Lindsey was deep in thought, staring out the nearby window. His chin rested on the two middle fingers as his index finger slowly scratched the skin on his cheek. The white hair on his head was disheveled and scraggily, showing parts of his freckly skull beneath.
“What are you thinking about?” The Frenchman’s voice was huskier than usual.
Lindsey snapped from his thoughts suddenly, slightly surprised. “It is a shame that Will hasn’t reported in. I fear the worst has happened. It isn’t like him to go more than a few hours without checking in.”
DeGard offered no sympathy. “He is expendable. Just like all the other grunts who work for you.” He shrugged and played his hands as if he were throwing away a piece of wadded up paper. “Let it go.”
The old man’s face boiled. His tired, gray eyes filled with fury, and he leaned over the space between the seats so he was close to level with DeGard’s knees. “You shut your mouth, Frenchman, or I will shut it for you permanently. Do you understand? Will is not expendable. He is my most trusted asset.
Kaba entered the cabin of the plane and saw Lindsey’s blushing face hovering close to DeGard. She interrupted their exchange with a rare smile. “Someone is here I think you will be happy to see.”
Lindsey’s expression turned curious. “Who could I possibly want to…” Before he could finish, Kaba stepped out of the way and allowed a young man, probably in his upper twenties, walk by. He was lean and athletic, with shortish brown hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in a few days. His jacket was torn, and the dust on it matched the grime and dirt on his pants.
“Sorry I’m late, Sir. I had to catch a ride out in the desert.” Will staggered in, but remained standing.
The old man’s face lit up in a fraction of a second, but he squelched the emotions just as quickly. The brief joy that Lindsey had shown was strange for DeGard to behold, and he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
Lindsey stood up and offered the younger man a seat next to where he’d been. Will slouched down, exhausted.
“What happened to you?” Lindsey asked, sounding slightly annoyed. “I’ve tried calling you but your phone goes straight to—”
“I got shot,” Will interrupted. “Sean Wyatt shot me, and I fell of the train.”
Lindsey appeared genuinely concerned for the briefest of seconds. “Shot? Where? Do you need medical attention?”
Will shook his head slowly and pointed to the side of his chest that the bullet had stopped. “Those phones you gave us, they’re pretty tough. The thing stopped the bullet. Otherwise I’d have a ripped apart lung, and probably be dead.”
The realization hit Lindsey. “The phone stopped the bullet?” Again, Will nodded. He doubted his employer would bother him about the phone calls anymore. A bullet explained everything.
“You’re quite fortunate,” the old man stated. “We need to get you some food and water he turned his attention to the young woman still standing at the front of the plane, “Kaba, could you get something for Will to eat and some water.”
She gave a quick nod and started to head to the back of the plane, but Will reached out and grabbed her leg, stopping her in mid stride. The move would have been one that could have gotten an ordinary man killed, or at least the arm bent in an awkward and broken direction. For Will, she would allow it.
“Along with that water, could you bring me a scotch on the rocks. I need a drink in the worst way.” She passed him a sliver of a grin and continued down the aisle.
Will turned his attention back to the other two who were looking at him like he was a breathing dead man. “So, where are we going?”
“Turkey,” the Frenchman spoke up. “I believe that the clue we discovered points the way to the mountains of eastern Turkey. Not that we’ll find anything of interest there.” The last part he nearly said under his breath, but both counterparts heard the jab. They also both decided to ignore it, Lindsey merely casting a snide glare.
Will leaned back in the leather chair and put his head against the headrest. “So, that’s where this journey will end and a new one will begin.” Before he could begin to relax, a thought occurred to him and he sat back up quickly. “What about Wyatt and his little group.”
Lindsey waved a dismissive hand then stuck it into his jacket pocket. “They will be left far behind. We were able to retrieve this from the third chamber.” He produced the small, round stone and handed it to Will.
Will cradled it gently as he eyed the piece. He didn’t understand the writing on it, nor what it could all mean. But the French archaeologist knew what it meant. At least, he hoped the guy did. DeGard seemed to know his stuff, so if he said that the place they needed to go was Turkey, Will and his boss would have to go with what the man said.
He handed the object back to his employer. “So you got the only clue that could tell Wyatt and his friends where the next chamber was?”
Lindsey gave a quick sideways nod that seemed to say a sarcastic, “Oh well.”
“I was looking forward to finishing off that self-righteous has been. Perhaps I will see him again someday.”
Kaba returned carrying a tray with a roast beef hoagie on a French roll, and a rocks glass with yellowish-brown liquid and three ice cubes. She cast him a quick smile before heading to a seat a little farther to the rear of the plane. The six men from outside entered the cabin and closed the door just before the jet started moving.
Will took a huge bite out of the sandwich, and chewed it slowly like it was the best thing he’d eaten in his entire life. He put the food down on the silver platter and reached over for the drink then took a long, slow sip before letting out an “ahhh.”
“Nothing but the best. That’s one of the things I love about working for you, sir.” Will set the glass back down and took a less aggressive bite of the sandwich.
Lindsey crossed one leg over the other and sat back in his chair. “Speaking of best, I was wondering, how was it that Sean Wyatt got the best of you?”
Will nearly choked on his food, but managed to gulp it down before speaking. The few seconds it took him to get the bite down gave him enough time to gain his composure. No one ever questioned him about his methods or his effectiveness. To be fair, he’d never screwed up before, so there’d never been reason to. That was probably one of the biggest reasons he hoped to meet up with Sean Wyatt again someday. From the sound of it, that rendezvous wouldn’t be soon. But it would happen eventually. Of that he was certain, even if it took him out of his way to make it happen, he would see Sean Wyatt again.
“I was going to take them all out while they slept. It was three in the morning when I approached their car where they were sleeping. For some reason, Wyatt was awake and moving through the train cars. I don’t know. Maybe he couldn’t sleep or something. I took some shots at him when he realized who I was. He got lucky. It won’t happen again.” Will stopped talking for a minute and stared down at the floor. Then, he reached over suddenly and grabbed his glass of Scotch, downing the thing in one swallow.
Lindsey remained calm, but concerned. “I don’t think we will be having any more problems with Mr. Wyatt. As stated, we have the only link to the location of the final chamber. I fail to see how Wyatt and his companions could ever conclude as to where its location could be without this stone.” He held it up proudly for a moment before placing it back in his pocket.
Will was somewhat surprised by Lindsey’s reaction. The Prophet had been ruthless to people who failed him. He recalled the man Lindsey had thrown out of a helicopter into Lake Mead, and the two men on his council that had been placed into the brazen bull. He’d seen the contraption once when he was visiting Lindsey’s mountaintop mansion. Will had never heard of anything like that before that day. He imagined it to be an excruciating way to go. Such was the price of betrayal.