Arkana Archaeology Mystery Box Set 2

by N. S. Wikarski

  He stopped pacing when he heard the hatch doors at the top of the stairs squeal on their hinges and then shut again. Heavy boots marched downward in his direction. His four adherents paused at the bottom of the stairs to regard him silently. All of them looked grim and a trifle nervous.

  Joshua stepped forward to greet them. “Were you followed here?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “We came in separate cars, from separate directions,” Enoch informed him.

  “We also gave different excuses for errands we needed to do,” Lemuel chimed in.

  Joshua smiled approvingly. “That’s good.” He paused, his eyes narrowing as he studied the two new converts. Addressing them specifically, he asked, “Before we begin, are you sure you want to be part of this operation?”

  Shem looked dubiously at Paul who shrugged helplessly. Then both men grunted their assent.

  “There will be no turning back after this moment, so I ask you again. Are you quite sure?”

  Paul cleared his throat. “Yes.”

  “Yes, sir,” Shem mumbled a few seconds later.

  “Very well,” the spymaster conceded. “Then let us begin. My brothers, the Blessed Nephilim have reached a crossroads—a dire intersection between salvation and damnation.”

  Lemuel tugged at his collar fretfully.

  “If we continue down our current path, we are doomed. My father’s mad scheme to challenge the Fallen is an act of defiance God will not forgive. We will surely suffer the same punishment as the diviner even though we are innocent.”

  Shem and Paul anxiously shuffled their feet.

  “But fear not,” Joshua announced. “The Lord has granted me a vision of redemption.”

  “You?” Enoch peered at him. “But the Lord only speaks to the diviner.”

  The spymaster sighed. “When God’s own prophet would not listen, he sought a new vessel to carry out his will.”

  “What did the Lord command you to do?” Lemuel urged.

  “Not just me, my brothers, all of us. We are charged with the sacred duty of sweeping away the corruption of the old order to make way for the purity of the new. The brotherhood will be spared if we do this. However, God has hardened his heart against the three people who have offended him most. All three must die. The diviner, Sister Hannah, and the scion.”

  “Why Brother Daniel?” Paul asked in a troubled tone. “He’s blameless.”

  “Blameless?” Joshua echoed sardonically. “Daniel has been instrumental in helping my father pursue his crusade against the Fallen. Without Daniel’s support, the diviner would have abandoned his scheme by now.”

  The recruits said nothing.

  “And don’t forget, my brother is the scion. Even if Father Abraham dies, the leadership of the Blessed Nephilim would pass to a man who facilitated our diviner’s private war.”

  “That could be a problem,” Paul offered lamely.

  Joshua continued. “The Lord told me that Father Abraham was supposed to appoint me as scion, not Daniel, but he disobeyed. I was always meant to be the next diviner and restore the brotherhood to a state of grace.”

  Enoch regarded the spymaster with a worried air. “We’re with you, sir, but you’re asking us to murder three people. How will you make the Order of Argus accept that? How will you make the congregation accept that?”

  “You forget that the Order of Argus is larger than the unit at the main compound. Every agent stationed at every satellite compound around the world is loyal to me, not the current diviner. As for the local Argus agents and congregation, I have a way to gain their support. I will make it appear as if my brother Daniel killed the other two and then took his own life.”

  A shocked silence followed this revelation.

  Joshua smiled comfortingly. “Don’t worry. My plan will all make sense once I walk you through it step-by-step.”

  He moved to a long table positioned against the back wall and switched on a halogen desk lamp. The light revealed a blueprint of the compound spread out on the table. The men clustered around.

  “Three nights from now at two o’clock in the morning, we’ll strike,” the spymaster explained. He glanced briefly at his two original supporters. “Enoch and Lemuel, you’ll volunteer to take the night shift in the guard tower.”

  “Yes, sir,” both men said readily.

  “Make sure no one else is in the tower with you,” Joshua cautioned.

