Sean’s eyes drifted to the side of the corridor. They widened slightly. There was a black line of stone running along the edge of the wall on the right side. “The righteous stand on the right, not for the right,” he whispered to himself. Sean hoped he was right. If he pressed against the wall, there might be just enough room to get by the huge pendulum.
Sean shoved the anger he was feeling deep into the back of his mind, and stepped quickly over in front of the doorway. At the threshold, he took a long, deep breath. He stared ahead into the darkness. His hand unconsciously put the flashlight back in his coat pocket as his eyes peered forward. A slight draft blew from the mysterious passageway, tossing a few loose blonde hairs around. He stepped over to the right corner of the passage and pressed his body against the stone wall. He scooted his left foot sideways and shuffled forward with the right.
His left foot crossed the dark, stone line marking the doorway, his right followed slowly. There was a sudden rumbling accompanied by a gust of wind. Sean pressed his chest harder into the wall, keeping it as flush as he could. Suddenly, the huge pendulum swung by, nearly scraping his back. The thing shook the floor and walls, whooshing past him at an incredible velocity. He forced himself to stay close to the wall as the object swung back through again in the other direction.
After what seemed like an eternity shuffling sideways, Sean found himself clear of the ancient pendulum’s reach, and was able to stand in the clear on the other side. He pulled out his flashlight and shone it on the wall. A few feet away, a lever made from stone stuck out through a narrow slit in the wall. He reached over and tugged on the device as hard as he could. Slowly, the lever gave way and slowly descended to the bottom of the slit. A loud clicking resonated through the corridor, followed by a grinding noise. The pendulum began to slow until it finally reached a complete stop. It was designed in the shape of a double-sided war hammer, with conical points sticking out of the hammer’s head.
He took a relieved breath, and looked back through the slim space between the wall and the hammer’s side. “I’m through,” he yelled.
In the atrium, Lindsey seemed surprised, while Will was clearly disappointed.
“He made it,” Lindsey sounded astonished.
Beyond the enormous swinging hammer, Sean had turned his attention back to the passage in front of him. He took a cautious step forward and immediately realized there was a new problem. A black abyss opened up in the floor in front of his feet. The ceiling loomed high above the deep pit. On the other side of the gap, a long, narrow stone stood at the edge of where he needed to be. The plinth reached about twenty feet into the air. It was difficult for him to gauge the distance. He figured it to be about twelve to fifteen feet. With a running start, and just the right push, he might have been able to clear it. But there wasn’t enough room to get up the momentum it would require. And therein was the problem with the riddle of the second trap.
He flashed his light on the wall to his left, but found nothing of value. When he shined it to the right, it was a different story altogether. More Cuneiform script had been engraved into the side of the passageway. He took a step closer and felt the cuts of the symbols cut into the smooth stone.
“Professor,” he shouted back. “I’m going to need you to come through. There’s another message you’ll have to interpret.”
In the first room, Firth looked back at Lindsey with a face full of apprehension. Will also seemed leery of the notion.
“Follow him through,” Lindsey ordered his apprentice. “If they try anything, shoot them both.” Will acknowledged the order with a nod, waving his gun at Firth in a motion to move forward.
The professor hesitated for a second until Will stepped closer and stuck the barrel into his chest. “After you, Professor.”
Firth obeyed and moved toward the deactivated mechanism. He still looked at it with a certain degree of fear, as if it might somehow come to life again. Slowly, he wedged himself between the giant hammer and the wall and wormed his way along the floor. Will followed closely behind, mimicking Firth’s movements and keeping the gun forward as he progressed.
“Will and your friend are coming through, Wyatt,” Lindsey shouted, making sure Sean heard him. “If you try anything stupid, I will execute the girl and the rest of this rabble.”
Sean heard the threat as the professor appeared on the other side. He stepped over and reached a hand out to help the older man through. The next thing he saw was Will’s hand, the one holding a black pistol. Sean stepped back to make sure Will didn’t perceive him as a threat, instead turning his attention to the inscription on the wall.
“What can you make of this, Doc?” he asked and shone his light on the message.
Firth stared at the strange language while Will pulled himself up off the ground and stayed at a safe distance on the other side of the corridor.
“Give me a moment,” Firth requested. After a minute of running his finger along the lines he believed he had the translation. “This one says that only the strong shall pass through to taste of eternal life.”
Sean frowned at the answer, and then looked back at the wide pit. He flashed his light down into the dark cavity; the bottom didn’t appear.
“Only the strong?” he wanted to clarify. “That’s it?”
“That’s what it says.”
Behind them, Will said nothing, keeping a wary eye on both men.
Sean eased back over to the lip of the drop and scanned the walls carefully. It didn’t make sense. Sure, if he were a little stronger, maybe the jump would be possible. But he didn’t think even the most powerful Olympic jumper could clear that without a running head start. In high school, he’d seen a few of the track stars jumping pretty far from a standing position. But this was too far.
