Sean Wyatt Compilation Box Set

by Ernest Dempsey

  Sean was relieved to hear that Tommy was still alive, but he knew there wasn’t much time.

  “Do you have any idea who this guy is?” Sean asked as they marched along the jungle path.

  Will shook his head as he ducked under a low-hanging branch. “No. I didn’t recognize him.” He decided the most prudent course was to lie about knowing who Hunter Carlson was. Keeping up the illusion that he was just a cop was still necessary, right up until the point he executed everyone. Will figured the less they knew that he knew, the better.

  Inside, though, Will was furious. In his mind, the battle already raged. He hoped he got another chance to meet Carlson.

  Sean interrupted his thoughts. “We’ll just have to assume he’s another hired gun with Golden Dawn. If you get a chance, take him out.”

  Adriana raised an eyebrow at the comment. She realized the sound of rushing water was starting to overwhelm the calm of the forest. “The river is just up ahead,” she announced and looked back at the others. “Sounds like the waterfall isn’t far from here.”

  Angela’s convoy stopped behind the two parked SUVs at the edge of the forest. She exited her own truck and held her gun casually at her side, brazenly walking up to the first vehicle and then the other. Her team watched for a moment and then followed, satisfied that the coast was clear. She knelt down on one knee and inspected the dirt near one of the wheels. “They went into the woods,” she stated. Her head turned as she gazed into the forest. “Probably down that little path there.” She stood up and flicked her head sideways. “Let’s move.”

  Angela’s middle-aged driver stood next to her. He was an imposing figure with broad shoulders and a strong chest. Perhaps she would have some fun with him once they’d retrieved the next clue. “Who’s in the other truck?” he interrupted her train of carnal thoughts. “There was just one earlier.”

  “I’m not sure,” she said. “Looks like the other truck from last night. If so, that means there are more than just two of them. We still have numbers on our side. Just stay alert.” The team locked and loaded their weapons and started to head down the trail.

  Tommy stopped at the bottom of the path and looked up at the waterfall. At the base of the falls, a narrow path ran along the face of the rock. It appeared to lead behind the mist and falling water. Carlson noticed it too and motioned with his gun toward the ledge. Tommy obeyed and stepped up onto the rock.

  Tommy had to concentrate hard and pressed his back against the wall of rock just to keep his balance. The little ledge was probably less than a foot wide, and even though the drop to the pool below was only about ten feet or so, the rocks beneath were fully capable of breaking bones or fracturing a skull.

  Both men inched their way along, shuffling carefully until they were underneath an overhang of the waterfall. It was wet and slippery from the constant lathering of the billowing mist. Once behind the curtain of the falls, the ledge opened up as the rock face receded into the earth. The path widened to where they could walk normally across it for a short distance until it came to a dead end with a flat wall. They were standing on a large, circular piece of earth that jutted out from the stone. Tommy stared into a door-sized opening in the wall. It must have been a cave, but it looked man-made. The precision of the angles and edges was nearly perfect. Above the top edge of the doorway, a strange symbol had been engraved into the stone. It was almost identical to the image he’d seen on the stone they discovered in Georgia: a spider.

  Chapter 64

  Ecuador

  “You recognize that symbol?” Carlson asked as he stared up at the engraving.

  Tommy nodded. “Yeah. I’ve seen it once before.”

  “So this is the right place?”

  “Seems to be.”

  “Then get moving,” Carlson poked him in the back with the tip of his gun, prodding him to move forward. He handed Schultz a small flashlight as the two men moved into the darkness of the cave. Apparently, he’d grabbed a few out of the truck before they left.

  They had entered a small circular room with three new, stone doorways. Each one had a different symbol over it, etched into the rock. The smooth walls were completely barren except for what was above the doors. Beyond the thresholds of each doorway, the interior was completely pitch black.

  “Which one do we take?” Hunter asked, confused.

  Tommy didn’t answer. Instead, he stepped closer to the door on the left. Above it was a symbol that looked like a circle with a line through it.

  “What is that?” Carlson pressed. “What does it mean?”

  “It looks like theta,” he answered. “The Greek symbol for death.”

  “Death?” Carlson wondered as he stared at the symbol. “So I guess not that way then, huh?”

  For the first time since his capture, Tommy noticed a bit of uncertainty in the man who had taken him captive. He’d been stoic up until that point. It was something Schultz had seen before. In awe of the ancient and mysterious, men’s minds filled themselves with wild evils that lurked in the dark.

  “No,” Tommy answered flatly. “We won’t want to go that way.” Then he stepped to the center door and examined the symbol above it. It had a circle with a diamond in the lower part. Beneath the diamond was a small cross. To the left and right of the circle were four lines that looked like legs with claws at each end.

  “What’s that one?” Carlson asked impatiently.

  “It’s Egyptian. It’s called aten.”

  “What does it mean?”

  Tommy sighed, “It can have two meanings.” He pointed to the circle. “The disk represents the sun, giver of life,” he pointed at the cross-like object. “This is an ankh, the symbol of life. The eight legs originally represented a time frame. There were four years of famine and four years of plenty. The symbol was basically brought about by a pharaoh named, Akhenaten. He changed the theology of the country and brought them under this banner of one all-powerful god.”

