The Prisoner's Gold (The Hunters 3)

by Chris Kuzneski

  The top of the massive column of rock had been terraced centuries ago, the natural stone slopes replaced with a series of level areas of various heights and sizes. Each level had several staircases connecting it to the flat lawns, stone foundations, or shallow pools of the surrounding areas. Everywhere he looked Cobb could see reddish-brown bricks standing out against the grass and other creeping greenery that threatened to conceal the ruins. It reminded Cobb of photos he had seen of Machu Picchu in Peru.

  McNutt stared at the murky brown water of the nearest pool, and at the dirty brown mutt basking in the sun at the water’s edge. Despite its filth, the dog looked well fed and content. It certainly had far less concern for them than the men did for it.

  ‘Will you look at that,’ McNutt said. ‘Snoopy looks perfectly at home up here.’ He glanced back at the narrow staircase they had just climbed. ‘Then again, maybe he’s just making the most of a bad situation. That rickety fire escape is scary as hell.’

  Cobb glanced at the dog. ‘I highly doubt that he’s stuck here. I bet he comes up here every day for handouts from tourists.’

  McNutt grinned. ‘I would, too, if people kept feeding me.’

  Cobb smiled and pulled out his phone. He pressed a few buttons and brought up the image of the floor plan that Garcia had loaded into the device. He glanced back and forth between the blueprint on the screen and the landscape in front of him, trying to picture the buildings that once stood on the grounds. In his mind, he could see the lavish palace and the impenetrable ramparts, the stone courtyards and the exquisite gardens.

  In reality, all that remained was little more than rubble.

  ‘Where’s the hidden room supposed to be?’ McNutt asked.

  Cobb oriented the image on the phone to match the landmarks in front of him, hoping it would give them a clearer picture of where to search. Cobb pointed up ahead. ‘I think it’s that way. Does that sound right to you, Hector?’

  ‘I agree,’ Garcia said in his ear. ‘The palace was located on the highest ground.’

  Thanks to the conveniences of technology, Garcia didn’t need to make the climb to see the plateau. Instead, he and Maggie were watching Cobb and McNutt’s video feeds from their hi-tech sunglasses. Garcia couldn’t actually see the others atop the monument from the safety of the nearby Hotel Sigiriya – the distance was simply too far – but the unobstructed view gave their comms a clear path of transmission. Even though the devices had already proven that they could send and receive signals through several feet of solid rock, this wasn’t the time to take unnecessary chances.

  Not when they were so close to solving the mystery.

  Not with Polo’s treasure within their grasp.

  They walked forward, traversing multiple levels on cracked stone stairs while avoiding a large retention pool in the center of the plateau. When they finally arrived at their destination, they were dripping in sweat from their long climb and the thick humidity. They took a moment to catch their breath and to enjoy the 360-degree vista of the surrounding terrain.

  ‘I can see why he chose this place,’ McNutt said.

  ‘Polo?’ Cobb asked.

  ‘No, the king!’ McNutt turned and imagined his personal kingdom. ‘Got my palace here. My swimming pool there. And my naked ladies down below. What else would I need?’

  ‘Electricity … Plumbing … Cable TV.’

  ‘TV?’ McNutt burst out laughing. ‘Chief, I rarely have the opportunity to give you advice, but this is one of those times. If you have a harem, you don’t need a TV.’

  Cobb grinned. ‘I’ll try to remember that.’

  ‘Trust me, you’ll thank me later.’

  ‘In the meantime, do you mind if we look for the treasure?’

  McNutt shook his head. ‘Just tell me what to do.’

  Cobb walked along the edge of a low brown wall about two feet in height. He looked down at the bricks and wondered. Senanayake had confided in them that despite the site being a World Heritage location, restoration work had actually involved moving some of the bricks from one of the mostly ruined areas to another that was mostly intact. It was unthinkable from an archeological point of view, but it made perfect sense taken within the context of tourism.

  Cobb’s realization that damage had already been done to the site by the organization that was supposed to protect it eased his guilt considerably. He knew that they would have to damage some walls to look for the hidden room, but he also knew if they located Polo’s treasure that the local government would make millions and the site would be inundated with tourists.

  Still, he would do his best to limit damage.

