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Authors: Kathy Reichs

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“I’m taking out the trash,” I called.

“Try not to commit any felonies,” Kit replied.

“Very funny.”

It was the following morning. I’d spent all night telling Kit what happened, down to the minutest detail. He’d taken special interest in how I’d deceived him. Mental notes?

The only thing I’d held back was our powers.

And what we’d found.

In the end, Kit had posed just one question. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want to move.” Tears streamed my cheeks. “I’ll do anything to keep my only friends.”

The mood had been more pleasant after that. Kit decided that I’d committed so many fouls—been so irresponsible and reckless—that it was pointless to punish me.

“What you did is incredible, Tory. You’re a remarkable girl.” Then he’d leaned forward, face tight with concern. “But you risked your life.
Nothing
is worth that. Not a job, not a place, not a treasure. I’m going to trust you to use better judgment in the future.”

“I will, Kit. I promise.”

I walked to the Dumpster and tossed our rubbish. When I turned, Rodney Brincefield was standing two feet from me.

I jumped backward, mouth open, scream at the ready.

“Hold on!” Brincefield raised both palms. “I come in peace!”

“How did you find me?” I glanced around. No one else in sight.

“I’ll admit I did some sneaking, but I mean you no harm. I’ve lived in this city a long time, and have a few friends on the force. One told me you located my brother’s body.”

There was longing in Brincefield’s eyes. Pain.

“Yes,” I said gently. “We found Jonathan in a tunnel beneath East Bay.” I hesitated. “He’d been killed by a booby trap. I’m very sorry.”

“So he’d gotten close.” Though Brincefield smiled, his eyes were glassy. “That’s something, I guess.”

“He was carrying a stone artifact,” I said. “We used it to reach the final chamber. We’d have failed without your brother.”

“Was it there? The treasure?”

I shook my head. “It had been moved. Later we found a chest, but it was empty. Bonny’s legend was a fraud.”

Brincefield’s face seemed to crumple in on itself. I could practically read his thoughts. His brother had died for nothing.

Maybe it was unwise, but I couldn’t resist. This Bonny-obsessed old man needed closure.

“We did find
something
,” I whispered. “In another place. We’ve kept it secret from everyone.”

“Thank goodness! Tell me.”

“It’s not much, just a bag of gold coins and some old religious drawings.” My tone reflected my disappointment. “I think Bonny removed most of her loot when the chest was relocated to Dewees.”

Brincefield stilled a moment, then danced a jig, moving nimbly for such a fossil.

I stared at his performance, totally confused.

“Tory, you don’t understand! The drawings
are
the treasure!”

“Come again?”

“Jonathan researched Anne Bonny and Calico Jack for years. Collected letters, reports, whatever he could find. He shared his discoveries with the only person who’d listen. His little brother. Me.” Brincefield was beaming. “Jonathan knew.”

“Knew what?”

“After Jonathan disappeared, I became as obsessed as he’d been. Finding the treasure ate at me.” Brincefield’s eyes grew distant. “In the end, I had to choose between the quest and my sanity. So, two years ago, I sold Jonathan’s collection. For a measly twenty dollars.”

The letters!
That’s
how Bates acquired them.

“Our chat at the yacht club triggered the old itch,” he went on. “I even tried to buy back Jonathan’s papers. That’s when I learned that a group of teenagers purchased the collection the day before. I knew instantly who led them.”

His look became sheepish. “I sorta kept tabs on you after that.”

My arms folded. “The ghost tour. Brunch at the country club.”

Brincefield nodded. “Sorry.”

“Accepted. Now what did Jonathan know about the treasure?”

The gleam returned to his eyes. “In 1718, Calico Jack captured a Spanish galleon sailing from Cadiz. The ship carried a wealthy Spaniard named Miguel de Fernan Ortega. Ortega was traveling to the New World to assume the governorship of Maracaibo.”

“Okay.” Still lost. “Why does that matter?”

“Because of what he had in his luggage!” Brincefield’s enthusiasm was infectious. “Ortega was a known collector of antiquities. Just before disembarking, he’d publicly boasted of a recent acquisition.”

I saw where the story was going. “Jack and his crew stole it.”

