“What about Tolen saying he was going to let us know about the sharp object found in the hull of Lila’s boat?”
“He didn’t get our phone numbers, remember?”
Curt looked at Scott and squinted, speaking slowly, “He es C-I-A. He has vays.”
“He’s not Gestapo, Curt.”
Scott’s cell phone rang. It was Kay. “Hey, we’re coming off the Shands Bridge now; should be there with dinner in ten minutes.”
“Scott, we were attacked! Cody was attacked…we were on the dock….something in the river came at us and smashed the dock!” She was in a state of frenzy Scott had never heard before.
His mind jumbled. “What? Attacked? Are you okay?”
“Yes, a few scrapes. Cody’s shaken, but okay. God, my hands are shaking so bad,” she sniffed as if on the verge of crying. “I’ve already called the police. Please get back home.”
“We’ll be right there,” Scott said, smashing the accelerator.
CHAPTER 31
Curt held on as Scott sped down State Road 13 and took a right on Jack Wright Island Road at a speed that caused the car to fishtail. Taylor Barton’s house was a mile ahead at the end of the sparsely inhabited road. Scott pushed the car ahead, the high beam lights lancing the darkness. When they reached the house, Scott brought the car to a sliding stop, turned in, then gunned the car up the long driveway, barely stopping in time to avoid crashing through the garage door. Curt was surprised to see a patrol car had already arrived and was parked to the side.
Racing from the car, Curt followed Scott inside. Kay stood in the den talking to the officer, a middle-aged, stout man with unkempt gray hair, who was scribbling on a notepad.
“Scott, thank God you’re home,” Kay sniffled as Scott walked over and hugged her.
Curt looked at the officer. His nametag read “Sgt. Trent Evers.”
Evers glanced up at Curt and then went back to writing.
Cody, who had been sitting on the couch beside Tina, jumped up and also hugged Scott. “Daddy, the water almost got me! I was so scared. Mom made me jump! We almost fell in!”
Tina remained on the couch, arms crossed, unblinking.
“Okay, honey, it’s okay,” Scott said, lifting Cody into his arms and standing up.
Curt went to Tina and kneeled before her, “Are you okay, Tina?”
She nodded weakly. “I wasn’t on the dock, but I saw it.”
Curt rose, and turned toward the others.
“What happened?” Scott asked, looking at Kay and then the officer.
“I’ll let your wife explain. At least she can tell you what she told me,” Evers said. “I do have to say, as strange as your story is, in the 29 years I’ve been a St. Johns County Deputy, I’ve never seen a week with so many odd things happening.” He paused. “I’m going to have a look at the dock.” He closed his notepad and placed it in his shirt pocket before retrieving the long black flashlight from his belt. “May I go out the back door?”
“I wouldn’t,” Kay said in a fearful tone.
“Don’t go!” Cody screamed so loud that Curt jumped. The others stared at Cody in surprise.
The officer looked at the young boy and smiled. “I’m okay. I’ve got the equalizer,” he said patting his holstered firearm. Evers turned and made his way out the back door onto the deck and continued into the yard.
Strong exterior house lights kept Evers in sight, but once the officer reached the dock, the light from the flashlight was all Curt could see dancing above the planks as it moved away.
“Now, tell me exactly what happened,” Scott said to Kay.
She sighed and led him by the hand to the couch. Cody followed and sat on the other side between Tina and his father. Curt took a seat in the recliner and leaned forward, anxious to hear.
“It was so awful,” Kay said, rubbing her forehead and brushing her hair back. “Cody was on the dock at dusk. Tina had come inside for more bread when I noticed Cody at the end of the dock standing there like he was frozen in place. I could tell something was wrong. He was terrified.” She began to cry.
“It’s okay,” Scott reassured her. “What happened next?”
“Then the water came at me,” Cody said excitedly. “It tried to eat me…with its teeth!”
“Water?” Curt said.
