Trove (The Katie Walsh Mysteries) (36 page)

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Please,” she pleaded, “just let me go. I won’t tell anyone you’re alive and here.”

He looked puzzled. “You’ve come all this way, Katie. Surely you must be curious, at least a bit.”

She sat up, propping the pillows behind her. “The runes, they’re nearby?”

Josh grinned. “I was hoping to show you in the morning. And then you’re free to go, if you want to. I’ll drive you back to Portree.”

“You’re serious? I’m free to leave just like that?” Katie shook her head. “You abducted me, kept me prisoner and”— she snapped her fingers—“just like that everything is fine, back to normal, and I’m free to go.” She glared at him. “I don’t believe you.”

He sat on the end of the bed. “You’ve translated the runes and that’s all I needed. Besides”— his gaze dropped to his feet—“Alec will be on his way. It won’t take him long to figure out you’re in Duntulm.” He laughed somewhat ruefully. “I suppose you’ll tell him I’m alive.”

“
You
need to tell him, explain to him why you did what you did. And then pray that he doesn’t beat the crap out of you. You still need Alec’s help to draw your partner out. Granted, he didn’t succeed in murdering you, but this bastard needs to be identified, brought out into the light. He’s dangerous, Josh, and the next time he might try to eliminate more than you.” She swallowed hard. “I know about the complete runes now that you’ve shown me the full pictures.” She cocked her head. “Do you know exactly what he’s looking for?”

Josh shook his head. “I know it has to do with Norland, but other than that, no. But it seemed to be much more important than all the other items I recovered for him. There seemed to be more urgency too. He needed to find whatever it is soon. I think that’s why he was done with me. I failed.”

“You have to talk to Alec. Explain everything to him.”

Josh sighed. “And if I don’t?”

“Then yes, I will. But don’t be a
coward
. You set this all in motion. You should be man enough to do the right thing.”

He rose and headed through the door. “Night, Katie.”

****

Alec and his crew were groggy as they ate breakfast and were still edgy and cranky as they loaded the SUV with all the gear. They headed out to Duntulm while it was still quiet in Portree. Willie shook his head as they passed the location where Katie was abducted. “I don’t agree with the government spyin’ on everyone like they do here in the UK, but without that video we’d have no idea what happened to her.”

“It’s kinda creepy, though,” Laura said. “I realize the benefits but it just creeps me out that someone can track almost every move.”

“How soon before you turn that locator on?” Alec asked.

“When we get within a few miles of Duntulm.” Willie answered. “The roads are minimal there, so we’ll start on the main one and then proceed to the smaller ones. And ya gotta calm down, Mac. Everythin’ we do has to be carefully orchestrated. I can’t have ya or”—he looked around the vehicle–“any of ya doin’ somethin’ stupid. We know there’s at least one male involved but there could be more. Ya gotta follow my orders. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?” he asked, his booming voice echoing around the vehicle. One by one they nodded.

“You know there’s something about that guy…” Alec said.

“Yeah,” Robert added, “there’s something about him that reminds me of—”

“
Josh
. He reminds me of Josh,” Alec finished.

Robert shook his head slowly. “But that’s not possible. He’s dead.”

“Maybe not,” Laura said as she shook her head. “Katie said there was no body recovered.”

Alec clenched his fist and pounded the steering wheel. “Dammit. I nearly bit her head off when she said that. I told her that she didn’t trust anything or anyone.”

“You’re a bastard,” Laura hissed.

His shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“It actually makes sense in a bizarre sort of way,” Robert said. “I mean, think of it this way. He’s about to be cut loose, lose his funding. In addition, his partner creeps him out, maybe evens threatens him, so he sends his notes to Alec and makes plans to disappear. He’s presumed dead and he’s free to continue his work, whatever it was. Do you have any idea what he was looking for?”

“No,” Alec replied. “I don’t, though Katie was pretty sure it was related to Norland. He must have stayed on Skye because his bank account hasn’t been accessed nor his credit cards.”

“Only he was stuck. He needed the runes translated,” Laura said. Her eyes bore into the back of Alec’s head. “And you led him straight to Katie, the one person with enough knowledge to be able to do it.”

“So he had to find a way to isolate her, get her away from her friends, her co-workers,” Willie added.

Alec thrust his hands through his hair, steering with his knees. “That son of a bitch. He was behind the attempt in the North End.” He shook his head. “It had to be him.”

“Yeah,” Robert said sadly, “it had to be him. Who else could it have been? Unless… unless it was Josh’s partner the Doctor. He would have the ability to arrange something like that and for the same reason… he needed Katie’s expertise.”

“I guess, between the two of them, it’s better if she’s with Josh. As far as we know, he hasn’t tried to kill anyone,” Willie said as his eyes bored into the back of Alec’s head.

Josh tucked an extra flashlight, some power bars, and a few bottles of water into the bag and zipped it before slinging it onto his back. Katie slipped the emerald dagger out of her duffel bag and tucked it into her jacket pocket while he was busy packing.

He held out his hand. “Ready?”

She breezed by him and opened the door, inhaling the salty tang of the wispy fog that hadn’t yet burned off. She felt tiny drops of cool moisture settle on her face as she stepped clear of the door and headed for the narrow path to the top of the cliff.

“Whoa, where you going?” he called out.

She turned and saw him, his lean frame filling the small doorway. “I’m heading up the path.” She grinned. “In case you couldn’t tell, I really want to see the runes.”

“Turn around and come back inside.”

She narrowed her eyes, her eyebrows knitted in a perplexed look. “I don’t understand.” She placed her hands on her hip. “Are you playing games?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s just not that way.” He beckoned her back inside.

Katie didn’t move. “You mean you have them inside the cottage? Where? I didn’t see any sign of them.”

