Solomon Key

by David Wood

  A few minutes later, they rowed ashore and dragged their dinghy up onto the beach. Avery stared at the tree line, black and forbidding.

  “You got a plan?” Willis asked. “Or are we just going to wander around until the sun comes up?”

  “You didn’t have to come,” Avery snapped.

  “Girl, if you think I could let you go by yourself, you don’t know your brother at all.”

  “Fair enough. Matter of fact, I do have a plan.” She took out a flashlight and a topographical chart and pointed out a spot she had circled on the map. “This is the highest spot on the island and it’s almost at the center. It would be a logical place to construct a headquarters.”

  Willis nodded. “Least likely to get swamped in a storm. All right, let’s check it out. And stay close. My dark skin ain’t easy to spot when there’s no light.” He grinned, winked, and strode off into the forest. Avery hurried to keep up.

  They wound their way through the dense undergrowth, flashlight beams slicing through the humid air. In seemingly no time at all, they arrived at the spot Avery had marked on the map. They climbed a low rise and found themselves on a broad, level spot. The forest had swallowed this space as well. If there had ever been a headquarters here, nothing remained.

  Undeterred, Avery removed an entrenching tool from her pack, opened it, and began probing the ground.

  “I’d offer to help,” Willis said, “but that’s a Ranger’s tool.”

  “And if Bones were here he’d make a pun out of Rangers being tools,” Avery replied. “Tell me you’re not going to go the same route.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.” Willis took out his recon knife and joined her. After a few minutes, Avery’s shovel hit something solid.

  “Dig over here,” she said. They set to work, clearing out a space, until their lights revealed a shiny black object. Her heart leaped, but then her excitement diminished just as quickly. “It’s just a rock.”

  “Not any rock from around here.” Willis ran a hand across its surface. “This is obsidian.”

  Avery clapped a hand to her forehead. She should have realized. “Let’s dig it up.”

  It took several minutes to clear enough space around the stone, which was about the size of a manhole cover. Willis worked his fingers under the edge.

  “If there’s a snake or a scorpion under here, I’m dropping this thing like a THOT looking for a baby daddy.”

  “Could you be a little cruder?”

  “Sorry. Tried to channel my inner Bones and it didn’t work.”

  “Yeah, prefer the regular you. Now, let’s see if there’s something under here. On three?” She counted down and Willis heaved the thick stone up on its edge, to reveal a hollowed-out compartment underneath it.

  Inside, partially covered in sand, lay a carved object. Avery hastily donned a pair of cotton gloves before removing it.

  “Can I set this down or do you need to keep looking?” Wills grunted.

  “Oh, sorry.” Avery examined the hollowed out storage compartment, running her light and her fingertips across every surface before declaring it empty. Willis dropped the stone and the two of them stood, examining the carving.

  It was clearly old and African in origin, though Avery could not speculate about the culture that had produced it. A proud bird with a tiny beak and long neck perched on a thin, curving branch, which was set atop a simple disc. Avery turned it over and gasped. A line of symbols was carved on the bottom of the disc, spiraling in toward the center.

  “Where do you think it came from?” Willis whispered.

  “It is from Dzimba dza mabwe,” a woman’s voice said from the darkness. “It translates to ‘House of Stone,’ but you would know it as Zimbabwe. And it belongs to us.”

  Willis did not hesitate, but charged toward the sound of the voice. Avery heard a sharp report of a pistol, and then the sound of hand-to-hand fighting. Before Avery could make a move, another voice rang out. This one from behind her.

  “Do not move. I will shoot you.” It was a woman’s voice, calm and determined. Avery could tell when someone meant business, and this woman was not playing. She froze, letting her flashlight fall to the ground, and stood there nervously twisting the carving in her hands.

  “What do you want?” she asked.

  “As my cousin said, we want what is ours.” The voice drew closer.

  Avery kept squeezing the carving, wondering if she could throw it at the woman who threatened her and then escape into the darkness.

