“To a paradise with butterflies and flowers with glowing petals," Avi replied. "Finally, we come across some kind of life."
"Why are you so particular about any living thing down here?"
"Isn't it obvious that if nothing can survive here, then we can’t?"
"Oh."
They found Nima cowering a few meters ahead. She was shivering with fright and pleaded with them to forget about the mission and go back. Dean tried to assure her, but she insisted. After much explanation, Nima gathered the courage to continue the journey.
"We've been in here for an hour, and we've found not a speck of gold. Or are we on our way to some secret chamber filled with treasures?" Kash asked after a long silence.
"We're looking for an ancient dwelling that was once inhabited centuries ago. Some burial grounds of the ancient Slavs."
"Ha-ha, that sounds spooky, but who goes through all that trouble just to find some ancient ruins? It's not like we're archeologists or cave robbers," Kash argued.
"We're searching for something more than gold."
"I get it. Old clay utensils and tools you can sell as artifacts to some museum for some cool cash. It beats me why a bunch of dumb folks go on excursions to see stuff like that. Why can't they make some and keep it in their kitchens?"
"Well, not everyone is out of touch with ancient civilization like you are. I guess you'd like some bunch of dumb folks to study you centuries from now, huh?" Avi said.
"Oh yeah, you're stroking my ego, and I like that," Kash gloated.
Nima rolled her eyes and quickened her pace to catch up with Boris. She hated Avi with every second that passed by.
"This place is getting creepy by the minute," Avi said. “I feel like someone's watching us."
"Probably the guardians of the cave. They must be a group of extreme introverts who hated the world, and now they're staring down at some intruders who could've simply minded their business and stayed on the surface of some solid ground."
"Wow, you sound so angry, Nima. Are you still mad about almost tripping over a snake? You seem too jittery for a marine."
Nima sized up Avi and yelled in her face, "Shut up, Avi! Shut your trap. Lockpicker."
“Locksmith, you dummy."
"Ladies, we've got a mission. Quit the squabbling."
Avi and Nima kept their distance and refused to talk to each other or respond to Kash's jokes. Dean needed them to work as a team, but when all effort to get them to join the conversation proved futile, he resorted to simply passing instructions and answering Kash's endless questions.
Boris was silent for a greater part of the journey. He seemed preoccupied with finding the best paths through the cave. They had been walking for half an hour without any spectacular incident when they came upon some strange structure built into the wall of the cave. It was as large as an average window and looked out of place.
Dean drew closer to get a better look at it but was hesitant about touching it.
"This could be a clue to what we're looking for," he said as he peered closer.
"It looks like some gold-bearing veins," Nima said. “Or it could lead to something promising."
"I wouldn't touch it if you asked me," Avi said as she moved away from the structure.
"Chicken," Nima retorted.
Boris took out a foldable hiking pole from his backpack and prodded the mass on the wall.
“I can't see where it leads to, and I don't think it will be a good idea to cut it up."
"Wait a minute, do you guys hear something?" Avi asked.
"No. It's easy to imagine you're hearing or seeing things in a place like this," Kash laughed.
"I'm not hearing things. There's a buzz coming from somewhere," Avi insisted.
“I think you should have some water and rest for a while."
"Ouch!" Nima yelled. “Something stung me. Everybody stay calm."
"I don't think Avi was hallucinating. I hear buzzing too. Something's not right here," Kash flashed his torchlight around the cave walls.
"I'm stung!" Kash cried.
"I think I hear bees now," Dean agreed. "Whatever happens, everyone stays calm and do not move. Don't flap, don’t swat."
"I don't think so!" Kash yelled before he bolted.
A swarm of angry bees attacked them without warning.
Nima crouched and pulled her jacket over her head to protect her face and neck.
Avi screamed and flapped her arms wildly as the bees mercilessly stung her face, arms, and neck. They clung to her like a mailcoat.
Kash tried to calm down and leaned against the wall to avoid the bees, but they unleashed their vengeance on him without restraint.
The swarm moved away when they had their fill on the intruders whom they left none the worse for their condition.
Dean had only swollen hands. He had covered himself with his backpack, leaving his hands exposed to the onslaught. Boris fared slightly better with only a few stings on his neck while cash was hurdled in a corner screaming in pain.
Nima hurried over to him and began to pull out the stingers with tweezers before giving him first aid.
Avi's face was badly swollen, she could hardly open her eyes, and she staggered as she tried to take a few steps. She was dizzy and nauseous.
Dean caught her before she could fall to the ground.
"Nima, could you come over here, please? I think she's had it bad."
"It's nothing. She'll snap out of it," she replied as she put some ointment on Kash's arm.
15
Chapter Fifteen
Boston, MA
May 2019
This serenity was what Howard needed but still loathed most. His mind wandered over a dozen possibilities and flirted with the dream of his lofty but not so far-fetched future. He crossed and uncrossed his legs several times as he mulled over his plans, smiling at himself and nodding in agreement with his indestructible ego.
He suddenly got up from his seat; there would be enough time to scheme later. Howard made for his safe and pulled out a small leather briefcase. He placed it on the table beside him and poured himself a drink from the decanter on the table. Howard stared at the briefcase while he sipped his drink. It was one of his priciest collections and what it contained was next to gold for him.
