The Mountain Mother Cipher (The Arkana Archaeology Mystery Series Book 2)

by N. S. Wikarski

  “Are you sure your friend knows where the hotel is?” She tried not to shout.

  The man with the cap conferred with the member of his party who didn’t have the gun. The fellow nodded.

  “Yes,” The Turk replied. “He know where.”

  “He must ask for a man named Erik,” she instructed.

  Again the Turk translated for the benefit of his associate.

  Cassie folded up the ransom note. “Here, wrap this around my room key.”

  The man with the cap didn’t argue. He took the key out of his pocket and folded the note around it several times. He then handed the packet to the messenger.

  The younger man took it wordlessly and left the building.

  “It’s a long way,” the girl observed. “How will he get there?”

  “We have truck.” The Turk didn’t choose to elaborate on where the vehicle was hidden.

  “This could take a while,” Cassie noted.

  “Yes,” he agreed. “Now we wait.” He ambled over to the shelf above the fireplace and took down a pipe, filled it and struck a match. Then he took a seat across the table from Cassie and smoked in silence. His remaining associate dragged a chair over by the door and stationed himself there, cradling his rifle.

  About fifteen minutes passed, though to Cassie it seemed much longer, when their silent vigil was shattered. A thumping sound came from the back wall of the building as if something heavy had been thrown against it. They all jumped to attention. The Turk with the gun was on his feet. He tried peering through the grimy windows without success.

  The man with the cap spoke rapidly. The other man nodded and warily opened the door. Nothing was moving outside. At the urging of the older man, he went out to investigate, shutting the door behind him.

  “Maybe your friends come looking for you,” the man said.

  Cassie stared at him in what she hoped was an expression of blank surprise. “How could that be? They thought I went up to the stone circle. How could they find me here?”

  The Turk shrugged and puffed on his pipe. “If they come, we give them surprise, yes?”

  The girl frowned. “Well, you better not shoot them if you hope to get your money.”

  For some reason, the man found this remark funny. He slapped the table and laughed out loud.

  Five more minutes passed and the man with the gun still hadn’t returned. The Turk with the cap rose from the table and attempted to peer out the filthy window. Then he walked slowly to stand behind Cassie.

  “I think he come now,” he said.

  Cassie could hear footsteps outside, running across the gravel by the front door.

  In one deft move the Turk pulled her out of the chair and drew out a hunting knife which flashed under her chin. He positioned them both facing the front of the house.

  Seconds later, the door burst open to reveal Erik pointing the rifle, flanked by Griffin and Fred.

  The Turk had backed against the far wall of the cottage, holding Cassie in front of him as a shield. He pressed the knife close against her throat. “You put down gun or she die!”

  Erik hesitated for a split second.

  It was all the time Cassie needed to raise her leg and grind her foot down on the man’s instep as hard as she could. He lost his balance, cursing in pain as a bullet whizzed past his cheek and grazed his earlobe. He dropped the knife, putting up a hand to stop the flow of blood. Cassie flew out of his grasp and ran across the room toward her teammates.

  Erik handed the gun to Fred. “Cover me,” he commanded before springing across the room. He grabbed the Turk by the arm and twisted it behind his back.

  “Listen you!” he growled. “We have just had one blockbuster of a bad day and you’re not gonna make it suck any worse. Do you know who we are?”

  The Turk shook his head, too rattled to speak.

  “We belong to an organization that’s got enough resources to hunt you down and kill all of you if you meddle in our affairs. You understand what I’m saying?” He twisted the man’s arm harder for emphasis.

  The Turk nodded, wincing.

  “And if you or your crew go anywhere near that stone circle again, I will personally come down on your asses like Keyser frigging Söze! You got that?”

  For the first time the Turk looked confused. “I do not know who is this. Who is Keyser Söze?”

  For a second Erik was too speechless to reply. “Oh, give me a break. We’re in Turkey for crissake and you don’t know who Keyser Söze is?”

  The man with the cap shook his head nervously.

  “Hey, Hollywood,” Cassie called from the doorway. “Give it a rest.”

