The Keepers of the Rose

by DJ Dalasta

  The technical aspects of how Wallace and his colleagues came to understand the language in the book confused him greatly. Rock’s thoughts wondered as they breezed over this part. He was more interested in their theories of what it actual was. A myth. A code. A journal. Maybe it was just random words and pictures that would somehow bring the past more into focus. He specifically didn’t want anymore talk of the upcoming end of the world date, December 21st 2012, which was now only mere months away. But despite Wallace’s assurances that this was the main reason for the existence of the book, Rock figured it was something else. There was something in there that was worth oodles of money. Profit was the real reason for the intense situation following this artifact, and the reason for killing his friend. Greed was the only catalyst for such an act.

  Rock got up and wondered away as Wallace held Sayla and Benji’s attention with the story of what he was calling, Atlantis. He was making associative links between the start of cultures all over the world, the beginning of languages, cultivations of crops and building of architecture to the story of Noah’s flood in the bible and how that could be a metaphor to the lost country and its people. He told them it is no mere coincidence that the bible claims the earth is only five thousand years old. He was correct with most of the dates and it was quite amazing they all seemed to coincide with each other but Rock wanted to tell them to start a web site like the thousand others that popped up over the last year. This galactic alignment was the talk of every show, the plot of every movie, and the topic of conversations all over the globe. He would finally be relaxed as soon as it passed without incident. More minds were converted to the build up every day. To make matters worse, they just won over a highly touted skeptical scientist to join their ever-flooding ranks. Who was next?

  The phone rang in the house and Rock was standing next to the receiver. He picked it up. “Hello,“ he said hoping it was Anna on the line.

  “Rock,” the voice was familiar.

  “Nate?” He guessed. “Where are you guys?”

  “Delega took Anna”.

  The words pierced him. “Damn it. Where are you, when?”

  “When we were in Denver. I got away. I’m in Chatanooga right now. I didn’t want to fly into Knoxville after last time. But I think people know I’m here. I have information and I need Skylar to pick me up.”

  “I’ll send him, you have his cell number, right?”

  “I do, I’ll call him in a couple of hours then.”

  “Ok, hold tight.”

  “One more thing Rock.”

  “Ya.”

  “Is Sayla there?

  “Yeah, she’s here, do you want me to put her on?”

  “No. And listen carefully. You can’t trust anything she says. She’s involved in all this somehow. You need to move, she may already have compromised the cabin location.”

  Rock looked over at Sayla but didn’t say anything. She was intently listening to Wallace. “Are you sure?”

  “She can’t be trusted Rock. I’m serious.”

  “Ok. I’m sending Skylar right now. We’ll talk when you get here.”

  “Ok, bye.”

  “Be safe.” Rock hung up.

  Sayla looked up at him, “who was that?”

  “Nate. He says Delega has Anna. They got her in Denver. Damn!” Rock slammed his hand on the table in front of him. The people closest to him backed off a step. “She’s knows better than that.” He grit his teeth together. “Skylar!” He yelled.

  Skylar meandered into the room. They had briefly talked in the morning but with all that Wallace had to say, the two of them had yet to catch up. “What do you need Rock?”

  “Nate’s in Chatanooga, at the airport, he needs to get here. Can you pick him up?”

  “I’m on my way.” Skylar left the room immediately.

  “I’m sorry Rock, but I think she knew the risks when she left,” Wallace said. “She seemed hesitant at the time, but went anyway.”

  “I know. She’s not one to sit still for long. I’m just hoping they don’t hurt her.” He briefly thought of Brett but pushed it aside. “Nate will be here soon, we can find out everything from him. Personally Wallace, I think we’ve been here too long, we should start getting things ready to go.”

  “What do you mean?” Wallace asked, making a confused face. He looked like someone pinched his nose.

  “If you stay in one place too long, you’re going to get caught, it’s only a matter of time.”

  “I don’t think anyone is going to find this place,” Sayla said. “We’re pretty far off the main roads.”

  “Well I think we should be able to move quickly if something does happen. Ok?” She didn’t respond. “Right now, Sayla, I want you to photograph everything, document all the research, that means high quality pictures of all pages and artifacts here and then I want a back-up of all of Wallace’s findings on my thumb drive. Got it.” She nodded and picked up the digital camera. “And Wallace, help her out, I want everything backed up. All of your theories I want in digital form, your thoughts typed up and saved. Everything.”

  “That’s a good idea. Ok.”

  Rock started pacing while Sayla began snapping pictures and Wallace sat down at the computer. He didn’t like this as he recalled Nate’s words. Sayla was involved somehow. But that didn’t make sense. She had been with him before this all even began. She was with him in Costa Rica even before Anna was contracted by Delega. How could she be involved? He figured Nate must have some sort of evidence and Rock wasn’t going to convict her until he saw it.

