“Forget it. It was coin-flip really and I made the choice that seemed right.” He glanced down the opposing passage. “You know, just before I was almost squished like a bug, it occurred to me that the Templars were influenced by the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. That’s what the books say, anyway. So maybe the Templars picked up some other influences of the Eastern Church.”
“You’re saying we should go right?”
“I think it’s worth a shot.”
Bones cleared his throat. “All right, Houdini. You’ve hogged enough glory for one day. I’ll take it from here.”
Dane had to resist the urge to argue. He was the team leader; it was his job to lead — from the front. But leading wasn’t the same as walking point. He was part of a team, and that meant letting other people shoulder some of the responsibility.
He disengaged from Alex’s embrace, though when she held onto his hand, he didn’t shake loose, and nodded. “Right behind you.”
Bones approached the tunnel cautiously. “Smooth floor. I don’t see any holes for traps.”
“It’s your call,” said Dane. “I probably used up all my luck anyway.”
“All right. Stand back in case I come running out like my hair’s on fire.” Bones edged forward into the tunnel, sweeping high and low with the light before each step forward. Soon, only the glow of his light was visible, and then even that disappeared briefly, before shining back down the tunnel.
“That’s the all clear.” Hand in hand, Dane and Alex went down the tunnel to join him. At about the one hundred meter mark, the tunnel swung sharply to the left and a few steps later, ended in another circular room with three more arched openings.
“This time, left,” declared Alex, with some of her earlier confidence.
Bones answered with a mock salute and promptly headed down that tunnel. Dane and Alex didn’t wait for the all clear. They were closing in; Dane felt it in his gut. The secret doors, the traps, this entire elaborate cross-shaped labyrinth — it was all proof that the Templar treasure vault was real, and they were about to open it.
Perhaps because it corresponded to the long lateral motion that completed the Sign of the Cross, the length of this passage was at least twice as long as the previous one, and when it finally ended, they found themselves in yet another circular chamber, but this time there was only other way out, at the top of a staircase that spiraled around the circumference of the room.
Bones paused there shining his light up to illuminate a high domed ceiling and another door at the top of the stairs, perhaps forty vertical feet above. “Well, I don’t see any murder holes.”
“Either we’re done with traps,” said Dane, “or they’ve saved the best for last. I say we go find out.”
Dane felt his blood go ice cold when a languorous voice spoke from the tunnel behind him. “Why I think that’s a fantastic idea, Mr. Maddock. I would very much like to see what’s up there.”
CHAPTER 22
Dane raised his hands — one of them still entwined with Alex’s — and backed away from the mouth of the passage as John Lee Ray, with Scalpel and three other men in tow, filed into the chamber.
“You fellows look like hell. Take a wrong turn back there?” There was an edge to Bones’ voice, and Dane could hear the barely restrained rage behind the sarcasm.
Bones wasn’t wrong. Ray’s handsome face was merely streaked with sweat and grime, but the others appeared to have gone through the wringer. One man appeared to have escaped from a fire; his clothes were scorched and there were angry red burns on his hands and bald head. Another had a makeshift bandage around his head. His thigh was also bound tightly, and whatever injury he had suffered had evidently left him barely ambulatory. Scalpel was there as well, bent over as if every step was agony, the relative higher altitude of the Alps doubtless exacerbating the lingering symptoms of his decompression sickness. The sufferings of the rest of Ray’s men were almost certainly, as Bones had intimated, the result of Templar traps, but their wounds in no way lessened the lethality of the pistols they brandished.
Scalpel twisted around in Bones direction and took aim. Dane tensed, certain that the man was about to pull the trigger, and he sensed that Bones knew it too. They were both ready to move, ready to take whatever punishment Ray and his men could throw at them, and fight through it if meant a chance for payback.
“Put it away,” said Ray, sharply. “We are not uncivilized. Whatever misfortunes have befallen us, we cannot attribute them to Mr. Maddock.”
He turned to face Dane. “I am actually quite impressed, Mr. Maddock. How ever did you deduce the correct path through the maze?”
“It was a group effort.”
“Well, remarkable. I myself did not immediately recognize the nature of the test, and you can see the result.” He gestured to his men, none of whom looked terribly pleased by their employer’s behavior. “But then I saw this place for what it was; a spiritual test. Walk the true path of God, and the way will open. Now only one test remains, and I think you have earned the right to lead the way.”
Dane wasn’t fooled for a second. “Drop the act. You just want us to go first to clear any traps.”
“You seem to have a knack for avoiding them. I would be a fool to dispose of someone with your talents. My offer to you stands. We need not be foes.”
“We’ve heard this crap from you before,” Bones spoke up, his tone still as sharp as a knife edge. “You kind of ruined any chances of that happening when you killed Gabby.”
Ray waved dismissively. “She betrayed you. You should thank us for repaying her treachery in kind.”
Bones was about to say something more, but Dane held up his hand. “Bones, let’s do what the man asks. I’m kind of curious to see what’s up there, and it’s not like things will get any worse for us if we do.”
Dane hoped that Bones would hear the unspoken message: Wait for it. We’ll get our chance. Bones didn’t say anything more, and Dane decided to take that as an indication that the message had been received.
He turned and moved without hesitation to stand beside Bones. “Just in case, remember the count. Every third step.” He shone his light up the steps meaningfully, and in a low voice added, “Quick time.”
There weren’t any visible murder holes and Dane was fairly certain that, at this stage in the game, the Templars would have assumed that any unwelcome intruder would have figured out how to avoid triggering such a trap. But if Ray and his men were focused on watching their steps as they brought up the rear, it might provide the distraction needed for Dane and Bones to turn the tables.
Bones nodded and managed to mostly hide a grin, then took an easy stride to the third step. Instead of bringing his feet together there, he brought his trailing foot up to the sixth step, and continued in this manner, setting a quick pace that was more than Ray’s injured men could match. In a matter of seconds, Scalpel and the man with the thigh injury had fallen behind by half a turn of the spiral.
“Slow down,” growled Ray.
Dane looked over his shoulder. Ray had the barrel of his gun just inches away from the small of Alex’s back, but Dane sensed that this might be the chance they had been waiting for. As he turned back around, he made eye contact with Alex. “Watch your step. Whatever you do…” He nodded his head three times, hoping that that she would catch his rhythm. “Don’t…trip.”
There seemed to be a look of comprehension in her eyes, so he nodded out the rhythm again. One…two….
And on three, he threw himself forward, onto the stairs. Alex matched his movements, and for the briefest of moments, Ray had no target.