The Cleric's Vault (19 page)

He
was right.
 
Townsend could shut him
down.
 
Rather than rattle the
hornet’s nest, Eric decided to offer a carrot.

“What
I’m about to tell you stays between you and me.”
 
Eric looked around, feigning paranoia.
 
“I’ve been investigating the operations
of a secret society.
 
They were
fairly inactive for a long time but then a few years ago they blipped back onto
the radar.
 
I think they’re looking
for something, something big.”

Townsend
leaned in closer, obviously interested in what he was hearing.
 
“And what might that be?”

Jennings
continued, “Did you hear about the golden chamber they found down in Georgia a
few weeks ago?”

Sam
nodded that he had.
 
The discovery
had made national news.
 
It was
like a real life
Indiana Jones
tale.

“This
group was there.
 
But they’re not
just interested in a golden chamber.
 
There’s something else out there.
 
Something much bigger.”

“What
would be bigger than that treasure?
 
Its estimated value is thought to be in the hundreds of millions.”
 

Jennings
nodded in agreement.
 
“Chump change
compared to what they’re going after.”

Both
men sat silent for a moment, Jennings letting the words sink in.

The
kitchen door swung open, shattering the silence with a loud creak and
accompanying sounds of dishes rattling.

Bobby
brought the plate over and set it down in front of Jennings.
 
The bartender smiled as he slinked
away, apparently knowing he wasn’t to take part in the conversation.

Jennings
changed gears.
 
“They have an
excellent Ruben here,” he said as he grabbed the thick sandwich and took a huge
bite.
 
He added while chewing,
“They make it with pastrami instead of corned beef.
 
Adds a little kick.”
 
He set the sandwich down on the plate, thick pieces of beef slathered in
a creamy, yellowish dressing dangled out from between the slices of marbled rye
bread.

“You
really should try it,” He continued as he offered Townsend a small piece of the
concoction.

“I
don’t eat after seven,” he said sternly, not amused that the conversation had
turned to the topic of food.

Jennings
shrugged.
 
“Suit yourself.”
 
He stuffed another huge bite into his
mouth then washed it down with another sip of beer.

“You
obviously think me a fool, Eric,” Sam placed his elbows on the table and leaned
in closer.
 
“I want to know what
you’re up to.”

“And
you want a piece of whatever it is.
 
Don’t you?”
 
The snide
remark was accompanied by a sarcastic grin.

Townsend
ignored the jab.
 
“If you are using
justice department funding and personnel for some wild treasure hunt or to
somehow jack a score from this so-called ‘secret society’ then you are going
down for it.
 
I’ll personally make
sure of it.”
 

The
menace in his voice was threatening.
 
Eric Jennings wasn’t a man to be easily bothered, but Townsend’s
implication sent a momentary chill up his spine.

“Do
you understand me?” the younger man added.
 
He stood up and took a business card and a pen out of his
suit jacket pocket and quickly scribbled down a few words then tossed the card
carelessly next to the plate of food.
 
“I’ll be in touch,” Townsend said walked out of the room.
 

The
woman at the bar who’d been watching took that as her signal that the meeting
was over and threw some dollar bills on the counter to take care of their
tab.
 
Then, she too stood and
strode out of the building.

During
all his years as a high-level government agent, Jennings only had to answer to
a few people.
 
Who did Townsend think he was?

Jennings
snorted as he looked down at the small, government-issue business card Townsend
had left.
 
It contained only a
three-word sentence in sloppy cursive.
 
I want in.
 

Chapter 35

New Mexico

Tommy
and Will were soaking wet, which was a bad thing considering darkness had
settled in the desert. More stars than Tommy had ever seen sparkled in the dark
blanket above.
 
Nights could get
very cold there so it was imperative that they get back to the car
quickly.
 
That, and the fact that
someone was trying to kill them.
 
The corridor that had led out of the cavern had opened up near a
clearing surrounded by desert rocks and hills.
 

It
took several minutes before they could get their bearings and find their way
back to the information center where their car was parked.
 
The building was empty and only a few
lights glowed dimly within.
 

