Guardians of Stone (The Relic Seekers) (22 page)

“How would I know?”

“One of them was the guy from the hotel, Thomas Little. The one you were checking out. The interesting thing about Thomas is that I’ve seen him before. In
Iraq.
”

Kendall pulled her jaw back into place. “You knew Thomas before? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t recognize him at the hotel. I didn’t see his face clearly with that beard.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me in the catacombs?”

“There wasn’t time to explain.”

“We had all night,” Kendall said, exasperated. “You’re one to talk about keeping secrets.”

“I don’t know who Thomas is, but he doesn’t work for me,” Nathan said. “We ran his ID. He didn’t exist until five years ago. We’re still checking him out.”

“Who he really
was
,” Kendall said. “He’s dead now. Someone stabbed him and took the box. Now all three thieves are dead and we have no idea who has the box.”

“Maybe you have it,” Jake said to Nathan. “You could have had Thomas follow us and steal the box and then had him killed.
Perfect plan. No one would know you had the relic. We would think it was stolen. The men who knew the truth would be dead.”

“Are you bloody insane? I’m going to pretend you haven’t just accused me of murder; that you’re sleep deprived or someone hit you on the head.”

“He did get hit on the head when the car exploded,” Kendall said.

Jake frowned at her. “I want answers.”

“Well, accusing Nathan isn’t getting us anywhere. Maybe you made a mistake about seeing Thomas in Iraq.”

“I’m not mistaken. I saw him only a couple of times there, but it’s him. You heard him say my name.”

“That’s true,” Kendall said.

“He must have recognized me at the hotel. That’s why he looked shocked when he saw us in the elevator and what he meant when we overheard him saying he’d seen a ghost. He was talking about me, not you as I’d thought.”

“Another thing you forgot to share,” Kendall said. Did either of them ever tell her the whole truth? “What was he doing in Iraq?”

“Trying to foul up an assignment, as far as I can tell, and now he shows up here doing the same damned thing. There must be a connection. Looks like a setup to me.”

Nathan frowned. “Why the bloody hell would I set you up?”

“To keep an eye on me? To ease your boredom? Who knows what makes you rich boys tick.”

“I don’t know anything about your assignment in Iraq.”

Kendall didn’t know exactly what they were referring to, but she knew Nathan was lying. Not from reading him, but from knowing him. Now wasn’t the time to confront him. If she told Jake, there would be all-out war. “Are you military?”

“Not exactly.”

“His team contracted their services to the highest bidder,” Nathan said.

“You’re a mercenary?”

“No. We do what you do. Find things.”

“Hidden treasure or hidden terrorists,” Nathan said, his tone unusually sarcastic.

Jake scowled but didn’t reply.

“What was your assignment?” Kendall asked. “Maybe there’s a link.”

“We were hired to get inside the palace of a prince who was supposed to be supplying terrorists with weapons and information.”

“Was he?” Kendall asked.

“We never found out. The mission failed.” Jake put on his blank mask again.

“I don’t see how a prince supplying weapons to a terrorist could be linked to this,” Kendall said. “Another loose thread.” They had a whole tapestry of them. Just like the one in the castle. “Maybe a little time away from the situation wouldn’t hurt. Then we can figure out who Thomas is.”

“The trail will get cold,” Jake insisted. “I’m going to keep searching. You go home. You might have climbed a few pyramids and opened some tombs, but this is no place to play Indiana Jones.”

“You really are a jackass!”

There was a tap on the door. “Kara, Jason? Is everything all right?”

“It’s Roberto,” Kendall whispered. “Stay out of sight so he can’t see you’ve been fighting.” She rose and went to the door, opening it just a crack. “Sorry for the noise. We have company.”

Roberto’s frown lightened. “Your brother.
Merda
! I forgot to tell you he stopped by early this morning.”

Brother?

“Is Nick staying tonight? I don’t have another room available. Could he sleep on the pull-out sofa?”

Nick? Pull-out sofa?

“Good idea. I’ll let him know. Oh, do you suppose I could get some ice? For drinks.”

“I will bring some up in a moment.”

“Thank you, Roberto.” She closed the door and turned to Nathan and Jake.

Nathan’s nostrils flared. “You’ve been sleeping in the same bed?”

“We didn’t know there was a pull-out,” Kendall said.

