Solomon's Scrolls, page 24
part #1 of A North and Swiftwater Thriller Series
“I’ll call Gunnar and see if he can speak with harbor control and amend my flight plan so we can get going early today,” proposed Yuri.
Kim wiped the rest of her tears from her cheeks. “Don’t bother; he’s got to be the person who sold us out.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” protested Yuri. “Gunnar seems like an okay guy.”
“How else would Tiva’s kidnappers know about the island? And yesterday, Gunnar said the writing on that stone was Old French.”
“Yes, what of it?”
“It wasn’t French; it was Latin. Any student of medieval history should have some understanding of the language. He knew exactly what was written on it but chose to lie to us.”
Yuri scrunched his brow. “But you said it was French as well.”
Kim turned her hands out as if to say, oh, well. “I thought he was dragging his feet yesterday, so I tested him.”
“Clever,” said Connor, grinning at Kim.
“Were you also able to translate the stone?” asked Yuri.
Kim downed the rest of her water. “Yeah, it’s a warning not to disturb the dead.”
“The dead? Are you sure?”
Kim nodded. “That’s what it said. I even checked using an app on my phone.”
“So, that’s why they’re giving us twenty-four hours,” said Connor. “They’re hoping we’ll make it safe for them to loot the treasure.”
“I normally don’t get very involved with my clients, but this DuFour character is really pissing me off,” said Yuri. “I don’t want him to get the treasure, nor do I want Kim’s niece to get hurt. But you have to listen to me. I’ve spent years working for people like this, and they can’t be trusted to keep their word. As soon as they get their hands on the gold, Tiva’s life will be forfeit, as will anyone else’s on the island. So, what are we going to do?”
Connor stood and started to pace. “One thing at a time. First, Kim, you had best call Tiva’s foster parents to let them know she’s still alive. I’m sure they’re going out of their minds with worry by now. Second, Yuri, after you drop Kim and me off on the island later this morning, I’ll need you to come back here right away and do some shopping for me.”
A hotel employee with a red, puffy face, dressed in a dark blue jacket, knocked on the doorframe. “What the hell happened here?”
“Sorry, this is all my fault,” explained Connor. “I thought I heard a scream and got carried away. Please bill me for the repairs to the door.”
“You’re damned right I will.” The man walked off in a huff, mumbling in Danish to himself.
Yuri waited until the hotel employee was gone. “Connor, this is Greenland, not New York City. Guns, ammunition, and whatever else you’re considering will be hard to find.”
“I know, but I also know you’ll do your best,” said Connor.
“Da, I will.”
Connor turned and smiled at Kim. “So, Kim Swiftwater, thief extraordinaire, do you feel like breaking into a tomb today?”
Kim nodded and got out of her chair. “There’s no time like the present. Let’s get to work.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Kim and Connor waved at Yuri as he banked their Twin Otter over the island and headed back to Nuuk. A light mist hung in the air, making everything feel cold and wet.
“I guess this is it,” said Connor, heaving a heavy pack onto his back.
“Do you think Yuri’s right?” asked Kim.
“About what?”
“About Tiva. Do you think they’ll kill her once they have the treasure?”
Connor looked deep into Kim’s eyes. “Let’s try not to think about that right now. Let’s see if the gold is here to start with. After that, we can brainstorm all we want to figure out a way to rescue Tiva. Okay?”
Kim nodded and picked up her pack. “If Tiva’s life wasn’t in danger, I think I could be having the time of my life right now.”
“Then we’ll just have to do this again another time.”
Kim gave a watery smile. “You’re on.”
They walked off the beach and headed straight for the suspected treasure site. The mud stuck to their boots like cement, making walking laborious. Finally, Kim and Connor dropped their packs at the tunnel entrance and paused to catch their breath.
Connor slid a safety helmet on his head and unloaded a pickaxe from his rucksack. He stepped into the muddy trench, glad he was wearing knee-high rubber boots. He paused and glanced up at Kim. “I know we’ve got to help Tiva, but I can’t help but feel that we’re trespassing.”
