indy.
"Well Dr. Jones?"
Indy held up a piece of paper that had Joseph's writing on it. "Look at this."
She took the paper, and said, "These are Bible quotes referenced by book, chapter, and verse."
"Except they aren't."
She looked more closely at it, and Indy pointed to the numbers. "The quotes don't match the verses. I'd have to check, but I'm ninety percent sure that all these quotes are from Song of Solomon, but the side notes reference other books of the Bible."
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"It means I need a Bible, so I can cross reference. I need a pen and paper, and a place to spread the information out."
Marta handed the paper back to him, and called out to one of the men unloading the airplane. They spoke in Russian for a few minutes, before she turned back to her three captives. With a smile she said, "I'm going to untie all of you now. There's a truck waiting to transport all of us. If any of you give me the slightest hint of trouble, I'll sedate the puppy."
"My name is Mutt!" the boy hissed, annoyed with the demeaning nickname she'd apparently given him.
Indy put a hand on Mutt's shoulder, and squeezed it hard. He said to Marta, "We get it. None of us will give you any trouble."
She called to her men to untie them. While they were waiting, Indy turned to Mutt and said, "No heroics kid." He held up the paper with Joseph's notes. "I need to figure this out so we can find Joseph and Ox."
"I wasn't going to try anything!" the boy hissed.
"Good." Indy patted his shoulder before letting go.
An hour later, they were all in a house on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Marta had some food brought in for everyone, and set Indy up at a desk with a bible, Joseph's paperwork, and some blank paper. Indy lost himself in the research, blocking out everyone and everything around him while his mind went to work.
Mutt spent his time cataloging everything about the people holding them captive, to use against them when the time came to try and escape.
Marion watched her husband, and knew the instant Indy had it figured out. There was a specific expression the man always got when realization dawned, and she couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm for knowledge. While Indy was quickly cross-referencing things and checking his new insight against the documentation, Marion whispered to Mutt, "Stay sharp, it's almost time."
He stopped focusing on the men around him, and turned his attention to Indy.
While still looking at his papers, Indy said, "I've got it!"
Marta immediately went over to stand next to Indy. He pointed to Joseph's paper, and the paper he'd written notes on. He said, "Joseph thinks the Seal is buried at The Garden Tomb."
Marta scowled. "That can't be right."
"Well I didn't say he was right, I said that's what he thinks." Indy pointed to the paper and said, "It's not buried in the tomb itself, it's under the tomb. Look at this first quote from Solomon and then look at the quote from Exodus that the numbers reference."
Marta looked at the two quotes, and said, "I don't see what one has to do with the other."
"They both talk about things that are hidden from view. The next quotes are about things underground, the next two are about secrets, and so on down the list. Each pair of quotes match up in some way, and the numbers match too. The chapter and verse in Song of Solomon matches the numbers for the chapter and verse in each of the other books."
She looked at the quotes for several minutes. Indy pointed to one of the last quotes and said, "This here has to indicate the Garden Tomb. But if you don't think so, I'm happy to hear your theory."
"A stony face…" She slowly nodded in agreement and, turned to her men. She said something in Russian, and they rushed out to do her bidding.
Understanding bits of what she'd said, Indy scowled. "If you had him here this whole time, why the hell did you need me?"
"Because Joseph wouldn't talk, though I did enjoy trying to make him."
Getting an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, Indy looked at his family, and then towards the door. The men brought in Joseph and Oxley. Oxley was slightly roughed up, but Joseph couldn't even stand without help. He had obviously been tortured for days. His clothes were brown with his own dried blood, one eye was swollen completely shut, and there was a gaping wound on his left forearm that appeared to be infected.
Joseph whispered, "Indiana Jones?"
With a cruel smile, Marta said, "That's right Mr. Marlow. You didn't think I was going to give up just because you wouldn't talk did you? It took Dr. Jones all of two hours to figure out what you've been keeping from me for days."
Joseph closed the one eye that worked, and hung his head. He muttered, "Then all is lost."
Marta started to give her men some instructions in Russian, but Indy interrupted her with a shout. "No!"