  “We’ve been using a two-man detail lately. It won’t be a problem,” Enoch assured him.

  “Very well. Keep an eye out for my car. When you see me drive up to the gates, open them immediately and let me pass through.”

  Lemuel nodded.

  Focusing on the newcomers, Joshua said, “Shem and Paul, you’ll be waiting on the front steps when I arrive. You’re to act as my armed escorts inside the main building. In the unlikely event that somebody sees us, they’ll be told that the diviner ordered you to bring me back from the city to meet with him. Understood?” The spymaster paused briefly for confirmation.

  The two men bobbed their heads.

  Joshua traced his finger along the blueprint and pointed to an intersection where two corridors met. “This is the spot where the three of us will split up. Shem, you’ll proceed to the guest wing. Here is a key to Sister Hannah’s room.”

  He fished into his pocket and gave the key to his follower.

  “Paul, you’ll go to my brother Daniel’s room.” He distributed a second key.

  “But what if he’s with one of his wives,” Paul objected.

  The spymaster gave a short bark of a laugh. “My brother always sleeps alone. You’ll have no trouble.”

  Joshua traced a third route which led down another corridor. “I’ll proceed to my father’s quarters. He, too, sleeps alone these days and I already have a key.”

  “What do we do when we get inside,” Shem asked nervously.

  The spymaster stared at him wryly. “You’ll be armed. What do you think you’re supposed to do?”

  The man gulped. “But the noise. Surely someone will hear,” he protested.

  “No, they won’t. You’ll be carrying nine-millimeter pistols with sound suppressors. Do I need to remind you that during your initial training you were shown how to modify the spring assembly to render them virtually noiseless?”

  Shem and Paul shook their heads sheepishly.

  “You’ll have to rig two pistols for yourselves and an identical one for me. Can you do that in the next day or so?”

  “Yes, sir,” they repeated in unison.

  “Good.” Joshua withdrew a note from his jacket pocket and handed it to Paul. “This is a suicide note I forged in my brother Daniel’s hand. In the note, he explains that the diviner’s obsession with Sister Hannah has driven him mad with jealousy. Father Abraham accused Daniel of attempting to seduce Sister Hannah. She refused to speak to clear Daniel’s name. Enraged, Father Abraham revoked Daniel’s title as scion and named Joshua as his successor instead. Daniel writes that he can’t live with the disgrace and blames both Sister Hannah and Father Abraham for ruining his life. He confesses to killing them and then himself.”

  The spymaster paused to see how his listeners were taking the news. They stirred uncomfortably but raised no objection.

  Joshua pressed on. “I want you to perform your tasks quickly and cleanly. Shem, you’re to dispatch Sister Hannah with a single shot to the head or the heart. Be as quiet as you possibly can. I’ll do likewise with my father. Paul, you must shoot Daniel through the temple and place your gun in his hand afterward. You’ll leave the suicide note next to his body where it can be easily found.”

  Paul and Shem nodded that they understood.

  “After you’ve finished, leave the building and meet back inside my car. We’ll drive to the gates together.” Joshua now transferred his attention to Enoch and Lemuel. “That’s where you two come in.”

  “You’ll want us to let y
ou out,” Enoch offered.

  “Yes,” Joshua agreed. “I also want you to alert Lieutenant Matthew that something is amiss.

  “It’s Commander Matthew now,” Shem corrected in a whisper.

  Joshua felt momentarily irritated that Matthew had usurped his place. “No matter. You’ll tell him that you saw Brother Daniel on the security monitors sneaking around after curfew. He went to the guest quarters and then to the diviner’s room before going back to his own. You believe he should be questioned.”

  “And when somebody checks on him, they’ll find him dead,” Lemuel concluded.

  “Exactly,” the spymaster concurred. “I’ll arrive the following morning escorted by Shem and Paul to say that the diviner summoned me back. He had a change of heart about my banishment and confided that Daniel had succumbed to the ways of the Fallen. Father Abraham wanted to appoint me scion in his place.”