  “This is a national park. Technically this carving belongs to the government.”

  The woman behind her laughed. “Let us not play games. I don’t know for whom you work, but the fact that you came here under cover of darkness looking for a clue to Caesar’s treasure tells me all I need to know.”

  “I don’t work for anyone.” Avery suddenly wished she’d enlisted a few of her colleagues on the Myrmidon Squad to help her out tonight. She’d believed Willis and Matt would be enough. And what had happened to Matt? Had these women slipped past him, or had something worse happened?

  “Your friend,” the woman said, “is he one of the cousins, perhaps?”

  “Cousins?”

  “Never mind. Put the artifact on the ground.”

  Avery let the carved bird fall to the sand, wondering what had happened to Willis.

  “Now, I want you to...”

  “Nobody’s doing anything or your friend dies.” Willis’ voice rang out strong from somewhere out of sight, but very close by. Avery felt her body sag with relief. “I got a knife to her throat and I’m pissed off.”

  “In that case, we have a problem.” The woman appeared at the corner of Avery’s vision, just at the edge of the light from the flashlight lying on the ground. She was tall and muscular, with dark skin and fine facial features. She wore her hair in a mass of tiny braids knotted at the back of her head. She managed to simultaneously convey a regal bearing and a viper’s menace. She held a small caliber pistol trained on Avery. “I will kill this woman.”

  “Just let them have the carving,” Avery said. “It’s worthless anyway.”

  “Hell, no.” Willis said. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Avery could just barely make him out. He stood behind cover, his knife pressed to the throat of a woman who fit the description of Nomi.

  “I see someone needs to break the tie,” a new voice called out. Matt! “And I think that person is me.”

  The woman with the gun fired off a single shot, shattering Avery’s flashlight and plunging the scene into darkness. She heard Matt fire off a shot. “Bug out!” he shouted.

  Avery turned to run but someone crashed into her and she fell hard on her back. She rolled over and tried to stand but strong hands seized her by the ankle. She kicked out hard and heard a pained grunt. Her left hand closed around something solid. The entrenching tool! She pivoted and swung it with all her might. She felt the satisfying impact and heard another cry of pain and the hand released her.

  She stood and ran full-tilt in the direction of their boat. All around she heard sounds of people crashing through the undergrowth. Another shot rang out behind her and she instinctively ducked. Something caught her ankle and she fell, cracking her head against a tree on the way down. She saw stars and struggled to regain her equilibrium. The sound of running feet drew closer and she managed to regain her feet and stumble forward. Like a pinball she bounced from tree to tree, sharp pain lancing through her skull. She put her hand to her head and felt sticky blood.

  The footfalls closed in on her. She tried to run, but her feet wouldn’t obey. I’m not going to make it.

  And then someone seized her from behind. A big hand covered her mouth and she heard a voice whisper in her ear.

  “I got you.”

  Willis! She almost cried with relief.

  “I hit my head. Dizzy.”

  He hooked an arm around her waist and half-supported, half-carried her to the shore, where Matt waited with their boat. When they burs
t from the trees, he turned his rifle in their direction, but recognized them immediately.

  “Get in. I’ll cover you.”

  Seconds later, Avery sat slumped in the bow of the boat while Willis pushed her out into deep water. Matt waded through the water behind him, covering their escape. Thankfully, they were not being pursued. The women must have been satisfied with the artifact Avery had found. Matt and Willis clambered into the boat and began to row, driving them through the water with powerful strokes. All the while, Matt kept an eye on the island.

  It was not until they were safely aboard Sea Foam and headed south, engines wide open that they allowed themselves the leisure to discuss what had happened.

  “How’d you know to come after us?” Willis asked as he applied a bandage to Avery’s forehead.

  Matt sat at the helm, piloting the craft, and spoke while keeping his eyes straight ahead.

