The Keepers of the Rose

by DJ Dalasta

  The following day, Rock pulled up to Anna’s house. It was 9am. Nate sat on the front step waiting to be picked up for their daily diving routine. The young man stood up as Rock jumped out of the seat and rushed towards him. “Nate, is everyone inside, is everyone ok?”

  Nate looked startled, “yeah, I think,” he stuttered. “Anna’s up, but Sayla, ah, she’s still in bed.”

  Rock grabbed him by the shoulders, “good, that’s good. Go inside and get your stuff, pack it up right now, you’re all leaving today.”

  “What about diving?”

  “Cancelled.”

  “Where’s Brett?”

  “I don’t know,” Rock let go of Nate and shuffled by him towards the front porch. He pulled the door open and stuck his head inside. “Anna!” Rock yelled into the house. “You need to come out here right now.” After a brief moment he heard movement and then saw her coming in from the kitchen, coffee cup in hand. Rock backed outside and waited next to Nate who was swaying in anticipation. Anna stepped out onto the front step.

  “What is it now Rock?”

  “Brett’s gone, both our hotel rooms are trashed. I think Delega or Cooper, someone took him.”

  Anna’s face suddenly dropped from annoyed to frightened. She stepped closer. “You think someone kidnapped him?” Rock nodded. “Why him and not you?”

  “After I dropped you off I went back to the house all night, I never returned to the hotel. When I got back this morning I found everything broken and Brett missing. I checked for him at the docks and around the hotel, but he just vanished. And you know it’s not like Brett to be late for anything, he would have notified me if he planned anything. His phone was even left in the room.” Rock took it out of his pocket and showed it to them.

  “How sure,” Anna asked him hesitantly.

  Rock shook his head, “I know it. This wasn’t random.”

  “What do you want to do,” she asked.

  “About Brett, I don’t know. But about the rest of you, you’re all leaving today. I have somewhere for you to go.”

  “I already have tickets for tomorrow,” she protested. Rock wondered where she thought she was going.

  “Where to?”

  “Boulder,” she said flatly.

  “Ok, may I ask why?”

  “I was going to show you today, out on the boat. But last night I found this,” Nate said reaching into his pocket. He took out and unfolded a sheet of paper and held it in front of Rock.

  “That’s it! You found the ring.” He smiled at the picture of a golden ring with an engraved rose. It was identical to the one Michael Cooper wore. “On e-bay?”

  “Who would of thought,” Nate said.

  Rock looked at the location. It read ‘Boulder CO.’ “So you’re going to talk to the seller.”

  Anna nodded. “I thought it would be as good a place to go as any.”

  “What if this,” he looked at the sellers’ name, “thesericprohet is part of them.”

  “I don’t think he is,” Anna replied, “or he wouldn’t publicly be selling his ring on ebay.”

  “Or it could be a trap, it’s convenient this pops up now.”

  “Paranoia isn’t a good thing Rock.”

  “As long as it’s not permanent it has the capability of keeping you alive. Until I find Brett, I’m going to be skeptical.”

  “Where do you want us to go,” she asked.

  “I’m sending Sayla back to Miami, she’ll be safer there and she can start gathering together all the gear I’m going to need for my next trip. You and Nate will go to Knoxville Tennessee, I’ll have someone meet you there.”

  “Knoxville? What the hell is in Knoxville?” Anna didn’t seem to like the idea.

  “A friend,” he said. “And you’re taking the find with you.”

  Anna shifted nervously when he said that. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m staying until I find Brett.” Anna shook her head at him. “Are you free of Delega, did you do that yesterday,” he asked.

  “Yeah, I did it last night. I tried to talk to you but I never got a hold of you.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. But that’s coincidental too, Brett disappearing the next day after you quit. I don’t trust Delega at all.”

  “He did seem a little calm about the whole thing,” she said.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he were behind Brett missing and truthfully he’s the main reason I want you all out of here, today.”

  “Ok,” Anna said. “I’ll wake up Sayla, Nate get your stuff.” Nate looked disappointed but didn’t object verbally. “We’ll be ready in under an hour,” she said.

  “I’ll be out here,” Rock walked back towards the truck. “Nate,” he called back. “If you get done before them, come on out, I’ll need you to drive my rental car, we’ll have to go and get it. We can’t all fit in the truck.” Nate nodded.