  “Between your statement and the suicide note, nobody will question your right to the title,” Paul said.

  They all fell silent as they pondered the grim undertaking ahead of them.

  Sensing their mood, Joshua said, “I know this is a great deal to ask of you, my brothers. But remember, the very salvation of our souls is at stake. If my father and Daniel have their way and violate God’s plan for the Blessed Nephilim, we will all be damned. I can’t stand by and watch that happen. Can you?”

  The four stood up straighter, imbued with a sense of their divine mission.

  Enoch spoke up for the group. “No, sir, you’re right. There is no other way but this.”

  “Though blood must be spilled, it is sacrificial blood that will redeem us all. Remember that,” Joshua exhorted them. “Now, let us bow our heads and pray for God’s blessing as we carry out his will.”

  Chapter 47—Waffles for Lunch

  “So, this is it, huh?” Chris sat on the circular bench in the Rare Book Exhibit and regarded his friend quizzically.

  “I guess.” Daniel avoided meeting his eyes.

  “The moment of truth,” the librarian persisted.

  “I wish you wouldn’t put it like that.” The scion shifted uncomfortably, pretending to inspect the contents of his sandwich.

  “OK, I’ll rephrase: tomorrow you leave for Sweden to collect the Sage Stone.” Chris sipped his soda through a straw, waiting for the scion to respond.

  The two had bought lunch from a nearby fast food restaurant and carried it up to their favorite hideout on the top floor of the library. Given the sensitive topic they were discussing, the best option for privacy was inside the locked exhibit room.

  Daniel changed the subject. “All this waiting. I hate it. We’ve been back from Scandinavia for two whole weeks now. My father wouldn’t commit to a date for the rendezvous with the Arkana until now.”

  The librarian frowned. “I thought nabbing the Sage Stone was your dad’s be-all and end-all. Why do you think he’s dragged his feet this long?”

  “There’s only one reason I can think of.” Daniel heaved a weary sigh. “He needed more time to get his operatives in place. I’m sure he’ll give them the order to dispense the plague virus the minute he has the Sage Stone in his possession. Erik told me all the details of his horrible scheme.”

  “It sounds unbelievable. And you’re sure Erik got his facts straight?”

  The scion hung his head. “I wish he didn’t, but I’ve heard rumors circulating around the compound that say as much. Some of the chosen men can’t seem to resist bragging to their wives about an important secret mission. Besides, Hannah confirmed it independently. My father still comes to visit her. Sometimes he rambles on about their glorious future together. In the process, he’s let slip a few facts about the destruction of the Fallen.”

  Chris popped a handful of fries into his mouth. “Then it’s all up to you.”

  Daniel rewrapped half an uneaten sandwich. He’d lost his appetite. “This is a terrible, terrible situation!”

  “Agreed.” The librarian watched him closely. “But you haven’t answered my question. What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know!” Daniel cried. He leapt to his feet and began pacing. “I realize my father’s plan to destroy the Fallen is utter madness. Allowing him to take possession of the Sage Stone would be criminal on my part.”

  “I don’t see why you’re having such a hard time with this.” Chris wiped the grease from his fingers with a napkin.

  “Because giving the relic to the Arkana might be even worse!”

  The librarian glanced up from his lunch, puzzled. “How can you possibly think that?’

  “They’re a covert organization too. They’ve never told me the scope of their operation, but Leroy Hunt believes they may well be even more powerful than the Nephilim. The only reason they haven’t moved against us so far is because they need us. We hold four of the artifacts necessary to retrieve the Sage Stone. Once that leverage is gone, the Arkana may decide to exact revenge. My father certainly deserves their hatred. On his orders, Cassie, Griffin, and Erik were sealed in a crypt and left to suffocate to death. Cassie’s sister was murdered. Hannah was abducted from the home of an Arkana agent who’s now in a coma. Erik was riddled with bullets and then injected with plague. Any one of those atrocities perpetrated against a Nephilim would have been met with swift retribution by the brotherhood.”

