by David Wood
The rest remained untranslated, save for a few words, including an intriguing reference to temples. She gained no new insights, and put the papers down even before her allotted five minutes was up. Weariness weighed heavy on her and her eyelids drooped. Tomorrow, she’d look at the codex through fresh eyes.
“Let’s see if the Marlins have made any more stupid trades.” She took out her phone, opened the web browser, and punched in the Miami Herald’s website. She gasped when she saw the headline.
Killer Tsunami Strikes Key West
She read on, concern turning to disbelief as she read the report. A freak wave had struck Key West without warning, causing death and devastation to a small section of the island. The tsunami was odd, not only because it seemed to come out of nowhere, but because its size and behavior were so far out of the norm. It had come from the direction of the mainland and was reported to be a concentrated wall of water rather than a typical, broad wave. Strangest of all, scientists could determine no cause for it. Seismic detectors all around the Gulf of Mexico and in the Atlantic detected no activity whatsoever. The sole clue was a brief burst of energy, emitted by an unknown source, minutes before the wave struck.
Sofia leaned back and considered this terrible news. It wasn’t just the tragedy that impacted her, but the similarity to the wave that had swamped her dig site. In both cases, a wall of water appeared out of nowhere, with no obvious cause, and behaved in a way no known tsunami ever had. The articles she’d read hadn’t mentioned a surge of energy preceding the event in Spain, but that didn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Something in the back of her mind nudged at her thoughts. What was it? The codex mentioned machines, and a deluge to come. The machine in the temple! What if… No, the very idea was absurd. Of course, belief in Atlantis seemed absurd until she’d unearthed the city.
“Oh my God. I have to tell somebody.” But who? Could she really go to the American embassy with this story? They’d think her a lunatic. But she couldn’t just let this drop. She was certain she was onto something.
A loud knock startled her. Someone was at the apartment door. She heard Arnau moving through the front room. He opened the door and whispered something unintelligible.
“Why the need to be so quiet?” a deep voice said. “We are alone, no?”
“I don’t want the neighbors to hear us.”
“Always overcautious,” said a second voice. “Perhaps it is for the best. There is no harm in taking a few precautions. Now, where is it?”
“Just a minute. It’s in my safe.”
Sofia’s heart lurched. Damn Arnau! He thought to sell the codex. She gripped the doorknob, ready to storm in and confront him, but then she paused. Some of the people who bought stolen artifacts were little more than wealthy eccentrics or gluttons who wanted to own a piece of history. Others, however, were dangerous. What sort were the men outside? Indecision rooted her to the spot.
“Here. Give me the money and go.” Arnau’s voice trembled. “I want this out of my house.”
“Let us see what we have here. Ah, very nice. You say this came from Atlantis?” The man’s tone expressed his obvious skepticism.
“That’s what I was told. I’ve studied it enough to be satisfied that it’s a genuine artifact. ”
“You’ve studied it.” The voice sounded flat.
“Yes, but only to authenticate it. Nothing thorough.” Arnau spoke quickly. “I don’t know what it says.”
“From whom did you acquire this piece?”
“You know I can’t reveal my sources.”
A dull pop made Sofia jump. On the other side of the door, she heard a thump and Arnau’s cry of pain.
“It is not a fatal wound, but the next one will be unless you tell me the truth. I ask again, from whom did you acquire the codex?”
Sofia’s stomach heaved. She had a feeling the fatal wound was inevitable, regardless of what Arnau told the men.
“I only know his first name,” Arnau groaned. “It’s Abed. He lives in Cairo.”
Another muffled pop and another cry of pain. That must have been what a silenced weapon sounded liked.
“I’ve given you a measure of grace, Arnau. You’ll lose your leg, but you might live if you receive medical attention soon.” The speaker lowered his voice to a husky whisper. “You got this from Sofia Perez, didn’t you?” Arnau’s silence was all the answer the man needed. “Very well.”
