CHAPTER
29
Excruciating desolation invaded every cell in my body. All I could do was stand there and stare in abject horror. How could I have made such a fatal blunder? How could I have so badly misinterpreted the biblical message literally carved in stone? Surely, the placement of the clues had been designed to guide the priests and others in harm’s way to safety. My usual boldness and rational thought slowly seeped from my soul leaving me a quaking mass of pathetic cowardice. I sobbed bitterly. Never had I felt so helpless, so hopeless and so miserable. And I’d done it all to myself. “Had to get that adrenaline rush, didn’t you?” I blubbered aloud. “You stupid, stupid i***t!” I wept until I couldn’t weep anymore.
It was only when I stopped sniveling in self-pity that I was
