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

flames had been smothered. The skin on his face and hands peeled and blistered from the burns and his flattop haircut had been singed down to the scalp.

Then he opened his eyes to see Sean Wyatt standing over him with his gun. Without hesitation, Sean raised the weapon and clicked off a shot. The bullet smashed into a knee, shattering the joint into a bloody mass of tissue and bone.

Wailing, the man collapsed onto his side, both hands gripped the bloody mess where his kneecap used to be.

“Don’t move,” Sean remarked casually as he turned to leave the man twisting in agony on the floor.

Wyatt’s attention went to the other side of the room as the elevator continued its ascent.

Tommy was hanging onto Ulrich’s foot for dear life, but the strong blond man was dragging him along, struggling to get to the gun that was only a few feet away. Across the room, both combatants saw an orange-yellow flash followed by a howling scream and then a gunshot. Neither one could see beyond the giant column that was pushing the platform of the elevator up.

Ulrich was only a few inches from the gun, his fingers scratched against the hard floor in an attempt to pull closer to it. He kicked a couple of times, once catching Tommy in the face. Still, the man would not let go.

Tommy realized his attempt to impede Ulrich was futile. His jaw ached from the black shoe striking it. There was only one thing he could do. In one sudden movement, he released the blond man, who tumbled forward just beyond the gun. All Tommy could do was dive behind one of the stone boxes for cover before Ulrich could get off a shot.

The unexpected momentum had thrown Ulrich off only for a few seconds. He recovered quickly and snatched up the weapon, squeezing off three quick rounds at the sprawling Tommy. The bullets ricocheted off the sarcophagus and bounced, momentarily, around the room.

“Very clever, Thomas!” The voice was sinister as Ulrich stood up, firing another shot just over Tommy’s back. It pinged off the golden wall beside him.

“But now your little game is at an end,” Ulrich continued. He took a step forward, moving in for the kill, when another gun popped from somewhere else in the room.

Ulrich froze in his tracks. Looking down at his chest, he noticed blood slowly seeping into his shirt. He spun around quickly to return fire, but his reaction was too late.

Four more shots came from the other weapon, all of them finding the blond man’s torso. His legs wobbled for a moment then gave way, sending his now-heavy body to the ground.

Sean lowered the weapon and walked over to the man lying on the cold stone floor. Blood trickled down Ulrich’s face from the corner of his lips. His icy-blue eyes were wide with shock. His lungs gurgled beneath the crimson-stained shirt, struggling against the damage the bullets had inflicted.

With a final act of defiance, Ulrich tried to raise his pistol.

Another loud bang from Sean’s gun punched a dark hole through the man’s forehead, and the hand holding the gun dropped lifelessly to the floor.

Tommy peeked out from behind one end of the stone box. He saw his friend standing over the body of the dead Ulrich. Sean dropped the pistol onto the ground next to the body.

“Cuttin’ it a little close there, weren’t ya?” Tommy joked, staring down at his kidnapper.

“Sorry. I was a little preoccupied,” he jerked his thumb backward in the direction of the moaning henchman.

“What’d you do to him?” Tommy asked, not sure he wanted to know.

“Let’s just say, he won’t be winning any dance contests…ever.” Sean forced a smile.

“Should we call Allyson back down?” The elevator had gone all the way back up to the top.

“Give it a second, Schultzie.” He slapped his friend on the back. “This is what you have spent your life looking for.”

They both gazed in awe at the unimaginable scene before them. Their heads turned a full circle, taking in the scene.

“It’s amazing. I can’t believe we actually found it. Do you realize we are probably the first people to see this in thousands of years?”

“You’ve earned it, buddy.”

Then Tommy turned to Wyatt with a big smile. “Thanks, Sean, for everything. You’ve always been there for me. I knew you would come.”

“Someone’s got to take care of your dumb ass,” he said with a wide grin.

58

Eastern Georgia

Detective Trent Morris stared in utter disbelief at the scene before him. Around two hundred feet of pure- gold walls wrapped around the entire chamber. The ceiling panels too, were made out of gold. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen in his entire life.

The place was crawling with federal investigators, and a CSI unit had arrived shortly after the other squads. A coroner was there, as well, to tag and bag the body of the mysterious Jens Ulrich.

“He’s an international mercenary,” Will said, pointing a finger at the black bag. “Interpol has been looking for this guy for a few years. He’s been implicated in several assassinations and other murders all over the globe. But no one has ever been able to catch up with him.”

“A fistful of aliases and the right amount of money can get you a great deal of anonymity,” Morris added.

Sean nodded, glancing over at the burned guard being wheeled out on a stretcher, still moaning in excruciating pain. His first stop would be the hospital. After that, it would be on to a cell, probably for the rest of his life.

“Docs said your buddy McElroy is going to be okay. He’d lost a lot of blood when the paramedics found him, but it looks like the bullet didn’t