Both
men noticed the black BMW SUV sitting quietly on far side of the parking
lot.
 
It must have been the
shooter’s vehicle.
 

“Start
the car,” Will said as he eyed the other car.

“What
are you going to do?” Tommy looked confused.

“Slow
them down.”

Schultz
understood and jumped into their rental car and revved up the engine.
 
He looked out the window as Will fired
his remaining two bullets into a front and rear tire of the SUV then sprinted
back to the car.
 
Tommy wheeled the
vehicle out of the parking lot and down the dusty road.

“What’s
the plan now?” Will asked as he slid his weapon back into his jacket pocket.

Shultz
thought for a moment before answering.
 
Paranoid, he checked back in his rearview mirror even though he knew
there would be no way their pursuer could be behind them.

“We
head back to Atlanta.
 
This thing
needs to be analyzed,” he held up the small golden leaf.
 
“We need some answers.
 
And I think I know who can help us find
them.”

Chapter 36

Grand Canyon

When
Sean and his companions finally reached fresh air, night had settled in across
the desert.
 
The exit for the
mysterious chamber had come out right next to the Colorado River.
 
It was hidden by a large array of
stones, keeping the cave completely hidden from view.
 
With some effort, Sean had been able to leverage one of the
giant rocks out of their way.

Fortunately,
there was a rafting expedition spending the night in a clearing just
downstream.
 
The young, rough
looking guide and his tour had been more than willing to let Sean and the two
women to join them.
 
They even had
a few extra sleeping bags and some food to help settle their hunger.
 
A quick explanation of how they’d been
hiking and lost track of time had seemed acceptable to the scruffy river guide.

Sitting
by the campfire brought old memories from a distant past back to Sean’s
mind.
 
He remembered the days he’d
spent as a boy with his parents out in the mountains of Tennessee and North
Carolina.
 
It seemed like they’d
gone camping once a month.
 
His
current surroundings were much different than where he’d gone as a child.
 
High desert canyons and no canopy of
trees provided a severe contrast, but a beautiful one.
 

Adriana
lay quietly nearby, staring up at the stars as they fought with the flickering
glow of the fire at their feet.

The
guide and his half-dozen whitewater tourists were already asleep in their tents
or lying around in different places in the clearing.
 
Emily had passed out a few feet away.
 
She wasn’t a field agent anymore and
the events of the day had been a little more stressful and exhausting than she
was used to. “You sure can see a lot of stars out here, huh?”
 
Sean broke the silence.

Adriana
smiled.
 
“Yes.
 
I love to stare at them.”
 
Her eyes just stared into the night
sky.
 
“What do you think about when
you look at them?”
 
She asked in a
whisper.

No
one had ever asked him that before.
 
It made him feel something deep down that he had not felt in a long
time.
 
He thought for a moment
before answering.
 
“I think about
what is out there and who is out there.
 
I wonder what it would be like to be able to visit other planets.
 
It makes me think about how small we
are here on this earth and how vast and huge the universe really is.”
 
Then he asked, “What about you?”

She
took a deep breath.
 
“I wonder
where God is and how he did all of it.
 
How does his science work?
 
How does he hold it all together?
 
Or does he hold it all together?
 
Does he just set it in a perfect mathematical motion that will maintain
itself forever?”

“Wow.
 
Those are some heavy thoughts,” he
said.

She
smiled at him for a second then went back to gazing up into the darkness.
 
“Are they?
 
I just want to know how it all works, I guess.”

“That’s
a pretty complex thing to try and understand,” he paused.
 
“But I like it.”
 

He
looked at her for a minute.
 
She
was beautiful in the dancing light of the campfire.
 
Her brown hair had been pulled back to one side behind her
ear.
 
He wondered if she could be
trusted, if she had been completely honest with them.
 
At the time, he didn’t have a choice.
 
Besides, she’d saved their hides in
Vegas.
 

“What
do we do next?” she interrupted his thoughts.

He
diverted his gaze to the bright orange coals of the fire.
 
“We head back to Atlanta and regroup
with Tommy.
 
He needs to see the
piece,” Sean said as he cradled the concealed piece of gold.
 
