Sam stalled. “Come again?”
The President crumpled for the first time that night. “The cartel has been blackmailing me for over a year. We’ve tried everything to get them to quit, but they’re like animals. They’ve got information on me that will ruin my presidency and if I don’t comply with their requests they’ll…” He shuddered, his gaze frank. “Like you said. A man can pay for his own sins. Hell, sometimes I think it’s right, even. But not my wife. Not my daughter…”
He gestured at the death. “That was the plan. They knew that. We were to stage my death and I would pass power onto Rowlands and go into hiding with my family. Once everyone knew I was dead they would be safe. We’d planned it for months. I knew, and they knew, that it was the only way I would be safe for good. That my family would be safe for good. We were supposed to crash the Learjet over Rhyolite, Nevada. Engine malfunction. There are parachutes on board, we were going to jettison and hit the desert. Cars were waiting. But…”
His voice broke and he looked around at the carnage. “Frye. Anders. I trusted them. With my life. My god, they’ve monitored Sofia.” He looked at Sam, pleading. “Is there a chance it was still the plan? I know it would make you – but is there a chance they were just…” He trailed off, lost for words. “Doing their duty?”
Sam shook his head. “Those men shot to kill. How they missed you I’ll never know. I’m just glad I was here. This story would have been very different otherwise. Your wife would have been a widow in fact.”
The man sighed, shaking. “What do we do?”
Sam’s gaze bore into him. “We go through with the plan.”
“You’re right, we can still pull this off.”
“Do you trust the people on the ground?”
“Yes. I have two Secret Service Agents who I can trust with my life – I have to trust with my life. They are waiting for me. There’s a car waiting for me. There are some parachutes in the back and a specially built exit point. It will be a rough ride. But we’ll survive.”
A few minutes later the President set the aircraft on an irreparable nose-dive.
And Sam and the President jumped out through the exit point.
The video showed them freefalling until their parachutes opened. The two men parted mildly in the air, and Sam landed first.
He met the President when he landed a few minutes later.
On the ground, a black SUV approached.
Ethan recognized that vehicle. It was the same one he’d seen fifteen years earlier, chasing Sam Reilly.
From the opposite direction, a young man riding a motorcycle approached.
The President landed with the ease and grace of a seasoned paratrooper.
The Chevrolet Suburban pulled up alongside the President. The camera moved toward the gathering as it appeared the younger Sam Reilly walked toward the group. The President was talking to two Agents. There was already a hot discussion going on, but it was impossible to tell what was being said from the bodycam footage.
Sam Reilly reached the President, who introduced him to the two Agents, and said that he owed the man his life.
A few seconds later, a young man on a motorcycle pulled up next to them. He couldn’t have been more than twenty. The rider said, “Woah… are you guys all right? I just saw your parachutes! Did you just jump out of that plane before it crashed?”
The President gave a curt nod to the two agents, and then to the rider, said, “Yeah, that was us… we got really lucky.”
One of the Agents got the message, drew his Sig Sauer and shot the rider dead.
On the bodycam, Sam Reilly’s voice protested. “Good God! That man was just checking to make sure we were all right… you didn’t have to kill him!”
The President turned his palms skyward in supplication. “Hey, I wasn’t happy about it either, but a lot of lives are at stake here. If the story gets out that I survived a lot more people are going to pay with their lives.”
“There must have been a better way...” Sam’s voice was calm, cautionary.
One of the Agents whispered something into the President’s ear.
The President turned to Sam Reilly. “Are you wearing a bodycam?”
The digital video ended.
Ethan asked, “What the hell did I just watch?”
“You know what it was.”
“Yeah.” Ethan looked out the window. “What happened in the end?”
Sam shrugged. “Frank Rowlands got to be president. Harris’s widow and daughter died tragically in a car accident. As far as anyone knows they really died. Who knows? They might really be dead.” He tapped the computer. “This is the only copy of this footage in the entire world. They’ll be safe, as long as it stays hidden.”
Ethan looked at him, his gaze unreadable. “Now I know about it.”
Sam met his gaze the same way. “Now you know.”
Ethan turned to him in earnest. “You didn’t kill the President.”
“Kill President Harris? Are you kidding me? Of course I didn’t kill him.”
