Brian Sadler Archaeological Mysteries BoxSet

by Bill Thompson

  “You can kill me, Mr. Torrance, but you’ll have a much bigger problem than you have now. Brian Sadler will figure out how to open the door. I told him enough that he’d eventually find the way. And you’ll be sitting right here with both the President of the United States and me dead on the floor. Like I said, I don’t care. Do you want to share the glory or not?”

  Torrance raised the gun to chest level and smiled. “I never was that good at sharing.”

  Cory reached out and grabbed TNT’s gun hand, attempting to wrench it sideways. Torrance was stronger than Cory had thought; he maintained the gun roughly aimed at the archaeologist. As they struggled Cory pushed Torrance back. The entrepreneur leaned backwards over the metal half-egg and used his free hand to steady himself. His fingers grazed the tops of several of the small capsules lying inside the oval craft. Cory saw something out of the corner of his eye. He opened his mouth to warn Torrance as a shot rang out.

  Cory Spencer sprawled on the sand floor of the cavern, a few feet from the body of President John Chapman.

  Thomas Newton Torrance fell backwards into the egg-shaped object. He lay immobile on top of the fifteen small capsule-like objects. As soon as his hand had come into contact with them, each began to emit a tiny spark. Now they were glowing brightly all around his body.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  At 5:30 a.m. Brian got out of bed. He had tossed and turned all night, thinking about the implications of what Cory Spencer had disclosed. He had made a promise to a man who believed his life was in imminent danger. Should he honor that commitment or tell the President what he had learned?

  Where should my loyalty lie? Brian thought. Brian considered himself an honorable man, one who could be trusted. And he wanted to uphold the promise he made to a desperate Cory Spencer. He also had to find the secret to opening the passageway. For both reasons, Brian decided to hold off. If the President were dead anyway another few hours wouldn’t matter. I meet Cory at eight. Once I see what’s in the cavern I’ll decide when to call Harry.

  He texted Dr. Ortiz. Meet me at the temple at 8 a.m.

  As he lay in bed he called Nicole’s cellphone. After three rings he was thinking up a clever voicemail when she answered.

  “Good morning, sweetie. How’d your secret conversation with the archaeologist go? Or was it really some sultry jungle girl instead?”

  “I could only wish,” he laughed. “There are some major developments here as a result of what I learned from him, Nicole. Really big. Enormous. I can’t discuss anything now – I hope you understand – but I promise once I talk to Harry and the story breaks you’ll see it on the news.”

  “Wow. Good stuff, I hope.”

  “I have to confirm this for myself but it appears there’s something incredible and a closure we all need. That’s really all I can say.”

  “OK. Well, can I plan our trip to Cancun in three days? I’ll pack light…since I won’t need any clothes. Maybe just a gallon of suntan lotion!”

  “I’d say book it. Three days should be enough to finish my part of what’s going on here.”

  “See you soon. One hundred percent of you!” She hung up as he smiled.

  -----

  When Brian went through the packet of information the U.S. Embassy had earlier provided he found ten copies of a letter styled To Whom it May Concern. Written on the Ambassador’s letterhead, it was a request for cooperation from anyone to whom Brian presented the missive. It stated that Brian had the full backing and support of the President of the United States in any assistance he required.

  He pulled one copy of the letter from the envelope, folded it and stuck it in his pocket. He figured he’d have to pull rank on Dr. Ortiz to get into the temple without him. He texted his “keeper,” the FBI agent, to advise he wanted to go to the ruins at Palenque at 7:45.

  At seven Brian walked over to the dining area. Thomas Newton Torrance wasn’t at breakfast but Dr. Ortiz sat on the patio smoking a cigarette and drinking a latte. Brian hadn’t expected to see him this early.

  “Senor Sadler, come join me.” He patted the armchair next to him. “I saw your text a few minutes ago. What news do you have that prompted the eight a.m. invitation to join you at the temple?”

