The Jefferson Key: A Novel

by Steve Berry

  The trip across the bay had been quick, the water calm. So far he’d seen or heard nothing on the island, except birds. He was hoping that whatever there was to find could be located quickly. True, it had stayed hidden a long time, but he was the first person to look with the right information.

  The oak forest ended and a grassy meadow stretched before him.

  On the far side, a hundred yards away, stood Fort Dominion in all of its solitary neglect. Birds stood guard. He spotted what was its main gate, surrounded by decaying walls, and tightened the backpack on his shoulders.

  He wondered.

  Who else would be here?

  HALE DROVE ACROSS THE ESTATE, ENJOYING ANOTHER LOVELY late-summer evening in North Carolina. He’d decided to do a little fishing from the dock and relax for a couple of hours. Little could be accomplished until he heard from Knox. Usually, this time of day had proven lucky, when the gray-brown waters settled for the night, before the predators appeared. He’d dressed in stout boots, loose-fitting pants, a leather jacket, and a cap. He needed some bait, but there should be some on the dock.

  His cellphone rang.

  He stopped the cart and checked the display.

  Shirley Kaiser.

  He should not ignore her, so he answered and said, “I planned to call you later. I thought you were at a fund-raiser this evening.”

  “I skipped it.”

  “Feeling poorly?”

  “Not at all. In fact, I feel great. So much so I took a trip. I’m here, in North Carolina, parked at the gate to the estate. Do you think you could let me in?”

  SIXTY

  NOVA SCOTIA

  KNOX WAS PLEASED.

  He’d arrived on Paw Island before Wyatt and, with two associates, assumed strategic positions atop the crumbling walls of Fort Dominion. They’d stolen a boat from a private dock at an unoccupied home along the bay’s north shore, specifically avoiding the town of Chester, where Wyatt might appear. The craft came with flashlights and he’d smuggled in three weapons aboard the corporate jet—Canadian customs asking few questions on his arrival.

  The island locale was both isolated and deserted, save for thousands of stinking birds. Night’s ever-hastening arrival should provide them with more than enough privacy. All in all, this should be an easy kill. Hopefully, finding the missing pages would not take long, though the information Carbonell provided to Hale was obscure at best. Five symbols. She’d said that was all she possessed and, hopefully, their significance would become evident once he was on the ground. He’d be glad when this nightmare was over. He was actually looking forward to spending next weekend with his wife at the beach. A little relaxation would be a good thing.

  He’d brought a pair of binoculars and used them to survey where the forest ended and a grassy meadow began. About a hundred yards of open terrain stretched from the trees to the fort’s main gate, none of it fenced or restricted. Their arrival inside earlier had caused an uproar from the residents, but all was calm once again in bird land.

  He caught movement in the dimming light.

  Through the binoculars he spotted a man emerging from the trees.

  He focused on the face.

  Jonathan Wyatt.

  He grabbed the attention of one of his men, stationed on another rampart, and tossed him a signal.

  Their target had arrived.

  HALE WELCOMED SHIRLEY KAISER INTO HIS HOME. SHE’D VISITED twice before, and each time he’d ensured that nothing unusual occurred on the grounds. They called it visitor mode. Of course, guests were never taken to certain areas, like the prison building, whose exterior looked like nothing more than a two-story barn, and were not encouraged to roam at will.

  He wondered what she was doing here.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of this surprise?” he asked her.

  She looked great. Though pushing sixty—or maybe even sixty-five, he really wasn’t sure—she cast the appearance of a woman in her midfifties. He’d enjoyed seducing her and she’d seemed to enjoy it, too. Their relationship, though cultivated by him for an ulterior motive, had not been unpleasant. Passion stirred within her, and she was surprisingly uninhibited for a woman of her generation. She was also a wealth of information on the First Family and liked the fact that he seemed sincerely interested in her life. That was the key to women, his father had always said. Make them think you care.

  “I missed you,” she said to him.

  “We were planning on seeing each other in a few days.”

