The Goddess Legacy (28 page)

“What kind of jewels are those?” Drake asked.

Allie zoomed in closer and increased the brightness. “They look like…rubies.”

Drake sat back, thinking. Neither Allie nor Spencer spoke, allowing him to cogitate in silence. He tried to imagine the statue being used as some sort of beacon, per Allie’s theory, and then opened them and shook his head.

“What if the idol was in the temple that was destroyed? Positioned in some way so the sun shined through its jeweled eyes and hit the mosaic in strategic spots?”

Allie gasped and tapped the tablet to open her imaging software. She waited as it cycled, and her gaze drifted to Drake’s.

“No. That’s not it at all, or at least I don’t think so. It’s much easier. The rubies would make anyone looking through them see the world through a red filter.” She hesitated and tapped the photo of the idol. “What if there are tiles in the mosaic that are only distinctive when viewed through a red lens? Red glass, jewels, it wouldn’t matter.”

“Can you simulate that?” Spencer asked. “With your computer?”

“Give me a second and we’ll find out.”

After half an hour of fiddling with her imaging software, Allie had created a semi-opaque ruby red overlay and positioned it upon the image of the mosaic. The dancing goddess instantly morphed into what looked suspiciously like a tree of lightning streaking up from the prone figure of Shiva to her lowest arm, which was clutching a severed head.

Drake edged closer to her and traced his finger along the main body of the bolt. “This looks like a map, doesn’t it? It starts at Shiva’s forehead and finishes there.”

“Yes,” Allie agreed. “If the part that begins at Shiva is the Shiv Khori, it’s probably a guide through the various passages of the underground maze. If we assume that each of these branches here, here, and here, represent caverns that dead end, then that leaves only two – the one that finishes at her mouth, and the one that ends at the arm with the severed head.”

“Which is the holiest of holies?” Spencer asked.

“Actually, it signifies evil. The depiction represents Kali’s triumph over evil,” Allie said.

“How is evil holy?” Drake asked.

“Could be confusion in the translation,” Allie ventured. “Or it could be that whoever crafted this map was one of the occult offshoots that worshiped Kali as the goddess of death rather than the goddess of destruction.”

“Death, destruction…what’s the difference?” Spencer said with a snort.

“To these cults, which used their worship of her as an excuse to murder, considerable,” Allie said. “They all believe they were created by her, but their purpose is the sticking point. Anyhow, that doesn’t matter to us. What does is that this seems to be a map through the cave system.”

“Where do you think this other branch, which leads all the way up to her head, goes?”

“There’s a legend the Shiv Khori has a passage that terminates at another sacred cave in Kashmir: the Amarnath cave. Could be that’s what this is mapping out,” Spencer said. Allie looked at him strangely, and he shrugged. “You told me to research all this, remember? I had a lot of time on my hands.”

“For our purposes, we only care about the branch leading to the severed head,” Drake said, and using a pen from Allie’s purse, began making a drawing of the map on the back of a hotel brochure.

“I don’t get it,” Spencer said. “What does a missing DOD agent and Carson’s murder have to do with some legendary treasure? I mean, this is all fine, but does anyone have any ideas?”

“Could be that Carson had competition, and they’ll kill anyone who gets in their way,” Allie said quietly. “Look around – tell me you can’t see that as a viable possibility.”

“I don’t know. That doesn’t feel right,” Spencer said. “We’re missing something here.”

Drake finished the drawing and folded the paper before pocketing it. “So now the question is how we get to the Shiv Khori.”

“With enough firepower to stop a tank,” Spencer added. “No frigging way do I go anywhere with more than this peashooter,” he said, patting Helms’s Beretta beside him on the tabletop. “And we have the issue of crossing into Kashmir. It says there are checkpoints at the border.”

Drake looked at Allie. “I think we need to call Reynolds. Maybe he can get us into Kashmir and set us up with weapons and supplies. The guy’s an intelligence officer. That sounds like the sort of thing he’d be able to arrange.”

“I don’t like that option,” Spencer said. “Think of another one.”

Allie frowned at him. “Spencer, there’s a limit to how much we can accomplish on our own. He got the cops off your back. Maybe he can pull this off, too.”

