Icefall (Dane Maddock Adventures) (8 page)

By the time they reached their car, the group was rounding the corner of the hotel. He breathed a sigh of relief, set the backpack containing the skulls in the back, and slid into the driver
’
s seat. He looked at Uhlrich, who was standing on the sidewalk staring back at the hotel. He called his name, but Uhlrich raised a hand.

“
Wait a moment. I will be right back.
”
With that, he vanished in
to the swirling cloud of white.

Angel pulled up her hood, lowered her head against the wind and snow, and hurried along the sidewalk. How dumb had she been to leave her purse in the rental car? She wasn
’
t a girly girl by any measure, but her wallet, passport, and phone were inside it and she didn
’
t want to risk it getting stolen.

She was in such a hurry that she didn
’
t notice the man approaching her until he was almost on top of her.
They
had just passed one another moments before. Great! Another random stranger hitting on her. She was about to deflect his advances with a polite rejection when he reached out, grabbed hold of her French braid, and yanked her forward.

“
Come quietly and...
”

His words ended in a grunt as Angel drove a fist into his gut. An average person would have instinctively tried to pull away from the attacker and get loose from his grip, but Angel was not an average person. Her fighting instincts kicking in, she drove the heel of her palm up into her attacker
’
s chin. He turned at the last instant and her strike caught him on the jaw. He took a step back, trying to yank her off balance by her hair. Angel barely noticed the pain; she
’
d had much worse in the octagon. As he moved backward, she scooped one of his legs and drove him backward. He was bigger than her, and maybe stronger, but he was caught completely off guard by her aggression. He stumbled back against a parked car, letting go of her hair as he fell hard to the ground. She heard the whoosh of breath leaving his lungs and the satisfying
thunk
as his the back of his head cracked the sidewalk. The snow probably cushioned the impact, but not by much.

“
Don
’
t you know,
”
Angel growled as she pummeled his face with sharp blows,
“
boys shouldn
’
t fight girls?
”

The man flailed about weakly, trying to fight her off and regain his breath at the same time. She should probably get away while he was still too stunned to chase her, but she wasn
’
t
known
for making good decisions when angry. He caught hold of the front of her coat with one hand and pulled her toward him. She used the added momentum to her advantage, driving her elbow into the bridge of his nose. Her coat was thick, but the padding was not enough to save his nose. Two more elbows in quick succession and it was a flattened, bloody mess.

He sucked in a deep, rasping breath and let out a cry of rage. With a sudden burst of strength, he rolled her off of him.
Angel scramble
d
away before he could pin her down.
The man was up on his knees but instead coming after her, he pulled an automatic pistol from his coat pocket.

Angel
’
s roundhouse kick struck him in the temple and he went limp. His eyes glazed and, like a felled tree, plunged forward. Just for meanness, she added a front kick to his face as we went down. She caught him at an awkward angle, and pain shot through her ankle, but she could not stifle her feral grin.

She hesitated for a moment, wondering where the pistol had fallen and if she should search for it.

“
Uhlrich?
”
An unfamiliar voice called from down the street. A shadow appeared in the whirling snow. Resolving into the form of Uhlrich
’
s companion
–
the odd one who hadn
’
t been wearing a jacket.

Still pumped from her beatdown of
Uhlrich, Angel entertained
a fleeting thought of taking the fight to this guy as well before common sense overrode adrenaline. Reminding herself that Bones was the dumb one in the family, she turned on her heel and ran.

Jade was already awake when Dane rolled out of bed. The previous evening
’
s events, followed by the news that Angel had been attacked outside the hotel had kept the wheels of his mind turning until well into the night. When they discovered the missing skulls, they knew why the men had come.

He and Bones had taken turns staying awake, though neither of them expected the men to return. They had the skulls, and didn
’
t know about the existence of the three hares disc.

He sat up, closed his eyes, and inhaled the welcome aroma of coffee. Exactly what he needed to start this cold morning.

“
It
’
s about time.
I’ve been on the web for hours.
”
Jade did not look up from the tiny screen of her phone which she was using to search the internet.
“
I
’
ve already solved the mystery while you were dreaming about... sand, or whatever it is you dream of.
”

“
Seriously?
”
He sat up straight, feeling wide awake.

“
No.
”
She turned and gave him a coy smile.
“
But since you
’
re awake, how about pouring me a cup of coffee.
”

He gave her a playful swat on the hip and rolled out of bed, sparing a moment to work out the kinks from sleeping on a mattress that was much too soft for his likin
g. He poured two cups of coffee:
black for him, two sugars, no cream for her. He sat her cup on the nightstand on her side of the bed, opened the curtains to let in the glow of the snow-frosted city, and settled into a nearby chair.

