“A Seba.” Stone remembered exactly when and where he had last seen that symbol. And what he had done that night.
“Earth to Stone,” Alex said.
Stone blinked. “Sorry. A Seba is an ancient Egyptian star emblem. The star represents the gods. The circle symbolizes the passage into the Underworld.” He frowned. “Trinity, what is this spot you’ve marked?”
“The House of the Temple.” A note of triumph resounded in her voice.
Stone knew the place. It was the Masonic headquarters of the American South and it was rumored to contain more than its share of secrets.
“It’s a place I researched when digging into John Kane’s connections to the Illuminati,” Trinity said. “It all fits. Orion was a Freemason. ‘In the eye of the star,’ would be the Seba.” She tapped the map. “Outside the temple are two sphinx statues. Guess what they are called?”
“Strength and Wisdom?” Moses said.
“Got it in one. And the word ‘established’ is written in hieroglyphics on the side of each.”
“Where does the pontiff fit in?” Constance asked.
“The building was designed by John Russell Pope!” Stone said.
“Exactly,” Trinity said dryly. “And stop interrupting.” She flashed him a wink and smiled.
“You’re right,” Stone said. “You figured it out first. Please continue.”
“Inside the temple is a seat carved into the marble overlook. with the words ‘Know Thyself’ written on it, which is one of the maxims inscribed on the pediment of the temple of Apollo at Delphi.”
Stone looked at the numbers written beneath the clue and he had an idea. “The temple is known for its library. Lots of old and rare items, maybe even some things kept hidden. What if these are call numbers?”
“We’re looking for a book?”
“Or something hidden beside or inside a book.”
“Brilliant!” Alex said. “But how are we going to break into a place that many believe is an Illuminati stronghold?”
Moses cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him.
“I believe I can help y’all with that.”
9 Into the Temple
Two hours later, they stood on Constitution Avenue, a street that, until two years ago, had been known as B Street. A Marble Statue of Abraham Lincoln loomed over them. It was much smaller than the Lincoln Memorial. From the base of the pedestal to the top of Lincoln’s head, it could be no more than fifteen feet tall.
“I don’t remember seeing this statue before,” Alex said.
“It’s not very well known,” Stone said. “Hasn’t been here more than ten years.” He turned to Moses. “Where is the tunnel entrance you mentioned?”
Moses had told them about a series of interconnected tunnels, drains, and passageways that ran beneath Washington D.C. Some of them had been used by slaves, and today they served as a means of escape in the event someone needed to hide in a hurry.
Moses pointed to a nearby manhole. “Through the storm drain.” He looked around to make sure no one was watching, but at this late hour the streets were almost empty. Then, he removed the cover and dropped down into the tunnel.
“How about I wait here and keep watch?” Alex cast a nervous glance down into the hole.
“Waste of time. We’ll be out of earshot in half a minute,” Moses called from the darkness.
“Do I need to give you a push?” Stone kidded.
“No.” Alex heaved a sigh and followed his friend.
Stone brought up the rear, replacing the manhole cover behind them.
They crawled through mud and stagnant water for about a hundred feet until Moses called a halt. He shined his flashlight beam to the left, where large cracks ran down the side of the drain.
“This part can be moved,” he explained. “Just got to give it a good push.”
“Stone can do it,” Alex said. “He’s the brawn, I’m the brains.”
“Remind me which one of us put salt in his coffee instead of sugar… twice,” Stone said.
“That has nothing to do with intelligence. My mind was merely concentrating on more important matters.”
“Some time in a monastery would teach you to focus,” Stone said.
“A monastery? Is that where you were all those years?”
Stone didn’t answer. After leaving the service, he had fallen out of touch with the people he cared about most. He neither liked to talk about it nor knew how to explain what he had done and why. Trinity never stopped trying to catch him off guard with unexpected questions about his “lost years”, but Alex usually left the subject alone.
He worked his fingers into the cracks and pulled. A section of wall slid forward. He squeezed through feet first and dropped down into a brick-lined passageway. The air was damp and chilly and smelled like old socks, but the ceiling was high enough for him to stand.
“How many places can you get to from here?” Alex asked.
“A whole mess,” Moses said. “Ford’s Theater, Lincoln Memorial, even the capitol building.”
While Alex worried aloud about the condition of the crumbling bricks, Stone committed every turn to memory, made a mental note of each side passage.
They finally halted at a T-junction. Moses looked around. “I ain’t been here before, but I’m told the way up to the temple is behind the eye.”
“What does that mean?” Alex asked.
Moses shrugged. “That’s all I know.”
Stone looked around, examining each brick in turn. Finally, he spotted an anomaly — a brick with an indentation at the center. He wiped away the grime to reveal a triangle with an eye at the center.
“The Eye of Providence,” he said. “The symbol of the Illuminati.” He pressed the brick and a section of wall slid down into the ground. Dusty stairsteps wound upward.
“Want me to wait here for you?” Moses asked.
“I’d like for you to go back to Riverbend and keep an eye on Trinity in case Kane is foolish enough to send his goons after us again.”
They bade one another goodbye, then Stone and Alex climbed the stairs. After a short climb, they found themselves at a trapdoor.
“What do you think is on the other side?” Alex asked. “What happens if we pop up in the middle of some weird ritual?”
“If that happens, we play dumb, say we got lost in an underground passageway. Should that not work, you hightail it out of there and I’ll cover your back. But it’s the middle of the night. Hopefully, the temple will be empty.”
He gave the door a push.
Nothing.
A little more force and with a rusty squeak that sounded like a scream in the quiet night, the trapdoor opened. Alex flicked on his flashlight to reveal stacks of old crates, coated in a layer of dust.
“It’s some kind of storeroom, but it looks like it hasn’t been touched for some time,” Stone said.
“All the better for us.”
The storeroom door opened into a small office. When they stepped inside and closed the door, they discovered it was cleverly hidden behind a bookcase that moved on invisible wheels as the door swung back. With a click, the door locked into place.
“Why conceal a storeroom entrance?” Alex asked.
“The Freemasons love secrets and mysteries. Perhaps someone installed it for their own amusement.” Stone scratched his chin, thinking. “The House of the Temple is not quite twenty years old. That means someone knew about the secret passageway and installed the trapdoor for access.”
“Elements of the Illuminati within the ranks of the Masons?” Alex asked.
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
Despite their stealth, their footsteps echoed in the marble-lined hallways. They passed through the Temple Room. Moonlight shone through the oculus a hundred feet above them, illuminating the altar at the center of the chamber. They reached the library in short order. The door was locked but Alex picked it with ease.