  “I don’t need a history lesson. Do we go this way or not?” Hunter was becoming anxious.

  “I don’t know,” Tommy said. “The symbol also represents the bringer of death. So it could be meant as a warning.” He stepped quickly over to the last door and scanned the image above. It was a side view of an oddly shaped head with an elongated mouth and large eye. Next to it was a disk that had two curved lines within it, forming a kind of broken S. Above both symbols was something that looked like a snake. “This one is also confusing,” Tommy started before Hunter could annoy him further. “The head is an ancient symbol of death in Aztec legends. The disk, however, is the symbol of life.” He stopped for a moment and considered the image. “The serpent was one of their gods. But I don’t think that’s what it is here.”

  “What do you mean?” Carlson looked around nervously. “I say we take the door in the middle.”

  Tommy shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. You see, this is a cross-referenced set of symbols here. This one isn’t the snake from Aztec lore. This one is different. I think it’s referring to something else.”

  “Like what?”

  “It’s referring to a choice that was given and a choice that had to be made: life or death. The serpent represented the choice.”

  Tommy stared thoughtfully at the symbol above the third door. It had to be the right one. The story was starting to make sense. He remembered the first chamber of gold they found in the United States and the clues that led to it. They all came together under several different ancient cultures. He began to think about the cultures that were missing: Asian, Nordic, European. Why hadn’t there been anything from those places mingled in? Everything seemed to center around places that were predominant in the Bible.

  As a child, Tommy had studied the Bible, as he did many other ancient scriptures, to learn about different beliefs and chronologies of old. But he’d not taken them to be entirely literal. His parents were not deeply religious. So he had not become entrenched in any religion.

  As he stood before the darken
ed doorway, he began to make a connection. The Biblical references in Georgia and Tennessee, the clues left behind by Padre Crespi, and all of the symbols they’d seen so far were all places that were part of the ancient Biblical landscape. He wondered why. He felt the barrel of the gun pressing into the middle of his back again, cutting off his train of thought.

  “Is this the door or not?”

  The stranger was starting to get on his nerves, but as long as he had the gun Tommy had to play ball. “I think so,” he answered, somewhat certain.

  “Fine. You go first,” Carlson ordered.

  Schultz did as he was told and started into the door. As he did, he tripped, and he fell forward onto the stone floor.

  Carlson stepped back, cautiously watching his prisoner’s sudden, random fall.

  “Sorry,” Tommy said as he pushed himself back up off the ground. “I can be a little clumsy sometimes.”

  “Just keep moving,” Hunter said, looking around, paranoid.

  Tommy hoped he’d chosen correctly. One way or the other, they’d find out soon enough.

  Adriana noticed the pathway leading down to the base of the waterfall and stepped onto the old, stone staircase casually. “Looks like this takes us down to the bottom.”

  The three moved as fast as they could, carefully navigating the slippery stone steps down to the base of the waterfall.

  Sean’s eyes fell upon the wall near the waterfalls. He noticed a small ledge leading around the rock face and behind the deluge. “There,” he said as he pointed. “They must have gone that way.” Sean stepped quickly up onto the narrow edge, careful not to slip, and started shuffling to the left toward the falling water. The others followed and copied his movement.

  It was tricky going for Sean since he wore a small backpack. He wanted to press farther into the rock to keep his balance, but doing so was impossible. Finally, as he reached a point behind the waterfall, the path began to open up into a sort of platform. He turned and faced the rock wall and a dark door that had been carved into it. The others arrived at the same spot a few moments later and followed his gaze at the emblem above the entrance.

  “You have seen this symbol before?” she asked Wyatt.

  He nodded. “It was on the stone we found in Georgia. I guess that means we’re in the right place.” Without warning, he started moving toward the entrance.

  “You sure about this?” Will asked, halting him in his tracks momentarily.

  Sean tossed him a small flashlight and switched on his own. Wyatt turned and faced him. “No. But Tommy’s in there. So that’s where I’m going.”

  Angela’s team had arrived at the river but saw no sign of the group they were following. After searching the riverbank they found several different footprints leading to a ledge near a waterfall. Further inspection led them to a stone stepping path that worked its way down to the bottom where the falls poured into a foamy pool. There was still no sign of their targets so they must have proceeded down the only way that made sense. One of her men had nearly fallen over the precipice but had been saved by the team leader who had grabbed his shoulder just before he had completely lost his balance. Once they had reached the bottom, the trail went cold. On the rocks there were no footprints to track.

  She ordered a few of the men to go over to the riverbank to see if they had left the rocky area and continued on downstream, but there was no sign of any movement beyond the point where they were standing.

  The team leader walked over to the rock face and noticed the stone ledge. “They could have gone this way!”

  Weaver had been looking downriver when he spoke. She walked over to the spot and ran her hand along the narrow pathway.

  “Careful not to fall into the water,” he said to her as she climbed up onto the ledge. “That water looks harmless enough, but there could be an undertow.” His words carried an ominous tone.

  Fortunately, she was thin and well balanced. She leaned back easily against the rock and started moving toward the falling water.