  Over the next few hours he barely spoke to anyone. He allowed the work to be completed and stayed out of the way. He talked with Benji briefly about where they were to head in the Caribbean and about everything he knew concerning this historical puzzle. To his dismay the boy didn’t know too much, only that it was his charge to keep until he couldn’t and then to pass it along to another trustworthy individual. The rest he still kept to himself. That frustrated Rock to no end but he kept to his word and didn’t push the matter.

  Sayla completed her documentation just after noon and Wallace did his best to put his thoughts down so that Rock could have a copy of everything. They were finishing up as Skylar returned with Nate. He had been gone just over six hours.

  Nate emerged from the car with wrinkled clothes and dark circles hugging his eyes. He looked scared and clutched a small bag at his side. His pupils shifted back and forth. Rock had seen the symptoms before. Nate had seen death, and recently. Not the type of death at a funeral home or hospital. The young man had witness traumatic death. It was no wonder he suspected Sayla of something. He was probably paranoid.

  “Nate, you doin’ ok?” He was genuinely concerned.

  “I’m fine,” he responded.

  “You sure?’

  “Yeah.” He brushed by Rock’s shoulder. “We need to talk. Now.” He moved by him into the house and didn’t even look at Sayla as he entered. His manner wasn’t subtle.

  Rock followed him inside holding a hand out to Sayla letting her know to be patient. “What’s up with him,” she whispered.

  “Something happened in Denver. My guess is he saw someone killed, right in front of him, so it might take some time. Let me talk to him and see where his head is at.” Rock followed after Nate and found him sitting in one of the bedrooms. He sat down next to him.

  “What happened in Denver,” he asked.

  “We were just checking up on this ring, the one with the rose, like the Coopers. While we were there, two guys showed up, I thought they must have been part of the Coopers organization. I was hiding in the other room. They were going to take Anna. Then someone killed them, two shots, that’s it, and they’re both dead. Another guy came in and took Anna, I heard them talking, he was from Delega’s organization. He also killed the boy we were talking with. Shot him in the head for no reason. The kid had nothing t
o do with it. And he just shot him.”

  “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  “Are they going to kill Anna?”

  Rock took a breath. “I don’t think so. She’s much more valuable right now alive, so I think she’ll be ok. She’s smart. You know that. She’ll find a way through this.”

  He saw Nate visibly relax to his words. But Rock didn’t know if he felt that way or not. He’d seen first hand what Delega was capable of.

  “I need to know what you have, or what you think you have against Sayla.”

  “She’s with them Rock. I know it. I feel it.” Nate took out a small book from the bag he carried. He handed it over. “This is the journal of a man who was in the organization, the keepers of the rose, that’s what they call themselves. The keepers of the rose,” he repeated. “It chronicles his journey from the time he was in the US army and looted an artifact from Korea that they wanted. They recruited him and he accepted, but decided decades later he wanted out. He wrote down everything, names, locations, plans he was privy to. Everything. In it he talked about a place called Barrion imports, a front to bring things in and out of this country. The man who ran it was Ian Barrion and he had help from his half brother Harrison Burr, Ian’s son was Donald Barrion, they were contracted and an intricate part of the process here in America.”

  Rock saw exactly where he was going with this, “Barrion is a common last name, Nate. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

  “True, but her father’s name is Donald, I remember her talking about him. She said he died in a boating accident. And then she said something about Uncle Harrison. Do you think that’s a coincidence? I don’t. I think it’s fucked up.”

  “Are you sure? Whenever I asked about her parents she dodged the question. She’s been with us the whole time, and with me even before Anna got the call from Delega.”

  “But when did she first start with you?”

  “Not long before I was in Costa Rica, which was just before this.”

  “And how did you find her?”

  “She found me. And when I checked her out and called professors whom she had in college they only said good things about her. She seemed genuine.”

  “Yeah,” Nate said sarcastically. “Do you usually have a student with you on your outings.”

  “Actually, I had a great young man for two years but he was offered a job just months before. He wasn’t qualified for the position he was offered, not at the time, but I knew he couldn’t pass up the chance to take it.” Rock was starting to see what Nate was getting at. He was set-up.

  “That’s a lot of coincidence,” Nate said.

  “It is. But I’m not ready to hang her just yet.” He had never looked at it that way. Sayla had come to him at exactly the right time to be involved but not look suspicious. Nate may have hit on something

  “We should probably get out of this place,” Nate said. “Now that she knows we’re here, they probably do as well.” He stood up but couldn’t stop shifting. “I’ll call her out right now. Do you want me to call her out?”

  “No,” Rock said. “Sit down. Calm yourself. I’ll do it. Putting her on the spot in front of everyone could be a poor decision. I’ll let Wallace know he needs to start packing up and move everything out as soon as possible.”