  “I was watching through the binoculars and just caught a glimpse of two people in kayaks coming in from the direction of Meigis Key. I figured they couldn’t be up to any good. So, I brought Sea Foam in as close as I dared, swam the rest of the way in, and found you.”

  “I didn’t know Rangers could swim,” Willis said.

  “We can do anything a SEAL can, plus some.”

  “Right,” Willis said.

  “Do you think they’ll come after us?” Avery said, still groggy. She probably had a concussion. “They probably had a boat nearby. I doubt they kayaked all the way from the mainland.”

  “If so, they’re going to have to swim to it. I made sure those kayaks are no longer seaworthy,” Matt said.

  “That’s what I’m talking about.” Willis grinned approvingly. And then his face fell. “I just wish we’d held on to that artifact. Whatever was written on the bottom must be important or else Caesar wouldn’t have hidden it there. Now the other side’s got it.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Avery said.

  Willis frowned and Matt shot a quizzical glance over his shoulder.

  Avery reached into her pocket and fished out the stone disc that had been the pedestal on which the bird carving was mounted.

  “As it turns out, some of these old carvings are quite fragile.”

  “Girl, you are your brother’s sister,” Willis said.

  “Maybe, except I’m cuter.” She held up the disc and examined the odd symbols through bleary eyes. “Now, we just need to get this thing deciphered.”

  Chapter 18

  Miami, Florida

  Nomi stared at the carving that lay on the table before her. It was a beautiful artifact, expertly crafted from a bluish stone. It seemed to emanate a sense of history. For what must have been the hundredth time she ran a finger across it, relishing the cold, smooth sensation. It was magnificent...and useless.

  “You think you’ll learn something through osmosis?” Constance’s sardonic voice penetrated her contemplations.

  Nomi forced herself to maintain a calm demeanor. She hated that Constance could slip up on her silently.

  “Just admiring the craftsmanship. Dzimba dza mabwe.” She spoke the name like a blessing.

  “May her greatness never be forgotten,” Constance intoned. She picked up the carved bird and glared at it. “What secret are you hiding?” she whispered.

  Nomi laughed. “You believe interrogating a sculpture will be any more effective than osmosis?”

  The corners of Constance’s mouth actually twitched. “I’m willing to try anything at this point.” She stood and began pacing. “Caesar left this, only this, in the hidden compartment. It is important. But why?”

  Nomi kept her silence. She enjoyed watching Constance flounder.

  “The obvious connection is to Great Zimbabwe. But it has been searched countless times.”

  Great Zimbabwe was a medieval city in southeast Zimbabwe. It had once served as the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, and had served as a royal palace. Though it had long ago fallen into ruin, many of its prominent features remained. The many gold mines in the area had made it a prime candidate for the site of Solomon’s Mines and many had conducted fruitless searches. It was now a World Heritage Site, but that had not stopped Nomi and a few of the cousins from conducting a clandestine exploration of the ruined city and surrounding area. They had found nothing.

  “What if the bird itself is a clue?” The question didn’t seem to be directed at Nomi. Constance’s gaze was fixed on the ceiling. “If this is a unique species, perhaps the mine is located in the region from which they come.”

  A sudden thought struck Nomi. “Let me see it, cousin.”

  Constance handed the carving to her. Nomi turned it over and shook her head. It was so obvious! How had she not realized?

  “How does it stand?”

  “What’s that?” Constance asked, still deep in thought.

  “What sculptor shapes a statue without a base on which to stand?” She held the bird up for emphasis. The thin branch on which it sat curved downward and came to a smooth end.

  Constance understood immediately. “That bitch! She broke it off of the base!”

  “Someone did at some time in the past.”

  “If someone else had discovered the hiding place, they would have taken the entire thing. She needed to get away from us, so she kept the bit of the carving that actually mattered.” Constance clenched her fist and cocked her elbow, but before she could actually punch something, a sense of calm returned. “It’s all right.”

