The Arkana Mysteries Boxed Set

by N. S. Wikarski

  “No need to go into detail about what’s happened,” Griffin demurred. “We can give them the entire story once we’re back at the vault.”

  “That’s true,” Erik agreed. “The last thing I need is for Maddie to give me an earful because I let you get shot. I can wait a few days before facing the music.” He patted the scrivener on the back. “In fact, Griffin old buddy, take your time getting well. No rush, really.”

  Cassie gave a knowing smile. “Relax, guys. I’ve got an idea.”

  Chapter 47 – Locked Down

  Leroy tipped his Stetson over his eyes in a vain attempt to catch some shut eye. It was going to be tough considering who his travelling companion was. Even with his eyes shut, he could feel Daniel fretting.

  “Boy, you think maybe you could fuss a mite quieter. I’m tryin’ to sleep here,” Hunt said through half-closed lids.

  “How you can sleep at all is beyond me,” Daniel hissed in a low voice. “After the things you’ve done.

  “All in the line of duty, son. I get my orders, and I carry ‘em out. Most times, I sleep like a baby except when some fool is natterin’ away about ghosts.”

  Dead silence. That might shut him up for a spell.

  “I know what I saw.”

  Not long enough. Hunt tipped his hat back and turned to give Daniel an incredulous look. “There’s some folks can’t be satisfied if you dipped ‘em in gold. Now what you got to complain about? Your daddy sent you out to find the next doodad and you done it. Mission accomplished. It was a good day’s work.” He paused to consider. “You know what your problem is? You got too much imagination. Seein’ things that ain’t there. Remember what I said before. You get your daddy to pray over you. Blast them demons right out of your ears.”

  Daniel didn’t reply. He merely gave Hunt a troubled glare.

  “Aw, nuts! Ain’t no sense in talkin’ to you.” Hunt lowered his hat brim and resettled himself to catch some sleep.

  He had his own plans to consider. Another trinket in the bag. That was good. He’d see it locked up tight in the old man’s storeroom. It could set there for a good long spell until the collection was complete. Then there would be a burglary. Maybe a few dead bodies if anybody got in his way. That was neither here nor there. All of it was still a ways off.

  His immediate concern once he got back was locating little Miss Hannah. Since she’d found her way to the shop lady who first had the granite key, it was plain that she already knew too much about his business. That wouldn’t do. At least tracking her would give him something to occupy his time until the next leg of the treasure hunt began. Yessir, things were going his way, more or less—the sad sack next to him notwithstanding. Hunt yawned and settled in for some serious nap time.

  ***

  Daniel sighed. He was back at the compound and just returning from the ordeal of handing the relic over to his father. The routine was beginning to wear thin on him: his father’s feverish anticipation, the covetousness in the diviner’s eyes when he glimpsed the treasure for the first time, his furtiveness when asked what he intended to do with the objects once they’d all been assembled, his fulsome praise for Daniel and even more fulsome sermon about the role of Providence in the scion’s success, Daniel’s nebulous excuses regarding the translation of the next riddle.

  The scion believed he could buy several weeks if not months of research time in the city now that he was once more in his father’s good graces. He intended to stretch the decoding process out in order to absent himself from the compound and absent himself from the other problem awaiting him at home—Annabeth. He gave an even deeper sigh. The minute he’d returned she started plucking at his sleeve, begging for some time alone together. His other two wives were used to neglect and didn’t bother him, but Annabeth was importunate. She told him she needed to speak to him privately as soon as it was convenient.

  He thought it was safe to disoblige her now that Hannah was safely away from the compound. If his third wife tattled to the diviner about Daniel’s complicity in Hannah’s escape, he doubted his father would believe her. After all, Daniel was an accomplished liar on the subject of Hannah. He’d already stood the test when Hunt confronted him with the same accusation. Annabeth’s nervous ways and timid nature would be ridiculously easy to discredit in his father’s eyes. Still, he thought he should hear what she had to say before detaching himself from her by degrees.

