The Minoan Cipher

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

As Hawkins pulled into the parking lot he finally figured out what was nagging him. He sat in his car and called up the photo Lily had relayed to his phone. When he’d first seen the picture, his eye had been drawn to Kalliste’s face and the creatures at her sides. This time he saw something he hadn’t noticed before.

Kalliste had her arms crossed in what he had taken to be a defensive posture. The thumb of her right hand was extended vertically in an unnatural position. The invisible line from her thumb tip pointed toward the archway above her head. Painted on the lintel was a double-headed axe that matched the one in the maze diagram. Kalliste had used the photo to show where she was being held.

There were two calls on his phone as well. Molly and Abby. He was already twenty minutes late for his meeting with Lily. He tucked the phone in his pocket, got out of the car and headed toward the opening in the wall bordering the park. A hard-packed sand path led to a boulevard that ran between the rows of benches and odd-shaped trees.

No sign of Lily. He wondered if she had left because he was late. He started to walk down the boulevard. Ahead of him, a figure in black stepped out from the trees into the yellow puddle of light cast by one of the tall lamps that lined the boulevard. The figure waved. It could only be Lily. By the time he got to the lamp, she had stepped back into the woods.

He stood under the light and called her name.

Her answer came from the shadows. “I didn’t want anyone to see us together. Follow my voice. You’ll come upon a path. The professor is with me.”

The last thing Hawkins wanted was to play hide-and-seek with the spacey TV producer. He stepped between two topiary trees and came upon a narrow path into the woods. After walking for a hundred feet he stopped where another path intercepted the first; he was uncertain which way to go.

Lily called from the darkness to his left, “Over here, Matt.”

He followed her voice through some bushes and broke out into a clearing. Lily was standing in the open area, barely visible in the moonlight. As he started walking toward her, she spread her arms. Hawkins steeled himself for the inevitable embrace. That’s when all hell broke loose. From overhead there came an ear-shattering thrashing racket. The palms whipped as if in a hurricane. The downdraft kicked up a blinding cloud of sand and dust. He was caught in the staccato glare of blinking lights from a hovering helicopter.

Calvin’s voice thundered down from the heavens, “Matt, get out of there!”

Hawkins covered his face with one arm and waved with the other.

“Do it now, Matt,” the voice said. “Head for the sea.”

Hawkins made his way through the palm grove to the path leading to the seawall. As he emerged from the park, he saw the red fuselage and yellow suns on the side of the hovering HelioTours helicopter, which was starting its descent.

The downdraft had nearly blown Lily off her feet. She buried her head in her arms until the helicopter flew off, then she brushed away the sand that covered her black dress. As the dust settled, she looked around. Hawkins was gone.