“No, he died because you found that key… and the Cartel, having discovered that a second Labyrinth Key had been discovered went to kill Harris.”
Sam grinned. “You think President Harris is dead?”
“Yeah, he died in a plane crash fifteen years ago… the same day you and I first met!”
Sam shook his head. “No. President Harris survived, but he knew that so long as Carlos Gonzalez was still alive the cartel would use his family to blackmail him. But as you know, having served, no matter what happened, the President of the United States of America can never be placed in a position in which he needs to submit to the whims of another nation.”
“So…” Ethan swore. “President Harris knew this. He needed to be dead.”
“Exactly. A plan was made to fake his death. The only problem was, the Cartel got wind of it, and instead of letting it play out fictionally, he tried to make it real. Thus, they nearly succeeded in killing President Harris for real.”
“Except you were there that day, to talk about the Labyrinth Key.”
“Yes. I was there to talk about the Labyrinth Key. I realized what happened and I saved the President’s life.”
Ethan frowned. “There’s one thing I don’t understand.”
Sam bit his lower lip, knowing where this was headed. “Go on.”
“If President Harris is still alive, who were those Secret Service Agents sent to kill you?”
Sam expelled a deep breath. “President Harris was a good man, but he needed to complete the ruse. You see, if anyone found out the truth, his family would be murdered.”
Realization dawned on Ethan. “Those were President Harris’s trusted Secret Service Agents who tried to kill you.”
Sam nodded, the palms of his hands turning upward. “I’m afraid so. I can’t blame President Harris. After all, he needed to clean up loose ends.” Sam steepled his fingers. “After I left Rhyolite, I sent him a message, explaining what I had done and that his secret would be safe with me until the day I died – upon which, a video depicting the truth would be revealed to the world. When that happened, it became paramount to Harris that I remain alive for a very long time.”
Epilogue
Washington, D.C.
Inside Sam Reilly’s father’s D.C. apartment, Caliburn’s ears perked behind his thick mane of golden hair, his brown doe-eyes passively taking interest in Sam and Catarina’s somewhat heated discussion.
Sam sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, I don’t know how long I’m going to be away. At least a month, probably many more.”
Catarina nodded, taking his hand in hers and kissing his fingers. “I’ve seen that look before, Sam.”
Sam pulled back, just a little, enough to see her face and look her in the eye. “What look?”
“You’re going after the Obsidian Chamber, aren’t you?”
Sam nodded. “I have to.”
“You’re going to give it everything you have.”
Catarina asked, “What about Caliburn?”
Sam looked at the golden retriever, who raised a benevolent eyebrow to let him know he was listening. “My aunt can look after him while I’m away.”
“What about the Tahila?”
Sam shrugged. “What about it?”
“I thought the benefit of living on board a ship was that your house goes with you wherever you go?”
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You think I should bring Caliburn?”
“Yes. Why not?”
“Caliburn’s not going to like where we’re going.”
“Why?”
“Because Caliburn hates the cold.”
She kissed him on his lips, then pushed him away. “Where are you going, Sam?”
“Antarctica.”
Her lips curled upward into a wry smile. “Antarctica… whatever for?”
“To find a ship that went missing during the early 20th century.”
She expelled a frustrated breath. “All right, I’ll bite. What does a missing 20th century vessel have to do with the Obsidian Chamber?”
Well,” Sam said, “Rumor has it, the leader of the expedition, a man named Ernest Shackleton, was the last one to physically see the Obsidian Chamber. Shackleton was on an expedition to reach the South Pole when his ship, the RSS Discovery, became trapped in ice and abandoned – never to be seen again.”
“Good God! Sam, you’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“No. I’m looking for a frozen ship beneath a sea of ice.”
Catarina could see she wasn’t getting anywhere. “All right, so you’re going to leave Caliburn with your aunt?”
“Sure. Why not? She loves that damned dog more than anyone!” Caliburn gave a curt bark in a not so subtle retort. Sam came and patted the golden retriever behind his ears. “It’s all right, Caliburn, you know we all adore you.”
Caliburn nuzzled into his arm, before settling onto his lap, as though that was penance enough. Sam turned to Catarina and said, “Besides, I wasn’t lying when I said my aunt would love to look after Caliburn for a while.”
Catarina sat down and gave Caliburn an affectionate pat. “Can you trust your aunt with him?”
