Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers)

by Clenney, Anita

  “We’re talking about Kendall. She could be anywhere. Let’s check her room. Maybe she went back.”

  “How’d the door get locked?”

  “She could’ve gone out the secret passageway and back to her room through another door. This castle probably has secret doors in every room.” They checked, but she wasn’t in her room either. The velvet bag holding the crosses lay on a table next to her purse.

  “She did take them,” Nathan said.

  “You knew?”

  “Marco did.”

  “How’d he know?” Jake asked.

  “How does Marco know anything? He’s a paradox. He knows stuff he shouldn’t and can’t remember stuff he should. Here.” Nathan handed Jake one of the crosses. “We might need these if she’s exploring.” He put one of the crosses over his head and put the other one in his pocket.

  Jake put on the cross. He thought it was Marco’s but wasn’t sure. They looked alike in the dim light.

  They checked the castle, searching the rooms that were open, but she wasn’t there. “She must be outside,” Jake said. “I did tell her it was fine to explore.”

  “You’re supposed to be watching over her.”

  “You’ve got a damned army here. What could go wrong? The way you worry about her makes me wonder if you’re in love with her,” Jake said.

  “She works for me. That’s all. I protect my employees.”

  “Bullshit. It’s more than that.”

  “You’re the one who’s all over her, trying to get her in bed. Maybe you’re in love with her.”

  “I don’t know the meaning of love,” Jake said.

  “That’s why I’m telling you to stay the hell away from her.”

  “You’re the one who keeps putting us together.”

  “You know what I mean. You’re supposed to protect her. That’s it. Not that you did this time.”

  “I didn’t know I needed to keep an eye on her in the middle of dozens of guards and all these damned statues. By the way, she knows you’re watching her apartment.”

  Nathan frowned. “How does she know?”

  “I told her. I saw the camera.”

  “There’s a damned camera in her apartment?”

  “Not inside. On the building facing hers. It’s not yours?”

  “No. I’ve got guards keeping an eye on her place, but that’s it. I’ll have someone check it out.”

  “Maybe her neighbor is spying on her. He’s trying to get in her pants.”

  “Which neighbor?”

  “Dark-haired guy. Looks like one of those cologne models.”

  “The new one? I’m still checking up on him. She told you he’s after her?”

  “She didn’t need to. I watched him talking to her.”

  “She needs to stay at the mansion where I can protect her.”

  “Good luck convincing her of that.”

  “Someone with her talents isn’t safe. If anyone finds out what she can do…” Nathan trailed off, his tone worried.

  “I can’t argue with you there. Speaking of keeping tabs on people, I don’t suppose you sent someone to spy on me yesterday? I caught someone outside my window, and Kendall said there was a woman in my bedroom.”

  “What was Kendall doing in your bedroom?” Nathan growled.

  “Trying to save me from the intruder. You’ve got it so bad for her, it’s eating you up inside. I’d fight you for her, but I’m afraid you’d go Hulk on me and win. She probably went to check on the treasure. She wanted to when we first got here. I told her no, but you know how well she listens.” They walked outside. The guard at the front door said he hadn’t seen her.

  “She probably used the secret passageway,” Nathan said.

  Jake started walking toward the graveyard. “She’s the only woman I know who’d go wandering alone in a graveyard in the middle of the night.”

  “Yeah,” Nathan said, but his voice held a hint of pride.

  As much as her independent streak irritated Jake, he also admired it. “There’s the path,” he said, shining his flashlight on the stones leading to the chapel. But when they reached the chapel, the door was locked. “I don’t think she’s here.”

  “She’s got to be somewhere. Let’s look inside to make sure.”

  Jake put his cross—the secret key—in the opening and heard a click as the door unlocked.

  The chapel was dark inside. “Kendall?” When she didn’t answer, Nathan said, “We should look underneath the floor in the treasure room to make sure she didn’t get locked in.”

  “How could she be down there? It took all three crosses to open it.”