  Rock held out the book to Nate. He didn’t take it. “Keep it. It has a lot of useful information. I already read it.” Rock retracted the journal.

  “Ok. I’ll start making arrangements, you get some sleep.” Nate reluctantly sat back down. He hung his head and it fell into his hands. He looked exhausted.

  Rock let him be and walked back into the other room and took Wallace by the arm, dragging him into the kitchen. The old man fought against him.

  “Stop treating me like a child. What is it?”

  “Stop what you’re doing and pack everything up. We have to leave as soon as we can.”

  “What is all this? We’re perfectly safe here. The only people who know where we are, are those people here, Anna and a few of my colleagues. That is it. None of whom will say a word.”

  “Trust me. I am not unaware of the circumstances. It would be safer if we switched locations.” Rock stared down at the squat man and his look appeared to do more than his words.

  “Ok Rock,” Wallace agreed. “You seem to know more than I do. I’ll make the arrangements.” Wallace left him in the kitchen. He heard the old man scuttle around and begin to relay the message. There were minor protests but everyone knew that things were a little sensitive and if Rock said it was time to go, it was probably time to go.

  Rock walked outside and within a few minutes Sayla came up next to him. She fell in step.

  “How’s Nate,” she asked.

  “Tired, he’s had a rough 24 hours.”

  “What did he say? It must have been something important, you’re packing everything up.”

  “Sayla,” Rock stopped walking and turned to face her. He felt very large standing next to her. “I need you to tell me about your father.”

  She paused and looked away. “What exactly did Nate find out,” she said.

  “Barrion Imports. You’re grandfather and father, uncle Harrison, they are all part of the organization that searches for us. The keepers of the rose, they call themselves. You being here isn’t coincidence, is it?”

  “No,” she said. Rock wasn’t surprised she didn’t deny it. She knew it would do no good at this point. She was too smart for that.

  “So what’s your purpose in all this, and how much have you cost me. I’ve lost more than you know up to this point.”

  She took a step back and flipped her hair. She was looking for an angle, only, at the moment, they both knew there wasn’t one. “My job was to provide information on you and if applicable, to locate the rose and relay that location as well.”

  “You had your chance in Nova Scotia,” he pointed out.

  “At that point, I decided I didn’t want to do it anymore. I couldn’t do that to you and Anna and Nate. You turned out to be the best person I’ve ever known. That’s the truth Rock. I didn’t do it, I couldn’t betray you.”

  “At what point.”

  “Just after we arrived on Oak Island.”

  “So everything before hand, with the Cooper’s, that was all fake.”

  She nodded. “I knew Michael and his brother. It was to get you involved, they wanted you there to manipulate in case Anna succeeded. They thought you would do, well, exactly what you did. Although had you not been there it never would have been found, which is also an outcome they were fine with.”

  “This was all a set-up then, what about Delega?”

  “This was all to stop Delega. We knew about Anna and their interest in her before they hired her. Delega had the choice narrowed between five individuals. We researched each one and then marked them as best we could. We found you through researching her, and knew you would be a likely candidate that would be brought on board and so I was sent to you in case she was chosen. She was, and I became the valuable asset. Fernando, you’re old apprentice was given an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, as you know. And the professors were paid off and you hired me.”

  “I always thought you were too smart. So how much time do I have until they get here.”

  “I told you I stopped communicating with them at Oak Island.”

  “You know as well as I that I can’t take your word on that.”

  “I don’t know what else to say.”

  “When you made your decision to break from them, as you claim, why didn’t you come clean, you should have told me everything at that point.”

  “If I did, you would completely cut away from me and not trust me to do anything, like what you’re doing now.”

  “Can you blame me?”

  “I can help you. That’s what I’ve been doing. I can help to keep you safe, I know how they work.”


  “You’re a good liar,” he said. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and the blame’s on me. Not this time.”

  Rock started walking back to the house. Sayla didn’t follow. “I’m sorry Rock.” She yelled. “I am, I didn’t think it would turn out like this.”

  Rock stopped on the front step and spun around. “What was it supposed to turn out like? You knew the lengths these people would go to in order to get their hands on what I found. You knew they’d kill for it. How else was it going to turn out? When we go back to Florida, I’ll drop you off at your house, this is as far as you go with me. And if what you say is true, then you won’t tell them where Benji and I are going.”

  “I won’t,” she replied softly.

  “We’ll see about that,” he said. “And by the way, Brett, my best friend, your friend, is dead. Delega killed him to get to me. Since you kept this secret from me, you’re part of the reason he’s dead. I put some of his blood on your hands. Sleep well tonight.” He walked back inside. He clenched his fists at the threshold wondering how he had held back from beating her bloody.

  Chapter 34

  Tennessee, August 2012