“I know. I feel the same way. I’ve suddenly lost all of my initial enthusiasm and wonder how my ancestors would feel, knowing I was about to desecrate a tomb.”
“I’m sure they’d forgive you for Tiva’s sake.”
Kim glanced skyward. “I hope so.”
Connor ran his hand around the edge of the square rock, blocking their path. “Do you think this place could be boobytrapped?”
Kim wrinkled her nose. “What, like in the movies?”
“Yeah, like that.”
Kim shook her head and tutted. “Connor North, if there were any traps left behind to stop graverobbers, they have long since rotted or fallen apart.”
“So, no rocks tumbling out of the roof or dozens of poisonous blow darts hidden in the walls?”
“No, none of that. But be wary of foot traps. I suspect those things are timeless.”
“Wonderful,” said Connor carefully, placing the chisel end of his pick behind the meter-square stone block. “Here goes nothin’,” he said, digging in his feet and pushing as hard as he could.
At first, nothing happened, and then, with a loud wet thunk, the stone popped loose. A second later, it came free and slid to the ground, dropping into the muck. A chill shot down Connor’s back. He was soon about to tread in a place that had closely guarded its secrets for centuries.
“What can you see?’ asked Kim, trying to see past Connor.
Connor dropped to all fours and switched on his headlamp. All he could see was a stone passageway leading underground. “At least we didn’t have to say open sesame.”
“Quit screwing around. That’s not what I asked. What can you see?”
“I think we’ve found the tunnel Gunnar saw on his LiDAR.”
“How deep does it go?”
Connor shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Well done,” said a mud-soaked man, suddenly appearing out of nowhere, aiming a pistol at Kim’s head. Steam rose from his body in the cold air. “Raise your hands, or I’ll kill both of you.”
Connor slowly stood. He and Kim raised their hands.
“Thank God that you showed up when you did. I’ve been lying in the mud for hours and was ready to quit.”
“How did you know to come here?” asked Connor.
“Gunnar told me you’d be here,” said the man with a strong Danish accent. “He also said that you’re a pair of graverobbers wanted by the police.”
Kim shook her head. “That’s not true.”
“Are you sure, lady? Because you sure look like it to me.”
“Who the hell are you?” demanded Connor.
“You don’t need to know my name,” snarled the gunman. “Gunnar’s paying me to make sure you two don’t try and run off before he and the police get here tomorrow morning to arrest you both.”
Connor scrunched his brow. “The police? He actually told you he was going to bring the police here to arrest us?”
“Yeah, why?”
“No reason other than he’s lying.”
“Screw you. I’ll take his word over yours any day of the week.”
“Whatever he’s paying you, I’ll triple it,” offered Connor.
The man licked his lips. “Do you have the money on you?”
“No, of course, I don’t, but I can easily pay you once we get back to Nuuk.”
“I’d rather bank on Gunnar’s five grand.”
“Five thousand dollars,” blurted out Kim.
“No, it’s five thousand Euros,” responded the man, trying to make it sound like a lot of money.
Kim lowered her hands. “You’re insane. I’ll give you twenty-five thousand Euros to drop your gun and walk away.”
The man shook his head. “No, thanks. I think I’ll stick with my five grand. I’ve got debts to pay, and if you two were to skip town and not pay me, then I’m as good as dead.”
“I’d ask how you knew where to find us, but I suspect the answer would lie with Gunnar, a GPS, and a rubber boat,” said Connor.
“Right on all three. Now, shut your mouths. I want to see this fortune in treasure Gunnar claims is buried here before the police arrive.”
Connor lowered his hands. The man was greedy, so he decided to play for time. “We’d like to see the treasure, too, so you’ll have to give us space to work.”
The man brandished his pistol in the air. “All right, but don’t try anything stupid because I know how to use this.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“Please, step aside,” said Kim to Connor, “and let me take a look inside the tunnel.”
