by L C Hayden
As though reading her thoughts, Daniel groaned and twitched.
Pablo approached. “Like perfect timing, man. He’s coming to.”
Sandy took a step backward, placed her hand in her pants pocket, and wrapped her palm around the rock.
Pablo froze, straightened, and faced Sandy.
Daniel squirmed, his legs brushing against Pablo’s.
Pablo looked down at Daniel, and Sandy grabbed that second to throw the rock. She aimed for the center of his face.
Pablo let out a small pathetic laugh, mocking her efforts. He shifted to his right but not fast enough.
The rock and his temple made impact. Pablo let out a loud whoop. The firearm he had held tumbled to the ground. Moving with robot-like gestures, he wiped the blood that trickled down from his temple. His eyes burned with hatred. He dashed toward Sandy, knocking her down.
She yelped as her head hit the ground. Pablo landed on top of her and wasted no time in straddling her.
Daniel grabbed the rock in his pocket. His arm shook as he raised it an inch. Two inches. He dropped the rock. His hand, like a spider on the move, searched for the rock. He squinted to focus. He saw…
The gun.
A lump not far from him. That had to be it. Daniel squirmed and inched his way closer to the weapon, his outstretched arm reaching for it. His body screamed with pain, and his eyes widened. He took a deep breath and inched closer to the Walther.
* * *
Pablo wrapped his hands around Sandy’s throat and squeezed.
Her eyes widened as she gasped for air.
Pablo’s face lit up. He squeezed tighter.
Sandy kicked her legs. She thrashed her arms. She formed fists and pounded them on her attacker’s back. That did nothing to stop him. She felt life’s sweet line slipping away and welcomed the grayness that ascended on her.
Then her air returned to her.
Sweet air. Fresh air.
Each breath she took filled her lungs with life-giving air. She ached all over, but she knew she was going to be fine. She wiggled to a sitting position, her mind trying to complete the puzzle as to what had happened.
Pablo lay next to her, his body crumbled like a discarded raggedy doll.
Four yards away, Daniel, now sitting, smiled at her as he stretched his arms in an open invitation.
Between them, Bronson stood looking down at them, his hand still grasping the gun he had used to hit Pablo on the back of the head.
Chapter 47
“Uncle Harry! I knew you would come.” Sandy glanced at Daniel. “How is he?”
“He’s taken a real bad beating, but otherwise, he’ll be fine.” Bronson knelt beside his nephew and examined him for broken bones or other medical emergencies. “Of course, I’m no doctor.” He smiled at the memory of him thinking he had medical knowledge while he still suffered from amnesia. “So as soon as we get back to Colorado Springs, I’m taking you to an emergency clinic and gettin you checked.”
“No need…for that.” Daniel attempted to get up and stumbled.
Bronson reached out and steadied him. “Whoa, there, superhero. Stay down until your vision and mind have cleared.”
Daniel sat back down and held his head in his hands. Sandy rushed to him and held him in her arms.
Bronson checked the discarded gun, pocketed it, and dragged the still unconscious Pablo by his arms toward the tree that had once held Sandy captive. Using the same rope that Pablo had used on Sandy, Bronson tied him. Before walking away, he checked the knots to make sure they wouldn’t come loose.
“Now what?” Although Daniel’s face wore the evidence of a bad beating, he seemed to be a bit more in control of his actions.
Bronson looked away. A large chunk of the puzzle remained unsolved. Someone had provided him with essential information. He strained to focus on the thought that was a distant shadow on the horizon. Someone—like who?
“Uncle Bronson?”
He forced his mind back to the present. At least he remembered why they had come to this place. “Now we can retrieve The Ledger.”
Daniel and Sandy exchanged looks. “How do you suggest we do that?”
Bronson walked away from them and stared at the waterfall. He studied the top where the water dropped some twenty feet to a pool of water. He analyzed the lake. Nothing interesting there. His eyes traveled up the waterfall, finally landing on the right side, then the left. White spray like flung rice bounced all along the area where the cascading water impacted with the otherwise peaceful water. He focused his attention on the spray, his sight traveling from one side of the falls to the other. He nodded as though answering a question he hadn’t asked.
