The host of the party stood near the outdoor bar sipping on a glass of twelve-year-old Jameson Irish whiskey. It wasn’t the most expensive of drinks, but it was by far his favorite. Smooth and warm, it was his regular drink of choice.
He had been chatting with his colleagues, but something was keeping him on edge. In fact, he’d probably had a few drinks too many, and the one in his hand wasn’t going down slowly either.
It had been a few hours since he had heard anything from his contacts, and the anticipation was driving him mad.
For ten years, he had searched for something that would help him find the trail to the Golden Chambers. A decade of frustration and disappointment had almost caused him to give up hope.
Then, from the ashes rose the most random of opportunities. An archaeologist in Georgia discovered the first stone, the beginning of the trail...
He’d met with the man several weeks before and discussed a financial proposal so he could purchase the piece. Thomas Schultz had hardly been accommodating. Whether it was foolish pride or haughty defiance, he had been unwilling to part with the object.
The man had made a second offer, an astounding amount of money even for someone with the means of wealth that Schultz possessed, and still, the proposal was denied.
So he left Schultz’s office empty handed and angry. He had worked too hard and spent too much time and capital to be denied by some insolent archaeologist.
Indeed, Schultz probably did not even realize the entire story behind the Golden Chambers. There were only a few on the planet that knew the beginning part of the legend. But the end, that was what the old man was truly interested in. The gold itself was but a small portion of the true reward that waited at the end.
Most of his guests didn’t even notice him slip away when the cell phone in his smoking jacket began to ring.
“Hello?”
“Ulrich is out of control, sir. He is leaving a blood trail in his wake, and I fear his recklessness is drawing too much attention. I recommend you let us intervene.” The voice of the woman on the other end was concise and direct.
The old man twisted his head around in both directions to make certain no one was listening. “Where is he now?”
“On the interstate, headed south. I’m not sure where they are going though.”
He pondered the situation. Ulrich had become sloppy. Then again, he knew this would happen. He would never invest so much without doing his research first. The blond contractor had served his purpose thus far. “Continue following them. Watch the situation closely. If it gets out of hand, you know what to do.”
“Sir, I highly advise...”
“I know what you advise,” he cut her off, “but they are up to something. Follow them, and see what it is.”
He paused for a moment before adding, “Are the other players still in the game?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Let them continue on as well. They may still be useful after all if Ulrich becomes more of a nuisance.”
“Anything else, sir?”
“No. Keep me updated.”
“Of course.”
He ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. For a few seconds, he stood by a stone pedestal that supported a bronze urn. Things were going well, almost exactly as planned.
A new guest arrived through the side door of the adjacent room, and he decided it was time to go back to being sociable. With a big swig, he finished off his whiskey and headed back into the gathering.
For the moment, the pawns had to play the game by themselves.
Chapter 50
Southeastern Tennessee
“Why did you shoot that old man? Are you crazy?” Tommy yelled at Ulrich, who swerved the giant SUV through the country roads toward the interstate.
The large guard sat in the back with the angry prisoner.
Tommy continued the tirade, “He didn’t do anything! And you killed him!” He started to reach an arm forward toward the blond driver when he felt a sudden thud across the side of his face. The world spun for a moment from the shock of the punch and his jaw throbbed as he curled up in the corner of the seat.
“Your sentiment is touching, Thomas. Do not think you are by any means safe at this point. Remember what I will do if you do not cooperate.”
Through the ringing in his ears, Tommy got the message. Sean’s parents could still be in danger, an element to this whole scenario he, unfortunately, continued to forget.
The guard reached over, about to smack Schultz back to a more alert state, when Ulrich waved him off. “That’s enough.”
He nodded his head slowly.
“Good. Now, what I need to know is, where should we go next? Hmm?”
Tommy’s voice was low as he sat up straight, eyeing the guard. “How should I know? You killed the guy that could have had the information.”
“Now, now, Thomas. You don’t know that he died. And you need to dwell on the things that can help. Tell me, what do those Bible verses have to do with any of this?”
For a long minute, Tommy stared out the window of the truck as they sped along the rolling countryside. He looked at the other cars that passed by, knowing the passengers had no idea what was going on inside the black SUV. His mind came back to the present. Right now, he needed to focus.
“I can only think of one place that has any sort of correlation with the clues at the church.”
“And that is?”
“It will take us a while to get there.”
“How far?”
“Probably four hours at best.”
Ulrich seemed to contemplate how long it would be. “You are certain?”
“As certain as I can be. I didn’t really get a lot of time to investigate back there, what with all the shooting and using me as a human shield and all.”
“What is this place?” He ignored Tommy’s sarcasm.
“It’s called Rock Eagle, down in East Georgia. That seems like the only place that would match up with the clues of the raven and the dove.” He laughed, “Actually, I’m a little annoyed that I didn’t think of it before. It seems kind of obvious now.”
“Why is that?”