  “I couldn’t wait, so I chartered a flight and flew down.”

  He smiled. Her timing was not all bad. The evening was quiet. He’d already checked on the other three captains. Each had returned to his home, enough excitement for one day.

  “As you can see,” he said, “I was going fishing. I assume you don’t want to join me.”

  “Hardly.” She motioned to a small overnight bag. “I brought some special garments.”

  He’d seen a sampling of those before.

  “Wouldn’t they be more interesting than fishing?”

  WYATT THOUGHT FORT DOMINION LOOKED BETTER SUITED TO Scotland or Ireland, its limestone walls splayed at the base and once reinforced by towers, its bastions decaying but still relatively intact. Eroded earthworks and a dry moat barred any approach from the north, west, or east, and the ocean guarded the south. The setting sun cast the gray stone in a rose-colored hue, but any impression of invincibility was betrayed by the rubble. From what he’d read, this had once been a theater of important events, its mission to hold Mahone Bay for King George, but now it was only a ruin.

  Puffins lined the wall crests. Hundreds more fluttered in the evening sky. He’d heard the murmur of murres, gulls, gannets, and kittiwakes on his approach—rich, sensuous, hypnotic, swelling like thunder. Thousands of birds stained the rubble, their cries pitching then fading in a haunting harmony, the walls alive with a riotous motion.

  He crossed a grassy field toward the main gate.

  Dead birds lay everywhere.

  Apparently, there were no native scavengers here besides bacteria. The waft, faint back at the cove, now become overpowering. A choking smell of countless creatures packed together, the air clotted with the sickening scent of life, death, and excrement.

  He approached the main gate.

  A wooden bridge spanned a washed-out moat, its boards newer and fitted with galvanized nails.

  A rising roar from the residents protested his arrival.

  He passed through the gate, beneath a row of parallel stone arches.

  Sunlight dimmed.

  He entered an inner ward where it was downright dark, save for dusty shafts of blue light that filtered in through gaps in the walls. More weathered stone rose three stories around him. A variety of buildings hugged the outer curtain, the inner walls broken by windows that no longer held anything save for vines.

  Definitely a feeling of security here, but also one of being trapped.

  He should look around.

  So he plunged ahead.

  MALONE BEACHED THE BOAT ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF PAW ISLAND. The evening air carried an aroma of salt and trees, along with something else—acidic and astringent. The sky had turned the color of slate, the forest casting violet shadows over the sandy inlet. Herring gulls decorated the trees.

  His rubber soles crunched crab shells and dried urchins. The temperature had dropped and he was glad for a lined jacket. Thick stands of oak lay ahead, the woods bedded with ferns and heather. He turned back and studied the bay for boats. Crimson patches of fading sun colored the surface. The horizon remained empty.

  The bookstore owner had told him where in the fort symbols could be found. Were they decoration? Graffiti? Old? New? During the summer months when visits were allowed fifty-plus people a day roamed the island, which meant, as she’d told him, the symbols could have come from anywhere. Except that he knew Andrew Jackson was aware of their presence in 1835.

  Perhaps the president himself had them placed th
ere?

  Who knew?

  CASSIOPEIA PARKED THE MOTORCYCLE AT A COMFORT INN JUST inside the Fredericksburg city limits. She’d thought about the call to Quentin Hale on the ride down. The conversation had to be subtle and clever, telegraphing just enough for Hale to know that the White House may indeed have what he sought.

  The Secret Service had taken a room here earlier, about three kilometers from Kaiser’s residence, where they could remotely monitor the TV camera that had been installed inside one of the second-floor bedrooms, facing the garage.

  She knocked and was allowed inside.

  Two agents were on duty, one male, the other female.

  “Kaiser left about three hours ago,” the female agent said. “She took a small case and a garment bag with her.”