  “You think so?” Nomi couldn’t see anything all right about the situation. If, as she suspected, the missing piece of the sculpture held an important clue, it was now lost to them, and all they knew was a blonde white girl had taken it.

  “Back on the island I managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of their boat through my binoculars. I got the name and had a cousin do some research.” She took out her smartphone and tapped the screen a few times. “I’m almost certain that the boat is owned by a man named Dane Maddock who lives in Key West, Florida.”

  Nomi couldn’t stifle her gasp.

  “What is it?” Constance snapped.

  “That’s impossible. Maddock is dead.” Her head spun, trying to make sense of this new piece of information. She thought about the woman on the island. It had been dark, but if her memory could be trusted, there was a resemblance there. The woman could have been Maddock’s sister.

  Constance folded her arms and slowly raised her chin until she seemed to be looking down at Nomi from a high place.

  “What have you kept from me?”

  Nomi struggled to regain her composure, add some strength to her words. She told Constance about meeting Maddock and Bonebrake, and how she had taken advantage of their skills to find Caesar’s headquarters. “I didn’t feel they were worth mentioning. I had already taken care of them.”

  “Did you watch them die?” Constance asked coolly.

  “No.” The admission was a wrench. “But I destroyed the only way out.”

  “The only exit you know of. If you want a man dead, kill him.” Shaking her head, Constance moved to the window, rested her palms on the sill, and stared out at the balmy day. “We have to consider the possibility that this Maddock person is alive.”

  “He wasn’t on the island,” Nomi said.

  “Unless he was the man shooting at us from the shadows.” Constance turned back around, her brown eyes boring into Nomi. “I want to know everything you’ve hidden from me. Right now.”

  “There’s nothing else.” Nomi waved off Constance’s protests. “Understand, I’ve been working on this for some time. It’s possible there might be something minor I haven’t mentioned, but I’m not intentionally keeping any secrets.”

  Constance pursed her lips, disbelief evident in her gaze, but she didn’t argue.

  “It’s possible that Maddock and Bonebrake are, in fact, dead. If the people operating the boat were friends of his, he might have spoken with one of them the night before our dive.”

&nbs
p; “Which would explain why they were on Caesar’s trail.” Constance nodded. “Regardless of whether or not they live, our next step is clear. We will go to Key West and find the woman who stole the artifact.”

  Chapter 19

  St. Paul’s Cathedral, London

  St. Paul’s Cathedral sat atop Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the city of London. Flanked by ornate spires, the dome of the English Baroque church dominated the city skyline, a familiar sight to Londoners and tourists alike. Founded in 604CE, the historic church was dedicated to the most prominent of the apostles.

  “Let me guess,” Bones began, “you know all kinds of boring crap about this place.”

  “You mean like the fact that it hosted the funerals of Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and Admiral Nelson?”

  “Yeah, that kind of stuff. Save it.”

  “It’s haunted,” Maddock said with casual indifference.

  Bones flashed a sharp look. “No way. You’re just trying to pique my interest.”

  “Don’t take my word for it. Google it. Or ask when we get inside.”

  Bones took out his smartphone and performed a quick web search. A few seconds later he let out a long, low whistle. “The ghost of a kneeling lady. I like the sound of that.”

  “We’re on holy ground, Bones. Don’t make me tell your...grandfather,” he finished, lamely. He’d been about to say “sister,” but that relationship seemed to be over.

  Bones seemed to understand, and he played it off with a laugh. “I wonder if Avery would be impressed by your one-and-done with the ghost hunting chick?”

  “I might see her again,” Maddock said. “I got a text from her just last night.”

  “Really, what did it say? Probably something about your small package.”

  Maddock’s face went scarlet. Not because of Bones’ insult, but because he realized he hadn’t even looked at the text.

  “I don’t remember,” he said, reaching for his phone.

  Bones laughed and slapped him on the back. “You didn’t even read it, did you? Here.” With reflexes surprisingly fast for a man of his size, Bones snatched Maddock’s phone and tapped in a four-digit code.