Lucky for us, the gates were open wide, but a line-up of early evacuees waited in front of our van. It took five anxious minutes to leave, and my stomach protested at the movement. The drugs were still working their magic, and I dreaded coming down from the painkillers, but knew my sister well enough to know she kept over-the-counter stuff on her at all times.
The sun was beginning to rise as we exited the hospital grounds, driving for the freeway. “Where are we going?” I asked, seeing we’d missed the exit to Hunter’s cove house.
“To Portugal,” Tripp said from the driver’s seat.
I closed my eyes, hearing the kids behind me asking their dad if Uncle Rex was going to be okay. Then I fell asleep.
3
When I came to, it was much brighter, and I glanced at the sky, finding the sun hadn’t shifted much. I hadn’t been out for long. Bev was beside me, her head rested on my shoulder. She snored softly, and I hated to wake her.
“Tripp, are we almost there?” I had to use the bathroom, and I was extremely thirsty. “Any water around?”
Marcus was in the front passenger seat, and he opened a fresh bottle, passing it to me. “Just a few more minutes.”
I was about to ask where but looked out the window to see high fences along open fields. A distant sign indicated we were nearing an army base. “What are we doing here?”
“I’m calling in a favor,” Tripp said, smirking at me in the mirror.
“Can we trust them?” I asked.
“This guy owes me. Big time. Trust me when I say he’s no Believer.” The road was gravel, and the rocks grumbled under us as we slowed near the front gates. An officer with a tablet stood near the entrance, and he marched up to Tripp.
“We need to see Colonel Jerkins,” Tripp said.
“You’re not on the list,” the officer said.
“Tell Jerkins that Davis is here. He’s expecting us,” Tripp’s voice was different, more clipped and authoritative. I expected he’d used that when talking to subordinates during his entire military career.
The man walked away, and I opened my jacket to find my wound had bled through the hospital gown. Bev was awake, and she gasped at the sight. “Tripp, Rex needs help.”
The officer opened the gate with the press of a button and climbed into a Jeep, waving Tripp forward. We followed him through the base, which was quiet at the moment. A lot of people would be at home with their families if they weren’t overseas. A large spruce tree was decorated for the holidays, and we drove toward the main structure, a boxy building with bland paint colors.
The Jeep stopped, and the man hopped out, indicating we take a parking stall. Tripp parked there and stepped out first, talking to the young officer. He nodded and took off as an older, broad-shouldered black man targeted Tripp. For a second, it seemed like the man was about to punch Tripp; then his face broke into a huge smile, and they hugged. Colonel Jerkins wore his uniform and looked imposing in it.
Five minutes later, we were inside the building, Edith and Carson staying with their mom and dad in the foyer.
I started down the hall with the others, but Tripp slowed, coming to my side. He grabbed for my arm. “They have a doctor on site. He’s going to patch you up again, and then you can join us.”
I slapped his hand away. “Damn it, Tripp. I’m not missing this meeting.”
Tripp lowered his voice. “Rex, you were shot. You need attention. We won’t do anything until you join us, okay?”
I relented as his tone softened. “Fine. Can you find me something to wear?” My feet were still bare, my legs only shielded to my lower thighs by the trench.
“No problem.” Tripp waved the young officer closer and barked a command at him. The guy looked ready to salute him but stopped short, saying he’d locate some things in my size and bring them to medical.
“Tripp, I thought you were a Navy SEAL. Why does an army colonel owe you?” I asked.
“Maybe when this is done with, I’ll answer that,” he said with a laugh.
____________
The sun was high in the sky, reflecting off the snow-draped field. My wound had been cleaned and disinfected, and the doctor ensured I left with enough antibiotics and painkillers to fend off a zombie apocalypse. The airplane was huge, with vast space to carry an assortment of military personnel inside; only today, it was transporting a handful of civilians across the Atlantic Ocean.
The seats were combined into benches along the outer walls, facing a middle row. Carson raced past us, running through the airplane with a huge smile on his face.