  They knew Kaiser was due at some sort of fund-raising event in Richmond. No tail or escort had been provided. Better to do nothing that might alert Hale. A big enough risk had been taken installing the camera, but they had to ensure that the sight remained under surveillance. A small LCD screen displayed, from an elevated angle, Kaiser’s garage and the hedgerow that guarded its outer wall. Sunlight was fading and she watched as the male agent switched the camera over to night vision, the image transforming to a greenish hue, still displaying the building and hedge line.

  Cassiopeia would pay Kaiser an innocent woman-to-woman visit when she returned home that should draw no attention. Her talk with Danny Daniels still disturbed her. Clearly, the Daniels’ marriage was over and the president had spoken of Stephanie in an odd way. She wondered what had transpired between them. Easy to see how he might find solace with her. Stephanie’s life also had been marred by tragedy—the suicide of her husband, the disappearance of her son, an eventual coming to grips with harsh past realities.

  Interesting how presidents were people, too. They had wants, needs, and fears, just like everyone else. They carried emotional baggage and, worse, were forced to conceal it.

  Unfortunately for Danny and Pauline Daniels, their baggage had been revealed through careless comments and misplaced trust.

  “Look there,” the female agent said, pointing to the screen.

  Her mind refocused on the moment.

  Two men could be seen near Shirley Kaiser’s garage, studying the surroundings, slipping into the space between the hedge and the building.

  “Seems we have visitors,” the male agent said. “I’ll call for backup.”

  “No,” Cassiopeia said.

  “That’s not procedure,” he said to her.

  “Which seems to be standard for this entire operation.” She pointed to the woman. “What’s your name?”

  “Jessica.”

  “Me and you. We’ll handle it.”

  SIXTY-ONE

  WYATT STROKED THE BLACKENED STONES AND VISUALIZED men-at-arms clambering to the walls, cannons readied for firing. He could hear bells tolling and smell fish turning on a spit. Life on this lonely outpost 230 years ago would have been tough. Easy to see how seventy-four men could have lost their lives.

  He noticed a staircase that right-angled upward.

  Higher ground would be good, so he climbed the steep steps and entered what had once been a large hall. Windows ran the length of each side, the grilles and glass long gone. No ceiling existed, the room exposed to the elements, a wall walk wrapping the outer curtain high above. Puddles of stagnant water nourished brown grass that grew like stubble. The air remained clotted with the stench of birds, many of which flitted around.

  His gaze was drawn to the fireplace and he wove a path around loose blocks. The hearth would hold half a dozen men standing side by side. He noticed places where planks covered the stone floor, some milled and clearly of a more recent vintage, others rotting and dangerous.

  Beyond a darkened passageway, he spied another room. He negotiated a short hall and entered that empty space. A second staircase led up. Probably to the walk he’d spotted encircling the battlements.

  Something to his right, near a pile of grass-infected rubble, caught his attention.

  Smears on the rock floor.

  Footsteps. Toward the second staircase.

  More stains colored the risers. Fresh, moist.

  Somebody was above him.

  KNOX WAITED ON THE BATTLEMENTS FOR WYATT TO EMERGE from the cluster of decaying buildings. Though the ceilings were gone, as were most of the walls, there remained many places to hide. He’d watched as Wyatt entered the fort. Before he killed him he hoped perhaps Wyatt might point the way to where the missing pages waited. He had the full text of Jackson’s message with him, including the five curious symbols. Instead of spending all night searching, he could let Wyatt lead him straight there.

  But his adversary was wandering, as if lost.

  Apparently, he did not know where to find whatever Andrew Jackson had hidden.

  So kill him and be done with it.

  WYATT HAD LEARNED LONG AGO THAT WHEN YOUR OPPONENT was expecting the expected, it was best not to disappoint. That was why he’d boldly entered the Garver Institute through the front door. Near the base of the staircase, where more footprints in the mud and excrement led upward, a bare window opened through the outer wall facing the sea. He crept over and carefully poked his head out, checking above.

  Maybe a ten-foot climb to the top, with plenty of handholds in the withering stone.