Connor had barely moved to let Kim inside when she darted past him into the darkened tunnel. Connor shook his head and swore under his breath.
“What the hell’s going on?” demanded the gunman.
Connor shrugged. “Sorry about that. Kim can get a bit excited.”
“I don’t care. Follow her. And remember, mister, I can’t miss from this range.”
Connor bent over and followed Kim underground. The passageway wasn’t tall, forcing him to watch his head. The stone staircase had only ten steps. At the bottom, Connor stood beside Kim, speechless, as they stared into a large, circular room with a slate-tiled floor and a high-arched wooden roof. A musty odor hung in the air. Stacks of old furs, blankets, cooking utensils, packs, and a handful of weapons were spread along the walls. A pile of bundled ivory stood in one corner as if waiting to be taken to the markets back home in Iceland or Norway. Yet, everything appeared to be in near pristine condition.
On the wall to Kim and Connor’s right was an intricately carved picture of a ship at sea fighting not to capsize as it was battered by waves as tall as the vessel itself. In the center of the room stood a waist-high, brass washbasin.
“Just think,” said Kim, wide-eyed. “We’re probably the first people to step foot in here in hundreds of years.”
Connor shone his flashlight on the curved roof and let out a low whistle. “They must have used the bottom of their ship’s hull to make the roof and then used whatever was leftover on the walls.”
Kim stepped lightly on the floor and picked up a black bear pelt to reveal a medieval steel breastplate and helmet next to a small pile of copper plates. “Amazing, absolutely amazing.”
“Move out of the bloody way!” ordered the gunman. “I want to see.”
Not wanting to be shot in the back, Connor stepped aside but followed Kim’s footsteps.
Kim moved her flashlight’s beam along the tiled floor, looking for signs of a trap before treading lightly to the far end of the room. “Connor, look,” she said, aiming her flashlight at the far end of the chamber.
Connor looked over and spotted another tunnel leading into the dark. “I wonder where that goes?”
“The gold,” said Kim, winking.
Connor faced the thug. “Say there, friend, now that you’re here, would you like to take the lead?”
The man jammed the barrel of his pistol in Connor’s ribs, forcing him to wince. “No, you and the girl can carry on. I insist.”
Connor glanced at Kim. “You heard the man. I’ll follow you. You’re lighter, more agile, and have a nose for these kinds of things.”
Kim nodded, warily put a foot on a tile, then placed her full weight on it. When it didn’t snap, she selected another tile and moved over. Regrettably, the passageway was lower than the stairs, forcing everyone to stoop over. Connor waited until she was a couple of tiles ahead before following her. Even though it was cold, sweat soon poured from Kim’s face. Finally, the tunnel turned sharply to the left, and she pointed the way with her hand.
“How much longer does the tunnel go?” asked Connor.
“Maybe another ten meters,” replied Kim. “It’s hard to tell, but there’s a beautiful tapestry hanging at the end of the passageway. I think it marks the entrance to the tomb.”
“What’s the holdup?” demanded Gunnar’s stooge.
“Kim’s looking for traps,” said Connor over his shoulder.
The man burst out laughing. “Traps! There ain’t no such things down here. You’re just stalling.”
“Kim and I would rather be safe than sorry.”
“Idiots! Move aside!” The goon slammed Connor against the wall and shuffled past him.
“No, wait!” warned Kim as the man yanked her back and ripped down the tapestry, exposing a square-shaped room with a stone sarcophagus in the middle of the chamber.
“See, I told you there’s nothing to be afraid of,” said the man contemptuously. “Ghosts and ghouls are for kids.”
The gunman spat on the floor by Kim’s feet and waved his pistol in Kim’s face. “Maybe when we’re done down here, the two of us could put that bear rug back there to good use. Hey, darlin?”