  “I think you’re shifting blame to ease a guilty conscience,” Chris observed softly. “I have no doubt your father would avenge himself the way you describe but do these Arkana people really remind you of the diviner?”

  Daniel stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the librarian. “They couldn’t be more different.”

  “Then stop projecting your old man’s barbaric eye-for-an-eye values onto innocent people!” Chris hesitated, pondering a new thought. “There might be another way for you to solve this crisis you’re having. It’s silly for me to tell you to choose the group that you trust most since you don’t trust either one completely.” He rubbed his chin, considering. “Maybe you need to ask yourself which group you distrust the least.”

  The scion wavered and gave a despairing laugh. “I’m not sure I can even tell that much.”

  The librarian transferred his attention back to shoving empty food wrappers into a paper bag. “I guess you won’t know whose side you’re on until push comes to shove so here’s my last piece of advice on the subject. I’ve told you this before. Pay attention to people’s actions, not their words. That’s how you’ll know who to distrust least.”

  The suggestion calmed Daniel. He felt himself relaxing slightly until a new notion sent him spinning. “It just hit me. This is a very dangerous mission, and I may not come back from it alive. Today could be the last time I’ll ever see you.”

  Chris stood up and shook Daniel gently by the shoulders. “Hey, nobody is going to die. You’re letting your imagination run wild. You won’t—”

  Daniel abruptly threw his arms around Chris and kissed him.

  It was a kiss which the librarian seemed more than willing to return.

  When their lips parted half a minute later, Chris gasped. “Gotta say, I did not see that coming. Not that I minded, of course.”

  Daniel hugged his friend more tightly. “No matter what you say, it’s possible I might not return from this trip. Today may be the last chance I’ll ever have to let you know how much you mean to me.”

  They held one another for several moments before Chris drew back and peered into Daniel’s eyes intently. “Listen to me, Danny Boy. You’re going to come back alive.”

  “Maybe,” the scion agreed diffidently. “If I do—”

  “When you do!” Chris corrected sternly.

  Daniel gave a melancholy smile. “If I do... We should plan on having that talk about the birds and the bees and the fairies.”

  Chapter 48—Simply Revolting

  The black sedan pulled up quietly to the compound’s iron gates. Just as quietly, the gates sw
ung apart, allowing the vehicle to proceed unchallenged by the sentries in the guard tower. Joshua glanced at his watch. 2 AM. Everything was proceeding according to plan.

  He drove the rented sedan up to the main steps where Paul and Shem stood waiting to meet him. Both were carrying pistols. Joshua took up a position between the two men as they marched him up the stairs and through the foyer. In the unlikely event someone was moving about, the three needed to look like two guards escorting a prisoner.

  No one spoke. They all knew the plan by heart. They walked quietly down a long corridor to their designated dispersal point. The three paused there a moment before going to their assigned locations.

  Shem reached into the waistband of his pants and produced a pistol. Handing it to Joshua, he whispered, “Here’s yours. It’s been modified just as you ordered.”

  Joshua nodded curtly and accepted the weapon. “Good hunting,” he murmured to his men as they went their separate ways.

  The spymaster took the corridor that led to Father Abraham’s chamber. He crept along cautiously, listening for sounds emanating from the rooms he passed. Apparently, everyone was asleep. His father’s quarters were at the end of the hall. Rank had its privileges. Both the diviner and the scion occupied suites set apart from everyone else. Taken together with Hannah’s isolation in the guest wing, this ought to make it possible for the three conspirators to carry out their assignments unheard.

  He stealthily unlocked the door and slipped inside. A single lamp burned on the table next to his father’s easy chair. The diviner sat fully dressed, his head back and eyes closed.

  Joshua raised his pistol, aiming it at his father’s heart.

  Abraham opened his eyes. “I’ve been waiting for you.”