Pirate (30 page)

R
ain splattered down on the windshield, blurring their vision, but Sam wasn't about to turn the wipers on and risk being seen. Not after seeing the BMW pull up to the park. Ivan and Alexandra were in the front, Jak and Nigel in the back. Ivan got out of the driver's seat, opened the back door, pulling Nigel out by his arm. Jak and Alexandra followed close behind, the four walking into the park.

A moment later, Fisk's black Mercedes pulled up behind the BMW. He and two stocky, dark-haired men got out. Sam saw the bulk of handguns beneath their matching brown leather coats. “Fisk's brought reinforcements.”

Sam and Remi watched as they entered the park, walking toward the wall of ivy. Apparently Alexandra was left to guard Nigel while Jak and Ivan picked up a couple of sticks, poking them into the thick ivy vines, searching for the entrance. Ivan turned toward Nigel, saying something, and Nigel nodded at the
ivy as though he had some knowledge of the location. Jak moved to the opposite end, poking his stick in and out of the vines.

“We have to do something, Sam. We can't let them take Nigel down there.”

“I wasn't expecting so many men. We rush in now, we might as well be stepping into a viper's nest.”

“At least they're not golden lancehead vipers.”

Fisk said something to Alexandra, who moved closer to Nigel as he and his new henchmen started exploring the greenbelt. Right now, the odds of a rescue didn't look good. They'd be seen the moment they left the car and started walking down the drive to the park.

“So what's the plan?” Remi asked.

“You mean, miracle?” Trying to rescue Nigel while avoiding five armed men and possibly one armed woman—with very little cover other than a few hedges—was going to be a lot harder than they'd anticipated.

“There's always Bree,” Remi said.

Sam glanced over at her. “What about her?”

“She's passed on information to her cousin before. Why not now? Why not make them think they're in the wrong location? They leave, we follow, and find a better place to get to Nigel.”

Sam weighed the risks. Lazlo and Selma had gone to great pains to make sure that the only information Bree passed on to her cousin was that she hadn't been in touch with Sam and Remi. They had the perfect setup, Bree passing info on to Larayne, Larayne passing it on to Jak or Ivan. If it worked, Avery's henchmen would soon be racing off to explore some other tunnels.

If it didn't and those men found the tunnel entrance and took Nigel down there, he doubted he'd get the man out alive. “Looks like Bree's our only option.”

Remi made the call, giving Selma a quick rundown on what they needed. She held out the phone for Sam. “Selma said that Lazlo finished the translation.”

Whatever Lazlo had found could wait. They needed to get Nigel out of there, and he got right to the point. “Remi told you what we need. Will it work?”

“It should,” Selma told him. “We've monitored every call between Bree and her cousin since Snake Island. As far as Larayne knows, we don't know where you are.”

“Which plays into this perfectly.” The wind gusted and rain poured down, but none of them moved from the park. “Try to get it so Larayne asks Bree if she's heard from us first. If Bree offers up the information, her cousin might become suspicious.”

“Understood. And if Larayne does ask? What disinformation are we passing on to her?”

“Anything that will move them away from the cave entrance. They know it's in the vicinity, but they haven't found it yet. We need them out of the area or we'll never get Nigel out.”

“We could use the priory where Robin Hood was buried.”

“I think we need a better connection to King John—and something closer.”

“There's Nottingham Castle,” Selma said. “Documented caves and tunnels, some of which even fit the names on the map.”

“Let's go with the castle. If we can get them out of this area, we might have a better opportunity to get Nigel.”

“You're not going to search it?”

“There's no reason to. Even if we did get in, we don't know what we're looking for.”

“That's what I was trying to tell you. Lazlo finished the translation. It's a riddle. Above death, below death, with my last meal.”

“Which means what?”

“Lazlo thinks the Celtic knot engraved on the center of the cipher might have something to do with the riddle. That type of pattern is called interlacing. Sort of like basket weaving.
Above
and
below
, like in the riddle. The Celts were known to hide things in the pattern. Pull off layers of the interlacing to see the pattern below. Maybe it's a pattern of the tunnels that leads to the treasure. We haven't quite figured out the answer to the riddle, but we're working on it.”