  “We don’t know that it was necessary,” Nathan said.

  “That’s true. And Kendall does have a tendency to get trapped in strange places.”

  “She’s smart,” Nathan said, sounding defensive. “But she’s too brave for her own good. Let’s try one of the crosses and see what happens. What can it hurt?”

  “You forgetting about booby traps?” The beam from Jake’s flashlight hit the center stone at the front of the chapel. It had been pushed back, exposing the steps to the secret room. “I guess we won’t need the keys after all. Kendall?” Jake hurried down the stairs with Nathan right behind him. He pushed the button on the wall, and the torches flared to life.

  The room was empty.

  “What the hell?” Nathan looked at Jake.

  “Don’t look at me. I didn’t take it, and there’s no way Kendall could have moved it that fast.”

  “It wasn’t Kendall,” Nathan said.

  “Who could get in here with those statues and your security guards?”

  “Someone who knows this place inside out could.”

  “Marco? He’s a strange little man, but I doubt he can move things with his mind.”

  “Not Marco,” Nathan said. “Raphael.”

  “Raphael’s dead.”

  “No he isn’t.”

  “I saw him,” Jake said. “He was dead.”

  “Was is the key word. He was dead when my men found him in the room where the round table is. Then he woke up.”

  “He woke up? There’s no way.”

  “I’m telling you he’s alive.”

  “How?” Jake asked.

  “That’s what I wanted to know.”

  “Did he tell you?”

  “He didn’t tell me anything.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “I don’t know. He escaped.”

  “Escaped? Hell, is that what all that roaring was about? You had Raphael in Virginia all this time and didn’t tell us?”

  “I couldn’t. You should understand that.”

  “How’d he get out?” Jake asked.

  “We’re still trying to figure that out. I wouldn’t have believed anyone could get past my security.”

  “Actually, one of the cameras on the north side of the mansion makes a three-second sweep. If you’re fast, you can run behind the storage building and from there hide behind the other buildings until you reach the gate.”

  “You walked out the front gate? I’ll fire all the guards.”

  “I jumped the fence about two hundred yards north.”

  “It’s got cameras and razor wire,” Nathan said.

  “That camera has a four-second span, and razor wire doesn’t cut through boots and fireplace gloves.”

  “That’s where the bloody gloves went. Fergus accused me of losing them. He builds a fire every night.”

  “I’ll buy him a new pair,” Jake said.

  “Raphael didn’t hide from the cameras. He didn’t need to.”

  “How’d he get past your guards?”

  “They fell asleep.”

  “All of them?”

  “They either fell asleep or he tossed them out of his way. You want to know how he got past the locks?” Nathan asked.

  “Ripped them off with his bare hands?”

  “Walked through the walls.”

  “No one walks through walls
,” Jake said.

  “Raphael did. Or he made it look like he did. Except he wasn’t exactly walking. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast.”

  Jake looked at Nathan. “I suspect I have.” Outside an inn in Italy. “So he just ran away?”

  “No, he drove my Mercedes.”

  Jake laughed. “Did he take Marco with him?”

  “No, but he talked to him. He told Marco he was going to move the treasure and get his cross back from Kendall.”

  Jake’s stomach dropped. “He’s going after Kendall?”

  “Yeah. Now you know why I pounded on your bedroom door in the middle of the night.”

  “She just wanted to examine the crosses.”

  “You knew she took them?” Nathan asked. “Truth, huh?”

  “It wasn’t my place to tell you. And that’s not the same as hiding a man who’s supposed to be dead. He’ll kill her. You didn’t see how he looked at her cross. He doesn’t just want his cross. He’ll want hers too.”

  The color drained from Nathan’s eyes, leaving them amber. But he took several deep breaths and they returned to normal. “We’ve got to find her before he does. He’s not… normal.”

  “Said the kettle to the pot.”