“Yes, the water,” Kay said, dabbing her nose with a Kleenex. “A swell…a wave of water…a single wave of water rose up and attacked us. It ripped a big section of the dock away.” She looked from Scott to Curt.
“It wanted to eat me, Daddy,” Cody said insistently. “I could see its one red eye!”
“Cody jumped from the other side of the dock, and I had to catch him. We made it off just before the wave hit the dock a second time.”
“Are you sure it was a wave?” Curt asked. He tried unsuccessfully to keep the disbelief out of his voice.
Kay turned toward Curt. She talked slowly, enunciating each word. “It was a wave, Curt, but there was something alive inside it; something vicious. It wanted to devour us. I could feel it.”
“Daddy, I want to go home. NOW. I want to get out of here,” Cody said.
“We are leaving,” Kay said, not waiting for Scott to respond. Scott nodded to his wife.
Scott rose, patted his wife on the shoulder, and walked to the large bay window looking out over the backyard from the den. Curt came up beside him.
“What in the hell is going on?” Curt asked in a low voice.
Scott leaned over to Curt. “If it was just Cody telling the story, I’d think his imagination was supercharged, but Kay says she saw this wave, too. I’ve got to believe her. I don’t know what they really saw, but I’m getting them out of here. I want them back home tonight.”
The two watched the officer’s distant light bounce in the darkness. Whatever he was looking at must have held considerable interest. He’d been on the dock for a while. A minute later, Officer Evers stepped from the foot of the dock and into the bright light of the backyard.
“I want to go home now,” Cody sobbed.
Tina sat by his side, wide-eyed.
Curt and Scott walked out onto the back deck to meet the approaching officer. As Evers neared, he looked up. His bewildered expression preceded his chilling words. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Your wife was right. Whatever hit that dock sheared a six-foot section away; just took it out, piles and all. I can’t even tell if the stumps are left, and the planks are nowhere I can see in the water. It’s like the section was never there. Something must have hit it with incredible force.”
“So what in the hell could have caused it?” Scott asked.
Officer Evers shook his head back and forth. “Short of a barge plowing into the dock, I have no idea. I did find the strangest thing. The edges of the damaged wood are burned crispy black.”
Curt looked at Scott wordlessly.
“Officer, can we wrap this up? My family doesn’t want to be here tonight.”
Evers appeared confused. “You don’t live here?”
“It’s my boss’s place. We’re just here for the week. At least we were.”
“Your boss isn’t going to be happy about his dock.”
“Tell me about it.”
****
Scott and Curt followed the officer inside. When he had finished his questioning, Evers advised the obvious, “I’d stay off the dock until we figure out what caused the damage. It could have loosened the structural support of the other piles.”
Scott and Curt walked Evers to his cruiser. After the officer drove off into the dark, Scott and Curt returned to the house.
Against the protest of the others, Scott and Curt grabbed a couple of flashlights and made their way to the dock. Scott led the way and stopped several feet short of the damaged area. He could barely believe the sight before him. The destruction
was exactly the way that Kay and Officer Evers had described.
“I think your dock got in its way,” Curt said.
“Whose way?” Scott asked.
“Harm’s.”
Curt shined his light down at the tattered edges of the sheared planks. As Evers had said, they were blackened and appeared singed. “First Lila’s boat is half charred and now this dock. What in the hell could do this?”
Scott turned and looked back at the house. The lights inside showed the silhouette of a body plus two half bodies pressed against the glass, looking out. The loud trilling of night creatures filled the air.
“C’mon, I’m getting the creeps standing on this dock in the dark, and Kay and the kids are anxious to get home. Some vacation this has been.” Scott took one last look at the dock. “Taylor Barton’s going to be pissed. Very soon, I may have just as much time as you to fish.”
As the two men turned to walk inside, Scott heard a gurgling, clicking sound. Just as quickly, it stopped. Curt had heard it, too, and the two men froze. The odd sound started again, blending with the sounds of the other creatures, fading in and out, masking its point of origin.