The riddle could wait. “Have Bree make the call to her cousin,” he said.

A
few minutes later, Selma called back, saying the conversation went as expected. “Hopefully, you should see some action on your end once the information's passed on. Assuming they
believe
the information.”

They did. Just as Jak poked his stick into the ivy, his arm nearly disappearing through the vines, he backed up, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his cell phone. After a brief conversation, he called Fisk over.

“Look at Nigel,” Remi said. “I think he's trying to make a break for it.”

Alexandra's attention was fixed on Fisk and Jak. Nigel edged away from her toward the ivy, then bolted through the vines, disappearing from view.

“I don't know if that was brilliant or idiotic,” Sam said, one hand on his gun, the other on the door.

“Can't be any more brilliant and idiotic than our plan trying to get them to move.”

They watched as Jak and Ivan seemed to balk at entering the cave, until Fisk pulled a gun on them. Alexandra shook her head as though exasperated, walked up to the ivy, parted the vines, and followed them in. Fisk lifted the vines, then stepped back, and Sam wondered if he was trying to decide if the phone call about Nottingham Castle was worth following up. He turned, tossing something to one of the new guys, probably the keys, since they both walked toward the Mercedes. And then Fisk followed the others into the cave.

“Guess our plan worked after all,” Sam said as the Mercedes drove off.

“Not quite how we wanted.”

“We got rid of two of them. That's a start. Text Selma that we're going into the caves to get Nigel.”

“So she knows where to send the cavalry?”

“Gotta have a backup plan.”

They waited a minute to make sure no one was popping out of the ivy before making their way down the long drive and across the street to the park.

Remi followed Sam through the heavy, gnarled ivy vines into the dark passageway. They stood there a moment, guns drawn, acclimating themselves to the dim passage. The rain fell harder, splattering against the ivy leaves behind them, covering any noise they made as they started down the steep passage. They had to walk single file, following the twisting path down, the tunnel floor gritty beneath their feet. Sam gripped his flashlight in his
hand, covering up most of it so that only a sliver of light escaped to illuminate their path.

The floor dipped sharply, then raised again. Eventually the tunnel widened into a chamber, much like the one they'd been in with Percy. They stopped, and Sam peered out, then backed quickly and held up his hand.

They heard the scrape of footsteps, then someone saying, “Down this way.”

They waited until the echo of footsteps faded from the chamber before stepping out.

Sam shined his muted light across the sandstone walls and saw several rough-hewn tunnels leading off from the main chamber. Something caught Remi's eye at the top and she pointed. The Celtic knot Percy had mentioned, carved in the sandstone above the opening. She checked each of the other tunnels that led off the cavern. Five tunnels in total, four with an identical Celtic knot carved above it. The fifth, with no marking at all, was the upper tunnel that led up to the park.

Sam eyed the symbols again. They must lead to the four chambers Lazlo had told them about. He flicked his light at the opening of each passageway, then pointed to the third. Footprints in the sandstone floor. The other passageways had none.

The space was wide enough for two to walk abreast, but took even more twists as it descended. Unlike the tunnel that led in from the park, this one had several smaller passages breaking away on each side.

The main passage started narrowing as it made a steep slope downward, then curved to the right about twenty yards ahead.
They hit a dip, and their feet scraped against the ground. The sound carried.

Sam shut off the light, and they stopped.

“What was that?” It sounded like Jak. “Someone's coming down from that main chamber.”

“It's Victor and Rogen,” Fisk said. “Hopefully, back with flashlights since you idiots only brought cell phones.”

Their plan didn't work, a fact confirmed when Ivan asked, “What about that call from Larayne? Why isn't anyone going to the castle?”

“Because the cipher is for the four caverns.”

“You mean chambers,” Alexandra corrected. “That could be a completely different place.”

“You want the treasure?” Fisk sounded annoyed. “Find the tour guide. If it's not here like he says it is, I'll break every bone in his body right before I kill him.”

