Freedom

CHAPTER 6

“So, we have to figure out the connection between a butter knife and a lantern.” Dane shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he had just said.

“Paul Revere made them both?” Bones asked.

“It is entirely possible,” Jillian replied, back into teaching mode. “Revere also worked with brass, and if the other lantern is any indication, the second one would be made of the same material.”

“That’s not much of a connection though, is it?” Bones waved at a pesky swarm of gnats that had taken a liking to him.

“Did anyone get a good look at the first lantern when they found it? Were there any markings like this on it?” Dane asked, pointing to the Revere brand on the knife.

Jillian shrugged. “That, I couldn’t tell you.”

“Do you have anything else that could help us?”

Jillian reached back into the satchel and pulled out two items: a folded map, as well as a hardcover book entitled Historic Lighthouses of Cape Cod. She handed both over to Dane.

He immediately opened the map. Bones looked over his shoulder.

“What is it?” Bones asked.

“It’s a map of the Freedom Trail,” Jillian said. The Freedom Trail incorporated many of Boston’s most important historical sites, and numbered among the city’s most popular tourist destinations.

“There are some spots that have an X drawn through them,” Bones noted. “What’s that about?”

“I suppose those are places that my father has already searched for the lantern.”

Dane tapped his chin and looked over the map, noting the numerical locations and matching them up with the key in the lower right-hand corner. Many of the spots, the late Professor Andrews had searched. He had already marked out the Park Street Church, King’s Chapel, the Old Corner Book Store, the Old South Meeting House, and the Boston Massacre site. He looked toward Faneuil Hall. The professor hadn’t searched it yet, he thought.

“He didn’t get to Faneuil Hall, though.”

“The Paul Revere House is on the Trail.” Bones pointed out its location in North Square, one block south of Hanover Street.

“Right,” Dane added. “And he’s already been there to find the knife.”

“But there’s no X. Neither is there an X on the Old North Church, Copps, Constitution or the Bunker Hill Monument. There’s a whole mess of unsearched places here.”

“At least he eliminated a few.” Jillian sounded affronted.

“No written records?” Dane asked.

Jillian shook her head. “He’s been busy, though. Yesterday, he went to the Old State House.”

“Where the first lantern is,” Bones said.

“He came home, dropped off the map, and went out to meet someone. Remillard, I guess.”

“You’re sure it’s okay with you that we take up the search on his behalf?” Dane asked.

“I’d be grateful.” She gave him a tired smile. “Where do you think we should begin?”

“Remillard gave us a clue — the wreckage of Somerset. We thought we’d see if we can’t find the wreckage.”

Just then, a shiny, black sedan pulled up to the curb. The passenger door opened, and a man dressed in jeans, an Oxford cloth shirt, and wraparound sunglasses stepped out. He looked around for a moment, and then his eyes locked on Dane and the others.

“I’ve seen him before” Jillian whispered. “He came by the house asking for Dad just a few days ago.”

“Do you have a car nearby?” Dane asked, not turning his head. He kept his eyes on the newcomer. Another door opened, and another, similarly-garbed man exited.

“Yeah.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.

“Bones, give her the book and the map. Let’s get out of here. Jillian, you lead the way.”

Bones and Jillian moved a split second before Dane saw the newcomer reach behind his back.

“Gun!” Dane shouted and took off after his friends.

“Hey, stop!” The newcomer’s yells chased them around Faneuil Hall toward Quincy Market.

“Hurry, you two!”

“I better not twist an ankle and spend the rest of my leave laid up,” Bones barked.

“You’ll spend the rest of our leave in the freaking cemetery if you don’t shut up and haul ass right this second, Bones.”

The trio ran hard as a bullet buzzed past them and smacked into the hard granite of the old market building. Dane hadn’t heard the gunshot. They must be using a silencer.

“Faster!”

Another bullet buzzed past them, ricocheting off the cobblestones near Dane’s feet. As long as they kept moving, a shot with a handgun at this distance would be difficult even for a talented marksman. Still, neither bullet had missed by much.

They turned the corner as a third shot barely missed Bones’ heel.

“This is it.” Jillian pointed to a shiny, new BMW parked in the shadow of the Central Artery.

“Give me the keys,” Dane demanded as Jillian opened the driver’s side door.

“I don’t think so,” she countered. “I know the city better than you.”

Dane snatched the keys from her, vowing to apologize later, if they got out of this mess.

“Get in.”

Jillian shot him a dirty look and reluctantly climbed into the back seat, as Bones had already wedged his lanky frame into the passenger side. Dane got in, closed the door, and quickly started the car. He slammed the accelerator to the floorboard and peeled away from the curb.

“If you scratch my father’s car, you’re toast.”

“I think we’ve got bigger fish to fry right now.”

They shot through a yellow light, narrowly avoiding a taxi cab turning left. Gunning the engine, they left the blaring horn behind them.

“Hopefully they won’t have time to regroup and come back.” Dane’s hands were tight on the wheel and adrenaline coursed through him. “The first one had to have been in the middle of the mall by the time we pulled away, and the second one wasn’t too far behind.”

Jillian squealed in fright as Dane made a hard right, barely touching the brakes.

“Don’t worry. I’ll try not to scratch the paint while I’m busy saving our lives.”

“What I’m worried about is walking away from the pile-up you’re about to cause.”

Dane’s cheek twitched.

Bones lowered the passenger visor and angled it to look out the rear window. “I don’t see them back there. Bummer. I was ready for a chase.”

“Maybe next time.”

“So, where are we going?” Bones asked.

“We’ll take Jillian somewhere safe, and then you and I have an appointment to keep this evening.”