“
I do have an idea, though.
”
Jade took sip of coffee and regarded him over her cup. When he didn
’
t bite, she made a mocking pout that melted into a smile.
“
Fine. Don
’
t let me have any fun.
”

“
Tell me, my wise and beautiful queen...
”

“
No!
”
She held up her hand.
“
Too late now. Just sit there, drink your coffee, a
nd enjoy the fruits of my labor
.
”
She picked up the hotel note pad she
’
d use for her note-taking.
“
Aside from the message on the disc, our clues are: the three hares, the wise men,
an
d
the wise and foolish virgins. Agreed?
”

“
I suppose you could add Bacchus to that list.
”

“
Might as well.
”
She made a note.
“
I tried combining phrases from the message with some of these clues, along with Germany and cathedrals or churches, and using them as search terms. I
’
ve come up with one place I feel good about.
”

“
Let
’
s hear it.
”

“
Saint Mary
’
s Cathedral in Hildesheim.
”
She fixed him with an expectant look.

“
Never heard of it.
”

“
It
’
s famous for the Bernward Doors
–
huge bronze doors that depict scenes from the Bible.
”
She checked her notes.
“
Each door has eight panels, and one of them shows the adoration of the
Magi
.
”

“
Sounds iffy.
”
Dane h
eld his coffee close to his nose
, savoring the aroma.
“
There must be tons of representations of the Wise Men all around Germany, and that
’
s assuming the skulls are still in the country. Who knows?
”

“
You
’
re such a cynic, Maddock.
”
Jade sighed and handed him her phone.
“
Take a look at this. It
’
s a picture of the Three Kings panel.
”

The image was impressive. The
Magi
were sculpted, as was the Blessed Mother holding the baby Jesus, and gave the etching a three-dimensional quality. But it wasn
’
t the scene itself that drew Dane
’
s eye; it was the door knocker in the shape of a lion
’
s head that dominated the lower middle of the panel.

“
You see?
”
Jade grinned.
“
I thought the mention of the word
‘
lion
’
might be figurative, you know, Jesus was the Lion of Judah. But if it
’
s a literal clue, this is a good fit.
You
’
ve got the
Magi
, the lion,
and
a cathedral.
The place is filled with works of art. There
’
s even a shrine that includes a depiction of
t
he wise and foolish virgins. I
’
ll wager that somewhere in there is a depiction of the three hares. What do you think?
”

“
It
’
s a stretch, but I suppose it
’
s worth a try.
”

“
Look, I know it
’
s not a sure thing but, the way I see it, we
’
re on vacation and it
’
s a place I wouldn
’
t mind visiting anyway. What do we have to lose except a few hours in the
car?
”

“
That works for me,
”
Dane said.
“
But I
’
m guessing you
’
ve forgotten what a road trip with Bones is like.
”

Dane didn
’
t know if it was holiday spirit or the presence of his sister, but Bones was much less annoying than usual on their
d
rive to Hildesheim. Instead of playing his favorite car game
–
thinking of an obscenity that started with the first letter of every road sign they passed
–
he contented himself with singing Christmas songs, though his habit of changing the lyrics to make the songs off-
color finally drove Angel crazy
and she put a stop to it. By the time they arrived at the cathedral, even Bones was focused on the task at hand.

“
We
’
ll start by checking out the door and take it from there,
”
Jade said.
“
Keep an eye out for anything with the three hares or the wise virgins.
”

“
What about the shrine you mentioned?
”
Angel asked.

“
We
’
ll take a look at that too. Anything that looks promising. Just don
’
t draw attention to yourself.
”
Jade directed the latter comment at Bones.

“
You know me. I always rise to the occasion.
”
Bones grinned.

Dane gazed up at the cathedral. In no way was it as magnificent as
Kölner
Dom. It was smaller and less elegant, and the massive repairs to the damage wrought by Allied bombers in World War II had deprived it of the aura of age that imbued so many structures of its kind. It did, however, have its own charm. The symmetry of the structure gave it an orderly feel that was pleasing to the eye, and the sand-colored stone put him in mind of home.

It was only a short walk to the cathedral
’
s western portal and the Bernward doors. Though impressive in photographs, the sheer size of the doors, which stood at nearly sixteen feet tall, gave him pause. The artistry of these thousand year-old castings was breathtaking.
Assuming the role of tourist,
Bones took out a camera and started
snapping pictures of Angel. She
positioned herself to screen Dane and Jade
who
,
in turn,
moved in for a closer look at the Three Kings.