  Sean stared at the three doorways, each with an odd symbol above it. Which one should we take?” Sean asked.

  Adriana was lost too. “I know a lot about these things, but I’m not sure.” She pointed at the Greek symbol of theta. “I know we don’t want to go that way.”

  “Why not?” Will questioned as he stepped over and dared to look closer into the portal.

  “Because that is the Greek symbol for death.”

  He nodded his understanding and slinked away from the doorway.

  “The other two are confusing, though,” Sean added.

  She agreed. “Yes, they both have conflicting messages.”

  Will looked confused. “What do you mean, conflicting?”

  Sean pointed at the Egyptian symbols over the middle door. “This symbol was used mostly during the reign of a pharaoh named Akhenaten. He replaced some of the other religious symbols with this one. It represents the sun god, the giver of life.”

  Adriana continued his thought. “But the king introduced the idea that there was only one great god. So the deity this symbol represents can also be the bringer of death.”

  “And that one?” Will asked, pointing to the door on the far right.

  “It’s a similar issue,” Adriana answered. The two Aztec symbols on the bottom represent life and death. The snake, though, seems oddly out of place. It could mean that particular deity held sway over life and death as well, but, typically, that was not the case with the serpent god.”

  “So, how do we know which way to go?”

  Neither answered. They turned back to the symbols and stared at them. Their expressions were of deep concentration, as if they could somehow will the answer out of the ancient rock.

  Will stepped back over to the main entrance and peeked around the corner. He saw Weaver heading toward the cave entrance on the narrow ledge, followed by several agents. He looked back into the room and saw the two flashlights pointing back and forth at the symbols. Satisfied the other two were busy, he waved his hand at Angela, trying to get her attention.

  Angela saw Will peeking out from a corner about forty feet away. It looked like he was attempting to communicate. His hand signaled her to stop moving. She’d been playing second fiddle long enough to Will Hastings. He had always been the Prophet’s little pet. There was no way he was going to get the glory for this. She pulled her left hand off the rock face and waved back at him, then with her right hand quickly raised her gun and squeezed off three shots.

  Will had seen Angela going for her gun. Fortunately, he had only slightly revealed himself from the cover of the cave entrance. He ducked back as she fired her weapon, sending rounds pinging off the stone near where he was looking out. He didn’t understand why she was shooting at him! She and James were supposed to be working with him. He risked sticking his own weapon around the corner. More shots resumed from her position, keeping him pinned down.

  Suddenly, more bursts ensued from other positions. Her team had opened fire. Bullets sent sparks and stone fragments flying around him. And there was no way for him to fire back. Resigned, he hurried back inside the room.

  Will looked grave. “We have company. Probably ten agents or so. We need to go now.”

  Adriana and Sean looked at each other. They were both standing in front of the middle doorway.

  “We think it might be this one,” Adriana said.

  Will moved across the room but suddenly stumbled and fell to the floor in front of the door on the right. A few feet away from his hand was something shiny. He turned the beam of his flashlight on the object and realized what it was. “I think you might be going the wrong way,” he said as he lifted up a shiny quarter.

  Sean stepped over to see what he was holding. “Tommy must have dropped it for us so we would know which way to go,” Sean said as he took the coin from Will.

  “Looks like we’re going through door number three,” Will raised an eyebrow.

  The others silently agreed and followed him
into the passage. Sean stopped at the threshold and thought for a moment. Then he took the quarter and flipped it over to the far left doorway.

  Chapter 65

  Ecuador

  Angela Weaver stood with her back to the wall, next to the entrance of the cave. The last man on her team was about to reach the flat area near the entrance when an insect flew near his face. He swatted at the bug with one hand, causing him to lose his footing on the wet ledge. His feet slipped out from under him, and he fell into the churning water below. Only a short scream could be let out since the drop was only twelve or so feet. Weaver and her team stared through the spray into the foaming pool. The unfortunate agent never resurfaced.

  She noticed the men had gathered around her and were waiting to see what she would do. “We keep moving,” she said coldly. The others nodded. She clipped a small light to the bottom of her gun barrel, switched it on, then spun around and led the way into the cave, shining her light around on the smooth rock walls as she moved ahead.

  The cave was actually a passageway carved out of the rock underneath the river. It was no natural occurrence by any stretch of the imagination. Human hands had created it a very long time ago. The corridor ran straight back for about thirty feet or so before opening up into a fairly large room with three doors that proceeded farther underground.

  Angela stepped over to the door on the right and examined the symbol at the top. Then, quickly, she did the same with the other two. She turned to her team leader. “This must be a test of some kind. Which way do you think they went?”

  He moved to the door on the right and examined the floor and hard edges to the doorway. Then he repeated the process with the middle door and then the one on the left. He reached down and picked something up off the floor near the last door with a Greek symbol over it. “A quarter,” he said. “Looks like they went this way.” He stood up and tossed the coin over to her.

  Weaver wasn’t convinced, but it was their only lead. She couldn’t interpret the meanings of the symbols, so she had to take the chance. However, she could minimize her personal risk.

  “You two,” she pointed at two of her remaining six men. “Lead the way.”