“Because Rock Eagle and its sister site, Rock Hawk, are the only stone effigies of their kind in the United States. They are essentially two giant birds made out of piled rocks.” He paused for a moment and released an exhausted sigh. “You’ll see when we get there.”
Then Tommy laid his head back against the headrest of the seat in an effort to relax the pain pounding from his jaw. Ulrich watched Tommy out of the corner of the rearview mirror, wary of his every movement.
Chapter 51
Southeastern Tennessee
The phone only rang twice on the other end before Sean heard, “Wyatt, you better have a good explanation for all this!”
Sean smirked, “I take it you’re at the church, then, Detective?”
“Yeah, we’re at the church. It’s a bloody mess over here. Got an unidentified corpse at the base of the stage in the sanctuary and a church worker in the hospital. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
“The corpse shot at me first,” Sean replied plainly. “How is the old man?”
“Critical but stable. Docs think he will be okay. Lost a lot of blood, but the bullet missed his vitals. He’s hurt, but he’ll live.”
“That’s good to hear. I guess they shot him to slow us down. They were gone once we got to the parking lot.”
Trent’s voice took on a quieter tone, “Look, Sean, there’s a lot of people that still want to ask you some questions. FBI’s here now. I’m way out of my backyard at this point. I got no jurisdiction at all.”
“So, do you still think I am the one going around killing people?”
“No. I know you’re innocent. We saw the security tapes from the museum. But you still need you to turn yourself in. There’s a dead man here that you did kill, and with your help we might be able to find the others and bring
this to an end.”
“Sorry, Detective. No can do. We don’t have much time. Jurgenson and his other thug are on their way south. I think they are headed to a place called Rock Eagle down in Southeastern Georgia.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Kinda difficult to explain at this point. I really don’t think you would understand.”
“Sean. Listen to me. These guys are obviously dangerous. Let me help you...”
“If you want to help, find out who is behind this,” he responded with clenched teeth.
“I’m working on it. The guy in the video footage from the museum doesn’t come up on any of our known databases. This Jurgenson’s a ghost.”
Sean considered this last bit of information. He’d run into men like this before, assassins, hit men, contract killers. They come by many names. Sometimes, they were sloppy. Usually, they were very good. He was unsure which category this Jurgenson fell into. So far, the guy’s only mistake had been ignoring the presence of the security cameras in the museum. Maybe he’d not even thought that such a small place would have measures like that in place. Either way, the man was lethal. But something was making him impatient, a fact Wyatt might be able to use to his advantage. Or so he hoped.
And then there was the other component of this mysterious man’s existence. If he was a hired gun, as Sean suspected, that meant that someone else was pulling the strings. This was somewhat more disconcerting. Usually, even if the contractor was taken out, the guy behind it all simply disappeared, leaving the trail cold. Just like with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. No one will ever know who really ordered the hit. One thing is certain, though, Lee Harvey Oswald was no mastermind.
Joe changed lanes, glancing back in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following. A white luxury sedan passed in the far right lane and continued farther and farther ahead.
“Sean, you there?” Morris’s voice snapped him back to the moment.
“I don’t think Jurgenson is the one calling the shots.”
“No?” Trent sounded surprised.
“Nah. The way that this whole thing has been going down, it makes me think he’s just the manager of the team.”
“But not the owner?”
“Right.”
“So who is?”
Sean could tell the cop’s voice was being kept a little low. He imagined an entire crime scene investigation going on in the background. Trent must have surely been huddled in a corner of the church somewhere so no one else could hear the conversation.
“I’m not sure. There are only a few people in the world who even know about the legend of the lost chambers. Until this whole thing started, I didn’t really know much. And most of what I knew about it came from Tommy.”
“You said a few people. Who else would fit into that category?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure that out, but no one comes to mind. Tommy never did any presentations about the chambers story. It was something that he and I talked about in private. He was always really secretive about his research on it, too. I can tell you this though: Tommy put his life into that search. He wants to find the lost chambers more than anything else. It’s completely absorbed him.”
“Not one person comes to mind that he may have been in contact with?”
For a moment, Sean looked out the window of the truck, watching the fiery colors of the forest blur by. “There was one guy that I saw leaving Tommy’s office once, about six months ago. I had never seen him before. Now that I think of it, I don’t think I ever saw him after that either. He was an older gentleman, walked with a fancy-looking cane and dressed in a pinstriped Armani three piece. Not sure why it was, but he had a scowl on his face, like someone had just stolen his last piece of candy.”
“Didn’t get his name?”
“I went in and found Tommy sitting at his desk with his hands crossed. Guess he was thinking pretty hard about whatever he and the old guy had discussed. But he never told me what they talked about or who the man was.”
The detective silently contemplated the scenario and the few details they had.
Sean decided to go on. “All I know is that I have a chance to stop these guys, and that is exactly what I intend to do.”
