He stared at the base of the wall, scouring his memory for details. "It said Seward's explorers had found something important in Alaska, something he called the anomaly. The letter didn't say what it was or exactly where it was. Whatever it was, Seward thought it was big enough to spend over seven million dollars to keep it from anyone else."
"The Alaska Purchase," Adriana said.
"Precisely. Whatever is hidden out there was scary enough to spend seven million they didn't have in the national coffers. They were still paying for the war by the time the purchase went through. The country was in a recession. The last thing we needed to do was blow a bunch of money on a giant icebox."
"There must have been a pretty convincing reason, then," Emily said.
Dawkins thought for a second. "National security," he said.
"Sir?"
"Seward suggested that the security of the nation rested upon the purchase of Alaska, that if the anomaly were to fall in the wrong hands, it would be a threat to the safety of the entire country."
His words hung in the air for a moment.
"The KGC… if they're really behind this like you said, would have their fingers in more places than we know," Dawkins said in a grave tone. Then he remembered something else. "The letter… it mentioned something about the KGC knowing about the anomaly. Seward didn't just want to hide it from the Russians or the South. He wanted to keep it safe from them, too."
"And now it would appear they have reared their ugly head and attempted to kill you, sir," Emily said.
"And burned Sean and Tommy," Adriana added.
Emily turned her head and faced Adriana with a confused expression. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Sean and Tommy," Adriana went on. "Their bank accounts have been wiped out. Sean tried to call you at Axis HQ, but they said his code didn't check out and they had no record of him being affiliated with the agency."
Emily's face turned ghostly white. From her reaction, the other two immediately realized she had no idea what Adriana was talking about.
"Sean's been burned?"
"Yes. He has a temporary phone, as does Tommy. The kids and June also purchased burner phones in case they needed to reach out, though those three are lying low right now."
"Where are they? We need to make sure they're all right."
"Sean and Tommy or the other three?"
"All of them."
"Sean likely won't give away his location at the moment, but last I heard he was in Atlanta. I'm guessing he and Tommy are trying to figure this thing out."
"With no resources," Dawkins jumped in. "They won't get very far without money. And their cars are probably being tracked."
Adriana shook her head. A wry grin crossed her face. "I think you forget: Sean can be… resourceful."
Chapter 18
The overnight drive from Chattanooga to Auburn, New York, took a little over thirteen hours. Sean and Tommy encountered little traffic in the early morning hours and were able to make better time than they expected.
It was just after 7 in the morning when they arrived. Most of the small town's citizens were headed to one of the local diners or coffee shops to get their day started with a cup of joe or plates full of eggs, pancakes, and sausage.
Sean and Tommy did their best to blend in, opting to grab breakfast at the counter of one of those local diners. No one seemed to pay them any mind, treating them as they would any out-of-towners.
After a quick breakfast of eggs, hash browns, and oatmeal, the two friends killed time milling about the village for a few hours. The museum didn't open until 10 in the morning, which was less than optimal for a couple of guys in a major hurry.
They found the town had several shops, quaint little boutiques, and some mom-and-pop restaurants, but other than that didn't have a lot going on.
When they'd exhausted the town's entertainment options, they went back to the car and waited, keeping it parked in a shaded area a few hundred feet from the museum.
The views of the town and surrounding countryside were straight out of a wintry Norman Rockwell painting. The roads had been cleared with plows and salt, but everything else had a fresh, snowy look to it. Tree branches bent under the weight of white powder. Long, pointy icicles hung from gutters, awnings, and eaves.
There were few children out and about, which told Sean and Tommy school was probably still in session.
Back in the South, school got canceled if there was a 30 percent chance of snow in the forecast, often without seeing a single flake.
Up north, they dealt with it. Life had to go on, after all.
Tommy took a nap in the passenger seat while Sean kept a lookout. It was only fair. Tommy had done most of the driving during the night since he was better at it than Sean.
After sitting in the car for nearly an hour, he looked at the clock and saw it was 10 minutes to 10.
"Hey, buddy," he said and nudged Tommy on the shoulder. "Time to go."
Tommy squeezed his eyes and then opened them wide. He rubbed his face for a second and then propped his seat upright.
"Man, I guess I was tired."
"Well, you only drove for, like, nine hours last night, so…" Sean opened the door and stepped out onto the wet pavement.
Tommy slumped out of the car and zipped up his coat. "Yeah, I know. Back when we were in college and high school, I could do a drive like that and be ready to go the next morning, no problem. Remember that time we drove out to Colorado to go snowboarding?"
"How could I forget? We took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of nowhere Kentucky at one point." Sean laughed and stepped onto the sidewalk. "Yeah. It was dark out, and we missed a turn."
"And snowing. It only delayed us, like, two hours."
"Ugh, I know. That was my bad."
"You looking for an argument?"
Sean shook his head. "Come on. The sooner we get in there, the better chance we have of getting a few minutes of the curator's time before the rest of the tourists."
The Seward House was originally built by a local judge, Elijah Miller, in 1816. When Seward married Miller's daughter, the judge required the newlyweds to live in his house, a requirement Sean thought strange when he first read it.
It was a beautiful, stately home and on immaculately kept grounds, though the landscaping and gardens were covered in a blanket of snow. The home's light brown walls were accented by dark brown window shutters, railing, roof and doors, giving it a look that tiptoed between Spanish villa, Mediterranean, and colonial.
The interior smelled like a museum, which made sense since most of the furnishings were original, straight from the Seward family collections passed down through the decades.
A woman in a cherry-red cardigan and a black dress stood just inside the entrance. Her name tag said she was Janice.
"Hello, and welcome to the Seward house," she said in a nasally accent. It took her half a second to realize who Sean was. "Oh, welcome back, Sean. Back for more investigations on your little project?"
"Morning," Sean and Tommy said. Their Southern drawls weren't always prevalent, but whenever they went up north the accents seemed to deepen a bit.
"Yes, ma'am," Sean said. "And I was wondering if I could meet with Mr. Johnstone for a few minutes. I have some questions regarding a few items you may have here."
"Sure thing," she said with a polite smile. "He just arrived a couple of minutes ago. He's in the office in the back. You remember where it is, right?"
Sean nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."
"Happy to help."
Sean led the way through the foyer and into the hallway where it split off in different directions. A great room with tall, ornately decorated drapes, fancy wallpaper, and plushly upholstered seats was off to one side. On the other side was a smaller sitting room with the original hearth and more chairs circling around the fireplace.