“According to my research, there’s a small hotel there,” Jade said. “That could make for a good base of operations while we search.”
“As long as we can see the Dominion coming.” Dane hopped back into the Range Rover and cranked it up while the others piled in. Deep inside him, the thrill at the prospect of finding Atlantis battled with apprehension over the Revelation Machine. What if the Dominion got there first? Or, and he hated to entertain the thought, what happened if he found it first? Did any government deserve the power to destroy the world? But that was a problem for later. First, they had to find it.
“Were we supposed to make a reservation?” Bones asked as they pulled up in front of the tiny hotel that rested right in the center of the Eye. “Looks like they didn’t leave the light on for us.”
The small hotel appeared deserted. Dane cut the engine. All was quiet. “I imagine this place doesn’t get much business, but I have a bad feeling about this.” Drawing his Walther, he climbed out of the Range Rover. Bones was at his side a moment later.
“Do you want us to stay here?” Sofia asked.
“I don’t want you two to be alone, just in case.”
“Maddock, you see these tracks?” Bones swept his hand in a half-circle. “At least two different vehicles were all over this place, and not too long ago or else the wind would have blown the tracks away.” He narrowed his eyes. “Looks like Hummers to me.”
Dane didn’t reply. He hoped that, if two Hummers had come this way, they weren’t packed with Dominion agents. He led the way to the hotel.
The coppery scent of blood filled his nostrils as soon as he opened the door. He didn’t need to look far to find the source.
A man lay bound to an upended chair. His eyes gazed blankly up at the ceiling. Congealed blood pooled on the floor around his head. Dane grimaced at the ragged cut in the man’s throat.
“Cause of death is pretty obvious.” Bones pursed his lips as he looked at the grisly scene. “Looks like he was tortured.”
The man’s hands were smashed, his fingertips sliced and his fingernails torn out.
“I guess the Dominion got here first.” Dane hoped he caught up with the men who did this. He was eager to repay the favor.
“I can’t imagine they got any useful information from a desk clerk,” Bones said.
“We can hope,” Jade said. “Say, what if it’s not the Dominion? What if it’s this Trident group Tam told us about?”
“All we can do is be prepared. Let’s check the building and get out of here.”
It didn’t take long to determine no one else was about. Thankfully, they found no other bodies. When they’d completed the search, they gathered outside the door.
“What’s our next move?” Bones asked. “This place is too big to just go wandering.”
“I don’t see that we have a choice.” Jade turned to Sofia. “Unless you think there’s something you missed in what Tam sent you.”
Sofia shook her head. “I’ll look again, but I don’t think so.”
“I have an idea,” Dane said. “I think it’s safe to say the man inside didn’t know the way to Atlantis. But, if he was local, he probably would have been familiar with any caves in the area.”
“Which would mean the Dominion now knows the way,” Bones grumbled.
“How would they know about the caves without the book?” Sofia asked. “Tam said her so-called friend only saw the map.”
“It stands to reason that Atlantis, if it’s here, is beneath the volcanic dome,” Jade said. “They’d have wanted to know about any tunnels or caverns that might lead underground.”
“So we do what?” Bones asked. “Drive around until we find some locals?”
“We could do that,” Dane said. “Or we could follow their tire tracks.”
Chapter 46
The moment he spotted the Hummers parked at the base of a steep rise, Dane pulled the Range Rover behind a rise, blocking it from view. Urging Jade and Avery to wait with the vehicle, and failing spectacularly to convince them, he and the others moved closer to scout the area.
“I’ll bet it’s somewhere on that ridge up there.” Dane pointed to a steeply-sloped wall of volcanic rock. “It stands to reason the entrance would be somewhere difficult to get to, and that doesn’t look like an easy climb.
“Not for some people.” Bones winked. He and Dane had always been competitive when it came to climbing. “So, do we wait until Tam gets here with backup?”
“I don’t think we can. If the Dominion, or anyone, for that matter, is ahead of us, we’d better catch up to them before they find the machine.
“Ladies, you should wait with the Range Rover.” Bones held up a hand.
“Not a chance.” Jade glared at the two men. “We’ve got as much right as you to see this through. Heck, Sofia has more right than any of us. This all started with the Dominion killing her team. Besides, you’re probably outgunned, so you’ll need all the help you can get.”
“Someone needs to be here in case Tam tries to make contact.”
“Have you checked your phone lately?” Sofia held up her phone. “We haven’t had a signal for hours. Might as well be a tin can and string.”
Dane had had this same argument too many times to count, and not only with Jade, and he’d never won.
“No point in arguing. Let’s move.”
They found precious little cover as they moved toward the spot where the Hummers were parked, but they arrived without incident. Whoever had gotten here first here hadn’t left a lookout. Dane made cursory inspection of the vehicles. Both were empty, save a Bible lying on the passenger seat of the second vehicle. It wasn’t confirmation that it was the Dominion they tracked, but it increased the likelihood. Meanwhile, Bones began tracking their quarry, complaining all the while about stereotypes and racial insensitivity. He identified eight sets of bootprints, probably belonging to men based on their size. As they expected, the tracks led up the rocky slope, part of one of the raised rings that gave the Eye its distinctive appearance.
The way up was easier than Dane had anticipated, with plenty of natural hand and footholds. Jade was a skilled climber in her own right, and Sofia held her own. They experienced a bit of good fortune when, approximately two-thirds of the way up, they came upon a climbing rope affixed to pitons hammered into the rocky face.
“Nice of them to help us up the steepest part.” Bones grunted as he heaved his bulk up the rock.
“Putting these in would have slowed them down, at least a few minutes,” Dane added. “We’ll take any break we can get at this point, no matter how small.”
Reaching the top, they fanned out and began searching for the caves that would, they hoped, lead down into the earth and to the fabled lost city. Minutes later, Dane spotted a ledge a few meters below the place where he stood. From this vantage point, only a fraction of it was visible, but his sharp eyes espied it, as well as a scuff mark that might have been made by a boot. He waved the others over and then climbed down for a better look.
Rubble lay scattered across the ledge where someone appeared to have cleared away a rockfall, exposing a dark passageway.
“I think this is it,” Dane said.
“How will Tam and the others find us?” Jade looked doubtfully into the dark cave.
Dane considered the question, then took his cell phone out of his pocket and stuck it in a crack in the rock.
“Maybe they can trace it.” He made a noncommittal shrug before entering the cave.
A few meters in, the cave floor dropped down at a steep angle before leveling off in a small chamber where three round tunnels converged. Seeing no signs left by the Dominion’s agents, they decided to take them one at a time, beginning with the one on the left.