The Keepers of the Rose

by DJ Dalasta

  Halifax, Nova Scotia was cold, even in Spring. The moment Rock stepped outside at the airport he felt like packing up and heading right back to Miami. He avoided any place he couldn’t be comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt. He looked across the parking lot for his rental car, searching through a thick fog that hung near eye level. He finally spotted it resting on the opposite side against a grey wall hardly distinct from haze around it. He tightened his light, windbreaker jacket around him and jogged to the car. Sayla trailed after him, her eye still slightly colored from the incident with Michael Cooper a full two weeks past. She convinced him to let her come along. Truthfully, it wasn’t a hard sell. He didn’t want her sitting alone in Miami coming up with badly timed ideas, especially by someone her age.

  “Anna’s going to be so surprised to see you,” Sayla said as she sat in the passenger seat, buckling her safety belt. Rock pretended not to hear and immediately turned the heater on full blast. A shot of freezing air burst through the vent and he cursed, swinging the opening in a different direction.

  “The car has to warm up first,” Sayla shrugged.

  “I know,” he said. “And I don’t think surprised is exactly what Anna is going to be.” He never called his ex-wife to let her know they were coming. What he had to tell her would be better dealt with in person. If he even got that far. Anna hated surprises.

  They drove towards Western Shore and their final destination, the Oak Island Resort. Rock had secured two rooms for the week. Hopefully, it would be enough time to find Anna, tell her what she needed to know and then leave. He wanted nothing more to do with this job. “What do you think she’s done so far?” Sayla asked, grinning ear to ear. She obviously had other thoughts in mind.

  “My guess is, not much. She’s only been there twenty days and the ground might still be hard from the winter. Anna is usually conservative in approach so by this time she’ll have started all the sampling, scouting, and mapping. That’s about all though. She’ll probably be having meetings about this time. Anna loves meetings.”

  A little under an hour later, they arrived at the resort. It was gorgeous. It sat on the coastline nestled against the Atlantic Ocean. The building was of good size but held the atmosphere of a quiet little bed and breakfast. Sayla pointed to the street sign as they pulled in. “36 Treasure Drive,” she said with delight.

  “Clever,” Rock replied.

  The interior of the place, however, was grandiose, lending to the experience of those who came to view the legendary treasure site. Oak Island Tours had been running viewings the past few decades, giving up on the actual discovery of the proposed treasure and instead turning a profit on its historical significance. Rock found that ironic, a site that produced no treasure probably making one on the idea that a mysterious treasure exists. But he enjoyed finding those self-fulfilling prophesy. They intrigued him.

  Their rooms overlooked the harbor and were positioned one right next to the other. The famous fog of Nova Scotia he had read about before arriving, deepened over the water. He couldn’t see much past the shoreline and as such, had no view of the legendary island. But it was out there, he knew, and not too far away.

  Rock began unpacking, letting his mind wonder at the problems of Oak Island. Despite what Michael Cooper had said, he believed nobody was sure what lay below the ground, if anything. In his mind, the most likely ending was that nothing would ever be uncovered. And if the previous failures were the result of sabotage, it was ill aimed for a treasure that didn’t exist. He had come to the conclusion that the stories had no real accurate basis of documentation. Even the supposed cryptic stone that was deciphered to read, “below, two million pounds are buried,” written in some form of code, had been lost with time. But even if that stone did exist, it was the last ditch effort of some man’s failure to gain a semblance of famous stature. It was planted, much like everything else here, he knew. People wanted to have something to talk about and they desperately wanted to believe. They wanted to be the person that found something. But in truth, nobody had.

  That’s exactly what he was going to get across to Anna. Hopefully he could convince her to ditch this before Delega or Michael Cooper claimed something against her. Michael already proved his violent streak with Sayla. Rock didn’t expect the Delega Group to be much different.

  He hung up the last of his few shirts and flopped down on the bed. He felt saddened at the thought of pulling out of this when he had a chance to become part of it. He sighed as two knocks sounded on his door. “Rock, get up, let’s go.” He was beginning to regret bringing her already.

  “Go away Imp,” he called back to her. “I need a nap first.”

  She knocked again, “you can nap later,” she said with a muffled voice. “It’s almost the afternoon, who knows when they leave the site.”

  Rock agreed though didn’t feel much like moving. He finally mustered the energy and opened the door. Sayla punched him in the gut. “I am not an imp,” she nodded and started walking down the hall towards the elevators.

  They could have walked to Oak Island being that the resort lay just across the bay but Rock thought it was too cold. So they drove. The fog was thinning as mid-day approached but dense clouds hovered over the coast blocking any warmth the sun tried to give this place. He turned onto the well-known land link to the island, the causeway, and was shocked to see a heavily built gate and two booths accompanied by three separate guards.