She whirled on him and hissed, "What was that Dr. Jones?"
He held his hands up in surrender. "Don't be stupid, Marta. You can't take him to the tomb like that! It's a public place, and I don't know where the entrance to the tunnel is, so we may be wandering around for a while. Get a doctor to patch him up so he doesn't pass out on the way, and get him cleaned up so we don't attract attention to ourselves."
The woman considered this for a few seconds, and then said, "Clever of you Dr. Jones, but not clever enough. I will have him cleaned up, but you will not be using this time to consult with your friends and family." She called out new orders to her men. They hauled Joseph over to a chair, and dumped him in it. Then they grabbed Indy, tied his hands behind his back, and took him out of the room with them.
"Dad…" Mutt said nervously, and started to stand.
Marion grabbed her son's hand and pulled him back down, while Indy said, "It's fine kid. Just cooperate with them."
Once Indy was out of the room, Marion whispered to Mutt, "Joseph needs medical attention. Don't try anything right now."
Mutt clenched his jaw and forced himself to sit still.
# # #
A couple of hours later in the setting sun, Mutt stood in front of the Garden Tomb next to his friends, his family, and his enemies. A much more presentable Joseph stood on his own next to him, with the help of a crutch.
Marta had refused to let Indy anywhere near the rest of the captives during the truck ride over, and kept him by her side even now.
"Where do we start Dr. Jones?" Marta asked.
Indy pointed to the last two bible quotes and said, "These last two quotes talk about eyes, so we should start there." He pointed to the outcropping of stone that resembled a skull.
Marta nodded, and looked up at the sky. The evening was coming, and the tourists were thinning out. She spoke to her men, and they moved forward, leaving only Marta and one guard with the five captives in the parking lot. Marta said, "We'll wait for their signal."
Thinking this was the perfect opportunity for escape, Mutt tried to catch Indy's attention, but the older man was focused on his paperwork. He looked at his mother with an eyebrow raised. She shook her head no. He scowled at her and nodded, trying to get her to agree to an attempted escape.
When she still shook her head no, Mutt focused his attention on the guard. The older man had his gun pointed at Indy's stomach, but he was looking towards the tomb, and away from the group. Mutt saw his chance and took it. He kicked the man's gun hand, and while the gun clattered to the ground, Mutt tackled the man like a football player. The two tussled for a few seconds, both trying to get the upper hand on the other. They both heard a high pitched whistle and froze. Mutt turned towards the sound. Marta was pointing a gun at his head.
"Puppy," she said, "I don't find your antics cute. Be a good boy and heel, before I decide to put you to sleep for good."
"If you hurt him, I'll kill you." Indy said with a calm he didn't feel.
"If you don't want him hurt, you'd better keep him in line." Marta aimed her gun in Indy's direction, and yelled at the guard in Russian, prompting him to scramble to his feet and grab his gun off the ground.
"You okay kid?" Indy asked. He held out his hand, and helped Mutt to stand up.
Mutt took the hand, and got up. "Yeah, I'm okay."
Indy grabbed a fist full of Mutt's shirt, pulled him in close, and said, "What did I say about heroics?"
Glaring back at his father, Mutt said, "This was the perfect opportunity! If you'd pulled your eyes away from those papers for two seconds, you could have helped me! Then we'd be the ones holding the guns!"
Indy shook his head and said, "You need to keep your head down, and stop drawing attention to yourself until this is over." He pulled Mutt in and hissed in his ear, "If you attack them without my permission again, my hand will be having an unpleasant conversation with your butt. We find the Seal first, then we escape." He pushed the boy back towards his mother, and muttered, "Playing the hero can get you killed."
Marion put an arm around Mutt's waist in a side hug. Mutt's heart was racing. He'd been trying to help, and this was the thanks he got?
Silence settled on the group, and a few minutes later, one of Marta's men came back to the group wearing a security uniform for the Garden Tomb. He waved them forward, and the group walked across the parking lot, while a few tourists moved towards their cars, complaining that their visit to the tomb had been cut short.
While the parking lot cleared out, Marta made sure all the real guards were knocked out and tied up, so that her men could take their places, and keep the area secured.