Liberty

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Remind me never to question your sniffer again. You’re a regular hound dog,” Bones whispered.

Dane ignored him, and slowly moved toward the branching tunnel. He could sense Bones moving soundlessly behind him. When he was about a foot from the tunnel, a throaty rumble punctuated the air. He summoned every ounce of willpower he possessed and did not shine his light back in that direction.

Once onto the slope of the tunnel, Dane slid without any need to propel himself forward. The ride lasted only a few seconds before terminating with a painful crash into a large rock. He bounced sideways onto dirt and shined his light forward. He saw a few more feet of tunnel, muddier than what they’d been in so far. Beyond that was a mass of brown vines.

He heard Bones land behind him. At least he assumed it was Bones, not one of the bears. “You okay?”

“Never better. I think they’re awake, though.”

The rumble came again, only this time it was followed by a full roar.

“What gave it away?”

Dane moved to the vines. He definitely saw light coming through, but they were very dense. He stuck a gloved hand into the mass and was able to penetrate almost to his shoulder, but he didn’t feel an end to it.

“Stand back!”

Dane jumped aside as Bones launched himself from a three point stance towards the vines. The low apex of the tunnel forced him to stay crouched, but he still made impact with tremendous force.

Most of that force was repelled instantly. Bones crashed to the ground with one arm still stuck in the vines. Dane expected him to writhe in pain, but he looked up and his eyes shone with something not far from madness.

When Bones pulled his hand out, more light came in. Dane grabbed the vines with both hands and was able to tear some out. He could now see the shadows of trees outside, fading in the dusk. They had a way out if only they could make the hole a little bigger.

Bones backed up and Dane stepped aside again. The repeat charge finally broke through, and Bones disappeared through the hole, whooping as he did. Dane followed, hearing the sound of something crashing to the ground behind him. Even if he hadn’t known the bears were coming, the roar that accompanied the landing would have given it away.

Outside, Bones was on his feet and backpedaling across snow-covered and rocky ground, once again holding the AR-15. Dane scrambled to his knees, but slipped on a slick rock. He rolled over and saw a bear emerge only a few feet away. The bear rose to its hind legs and opened its mouth.

“Stay down Maddock.”

The next sound Dane heard after the warning from Bones was a double gunshot. Chunks of stone flew near the bear’s feet, and the bear swatted at the ground with a paw. A moment later, Bones fired once more and the bear abruptly turned and bounded back through the vines.

Dane got to his feet and looked at Bones. “Tell me that didn’t just happen.”

“Okay. We didn’t just turn tail and run away from an angry mama bear and her two cubs.”

“Those were cubs?” Dane marveled.

“Half the size of the bear that came out, so that’s what I figure. Good thing a few shots scared her away.”

Dane shook his head. “You realize that word of this can never reach our unit?”

“Word of what?”

“Exactly.”

Dane moved his AR-15 from his shoulder to his hands. “Think the Sons of the Republic were still around to hear your shots?”

“I almost hope they were. We’re probably only a couple hundred yards from there.”

They kept their lights off, allowing their eyes to adapt to the darkness as they moved. Dusk wasn’t complete, and they moved slowly without any problem.

Dane spotted the line of trees, which they had been following when Bones fell in. They found the spot, but still saw no sign of their adversaries.

“Think we should turn on the light?”

“No.”

Dane was surprised at the uncharacteristically terse answer. “Do you have a plan?”

“I’m considering shooting that guy over there.”

Dane scanned until he saw a light bouncing in the distance. “Maybe we should question him first.”

“Probably. Let’s get close.”

The crunch of ice and snow made stealth more difficult, but soon enough they were only a few feet away from a figure shining a light down what Dane saw were the stairs from the far entrance to the cellar. He turned on his light and summoned his best impression of a television detective.

“Turn around with your hands in the air.”

The figure jumped a foot and tripped upon landing, sprawling into the snow. Dane exchanged a glance with Bones, who shrugged. Dane stepped forward.

“Turn over slowly.” The figure complied, showing himself to be a man about fifty years old bundled in a dark colored parka. He wore glasses with thick frames, and his freckles were obvious even in the limited light. Before Dane could say anything else, the man spoke in a high pitched voice.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“How about you tell us what you’re doing here?”

The man looked like he wanted to argue and then noticed the Glocks. He took a deep breath, but his voice sounded steady when he answered. “Would you believe I’m visiting my family’s ancestral land?”

Bones snorted. “In the dead of winter after dark. How about you try again?”

“It’s true.”

The man mumbled something under his breath, which Dane didn’t understand. Dane shook his head. “Ancestral land, huh? What’s your name?”

“Octavius Marshall. Who are you?”

“You’re better off not knowing,” Dane said. “So why come out here now?”

Even in the dark, Dane was struck by how still Marshall remained when he answered. “My twin brother Cornelius was killed a couple days ago. I tracked the killers here.”

Dane frowned. “Killers? And you tracked them to your family’s ancestral land?”

“I can understand you being skeptical when I talk about killers.”

“Actually that part doesn’t surprise me. But what about the land?”

