“You need not worry about it.” Salvatore’s voice had regained the fatherly, reassuring tone he often took when talking to her about a difficult situation. You and Kennedy have a head start, and you are well-equipped. Finish the job, and finish it soon, and we won’t have to concern ourselves with anyone else.”
“Yes sir.”
“Good luck, figlia mia.”
The call ended and Tam sat staring at the wall. The last thing she needed was Kennedy and two of his lackeys, no matter how moronic, interfering. She was close, she could feel it. But if they interfered…
She ordered up another Baden Baden Stout, the signature beer of the Brazilian microbrewery of the same name. Beer was seldom her drink of choice, but this particular beverage complemented the spicy food nicely. She took a sip, enjoying the rich, smoky flavor with a suggestion of dark chocolate and burnt coffee. She let the cool drink and calm atmosphere sooth her jangled nerves. She was a professional, and she would face whatever came her way.
She took another drink and smiled.
A complicated job had just turned into a Gordian knot. Oh well, a knotty problem required a bold stroke, and she had plenty of those up her sleeve. She wondered for a moment if Salvatore would still think of her as “daughter” when this was all over.
Chapter 15
As they drew closer to the arch, Dane’s certainty grew. This was the same place shown in the painting. It had to be significant.
“So, now will you tell me all about your brilliant idea?” Bones asked, leaning on the rail and gazing intently at the stone formation.
“It was Fawcett’s complaints about all the ‘infernal birds’ that got me thinking. I believe they took refuge on Botswain Bird Island, not on Ascension.”
“The book did say it was a small island,” Bones agreed. “I get it. You think the arch in the painting was more than just a signpost to Botswain Bird Island. You think the arch itself is important.”
“Yep. And we’re told that Fawcett tried to recreate the map to Kephises. I think, while he was off keeping to himself and brooding over their situation, he carved a new map from memory, or at least tried to.”
Bones thought for a while. “You know, Maddock, you could be right. Didn’t the book say that Fawcett screwed it up, though?”
“He said it was an incomplete map. Fawcett was a perfectionist. If he felt he’d left out even the smallest detail, he would have been unhappy with the finished product. I’m wagering he did a reasonably good job of replicating what the native had given him. It’s the best hope we have, in any case.”
They anchored Sea Foam a safe distance from the shore and began their search. Willis and Matt headed for a spot that looked like a likely place for the crew of Quest to have taken refuge. They would head out from there, scouting out any possible pathways Fawcett might have taken. Dane and Bones went to take a closer look at the arch itself.
It wasn’t spectacular, by any stretch, but it was impressive in its own way. It was a thick column of stone rising up from the churning surf, curving in to meet the imposing cliffs of Botswain Bird Island.
They inspected the base of the arch, then used binoculars to scan its surface on either side, but they saw nothing that looked like a map, or even a hiding place where one might be secreted. A search of the island in the immediate vicinity of the arch proved fruitless as well. They checked in with Willis and Matt, but the two had not had any luck either. Discouraged, they sat down on a stone slab in the shade of the arch, letting the salt spray cool them.
“I’m thinking we’re going to have to expand our search area.” Bones didn’t sound disheartened, but neither did he seem pleased at the prospect. “Of course, covering every square inch of this island might suck, but it’s better than the alternative.”
“Which is?” Dane was only half-listening. He gazed up at the underside of the arch, turning the problem over in his mind.
“Scouring the entire Amazon basin looking for Thomas. I don’t know about you, but I want to be done with this and back home in time for football season.”
Dane had to laugh. “You know there’s nothing in the world you’d rather be doing than what we’re doing right now.”
Bones look affronted. “What? Sitting on a rock in the middle of nowhere getting our butts wet?”
Dane grinned and stretched, working the kinks out of his head and neck. “Maybe we should get back to the search,” he said, tilting his head back and popping his neck. And then he spotted something. It was only a shadow, a pool of black below the spot where the arch met the cliff face, but as his eyes fell on it, a bird took flight from somewhere inside its dark depths. He stood transfixed, keeping his eyes on the spot as if he feared it might disappear if he looked away even for a moment.
“What is it?” Bones craned his neck to see. He spotted it almost immediately. “No freakin’ way! Do you think it might be?”
“Only one way to find out.” Dane turned a conspiratorial glance his way. “Race you to the top.”
The first fifteen feet of the climb were a challenge. Here the edges of any cracks, protrusions, or irregularities in the stone had been rounded off by the surf, but the way grew easier as they ascended. Dane reached their destination first and hauled himself up into a cave just wide enough for two men to squeeze inside. He turned and gave Bones a hand, hauling his friend in behind him.
“You cheated, dude,” Bones grumbled. He prided himself in his climbing ability and hated not being the first one somewhere.
“Your arms and legs are just too long,” Dane replied, unhooking his mag lite from a clip at his waist and shining it around.
“Tell me how that makes any sense at all.” Bones took out his own light and together, they inspected the cave. The passage cut straight back into the rock, with no end in sight. “Do you really think Fawcett could have found this place? I mean, we almost missed it.”
“I think Fawcett could do just about anything.” Dane was confident in his assessment. “He was maybe the greatest explorer of the twentieth century, and he was stuck on this pile of rock with nothing else to do. I think he would have explored every nook and cranny. Let’s just hope you don’t get stuck in here.”
“I’d better go first in case it gets narrow farther back,” Bones said. “Anywhere I can fit, we’ll know you can get through, too. If I’m behind you and get wedged in, it could get ugly.”
“Oh, I’d just kick you in the head until I jarred you loose, but if you want to go first, be my guest.” The two switched positions and Bones headed off into the darkness, Dane right behind him. They had only gone about twenty feet when he stopped short. “Whoa, dude!” The passage came to an end at a deep crevasse. They shone their lights down to reveal a fifty foot drop onto jagged rocks. “Not fun.”
“See that?” Dane trained the beam of his light on a tangle of bone and decaying fabric amongst the rocks below. “We’re not the first to come this way.” He wondered who the person was and what had led them up to this place. Another adventurer on the track of Fawcett, or just an unfortunate soul who had gotten a bit too curious or too careless?
“You want to try to jump across?” Bones shone his light to the spot across the way where the tunnel continued on the other side of the chasm.
“I don’t think this would have stopped Fawcett, do you?” Dane gauged the distance. It wasn’t too broad a leap. It was the consequences of failure that made it a bit more interesting.
“No, but I don’t think your little legs will carry you that far, do you? It’s a good ten feet. That’s a long way for an old man like you”