  He pulled to a slow stop just in front of the gate. One of the guards approached his window. Rock casually rolled it down. The guard peered inside. He had slicked back hair that was thinning and dark glasses. His build was less than natural with an upper body far more built than what his limbs told of. It looked like he wore body armor underneath his uniform. “ID badge,” the guard said.

  “No ID badge,” Rock replied.

  “Then please back out, this is private property and I cannot let you on site without a the proper clearance.”

  “I see. Well Anna Riley is my ex-wife and I need to see her, I was invited.”

  “I can’t let you pass until you’re cleared.”

  “I have a feeling she’ll clear me.”

  The guard shook his head, “there’s not much I can do sir. You have to turn around.”

  “I have an idea. How about you tell her I’m waiting here.”

  “She’s not to be bothered, you can contact her by phone tonight and she can arrange your entrance tomorrow. Here’s her office number.” The guard handed Rock a slip of paper.

  “Why would I need an office number if I have her cell phone?” Rock looked over at Sayla, “just call her.” Sayla quickly dialed the number and Rock grabbed the pink phone from her hand. It rang twice before Anna answered.

  “Hello Sayla,” she said.

  “No Anna, sorry, no gossip today, its just me.”

  “Oh, what do you want?”

  “I need to speak with you regarding Oak Island.”

  “Now’s not the time Rock, I’ll call you when I end my day.”

  “Well, could you at least tell the guards to let us in after you hang up, I want to check out the island.” In the moment of silence that followed, Rock almost laughed.

  “You’re not serious.”

  “You have it tight as a drum around here. I guess we’re in need of some sort of badge.”

  “You don’t even call, you just show up. I should have figured this was coming.”

  “Well, are you going to let us in?”

  “Hang tight, I’ll get you in.” Anna hung up.

  Rock looked back to the guard, “she told us to hang tight.” The guard looked irritated.

  It took five minutes and a car rolled up on the other side of the gate. A young man jumped out and approached them. Rock recognized Nate immediately. His shaggy brown hair and unkempt style were a dead giveaway. He shuffled through the gate and jogged up to Rock and Sayla. Nate le
aned in the open window, his hair fell in and he had to whip it back.

  “Hey Rock,” Nate said.

  “Hi Nate, I suppose Anna is too important to do such a menial job as to let us in.”

  “No, she was coming but I told her I’d do it.”

  “Whatever works.” Rock liked Nate. The young man was a nerdy computer genius and a whiz at research. But more importantly he never seemed high strung or stressed out and his laid back approach usually balanced out Anna quite well.

  Nate handed over two badges. They read ‘single day visitor.’ Rock grabbed them. “A whole day. Woo hoo.”

  Nate smiled. “Just for today, we’ll get you cleared for however long you plan on staying. Follow me when you get through the gate.”

  When Nate left, the guard came up to the window once again. “Let me see the badges,” Rock held them up. He scanned them into a small pocket computer. “You can’t use these tomorrow, the codes won’t be any good.”

  “Is that what it means by one day pass,” Rock asked.

  “That’s what it means.” He still looked irritated.

  The gate opened and Rock drove through and followed Nate on a small rode that led towards the back of the island. They parked in a dirt lot. Off in the distance he viewed dozens of pieces of heavy machinery. There were numerous excavators, wheel loaders, lifts, dozers, trenchers and others he’d never seen before. They sat silently at the moment.

  Nate approached them as Rock looked around adding up the amount of money already invested. The boy stopped next to them. “Does Anna really think she’s going need all this?”

  “I don’t think so, but Delega said that in this task, time was incredibly more valuable than money. So Anna decided to bring in everything she’d ever need, whether she’d use it or not. She didn’t want to have to wait on any piece of equipment if indeed its use was required.”

  “If money is no object,” Rock shrugged. “I don’t think you two have met. Nate, this is my apprentice Sayla. Sayla, this is Anna’s assistant Nate.”

  They shook hands. They were about the same age. Nate was perhaps just a year or two older. Rock considered Sayla about an eight for a girl and Nate a seven for a guy, in looks. Their personalities would mesh perfectly. He should probably try and keep them separated.

  “So he’s an assistant and I’m just an apprentice,” Sayla said casually as they walked.

  “Nate is more valuable than you,” he replied.

  “How do I become an assistant?”

  “Go work for someone else. I don’t have assistants. I have apprentice and when I think they are ready to be on their own, I fire them.” They quickly came to a building standing in the middle of nowhere. It rested on top of the ground instead of being built into it. It was quite an impressive home base of operations for actually being at the location.