A cool breeze swept over the dock, and the noise from the crickets and frogs on shore ceased. The clicking noise was disturbingly close, but still Scott couldn’t tell from which direction it originated.
“What is that?” Curt asked in a whisper.
“It’s our cue to get off this dock,” Scott said as the two men scurried back to shore and kept their pace until they reached the wooden back deck.
Once inside, Scott and Kay began packing while Curt kept Cody and Tina occupied in the den. Kay was frazzled from her experience, packing at mach speed. At one point, Scott stopped her and took his wife in his arms. “It’s alright now, Kay. I’m here, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you or Cody.” He embraced her warmly.
“God, Scott, I thought I was going to lose Cody, our little boy. That…thing…there was something in the wave. It targeted Cody,” her eyes teared.
Scott held his wife tight, trying to comfort her. “C’mon, let’s get packed and get you guys out of here.”
She pulled away. “All of us…let’s get all of us out of here.”
“Kay,” Scott said tentatively, “I’m staying here. I’ve got to help Curt look for Lila.”
Kay cocked her head with a look of concern. “Scott, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He had expected her to protest. “Curt’s not going to stop looking for her, and I’ve got to help him, Kay.”
Kay looked into her husband’s eyes. He held her gaze with a firm resolve, bracing for further objections.
After a long second, she seemed to relent. “I’ve seen you get that look of determination before. I’d be wasting my breath to try and convince you otherwise.” Kay released a long exhale. “If I were you, I’d stay off that dock.”
“Good advice,” Scott smiled.
She did not smile back. Scott took her in his arms and kissed her. For a moment, she didn’t respond, as if proving her discontent. He kissed her again, this time longer, and she returned the affection. She pulled back, still embracing him. “Damnit, you be careful, Scott.”
A short time later, as Curt waited inside, Scott had his family packed and loaded into the SUV. He kissed his wife and Cody and said goodbye to Tina.
“Just promise me you won’t go near that dock,” Kay said.
Scott kissed her cheek as she got in the driver’s seat. “Scott’s honor,” he said, holding up three fingers.
She uttered a nervous laugh. “That’s scout’s honor. You never were a boy scout.” She paused. “I’m serious. Please don’t go back on that dock.”
“I won’t. Now go, and I’ll see you guys at the house soon.”
They pulled out of the long driveway and drove off into the night.
Before he even reached the front porch, a vehicle pulled into the driveway, its headlights piercing the darkness and momentarily blinding him.
Kay must have forgotten something. Scott returned to the driveway as the vehicle pulled up. It wasn’t their SUV; it was a car. Scott found himself on alert. He wasn’t expecting company.
The driver parked and stepped from the vehicle. It took a moment for Scott to recognize the form of CIA Agent Samuel Tolen.
“Scott Marks?” Tolen said, approaching him.
“Yes, how did you…know I was staying here?”
“It’s not important. Is Curt Lohan here?”
“Do you have news? Has Lila been found?”
“Regretfully, no.”
Somewhat hesitantly, Scott led Tolen into the house. Curt was sitting at the bar at the kitchen counter. The appearance of Samuel Tolen brought a momentary look of confusion to Curt’s face. “Let me guess,” Curt began, “you were monitoring the police radio band and heard about the attack on the dock.”
Tolen turned to Scott, seemingly ignoring Curt’s remark. “I was under the impression your family was with you?”
“They were, but after what happened, they went back to Jacksonville. You probably passed them on the road.”
Tolen turned back to Curt. “Exactly what did happen?”
Curt shot Scott a furtive glance as if looking for affirmation that they should keep the event a secret. Scott felt differently, “You might as well tell him, Curt.”
Curt exhaled, “Scott’s son and wife were attacked a short while ago on the dock out back. Something came at them that they described as a wave, but a wave that was…uh…alive. Cody even said the wave had a red eye.”