  He knocked on her door. It swung open immediately as if she had been standing on tiptoe on the other side, waiting for the sound.

  “Hello, Daniel.” She smoothed her hair. There was a feverish gleam in her watery eyes. “It’s good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you too,” he lied as he stepped over the threshold. Even though he braced himself, she didn’t throw her arms around his neck and smother him with kisses.

  She stood back, appearing flushed and exhilarated but making no move to touch him.

  “You wanted to see me?” he asked cautiously.

  “Yes, yes, I did.” She bobbed her head. “Please sit down.” She indicated the two chairs at the little table under his portrait. The sight of the picture always made him wince. It was an ill-deserved shrine in his honor.

  “I have something very important to tell you.” She pulled her chair closer to his, attempting to take his hands. “Such news. We’re about to be blessed by the Lord.”

  “Blessed,” Daniel repeated the word warily. “In what way?”

  “He has heard our prayers for increase. I’m going to have a baby. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  The news hit him like a punch to the stomach. “Wonderful,” he echoed in a dazed fashion.

  She didn’t notice his reaction but kept on talking. “That will make me your principal wife. My sister-wives will have to give way to me. Imagine that, plain little me. Not only the wife of the scion but his principal wife. Your father won’t dislike me so much anymore. No more evil voices whispering all sorts of blasphemy in my ears. Satan will leave me alone now that I have the Lord’s favor.”

  “Yes,” Daniel agreed weakly. “You certainly do have God’s favor.”

  She continued to chatter about her plans to settle scores with other wives who had treated her unkindly or made her a laughingstock, but Daniel had stopped listening. His head was filled with images of demons wearing the faces of dead people. He had believed he could distance himself from the Nephilim by escaping to the refuge of his research in the city, but circumstances were conspiring to draw him back in. As Annabeth prattled on, he once more saw a ghostly face—Hannah’s. “How bad does it have to get before you leave?”

  He wondered if, with this last bit of bad news, he wasn’t almost there.

  Chapter 48 – Driving Progress

  The limousine pulled up in front of the steps of the compound. The driver scurried around to hold the rear door open for the diviner. He gave a curt nod of thanks and settled himself in the back seat.

  The vehicle took off noiselessly down the long gravel driveway. Almost as an afterthought, Metcalf commanded, “Pull over at the gate for a moment.”

  The driver silently did as instructed. The diviner climbed the stairs to the sentry tower. Inside he found four guards at surveillance terminals. Standing above them was Chopper Bowdeen, scowling at one of the monitors.

  “Mr. Bowdeen, what progress are you making?”

  Chopper flinched slightly at the unexpected sound of Metcalf’s voice. He looked up briefly. “Good progress, sir. I’m having a slight problem with this surveillance camera at the back fence, but it’s nothing that can’t be adjusted.”

  Metcalf beckoned the mercenary over to the corner where they could speak in private. “How long will it take you to complete the new security feed at the main compound.”

  Bowdeen paused to calculate in his head. “I’d guess another week, tops.”

  “Good,” the diviner approved succinctly. “Your next mission will be the North American satellite compoun
ds. The same plan as here.”

  “Yes, sir,” Bowdeen assented, a slightly troubled note creeping into his voice.

  Quick to catch his misgiving, Abe looked at him sharply. “You have concerns?”

  Bowdeen’s face became a mask. “No, sir. None. I should be able to meet your specifications at the other compounds with no trouble.”

  Metcalf scowled at the mercenary for a few seconds, trying to read his thoughts. “Fine, then,” he relented and changed the subject. “Has my son Joshua been in contact with you?”

  Bowdeen’s complexion blanched slightly. “Yes, sir, he has. He explained your plan to set up an intelligence squad. I helped him select the boys who were best suited for the gig, I mean, task.”

  “While you are conducting weapons training at the satellite compounds, I would like you to keep your eyes open for suitable candidates to fill the same roles there.”