A very tiny light flashed close to the lock on the briefcase. It was so tiny; the flash could easily go undetected even by the most observant eyes. Howard gulped the remaining drink and pulled the briefcase closer. He keyed in the combination and opened it to reveal an empty compartment.
Howard smiled mischievously; there was something about the empty briefcase that intrigued him. He never ceased to appreciate the amount of ingenuity that went into fooling whoever had the dead luck of stumbling into something so important yet useless. He felt around the briefcase for a small joystick he always used for getting things started. Howard’s face contorted into a deep frown when he could not find it.
It was always the case every time he had to use this briefcase. Although he was a sucker for the masterpiece, he found it rather annoying for his impatient curiosity whenever he had to search several minutes before he found the joystick. He had thought practicing concealment before an emergency arose would help him get the hang of things. Howard felt along the spine of the briefcase until he found a small ridge that was a little unusual. He pulled out the joystick and inserted the tip into a small hole on the side of the briefcase.
Another lid slowly opened to reveal a screen and a keyboard. It was so sleek it would make any nerd drool. The bracelet on Miles’s arm was armed with a geolocator that sent back real-time reports of the wearer’s location, health status, and rate of metabolism to his computer.
Howard wasn’t a nerd, but he knew how to get value for his money. The screen came on, and a radar appeared showing the tiniest pulse of movement from a target.
There was no indication of any progressive movement like Howard had expected. It was unlikely that his detector had developed a fault
, and if it did, it spelled trouble for whoever was in charge of fixing the device.
Howard tapped away angrily on the keyboard, but there was still no sign of any movement. He poured himself another drink and swallowed it in one gulp. On a closer look, Howard noticed it had been several hours since the last activity was recorded. He had expected one or two pranks from Miles, but he had not bet that Miles could totally remove the bracelet from his arm.
The lapse had gone undetected because Howard could trust no other person to keep an eye on Miles. More so, he did not want anyone near his device. He had to find Miles at all costs and get him. Howard went through the previous records on Miles's movement, noting the time stamp and the length of time he spent in each place.
Howard noticed the bracelet was deactivated somewhere in Yamatau Mountains, where Miles had wandered off to.
_______
Very little bars operated during daytime on the north side of Boston. Dani Hargreaves worked a three-hour shift at one of these bars and another two hours at a strip club. With her new boyfriend constantly running into debts, she even had a hard time coming up with her half of the rent for their three-bedroom apartment.
Her manager was a bit considerate, letting her choose any three hours that fit her schedule. She came to work on a fateful Tuesday morning by noon, hoping to close before 2 p.m. because it was her daughter’s birthday, and she wanted to take her out for a treat and be back before 8 p.m. for her nightly routine.
The picture of her daughter that she posted that morning had generated several reactions from friends and family. When she wasn’t serving drinks, she was on her social media account, responding to comments. Plus, every thirty minutes, she would look at her wristwatch, waiting for the slow, analog hand to align with her anxiety.
The manager wasn’t going to come until evening. Two of Dani’s colleagues were willing to cover for the one-hour deficit. Work was going smoothly until one middle-aged man swung by for a drink. There were twenty more minutes before Dani would call it a day at the cocktail lounge bar.
“Have one for yourself. It’s on me.” It was the second time the man would offer Dani a drink.
“Thank you, but as I said, we don’t drink on the job. It’s the policy here.”
“Too bad.” The man turned his attention to his phone for a while. He looked responsible in his lovely sky-blue shirt tucked into black pants. He was clean-shaven too, and if he wasn’t at the bar at that time of day, he could easily be mistaken for a banker. On a typical day, he could stand a chance, but the green marking on his ring finger could be misunderstood.
Even if Dani was interested, the moment the man lit a cigarette, his chances diminished to zero. He stared at Dani and leaned on the table as if he wanted to say something. Dani checked her wristwatch for the final time and immediately put her phone inside her bag. There were still more minutes left. She handed it over to one of her colleagues and hurried out of the bar. She liked taking the back door because of the restroom.
She emerged from the balcony. While applying mild lipstick and looking at her phone's front camera, she almost collided with the man in the sky-blue shirt. He must have rushed the rest of his drink.
“Oh, my bad. Sorry, can I ask your name?”
Dani picked up her phone that fell. “Do you always ask the name of every bartender you meet?”
The man chuckled. “Pretty and funny. I like that in a lady,” he said, intercepting Dani as she tried to leave. “Since you’re in a hurry, can I at least get your number?”
“No. And you’re right. I’m in a hurry.” Dani tried to walk away, but he still got in the way. “What are you doing?”
“Listen, I really need that number.”
“You can’t have my number, sir. Now, get out of my way!”
The man was persistent. It began to get rough when he held Dani by the hand. She tried to wriggle out of his firm grip while she beckoned on passersby for help.
A younger man in a polo shirt and a hat quickly stepped in. “What’s the problem? Why are you holding her like that?”
“Mind your fucking business.”