  They alerted security that Kendall was missing and there might be an intruder. They reinforced the guards, most of them stationed outside the wall to make sure no one got in, and several around the chapel. They checked with each one, but no one had seen Kendall, except one guard who thought he saw her near the maze on his way to take up his post at the airstrip.

  “Jake and I will search there,” Nathan said. “The rest of you search the grounds. If she’s in the catacombs, the door should still be open. We’ve got to find her before Raphael does.”

  There was no sign of Kendall as they hurried toward the maze.

  “Did you get the Mercedes back?” Jake asked.

  “Turned up abandoned near Great Falls.”

  “Great Falls, Virginia? Why would he go there, and how the hell did he get from there to Italy in time to move the treasure?”

  “I’ll ask him when I see him.”

  “I think I’d stay out of his way if I were you,” Jake said. “Although you two have more in common than just your strange eyes. When I followed you from the inn a few days ago, I couldn’t even keep up. Nobody runs that fast. Sure you’re not related to Raphael?”

  “I never met Raphael before the castle.”

  “Maybe you’ve blocked it.” Like the therapists said he’d done with part of his past. “Or maybe you’re the Reaper.”

  “You’re still hung up on that? I saved your ass. The Iraqis believed you killed the prince.”

  “Do you?”

  “If you did, I figure you had a good reason.”

  “I wish I had as much faith in you, but it’s a little too coincidental that some rich guy hires me, insists I’m the only one for the job, and then you show up with all your power and money.”

  “I pulled you out of hell. You have money, food, clothes, whatever you need.”

  “I don’t have answers. All I have is a constant threat hanging over my head. I need to know what went down in Iraq. Why I was there. Why Thomas was there. Why he shot me. The prince wasn’t working with terrorists. My entire team died, and I don’t even know why. You have some of the answers, but you’re not telling. You never do.”

  “And you do? What about that wooden doll you carry around? You never talk about that.”

  “How’d you know about the doll?”

  “I know more than you think.”

  “That’s the kind of shit I’m talking about. You know too much. Maybe you are the damned Reaper.”

  “If I were the Reaper, you’d be dead. Besides, you and Kendall know what he looks like. You saw him at the inn. Remember the man with the ruby ring, and the murderer posing as the historian?”

  “Yeah, posing. You’re the one who said he’s a master of disguises. He could be anyone.”

  “You’re just frustrated because you don’t have answers.” There was a trace of sympathy in Nathan’s voice. “I wasn’t the one behind your mission. I found out the prince had a collection of relics that he’d gotten on the black market. I wanted to see them, and I knew the Reaper would be after them too. That’s what I was doing there. When I found out about you, I wanted to know how you were involved.”

  “You thought I was working for the Reaper?” Jake asked.

  Nathan shrugged. “You could have been.”

  “Hell. That’s why you hired me?”

  “I hire the best. You’re the best at what you do.”

  “And you could keep an eye on me and see if I was working for the Reaper?” Jake gave a harsh laugh.

  “Wouldn’t you have done the same?”

  He would have. In fact, he was doing the same thing by working for Nathan. At first, he’d accepted Nathan’s offer because he had no choice. He would have died in prison, but Jake could have disappeared afterward if he wanted. It wouldn’t have been easy, not if Nathan had put his money into tracking him down, but there were ways it could have been done. But despite his accusations, after the first few weeks, he’d started to doubt that Nathan was directly involved in his imprisonment in Iraq. Indirectly, possibly, and now Jake knew. Assuming Nathan was telling the truth. It fit what intel he’d collected on Nathan.

  “I know about the girls,” Nathan said. “How many of them were there?”

  ’Course he would know. “Ten.” He still remembered their terrified eyes and their screams.

  “You got them out.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “Not all of them.”

  “Most of them. Maybe that was why I rescued you,” Nathan said. “You ever think of that?”

  “No.”

  “I’m not a monster. Not yet,” he muttered.

  “I never said you were a monster.”

  “What do you think I am?” Nathan sounded oddly unsure.

  “I’m hoping you’re a mad scientist.”