“I’ve said before I don’t trust him. If I’m right, calling him would be disastrous.”

Drake stood. “Neither do I. We don’t have to tell him exactly where we’re going. Just that we’re pursuing the trail, and it leads to Kashmir. Remember it was his bright idea for us to continue with Carson’s little quest – so now we need his help. No long explanations required, just guns and gear.”

Allie eyed Spencer. “We good on this?”

He looked away. “I suppose if there’s no better alternative.” He rattled off the types of weapons he wanted – AKM assault rifles, Beretta 9mm pistols.

Allie nodded and held out her hand. “Let me see your phone, Spencer.”

“What’s wrong with yours?”

“I don’t want to call him on my American cell – I’ve got it off so we can’t be tracked. We can jettison this one after I make the call, and buy a couple more before we hit the road.”

Spencer gave her his cell, and she dialed Reynolds’s number. He answered on the second ring.

“Yes?”

“It’s Allie. We have a lead, but it’s going to require some heavy lifting on your end.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Here’s what we need.” She gave him a rundown of Spencer’s weapon request and a description of the other gear – flashlights, first aid kit, rope, a GPS.

“I’ll send Roland to pick you up. Where are you?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Reynolds’s voice hardened. “It wasn’t a request. I’ve let you have your head in this, but now the adult supervision gets called in. He’ll be responsible for your safety and will drive you to Kashmir. I’ll work on the equipment and a way to get you across the checkpoint – that’s not going to be easy, but it’s possible with the right kind of grease.”

“We want to do this our way.”

“That may well be, but you have no choice. This is moving to a whole new level, and I need professionals involved if I’m going to arm you and move you across borders. And let’s not forget that I lost my man where you want to go – you should be thanking me, not fighting me.”

“Okay, okay. But we have a few errands we need to run. Can we meet him at the Delhi Junction Railway Station in an hour and a half?” Allie asked, resigned to the DOD man’s conditions.

“I’ll call him. I see no reason why not.”

“Thanks. We’ll be standing in front of the main entrance.”

“You might want to get some warm clothes. Kashmir is a lot colder than Delhi because of the elevation,” Reynolds said, and hung up.

Allie turned to Drake and Spencer. “We’ve got the Frenchman picking us up. Reynolds won’t cooperate if we don’t play ball with him. The good news is he sounds like he’ll be able to get us into Kashmir.”

“And the guns?”

“He said he’d work on it.” Allie removed the battery from Spencer’s phone and tossed it in the garbage. “Let’s get moving. We need to do some shopping.”

“Probably not a lot of spelunking stores in town,” Drake observed.

“We’ve got an hour and a half to make it to the station. Let’s make the most of it,” Allie said.

“Yes, boss,” Spencer joked.

“That’s more like it.”

Roland appeared at the station right on time, in a big white Toyota SUV. Drake, Allie, and Spencer tossed their bags in the back and climbed into the vehicle, which stank of cigarettes – as did the Frenchman, who was as loquacious as usual. The drive to Pathankot, the last large town before the Kashmir border, took the remainder of the day, and passed in silence. Once out of Delhi the road narrowed to a two-lane strip that was used by everything from buses to cattle, and the journey comprised dozens of near misses as they pulled around slow-moving obstacles, only to barely escape being slammed into by oncoming vehicles moving at high speed. By the time they rolled into the circular drive of a third-rate hotel on the edge of town, night had fallen, their clothes reeked of stale cigarette smoke, and everyone was ready to get out of the truck.

“You have rooms,” Roland announced, the first words he’d spoken on the eight-hour drive.

“In whose name?” Spencer asked.

“Bob Hope.”

“Seriously?” Allie asked.

“Robert Hope, actually,” Roland corrected. “Don’t worry. The manager’s not the curious sort.”

They retrieved their gear from the truck and were walking toward the office when Reynolds’s voice called from the shadows. “So you made it.”

Allie stopped in her tracks, and Drake and Spencer nearly ran her over.

“So you decided to put in an appearance,” Spencer said neutrally.

“Yes, I figured this was worth making the trip.”

“Did you get everything we asked for?”

“Tomorrow morning. Early. Guy’s meeting me with the weapons. The rest is in the back of my SUV.”