“Uncle Harry?” Daniel, with Sandy’s help, had walked up to his uncle and stood by him. “What are you doing?”
Bronson indicated the waterfall with a single nod of his head. “It’s there, you know.”
Daniel tried to follow Bronson’s eye view. “What is? The Ledger?”
Bronson nodded.
“How do you know?” Sandy asked.
“The answer is in the letter you found. It’s also in the legends you hear.”
A moment of silence followed, then, “The Heart of the Land.” Sandy’s voice barely came above a whisper.
“The water!” Daniel finished for her. “That’s the Heart of the Land. It’s in the water. But where?” Daniel eyed the river as far as he could see.
Bronson turned to face them. “You’re thinking along the right lines, but expand your thoughts a bit further. If the water is the Heart of the Land, what is the heart of the water?”
Daniel’s eyebrows came together. He glanced at Sandy and both shouted out at the same time, “The falls.”
“Precisely.”
“But how is that possible?” Sandy asked.
“Have either of you ever been to Niagara Falls?”
Both shook their heads.
“There are several ways to view this masterpiece of nature. You can stand on a platform and see the falls from above. There’s another one, to view it from below. But the best way to view them is from behind.”
“I don’t follow you,” Sandy said.
“A tunnel, I believe, leads the tourists behind the falls and they can actually see the falls from behind.”
Daniel and Sandy remained quiet as though digesting what Bronson had told them. “Are you trying to say that maybe there’s a cave behind the falls?”
“I believe the possibility exists.”
“Wow! That’s mind-boggling.” Sandy held her cheeks in her opened hands. “But it all makes sense.”
“What do you suggest we do?” Daniel asked.
Bronson analyzed the movement of the water. If they walked down the incline to their left, they could enter the water from a safe spot. “Anybody up for a swim?”
“You’re kidding.” Daniel eyed his uncle as though he had grown an extra arm.
“You.” Bronson pointed to his nephew. “Are goin’ to stay here and guard our shoes and Pablo. Keep your eyes peeled. Aunt Bobbi and the one they called ‘the boss’ are still out there somewhere. If they show up, not that I think they will, you’re to shoot to kill, and then ask questions.” He handed Daniel the gun. “Do you know how to use one of these?”
Daniel looked down and shook his head.
“No problem. You have had plenty of other things that keep you busy. Come on, I’m goin’ to give you an abridged, fast lesson.”
When he finished, he turned to Sandy. “Ready?”
Her eyes widened, and she bit her lip. “This is it.” She threw Daniel a kiss.
“I’ll take that kiss once you’re ready to get in the water.”
“I thought Uncle Bronson told you to stay.”
“I’m staying behind to guard your precious cousin. But right now, he’s out and from the looks of things, he’ll be out for a long time. I’ll walk with both of you and watch you swim away. Then I’ll head back to my duty station.” He looked at his uncle. �
�Would that be okay?”
Bronson shrugged. “Can’t hurt, I suppose. Just watch your step.” He led the way, and the threesome walked down the hill and toward the slow-moving water.
Chapter 48
A relentless chill seeped into Bronson’s bones as soon as he set foot in the water. He shrugged the feeling off and chose to focus on the possibility of recovering this luring treasure. The thought thrilled him.
He offered Sandy his hand. “Be careful when you step in. The rocks under our feet tend to make this a bit slippery.”
Sandy kissed Daniel’s lips, removed her shoes, set them down next to Bronson’s, and used slow, deliberate movements to get in. When her lower extremities touched the water, she let out a cry of shock. “Ahh, it’s cold.”
“My thoughts, too, but we don’t have a choice.”
Sandy smiled. “You have a choice. I don’t.”
“The way I see it, we’re a team.”
Sandy’s smile reached all the way to her ears. “Thanks, Uncle Harry.” She eyed the falls. “The water up there looks quite turbulent. Do you think we’ll have the strength to swim against the current and reach the other side?”