“To be honest, I’m only speculating. But I know the family owned several properties out here in the nineteenth century and I know there was a fire and one of them was abandoned. I also know they killed Cornelius, so it’s a logical conclusion.”

Dane felt exposed standing out in the open with his attention not on his surroundings. But he could sense that Marshall either had some useful information or was seriously playing them. He needed to find out. To Bones he said, “Can you keep an eye on our six?”

Bones nodded and Dane looked at Marshall, unable to get much of a read on him in the dark. “Back up a second. Who killed Cornelius and what information? And how did you find them and follow them?”

“How do I know you’re not with them?”

“And how do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Fine, fine, you’re the one with the gun. I went to see Cornelius yesterday and I found him dead.”

Marshall’s voice caught a bit, but he continued. “I also found a couple of guys there searching the house. They didn’t see me, so I waited until one of them left and then I followed him. Last night, he got on a private plane with some other people. I found out where they were going and flew out here as well. I didn’t find them, but I discovered they came to this place.”

He looked down at the descending stairs. “I guess I missed them.”

Before answering, Dane took a moment to process what Marshall had just said. “Your story has some holes in it. Like how do you know these guys killed your brother? And what the hell were you doing trying to follow his killers? Not exactly a safe move.”

Marshall reached into his pocket. Dane steadied his weapon. “Stop right there.”

Marshall said, “Ah, right. I am reaching for a gun, that is true, but I was going to show you that I wasn’t totally defenseless following them. Can I take it out?”

“Do that. Do it slowly and drop it on the ground.”

Marshall did. Dane said, “Seems like you weren’t paying that much attention. We crept up on you easily enough.”

Marshall shook his head. “Yeah, you’re right. I was just a little overwhelmed when I saw this place. But you asked me how I knew they killed my brother. When I got to his place, his body was slumped in a chair at his kitchen table. Before I followed the guy, I took my brother’s pulse. He was dead, no question. He was ice cold, too. I called 911 but I didn’t stick around. I wouldn’t have been able to follow the guy, plus what would have been the point?”

Bones stopped scanning the area and shone his light towards Marshall. “Sounds like a lot of BS to me. How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

“Come on, chief, I just lost my brother, I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“You do realize how offensive it is to call a Native American ‘chief?’ Don’t forget, I’m a foot taller than you and armed.”

Marshall sighed and shook his head. “So you’re gonna shoot me because I’m insensitive?”

Bones opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. This was the first time Dane could ever recall the big man at a loss for words. He looked at Marshall and decided to be a little more direct. “So you didn’t see anyone here earlier?”

“No, I just got here.”

“Well, we’re looking into something. Did you know anything about your brother’s medallion?”

“The Celtic cross?” Marshall’s brow furrowed. “Don’t tell me that turned out to be important.”

“We don’t know for sure, but it could be.”

Marshall’s shoulders sagged, and his voice lost some of its energy. “I knew it. Cornelius always screwed up like this. He needed the money and sold it, but I always thought there was a story behind it. What did you find?”

Bones set his jaw. “Enemies.”

“Enemies?” Marshall paused. “You mean you think the medallion had something to do with him being killed?”

“Assuming we buy your story, then I think it’s a safe bet.”

“Yeah. You know, the reason I went over there is because ever since the night before I had the sense something was wrong with him. They say twins have some sort of special sense, which mostly seems like crap, but I had a really bad feeling. Looks like I was right.”

His voice gained some volume and he looked up. “Hey, we should team up, see if we can find those guys and hunt them down.”

Dane couldn’t help but run his eyes over the smaller man. “No offense, but I think we’ll be better off on our own. I’m impressed that you were able to follow them, but this is going to be dangerous. It already is. You may want to disappear for a while.”

“Don’t you worry about me, I can take care of myself. And I still think we’ll be better off working together. I can be the brains, you guys will be the brawn.”

Bones stuck an index finger in his chest. “Or we could just be the brains AND the brawn.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize how that sounded. You know, what I mean, we’ll be better off with more of us trying to figure things out. I already figured on tracing the registration of the plane they took out here. I can help you, I swear.”

Dane said, “So what exactly do you bring to the table, besides being the first man to ever say something that shut Bones up? Why do we need you?”

If it weren’t for the glasses and freckles, Marshall’s grin might have appeared menacing. “I can tell you about the coat of arms on the envelope.”

Bones snorted. “We already figured that out in under an hour at the library.”

The grin disappeared. “Well I can tell you the tail number on the plane.”

“Nothing we couldn’t get by working some of our contacts in the service, but I’ll grant that it would save us a little effort.”

Marshall nodded. “Absolutely. Plus, I also have something else you guys might want if you’re interested in the Celtic cross.”

Dane took a step closer and allowed himself to edge up onto his toes to increase the amount he towered over Marshall. “And what is that?”

“If I tell you, can I work with you?”

Bones glared at him. “No, but I might keep myself from slapping you. No promises.”

“Okay, okay ch—” He stopped himself as Bones scowled.

“I have the document that was in the envelope.”