“
Exactly
. When the British captured Calico’s Jack’s ship—”

“The
Revenge
.”

“—they inventoried the hold.”

Brincefield held up a single finger. “One item was notably absent.”

“The papers we found?”

“Yes! Jonathan burned the king’s official report to keep his discovery secret, always believing that Anne Bonny took the document for herself.”

“So the pages have value?”

Brincefield’s grin stretched wider than the Mississippi. “Of course.”

“And you’re going to tell me?” I coaxed.

“Yes.” The old man’s face grew solemn. “You found my brother. Soon I’ll be able to lay him to rest. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Thank you.”

I waited.

“Research the Abbey of Kells.” Brincefield winked. “You’ll find it worth your while.”

CHAPTER 69

“W
hat’s this all about?”

Videoconference. Hi sat at his desk, dressed in his favorite Puma tracksuit. “I’m grounded for life, you know. My mother almost confiscated my modem.”

Shelton nodded. “If we weren’t moving to Cali, I’d be in permanent lockdown. Good thing my parents feel responsible somehow. They think I was acting out misplaced aggression, or some such psychobabble. Works for me.”

Ben’s face filled a third box on my screen. He was at his usual place on the couch in his father’s den, absently spinning a gold coin on the coffee table. “My guess. She wants to talk about the doubloons.”

Before turning in Short and the Bates brothers, Hi and Shelton hid the pouch and pages in a locker on
Sewee
. Secrecy seemed prudent. There are few rules regarding buried treasure, and we’d decided to take no chances.

“Actually, that’s not it.”

I was a bundle of nerves. My news was colossal.

Knowing me as they did, the boys sensed something was up.

“Brincefield ambushed me by the Dumpster this morning.”

All three talked at once.

“Relax,” I said. “We were wrong about him. Brincefield was just obsessed with finding his brother. He wanted to thank us.”

“Not buying it,” Shelton was shaking his head. “That man turns up everywhere. I think he’s a few beers short of a six pack.”

I chose my next words carefully. “Brincefield had some interesting things to say about the pages we found.”

“How did
he
know about them?” Ben asked in surprise.

I relayed our conversation.

“That’s great!” Hi was pumped. “Between the document and the gold coins, we might still rack up a decent payday. Maybe I could bribe my parents to release me.”

I tried to keep my own excitement in check. “This afternoon, I went back to the manuscript library.”

“What?” Shelton said. “Why?”

“They have another document guy, Dr. Andrews. I wanted an expert opinion.”

Hi nodded. “Smart idea. Could he say what the pages are worth?”

“How’d you get downtown?” Ben frowned. “Did you tell Kit about our find?”

“No way. I took the ferry, then a bus. Kit had a staff meeting at LIRI, so he was out on Loggerhead.” I shrugged. “What’s one more secret trip at this point?”

“What did the guy say?” Hi asked impatiently.

A smile spread my face. “The pages appear to be a lost section of the Irish Book of Kells.”

“That rings a faint bell,” Shelton said.

“Dear Lord.” Hi’s jaw went slack. He knew.

“What?” Ben sounded a bit defensive.

“The Book of Kells is an illustrated version of the Christian Gospels.” I tried not to rush my explanation. “It dates to the ninth century.”

“Where was it made?” Shelton asked.

“Scholars think the book was created at an abbey on Iona, a small island off the Scottish coast.”

“By whom?” Ben asked.

“Followers of Saint Columba.” I glanced at my notes. “Later the abbey was attacked and the monks fled to Kells on the Irish mainland, taking the book with them. Then Vikings stole it in 1007. The manuscript was later recovered, but no one knew for sure if any pages were missing.”

Ben scratched his chin. “What’s so special about it?”

Shelton was totally transfixed. Hi appeared to be hyperventilating.

“According to experts, the Book of Kells contains every design found in Celtic art. It’s considered the most striking manuscript ever produced in the Anglo-Saxon world. One of the great masterpieces of early Christian art.”

“Andrews really believes those pages are from the Book of Kells?” Hi croaked. “No kidding?”

I nodded. “He nearly had a heart attack.”

The boys gaped from their squares.

“I’m not kidding,” I laughed. “After examining the manuscript for ten minutes, he stood up and grabbed his chest. I thought he was going to pass out.”