“It’s okay, this is the good aunt, remember?”
Catarina said, “Hey, I’ve met the rest of your family, Sam. Good, as a comparative term, isn’t necessarily great.”
Sam met her gaze. “In this case it is. This aunt is good. She’s been a sort of role model to me. An erudite, compassionate, and gentle soul. A confidante, and someone I can turn to for counsel. She’ll take good care of Caliburn while we’re away. Besides, don’t let Caliburn’s growl confuse you. He loves spending time with her much more than he’s letting on.”
Catarina met Caliburn’s raised eye. “Is that true? You want to go visit Sam’s aunt?”
Caliburn licked his lips and set his tail wagging happily, betraying his real emotions. Sam shrugged. “My aunt tends to spoil him far more than our jobs allow for.”
Someone inserted a key and let themselves into the house. Caliburn stood up and immediately started barking playfully. Sam turned his gaze to meet Catarina’s eye. “See, I told you he was just waiting for her to arrive.”
A fit, healthy looking woman in her mid-sixties walked in, followed by a gentleman of similar age. Caliburn ran right up to her at the speed of a much younger dog. She kneeled down and embraced him, working hard not to get knocked over in the process. “How are you, darling?” she asked, talking to Caliburn first.
Sam caught Catarina’s eye. “See?”
They waited a good minute before Caliburn and Sam’s aunt settled, unsure which one was more excited to see the other.
His aunt stood up and embraced him.
Sam said, “It’s good to see you. I would like to introduce you to my girlfriend, Catarina.”
She smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Catarina. Sam’s told me a lot about you.”
Catarina embraced her. “You too…”
Sam’s aunt smiled and put Catarina out of her misery. “Colleen.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Colleen.”
Colleen turned to the gentleman with a kind smile behind her and said, “Meet my husband, Wayne Mundis.”
The four of them talked over coffee. While Sam brought his aunt and uncle up to speed about his next project, Catarina talked about herself and what normal adults do for a living, and Colleen filled Sam in on her and Wayne’s latest sailing trip in the Caribbean.
When they were finished, they headed out the front where their SUV was parked. Sam opened the rear tailgate for Caliburn to climb in, but Colleen wouldn’t hear of it. Instead, she pressed the lower button and opened the front door, exchanging the trunk for the front seat.
She gave a curt nod to Caliburn, who provided a happy bark, and jumped up onto the front bucket seat, beside Wayne.
Her eyes leveled with Sam’s suddenly serious. “I recognized that voice when you called. There’s something terrible going on and you’re going to try your best to stop it.”
Sam said, “I have to. There’s…”
She raised a single hand to stop him. “I know. You don’t have to tell me it’s important. I just want you to be careful and know that I’m thinking about you.”
Anyone else and he would have protested, maintaining his lie. Instead, he just said, “I will.”
“Good.” Then, her voice more cheerful, Colleen said, “Now don’t take too long or I promise you we’re not giving Caliburn back.”
Sam grinned. “I’ll try my best.”
He watched as they drove off. Wayne wound down the passenger window and Caliburn comfortably nudged his head out into the wind as the SUV pulled out of the driveway.
Sam wrapped his arms affectionately around Catarina’s waist and watched them disappear down the road.
She turned her head to look at him, parted her lips, and kissed him.
When they stopped, everything was serious again. Catarina said, “Now what?”
Sam swallowed. “Now I have to beat the rest of the world to find it.”
“Are you sure the rest of the world is looking?”
The lines in Sam’s face suddenly darkened. “They’re looking for it all right, the same as we are. It contains secrets that will change everything about the world, from political alliances, world economics, and even the future of the human race.”
She nodded. “All right, then we’d better make sure we find it first.”
“We?” Sam arched an eyebrow. “Do you mean it?”
“Yes.” She kissed him again.
His lips straightened into a hardline. “You’re sure?”
She grinned. “Sam, I’m coming with you to find the Obsidian Chamber.”
“I’m glad,” Sam said, and he squeezed her hand. “Because I believe we’re close to finding it.”
“Finding what?”
“Answers.”
Her lips parted in a wry smile. “To?”
“Everything.” Sam grinned. “We’re on the verge of finally learning the truth about the origins of the Master Builders and why they’re here.”
The End
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The Labyrinth Key Page 36