The man in the sky-blue shirt lost every atom of respect that Dani had for him the moment he said that. Dani slapped him and pulled her hand free. When the man tried to retaliate, the younger fellow got in the middle.
“What is wrong with you? Have you no shame?”
Finally, the older man backed off. Dani thanked the guy for his timely intervention.
“It’s alright, ma’am.” He went over to a Lamborghini parked by the side of the road, and when he opened the door, he noticed that Dani was waiting for a cab.
“Hey, where are you headed? Let me see if I can give you a lift to avoid another confrontation with that psycho.”
Dani shook her head slightly, but somehow, her body yielded toward comfort. “I’m headed toward West End.”
“Alright, I’m going to Beacon Hill, so I can drop you off.”
“Thanks, a lot. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Stop it. It’s nothing.” The car door slid open with the touch of a button and slowly closed after Dani had entered. Dani took out her phone from her handbag and bent her head to pretend to look at it for the first few seconds until the guy broke the silence by commenting about the man in the sky-blue shirt. Dani highlighted the short episode up until the point of his intervention. They kept to a moderate speed limit as the conversation gradually shifted to their interests and past relationships. They discovered that they had a lot of things in common. They enjoyed their company in the short ride that no one even bothered to check or comment on the BMW that had been tailing them for a while. Dani accidentally turned on the screen of her phone and saw the picture of her daughter.
“Oh, my God!” Dani gasped.
The guy turned with a look of concern. Dani had forgotten to pick up her daughter from school. They had to drive back. The school was forty kilometers from the place they met. The guy was kind enough to pull up and wait as Dani went in to get her daughter.
A moment later, a little girl with brown hair trotted onto the walkway while Dani talked to another parent on the school premises.
The same BMW that had been tailing them moved in, blocking the Lamborghini. The man in the sky-blue shirt came out, and without hesitation, he snatched the little girl and pushed her into the backseat of his car. He got behind his wheel before the man in the Lamborghini or Dani could get close to the vehicle. It happened so fast that those that witnessed it from the school premises looked on helplessly.
“Hey! Call the police! I’ll be in pursuit.”
The Lambo guy zoomed after the BMW. Some minutes later, the police found the BMW parked by the side of the road.
The Lamborghini arrived at a warehouse in the south of Boston. The guy in the sky-blue shirt came out with the little girl. The same guy that had given Dani a lift was part of the plan, after all.
Modric, Howard’s driver, bagged up the body of one of the persons that worked for him. The man in the blue shirt was kind enough not to let the little one see it.
“Are you going to stand there all day?”
A guy in a polo shirt quickly moved in to clean up the bloodstains on the floor with a piece of rag.
“Take a picture of her,” Modric said, handing his phone to the man in the sky-blue shirt. That task was a little uneasy because the kid sprawled on the floor, crying and kicking aimlessly. They had to tape her mouth to keep her quiet.
16
Chapter Sixteen
Yamantau, Russia
May 2019
The venom spread quickly through Avi’s body as her skin turned pale and flushed. Her eyes were swollen shut, and she could barely make out what was going on around her. Dean was doing his best to remove as many stingers as possible, but the more he pulled out, the worse she got. Her breathing came in rasps, and he called out to Nima in alarm.
“I think we could do with some help here. You are not going to let a squabble get in the way
of logic, are you?”
Nima shot him a deadly look before replying coolly, “Kash here needs my attention.”
“Oh, come on, I feel better already. Go and treat Avi. If left unchecked, she could have anaphylaxis.”
Nima regarded Kash with amusement on her face. “I see someone knows his list of allergies. Well, she’s only got hives. It will go away on its own in a few minutes.”
She tried to stifle a chuckle when she turned to look at Avi’s face.
“What on earth are you laughing at, huh? Does that look like a caricature to you?” Kash asked.
She smirked. “Nope, but those cheeks are as swollen as a happy cherub’s.”
“You’re despicable. I don’t think I need your hands anymore. She’s the one in a worse state.”
Nima rolled her eyes and skulked away. She refused to touch Avi or tell the others what to do.
Avi gagged, and Dean quickly rolled her over to her side so she could throw up without choking on her vomit.
“Nima, do something; she’s losing consciousness!” Dean pleaded.
Boris, who was using a penknife to scratch his bite spots, screamed out in terror, “Oh no, she’s turning pale!”
Kash was by Avi’s side in a flash, performing CPR on her.
“Hey Avi, come on. We can do this. Boris, get me some of that stuff Nima’s been using on me. Dean, open her mouth so we can drop some liquid stuff into it.”
“Hey,” Nima protested, “you aren’t trained to do that, and you have no idea about the adverse effects of drugs or if she needs any medication at all.”
“You are the one who doesn’t need to be a medic. Now hand over that bag.”
“Oh yeah, like you’d make me do it,” Nima snapped.
Kash walked up to her with a cold look on his face. She stepped back a little as he approached her.
“I know you are a trained combatant, but I’ll knock your ass sky high if I have to do it to save a life. And while I’m at it, I’ll knock a few unsettled cookies into place in that silly skull of yours. Where’s your team spirit? Obviously, it drowned in the underwater tunnel. Now give me that bag.”
Hunt for the Lost Sanctum Page 11