Sofia didn’t need to hear any more. She was halfway out the window, her few belongings stuffed inside her shirt, when the next gunshot sounded. She clambered down the fire escape, dropped the last ten feet and rolled her ankle when she landed hard on the pavement. Fear gave her strength and she hobbled down the street at a half-run. The hour was late, but the hotel district wasn’t far, and there were always taxis about.
By the time she flagged down a cab, she was soaked with sweat and her white tank top wasn’t quite opaque any more. If the driver thought it odd to pick up a young woman in her nightclothes, he gave no indication, though he didn’t bother to hide the way he undressed her with his eyes. He sat up straight, though, when she told him her destination.
“United States Embassy. I’ll double your fare if you get me there fast.”
Tires screeched and horns blared as the cabbie stepped on the gas and pulled the cab out into traffic. Sofia watched the lights and the people flash past and wondered if anyone would believe her story.
Chapter 8
“I expected something fancier from a government agency.” Bones scowled at the faded carpet and plain, white walls as they moved along a narrow hallway at the back of the Truman Little White House. The famed building had suffered a great deal of water damage, but this section must have been waterproofed. The carpet was dry and the sheetrock walls unblemished.
“After all those years in the military, you still think the government splurges on people like us?” Maddock shook his head and chuckled. “Come on.”
“We’re, like, agents now. James Bond gets all those fancy toys. Why not us?” Bones scratched his chin. “Must be a British thing. You think I could fake a British accent?”
“I’ve heard your accent. Hate to tell you, but it’s not the best.” He ignored Bones’ expression of feigned insult. “Besides, this building was underwater only a few days ago, or have you already forgotten?”
“Sloppy Joe’s and Captain Tony’s got washed out. Trust me; I’ll remember this for a long time.”
“They’ll be back.” Already they’d seen many of the island’s residents pulling together in the wake of the tragedy that had taken so many lives and caused such devastation. It was both sad and heartening to witness.
“Misters Maddock and Bonebrake?” A husky man dressed like a banker barred their way. Maddock didn’t need to see the holster inside his coat to know he was a professional, probably military. His rigid posture and clipped manner of speaking spoke volumes.
“That’s us,” Maddock said.
“Very good. Follow me, please.” He led them to a bookcase.
“Thanks, but I’ve switched to e-books.” Bones ran a finger down the spine of a very old copy of Tom Sawyer. The shelves held complete works of Alexandre Dumas and Mark Twain. “Besides, I don’t read anything published before nineteen hundred. Not enough sizzle, if you take my meaning.”
The man grinned and withdrew a battered copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, revealing a small keypad. He entered a code and re-shelved the book as the bookcase swung forward, exposing a blank wall of gleaming metal and a small black screen. “Left thumbs on the scanner, please.”
Bones held his thumb up. “Mine’s been up my butt half the day. Is that going to be a problem?”
The corners of the man’s mouth twitched. “Not for me. I never touch that scanner.”
Maddock and Bones pressed their thumbs to the scanner and, with a hiss, a previously invisible door slid to the side, opening onto an elevator. Inside stood Tam Broderick. She checked her watch and gave them an i
mpatient look.
“Late for the first team meeting. Not the way to impress me.”
Bones yawned and stretched. “Whatever gave you the idea that I care about impressing anybody? Besides, we’re five minutes early.”
“Five minutes early is ten minutes late to me. Now get in here and let’s get to work.”
“All I see is a down button,” Maddock said as he stepped inside and the elevator began its descent. “Should I have brought my dive gear?”
“Sweetie, this place has been here longer than you’ve been alive, and we know how to waterproof when we want to.”
“I can’t believe there’s been a secret installation here all this time,” Bones said. “Seems like a conspicuous place to hide spook central.”
“Sure has. The government built it during World War II and kept it going all through the Cold War. It got shut down for a few years, but reopened again right after the start of the War on Terror. They were about to close it again when I requested we be headquartered here. Now it’s all ours.”
