Solomon Key

Chapter 24

Maddock froze, his eyes taking in everything at once. He was flanked by two tall, solidly built men. Both had dark skin and the same East African accent as Nomi. It was no coincidence they were here. It couldn’t be.

“Make no sudden moves,” the man to his left, a bald fellow wearing all black, said. “We are both armed.”

“What’s this all about?” Maddock was stalling for time, hoping Bones might be somewhere nearby. One armed man and he’d take his chances. With two, he’d have to get very lucky.

“Don’t waste our time. Stand up slowly.”

Maddock rose to his feet and stepped to the side as baldy’s partner moved to block the secret door. The cathedral was nearly empty. No witnesses and certainly no one to come to his aid.

“What did you find back there?”

“Dead end,” Maddock said. There wasn’t much to be gained from lying; there was no hiding the collapsed ceiling and Israel Hands’ makeshift vault. Still, anything that might buy him time to escape or for Bones to turn up was a positive. “Not entirely a dead end. There’s a trapdoor that opens into a fireplace in an office. Nothing our television show would be interested in.”

The men exchanged knowing grins. Maddock saw that each held a small caliber pistol. Easily concealed, but deadly none the less. Without warning, baldy’s partner delivered a punch to Maddock’s gut. He took it with barely a grunt and returned a defiant glare.

“Solid,” the man said. “You must do your sit-ups.”

“Your wife works me out regularly.” It was a juvenile retort, something worthy of Bones, but it got a reaction. The man tensed, fist clenched. “Also, you hit like a girl. And I don’t mean Ronda Rousey.”

“Cleo, keep your head about you,” Baldy said.

Cleo looked like he was on the verge of trying something reckless, but he acquiesced. “As you say, Ronald.”

“We know who you are, Mister Maddock,” Ronald said. “Our cousin told us she had killed you and your partner, but we learned otherwise.”

“How did you find me?”

“Our family has many resources at our disposal. A few of our agents had a chat with your friend, the ghost hunting girl.”

“If you’ve hurt her…”

Ronald dismissed Maddock’s concern with a flick of a finger. “She is fine. We don’t kill anyone if we can help it.”

“Nomi didn’t get that memo.” Maddock was staring into the man’s eyes, but watching the partner in his peripheral vision. If the man were to come closer and lower his weapon just a little more…

“Nomi is reckless, impulsive. She is being dealt with.”

“In that case, maybe you aren’t as bad as I thought.”

Ronald bared his teeth in a mock-grin. “We only want to reclaim our inheritance. If you cease with the interference, you will be unharmed.”

“You think Solomon’s Mines are your inheritance? You believe you’re descended from King Solomon?”

“Not from Solomon, though we are his spiritual heirs.”

“Who, then?”

“It is of no matter,” Baldy snapped, all business again. “Tell me what you know about Israel Hands.”

“If you talked to Kendra, then you know just about everything we know. Or at least, what we theorize. We believe the pirate Caesar gave his ring to Israel Hands, who lived out the rest of his days in London. The fact that you’re here tells me you learned of the connection between Hands and the cathedral.”

“And why did you go through that door?” Ronald gestured with his pistol.

Maddock shrugged. “The crypt was a dead end. The tour guide told us about a secret door. I figured it was worth a look.”

“Where is Bonebrake?”

“Wandering around, hoping his dumb luck will kick in. He tends to operate that way.”

Ronald sighed, then, without taking his eyes off of Maddock, spoke to his partner.

“Cleo, see what’s back there.”

Cleo hesitated. “Should we dispose of him first?”

“We’ll keep him for the time being. I am certain he has more information. I’ll let you be the one to extract it if you like.”

Cleo beamed. “Christmas is coming early this year.” He gave Maddock a long stare, then, after checking to make certain no one was looking, slipped into the passageway.

“Close that door,” Ronald said. “Do it slowly.”

Maddock turned, squatted, and pushed the door closed. His heart was in his throat. What he was about to do was reckless, perhaps suicidal, but he’d get no better chance. He twisted like a swimmer changing directions and pushed hard off of the wall. He shot forward like a torpedo, driving into Ronald’s knees and bearing him to the ground.