They joined Reynolds by a smaller black SUV splattered with mud. He opened the rear cargo door, and they eyed the meager collection of equipment. Reynolds reached in and extracted a GPS and handed it to Allie, and then passed out LED flashlights and the rest of their requested gear.

“Now, why don’t you tell me where we’re going tomorrow, so I have an idea why I need to arm you like a private army?” Reynolds asked.

“There’s a sacred cave that we believe leads to an unknown location. That’s what Carson was working on. We put the rest of the puzzle pieces together,” Drake said.

“A cave?”

“Yes. Why the DOD might be interested in it, I have no idea.”

“Where exactly is it located?” Reynolds asked.

“You’ll see. There’s nothing around it – middle of nowhere.”

“Can you show me on a map?” Reynolds pressed.

“Tomorrow. I’m beat,” Drake said, and Allie nodded. “It’s been a long day, and we’re operating on only a few hours of sleep. We can discuss it over breakfast or something.”

“I want to know where the cave is,” Reynolds said.

“I told you, it’s not near much of anything. There’s a dam to the northeast, and the nearest village is Ransoo. Draw a line between the two and you’re in the right neighborhood.”

“That’s the area Carson was researching,” Reynolds said. “It tells me nothing I don’t already know.”

Allie shrugged. “Sorry. It’s what we’ve got. It would be nice if we could tie everything up with a bow and hand it to you, but we’re feeling our way through this. Remember that you’re the one who held a gun to our heads – we’d have already been on a plane home.”

“And you haven’t learned anything that could hint at why the area might be of interest?” Reynolds tried a final time.

“No. It’s a genuine mystery. Although there are a few other events you should know about.” She told him the story of Helms and the professor and Spencer’s ultimate dispatching of the man.

“He didn’t say who he was working for?” Reynolds asked quietly when she was done.

Spencer shook his head. “He turned down ten million bucks to walk away, so whoever it is, he was pretty confident that they’d find him if he double-crossed them, no matter where he hid. That should give you pause. How many would decline that kind of money?”

“Not many,” Reynolds said, his expression dark.

The clerk checked them in without asking questions, and minutes later they were ensconced in their rooms, which were only slightly better than the jail cell in which Spencer had spent his day with the Indian police. After showering off the road dust, they met outside Allie’s room and crossed the street to a small restaurant that appeared reasonably clean. After ordering, Allie looked to Spencer with a troubled expression.

“Reynolds seems like he’s puzzled by everything, doesn’t he?”

“Yes. And that worries me more than anything else. If our secret agent friend has no idea what’s going on, where does that leave us?” Spencer said.

“Nowhere good,” Drake muttered. “And he doesn’t have the guns.”

“If we don’t get them tomorrow, we’re not going. Simple as that. No way do we walk into an unknown situation without weapons,” Spencer said.

“You have any theories as to what’s really going on?” Allie asked.

Spencer shook his head. “Not a clue.”

The group sat quietly, fatigue radiating off them as the server brought bowls of chicken curry and cans of soda. They picked at their meals, their appetites dampened by the prospect of the ordeal to come and their thoughts on the confluence of events that had led them into the Indian wilds, pursued by forces they didn’t understand.

“I don’t think he’s leveling with us,” Drake said. “He knows more than he’s letting on. Just like always, we’re pawns that they’re pushing around their game board. And if we wind up taking a bullet, they’re still fine. I hate this crap. Really hate it.”

“He’s got us between a rock and a hard place,” Spencer pointed out. “Although, not Allie.”

Drake eyed her. “Maybe you should get out while you can.”

“I’ve come this far. I kind of want to see what’s at the end of the rainbow. We’re almost there – it would be weak to quit now.”

“What if we’re walking into a trap?” Drake asked.

Allie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“All along I’ve been wondering whether Reynolds actually already understands everything and is just keeping tabs on us to learn what we actually know. Think about it – he can’t be sure what Carson knew, so then we show up on the radar and he buddies up with us, figuring that we won’t tell him straight out what we’re really doing. So he needs to pretend to be on our side to discover how much info we have.”

“Pretty evil if that’s the case,” Spencer said. “Although I wouldn’t put anything past the DOD – assuming he’s really DOD at all.”