The elevator stopped and the door slid back, revealing a welcome area with plush, blue carpet, leather sofas, and an attractive receptionist with shoulder length, black hair and blue eyes, seated behind a mahogany desk. Five doors were evenly spaced along the wall behind her, with no signage to indicate where they led. Fine works of art lined the walls to their left and right.
“Everyone’s in the conference room, ma’am.”
“Everyone except for these two.” Tam rolled her eyes in Maddock and Bones’ direction. “Joey, meet Dane Maddock and Uriah Bonebrake.” Tam smiled sweetly as Bones’ smile flickered. He hated his given name.
“Call me Bones,” he said, taking Joey’s hand in a familiar way. “How about you and I get to know each other while Tam and Maddock go to their meeting?”
“Bones?” Joey frowned, and then realization dawned in her eyes. She stole a quick glance at Tam and then smiled at Bones with what Maddock could have sworn was a touch of sympathy. “It’s very nice to meet you and I look forward to working with you.”
“You ain’t getting out of the meeting that easy, Bonebrake. Let’s go.” Tam led them through the door on the far right and down another hallway.
“Did you tell Joey not to talk to me or something?” Bones asked.
“No, I just warned her that, ever since your injury, you try to overcompensate by hitting on every woman you meet, and she should be patient with you but not encourage you.”
“What injury?”
“You got shot in the pelvis and now you can’t do your manly duty. That’s why we call you ‘Bones.’ It’s one of those ironic nicknames.”
Maddock smothered a laugh in a rasping cough while Bones’ cheeks turned crimson.
“That was you, wasn’t it?” Tam asked with a straight face. “Or did I confuse you with somebody else? I’m sorry.”
“Not bad,” Bones admitted. “You do realize the next move is mine?”
“I’m counting on it, sweetie. Just don’t forget I’m the boss.”
The door at the end of the hallway opened into a well-lit conference room painted in bright colors and furnished with tropical plants. A giant, high definition screen on the far wall showed rolling surf and palm trees swaying in a gentle breeze. Just above the edge of hearing, the sound of waves crashing onto shore whispered from invisible speakers.
A long, oval table sat in the middle of the room. All the seats were occupied but three. Some of the faces were unfamiliar, but Matt, Willis, and Corey, the rest of Maddock’s crew, were there, smirking at Maddock and Bones like the two were school kids who’d just come from the principal’s office. A blonde sat with her back to them, but Maddock didn’t need to see her face to recognize her.
“Avery?”
At the sound of her name, his sister turned around. He’d expected her to look contrite, if not downright guilty, but instead, she set her jaw and raised her eyebrows.
“Yes?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I work here. You have a problem with that?” The look in her eyes told him it would be a bad idea to answer in the affirmative.
“Man, I love it when she gets all Maddock Junior on him.” Willis laughed and slapped his thigh. “That’s exactly what you look like when you act stubborn,” he said to Maddock.
“Come on, now. Maddock isn’t stubborn.” Bones put a protective arm around Maddock’s shoulders. “When he knows he’s right, he sticks to his guns. And he’s right all the time.”
Everyone joined in the laughter, even the unfamiliar faces. Maddock shrugged Bones’ arm away and turned to his friend. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”
“I told you she was moving down here because she got a new job.”
“You left out one important detail.”
“Not that long ago, you didn’t even know I existed,” Avery said. “This way, we get to spend even more time catching up on all those lost years.”
He couldn’t argue. It had only been a few months since he learned that his father, Hunter Maddock, had a daughter a few years younger than Maddock. Avery was the sole blood relative he had left in the world, and the idea of her being a part of their new team worried, even frightened him a little. Except for Angel, all the people he cared about were now part of this team, and that meant their lives were in peril. He knew they were adults and the responsibility was not his, but he couldn’t like it.