  ‘Hector,’ Cobb said, ‘I think we walked up too high. Based on this diagram, we have to go down a few levels to access the secret room.’

  Garcia stared at the map on his screen. ‘I tend to agree. The palace started at the top but sprawled down over multiple levels. You need to go a hundred feet south or so. You can access that area by taking the steps on your right.’

  They followed his directions and climbed down two levels of stone steps to a grassy area below. They walked around in the flat space, peering at the brick walls on three sides of them. It wasn’t an area most people bothered with; Cobb could tell from the overgrown grass, and the path behind him that ran parallel to the wall. People would walk down to this level and skirt around the base of the terrace, but they were on their way to or from the steps on either end of the stretch of grass.

  Where Cobb and McNutt were standing, there was really nothing to see but the blocks of the wall in front of them. For some reason, the wall wasn’t straight. It was canted in slightly, like the walls of the Potala. Upon closer inspection, Cobb realized that loose soil filled the spaces in between the stones instead of mortar. The wall stood simply because of the way the stones had been stacked, with gravity doing most of the work.

  Cobb reached forward and pressed his palms against the rock. He felt the rough surface on his fingertips and tried to picture what the angled wall was protecting.

  ‘Uh, chief? Do you two want to be left alone?’

  Cobb ignored the comment. ‘I think we’re going to have to dig.’

  ‘We’re gonna need some shovels and picks then. Unless, of course, you give me permission to blow the wall. But, you know, not in a sexual way.’

  Cobb pushed his fingers into the loose dirt around the nearest stone until he could grasp the brick with his hand. He wiggled it back and forth, his movements no more than an inch at first. Ever so slowly, he pulled the block free as soil spilled from the wall. He carefully set it in the grass at his feet, as if the brick was a part of the treasure itself.

  ‘It’s reinforced,’ Cobb said. ‘There’s another wall inside the outer shell.’

  Cobb stepped away and McNutt moved closer to see for himself. True to Cobb’s word, he saw a second layer of stonework on the other side of the first. The good news was that the layers would work in tandem, supporting each other as the men removed enough stones to pass through the wall. The bad news was that there was no way to pull the larger inner bricks out. McNutt could tell by looking at them that they were simply too heavy.

  He put his hand through the opening and gently pushed on the inner stone. Much to his surprise, it moved.

  ‘Chief, this is loose. I think I can push it in. But …’

  Cobb knew what had given McNutt pause. Neither of them knew what might be damaged if the stone fell and ruptured. Maybe nothing. Or maybe the final clue to the treasure. Unfortunately, they had no way of knowing if they didn’t get behind the wall.

  ‘Do it,’ Cobb ordered.

  ‘Here goes nothing,’ McNutt said as he leaned into the stone.

  Surprisingly, it gave way quite easily, sliding out of position and dropping out of sight. They expected to hear it thump when it struck the ground at their feet a second later. Instead, they heard silence until it shattered at the bottom of a chasm somewhere deep inside the plateau.

  ‘Holy hell, the mountain
is hollow!’ McNutt exclaimed.

  Cobb nodded. ‘Things just got a lot more interesting.’

  McNutt removed his glasses and stuck them through the hole. Then he used his other arm to extend a small but powerful flashlight into the darkness. He hoped that he could cast enough light for Garcia to get some idea of what they had found. ‘Diego, you see anything?’

  ‘You were right,’ Garcia replied. ‘It’s hollow. I’m guessing maybe thirty or forty feet down to the bottom. That’s really all I can see.’

  McNutt was disappointed. ‘No gold? No silver? No dragon?’

  ‘No, nothing like that,’ Garcia replied. ‘Just an empty chamber. It looks like a giant well.’

  ‘Then let’s throw something in and make a wish,’ Sarah said as she joined the conversation. Her voice was backed by the reverberating sound of a helicopter.

  Cobb looked south and saw a small white chopper rising in the distance.

  ‘Sure,’ Cobb replied. ‘What did you have in mind?’

  ‘How about me?’ Sarah said.

  Cobb laughed. ‘Copy that. See you in a few minutes.’