  As he suspected, in less than fifteen minutes, Nate was all ready to go. They drove back to the hotel and found Rock’s rental. He drove along side it and stopped. “Stay in the cab,” he told Nate. “If everything is good I’ll give you a thumbs up and you can drive the truck.”

  “Ok,” Nate replied.

  Rock stepped out of the truck and circled his car. He ducked underneath and looked to see if anything was out of place. He wasn’t much of a car person but liked to think if something were clearly wrong or foreign, he’d notice. But everything seemed to be ok.

  On the road, Rock took the lead, wary of every other car around them, checking to see if they were being followed or watched. His eyes jumped at each vehicle, searching the passengers for odd appearances or strange behavior. He turned into a gas station and Nate followed. Rock got out of the car and strolled up to Nate’s window. “Fill up,” he told him.

  Rock meandered to the back, near the restrooms, watching over his shoulder. He stopped near the pay phone and dialed a familiar number.

  “Hello,” the old man’s voice was comforting.

  “Wallace,” he said softly.

  “Rock?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What number are you calling from?”

  “Never mind. I need your help, I’m in kind of a situation.”

  “What have you gotten yourself into now,” Wallace said.

  “Actually it’s pretty serious. I can’t get into all the details over the phone but Anna will fill you in when you see her.”

  “Your ex-wife Anna?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more, but I’d clear your schedule for the next few weeks.”

  “I can’t do that,” he said.

  “You can,” Rock said forcefully, “Anna and her assistant are flying into Knoxville on the quickest trip they can find coming from Halifax. They’ll probably come in on a connection and I don’t know that flight yet. But you need to hide them and what they have. And then it’s yours to study. Tell nobody except those you fully trust and get a hold of Skylar Reed, have him on hand. Tell him I’ll pay.”

  Silence greeted him. Finally Wallace whispered. “That man frightens me.”

  “Me too,” Rock said, “but he’s the best.”

  “What are you into?”

  “It’s dangerous, people have already died, I can’t say much more. Just stay quiet.” Rock sensed apprehension in Wallace’s voice. “Are you ok with this?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Of course, but I think you’ll be glad you decided to help when you see what Anna brings you.”

  “I’m too old for this sort of thing, but I’ll be there. Will you be joining us?”

  “Perhaps,” Rock replied. “But not for awhile, but I will keep in contact.”

  “Ok, Rock.”

  “Thank you Wallace, just be careful who you talk to.”

  “I will.” Wallace hung up.

  They drove back to Anna’s house where Sayla and Anna both stood ready to go. S
ayla jumped into the truck cab with Nate and Anna climbed in with Rock.

  “I think you should leave too,” she said before shutting the door.

  “You know I can’t.”

  “As soon as you can. You aren’t on anyone’s favorites list around here.”

  “I know.” Rock fell silent.

  They started driving for Halifax. Anna rested her head on the window and watched the scenery pass by. Rock didn’t have much to say besides the occasional question about what she was thinking.

  Halfway to their destination, she finally looked at him. “Who are we going to meet in Knoxville?”

  “Wallace,” he answered.

  “Does he know we’re coming?” Anna had known Wallace as long as Rock. She and Rock worked together on a few of his expeditions in the early days as a husband and wife team. But after the divorce, he didn’t know if they’d even talked to one another.

  “He knows, but I told him nothing of the book, letters or stone slate. He’ll find those extremely interesting. Also I asked him to contact Skylar.”

  Anna groaned. “Seriously.”

  “I think it would be best.”

  “He better not talk to me like he usually does.”

  “Also I have a few observations you need to relay to Wallace about the items,” Rock changed the subject. “I was up all last night going over them.”

  “What did you find?”

  “As we saw before, the writing on the stone slate is the same writing in the book. It should be deciphered using the Mayan glyphs on the opposite side. Now, I’m not a genius at math but much of what is in the book is derived through mathematics, physics, and astronomy, so you should immediately ask Wallace if he has a trustful friend that specializes in any of those fields. The letter itself is straightforward. I read it many times last night. Captain Ryder believes that this book is invaluable and it can either be used to bring on death or salvation. He favors destroying it but couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. As for the map, I’m bringing it with me. After I find Brett, I’ll make for Boston and see if I can’t put any of it together. I have a feeling we’ll need those pages ripped from the book and that map is probably the only way to get to them.”

