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

“Just hang on there, old timer,” Joe replied. “You’re gonna be just fine.”

Allyson was grabbing her cell phone to call 911.

The old man kept talking, “We have kept the secret long enough.” His body racked with a cough, and a small trickle of blood seeped from the corner of this mouth. “They are too close now. You must…go to where the raven and the dove meet. Do not…let them succeed.”

Allyson was talking on her cell. “Yeah, we have a man with a gunshot wound at the Beacon Tabernacle. Send an ambulance right away. He’s in the front of the building in a room off near the stage entrance. Address? I don’t know the address. Just hurry.” She ended her call and rejoined the group.

“Where the raven and the dove meet,” the old man continued. “That is where you will find it. The first chamber…it…” his eyes grew wide with fear, and he gripped Sean‘s arms tightly. “You must not allow them to find the next stone.”

“But where is it? Where is the stone?”

“The raven…and the dove face each other. Let their stones guide you…they meet in the middle. The altar…you must find the…key.  Climb the stairs...of Heaven.”

With that, the man’s head went limp, and his eyes closed. Joe laid the gray head down gently on the floor. “Poor old guy.”

“He’s not dead.” Sean pointed at the bony chest slowly rising and falling. “Just unconscious. There’s nothing we can do for him now. Cops should be here soon. If we don’t get out of here now, we may never catch those guys.”

“We can’t just leave him here, Sean.”

“Allyson called an ambulance. They will arrive any minute. If the police get here before we’re gone, we will get arrested and have no chance of saving Tommy.”

Joe seemed to consider it for a second.

“Look, Mac. You heard what the man said. He wants us to find the chamber. We have to go.”

Nodding, Sean’s friend stood up, a look of resolve on his face. “Let’s go get ‘em then.”

“Right.”

The two men darted to the door with Allyson right behind. Sean eased open the heavy portal carefully. The asphalt was empty except for the beat-up Silverado and what they assumed to be the sexton’s car.

Once again, the men who’d abducted Tommy had slipped through their fingers.

“Got any idea where they went?” Allyson asked as she put away her gun.

“Yeah, I do now.”

49

Nevada

A handful of afternoon guests sat busily on the veranda of the palatial mansion. They chatted about investments, the economy, and the various properties they had acquired or sold in recent weeks.

Hardly a hot-dog-and-beer crowd, most sipped on rare scotch, top-shelf vodka, and well-aged whiskey. Smoke from a few cigars wisped around, spiraling up and into the open air of dusk.

The host of the party stood near the outdoor bar sipping on a glass of twelve-year-old Jameson Irish whiskey. It wasn’t the most expensive of drinks, but it was by far his favorite. Smooth and warm, it was his regular drink of choice.

He had been chatting with his colleagues, but something was keeping him on edge. In fact, he’d probably had a few drinks too many, and the one in his hand wasn’t going down slowly either.

It had been a few hours since he had heard anything from his contacts, and the anticipation was driving him mad.

For ten years, he had searched for something that would help him find the trail to the Golden Chambers. A decade of frustration and disappointment had almost caused him to give up hope.

Then, from the ashes rose the most random of opportunities. An archaeologist in Georgia discovered the first stone, the beginning of the trail…

He’d met with the man several weeks before and discussed a financial proposal so he could purchase the piece. Thomas Schultz had hardly been accommodating. Whether it was foolish pride or haughty defiance, he had been unwilling to part with the object.

The man had made a second offer, an astounding amount of money even for someone with the means of wealth that Schultz possessed, and still, the proposal was denied.

So he left Schultz’s office empty handed and angry. He had worked too hard and spent too much time and capital to be denied by some insolent archaeologist.

Indeed, Schultz probably did not even realize the entire story behind the Golden Chambers. There were only a few on the planet that knew the beginning part of the legend. But the end, that was what the old man was truly interested in. The gold itself was but a small portion of the true reward that waited at the end.

Most of his guests didn’t even notice him slip away when the cell phone in his smoking jacket began to ring.

“Hello?”

“Ulrich is out of control, sir. He is leaving a blood trail in his wake, and I fear his recklessness is drawing too much attention. I recommend you let us intervene.” The voice of the woman on the other end was concise and direct.

The old man twisted his head around in both directions to make certain no one was listening. “Where is he now?”

“On the interstate, headed south. I’m not sure where they are going though.”

He pondered the situation. Ulrich had become sloppy. Then again, he knew this would happen. He would never invest so much without doing his research first. The blond contractor had served his purpose thus far. “Continue following them. Watch the situation closely. If it gets out of hand, you know what to do.”

“Sir, I highly advise…”

“I know what you advise,” he cut her off, “but they are up to something. Follow them, and see what it is.”

He paused for a moment before adding, “Are the other