The pistol discharged and the side of Maddock’s head burned. No time to wonder how badly he’d been wounded. He lurched forward, seized the wrist of Ronald’s gun hand and forced it to the floor. Winded, Ronald could only manage a feeble punch with his free hand. It glanced off of Maddock’s forehead, but he scarcely felt it. Knowing he might have only seconds before Cleo came to investigate the gunshot, he drove his fist once, twice, three times into Ronald’s temple. The man went limp and Maddock tore the pistol free.

Springing to his feet, he turned to see the secret door slowly swing open. He crossed the intervening space in two steps and kicked the solid stone door with all his might. It flew backward and Cleo’s muffled grunt told him he’d hit his target.

Behind him, Ronald was sitting up and shaking his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. Maddock drove a knee into his forehead as he ran past on his way to the exit.

“He tried to rob me!” Maddock shouted to a cluster of shocked-looking elderly tourists. “Somebody call the police.”

He kept running, hoping he wouldn’t hear the report of Cleo’s pistol. Just a little farther and I’m home free. Behind him, someone screamed.

Isla steered the hired Nissan around the corner, keeping her eyes peeled for Gowan. She hadn’t heard a peep from him since they’d separated. Their understanding was that, in situations such as these, she would take care of herself, and let him do the same. Still, she didn’t feel right abandoning him. They were partners of a sort.

Up ahead, she saw a commotion among the pedestrians milling on the pavement. She hit the gas and the car lurched forward. She’d chosen it because it was a nondescript family car that would draw no undue attention, but she wished it had a bit more power.

As she drew near the front of the cathedral, she spotted the source of the disturbance. Two men stood on the steps just below the doorway, looking up and down the stretch of street in front of St. Paul’s Churchyard. One man’s face was a mask of blood. The other, whom she recognized as the eavesdropper from earlier, was pointing a pistol around as if he intended to shoot everyone in sight.

“Oh my God. What has happened?” Her first thought was that they must be chasing Gowan. She had to help him. The man with the pistol pointed and the two descended the steps and began to run. “They’ve spotted him.”

A line of slow-moving vehicles slowed Isla down. Bloody London traffic. She was ahead of the two men but not by much. She pounded the steering wheel. “Move, you bawbags!” Then, with a rush of breath and a dizzying lurch of her stomach, she whipped into the oncoming lane and put the pedal to the floor.

Horns blared and a taxi cab ran up onto the opposite pavement to avoid crashing into her. Isla kept the Nissan as close to the center line as she could, squeezing past the blessedly sparse line of oncoming vehicles. All the while she kept looking for Gowan.

“Where the hell are you?”

A deep, booming blast from the horn of a tour bus reverberated in her ears and she looked up to see a mass of orange and black filling her vision. Cursing, she yanked the wheel to the left, shot through the line of traffic she’d been trying to pass. Somehow, she ended up unscathed, flying down New Change.

“Bloody hell,” she breathed. She’d outdistanced the men who’d been stalking them, but had she lost Gowan?

Then she spotted a familiar figure dashing along the pavement, headed toward Paternoster Row. But it wasn’t who she suspected to see.

“Maddock?” It couldn’t be. But it certainly was, and a few paces ahead was Bonebrake. And if they were here, that could only mean they were looking for the same thing as she. It would be too great a coincidence for anything else to be true.

She zipped past them and skidded to a halt at the corner of New Change and Cheapside, stuck her head out the window, and shouted at the two shocked-looking men.

“Get in!”

Isla felt every muscle in her body tense as Maddock and Bones climbed into the car. Bones spread his bulk across the back seat while Maddock slid into the front passenger seat. He didn’t speak or even meet her eye as they drove away. Her mind was a whirl of emotions. Why was he hunting for the mines? What was she going to say to him? Would he even talk to her considering he’d frozen her out ever since their parting in Scotland? Then again, she had just saved them from their pursuers. He owed her a thank-you, at a minimum.

“Appreciate the lift,” Bones said, seemingly reading her thoughts.

“You’re welcome.” She turned to glare at Maddock. He stared straight ahead, but a slight reddening of his ears said he was keenly aware of her gaze.

“Thanks,” he finally said.

She nodded and focused on the road. She was certain they had left the two men behind, but she kept checking her mirrors none the less.

“Any idea who those two men were?” she asked.

“I don’t know anything,” Bones said. “I was hanging loose outside when all of a sudden, Maddock bursts through the door and tells me to run for it.”

Isla couldn’t detect any emotion in Bones’ voice. She knew the man disapproved of her, and was certain she hadn’t forgotten the way she’d left them the last time they’d been together.