“It doesn’t matter,” Tam said. “I needed to add to our research staff. I like her and, more important, I trust her. She’s one of the few people in the world I can be one hundred percent sure isn’t connected to the Dominion. Are we clear?”
Maddock nodded. As he took his seat, the others greeted him. He shook hands with Greg Johns, a tall, lean man with close-cropped, dark hair. They’d worked together once before, and Greg was a solid agent. The other two agents were Joel Berg, a sandy-haired man of about forty, and Kasey Kim, an attractive woman of Korean descent, who looked to be in her late twenties.
“You forgot to save me a seat.” Bones smiled at Kasey, who made a wry face and shook her head. “It’s cool. I’ll grow on you.”
“Like a fungus,” Corey chimed in.
“You two can paint each other’s toenails after the meeting. Let’s get to work.” Tam picked up a remote, clicked a button, and the image on the HD screen changed to a satellite image of Key West. Red circles dotted the map. “The circles are places where someone witnessed a murder during the tsunami, or a body was found with a gunshot or knife wound.”
“I don’t see a pattern, but that’s a lot of people,” Maddock said.
“Twenty three. And those are just the ones we know about. The waters receded quickly. No telling how many might have been washed out to sea.”
“But the island was under water for, what, an hour?” Bones cupped his chin and stared thoughtfully at the map.
“Exactly. Think about that. What are the odds that the killers saw the tsunami hit, spontaneously cooked up a scheme to ride around in a boat murdering people, and pulled it off in such a short period of time?” Tam looked up and down the table.
“Or that a guy would run home, strap on his diving gear, and start cutting throats,” Matt added.
“You’re saying they knew the tsunami was coming and they were ready.” Maddock shook his head. “But how?”
“We’ll get to that in a minute. You said you didn’t see a pattern in the circles, and that’s true, but Corey’s found something.” The screen now filled with head shots. “These are the victims. See a pattern there?” No one answered. “Corey?”
“They’re all minorities.”
“Most of them are, but there are a couple of white dudes up there too.” Bones gestured at the screen.
“I did some checking and they’re gay.” Corey ran a hand through his short, red hair. “Willis told me about the killing they witnessed. He said one man referred to the other as his partner. That was my first clue.”
“Th
at church we went to turned away the Latina woman and her little boy.” Willis scowled. “Bet you they’d have taken her in if she was white.”
“It could be a coincidence,” Tam said, “but I’ve got a feeling we’re on the right track. There’s more. We’ve been checking on our dead men—the one who came after me and Matt, and the one Bones snatched with his new toy. Both were members of the same church. The one who turned us away.” She paused, letting that sink in. “As far as we can tell, no other members lost their lives. Seems like every one of them just happened to be in the church at the time the tsunami hit. Every one.”
“On a weekday during business hours.” Maddock didn’t bother to hide his disbelief.
“You catch on quick.”
“What is this church like? Conservative?” It was the first time Joel had spoken, and Maddock noted the man’s rich voice and the way he enunciated each word.
“Not conservative—crazy. Separatist, racist, misogynist, every bad stereotype you can think of.”
“That guy we caught, the one who was killed, said something about a cleansing,” Bones said. “That definitely sounds like something this church would approve of. What’s a church like that doing in Key West? This place is chill.”
“Good question. The building has been around for a long time, but this pastor and congregation are new. He moved here from Utah less than a year ago, bought the church and grounds, though we don’t know for sure where the money came from, and managed to run off all the old members with his hate mongering.”
The back of Maddock’s neck began to itch. He was beginning to understand why this was an issue for their team. Tam suspected the Kingdom Church in Utah was the driving force behind the Dominion in the United States, though she hadn’t yet managed to prove it. “You think this is a front for the Dominion.”
“I think it’s a possibility, even a probability.”
“I’ve been running background checks on the church members,” Corey said. “So far, I haven’t found one who’s from around here. It’s like this whole group was planted here.”