He stared across at the other side. While the jump was long, the distance was short in relation to how far they’d come over the previous few months. He thought about how Tommy had discovered the clue in north Georgia that had led them to the first chamber of gold. They had unraveled a mystery as old as any in North America. And they’d gone beyond. Whether he died or not, Sean had to finish the journey.
His eyes drifted to the wall on the right, catching a glimpse of something he hadn’t seen before. About waist high, a notch had been cut out of the wall, just large enough for someone to fit the tip of a shoe. He looked further up the rock face and saw another notch, and another. It reminded him of the rock climbing wall at his gym, except with less friendly hand holds, and potentially much worse implications if he fell.
Sean moved over to the rock face and tested out the notch, shoving the toe of his shoe into it. He put the small end of the flashlight into his mouth, holding it with his teeth, and reached up to the next notch.
“What are you doing?” Firth wondered.
“To get to the other side, I’m going to have to scale this wall,” he said through teeth still gripping the light.
Will moved closer to make sure his prisoner didn’t try anything.
Sean grabbed the slit above his head with his left hand and pulled up. He shot his right hand upward, feeling for another grip. His fingers found it, directly above his head. He pushed them into the groove as far as they would go and pulled hard with his right hand, simultaneously moving his left foot up to where the left hand had been. Sweat began to form on his fingers and palms. He was glad the rock was dry in that part of the cave, though he wished for his chalk bag he used to carry when he would go climbing on Saturdays in college. He was thankful for that experience as a rock climber, as he continued to replicate the movement, going higher and higher, moving out and over the deep abyss.
One of the things he’d always told himself was never to look down. Always look up. Never put the possibility of failing into the mind. Just look at the wall, and the next place to put your hand and foot.
He had nearly reached the top of the wall, halfway across the gap, when his left foot slipped in one of the edges. The movement caused his body to drop s
lightly, putting all his weight on the fingertips barely clinging to the highest cut in the wall. The jarring motion loosened his jaw’s grip on the flashlight, and he dropped it, sending beam tumbling down the shaft, disappearing into the darkness below.
Firth was still shining his light on Sean’s location when he slipped and nearly fell. The professor watched Sean’s light drop into the cavity, forgetting for a moment that his own light drifted off of Sean’s location.
“Doc?” Sean yelled in a strained voice. “I need that light up here.”
“Sorry!” Firth sounded genuinely apologetic as he turned the beam back on Sean’s position.
Sean struggled, but found the foothold again with his feet and was able to take the weight off his hands for a second.
Descending was another animal altogether. Going down could be tricky, possibly more difficult than climbing up. That was one reason they had always just repelled back to the bottom of a climb when he’d done it in college. At this point Sean would have gladly accepted the luxury of a rope with an easy descent.
He maneuvered his left foot over and jammed it back into a notch then cautiously lowered his left hand to the next grip. The going was precipitous. And at this stage, he had to look down to find the next place to put his feet and hands, bringing into view the terrifying drop below. Sean’s only true fear in life had always been heights. Over the course of the last few months, he’d found himself hanging over a number of high places. He’d not gotten accustomed to it.
After several minutes of careful movement, Sean’s feet landed safely on the other side of the gap. He squatted down for a moment, taking in rapid breaths. Staring down gunmen didn’t seem to bother him. But the possibility of falling unnerved him. He knew it didn’t make sense. He just figured it was his thing, and everybody had a thing.
“Well done, old boy,” Firth shouted across the pit.
Sean eyeballed the narrow column in front of him. The piece of stone appeared as though it would stretch across to the other side and was wide enough to walk on. It was already leaning slightly toward where Will and the professor were standing, requiring only a little more energy to tip it over.
“Stand back,” Sean shouted across the pit. “I think this thing is a bridge.”
The other two moved back toward the huge hammer as Sean stepped around behind the stone column and leaned against it. He bent his knees and pushed his back into the stone, and was surprised to feel it give a little. The movement encouraged him, and he shoved harder, feeling the quads in his legs begin swell. He let out a grunt as the heavy object reached the tipping point and began to topple over.
A loud thud boomed through the corridor and out into the first room. Dust erupted all around Will and Firth, shooting a horizontal plume of debris out to where the rest of the group stood waiting. The entire room shuddered from the crashing stone.
It was the only moment Adriana had to break free. Kaba had flinched for a second, moving the weapon away from the Spaniard’s head to see what had happened. Adriana whipped her left arm up, knocking away the hand that held the weapon. The second shot came from her right fist, going straight to Kaba’s jaw. Metal clanking on stone echoed through the cavern as Kaba’s gun fell to the floor hitting just before she did.
Lindsey’s men spun quickly toward the commotion. Between the pervading darkness and the dust cloud hovering over the two women, it was nearly impossible for the mercenaries to see anything.
A muffled pop echoed from the dust, sending a bullet into the forehead of the mercenary nearest the entrance. Another shot struck another man in the throat. The remaining two men didn’t know whether to fire or not. If they did, bullets would ricochet around the room, possibly hitting them in the process. Their indecisiveness gave Jabez and his men the opening they needed. The Arab and two of the brethren lunged at the remaining two henchmen, tackling them to the floor. The rough landing jarred the weapons from the men’s hands. The brethren pounded the men’s skulls against the stone to finish the job, rendering the mercenaries either dead or unconscious. They didn’t bother checking to see which.