  Brian wasn’t prepared for a discussion with Ortiz. He’d hoped to have breakfast and coffee, plan his strategy then meet with the archaeologist at the temple. Seeing no easy way to decline the invitation, Brian sat down. The waiter came and took Brian’s order.

  “Nothing new, really, except that I want to go with Cory Spencer down into the artifact chamber this morning.”

  “Certainly. It was my understanding that was what we planned to do today.”

  “Alone, Dr. Ortiz. Just Cory and me.”

  Ortiz waved his hand dismissively. “Certainly, senor. No hay probleme.” He sipped his coffee.

  That was easier than I expected. Too easy, really.

  “Dr. Ortiz, what brings you to the hotel so early? Are you meeting Thomas?”

  “As a matter of fact I am. He wanted to go over some ideas with me regarding the tests we hope to perform on the metal artifact.” Ortiz glanced at his watch. “In fact, he’s a little late. That’s not like him. He’s a very punctual man! I think I’ll knock at his door to be sure he’s awake.”

  Dr. Ortiz left the table and walked down the path toward the cabanas. He didn’t care if Brian Sadler wanted to go alone into the chamber. At this point Torrance was in charge of decisions and Torrance had instructed the archaeologist to give Brian whatever he wanted. There was no use challenging him – it would only create suspicion.

  In a few minutes Ortiz walked back through the dining area. Brian glanced at him and Ortiz held up a finger – back in a minute – as he strode to the reception lobby.

  Ortiz returned to the table and took a seat. “It’s puzzling but Mr. Torrance doesn’t answer his door. I’ve asked the clerk to send someone over to check on him. I want to make certain everything is all right.”

  In less than five minutes the desk clerk walked across the dining patio and told Ortiz that Mr. Torrance’s room was empty. Ortiz looked concerned but said nothing.

  Something’s going on, Brian thought. He attempted to finish his breakfast as nonchalantly as possible. Both men made small talk, each unwilling to discuss the issue that was foremost in his mind.

  At 7:45 the FBI agent approached Brian’s table. Brian excused himself and left Ortiz finishing coffee. The agent drove directly to the ruins and they walked to the temple. Cory was not in the plaza at the base of the edifice. The men climbed to the rooms at the top. He wasn’t there either.

  At 8:15 Brian called Dr. Ortiz.

  “When do you plan to be at the temple?”

  “Do you need me there? I can come now if you wish.”

  “I need you to unlock the gate to the stairway leading to Pakal’s tomb.”

  “Isn’t Cory Spencer there? He usually unlocks it in the morning.”

  “I don’t know where he is. He isn’t here.”

  Ortiz paused. “How strange. I wonder if he and Senor Torrance could be somewhere together. I’ll be right over, Senor Sadler.”

  Chapter Thirty

  While Brian Sadler was atop the temple at Palenque, President William Henry Harrison IV signed routine correspondence at his desk in the Oval Office. Around nine a.m. a light on his desk blinked red and Harrison picked up the phone next to it.

  “Mr. Sadler’s on the line, sir,” his personal secretary said. “May I put him through?”

  Harry smiled. “Hi, Brian. I hope you have good news for me.”

  As soon as he heard Brian’s voice the President knew something was seriously wrong.

  “Harry, something’s happened. Thomas Newton Torrance and Cory Spencer are both unaccounted for at the moment. And…”

  The President interrupted. “Unaccounted for? They’re missing?”

  “I didn’t want to use that word. So far both of them have missed appointments and neither usual
ly does that. But I have something else to tell you too, Harry. About a discovery Cory made here. This is going to blow your mind – it’s huge – amazing, Harry. Don’t think I’ve been off smoking the peyote. Everything I’m going to tell you is exactly as I heard it from Cory Spencer last night. And he was scared, Harry. He was terrified of what Torrance might do to take over the discovery that Cory made. He thinks TNT is going to kill him.”

  “Stop, Brian. Where are you? Are you on a secure line?”