Jake gave a nonchalant shrug. “We’re posing as newlyweds. Why would we need it?”

“I trusted you,” Nathan said to Jake.

“We didn’t have sex,” Jake said, giving Nathan a cold stare. “Not that it’s any of your business if we did. She doesn’t belong to you, no matter what your dick thinks.”

A low rumble came from Nathan’s throat.

“Stop it! Both of you! I’ll take the sofa. You two can have the bed.”

“You take the bed,” Nathan said. “Jake and I will flip for the sofa.”

“This honeymoon’s going downhill fast,” Jake muttered.

While they waited for the ice, Kendall explained to Nathan in more detail about the events at the castle, including Raphael. She’d just finished when there was a tap on the door, and Roberto called out that he’d brought the ice. Kendall got rid of him as quickly as she could.

“You two need to clean up. You both look like hell.” She didn’t wait for a reply but went into the bathroom and got clean washcloths and towels. When she started back, they were talking in hushed voices.

“...her away from here,” Jake was saying. She stood inside the door, listening. They were obviously talking about her. “It’s too dangerous for her. I was going to call you so you could put her someplace safe.”

“And how were you planning to get away from her?” Nathan asked, his expression doubtful.

“I was going to get a friend to keep an eye on her until you showed up.”

“Keep her prisoner?”

Kendall stepped into the room. Nathan and Jake turned, both looking guilty.

Kendall glared at Jake. “You were going to sneak out and keep me prisoner here. You’re unbelievable.”

Jake rubbed his forehead. “It’s not safe for you to keep searching for this box.”

“He’s right, Kendall.”

Now
they were on the same side. “Well, you’re not putting me anywhere. I’ll decide when I stay and when I leave.” She threw a washcloth at each man. “Sometimes you both act like I don’t have a brain.”

“This has nothing to do with intelligence,” Nathan said, holding the washcloth he’d caught. “I’m sending you home because I don’t want you hurt. I want you both back in Virginia. Take a few days and relax. You’ve earned it.”

Jake’s eyes were hard. “What if we don’t want to leave?”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“She can go back,” Jake said. “But I’m not leaving.”

“If you know what’s best, you will.”

Even Kendall could hear the hidden threat. Jake looked like he wanted to kill Nathan.

“Stop arguing and ice your injuries,” Kendall said, handing them each another washcloth filled with ice. “And for goodness sake, sit down. You’re both pacing like panthers.” And all that maleness was shrinking the room.

Nathan chose a chair and Jake sat on the bed, both scowling as they cleaned up and put ice on their cuts and bruises.

“We need to focus,” Kendall said. “I know Brandi is involved in this. We should confront her.”

“I’ll do it,” Jake said. “You don’t confront anybody.” He pulled a chain out of his pocket. “I found this in the graveyard where Thomas was killed. The killer must have dropped it.”

“It’s the chain that held my cross...I mean Nathan’s cross,” Kendall said, reaching for the chain. “Everyone seems to want the cross. Raphael, the thieves. When I asked the thief why, he said, ‘You know why.’ I guess they knew it was safe passage past the statues.”

“If Thomas knew, he didn’t share the information with his fellow thieves,” Jake said.

“Where did you get the cross?” Kendall asked Nathan.

“It was part of a collection I’ve had for a long time.”

“I don’t know why you even bothered to ask,” Jake scoffed. “You knew he wouldn’t tell you.”

“Don’t worry about the cross,” Nathan said. “We’ll figure it out later.”

Kendall put the chain on a nearby table. “What about Raphael? Someone needs to remove his body.”

“No one is there,” Nathan said.

“How do you know?”

“After I found the car, I saw someone disappear through the trees. I followed him to an old underground railroad that led to the castle.”

“I knew they had a way to get in and out without climbing bridges and passing those damned statues,” Jake grumbled. “Where was it?”

“Not far from the road. There was an old man in the castle. His mind seems to come and go.”

“It must have been him that we heard singing,” Kendall said. “Did he know anything about the box?”

Nathan looked down at his hands, something Kendall had noticed he did when he didn’t want her to see his eyes. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t read him anyway. “He mumbled something about treasure.”

“Treasure?” Jake said.

Nathan shrugged, still not meeting Kendall’s eyes. “I think at one time the order protected some kind of treasure. Relics, maybe some other things.”