  He glanced down at the hundred-foot drop to a rocky shoreline being assaulted by the sea. Birds leaped from the cliff-like walls and hung in the breeze. The half-choked cries of gulls accompanied their waltz. He retreated inside and found a stone the size of a softball. The battlements above were certainly populated by birds, too. Carefully, he crept up one flight of risers and peered up into an ever-dimming sky.

  He lobbed the rock up through the opening, but did not wait for it to land.

  Instead he retreated down to the window.

  KNOX WAS POSITIONED ACROSS FROM WYATT, ON THE FORT’S north wall. One of his men waited on the south battlement with Wyatt, the other man on the west wall. The oppressive silence was broken only by surf and a steady wind that masked all noise.

  Birds suddenly took flight from the south wall in a thick layer, sweeping upward, their wings colliding in midair.

  What had panicked them?

  His gaze locked on the battlement.

  WYATT GRABBED HOLD OF THE GRAY LIMESTONE, USING THE crevices as holds. The stone he’d tossed upward had flushed the birds and caused enough of a distraction to cover him. He was suspended in the air, nothing but ocean to his back. Night was rapidly grabbing hold. His shoes were planted firmly in a deep scar in the wall. One hand gripped the top. He reached up with his other hand and peered over the edge.

  A man stood eight feet away, his back to him, near where the stairway he’d avoided emptied down from the battlements.

  He held a gun in one hand.

  Exactly as he’d thought.

  They were waiting for him.

  CASSIOPEIA AND HER NEW PARTNER, JESSICA, APPROACHED Shirley Kaiser’s house. They’d driven over in a Secret Service car, parked down the street, and trotted to the wrought-iron fence that encircled the property, an easy matter to leap over.

  They made their way toward the garage.

  “Have you done this before?” she whispered.

  “Not outside the training academy.”

  “Stay calm. Think. And don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Any other words of wisdom?”

  “Don’t get shot.”

  No smart remarks came in reply to that one.

  Jessica hesitated, listening to something through her ear fob. They were in radio contact with the agent back at the Comfort Inn.

  “The two guys are still there.”

  Because, Cassiopeia thought, they knew they would not be interrupted. Hale apparently was aware Kaiser was gone, but she wondered why he’d decided to remove the device. Did he know that they knew? If he did, he would not have gone anywhere near Kaiser’s
house. No physical evidence tied him to the device. No, he was covering his tracks. Maybe readying himself for something.

  She signaled for Jessica to swing around to the rear of the garage. She would approach from the front and flush them out.

  Surprise should work in their favor.

  Or at least she hoped it would.

  KNOX STARED ACROSS TO WHERE HIS MAN ON THE SOUTH WALL waited. The birds had settled down, some returning to their perch, others flying off into an ever-darkening sky. A man suddenly appeared from the outer portion of the wall, facing the ocean, balanced atop the battlement.

  No question as to his identity.

  Wyatt rushed forward and attacked. The fight was brief and silent thanks to the distance and the wind.

  A gun appeared in Wyatt’s hand.

  One shot, the retort muffled to a sound like hands clapping, and one man was down for good.

  Knox raised his weapon, aimed, and fired.

  SIXTY-TWO

  MALONE CAUGHT THE SUDDEN FLIGHT OF BIRDS FROM THE crest of the fort. He was just outside the main gate, using the enveloping darkness for cover, unsure if there was anyone else around.

  He heard a pop, then another, and knew he was not alone.

  He needed to enter the fort, but to do that meant crossing an open fifty feet. The only cover was a pile of rubble ten feet away. He rushed the mound, leaping over to its protected side.

  Two bullets pinged the limestone wall behind him.

  From the battlements.

  He kept his head down and peered through an opening in the rocks. Movement came high on the wall walk, to the left of the doorway he wanted to negotiate. Waiting would do nothing but allow his attacker time to prepare. So he aimed at the spot on the wall where he’d last spied anything and laid down two rounds, then took advantage of the moment and dashed through the doorway.