“I have to ask why I’m lending you this, Tripp,” Colonel Jerkins said before stepping foot on the plane.
“No you don’t, sir,” Tripp said resolutely.
“Do you have any idea the paperwork this’ll take?” Jerkins frowned, looking at me, then at Veronica and Marcus. “Tell me there’s nothing dangerous on board.” His gaze drifted to the bags Marcus lowered to the floor. Inside was the Case, but I’d reclaimed the Tokens. They were in my borrowed jacket’s pockets, three in each front fold. My hands were wrapped around them tightly as the colonel stared at me.
“We’re in some trouble, Colonel. Serious business involving the Objects,” Tripp said.
Jerkins’ eyes blinked wider as he pointed to the ceiling. “Those? How is this group tangled in anything involving the asteroids? Better yet, don’t tell me. Consider our affiliation concluded, Tripp. I owed you, and this is my repayment. I’ll have the pilot return through Britain like you asked, but I have no idea who’d be able to track you through this undocumented trip. You’ll land at Lajes Field in the islands, and I’ve arranged for a civilian plane to be at your disposal from there.”
“These guys are tricky. They always seem to be one step ahead.” Tripp glanced toward the cockpit. “You trust the pilot?”
“He’s coming in for this mission on my personal request. We’re skeleton at the moment,” Jerkins said.
“I take it I’ll be flying from the island to Porto?” Veronica seemed pleased with the idea. I’d never seen someone so delighted to be in control of a winged vehicle.
“We have an Air Force veteran?”
She saluted and smiled. “First Lieutenant Jones, sir. I could take …”
“Not this time, I’m afraid. Captain Berkowitz will arrive shortly.” Jerkins turned for the exit, and stopped near Tripp. “Son, would you like to keep the kids and their parents at the base?”
I thought about it and glanced at Beverly. It would be safer with them, but I couldn’t trust that the Believers weren’t integrated into the Army. I was taking a flier on the fact that Jerkins wasn’t involved in the slightest.
“Thanks for the offer, but we’re traveling together,” Fred told him. “We’re not letting Rex go into this alone, and if things are as dangerous as he thinks, I don’t want to put the kids in jeopardy. Or Beverly.”
And it was settled.
“Have it your way.” Colonel Jerkins appeared on the verge of saying one last comment but disembarked instead.
A half hour later, the captain arrived with a carafe of coffee and some paper cups. He wore street clothes and apologized for the delay. We strapped in, and a handful of minutes later were taking off. I peered out the window, seeing Boston to the south, and soon, there was nothing but ocean below us.
I was beat, and my stomach ached, but the drugs dulled the pain. Marcus sipped a coffee and pulled out his laptop, and Tripp unclasped his belt, reaching into his pack. I glanced over the middle row to see Fred, Bev, and the kids sleeping. I hated having to bring them with us but didn’t feel like we had much of a choice. If I left them, they might share Richard Klein’s fate, and I couldn’t let that happen.
“How you feeling, Rex?” Marcus asked.
“Like someone shot me in the gut,” I said. I tugged the sweater up and peered at the wound. White dots floated in my vision again, but the bandage was clean.
“You’re lucky to be alive,” Veronica said, her voice chas
tising me.
“Like I wanted this,” I muttered. “Tripp, if I haven’t said it enough… thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. Just doing my job.” Tripp had Hunter’s journal in his hand, and he rifled through the pages.
“Where are we? I’ve been so out of it. What did Hunter leave us at the house?” I sipped my coffee, hoping the jolt of caffeine would help me focus through the muddle of drugs in my body.
Marcus answered. “Hunter told us to fly to Porto. Wine country in Portugal. Looks incredible. He owns a place there, off the record, so no one should be aware it exists. He’s paid some locals to maintain it for a couple of decades and hasn’t shown his face there for the entire time.”
“He was playing a patient game,” Tripp said.
“I wish he was alive to see the Tokens together,” Veronica whispered.
