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“Of course. He was sent to enlist his sister’s help, as she had the knowledge.”
“So why did you need me?”
The screen door opened and two men entered.
One of them pounced, wrapping an arm around his neck, the other pinning his hands behind his back. The second man jammed a fist into his right kidney.
Pain shot through him.
Bile rose in the back of his throat.
His father smiled. “These men are now going to provide what you so easily gave to me.”
Another fist slammed his abdomen.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Cassiopeia entered the mine, the same lights from before burning bright, the way ahead clear. She kept to one side of the tunnel, the gun tight in her right hand, finger on the trigger. She came to the gash in the side wall that led to the gold chamber. Back to there? Or keep going deeper into the main shaft?
She heard voices.
From beyond the gash.
So she headed toward the gold chamber.
The wooden door she’d shoved her way through before hung wide open. Shadows danced along the interior walls.
Voices continued.
“You’re friggin’ crazy,” a man yelled.
She made her way to the doorway, careful with her own shadows. A quick peek inside revealed three men lying on the earthen floor, hands and feet bound with rope. The same three from the bee house at Morse’s place. Proctor stood over them with a gun aimed downward. Where was the other man she’d seen loading, the one who hadn’t left with the truck?
She stepped into the chamber.
Proctor saw her.
But before he could raise his weapon she fired a bullet at his feet.
“Let the gun drop,” she said.
He smiled and did as ordered. “I’ve been waiting. I assumed Morse’s granddaughter would find you after I took the old man, and that’s exactly what she did. We left enough of a trail that anyone could follow.”
“Where is Morse?”
“Gone. In the truck.”
“I didn’t see him.”
“He was tied in the back, unconscious.”
She did not like the sound of any of that. “What’s the rule? No knight kills another. Except you?”
He turned his palms upward and shrugged. “I simply administer justice.”
She motioned for Proctor to step toward the maw in the floor, the same one she and Lea had been imprisoned in. “Your turn to jump.”
He stepped to the edge.
The three men still lay on the floor, one now close to where she stood. A quick glance down and she saw that the bindings on his wrists were not tied. The rope simply lay loosely across his skin. Before she could react to the new threat, his arms shot out and clipped her legs out from under her.
She pounded to the ground.
Another of the three men from yesterday pounced and her gun was wrestled away.
“Excellent,” Proctor said. “Good work.” He reached down and relieved her of the gun. “These three offered to assist, and who am I to refuse such graciousness.”
She felt like an idiot at being played.
“Get up,” Proctor ordered.
She stood.
“We all had a little talk before you arrived,” Proctor said. “It seems that a gentleman back in Washington, a man named Grant Breckinridge, hired them to impersonate knights of the Golden Circle. They were sent to find the Witch’s Stone.”
“Which you now have,” she noted.
“That I do. I explained to these gentlemen that before and during the War Between the States, membership in the Order was deemed an honor. Men were carefully screened and vetted before being asked to join. The North was the enemy, and all who did not see it that way were regarded as the enemy, too. Even if those men be Southerners. I envy those times. Things were so much simpler.”
“We did as you wanted,” one of the three said. “Can we go now?”
Proctor held up his hand. “In a moment. First, indulge me.”
The other man she’d seen earlier entered the chamber and she caught a slight nod of his head toward Proctor.
A signal that something had been accomplished.
“The Order’s induction ceremony back then was most impressive,” Proctor said. “Men wore crimson robes with silver lace. They had turbans on their heads and sandals on their feet. Then there were the masks, painted to represent a human face. Not their own, of course, but another of their choosing. So perfect were the masks that, in the right light, they appeared real. Two oaths were required. Both taken solemnly before God. Once done, all of the knights would remove their masks, revealing their true selves, and clasp the new member with hugs and handshakes.”
“Sounds like a big boys’ club,” she said.
“That it was, meant to build an army, and it did. Tens of thousands became knights. They went on and became soldiers, administrators, governors, legislators, infiltrating every aspect of the North and South. A network of eyes and ears that wreaked havoc. What an honor it must have been to be a part of all that.”
Proctor fired three shots, one each into the skulls of the three other men. Their bodies collapsed to the ground.
“These imposters disgraced the memory of it all.” He lowered the weapon. “I imagine death is no stranger to you.”
“It seems to be your best friend.”
“I do my job.”
Proctor motioned and the remaining man scooped up some of the rope and bound her hands behind her back. He then shoved her to the floor and tied her ankles. The man then stepped back to the doorway and retrieved two rucksacks, which he laid down on the other side of the chamber. From inside each he removed some sort of electronic device with wires running from it.
“Those backpacks contain dynamite,” Proctor said. “We’ve already left more in the tunnels. It’s time for this place to disappear. With you inside. But, as I said when we first met, I am a gentleman, so I plan to give you a sporting chance.”
He reached down, grabbed her bound ankles, and dragged her ten meters away from the floor chasm. He released his grip and she rolled over to see him step back to where the rotted wooden ladder jutted up from the opening’s edge. He removed a knife from his pocket and flicked his wrist, exposing an impressive serrated blade, which snapped into place.
He crouched down and jammed the tip deep into the old wood.
“It might be helpful,” he said. “Then again, maybe not.”
He stood and headed for the doorway. The other man pushed buttons on the top of each device and a LED display indicated three minutes.
“Goodbye, Ms. Vitt,” Proctor said.
And they left.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Diane opened the apartment door and invited Lucius Vance inside. The Speaker appeared flustered.
“We have an issue.”
She closed the door and listened as he explained about Danny Daniels’ visit to the Willard Hotel.
“You didn’t know he’d been appointed to Alex’s vacant seat?” Vance asked, reading her face.
She shook her head. “I haven’t paid attention to the news today.”
“No one called you?”
There’d been calls, but she’d ignored them. “I’ve been here, working on things in the quiet.”
Vance knew zero about the gold hunt. Why should he? He knew only about Kenneth’s initiative with the state legislatures and the
call for a second constitutional convention. Amazingly, Kenneth had apparently kept the gold part of their endeavor close, not sharing it with either Alex or Vance, as neither of them had ever mentioned anything about lost treasure.
“He knew exactly what we said last night,” Vance said. “Word for word.”
Which was troubling.
“Your protective agent thought he heard something. Remember? You told him it was nothing. Apparently, you were wrong.”
“I don’t recall your being overly paranoid, either.”
No, she had not been. “Which means if Daniels knows what we said, he also knows what we did.”
The kiss.
And their talk of an affair.
“He’s after us,” Vance said. “My guess is he secured that Senate appointment to give himself a beachhead.”
And Kenneth’s missing notebook now made sense. It had to have been Daniels who took it. He had opportunity, and now she knew he had a motive. But she kept that conclusion to herself. “What are you going to do?”
“Not a damn thing. We’re going ahead, as planned. I just met with my people on the Rules Committee. They’re ready to adopt the change first thing tomorrow. They understand the risks and are ready to take them. There’ll be a twenty-four-hour delay from the time they take their committee vote until the measure goes to the House floor for a full vote. I can’t get around that. And even if I could, it wouldn’t be smart. It would seem too much like a ramrod. So there’s going to be some attention. But the House is sick and tired of the Senate’s shenanigans. Everyone I talk with is ready to change things up.”
“What about the White House?” she asked.
“Fox? That moron? Before he realizes what’s happened, he’ll be impotent. After that, he won’t matter.”
Vance seemed both sure and confident.
“Daniels was asking about Alex’s death,” Vance said. “He even threatened me on it, thinking I might have been involved. Is there anything to worry about there?”