  They followed Nate inside and walked down a plain hallway. On one side were a plethora of small offices and on the other a glass window gave a view of an elaborate laboratory. Banks of computers sat in rows hooked up to various machines. Most remained turned off, like the equipment outside, waiting to see if their services would be required. A few people sat around one of the monitors talking, but Rock couldn’t hear what was being said.

  Nate turned the corner and then immediately opened the door on the right. He held it open as Rock and Sayla slid past. The room was large. An oval table rested in the middle with a dozen chairs around it but only the far side was occupied. Five people gathered around that end while Anna stood in front of them, scratching on a white board. Beyond the group lay a couple computer bays and a small kitchen unit. On the wall nearest to them were two pictures. One was the most well known diagram of the Oak Island money-pit, though there was nothing but word of mouth to believe the knowledge. The other was a copy of a map that looked like the island, with a big ‘x’ marked on it and some various symbols. Rock had never seen it before. He moved closer and saw it was signed by someone and there were weird symbols written across the top. It looked authentic. He wondered if the code had been deciphered yet.

  “Told you, meetings,” Rock said softly so only Sayla could hear him. He then smiled at Anna as she strode forward to greet them.

  “Rock,” she said pleasantly.

  “Anna.”

  “It’s good to see you,” she hugged him lightly and backed off.

  “It’s good to see you too, you look wonderful.” He always had thought she looked best when she was working. The old dusted brown pants and un-tucked long sleeved white shirt somehow flattered her.

  “Thank you. And this must be Sayla,” she stepped past him. “It’s good to finally meet you in person.”

  “It’s good to meet you too, though I feel kind of weird since we’ve known each other for awhile.” Sayla said. Anna winked at her.

  “I knew she’d be pretty,” Anna whispered to Rock and then started back towards the front. Rock sighed. “Everybody, this is Rock Tilton,” she said addressing the group. “He is probably one of the best in the world at locating lost ruins and archaeological sites. Historically, he’s a library of information. I think he can be of use to us. I’ve been witness to his different way of thinking and his ideas should be heard out.” She went on to introduce to him the other people in the room. Rock was uninterested but listened.

  Jen Berent, an expert in construction and structural engineering looked like a man. Haden Green, also specialized in engineering, structural and mining. He came off as arrogant and Rock knew he would be difficult to deal with. David Bennington was Anna’s old friend, a physics and mathematics professor. He was damn near perfect with equations but there wasn’t a creative bone in his body. He probably had sex using a compass and protractor. Bart Kessler was her foreman, his belly sat upon the table begging to be deflated. Then finally, Ray Drexler was an architect. Why an architect, he didn’t know. Rock was stunned at the amount of brainpower in the room and appalled at the idea they had to work together. He silently congratulated himself for staying out of this. He would never fit in here.

  When Anna was finished, Rock addressed the room. “Wow,” he said. “I look around and I don’t think I belong in this meeting. You seem to have every angle covered from mining to math. I just want to speak with Anna for a moment so if you don’t mind.” He motioned to Anna to walk outside with him.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said to them.

  “You’re right, you don’t belong in here,” someone called to him as they were exiting.

  “Excuse me,” he looked back into the room.

  “You don’t belong in here,” Haden Green said coming to a standing position. His salt and pepper hair didn’t move and he shook his head from side to side. “I know you. You’re a glorified treasure hunter, you bring nothing to the table but wasted time.”

  “You’re probably correct,” Rock smiled. “I bring nothing to this table, so I won’t even try.” He stepped outside and closed the door. Anna waited with an embarrassed expression.

  “Sorry about that,” she said.

  “He’s probably very good at what he does, use that part of him and forget the rest. But I don’t care about him, I’m here because I need to talk with you about ending this.”

  “Ending the dig?”

  “Yes. You need to step away.”

  “I can’t. Why would you even ask me that?”

  “I think you’re involved in the middle of something that could go very sour.”

  “I know that much already.”

  “I don’t think you know the extent of it. I have a lot to say and I can see you’re busy, call me when you leave for the night, we’ll talk then, at your place.”

  “Ok,” Anna’s eyes squinted in concern. “So I take it you’re not here to help.”

  “I’m here to help, but not with the dig. We’ll talk tonight.” Rock opened the door and stuck his head in. “Sayla,” he cal
led, “get your butt out here.”

  Sayla and Nate both scurried out the door while Anna moved back inside. “What a group,” Sayla said.

  “They’re all ok, except for Haden, he’s an ass,” Nate replied.

  “As long as the ass does what he’s here to do.” Rock said. “If he pulls his weight then let him talk all he wants. What’s Anna got you doing now?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Wanna show us around?”

  “Sure. What do you want to see first?”

  “The money pit,” Sayla said quickly.

  Rock took a moment before answering. “You know, I think I’d rather see a convincing 18th century artificial beach.”

  Chapter 6

  Nova Scotia, April 2012