Beverly inspected the concrete. Then she placed her hands on the right end of the oval and gave it a push. The oval’s right side swung inward and its left side swung toward her.
It’s a revolving door.
She shoved harder. The oval revolved another foot and I caught sight of a tube-shaped tunnel, roughly eight feet in diameter. Like the other tube we’d seen, the concrete looked old. But rather than being left in a crumbling state, workers had patched and repaired it in numerous places.
Looking backward, I saw the others had joined us. I lifted a finger to my lips. Then I strode into the dark space. Taking a few steps, I realized the floor ran at a slight incline. I took a few more steps. Then I paused as soft noises filled my ears. They sounded like voices.
Guess we’re not alone after all.
Chapter 72
“Hold it.” Beverly lifted a palm and fell to a knee. Shifting her head, she peered around a slight twist in the tube. “Okay, I see them.”
Overhanging LED lamps, connected by wires, cast dim light across the tube. Unfortunately, there was no way to extinguish them without bringing attention to us. “How many?” I whispered.
She held up four fingers. “Four armed guards,” she mouthed.
“What are they doing?”
“Moving stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Boxes and crates. Looks like they’re clearing out a storage room.”
I unsheathed my machete. “Let’s do this.”
Silently, we crept forward. As we passed through the twisting section, I saw another revolving slab of concrete.
A guard walked through the opening. He carried a wooden crate. He walked across the tube and placed the crate on a small stack of other crates. Then he brushed off his hands.
And turned toward us.
His head cocked to one side. He reached for his pistol.
Damn it.
Blade extended, I rushed the man.
His jaw dipped open.
Then he screamed.
Chapter 73
My blade rammed through the man’s chest. His scream died in his throat. He gurgled softly as blood poured from his mouth. Then he slid to the ground in a heap.
The other three guards rushed into the tube. Their guns swung toward my head. The air erupted with bullets.
Grabbing Beverly, I sprinted back to the twisting section of tube. Plastering myself against the concrete, I drew my gun. Then I fired a few quick shots.
The guards ducked behind the concrete slab. Sticking their guns out, they returned fire.
“So, that was your plan?” Graham arched an eyebrow. “Make a ton of noise and retreat?”
“That was just the first round,” I said.
“What’s round two? Wearing bullseyes?”
“Nope.” I checked my ammunition. “We play possum.”
I stayed still. Bullets sprayed the area, chewing the concrete and spitting dust into the air.
Footsteps sounded out.
Reinforcements.
I steeled myself for more gunfire. But instead, it grew sporadic.
I chanced a peek. The oval-shaped concrete slab remained open. The boxes and crates were still in the hallway. But the guards were nowhere in sight.
The dust began to settle. I perked my ears. But I heard nothing.
Guess they’re playing dead, too.
The air was sweltering. Sweat beaded up on my shoulders.
“Cover me,” I whispered.
Beverly shot me a nod and moved to the far left side of the tube. Crouching down, I hurried along the right side.
I stopped near the oval-shaped slab. Taking a deep breath, I aimed my gun into the semi-dark interior. Then I lowered it.
Where the hell did they go?
Chapter 74
“They just ran?” Graham said. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Benigno frowned. “Maybe they went to get help.”
“If there were other guards down here, we’d be fighting them by now.” I shook my head. “No, they’re regrouping somewhere.”
“What were they doing anyway?” Carrie asked.
“Good question.” I took another glance past the revolving oval slab.
Good lord.
We stood at the edge of what appeared to be a house of horrors. Full skeletons, mounted in display cases, hung from the walls. Paintings were situated between them. A quick scan showed a variety of images. A crowd carrying a casket. Dragons dueling across a countryside. A giant fireball, watched by gawkers, streaking across a night sky.
More bones, carefully placed in separate display cases, took up part of the small floor space. I also noticed old tools, ancient tomes in boxes, and — strangest of all — ice cores displayed prominently in high-tech sub-zero container systems.
Graham frowned. “What is this place?”
“It looks like a museum.” Carrie walked to a display case. It contained an aged vase, discolored with time. Intricate drawings of dead people standing on top of clearly trembling ground covered its surface. “This stuff is real old.”
Did that explain why Simona had taken the reliquary? Was she some kind of collector? Of what? The objects were bizarre with no obvious connection between them.
After a moment, I discarded the collector theory. Lila hadn’t been worried about Simona possessing the reliquary. She’d been worried the woman might use it to hurt people.
“How old?” Graham asked.
Leaning close, Carrie read a card mounted on the case. “It dates to 1347,” she replied. “And was found outside of Athens.”
Graham wandered to one of the sub-zero container systems. “These ice cores date to the mid-1300s,” he said slowly.
Beverly studied a painting of strange objects, frogs by the looks of it, raining from the sky. “And this was made in 1349.”
I scanned the area, searching for the reliquary. I didn’t see it, but I did notice the other objects also came from the mid-fourteenth century.
How old was the reliquary?
I didn’t know it’s exact age. But a fourteenth century origin date wasn’t out of the question.
I tried to think, to recall what I knew about that time period. But I was nervous, edgy. I kept looking to the revolving slab, expecting more guards to appear.
Finally, I waved at the others. We exited the small area. As we resumed our trek through the tube, a small part of my brain couldn’t stop thinking about the bizarre museum. Why had Simona obtained those particular objects? Why had she taken the reliquary?
And most importantly, what did she intend to do with it?
Chapter 75
The tube widened by a considerable margin. Apprehensively, I strode into a large cavern, roughly thirty to forty feet wide and twice as long.
I saw separate tubes, all lined with concrete, on the far side of the cavern. One tube ran northeast. The other two tubes took a slightly more northern course.
I walked forward and turned around. I saw two tubes to the west. They ran southwest, parallel to the one we’d traversed.
Instantly, I realized the room in which we stood was made up of three separate tubes. The walls between them had been knocked down. Pillars had been erected in their place.
To the east, I noticed a cleanroom, virtually identical to the one used as a production facility. Large generators buzzed and crackled. Wires connected them to the cleanroom, the overhead light fixtures, and other machines. Still other wires veered into the connecting tubes, presumably providing electricity to the old tunnel system.
“Body,” Beverly said tightly. “Over there.”
I shifted my gaze. My eyes crinkled at the corners.