“You got any ideas, Maddock?” Bones said. “Did they say anything?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Maddock said in a flat tone. “You can drop us off anywhere,” he added.

“Not until I’ve gotten you well away, just to be safe. But given that they were stalking me, too, I think it would be fair to tell me what you know. It might help keep me safe.”

“Dude, you’ve got some nerve saying that to us after what you did,” Bones said.

There it was. Isla had known it was coming, but her face still turned a crimson mask of shame. “I know how it looked,” Isla began.

“Looked? Chick, we don’t care about how it looked. We care about what you did. You ditched us and ran off with the people who were trying to kill us.”

Isla stole a glance at Maddock, who betrayed no emotion.

“You’re right. I did run away. With my mother.”

“Who is a bigwig with the Tuatha de Danaan,” Bones said.

“Who, until a few minutes before that, I had thought dead.” Her eyes began to mist and sadness pinched at the back of her throat. Don’t cry in front of him! “Bullets were flying. I was frightened to death, and in shock at seeing my mother again. I didn’t run from you so much as I ran to her.” She turned to Maddock, a note of pleading in her voice. “Dane, you lost both of your parents. Can you honestly tell me you would be completely in your right mind if you suddenly found out one of them was alive?”

“Don’t talk about my parents.”

“I’m sorry. But I want you to understand. I have tried so many times to explain this to you but you won’t communicate with me. I wasn’t trying to abandon you, even though that was the end result. I can’t begin to tell you how badly I want your forgiveness. Both of you,” she added, glancing in the mirror where Bones stared back at her with a flinty gaze.

Maddock folded his arms, chewed his lip. Finally, he spoke.

“The people who are after us claim to be descended from Black Caesar. In their minds, that means Solomon’s ring, and the mines, are theirs.”

“Who the bloody hell is Black Caesar?”

Maddock finally looked in her direction, a frown creasing his brow. “What do you mean? I thought you were after Solomon’s Mines? Why else would those men have been following you?”

“I am on the trail of the mines.” She took a deep breath. She didn’t want to tell him anything, or perhaps she didn’t want to reveal how little she knew. “H. Rider Haggard spent a great deal of time at the cathedral. I thought he was studying a particular book, but it turns out he was spending time in conversation with a certain priest. He was apparently taken with the man’s stories. I know I’m grasping at straws, but Haggard is one of the few avenues I haven’t exhausted.”

Maddock nodded.

“Are you going to return the favor and tell me about this Black Caesar? It’s not like I won’t look him up the first chance I get.”

“Black Caesar was a slave turned pirate who, we believe, possessed Solomon’s ring,” Maddock said grudgingly. “He was arrested and sentenced to die. Before his execution, he gave the ring to a man named Israel Hands, who lived out his days in poverty in the area surrounding the cathedral. We thought he might have hidden the ring there or maybe given it to someone.”

“Did you find it?”

Maddock shook his head.

“So, what’s your next move?”

Maddock gaped at her, disbelief shining in his eyes. “We don’t work together anymore, Isla. You work for the Tuatha now. I suppose this is their next big plan? Use the gold from Solomon’s mines to what, bribe officials? Buy weapons?”

“No. It’s not like that. You don’t understand anything.”

“I understand enough. You’ve joined forces with the people who, a few months ago, were trying to kill us.”

“I’m wasting my breath with you,” she said. Anger welled up inside of her. The fool man wouldn’t even hear her out. “I could help you, you know. I’m not a member of the Tuatha, as you seem to think, but I have resources at my disposal. And I’ve been researching Solomon’s Mines. I have a lot to offer, but I’m sure you’re too stubborn to accept my help.”

“You got that right,” Maddock said.

“Fine. Where shall I drop you off?”

“The nearest pub will be fine,” Bones said.

Isla pulled to the curb at first sight of a pub. As Maddock unbuckled his seat belt and turned to unlock the door, she made a hasty decision. She reached into her purse and slipped out a tiny metal object. She reached out and grabbed the hem of Maddock’s jacket. He froze but didn’t turn to look at her. It pained her, but that was exactly what she’d hoped for.

“Please, just consider talking with me some time,” she said as she clipped the object to his jacket. “I want to make it right.”

Maddock gave a shake of his head and exited the car, slamming the door behind him.

“Just be that way, Dane Maddock,” she said softly. “Try and shut me out of your life. We’ll be seeing each other again very soon.”