Unearthly Power (24 page)

“So what do you want with us?” Alex asked. “Why did you kidnap us? All you had to do was approach us like any other normal human being.”

When Leandro turned to look at him, he answered his question in a conciliatory voice. “It was my decision to take you as we did. I could not take the chance of your refusal. Or even worse,” he said as he looked between the two of them, “that you may have used the power of the rod against us.”

“So it is for real,” Alex said in a surprised voice.

“Very much so.”

“Then that means,” Alex began as he turned to Sean thinking back on their time on the underwater island. Sean shook his head indicating he should keep the rest of what he was going to say to himself. Leandro saw this, but did not understand what it might mean. He said nothing.

“So what does this Chandler fellow want with the ark and the rod?” Sean asked.

“What all men of his kind want: power.”

“Can it really do what is written about it?” Alex asked.

“It can do whatever the will of the person wielding it can imagine
. It is the power of God,” Leandro said solemnly. After he composed himself he asked, “Where is the rod now? We searched your vehicle and your room. There was no trace of it.”

“That is because it is in a safe place,” Sean assured him.

“We must have it,” Leandro almost screamed.

“And I must get the women away from Chandler.”

“We will do that,” Leandro assured him.

“Sorry, but I don’t really know any of you characters in this nightmare. All I know is, I have it and it will stay with me until I get what I want. That is how it’s going to work.”

The men who were near the door now moved closer.

“We can make you tell us where it is,” Leandro implied in a threatening voice.

“You can try. If you think we’re just going to hand it over, you can go screw yourself. I didn’t sign up for this circus, I was drawn into it. If you think your threats will accomplish anything, do your best,” Sean said as he rose from his seat, only seconds away from violent intentions.

The two men now had their weapons in hand and were right behind their leader.

Seeing the situation for what it was, and the intensity of the man before him, Leandro said, “Please, sit down. I’m sure we can work something out.”

After
a few moments, Sean took his seat and gave himself a few moments to cool off. Alex had been watching him the whole time. Even though he knew his friend well enough to know they were only seconds away from ‘bad times,’ he wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of the torture that was implied earlier, or the fact that Sean was provoking that in challenge. Alex would have been open to negotiating their help, not adding them to the growing list of people they needed to contend with. He was wondering if Sean realized they were the ones with the guns.

“You must understand,” Leandro began in a pleading tone, “there is nothing more important to us than protecting that which is ours. It was entrusted to us and we maintained its security until one of our own members turned traitor. We need to get it back and keep it away from not only Silas Chandler, but anyone who comes to look for the power which no man should control.”

“And you must understand, nothing means more to me than my sister. I will do whatever it takes to get her back. Either I go with you, or I’ll see you when you and your men get there.”

Leandro nodded his head in defeat. After a moment he said, “We will take you with us. We will help you get your sister, and the James girl, and we will take the relics with us.”

Sean looked him in the eyes and saw that his offer was genuine. “Okay, but we’ll have to do it my way. There is one other element to this that you are not aware of. In the attempt to find out where this Chandler guy lives, I had to contact a former acquaintance of mine in our FBI. He is probably on his way here. If not now, then soon. I’ll have to call him back and throw him off the trail a little.”

“That is not good. We cannot have them interfere with our plans.”

“No, we can’t. I’ll take care of it. But, you need to keep in mind that they are not far away. If you decide to change your mind about my part in this bargain, I will make sure they know all about you. That would make it an international incident and bring a whole lot of attention to you and your organization. Who knows what will happen to the relics then?” Sean said in a way to make sure these men understood he was in a solid position to ensure his demands were met.

Leandro didn’t
appreciate the threats. But, he liked the reality of them even less. He held out his hand in a sign of compromise. Sean shook it. They offered a thin smile to one another; Sean because he knew he had the help he would need to get the girls, Leandro because he knew he wasn’t dealing with a fool, but rather with a shrewd and determined man.

Sean agreed to meet Leandro, and his men, in the small town of Seneca Falls on the following afternoon. It was a short drive from there to Chandler’s estate on the western edge of Cayuga Lake. This gave Sean and Alex time to retrieve the rod and come up with a way to handle Agent Daniels.

Sean’s last warning to the men he was dealing with was that if he noticed any of them following him when they left, he would assume their deal was off and he would be forced to make a new one with his friend in the FBI. It was enough to guarantee cooperation. Sean knew they didn’t know that the last thing he wanted was the FBI taking any part in it. He could always call on them as a last resort. When he said this to Alex, Alex told him to keep their number on speed dial. He was serious when he said it.

They returned early the next morning to the airport to pick up the other rental car and the rod. Sean put the rod in his car, and Alex drove the one with the out-of-state plates. They headed south on Interstate 81 until they arrived back at their room. Alex would stay there until Daniels arrived. It would be far enough away from what was going on that he wouldn’t be able to interfere.

Sean turned his cell phone on and saw that he had missed numerous calls. They were all from the same number. He decided to leave the phone with Alex when he was finished. It provided added insurance that Cody Daniels, and his men, would be where he wanted them to be.

He placed the phone to his ear after he punched in the number. “Hey Cody, how have you been?”

“Rylan! Where the hell are you? I’ve been trying to reach you for the past two days,” he said angrily.

“Actually I’m in New York, following one of the leads you gave me.”

“Rylan, you stay away from Chandler.”

“Sorry Cody, but you can’t give me orders. We’re not in the Navy anymore.”