Anger surged through Connor. He had seen enough and launched himself at the unsuspecting man. At the last second, he lowered his shoulder and struck the gunman hard in the back, knocking him off balance. The man staggered backward and tripped over his own feet. Then, in the blink of an eye, the floor gave way beneath him, and he fell back into an unseen pit. A horrid cry filled the chamber. Connor moved next to Kim and sucked in air between his teeth at the sight of the gunman skewered on a dozen centuries-old swords and spearpoints sticking out of the earth. One of the blades had severed the femoral artery in his groin, spraying blood everywhere. Unable to talk or move, the man lay there, slack-jawed, as his lifeblood drained from his body.
Kim reached down to help but was stopped by Connor. He shook his head and said, “No. There’s nothing we or anyone else can do for him. He’s going into shock and will be dead in the next minute or two from blood loss.”
“Are you sure?” asked Kim.
Connor nodded. “One hundred percent. Don’t forget, this man probably would have shot me and then raped you if he thought he could have gotten away with it.”
“Connor, weren’t you worried that the man’s pistol could have gone off when you hit him and accidentally killed me?”
Connor picked up the assassin’s pistol and wiped the dirt off the slide. He shook his head and showed the gun to Kim. “I saw that the safety was still on. The man truly was a fool.”
Kim wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Thank God for that.”
“What were you trying to tell our friend before he fell into the trap?”
“Back at the hotel, I did some reading and learned that if a trap was going to be present, it was almost always near the treasure.”
“Haste makes waste,” said Connor proverbially as he laid the tapestry over the open hole and the dead man’s body.
Kim turned on her heel and took in the magnificence of the room. Everywhere her light shone, gold glinted back at her. Shields, plates, cups, swords, and life-sized animals were made from solid gold.
“Darn, I was really hoping to find the Ark of the Covenant in here,” quipped Connor, looking around the chamber.
“That’s for another day,” replied Kim dryly.
“How much do you think all of this gold is worth?”
“Millions, maybe billions.”
Connor shone his flashlight at his feet. “Do you think the floor’s safe to walk on?”
“Yeah, I think so. But, if you let out a horrible scream, then I guess I got it wrong.”
“Swell,” said Connor. He warily walked toward the stone sarcophagus and looked down at a shield and sword chiseled into the lid. Connor reverently moved his hand along the shield, brushing away centuries of dust. A Templar’s cross and words in Latin appeared.
“Kim, do you think you could decipher this writing?”
“If I can.” Kim placed down a golden cup and joined Connor. She bent over and cleared some more dust away. “My Latin’s rusty, but I believe we’re looking at the final resting spot of Marc Grenier, formerly of the Knights Templar.”
“So, we’ve finally found X on the map. All we need to do now is find those scrolls, and we’ll be ready to trade them for Tiva in the morning.”
Kim and Connor rummaged through the room for nearly fifteen minutes before both admitted defeat.
“They’ve got to be here,” said Kim. “I can’t believe we came all this way for nothing.”
Connor didn’t know where else to look until his gaze was drawn back to Grenier’s stone coffin. “There’s one place we haven’t looked.”
“Ghoulish,” said Kim, “but I’m game to look inside if you are.”
Connor quickly examined the stone lid and realized they would need some of their tools if they were going to move it even an inch. “I’ve got an idea, but we’ll have to go topside for a minute or two to grab some tools.”
Kim nodded. “We can call Yuri, too, and see how he’s doing.”
“Sure, but don’t mention the gold.”
“Why not?”
“Because our satphone isn’t encrypted.”
“Got it. All right, let’s go.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“So, what did Yuri have to say?” Connor asked Kim.
“He’ll be here in a couple of hours with some of the equipment you requested.”
“Some?”
“He warned you it was going to be hard to get his hands on black-market equipment in Nuuk.”
“If he gets a third of what I asked for, I’ll be happy. Now, I guess it’s our turn to pull off a small miracle.”
Kim placed the phone on her pack and picked up a pickaxe. “Lead on.”
They carefully returned to Grenier’s sarcophagus and stood side by side at the base edge.
“For Tiva,” said Connor, jamming his pickaxe’s chisel head under the heavy stone lid.