  That made Nathan laugh. Jake didn’t think he’d ever heard Nathan laugh.

  “That’s good?” Nathan asked.

  “Better than a vampire or a werewolf. You do have the glowing eyes.”

  “Why a mad scientist?”

  “You have some serious adrenaline issues. I know it’s adrenaline that controls whatever happens to you. Like when you thought Kendall was dying in that coffin and when she was attacked at the castle. I’ve seen a rush of adrenaline give a man strength, but I’ve never seen it change his eyes. You must be experimenting with drugs to create superhuman strength. What’d you do? Use it on yourself?”

  “It’s a long story,” Nathan said. “But I’m not the Reaper, a mad scientist, or a vampire.”

  “You didn’t rule out werewolf.”

  “I’m not a bloody werewolf.”

  “I’d feel better if you sounded sure.” They hurried toward the garden Raphael had reluctantly shown Jake when he and Kendall first arrived. There was no sign of her here. “Knowing Kendall, she’s gone inside the maze.” They called her name, but she didn’t answer.

  “Guess we’re going in,” Nathan said.

  The maze was eerie in the moonlight. Quiet as a mausoleum. Jake didn’t like the feeling in his gut. They searched the maze for several minutes, splitting up and going down one turn after another as they called her name. Their voices sounded strange, as if they were in a larger, quieter place than the maze, and the feeling in Jake’s gut worsened. They met back in the center. “I don’t think she’s here,” Jake said.

  “We didn’t try this one,” Nathan said, pointing to one of the turns.

  They followed it, the sounds of their voices still falling like dampness in a deep forest. Jake’s head began to feel heavy, and his whole body felt as if he’d walked through a wall of metal cobwebs and then floated away in pieces. “Damn, I feel strange.”

  “Me too,” Nathan said, but his voice sounded like it was floating above the
maze; then the ground disappeared from under Jake’s feet.

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE NEXT THING Jake knew, he was lying on his back. “What the hell?” He tried to stand, but his head and body still felt disconnected. Managing to get to his feet, he saw Nathan was also rising and his eyes were pale. “Whoa.” Jake took a step back, but Nathan had bent over and was pulling in long breaths.

  “Breathe through it.” Jake kept his voice low.

  When Nathan straightened, his eyes were normal. “Where the hell are we, and what’s wrong with my head? I feel like I’m going to black out.”

  “Guess we found a booby trap,” Jake said. He aimed his light around the space.

  “We fell for a good ten seconds. The impact should have killed us.”

  “What impact?” Jake asked. “I didn’t feel anything except this sensation of coming apart. Maybe we’re trapped in one of Kendall’s visions. They feel kind of like this.”

  “How do you know what her visions are like?” Nathan asked.

  “I shared one with her. Not something I’ll forget.”

  “What were you doing?” Nathan asked.

  “Not what you think.” It took them both a minute to get oriented. Then they examined the dark space.

  “We’re underground,” Nathan said. “We must be underneath the maze. Looks like a cave.”

  “Where’d we fall from?” Jake asked, looking at the ceiling above them. “I don’t see any holes or doors.”

  “Look at these markings on the walls.”

  “Circles, of course. The Protettori love those damned circles.” They checked the area thoroughly but couldn’t find any sign of where they’d fallen from.

  “If it’s a hidden door, they’ve hidden it well,” Nathan said.

  Jake aimed his light farther into the cave. “We’ll have to find another way out. I guess we’d better start walking.”

  The cave was large in places, smaller in others, but the floor wasn’t uneven as might be expected. It was smooth, as if it had been leveled.

  “When did you share one of Kendall’s visions?” Nathan asked after a few minutes.

  “At the castle. She touched Raphael’s body to see if she could sense anything, and I was touching her.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Warriors, swords, shields. I think Marco’s right about Raphael. He’s not as young as he looks. You had a lot of balls to take him prisoner. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to keep him locked up in my dungeon. But then I can’t do the glowing eyes thing.”