  “OK, fine.” Erik appeared completely nonplussed. He searched for an alternative explanation. “How about this. You or your crew go near that stone circle again and you won’t live to tell about it afterward.” He twisted the man’s arm once more. “Did you understand that sentence?”

  The man nodded vehemently.

  “Good, looks like we’ve come to an agreement.” Erik scanned the room. “What’s behind that door?” He gestured toward a small door in the far corner.

  Fred went over to investigate. “It’s some kind of storage room.”

  “Does it have a lock? I can’t see from here.”

  “Yup. One of those old-fashioned key locks.”

  “Good.” Erik dragged the Turk over toward the storage room.

  “I found this outside.” Griffin held out a coil of rope. “I thought it might prove useful.”

  “Cass, why don’t you help us tie up our friend here,” Erik suggested.

  “With pleasure,” the girl replied.

  “Time to drag in those two other guys we knocked out earlier.”

  The Arkana team retrieved Cassie’s room key and bound the three Turks before locking them in the storage room.

  “That won’t hold them long,” Cassie commented as they exited the cottage and hurried up the trail that led back to their Jeep.

  “It won’t have to,” Griffin said. “We’ll call for sweepers when we get back to the hotel.”

  “Sweepers?” Cassie repeated. “You’re going to tidy up the cottage for them?”

  “It’s a special unit we have,” Fred explained. “Sometimes we run across black market types who interfere with our work. We have a sweeper squad that secures them and turns them over to the authorities. Those guys will be cooling their heels in a Turkish jail for quite a while.”

  “Yeah but they didn’t steal anything,” the girl objected.

  “I’m guessing they’ve already built up a track record,” Erik countered. “Either way, they’ll be busy with the police long enough to stay out of our hair.” He shifted the rifle to his other shoulder where he had already slung the extra coil of rope from the cottage.

  “So what’s with the rope?” Cassie asked.

  “You ask me that after the kind of day we’ve had? Consider it an insurance policy.”

  “That was absolutely brilliant of you, Cassie,” Griffin said. “The way you handled those thieves. Though I do think it was risky to step on his foot. He might have knifed you.”

  “I figured I had the advantage. I was wearing steel-reinforced hiking boots. He was wearing loafers. Besides, I got to the point where I was more angry than scared. I am totally sick and tired of being the patsy.”

  “Patsy?” Fred repeated blankly.

  “Yeah, the dame, the skirt, the frail.”

  “Now who’s seen too many movies,” Erik interjected. “Sounds like you sat through a whole noir festival.”

  Ignoring the remark, Cassie continued. “I mean, first it was Leroy Hunt sticking a gun to my head. Then this joker with the knife. I’ve absolutely had enough. I figured it was time I put my foot down.”

  “Literally.” Griffin laughed.

  “The next guy who messes with me is going to lose some teeth.” Cassie paused and glanced at each of her teammates in turn. “Still, all things considered, I’m sure glad you guys showed up to sav
e the day.”

  Erik shrugged nonchalantly. “You’re worth saving, toots.”

  Cassie did a double-take. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. Maybe she’d have her ears checked when she got back to the States.

  Chapter 38 – Tourist Trap

  It was mid-afternoon by the time the Arkana team threaded their way through the forest and arrived back at the Jeep. They stowed the gun and the rope and were on the point of climbing in, when Fred paused. “Quiet,” he whispered urgently.

  His companions stared at him.

  “Can’t you hear that?”

  They all listened intently.

  “Is that an automobile engine?” Griffin sounded tentative.

  “That just tears it!” Erik muttered. “Could this day possibly get any worse?”

  “What?” Cassie looked from one to the other, uncomprehending.

  “It’s the Nephilim,” the Security Coordinator explained. “Has to be.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Who else is likely to be driving up here?”

  “It might just be tourists,” she objected.

  “Gee, why don’t we stand here and wait to find out,” Erik snarled back. “Even if I’m wrong, we’d be crazy not to assume a worst case scenario. Luck hasn’t exactly been on our side today. We’ve got to do something.”

  “No time to move the Jeep,” Fred told them. “We’re boxed in. The only trail that leads out of here is the one they’re traveling. We’d run straight into them.”