  “I’m away from the others, at the temple on my cellphone.”

  “OK, listen. Tell your FBI agent to take you to a secure place and then use the agent’s phone to call me back. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

  In ten minutes the men were speaking again. In the Palenque ruins parking lot Brian sat in the embassy’s SUV while the agent stood guard outside the vehicle. Brian told President Harrison the entire story he had heard from Cory Spencer.

  For the nearly twenty minutes that Brian talked, Harry Harrison said nothing. When the story was finished, the President responded, “So Cory found this hidden passageway around the same time they found the artifact chamber? Is that right? And he kept it secret until he decided to show it to President Chapman?”

  “Apparently so. I don’t think anybody else knows about it except Torrance. I’m wondering now if he and Torrance went down into the chamber, opened the passage and got trapped inside somehow. If they did, Cory had to have taken Torrance there after he and I talked last night. As scared as he was, I don’t believe he would voluntarily take TNT to see the cavern. I wonder if Torrance forced him to go there.”

  “Have you tried figure out how to open the door to the passageway?”

  “Yes. This morning when Cory didn’t show up I called Dr. Ortiz, the government archaeologist who’s running this project, and got him to open the temple stairway. We went down and looked around the artifact chamber but didn’t see anything. I tried for a few minutes to figure out where Cory’s two “buttons” were that he pressed to open the door. But Harry, if they’re there – if Cory’s story is real – they really are just about impossible to find. So far I’m striking out.”

  “Where was Ortiz while you were trying to find the buttons?”

  “He was there with me. The FBI agent won’t let me go into the temple alone, and we couldn’t force Ortiz to stay at the top, so we all three went down. He asked me why I was pushing around all over the stones at the end of the chamber and I told him I was trying to find something. At that point he let it go but I figure he’ll be demanding answers before long.”

  “Brian, give me an hour or so and I’ll call you back on this same phone. I need to get my team together so I can give you direction. Meanwhile, you and the agent go back to the temple. I know you can’t keep Dr. Ortiz out of there. But don’t let anyone, Ortiz included, go down into that artifact chamber unless you or the FBI agent is with him. If President Chapman’s body’s there, this is a national security matter, beginning this very minute.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  A million thoughts ran through President Harrison’s head. He asked his personal assistant to assemble the national security team in the conference room next door. Then he asked her to get Marianne Chapman on the phone. Nothing was final but he thought as a courtesy he should talk with her himself as soon as possible. This news would travel fast once others found out about it. Leaks were inevitable – it would be bad if the former First Lady heard about this from someone else. When his secretary advised that John Chapman’s wife was on the line Harry picked up his phone.

  “Marianne, I just wanted to call and give you some information. I don’t know yet if this is real or not but we’re handling it as though it is.”

  She interrupted him. “Well hello, Mister President,” she said, her voice bitter with sarcasm. “I hope you’re having a good time sitting in the chair behind the desk where my husband should be.” She stifled a sob.

  “Marianne, I know this is hard but I need to tell you something…”

  Her words were slurred. “Oh you know it’s hard? How exactly do you know that, Harry? It’s not too hard for you, is it? You run the show now. Your wife is the First Lady now. You people should never have rushed to remove John from office. But you were in such a hurry to take the reins yourself.” She started crying uncontrollably.

  She’s drunk, Harry Harrison thought to himself. He glanced at his watch – 10:30 a.m. Well, she has every right to be with what she’s going through.

  She stopped talking as Harry told her only a small part of what he had heard from Brian Sadler. He prefaced his remarks with caution – none of this was confirmed yet. Harry Harrison said that he had been told Chapman’s body was in a hidden cavern deep inside the temple he went to Mexico to see. The bite of a poisonous snake was reputed be the cause of death, presuming her husband was in fact deceased. Harrison said nothing about the ancient things that Cory Spencer had allegedly found in the same room.

