The Secret of the Stones by Ernest Dempsey (reading fiction .TXT) 📕

of Cartersville. Every few minutes or so, Sean would glance in the rearview mirrors to make certain no one was following them. A couple of times, he thought he had seen a car changing lanes with him, but then the vehicle turned off of an exit a few minutes later. He hadn’t survived this long by being careless, and the people they were up against had to be considered extremely dangerous.

Even though Sean suspected the worst, something told him that his friend was okay for now.

Allyson interrupted his thoughts as if she could see inside his head. “I’m sure Tommy is still alive.” A sincere smile accompanied the hopeful words.

He appreciated the sentiment. And most of him believed his friend was, indeed, alive. Still… “Logic would dictate that he is all right. If whoever kidnapped him wanted him dead, they would have already done it, like with Frank.” Sean shook off the thought, “No, they need him for something.”

“But what is it?”

“The only thing I can figure is whoever took Tommy can’t decipher the clues. I guess they think he can. He knows more about the Golden Chambers than anyone else in the world. If anyone needed someone to help unravel the mystery, Tommy would be the go-to guy.”

He clicked his left blinker and swerved around a minivan with a soccer ball sticker on the back. There was no hiding his cynical smile. She, apparently, didn’t notice.

“I don’t understand,” she began again. “If these Golden Chambers do exist, why hasn’t anyone ever found them? It’s got to be hard to hide four giant golden rooms for so many centuries.”

“Not really. I mean, think about it: Every single day there is a new historical discovery somewhere in the world. Entire cities that were once thriving metropolitan areas of the ancient world are being uncovered as we speak. Whole cultures that disappeared suddenly are found under the very ground people walk across every day.”

“I guess.” She was half-convinced, a smirk on her face.

He gave her an equally teasing look. “I’m just saying, there is a world of stuff out there that hasn’t been found. That’s why the IAA exists.”

“So, let me get this straight, you guys look all over the world for random historical artifacts that no one else knows are there? That pretty much right?”

“Yep.”

“But your organization does other stuff, too, doesn’t it?”

Sean looked at her for a moment, at least glad that he didn’t have to explain the whole story to her. “Yeah,” he said as he turned the Maxima off the interstate and onto the exit. “We do a lot of charitable work, but one of our main functions is in the area of education.” The car turned right off the ramp and onto a two-lane road heading into the foothills of northwestern Georgia.

“Do you go into schools and talk about ancient treasures and all that?”

A small chuckle escaped his mouth. “Sometimes. The kids certainly like to hear about those kinds of things. When you go into a school and tell young people about some of the things that we have discovered, they get excited about history. That’s how we hook ‘em.” Sean smiled at his final remark.

“Everyone gets excited about treasure,” she responded.

“Of course. But the more important part of what we do in relation to education has to do with the establishment of the Georgia Historical Center.”

“It was quite an impressive accomplishment just to get the real estate for that in the middle of Downtown Atlanta.” Now the reporter inside of her was coming out a little.

“Well, we had a few very generous contributors.”

“Like Tommy Schultz?”

He gave her a curious glance but said nothing.

“Oh, come on. Everyone knows that Tommy inherited a ton of money when his family died, and shortly after, you guys started up the IAA and purchased the land near Centennial Olympic Park. That stuff is no secret.”

“We had some generous donations from several contributors. That’s all I am going to say about it. Of course, we did receive some large grants for the project, as well.”

“Well, I think it’s great that you have put such a strong emphasis on the unknown history of the world, especially the state of Georgia.”

“It has been a really cool venture. Kids all over the state have learned about the history that surrounds them. Tommy has been looking for the Chambers of Akhanan for a long time. A find of that magnitude would put the whole region on the historical map. Up until recently, historians regarded the Native American history in this country as less important than European or Asian history. If we can find a connection to the Chambers of Akhanan here in the Southeast, all of that would change. The history of the world itself would change.” The passion with which he spoke was mesmerizing.

Allyson admired the way that he talked. Maybe, if her history professors in college had been more like Sean Wyatt, she might have paid a little more attention in class, or at least not fallen asleep. Sometimes, she wished that she was in a line of work that she liked better. Journalism certainly had some positives about it, but there were times that she loathed her job. Long hours stuck in a cubicle could drive even the most avid writer to madness.

Realizing her eyes had been lingering for a few moments, she averted them to the dark passing countryside. If Sean noticed her look, he didn’t say anything. Silence was blurred only by the hum of the car engine. Up beyond the road ahead, just over the distant Blue Ridge Mountains, the moon peeked out from behind the dark silhouettes.

“What a beautiful view,” she broke the minutes of quietude.

Smiling, he