  “You mean you plan to have secret intelligence units deployed at all the other compounds too?” Bowdeen asked in surprise.

  “Yes, is that a problem?”

  Again, the mercenary denied that it was, but Metcalf had the distinct impression that he was lying. “You are to identify suitable individuals and give their names to my son Joshua. He will be responsible for vetting them and organizing the command structure. They will report to him, and he will report to me. The archwardens of the satellite communities are not to be involved, consulted, or informed of what you are doing. Always remember that you are to speak of the Order of Argus to no one besides Joshua and me. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” Bowdeen nodded. “No one.”

  “Very well, then.” Metcalf turned abruptly on his heel and made for the door. “Carry on with your work.”

  ***

  Metcalf climbed back into the limousine and resumed his journey. Miles of cornfields ready for harvest flew past his window. Yes, harvest time was fast approaching, the diviner thought to himself. Sorting the wheat from the chaff, the worthy from the unworthy. All his plans were falling into place.

  The limousine slowed and turned down a dusty dirt road into the middle of a flattened cornfield. A construction trailer stood some distance away. Metcalf’s driver steered the sedan through the ruts and bumps, parking beside the building.

  The diviner entered and found a foreman with a hard hat consulting with Dr. Rafi Aboud—the latter dressed, as ever, in a thousand-dollar suit. They both looked up when the diviner entered.

  Aboud gave an uncharacteristic smile.

  “Leave us to talk in private for a few moments,” Metcalf told the foreman.

  The man nodded wordlessly and left the trailer.

  “What do you think of your hole in the ground now, Doctor?” Metcalf asked acerbically.

  The foreign doctor smiled again. “I am very pleased. The work is progressing well. The underground complex is nearly complete. The laboratories, the incinerator, just as you promised. I have begun interviewing staff. Within a month, we will have the supplies we need.” He paused and let out a relieved sigh. “At last my work can begin in earnest.”

  “Yours and mine both, doctor,” Abraham murmured. “Yours and mine both.”

  Chapter 49 – Spirited and Lively

  Daniel had been tossing and turning for hours trying to catch sleep. It succeeded in eluding him. Thankfully, he had disentangled himself from Annabeth’s embrace, pleading the excuse of travel fatigue. She had allowed him to spend the night alone in his own chamber. Tomorrow he would invent another excuse to put her off, and so it would continue. Soon her attention would be consumed by the pregnancy, and she would feel less inclined to pester him.

  His mind was a jumble of images. What had happened in the cave on Anboto? Who had died this time? Daniel’s desperate ploy to protect the injured man had failed. The scion had clearly detected a pulse but then lied about it, hoping to prevent the mercenary from finishing the job. The man died in the hospital anyway.

  Hunt was told by the police that it was a tourist who must have been exploring the depths of the cave and was shot by a person or persons unknown. They believed the attacker may have known his victim and wanted to settle a score with him. The explanation was a perfectly plausible one. Nevertheless, another person had just died because of this cursed relic quest. The diviner’s mad ambition was drowning Daniel in a sea of blood. He was carrying this burden of guilt because of his father’s obsession. Whoever Hunt thought his anonymous victim may have been, Daniel had seen a different face in the few seconds when the beam of his flashlight fell across the dead man’s visage. It had been one of the three from Karfi. Not the blond man, not the young woman. It was the tall brown-haired man this time, and Daniel recognized his features plainly.

  He tried to think of something else to tire himself out. He even recited passages from the Bible. “The Lord is my shepherd...” He felt no conviction in the words anymore. They were a meaningless jumble of sounds, like saying the alphabet backwards. He drifted off before he came to the line about justice and mercy.

  Daniel was standing on the hillside at Karfi once again. Nobody else was around. The sun was rising, and he was staring down at the rock-choked entrance to the tomb behind which three bodies lay sealed forever. Then, much to his horror, he saw three specters materialize from the other side of the dome. They drifted toward him, their feet hovering several inches above the ground, all three clad in burial shrouds.