“It’ll take a strong swimmer. I used to be one, but I’ve aged since then, and I haven’t done much swimming lately. But yeah, I’m confident I can do it. What about you? Are you a strong swimmer?”
“Best in my class.”
“Good. In that case, let’s go.”
“What do we do? Head for the falls and try to swim to the other side?”
“I think a better way exists. Look at the water on the left-hand side of the falls.”
Sandy did.
“Now look at it on the right-hand side. Do you see any difference?”
Sandy’s sight traveled from one spot to the other and back again. “I see what you mean. The one on the right seems to be a bit calmer. I would have never noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out.”
“I may be wrong, but I think that’s an indication of land. Something is breaking the fall.”
“So that’s where we’re heading?”
“That’s where we’re headin’.” Bronson moved away from the shore. “I have no idea how deep this part of the lake is, but I think it might not be that deep. This should be a breeze.”
Halfway there, the water level was up to their chests. “I think it would be safer if we stop walkin’ and we start swimmin’. It’s gettin’ to be a bit too slippery.”
“I was going to suggest that.” Sandy glanced back at Daniel who stood on the shore. They waved to each other, and Sandy began swimming. She looked over her shoulder at Bronson. “Coming?”
Bronson nodded and followed Sandy.
Both swam with no problem until they neared the falls. For every two feet they gained, the water pushed them back one foot. Bronson’s muscles tensed as he strained to reach the bottom of the falls. His numbed senses told him to give up, but still, his hands curved like claws clutched the water in futility. He could do this.
His heart drummed like the flight of a startled bird, and his fingertips trembled with excitement. Every muscle in his body screamed, Stop. Still, he pushed forward, an inch. Two inches. Only to be pushed back.
He pulled back and ordered Sandy to do so, too. For a moment, she ignored him as she continued her fruitless push forward.
An involuntary tremor ignited deep within Bronson as he prepared himself to pull Sandy away from the jaws of the waterfall. She glanced at him, her eyes glazed. She gave it one last effort, and then extended her arm out.
Bronson grabbed it and pulled her toward him.
She gasped for air. “I didn’t think it was going to be this hard. But we can’t give up. We just can’t.”
“We’ll rethink this.” Bronson took deep breaths, forcing his muscles to relax.
Sandy nodded and glared at the falls.
“That’s not goin’ to help any.”
“What?”
“Silently cussin’ the falls.”
Sandy smiled. “I know. It’s just that I’m so frustrated. Are we giving up?”
Bronson remained silent, studying the falls.
“Uncle Harry?”
No answer.
“Uncle Harry!”
Startled, Bronson shook himself. “Uh, no, sorry. I was just thinkin’. I’m goin’ to go check somethin’ out. You stay here where it’s safe. I’ll be right back.” He heard her call out his name, but by then, he had already pushed himself under water.
In there, under the falls and to the right, the water’s turmoil eased. Bronson could easily swim. He swam from one side to the other, desperately hoping to find the key to the puzzle. Then he spotted it. A small tunnel possibly leading to the other side of the falls called his name. He immediately headed that way.
The passage was wide enough for him to swim through, and although the tunnel seemed to be just a few yards long, he had to give up. He was running out of air, and he wasn’t sure if the tunnel offered any threat. He surfaced and filled his lungs with fresh air. He’d forgotten how good it felt to breathe.
He turned to face Sandy who treaded water as she watched for him to resurface.
He gave her the okay sign and moved his opened hand back and forth, telling her to wait. No way would he allow her here until he knew what he faced.
He took a deep breath and dove.
Chapter 49
Pablo stared first at Aunt Bobbi then at his best friend, Eddie. What the heck was he doing here? Not that it mattered. In fact, good thing he had shown up. That’s probably the only reason he was still alive. Had Aunt Bobbi been here by herself, she would have probably skinned him alive.