“What else? Do we have the location of the Bridge entrance?” I was more curious about that than anything.
Tripp bobbed his head: not quite a no, not quite a yes. “Sort of. He described it but failed to leave coordinates. He really didn’t want the cultists to find it.”
“How do we track the cavern?” I asked.
“It’s clear it’s within twenty miles of his house. He says as much. We just need to use his clues to locate it from there.” Marcus brought up a map, showing the location of the home.
“Are those satellite images?” I asked, seeing the grids and intense detail. This was no web browser software at work.
“Apparently, Tripp still has access,” Marcus said. “I think we’ve partnered with a real live secret agent man.”
Tripp grunted but didn’t deny anything. “Glad to help.”
“What does his description say?”
Veronica laughed, a bright sound over the plane’s humming engines. “Where the water flows, the pathway glows. Seek a star’s flight on a cloudy night.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I was tired of the games. “Can’t someone for once tell us a fact? Like, it’s located two-point three kilometers northwest of my house. Can’t miss it. Valley with a giant waterfall. A tree that looks like a bird.”
“Then where’s the fun?” Marcus asked.
“Fun? This stopped being fun the moment someone died. Marcus, you were slashed with a knife in the catacombs, and we’ve both been shot.”
“Don’t forget you were clipped in the face with a gun,” Veronica reminded me.
My hand went to my cheek, and I felt the puffy skin. “With the gaping hole in my stomach, I’d almost forgotten about that.”
She watched me from across the seats, next to Tripp, and I grinned back. We’d faced the barrel of the Believers’ gun and had somehow lived to tell the tale. That was something that would bond us forever, or as long as we lived—which, considering the dire circumstances we were under, might only be days.
“Let’s break that down, Marcus. What do you see with water in the area?” I asked.
“The most obvious is the Douro River, but it’s twenty-two miles at the closest juncture of his property. According to his message, that makes it improbable.”
“Maybe he was mistaken. Maybe he measured it differently,” I suggested.
“Have you known Hunter Madison to screw something up?”
Marcus made a good point, but I had one counter to that. “Francois. He had a Believer working beside him for years. That’s a pretty big mistake.” I didn’t take solace in that fact.
“How was he to know? It’s easy to trust someone once they’ve built that relationship. I don’t blame him in the least. Plus, these cultists are organized. They know exactly what they’re doing.” Veronica removed her straps and stepped by Marcus, peering at the laptop’s satellite image.
“Okay, take out the river. What else?” I watched as Marcus zoomed in, using the program to create four quadrants originating from Hunter’s property. They formed a circle, with twenty miles as the farthest reach on any edge. His place was north of the city of Porto, quite remote, with no apparent neighbors for a few miles. From this vantage point, it appeared like he owned a vineyard, with rows of grapes lining the fields and valleys behind the home. It was classic Hunter.
“The mountains aren’t huge, but over here”—Marcus directed his finger to the top right quadrant—“there’s a small lake, and if you look, it runs downward toward this valley.”
“Where the water flows, the pathway glows. What is this pathway, and why would it glow?” I pondered the riddle left by the dead billionaire.
“There have to be markings. Like, Hunter made a trail.” Marcus tilted his head to the side, raising his eyebrows.
“Could be. But what about Seek a star’s flight on a cloudy night? How do you see a star on a cloudy night?” Veronica asked, but none of us had the answer.
“Save that. I think you’re onto something with the location in the mountains. We know it’s a cavern, which means peaks or a hilly range.” We continued to scour the images and pinpointed another four locations that might work for his puzzle.
“There’s more,” Tripp said once Marcus finally closed his laptop. I saw my sister was still asleep, with the kids lying sideways on the seats. Fred’s eyes were open, but he was just gazing toward the bathroom.
“What is it?” I glanced at the journal in his hands. Marcus and I had pilfered it from Brian Hardy’s place, and now he was dead.
“Hunter had been in the midst of translating the book.” Tripp handed it to me, and I curiously scanned the pages.