“No, but I can put your ass behind bars. You leave Chandler to me. Tell me what this is all about, and I mean everything, not just the limited bits and pieces you gave me earlier. I’ll get some of my men on it and we’ll take it from there.”

Sean noticed a change in his voice, almost as if he was trying to stall him or placate him to keep him on the line. He knew Cody had to be livid. That was okay with him. His intention was to lead him right to this room.

“I’ll fill you in on everything. I think I’ll need your help after all,” Sean said, providing the bait.

After a moment’s hesitation Agent Daniels said, “Good. It’s about time you realize what you are dealing with.”

“I’m in Cortland, New York. How long do you think it will take you to get here?” Sean asked.

“What makes you think I’m coming to Cortland?”

“If you want the story, I’m here. I’ll give it to you face to face. That way, I know you’ll actually do something about it,” Sean said reasonably. He knew he had to make it sound believable. While he waited for an answer, he could tell Daniels had
moved his phone away and was talking to someone else. He thought he heard the sound of traffic.

“Where are you at exactly?” Agent Daniels demanded to know.

Sean gave him the name and address of the motel.

“Look Rylan, it’s three o’ clock now. I’m about five hours away. Make sure you stay where you’re at and I’ll see you when I get there.”

“Can’t wait,” Sean said.

That comment was soon followed by sile
nce as the line went dead.

“He must be in the city. You think he went looking for us there?” Alex asked.

“Probably. But if he said he was five hours out, that most likely means four. You can expect him here by then. That should give us enough time even if he figures out where I am.”

“You sure you won’t change your mind and let me come along?”

“No. I need you here. Leandro and his men seem like professionals at what they are doing. We should have it under control.”

Alex nodded his acceptance, but wasn’t happy at being left behind.

“Now for the last piece of misdirection,” Sean said as he dialed another number. He had been given this number by Leandro.

“Hello,” a male voice said on the other end of the call.

“This is Sean Rylan. I need to talk to Silas Chandler.”

“I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong number,” the voice replied in an automatic reaction that sounded rehearsed.

“I don’t think so. You give him my name and tell him that if he lays one hand on my sister, I’ll shove this special rod of mine up his ass, and we’ll see if you don’t just happen to find out that I really do have the right number,” he stated rather tersely.

The other end of the line went silent, but Sean could tell that he was still connected. After a minute or two of waiting he heard a refined voice answer.

“Mr. Rylan?”

“Hello Silas. All is well with the women, I hope.”

“Yes, quite.”

“Good. I expect to be near your neck of the woods by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe you can suggest some
where to meet to do our exchange. Make sure you think of some place where there are a lot of people, like a mall, or shopping center, something like that.”

“I think I can come up with something. Why don’t you call me back when you are in town and we’ll make the arrangements at that time?”

“Will do.”

“Oh, by the way, I just heard from Marcel a little while ago. He called from Kentucky and said he found Professor James’
s satellite communicator at a truck stop. He’ll be flying in soon and I’ll bet he’ll be happy to finally meet up with you again.”

“Good for him. Kentucky is nice this time of year. But you can tell your lap dog that he’d better keep his distance if he wants to remain on your payroll.”

After the mild threats were exchanged Sean said, “I want to talk to Deidra.”

“I thought you might. I’ll put her on for a brief moment. But mak
e sure you understand one thing: when we see each other, you better have the rod with you. If you don’t, I’m afraid you will not see these two again. Do you understand me?” he stated in a cold tone.

Sean knew by the sound of his voice that he meant what he said. He was not about to let this guy get into his head now. “Just put my sister on.”

A minute later he heard, “Sean?”

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. And so is Tori. We heard about her father and what happened.”

“Yeah, well, we’re about to take care of all that. I’ll meet with Chandler tomorrow and get you two back.”

“Don’t trust him Sean . . .” he heard before the line was cut off.

“Dee?”

“She’s still here, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to her again. Call me as soon as you arrive and we will conclude this business.”

“Looking forward to it,” Sean said abruptly before disconnecting the call.

He looked around the room but at nothing in particular.

“How is Dee?” Alex asked.

“She sounded fine. Better than I expected, really.”

“You think he bought it?”

Sean turned to look at him, “Yeah, he did. He’s the one who thinks he’s in control so I doubt he expects anything. I’m sure he has something in mind for our meeting though.”

Alex nodded his head in agreement.

Sean couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across his face. “I guess his boy Marcel has been looking for us. He wound up in Kentucky.”

“At least something went our way.” Alex returned the smile.

“Now we just need tonight to go right. We’ve got one chance at this. If it doesn’t work out, I’m afraid it’ll be out of our hands,” Sean said as the seriousness of the issue took control of the atmosphere in the room.

“I wish I could go with you,” Alex stated again.

“Me too, buddy. But don’t worry, everything will work out. It has to.”

             
S
ean followed the directions he was given by the manager of the motel they had checked into to get to the prearranged meeting place. He was supposed to meet with Leandro and his men in two hours, and it was a ninety minute drive. He decided to leave early because there was nothing else to do and he was getting tired of explaining to Alex why he couldn’t come along. Apart from what he had been telling him, Sean wasn’t convinced everything would work out as planned. He didn’t want to put his friend’s life in any more jeopardy than he already had done. If he would have said any of this to Alex, he wouldn’t have been able to keep him away. Sean might have played free and loose with his own life, and maybe once or twice with Alex’s, but he wasn’t fooling himself or anyone else on the danger they were facing this time.