Scott studied Tolen’s reaction. Curiously, there was no overt expression of surprise.
“Beyond eyewitness accounts, is there evidence of this attack?” Tolen asked.
“You might say that,” Curt responded.
“May I see it?”
“I promised Kay I’d stay off the dock,” Scott said, looking to Curt.
Curt rose, grabbed a flashlight, and escorted Tolen out back. They were gone nearly ten minutes. When they returned, the three men took seats around the kitchen island counter.
Tolen spoke, “I’ve had a quick analysis done on the object found in the gunwale of Dr. Falls’ damaged boat. It appears to be a tooth of some sort. It’s ivory. Carbon-14 dating puts it roughly 15,000 BCE.”
“Wow, that’s old,” Scott remarked.
“A tooth? Can you identify the species?” Curt asked.
“Unknown.”
“Has it been determined why Lila and the graduate assistant moved from the Fort Caroline area to here?” Curt asked.
“I dove in the river there yesterday and now know why.” Tolen looked hard at Curt then Scott. “I’m telling you this in the strictest confidence.” He looked back at Curt. “As an archaeologist, I expect you to keep this information to yourself. I feel obligated to share with you based on your relationship to Dr. Falls.”
Curt didn’t say a word. He nodded for Tolen to continue. Scott thought he saw the first hint of respect from Curt toward the agent.
“Yesterday morning, on the riverbed, I found what I initially thought were three separate granite slabs with ancient Egyptian writing and hieroglyphs.”
Scott couldn’t mask his surprise. “In the St. Johns River?”
Tolen nodded. “After I surfaced, I was able to line the slabs up and realized they weren’t three separates slabs. Instead, it was one long piece of granite, with three exposed areas not covered by sand. It was an obelisk. My guess is that it long ago stood, anchored in the riverbed, extending 65 or 75 feet straight up.”
Curt spoke. “An Egyptian obelisk? In Northeast Florida?”
“Yes.”
“Was it in the channel?”
“No,” Tolen shook his head, “closer to shore. No more than 18 feet down. It must have been partially un
covered with the last hurricane.”
Scott did the math. “That means it would have extended past the surface of the river 50 feet or more into the air.”
“Excuse my skepticism, Tolen,” Curt began, “but this sounds like some kind of joke. What you’re proposing would rewrite the history books.”
“I’m well aware of that, and you’ll find no bigger cynic than me. Still, we have to consider the possibility.”
“That still doesn’t explain why Lila pulled anchor and moved to the Green Cove Springs area,” Curt said.
“I’m not fluent in reading Egyptian writing, but I was able to determine part of the text. Specifically, it said, ‘The tomb is in a pyramid at a high point of land where the river bends sharply to the right.’ ”
Scott couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “A pyramid?”
Tolen continued. “Dr. Falls recognized the topography just as I did. The text matched perfectly to the description of Bayard Point.”
Curt shook his head in disbelief. “You want us to believe an obelisk once stood, towering over the river surface near Fort Caroline and that a pyramid once stood upriver at the elevated area on top of Bayard Point?”
“That’s what the evidence suggests,” Tolen said matter-of-factly.
Scott was having trouble with the concept as well, yet there was something about the tone of Samuel Tolen’s voice that implied everything he said was true. “This…pyramid….was it someone’s tomb?”
Tolen nodded his affirmation.
“Do you know whose tomb it was?” Curt asked.
“No.”
Curt shook his head. “Okay,” he held up his hands, “for the sake of argument, let’s say there was a pyramid on the point. Where is it now?”
“That’s the baffling part. I explored the point yesterday and found nothing to support the Egyptian text that a pyramid was once there. There’s no evidence of a structure or any human occupation.”
Curt cut Scott a glance.
Tolen must have noticed it. “In good faith, I’ve shared with you what I’ve discovered. I would hope for reciprocity.”
Evil in the Beginning (The God Tools Book 2) Page 18