  The young woman was the first to speak. She stared directly at Daniel with unseeing grey eyes. “A man...” She stopped abruptly.

  Next to her, the blond man hovered. The one who had died twice—first at Karfi and then again on Mount Ida. He opened his mouth and said, “Cannot serve...”

  The third man wafted to join his companions. This was the one whose face Daniel had glimpsed on Anboto. He said, “Two masters...”

  The three of them then spoke in unison. “A man cannot serve two masters.”

  They hovered above the ground for a few seconds more and then, instead of disappearing, their forms became solid. Their feet touched the earth. Their burial shrouds metamorphosed into hiking clothes. The three linked arms and walked down the hillside away from the tomb. Daniel watched them go in speechless wonder.

  He sat upright in bed, heart racing. He clutched at his chest, willing himself to breathe more slowly. He looked wildly around his bedroom to see if the apparitions still shimmered there. No one but him. Nothing but silence. Then a peculiar thing happened. An impression had formed in his brain that refused to go away. He didn’t know why he believed it, but he believed it just the same with a fanatical conviction that nothing could sway. “They’re alive,” he murmured with a sense of awe. “All three of them. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I know it’s true. They’re all still alive!”

  Chapter 50 – Flight Plan

  Cassie paced nervously around her office in the vault. She was muttering to herself—rehearsing the edited version of what had happened on Anboto. Before they left Spain, she had persuaded her teammates that if they allowed her to get to the vault first, she could prepare Maddie and Faye for their arrival. No matter how many times she recited her story, she wasn’t sure that she could spin events enough to minimize the shock. She sighed and forced herself to sit down behind her obsidian desk, placing her palms flat against the cool, smooth stone. It had a calming effect. The waterfall panels trickled soothingly. She focused on the soft illumination emanating from the quartz slabs and took a deep breath, then another. She had almost convinced herself that she was tranquil until she heard Maddie’s voice rumbling down the corridor. The operations director was talking to someone—probably Faye.

  “What’s this all about?” Maddie asked suspiciously. “A mysterious phone call from Cassie asking us to meet in her office. No details. All three of them have been too closed-mouthed lately. Usually, you can’t shut them up, but I haven’t been able to get more than ten words out of any of them since they planted the fake artifact o
n the mountain. It’s been a whole week and all Erik says is that they need more time. For what? Another vacation on my nickel? Something’s going on. I can feel it.”

  “I’m sure Cassie will be able to explain everything to your satisfaction, dear,” Faye countered.

  By this time, the two women had reached the open door of the pythia’s office.

  Cassie sprang up from the desk. “Hi, you two,” she chirped a bit too enthusiastically. “So good to see you.”

  Maddie’s eyes narrowed.

  “Here, I’ve set up a few extra chairs. Why don’t you both sit down?” She hustled them into seats before they had a chance to ask any more questions.

  “How’s Hannah doing?” she asked Faye, pre-empting Maddie’s cross-examination.

  “Zachary is visiting with our young charge for the day, so I’m quite at liberty. I admit it makes for a nice change to get out of the house on my own to talk shop without fear of saying something she shouldn’t overhear.” She paused to regard Cassie. “I’m so glad that you’re safely back among us, my dear.”

  This time Cassie gave a smile of genuine relief. “You have no idea.”

  The operations director couldn’t rein in her impatience any longer. “Cut the chit chat. Why did you want us to meet here?”

  The pythia winced. “I was hoping for a home field advantage.”

  At those words, Maddie pounced. “I knew it! You’re trying to protect them, aren’t you? What did those two pull this time? Was it Erik? Of course, it was! It’s always Erik!”

  “Nothing. They didn’t pull anything. It’s all good. I came on ahead to, ummm, explain things before they get here.”

  By this time, Maddie’s eyes were slits. “Explain things?” she asked in a menacing tone. She reached instinctively for her pack of cigarettes then dropped them on the desk, realizing where she was. “Damn!”