  Erik rubbed his face distractedly then eyed the contents of the truck. “I’ve just had the mother of all stupid, dangerous ideas but it may be our only chance. Come on. We don’t have much time.”

  ***

  Daniel and his companions bounced along the rutted trail up the eastern slope of the mountain. They were approaching the end of the tree line now. Ilhami assured them that a set of megaliths was to be found close by. The Scion wasn’t in an optimistic mood. Even if they did, by some miracle, find the standing stones, there was no guarantee the relic would be hidden among them. He sighed. They had nearly reached the summit of the mountain. This was their last hope. Daniel dreaded the thought of his next telephone conversation with his father.

  Ilhami stepped on the brakes abruptly, snapping Daniel out of his reverie. The Scion blinked. There was a Jeep parked at the end of the trail.

  “What on earth!” he exclaimed.

  “Probably tourists,” Hunt said matter-of-factly as he checked the clip of his pistol.

  “There will be no need for that, Mr. Hunt,” Daniel cautioned him.

  Leroy grinned. “Aw shucks, boy. You aim to ruin my fun again?”

  Daniel thought back to the tourist couple whom Hunt had threatened to shoot earlier in the day. He hoped the mercenary wasn’t about to have another opportunity to indulge his violent streak. It unnerved Daniel to contemplate such a possibility but he expected Hunt knew that.

  “We go up this way,” Ilhami was already out of the truck and gesturing toward a narrow trail that cut through the trees. “No more driving. We walk now.”

  Leroy holstered his pistol. He fell in behind Ilhami leaving Daniel to bring up the rear.

  They trudged upward through the pines for half a mile before breaking out into a desolate open landscape of rocks and scrubby grass. The air was thinner and a bit colder now. They climbed a rise where the ground dipped unexpectedly onto a flat table of land. On the plateau beneath them were the standing stones. A lone figure of a man stood in the middle of the circle. For some reason, he looked vaguely familiar to Daniel. He seemed startled to see them and backed away to the far end of the megaliths, hiding behind one near the edge of the plateau.

  “Somethin’ don’t smell right here,” Hunt said. He hastened down the hill to investigate the spot where the man had been standing. Daniel and Ilhami scurried after him. The mercenary paused to scrutinize a small boulder. He kicked something beside it with his toe.

  When Daniel arrived at the spot his mouth fell open. A flat stone with the lily insignia lay on the ground before him. His excitement turned to horror when he shifted his focus to what lay beside it. An empty alabaster urn and a gaping hole in the earth.

  “S…s…somebody has taken the relic,” he quavered.

  “Not somebody,” Hunt replied. “Him!” He pointed across the circle to the man peering at them from behind a megalith on the far side.

  “Hey you!” Hunt challenged.

  “Don’t come any closer,” the man warned.

  Despite the command, the newcomers stepped a few paces nearer. As the gap between them closed, Daniel understood why the man looked familiar. God in heaven! It was one of the Fallen from Karfi. A young blond man in his mid-twenties. It had been dark that night but even at the time Daniel had been struck by this handsome youth’s face. He tried to suppress his elation. He’d been right. They were alive after all! They hadn’t died underground. He felt a burden lift from his heart. His conscience was clean once more

  Hunt squinted at the man in the distance. “I know you, boy?”

  “You might say that,” the stranger replied.

  “Mr. Hunt, he was one of the people at Karfi,” Daniel reminded him. “They were sealed in the tomb after the earthquake. Don’t you remember?”

  Hunt stared at the stranger until recognition dawned. His face wore an exasperated expression. “How many times I gotta kill you, boy? Back in the day, when I shot somebody they stayed dead. The world’s in a sorry mess if everybody just starts resurrectin’ themselves all willy nilly without permission.”

  “Technically, you didn’t kill me,” the stranger retorted. “You were about to.”

  “You say tomato,” Hunt grumbled. “Where’s the other two was with you that night?”

  “They didn’t make it out alive,” the man answered.

  “Well, that’s some comfort to a body, at least,” Leroy huffed.