“So it’s valuable?” Shelton was leaning forward, hands on his desk, nose inches from his webcam. “Really valuable?”

“The Book of Kells is the national treasure of Ireland, Shelton. They keep it on display at Trinity College in Dublin. Thousands pay to see it every week.”

“What are you saying?” Ben demanded.

“I’m saying we found a lost portion of one of the most famous books in history!” I shouted. “It’s like finding the
Mona Lisa
, or the statue of David!”

“We’ve got ten pages!” Hi ran a hand across his face. “What’s that worth, Tory? What did he say?”

“A lost folio from the Book of Kells would be among the rarest documents in the world. Andrews wouldn’t even guess, said the value was incalculable.
Priceless
.”

For a moment there was absolute silence.

Then bedlam.

Ben raised his arms above his head. Shelton, Hi, and I started jumping up and down, screaming incoherently.

Then, without warning, Hi disappeared. Seconds later I saw him streak across the lawn outside, shrieking like a madman.

I needed no invitation. In moments Coop and I were running beside him.

Ben appeared next, then Shelton. We formed a ragged circle and spun around like five-year-olds playing a mad version of Ring-Around-the-Rosie.

This embarrassment went on for a full minute.

I was the first to collapse on the grass, breathless and sweaty. The others dropped, one by one. We sprawled in a line, giddy, unable to believe our good fortune.

“I’m going be like that Facebook guy,” Hi said. “Or maybe Justin Timberlake. How much does a G6 cost?”

“Hold on!” I had to nip such talk in the bud. “Let’s not forget why we did this. We now have the money to save Loggerhead Island.”

“But we could be rich!” Hi whined. “Super rich! Buy-Ferraris-just-to-wreck-them rich! We could own a freaking NBA team!”

“We didn’t do this to get rich.” Ben. The voice of reason.

“That’s true,” Shelton said. “But you have to admit, millions of dollars is pretty tempting. It’s like the dream where you win the lottery. I don’t want to wake up.”

“If we sold the manuscript and divided the money, our pack would be split.” I sat up. “Our parents would move us hundreds of miles from each other. Sure, we’d have tons of cash. But that wouldn’t change who we are.
What
we are.”

“Virals,” Ben said, rising beside me. “Freaks.”

“And it’s not just us,” I reminded them. “What about Whisper and her family? What about the monkey colony, or the sea turtles that nest on the Loggerhead beaches? If we don’t come to the rescue, they’re all in danger.”

“We’ve found something worth
millions
, and you want to just give it up?” Hi still lay on his back. “I
hate
those endings! We could
buy
Loggerhead Island with that kind of money!”

“You’re not thinking straight.” I gently poked Hi’s shoulder. “It’s too dangerous to be a Viral alone. Who knows what could happen in the future? With our bodies. Our powers. Anything. All we can really count on is each other.”

“We need to stay low profile,” Ben said. “And together.”

“They’re right.” Shelton breathed the world’s deepest sigh. “I hate it, but it’s true. Our families would scatter. We wouldn’t be neighbors, classmates, maybe not even friends. That money is poison.”

“We have to be smart.” Ben reached across me and tapped Hi’s chest. “Guard our secrets.”

“But I wanna be a big baller!” Hi threw out his arms. “Make it rain up in the club!”

“You’d choose money over the pack?” I asked. “Fine. We can arrange that. Part of the treasure belongs to you, so it’s your choice. No one can force you.”

“Gaaaaaaah!” Hi pistoned his arms and legs in the air. “This blows!”

Ten more pumps, then he sat up. “Fine. Crush my dreams. What’s the plan?”

“We shock the world,” I said, slapping him on the back.

Circling up, we hashed out a plan.

“And Hi, let’s be clear,” I said when we’d finished. “Our priorities are preserving LIRI and protecting the pack.”

Hi started to speak, but I cut him off.

“But that doesn’t mean we have to come out empty-handed.”

CHAPTER 70

“T
ory! I’m back!”

Kit tossed his keys into the tray.

“What’d you do while I was gone?” Grabbing the remote and flopping onto the couch. “Overthrow the government? Find the Loch Ness Monster?”