Resignation came from the other end. “I guess there’s no changing your mind, Sean. You know that I could call the police down where you’re headed.”
“I realize that. But you know as well as I do if you get other authorities involved, we may never get Tommy back.”
Morris contemplated the problem. “Ok, Sean. I will give you a little more time, twenty-four hours. But that’s it. After that, I want your full cooperation with this. You hear me?”
“Yeah. I hear ya.”
“Good. Just don’t get yourself killed.”
“We’ll see.”
The line went dead.
Chapter 52
Southeastern Tennessee
“You sure that was a smart thing to do, tellin’ that cop where we’re headed?” Joe cast his friend a skeptical look in the mirror. “I mean, why wouldn’t he just set up a road block and bring us in?”
“I don’t think he’ll do that.”
“Well, why did you tell him where we were going then?”
Sean smiled, “Because, Mac, we might need some help when this thing goes down.”
“Well, I don’t like it.” Joe cast a glance at Allyson, who had remained somewhat silent the last few minutes. “Isn’t there someone you can call on this? I mean, you work for Axis, right? Can’t they do something?”
“I’m not sure what they would do at this point. The FBI is already involved. As Sean knows, our agency tries to keep a very low profile. I’m afraid we might be on our own in this one.”
Sean nodded in agreement.
“On our own again, huh?” Joe echoed. “Great. So, tell me something, Sean, how did you figure Rock Eagle was the next place we need to go?”
“The thought had crossed my mind before. It seemed like the only logical spot on the continent. But what really gave it away was when the sexton started talking about an altar.”
“An altar?”
“Yeah. The history of Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk is a pretty big mystery, as I’m sure you know.”
This time Joe nodded. “Yep, those are a couple of odd spots for sure.”
Allyson was confused. “What is this place you guys are talking about?”
“Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk are located down in East Georgia, fairly close to Augusta,” Sean explained. “The names eagle and hawk refer to two giant stone effigies that are in the shape of birds. Rock Hawk was built out of a darker stone, so it appears almost black. A few miles away from there, Rock Eagle was constructed out of white stones. They are actually quite amazing designs.”
“So what does this have to do with the Golden Chambers?”
“Well, the riddle mentions a raven and a dove. Maybe whoever gave the name Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk was just trying to help keep the mystery hidden.”
“Makes sense,” Joe added. “I’d never actually considered that before. And the altar?”
Sean smiled. “Glad you remembered. When the first excavations were done at the sites, researchers believed that the stone mounds were some sort of mass graves. They expected to find dozens, if not hundreds, of human remains underneath.”
“Did they?” Allyson asked.
“No. In fact, they only found two skeletons, one at each site. Turns out, the bones found at the Rock Hawk site were of a female, and those discovered at Rock Eagle were that of a man. What tipped me off, though, was an odd little detail of the story.”
He paused for a moment, reflecting. “It is said that Indians from many parts of the region would make a pilgrimage to both sites to place stones there. Over the years, there must have been hundreds and hundreds of rocks brought from all over the southern part of the continent to be placed on the giant stone birds. Generations of Indians traveled to the a
ltar where “the sacred bones lay.” The two people buried there must have been extremely important. Perhaps even the first Natives to settle the area.”
“According to the new theory, the first Egyptians to settle here,” she realized.
“Exactly. They were the father and mother to a new nation.”
The moment was heavy in the truck as the last little detail sank in.
“So, you think these two birds will lead us to the chamber?”
“More than that, Allyson. I think the birds watch over it.”
Joe and Allyson cast a questioning look at him.
“Think about it. The medallion Tommy found has two birds on it divided by some kind of line or pole. I think that line marks the location of the first chamber.”
“You know,” Joe added, “I think you might be right. But how do we find that line?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure about that until I remembered another oddity in the area. You see, the two birds face each other even though they are miles apart. Almost exactly at the midpoint between them, a set of totem poles was erected.”
“That is interesting.”
“Even more fascinating, these totems were built out of stone, not wood. Now why would the Natives go to so much trouble?”
“They wanted them to last forever,” Allyson jumped in.
“Exactly. But there is one more piece to the puzzle. And if I know Tommy, he has already figured it out. If he’s smart, he will take those guys to the totems without the key.”
“Key? What key?”
“Remember the riddle,” Sean continued. “It said there was a key.”
“Do you know where this key is?”
“I think so. When the bones of the man were discovered at Rock Eagle, there was only one other artifact recovered with his body: a quartz arrowhead.”
“Quartz?” Allyson inquired.
“Yes. It was an odd material for Natives to use, considering they made most of their weapons from flint in the early days. Spearheads and arrowheads were almost exclusively made from the soft, gray stone. So, when the archaeologists found one that was made from quartz, that naturally seemed strange.”
“And you think this arrowhead is the key to the chamber?” Joe looked hopeful.
“I do. It’s the only thing that could make sense.”
Sean Wyatt Compilation Box Set Page 25