  While this conversation was transpiring, Ilhami looked from one face to the next, totally lost. Daniel didn’t feel inclined to enlighten him. The stranger’s last words were like a new dagger through his heart. His guilt hadn’t been expunged after all.

  “Your friends didn’t survive?” he asked hesitantly.

  “No, they didn’t thanks to you,” came the resentful response.

  “I wouldn’t be all hang-dog if I was you, boy,” Hunt observed. “Seems to me you got the whole pie to yourself now. Don’t need to share it with nobody.”

  “I would have if you hadn’t shown up to ruin things,” the man countered.

  “So we did. Game’s over.” Hunt advanced a few paces.

  “You take one step closer and I swear I’ll throw it over the cliff,” the man warned. He held up his palm. He was holding a golden object. Daniel couldn’t get a close look at the shape of it but he was sure it was the relic.

  “That’s the artifact we’ve been seeking!” he exclaimed.

  “Damn straight,” the stranger confirmed. “If I throw it over the edge of the plateau, it’s a straight drop down the side of the mountain and no way for you to get down there to search for it.”

  Daniel put a restraining hand on Hunt’s arm. “Mr. Hunt, no.” He turned to address the young man. “Surely we can come to some agreement.”

  “The agreement is this. I give you the relic and you let me leave here alive.”

  Hunt fumed in silence.

  “That is acceptable to us,” Daniel assented readily.

  “Oh hell no, it ain’t!” Hunt countered. “You let him go he’s gonna keep on huntin’ them doodads and maybe next time we won’t be so lucky. Maybe he’ll get there first.”

  “No I won’t.” The stranger grinned impudently. “Scout’s honor. Cross my heart.”

  “And hope to die.” Hunt drew out his pistol.

  “Mr. Hunt, no!” Daniel screamed.

  The stranger was still concealed behind the standing stone so Daniel couldn’t see what happened clearly but he could hear it. He
heard the scrape of gravel as the stranger took several paces back and lost his footing. He saw the stranger’s arms flailing. The gold object flew out of his hand and clattered to the ground in front of the megalith. Then he heard the scream as the stranger went over the side of the mountain.

  All three men stood frozen for several seconds. No one had expected such a thing to happen and they didn’t react immediately. They were still fifty feet away from the spot where the thief had fallen. The trio scrambled forward. Hunt stopped short to scoop up the artifact first. Only then did they peer over the edge of the plateau.

  The stranger had been right. It was a sheer drop over the edge of the cliff. Not a toe-hold anywhere to be seen. Two hundred feet below them, on a tiny ledge that was scarcely wide enough to support it, lay the body of the stranger, sprawled face down.

  “We have to do something!” Daniel cried in anguish. “We can’t just leave him there.”

  “Can and will,” Hunt replied decisively. “Ain’t no way to get down there even if I was inclined to try which I ain’t. The vultures’ll find him before anybody else thinks to look there. Let them clean up the carcass.”

  Hunt stood up and dusted off his sleeve. He held out the golden object and dropped it into Daniel’s hand. “Congratulations, son. You got your first doodad. Your daddy’s gonna be right proud.”

  Daniel stared at the exquisite golden bee. To his mind’s eye, it appeared to be covered in blood.

  Chapter 39 – Installment Plan

  Leroy Hunt stood on the balcony of Ilhami’s tiny apartment and surveyed the street below. Everything was dark and quiet. He figured it must be around three o’clock in the morning. Brother Hammy was sleeping under the stars tonight. He’d strung two of the folding chairs together into a makeshift bed. His head lolled over the back of one of the chairs and he was snoring to beat the band. That boy sure liked his raki. Too bad he couldn’t hold it worth a damn.

  Hunt felt a surge of satisfaction. They’d done it. They’d actually gone and found it. The old man wasn’t crazy after all. With all the holy smoke Abe had been blowing up Leroy’s butt, the mercenary had begun to doubt that there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But lo and behold, here it was. He held the shiny bee in the palm of his hand and studied it, captivated by its delicate design. Pretty little thing. Probably worth a fortune on account of it was so old. The thought gave him a warm glow in the pit of his stomach—like half a dozen shots of tequila.