  Anna nodded along to let him know she was listening. “Anything else,” she said.

  “Yeah. I think this has something to do with the prophecy later this year, the galactic alignment on December 21st, 2012. And before you say anything, I am the last person to believe in such bullshit, but some of the drawings and symbols make reference to such an event and this book may deal with that.”

  “You’re talking doomsday,” Anna said tilting her head and smirking.

  “No, I’m saying it may have something to do with that prediction. Like, maybe the reasons behind why that date was chosen, or it could even show us how advanced their knowledge of mathematics and physics actually were.”

  “Ok, I’ll let him know,” she said.

  Rock decided to shut up. His own theories, he knew, coming from a full night of studying the artifacts without sleep made him more apt to come to crazy conclusions. But at the time it felt right, especially the drawing that could be nothing other than the galaxy and our movements within it. But even after all his time, he still couldn’t understand how Captain Ryder was able to know that the items he buried would be found in 2012, that was what baffled him most. And then again, that could also be coincidence.

  They pulled into the airport and Rock motioned Nate into the parking garage as he and Anna returned the rental car. Ten minutes later, they found them waiting by the truck, the suitcases and gear already unloaded from the back. Nate had his arm around Sayla and they were already saying their good-byes.

  “What’s in the case,” Nate said lifting the big black pelican hard shell off the ground.

  “I think you know,” Rock said.

  Nate nodded, “it’s awfully heavy.”

  “I put extra padding in there to keep it safe. It’s going to have to be checked, I really didn’t want to do that but I think it’s the only way, that stone plate is too heavy.”

  Anna stared, wide-eyed. “You’re going to check it?” She couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice.

  “Yup, I thought about Fed-ex or UPS but I figured it might alert more attention and be easier to track. I say just check it and pick it up at baggage claim.”

  “Are you sure, what if it gets lost,” Sayla looked puzzled.

  “It won’t,” Rock said. “Now let’s go.”

  Rock wanted to get Anna and Nate moving first and asked Sayla to step back while they went to the window. They managed to get a flight to Newark and a connection to Knoxville. Rock loaded the hard shell case onto the scale and watched them whisk it away. He silently told himself it was the right move.

  Anna and Nate checked in and then turned to him and Sayla. Anna hugged him tightly. “Thank you Rock for getting me into and out of this mess,” she whispered into his ear. “I’m sorry you, Sayla and Brett were pulled into it. Tell Brett I’m sorry when you find him. And keep in touch so I know you’re ok.”

  Rock stepped back. He didn’t have much to say. “Make sure you find out exactly what that book is all about. And stay safe.” Anna had tears welling in her eyes but nothing dropped to wet her cheeks. She was a strong woman.

  “Goodbye,” Anna said as she back away and smiled.

  “You know,” he said.

  “Yeah I know,” she replied back. “You only say goodbye when you don’t mean it.”

  “Shit,” Nate said as he backed up. “I forgot to pack my knife, they’ll never let this through security.

  “I’ll hold onto it for you,” Rock held out his hand. “When I see you next time, you’ll have it back.” Nate placed it in his hand. Rock turned it over. It was a small survival knife, with a flint and whistle attached to it.

  “Thanks,” he said and followed after Anna, merging into the short security line.

  Sayla looked at him. “My turn. Miami right? Why do I have to go home,” she pleaded.

  “Cause after I find Brett, I’m going to Boston to see if I can’t make sense of this map and these key words. If I do, I’ll need my gear ready to go in case this island is not inhabited. Also I’ll need my things together anyway in case I go to Boulder Colorado.”

  “Am I going with you,” Sayla rolled her eyes upwards like a pleading puppy.

  “It depends on how dangerous I feel the situation is, but probably.”

  She smiled. “Ok let’s get me on a plane.”

  After a few more minutes with the agent, Sayla was booked on a flight to New York leaving later that day, with a connection to Miami. She was on her way home. Rock sighed with relief as she passed through security and left him standing alone.

  He and Brett were now the only two left.

  Chapter 16

  Nova Scotia, July 2012