  “I’m sorry we don’t know any more than this but at least it may be something tangible for the first time since John disappeared.”

  “That’s just great, Harry. Thanks a lot for dropping that news on me. I don’t believe a word of what you just said. You can think whatever you wish. I choose to believe he’s alive. He’s too big an asshole to just die on me. He has to make it harder than that.” She sobbed then took a breath.

  “I’m sure they’re going to find him sitting on a desert island somewhere, bring him back here and you’re going to step down and let him have his rightful place back. And I’ll have mine too. Is that what you’re going to do, Harry? No. Of course it isn’t.”

  She hung up on the President of the United States.

  An hour later Harrison’s national security team had developed a plan. There were no FBI agents in central Mexico so two CIA operatives from the Embassy in Mexico City were being dispatched to Palenque by private jet. They would arrive this afternoon to assist in the operation.

  The Secretary of State placed a call to the Foreign Secretary of Mexico, gave him brief details on what Brian had told them about President Chapman and received permission to do a thorough but again non-invasive search. At this point that was all Harrison wanted – they didn’t need to move stones or damage anything. If Cory Spencer’s story were true, they just needed to find two buttons that opened the stone door.

  Just before noon Eastern Time the President called Brian back on the FBI agent’s phone. The agent answered the call and immediately handed it to Brian, motioning him to step outside on the landing at the top of the Temple of the Inscriptions. Cell service was excellent up this high and Brian needed privacy for this call.

  Harrison asked, since they previously spoke, if anyone had attempted to go down the stone staircase into Pakal’s tomb. Brian answered negatively. “I’ve been here the whole time. Dr. Ortiz and the agent have too. We’re all at the top. Nobody’s gone down the stairs.”

  “Here’s what I need you to do now,” he told his old roommate. “Help’s on the way, but you and the agent are all we’ve got for right now. Get down there and figure out how to open that door. I’m sending CIA reinforcements in a couple of hours. I’m hoping you can figure this out fast – before they even get there. I really don’t care where Spencer and Torrance are at this point. I just want to know if John Chapman’s in there.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “The agent and I are going back down into the artifact chamber,” Brian told Dr. Ortiz after hanging up from the President’s call.

  “What are you doing, Senor Sadler? Things appear to be getting a little strange. Secret calls. Guarding my temple stairway to keep people out. Feeling the walls and the stone altar in the artifact chamber. What’s happening? What are you looking for?”

  “Dr. Ortiz, I’m not sure. I’m following orders from the President of the United States and he gave me instructions as to what to do next. I’m not at liberty to tell you what or why. I can’t keep you from coming but I
could use your help staying up here to make sure no one else comes down. And if you happen to see Cory Spencer or Thomas Newton Torrance I need to know that also.”

  “I will do as you request for now, Senor Sadler. But let us not forget, I am in charge of this temple and this project. And I will be calling my superiors in Mexico City. You are in our country. Please do not forget that. Our government will tell you what to do, not your presidente.

  Brian and the agent walked briskly down the stone steps. Ortiz had to throw that power thing in. Has to make sure we know who’s in charge. Actually I wish I knew what I was doing right now. I have to find these damned indentations.

  The FBI agent with him was accustomed to dealing with information on a need-to-know basis. He kept his mouth shut – at the bottom he said, “If you want me to do anything, Mr. Sadler, all you have to do is ask.” Brian asked the agent to remain on the stairs to intercept anyone who might come down. Brian walked around Pakal’s sarcophagus and went down the ladder into the room below.

  He walked to the far end of the artifact chamber and stood with his right hand on the stone altar. The mangled metal strut lay a foot away from his fingers as they worked their way methodically along the stone. Several times Brian thought he felt a depression – something that might have been Cory’s “button” – so he kept a finger on it while he fruitlessly ran his other hand over the wall nearly three feet away. He kept it up for half an hour without success.

  It’s amazing that Cory ever found this at all, Brian thought as he took a break. His arms ached from holding them outstretched.