  The helicopter made a beeline for the plateau as Cobb and McNutt cleared away several more of the outer blocks. By the time the gap was big enough for Sarah to climb through, the chopper was close enough for Cobb to make out the pale blue UN lettering on the side. Despite all the problems he’d had with Papineau, he really appreciated the man’s efficiency.

  Why rent a helicopter when you can convince the UN to let you use theirs for free?

  62

  As Cobb and McNutt watched from below, the side door of the helicopter slid open. A few seconds later, a thick coil of black nylon rope was pushed from the floor of the cargo bay and dropped to the ground between them.

  Sarah looked down from the chopper. ‘Heads up!’

  ‘A little late, don’t you think?’ Cobb joked.

  ‘I wasn’t talking about the rope. I meant for this.’

  McNutt’s eyes lit up as she lifted the long plastic case to the edge of the doorway and secured it to a drop line. Despite the unmarked container, McNutt knew there was a cache of weapons inside. One of them was a Russian Dragunov sniper rifle. It was an older design, but it was still in wide use throughout the Sri Lankan Army. He raced forward to meet the package before it touched the dirt, cradling it in his arms as if it were a priceless Stradivarius.

  When the line was free of McNutt’s gift, Sarah grabbed a hold and stepped away from the safety of the cargo bay. She descended the rope without a harness, gliding down gracefully despite the oversized backpacks she had slung over each shoulder.

  A moment later her feet touched down gently on the solid rock.

  She dropped the packs to the ground and waved up at the crewman staring at her from the open helicopter door. She gave him the thumbs-up sign, inviting him to wind the rope back into the chopper, then watched as he returned the signal and began pulling in the drop line.

  The pilot took his cue and lifted the aircraft higher into the sky.

  A moment later, the team was alone on the mountaintop.

  When the noise from the rotor had subsided, Cobb touched Sarah on the shoulder. ‘Glad you could make it, Miss Ellis.’

  ‘Me too, Mister Hall,’ Sarah said, using his alias.

  ‘Me three!’ McNutt exclaimed as he caressed the weathered barrel of the rifle. The gun had seen better days, but he didn’t care. To him, a well-used rifle meant an accurate gun; snipers didn’t tolerate weapons that couldn’t shoot straight.

  Sarah focused on Cobb. ‘If they had told me ahead of time that I couldn’t land the Bell on the plateau, I would have brought the big lady from the start.’

  Cobb and McNutt knew she was talking about the Boeing CH-47 Chinook dual-rotor helicopter that Sarah had temporarily procured from a construction company in India a few hundred miles away. The massive Boeing dwarfed the Bell 212 she had just ridden to the site and was capable of transporting roughly 28,000 pounds of freight or personnel. As long as the treasure didn’t weigh more than fourteen tons, they could get it off the mountain in one trip.

  ‘This is probably for the best,’ Cobb said. ‘You would have been forced to land the Chinook on the ground and then climb up. You’d get up here just fine, but there’s no way we’d be able to hide that big sonofabitch.’ He knew the pilot was waiting for their call in Trincomalee. It wasn’t the best place for a gigantic cargo chopper to go unnoticed, but it was better than the open expanses at the base of the Sigiriya.

  ‘Either way, there’s no turning back now,’ Sarah replied.

  Not only had they removed and destroyed ancient rocks to expose the hidden chamber, they had just flown in reinforcements in broad daylight. Their cover story with the local authorities would last a few days, maybe even a week, but eventually someone would get suspicious if the site remained closed. More calls would be made, and their cover would be blown.

  And they still had to worry about the Brotherhood.

  If anyone was watching, the team just announced its arrival.

  Cobb turned to McNutt. ‘Josh, the only way up here is the stairs. Find some high ground and let me know if anyone tries to reach the summit.’

  ‘No problem, chief.’ McNutt pointed at the crate of weapons. ‘Before I go, what do you want me to do with this?’

  Cobb glanced around the plateau. ‘See that heavy foliage in the southeast corner? Hide the crate in there. They’ll never see it, and it’ll be close by if we need it.’

  ‘Sarah,’ McNutt said, ‘what are you carrying?’

  ‘A Beretta, a knife, and several magazines.’

  McNutt grimaced. ‘Are you sure that’s enough? I go to bed with more than that.’