Jabez turned his attention to the spot where Lindsey had been standing. The man was gone, though. Dust was still settling in the eerie glow of the lights on the floor. Jabez moved quickly to where the man had been, but he had vanished.
He looked over toward the still pendulum and noticed the bottom of a shoe being pulled into the narrow gap in the corridor. Jabez ran quickly over to the steps but muffled pops echoed out of from between the wedge, sending bullets pinging off the rock nearby. The Arab jumped back and took cover off to the side where he would be out of range.
Inside the passage, Will pulled his dust-covered employer the rest of the way through to the other side. The old man appeared even older amid the thin layer of gray that had settled on him. Lindsey let out a few coughs before patting himself down to get rid of some of the dirt. In his right hand, he held a black 9mm Walther with a silencer on the end.
He looked dead at Firth then across the stone bridge at Sean. “After you, Professor.” He wagged the gun as he spoke.
Firth had been surprised to see Lindsey drag himself under the pendulum, but now his surprised turned to dread as he realized he was the guinea pig for the newly dropped bridge.
“It’s going to be okay, Doc,” Sean shouted across the gap. “Just move slowly, and everything will be fine.” He held out a hand toward the professor, beckoning him to come across.
The Englishman hesitated for a few seconds before moving to the edge of the pit and putting a foot lightly down on the top of the fallen stone. The walkway was easily a foot or two thick, but the stability of the thing wasn’t Firth’s issue. Falling off of it was.
He placed his second foot on the plank and began slowly shuffling his way across gap, keeping his arms up on both sides to help maintain his balance. After what should have taken much less time, Firth reached the other side and grabbed onto Sean’s arm, hopping down gratefully onto the ground.
Will was already on the bridge with his gun in front of him, aimed straight at Sean.
“You know, I always thought there was something fishy about you, Will,” Sean said as his counterpart easily arrived on the other side. “You were so eager, and acted way to green to be a cop, even for a rookie.”
Will jumped down from the bridge and motioned for his employer to come across before turning his attention to Sean.
“Well, it worked. Didn’t it? So, I don’t really care about your opinion. All I care about is finding this thing, killing you, and going someplace where there is a beach and a margarita waiting on me.”
“Lofty goals you have there,” Sean jabbed.
His adversary took in a deep breath through his nostrils before responding. “You know what? You’re right. I should aspire to something more. I think when I’m done killing you and your little professor friend here, I may have a little fun with Adriana. I bet she’ll be a ton of fun.”
Something inside of Sean wanted to snap. He wanted to reach over, grab Will by the neck, and choke the last breath of life out of him. But Will had the gun, and any move at this point would provoke him to shoot.
Lindsey was shuffled across the bridge the same way Firth had done. When he reached the other three, he turned around and fired two more warning shots through the opening at beneath the stone hammer. He spun around with devious intention on his face.
“Move.”
Chapter 53
Cartersville, Georgia
Emily paced through the tattered remains of the McElroy cabin. She had been on the phone for the last hour with a number of different authorities, including some very highly positioned people from the World Health Organization. No one was budging, though. Everyone she had spoken to had given her the same bureaucratic bull as the previous.
They splashed around terms concerning protocol and due diligence, but the truth was they wanted to do it during working hours. The underlying part was that they likely didn’t want to believe
something so large scale could have slipped past their notice.
She had a team of her own agents standing by at the Atlanta Biosure facility, making sure none of the shipments actually left the building. But something had been troubling her since the moment she’d made the first call. She knew that Alexander Lindsey had more than one facility in the umbrella of Biosure. There were several buildings under that name across the country, not to mention any subsidiaries there might be. If he had decided not to put all his eggs in one basket, all it would take would be one phone call to put the wheels in motion. The virus could ship out to any number of undisclosed locations. There would be no stopping it. And if it were as bad as Jenny Solomon believed, the results would be cataclysmic.
Emily had one more play she could make. It would be risky. And if she were wrong, it would cost her reputation, career, and everything she’d worked so hard for through the years.
“Any luck?” Helen asked as she sifted through the wreckage that used to be their home.
“No,” Emily shook her head and ended the call. “They want to know too many details, and for this time of day, we just can’t expedite that information fast enough.
“So, what can we do?” Joe seemed bewildered.
Emily let out a deep sigh. “There is another option, but it’s a last resort. If we are wrong about any of this, it’ll cost me everything.”
“Jenny isn’t wrong, Em,” Joe reassured. “This thing is the real deal.”
She nodded at his comment. “The director of the CIA owes me a huge favor. I saved a few of his agents a couple of years back when none of the other agencies would touch the situation. He can help us secure the other Biosure facilities before it’s too late. If it isn’t too late already.”
Joe appeared skeptical. “You’re talking about a huge operation, spanning across several major cities in the United States. You think they could pull that off?”
Sean Wyatt Compilation Box Set Page 90
