“Just keep moving,” Hunter said, looking around, paranoid.
Tommy hoped he’d chosen correctly. One way or the other, they’d find out soon enough.
Adriana noticed the pathway leading down to the base of the waterfall and stepped onto the old, stone staircase casually. “Looks like this takes us down to the bottom.”
The three moved as fast as they could, carefully navigating the slippery stone steps down to the base of the waterfall.
Sean’s eyes fell upon the wall near the waterfalls. He noticed a small ledge leading around the rock face and behind the deluge. “There,” he said as he pointed. “They must have gone that way.” Sean stepped quickly up onto the narrow edge, careful not to slip, and started shuffling to the left towards the falling water. The others followed and copied his movement.
It was tricky going for Sean since he wore a small backpack. He wanted to press further into the rock to keep his balance but doing so was impossible. Finally, as he reached a point behind the waterfall, the path began to open up into a sort of platform. He turned and faced the rock wall and a dark door that had been carved into it. The others arrived at the same spot a few moments later and followed his gaze at the emblem above the entrance.
“You have seen this symbol before?” she asked Wyatt.
He nodded. “It was on the stone we found in Georgia. I guess that means we’re in the right place.” Without warning, he started moving toward the entrance.
“You sure about this?” Will asked, halting him in his tracks momentarily.
Sean tossed him a small flashlight and switched on his own. Wyatt turned and faced him. “No. But Tommy’s in there. So that’s where I’m going.”
Angela’s team had arrived at the river but saw no sign of the group they were following. After searching the riverbank they found several different footprints leading to a ledge near a waterfall. Further inspection led them to a stone stepping path that worked its way down to the bottom where the falls poured into a foamy pool. There was still no sign of their targets so they had proceeded down the only way that made sense. One of her men had nearly fallen over the precipice but had been saved by the team leader who had grabbed his shoulder just before he had completely lost his balance. Once they had reached the bottom, the trail went cold. On the rocks there were no footprints to track.
She ordered a few of the men to go over to the riverbank to see if they had left the rocky area and continued on downstream, but there was no sign of any movement beyond the point where they were standing.
The team leader walked over to the rock face and noticed the stone ledge. “They could have gone this way,” he stated.
Weaver had been looking downriver when he spoke. She walked over to the spot and ran her hand along the narrow pathway.
“Careful not to fall into the water,” he said to her as she climbed up onto the ledge. “That water looks harmless enough but there could be an undertow.” His words carried and ominous tone.
Fortunately, she was thin and well balanced. She leaned back easily against the rock and started moving towards the falling water.
Sean stared at the three doorways, each with an odd symbol above it. Which one should we take,” Sean asked.
Adriana was lost too. “I know a lot about these things but I’m not sure.” She pointed at the Greek symbol of Theta. “I know we don’t want to go that way.”
“Why not?” Will questioned as he stepped over and dared to look closer into the portal.
“Because that is the Greek symbol for death.”
He nodded his understanding and slinked away from the doorway.
“The other two are confusing, though,” Sean added.
She agreed. “Yes, they both have conflicting messages.”
Will looked confused. “What do you mean, conflicting?”
Sean pointed at the Egyptian symbols over the middle door. “This symbol was used mostly during the reign of a Pharaoh named, Akhenaten. He replaced some of the other religious symbols with this one. It represents the sun god, the giver of life.”
Adriana continued his thought. “But the king introduced the idea that there was only one great god. So the deity this symbol represents can also be the bringer of death.”
“And that one?” Will asked, pointing to the door on the far right.
“It’s a similar issue,” Adriana answered. The two Aztec symbols on the bottom represent life and death. The snake, though, seems oddly out of place. It could mean that particular deity held sway over life and death as well, but, typically, that was not the case with the serpent god.”
“So, how do we know which way to go?”
Neither answered. They turned back to the symbols and stared at them. Their expressions were of deep concentration, as if they could somehow will the answer out of the ancient rock.
Will stepped back over to the main entrance and peeked around the corner. He saw Weaver heading towards the cave entrance on the narrow ledge, followed by several agents. He looked back into the room and saw the two flashlights pointing back and forth at the symbols. Satisfied the other two were busy, he waved his hand at Angela, trying to get her attention.
Angela saw Will peeking out from a corner about forty feet away. It looked like he was attempting to communicate. His hand signaled her to stop moving. She’d been playing second fiddle long enough to Will Hastings. He had always been The Prophet’s little pet. There was no way he was going to get the glory for this. She pulled her left hand off the rock face and waved back at him, then with her right hand quickly raised her gun and squeezed off three shots.
Will had seen Angela going for her gun. Fortunately, he had only slightly revealed himself from the cover of the cave entrance. He ducked back as she fired her weapon, sending rounds pinging off the stone near where he was looking out. He didn’t understand why was she shooting at him? She and James were supposed to be working with him. He risked sticking his own weapon around the corner. More shots resumed from her position, keeping him pinned down.
Suddenly, more bursts ensued from other positions. Her team had opened fire. Bullets sent sparks and stone fragments flying around him. And there was no way for him to fire back. Resigned, he hurried back inside the room.
Will looked grave. “We have company. Probably ten agents or so. We need to go now.”
Adriana and Sean looked at each other. They were both standing in front of the middle doorway.
“We think it might be this one,” Adriana said.
Will moved across the room but suddenly stumbled and fell to the floor in front of the door on the right. A few feet away from his hand was something shiny. He turned the beam of his flashlight on the object and realized what it was. “I think you might be going the wrong way,” he said as he lifted up a shiny quarter.
Sean stepped over to see what he was holding. “Tommy must have dropped it for us so we would know which way to go,” Sean said as he took the coin from Will.
“Looks like we’re going through door number three,” Will raised an eyebrow.
The others silently agreed and followed him into the passage. Sean stopped at the threshold and thought for a moment. Then he took the quarter and flipped it over to the far left doorway.
Chapter 65
Angela Weaver stood with her back to the wall, next to the entrance of the cave. The last man on her team was about to reach the flat area near the entrance when an insect flew near his face. He swatted at the bug with one hand causing him to lose his footing on the wet ledge. His feet slipped out from under him and he fell into the churning water below. Only a short scream could be let out since the drop was only twelve or so feet. Weaver and her team stared through the spray into the foaming pool. The unfortunate agent never resurfaced.