I saw the symbols for the Tokens etched into the margins, and finally clued in. “He’s been working on their positioning. I’ve been so caught up in getting the Tokens, I hadn’t considered utilizing them in any particular order.”
I glanced at the bag across the seats, and Tripp dove into it, pulling the Case free. It felt smaller than when I’d pulled it out of the mine’s underground lake, and I reached for it, the black metal cold in my grip.
The others sat around expectantly, and I appeased them by taking the Tokens out. Six Tokens, six slots.
The first had the half moon over a spoon, and I peered at Hunter’s drawing. It slid it into place, and I checked the next in order. The upside down R with a bird above it was subsequent, and I set it as Hunter had translated, sideways to the right of the first Token.
The third choice was the Token we’d gathered in the stone forest. Three rings, each smaller inside the other. This one was tough to determine which direction to place it, until I noticed the miniscule line etched at the bottom. Hunter’s drawing showed it facing up, and I copied that position as I slid the metal hexagon home.
The last piece was the one Beverly had given me, wrapped for a Christmas gift. I still couldn’t believe she’d had it all those years, a present from my father from beyond the grave. If Dirk Walker hadn’t wanted to be found, why had Dad gifted a Token to his daughter? I supposed I’d never learn the truth, but the fact of the matter was, we’d acquired the six Tokens, and that was what counted.
I couldn’t shake the feeling of hurt, or favoritism, that came with bestowing such a powerful gift. I looked at my watch, the leather straps cracked, the face worn. I wound it on instinct and sneered as it ticked the seconds away.
“Rex, are you going to finish?” Veronica asked. She climbed around Marcus and sat once again. Her foot tapped nervously as I continued.
The Token depicted a tree with burning leaves, and I clicked it into the proper spot, rotating the Case in my hands as I grabbed the fifth piece. The image was disturbing in some off-putting way. It resembled eyes, almond-shaped, in a circle. Lines like sunlight stretched from the round center. It went on the top of the Case. Then there was only one remaining.
“Should we really be doing this now?” Marcus asked.
“You might be right.” I stared at the last Token, discovered in Antarctica. It depicted a shooting star.
“Maybe you should. Just to see.” Fred was behind me, and I looked back to see Bev and the k
ids there too, my sister holding their hands.
“No. It might not be safe,” I decided. From what I knew, the Case only worked in the cavern, but I was guessing by the conjecture and hypothesis of two dead men. No one could be certain.
As I started to set the Case into the pack, the pilot advised us we were in range of the island’s landing field. The sky was dark, and I saw lightning flash through the window. We were almost at Portugal, the last stop in our adventure.
Unless it worked. Then we had one more to go.
Across the Bridge.
4
The sun hid behind clouds as we drove toward Hunter’s vineyard. Porto was a beautiful city, but I scarcely took notice as exhaustion overtook me. I’d somehow slept on the plane between the landing field and Porto, despite the fact that Veronica had to fly us through yet another storm.
The kids had been petrified, but Fred kept them close, humming a tune to them in an effort to remain calm. Beverly was as scared as them, but I was useless after taking another pill for the pain. Each jostle of turbulence sent a shot of agony through me. But sleep came, and I didn’t wake until we’d landed in the airport near the city.
Tripp handled the local customs agent paperwork with surprising expedience, and then we were off, renting a huge passenger van and a Jeep. Veronica took the Jeep with Marcus, and the rest of us were piled in with Tripp at the helm.
“This friend of yours must have been quite the character,” Fred said. “I can’t imagine owning a plot of land like this.”
The gates were high, and I spotted cameras at either end, sensing our motion as we neared. Tripp used a code given by Hunter, and they opened. The driveway went on for a mile, and it was paved the entire distance. My injury was grateful for it.
“What day is it?” I asked.
For a second, no one answered. “December thirty-first,” Bev finally said. “New Year’s Eve.”
Lost Contact (The Bridge Sequence Book One) Page 28