  Sarah smiled. ‘Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine.’

  ‘Okay.’ McNutt picked up the crate and carried it away.

  ‘Hector,’ Cobb said. ‘Do you have anything on the Brotherhood?’

  ‘Nothing yet,’ Garcia replied from the hotel. ‘But I have to tell you that there isn’t a lot of help for us in this country. Closed-circuit cameras are virtually non-existent, and most of the security footage isn’t hardwired to any sort of network. I mean, there are places here that are still using VHS systems! Besides, the Fists could walk from the coast to the Lion Rock and never leave the cover of the jungle. There’s not even electricity out there, much less cameras!’

  ‘Take a breath, Hector. No one’s asking you to do the impossible.’ Cobb was a bit concerned that the newly confident Garcia had somehow regressed into his former, doubting self.

  ‘I know,’ Garcia replied. ‘I just want to help. And I can’t do that if I’m blind.’

  ‘Just keep trying. Check satellite coverage, ATM and traffic cameras, webcams, whatever you can find. Just keep looking. If they’re out there, I’m sure you’ll find them.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll keep digging around.’

  ‘Good,’ Cobb answered. ‘Maggie, you’re at the hotel?’

  ‘Yes, I’m here,’ she assured him.

  ‘You might as well come over to the rock. I don’t know what we’re going to find inside, but I’d prefer if you were on site if we need you.’

  ‘When we need you,’ Sarah corrected. ‘I’ve got a good feeling about this.’

  ‘As do I,’ Maggie agreed. ‘I’m on my way.’

  ‘You read that, Josh? Maggie is headed up the rock.’

  ‘Copy that, chief. “Don’t shoot Maggie.” Got it.’

  ‘Yes,’ Maggie replied. ‘Please don’t shoot Maggie.’

  Cobb glanced at Sarah. She was standing tall, with her hands planted firmly on her hips as she stared at the hole in the wall. Cobb could see her foot tapping impatiently, as if she were waiting for permission to dive inside.

  ‘Hector,’ he asked, ‘are you recording?’

  ‘Always,’ Garcia said.

  ‘Good – because Sarah and I are going in.’

  * * *

  It took them ten minutes t
o set the rigging that Sarah had pulled from the backpacks. They had anchored their lines around a ten-ton slab of stone near the wall’s entrance. To ensure that they didn’t pull any blocks down on top of themselves, they had extended the entry point all the way down to the ground. After securing a soft fabric mat at the lip of the crevasse to keep their ropes from rubbing against the abrasive stone, they had tossed an amber glow stick into the hole to help them judge the distance of their descent.

  Sarah went first. ‘You getting all of this, Hector?’

  ‘I sure am. The rock looks similar to the rest of the mountain.’

  Cobb rubbed his hand against the inner wall. ‘It’s too smooth to have been man-made. This cavern is natural. They just sealed it at the top.’

  ‘But is there anything at the bottom?’ Garcia asked.

  ‘Let’s find out,’ Sarah replied. She leaned backward and dropped through the air, the black climbing rope zipping past her waist where her belay device was tethered to it. As she came within a few feet of the ground she thrust her right hand back behind her, quickly slowing her descent, and gently extended her legs until her toes touched the ground.

  ‘The plot thickens,’ Garcia announced as he stared at her footage.

  She was facing a tunnel that ran parallel to the ground; one that had clearly been carved into the rock. She turned on her video flashlight and shined it back and forth. ‘It looks like some sort of ancient mine shaft. The walls are braced with wood, and the ceiling is stained with soot.’

  ‘I call dibs on the biggest nugget,’ McNutt said in her ear.

  ‘Sorry, Josh,’ she said as Cobb landed behind her. ‘There’s nothing here.’

  Maggie groaned as she made her way to the site. ‘That can’t be right. There has to be something. No symbols? No signs? No markers of any kind?’

  ‘Hang on,’ Sarah said as she and Cobb pushed deeper into the passageway. He turned on his flashlight as well. ‘There’s something on the floor up ahead.’

  She could see a large wooden square on the ground, its frame having been cobbled together from scraps of the same sturdy timber that reinforced the tunnel. ‘I think it’s some sort of trap door. Jack, can you move that for me?’