“And I think there is someone else I
know who might be able to help us figure this thing out.”

She
seemed satisfied with the plan and rolled over on her side, bracing her head on
her arm as she closed her eyes.
 
“Good, I’m coming with you.”

Sean
slid into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes, too.
 
His mind ran wild as he tried to fall asleep.
 
He’d been shot at several times in the
last few weeks.
 
After leaving the
Justice Department, he believed those kinds of days had been left behind.
 

Now
he wasn’t so sure.
 
And he felt
like there was certainly more to come.

Part II

Chapter 37

Nevada

The
phone rang in Alexander Lindsey’s pocket.
 
He looked at the number and answered immediately.

The
voice on the other end spoke quickly, “We have a problem.”
 

It
seemed like that was all he was getting lately: problems.
 
It was growing tiresome.
 
He missed the days when things were
simpler.
 
When
he
rose to power, he solved problems for other people.
 
It was straightforward for him.
 

Alexander
had always been a thinker, a doer.
 
He didn’t understand nor have compassion for those who could not get
things done on their own.
 
It was
an interesting irony that now, in his current status and with his endeavors, he
had to rely on underlings to get things done for him.
 
And he loathed it.

“What
is the problem now, Eric?” he asked into the phone as he stood from his opulent
desk and its accompanying high, leather-backed chair.

“There
is a new player in the game.
 
He
has a lot of connections, security clearances, access to important
information,” Jennings said plainly.
 
“He’s watching us.”

Alexander
thought for a moment as he stepped over to the large window overlooking the
Sierra Nevada Mountains.
 
The rocky
peaks jutted into the sky as far as the eye could see.
 

“I
know who you are talking about.
 
I
figured he would come around eventually.
 
You have too many resources at work under the table for someone like him
not to notice.”

“How
would you like me to proceed?”

Lindsey
took a deep breath.
 
There it was
again, solving another’s problems.
 
What was he paying them for if they couldn’t provide solutions?
 
Only now, their problems had become
his.
 
He wiped his forehead and
tried shake off his aggravation.
 
If he was to succeed, he knew more hand holding would have to be done
for a little while longer.

“Let
him in on the deal.
 
If Samuel is
anything like I have heard, he’s just as greedy as the people his department
seeks to expose.
 
I’m sure he
probably told you he wanted a piece of whatever you’re doing, yes?”

There
was a momentary pause on the other end.
 
Then, “Yes.”

“Good,”
he replied.
 
“We’ll let him in and
then cut him off when the time is right.
 
For now, having an ally like him could prove useful.
 
Better the devil you know.”

“Understood.”

Jennings
was silent on the other line for a second before he spoke again.
 
“Wyatt and the two women went into a
cave at the Grand Canyon.
 
We’ve had
no visual or any other kind of contact since they entered.
 
There is no way out except through
us.
 
When they find the next piece
of the puzzle and exit the cave, we’ll be waiting.”

Lindsey
thought for a few seconds.
 
Uncertainty arose within him.
 
But for now, he had to trust his lead asset.
 
“What about the New Mexico situation?”

“I
haven’t heard back from them yet.
 
But I am certain Hastings has it under control.
 
Last he reported, they had rented a car
and were heading toward Bandelier National Monument.”

Alexander
didn’t like the fact that he had so many irons in the fire.
 
Loose ends were easier to turn up that
way. And since an additional branch of the government had become involved, that
meant that others could come along sooner or later.
 
Eventually, there would be a cowboy who would try to expose
the whole thing.
 
That was
something he simply could not afford.
 
There was too much at stake.
 
“Let me know when you hear from him.”

“Yes,
sir.”
 

Lindsey
hung up the phone.
 
A small, LED
television glowed brightly on the wall nearby.
 
A news headline ran across the bottom as a scene from a car
accident appeared.
 
A local
businessman named Rick Baker had lost control of his automobile and run off the
road.
 
He was pronounced dead at
the scene.
 
One problem
solved.
 
If his operatives were
successful and recovered the three golden leaves, they would only need one
additional piece to the puzzle.
 
The diary of Francisco Coronado.