“Where is the old man?” Kendall asked. “Could we talk to him?”

Nathan pressed the cloth to his lip. “Later. He’s safe now.”

“Maybe the old man moved Raphael’s body.” She didn’t mention the vision she’d seen because she didn’t know how to explain her suspicion about Raphael. It didn’t matter now. He was dead.

“I don’t know,” Nathan said. “But he seems confused.”

Jake touched his eye, which was already blackening. “We need to stay here tonight. The killer is probably watching this place, and if we leave the same night the body is found, the police might get suspicious.”

Nathan nodded in agreement. “I’ll call and have the jet waiting tomorrow.”

“Are you coming with us?” Kendall asked.

“No. I have some things to take care of.”

“We don’t even know who’s trying to kill us,” Kendall said.

Jake gave Nathan a hard stare. “I bet he does.”

Nathan blew out a resigned sigh. “I think it’s the man I told you about, the Reaper.”

“All this to sell a box on the black market,” Kendall said. “It must be rare.”

“It’s rare.”

“You can’t find this guy, even with your resources?” Jake asked.

Nathan rubbed his eyes. “Every time I think I have a lead, it disappears. I’m not even sure he’s real.”

“Those thieves were real. Someone hired them and then killed them. And he’s still after Kendall.”

“Why would he want me if he already has the box?” Kendall asked.

“Maybe he wants more relics,” Jake said.

A flash of fear crossed Nathan’s eyes. “Rumors are that he’s searching for unusual pieces.” He looked like he wanted to say more.

“What aren’t you telling us?” Kendall asked.

Nathan gave a humorless laugh. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try us,” Jake said.

“I’ve heard he’s searching for the Fountain of Youth.”

“You gotta be kidding,” Jake said.

“I told you,” Nathan said, his voice dry.

“That’s fairy-tale stuff,” Jake said. He cocked his head and studied Nathan.

Kendall wasn’t sure what she thought about that. She had come across all kinds of things she couldn’t explain, like her gift. “You think there could be a Fountain of Youth?”

Nathan shrugged. “I don’t know. But if someone believed it was real, I imagine he’d do anything to get it.”

“Don’t tell me that’s what we’ve been chasing,” Jake said.

Nathan shook his head. “It’s not the Fountain of Youth. I think the box contains a spear.”

“A spear,” Jake said. “We nearly died over a spear? I think I’d feel better if it was the Fountain of Youth.”

“This isn’t an ordinary spear.”

“A spear’s a spear.” Jake grunted.

Kendall pulled in a quick breath and touched her side. “Not if it’s the Spear of Destiny.”

Jake gave her a startled look. “That’s what was on the tapestry at the castle.”

“There’s a tapestry in the castle library depicting the Crucifixion,” she told Nathan, leaving out the part about the pain she’d felt. She needn’t have bothered. Jake filled in the details she hadn’t wanted to share.

“When she touched the tapestry she doubled over in pain.”

Even Nathan seemed surprised. “You actually
felt
the spear?”

“I felt something. If this is the Spear of Destiny, no wonder those thieves were so desperate.”

“I suspected that was what was in the box, but I wasn’t sure until now.”

“Isn’t the spear supposed to be in the Vatican?” Jake asked.

“The Vatican has one spear,” Kendall said. “And another is in Austria. No one knows which is real. Some people believe they’re both fakes.”

“Fakes.” Jake frowned. “At Saint Peter’s Square you said something about a fake. Is that what you meant?”

“I don’t even recall saying it. Maybe my sixth sense was trying to tell me something.”

She was sure Jake would have rolled his eyes, but one was starting to swell and must have hurt. “You have a strange gift.”

“You should experience it from this side,” she muttered.

“So the pope has a fake spear and we found the real thing,” Jake said.

“There are all kinds of myths and conspiracy theories,” Kendall said. “Hitler had the spear at one point. He was obsessed with relics he believed would bring him power.”

“And the Spear of Destiny has long been thought to possess power,” Nathan added. “Some say it was behind Alexander the Great’s victories.”

“I thought Hitler committed suicide,” Jake said. “Doesn’t sound like the spear worked for him.”

“He committed suicide
after
he lost the spear,” Kendall said. “Although in reality Hitler’s decline began earlier. But that’s how the myth goes. You have the Spear of Destiny, you rule. You lose it, you die.”