He looked past Eddie and focused on Aunt Bobbi. “Like man, cut me loose, okay? I swear. I’m gonna get those—” Pablo stopped. He knew Aunt Bobbi didn’t appreciate cursing. No use to—oops! He was going to use a bad word again, but even if it was only in his mind, she could probably hear it. So, no use to upset her even more than she already was. “I’m gonna find my cousin and her boyfriend and bring them back to you.”
Bobbi’s eyes examined him with the unmistakable gaze of a judge who was deciding if she should convict or save the criminal. “I should have known better than to trust you.” Bobbi’s jaw’s stiffened.
“Man, it’s not my fault! They tricked me.” Pablo jiggled his arms. “Now cut me loose.” The anger in Aunt Bobbi’s eyes scared him. If she told Papa Lazzarone what he’d done— Somehow he had to get in her good grace again. “Please.”
Aunt Bobbi took several steps forward so that she hovered over Pablo. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Pablo brought Bobbi up to speed and shrugged as though none of this was his fault. “So I’m untying her, right? Then that—her boyfriend, I mean, he come from behind me and knocks the lights out of me. They tied me and took off. I like passed out.” He looked at Eddie. “Tell her to untie me, okay?”
Eddie made no move to help. Instead, he looked away from him and focused on Bobbi. “Do you want me to go find them?”
Bobbi shook her head. “They are most likely long gone. They probably went to get the police. We better get out of here while we still can.” She stared at Pablo.
He squirmed. Man, if looks could kill…
“Cut him loose.”
* * *
Because they mostly ran down the hill, it took them less than fifteen minutes to reach the town. Now, if they hurried, the car was less than a ten-minute walk. Bobbi felt thankful that she had had the foresight to park the car on the outskirts of town where it couldn’t be seen. If the sheriff came, they could still head out of town.
As they walked the empty streets, Eddie paused. “Did you hear that?”
Bobbi stopped. She tilted her head, focusing on the muffled cry. “Sounds like someone’s in trouble.”
“It’s coming from that shack.” Eddie pointed to one of the few remaining structures that still stood. He retrieved his firearm and held it in his hand. “I’ll go check i
t out. You stay here.”
Before she could respond, Eddie took off. Bobbi considered stopping him. Could she really trust him? But she had heard the moan. Eddie hadn’t faked that. Still, she’d be prepared. “Let’s wait for Eddie in the shade of those ruins.” From there, she’d be able to watch for Eddie.
“That’s cool.” Pablo followed her.
They had barely reached their destination when Bobbi saw the door to the shack swing open. Eddie stepped out, followed by Leonardo. Bobbi left her hiding place and headed their way.
“Guess who I found tied up in there?” Eddie said once they were within listening range.
“I’m glad to see you and glad you’re okay.”
Leonardo hugged his aunt. “For a moment, I thought I wasn’t going to make it, but I guess that’s not Bronson’s style.”
Bobbi gasped as her eyes widened. “Bronson? It can’t be. He’s dead.”
“Or so we thought.” Leonardo released Bobbi, and all resumed their journey toward the car.
“Didn’t you tell me he was dead?” Bobbi asked.
“I never checked on him.” Leonardo looked straight at her to let her know he wasn’t lying.
Bobbi turned to Pablo.
He threw his arms up in surrender. “Don’t look at me. I never said that dude was dead.”
“Then who did?” Bobbi narrowed her eyes as though trying to see inside her head. “Daniel! Daniel was the one who said Bronson was dead.”
Leonardo nodded. “That’s right.”
“Did it ever occur to either one of you to check on something so important?”
Leonardo straightened up, making himself look bigger. “No offense, Aunt Bobbi. But it didn’t occur to you either.”
Bobbi ignored him and kept walking.
“So, what now?” Eddie asked.
“Now we let Bronson know he didn’t win.”
“Like wow, I like that, man. But how do we do that?”
“We can leave him a note under his windshield wiper. While I was wandering around the place, I came upon his car.” Eddie reached into the side pant pocket of his khakis, unzipped it, took out a writing pad and a pen, and handed them to Bobbi.