The sound of their footsteps faded as the group continued down the tunnel.

Sam and Remi started to follow when they heard the heavy scuff of boots coming from the main chamber.

Victor and Rogen were back.

And Sam and Remi were trapped.

S
am took Remi by the arm, leading her back toward the upper chamber, running one hand on the wall to feel their way in the dark, until they reached one of the side passages off the main tunnel. He and Remi stepped in, Sam taking up a position closer to the opening, with Remi right behind him.

A moment later, the bright beam of a flashlight flickered across the stone walls and the ground. Sam noticed the very obvious footprints they'd left that led right to them. He aimed toward the tunnel entrance.

There was only one man, and Sam relaxed his trigger finger as he continued on and the passageway grew dark once more.

They were about to step out when a soft scrape alerted Sam that whoever it was—Victor or Rogen—had probably doubled back and was now standing just outside the tunnel entrance. Sam felt the slightest movement of air as the man brought his gun upward, then turned on his flashlight, calling out, “Vic—”

Sam grabbed the guy's collar and swung him around, ramming his head against the cave wall. The flashlight went flying.

Gripping his Smith & Wesson like brass knuckles, Sam smashed him in the face. Rogen staggered, grabbing at Sam's shirt with his left hand, swinging his gun toward Sam. Sam grabbed the semiauto by its slide, the metal cutting into his hand as Rogen tried to pull the trigger. Sam dropped his Smith & Wesson and grabbed the gun with both hands to keep Rogen from firing. He leaned in, twisting the gun with all his strength. Bones snapped and Rogen's grip suddenly gave way. Sam freed the gun, crashed it down on his skull, stepped behind him as he swept his arm around his neck, squeezing in a chokehold to finish him off.

Remi picked up both guns while Sam dragged the body into the side tunnel. One down, five to go.

“If he was calling for Victor,” Remi whispered, giving both guns to Sam, “where is he?”

“Good question.” There was only one reason Sam could think of as to why Victor wouldn't have come down with Rogen.

Someone had to stand guard in the main cavern.

Sam pointed in that direction, and Remi nodded. They started up, turning the light off before they reached the cavern. A light, its glow reflecting into the tunnel. Remi waited as Sam continued to the end of the tunnel.

Not only was Victor standing guard, he had one arm around Nigel's neck, his flashlight pointed toward Sam, and, in the other hand, his gun to Nigel's head.

“How'd you get past my brother?”

“Oh.
That
was your brother down there?” Sam kept his gun
pointed at the guy, sidestepping around the circumference of the cavern. Victor turned with him, careful to keep Nigel between him and Sam.

“What'd you do to Rogen?”

Sam didn't answer. Just kept moving so that Victor followed until his flashlight was no longer pointed Remi's direction.

“Where is he?”

Just as Sam saw the barrel of Victor's gun edging from Nigel toward him, Remi stepped out of the tunnel, took a deep breath, then threw her knife.

Victor cried out as the knife hit him square in the back. His gun and flashlight flew from his hands. His head dropped back as he crumpled to the ground, dragging Nigel with him. Nigel scrambled away, his gaze fixed on Victor's body.

“Nicely done, Mrs. Fargo. Let me guess—you thought I could use a hand?”

“It crossed my mind.”

“I had it under control,” he said as Nigel moved closer to Remi.

“Is—is he dead?” Nigel asked, his face pale.

“Or paralyzed,” Sam said. Remi's Buck Knife was imbedded up to the hilt against his spine. The man wasn't going anywhere. Nigel, however, looked about ready to faint as he gave wide berth around the body. “Exactly how
did
he get you?” Sam asked, more to take Nigel's mind off the body than anything else.

“I was hiding in one of those side tunnels. I think they saw my footprints.”

Sam eyed Remi's knife. “Don't suppose you want that thing back.”

“Not really. But I'll take his gun.” She reached down, picked it up, then shoved it into the back of her waistband.

“What do you say we get out of here?”

“Splendid idea, Fargo.”

As luck would have it, Fisk and his crew raced into the chamber at that exact moment.