“There’s another way. It actually heads up the mountain.”

“Are you saying there’s a tunnel?”

“Yep, and the entrance is inside.”

She felt like a kid again. She was heading out on an adventure, trekking into the mountain in an ancient tunnel. This made all the crawling through artifacts back at the Institute all worth it. She smiled as she remembered Alec told her she should get out more. He was right. Field work was where the excitement lay. She practically ran back into the cottage. “Where? Show me where the entrance is.”

He laughed as he headed toward the small three-sided alcove that acted as a pantry with shelves lining each wall. He reached beside the top shelf on the left side and pushed. She felt a rush of cool air as the wall behind the shelf creaked open to reveal a dark passageway. “I need a flashlight,” she said as she reached up, trying to get into his backpack. She grunted. “I can’t reach the top of your bag. You’re too tall. Bend down.”

“You’re too short,” he replied as he bent down.

She pulled a light out and zipped the bag closed. “The word is petite, not short.” She emphasized her point by pushing him forward and moving past him into the tunnel as he regained his balance and stood, quickly overtaking her with his normal stride.

“Show-off,” she muttered.

He reached back and grabbed the light. “I’ll lead the way.” He chuckled. “Try and keep up, though I’ll keep checking on you because I know you’re vertically challenged.”

“Who knew you were so funny? Maybe you should try stand-up comedy,” she snapped.

They walked for almost a half hour on a slight incline. Suddenly the trek took a sharp rise. Katie noticed it first in her tightening thigh muscles and then in her breathing. “Just where does this lead? Is there fresh air in here because I’m having trouble breathing?”

“It ends up on the mountain. There’s a hidden opening that ends on a small plateau.” He walked back to her. “We’re getting close, but the incline will get sharper. We can take a few breaks to let your body acclimate. It’ll be a push, but it’ll be worth it. Trust me.”

“Don’t seem to have any other choice.” Katie leaned against the wall, catching her breath. She reached out to the side and carefully moved her hand against the stone. “This wall is so smooth. Is it naturally like that?”

He walked back to her and ran the light over the wall beside her. “I never really noticed. I’ve never stopped to look.”

She gasped and grabbed his arm. “Stop. Bring the light back onto the wall, about two-thirds up. I think I saw something.”

The light slowly swept down the rock face, sending shadows around them as it reflected off the surface. “There. Stop.” She stood back, not quite believing what she was seeing. “Look at those symbols, carved into the wall. I think your light is causing them to glow.”

“My God, I never saw that. I’ve always barreled through the passage to get to the runes.”

She shook her head. “These aren’t runes, but why, how are they glowing?”

Josh moved slightly, casting the light over the ceiling and down the other wall. As he moved the beam to the opposite wall, symbols began to appear about six feet from the floor. They began to glow and mirrored the ones on the other wall.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed something in the tunnel ahead of them. She grabbed his sleeve and pointed up the incline. “Josh, look…”

At about ten-foot intervals, the walls were glowing along the upper edges. The ambient light reminded her of the emergency floor lighting on airplanes, only these were up on the walls, framing the passageway.

Josh shut the flashlight off as the symbols glowed brighter. “What the hell?”

“When are you going to turn that damn locator on, Willie? We could’ve driven right by her and not known it.”

“Where’s your cool control, Mac? I think ya need to kick it into high gear before I kick your ass,” Willie replied calmly. Laura snickered.

“He’s right, Alec,” Robert said as he glanced over at his brother. “Can the attitude. This isn’t the time to get into a pissing contest.”

“We’re getting close to the coordinates Eric sent so turn that damn thing on,” Alec ordered.

“I don’t tell ya how to dig your damn holes so don’t tell me how to run my equipment,” Willie replied. He raised his eyes and connected with Alec’s in the rearview mirror. “Keep it up and we’ll be takin’ this outside.”

“If you both don’t cut it out,” Laura said quietly, “then I’ll take you both outside and knock your heads together. At the very least it’ll shut you up for the short-term.”

Willie turned his head toward her and cocked an eyebrow. “Mm, did I tell ya I just love strong women?”

She smiled and whacked him on the arm.

Willie’s watch started to beep.

“Is that a reminder to take your medicine, old man?” Alec snarked from the driver’s seat.

Laura leaned over and yanked hard on his hair. “I wasn’t joking, Alec.”

Willie beamed at her. “It’s a GPS ping. And before ya ask, this here watch is much more than meets the eye.”

“Oh,” Laura moaned, “a James Bond watch. I’m impressed.”

“So what does the beeping mean?” Robert asked. “Does it mean we’re at the coordinates?”

“Exactly. So now I’ll turn on the locator, though it might be hard with these mountains. Didn’t Eric say there’s quartz in them?”

“You mean that damn thing might not work?” Alec snarled.

“I mean it would be better if we were flyin’ over, above the mountains. That’s all I’m sayin’. Bein’ on the ground level makes it more challengin’.”

“Jesus, I’ll give you challenging,” Alec snapped. “Just wait until we get out of this car.”

Willie caught Alec’s eyes in the rear view mirror. He raised his hand and waggled his fingers. “Bring it on, lover boy.”

Alec stomped the brake and barely waited for the car to shudder to a stop before he jumped out and raced around the front of the car where Willie was rounding the other fender. Physically, Alec had a few inches on Willie but Willie had about twenty-five percent more muscle and all of it flexed with adrenaline.

Both males stepped away from the car and circled each other while Robert and Laura exited the vehicle and leaned back against it, watching the spectacle unfold in front of them. Laura started to walk toward Alec and Willie but Robert circled her waist. “Let them get this over with so we can get on with finding Katie.” Laura tried to pull away but he held her tighter. “It’ll only get worse, and if they don’t relieve the tension now, we may all end up hurt.”