“The safest course would be to go on with our vacation and just forget the whole thing. Then again, my gut tells me the only hope there is for finding the murderers lies with us. Maybe if we can solve this riddle we can figure out who was after the Magi’s bones and why. Even then, who knows what we can really prove?”
“I say we go for it.” Bones had the familiar gleam in his eyes that Dane associated with the start of a treasure hunt. “What better way to celebrate Christmas than solve the mystery of the lost bones of the Magi?”
Jade nodded. “You know I’m in. And you,” she turned to Dane, “live for this stuff, whether you want to admit it or not.”
Dane grinned. He and Jade were kindred spirits; both loved the sea, archaeology, and mysteries. That left only one person. He turned to Angel, whose cheeks were aglow and her brown eyes sparkling as she gazed back at him. He was suddenly struck by her beauty, and there was something in her expression that made him uneasy. He was pleased to see that Jade’s attention was once again on the stone disc, and she hadn’t seen whatever might have passed across his face. He took a quick drink, buying himself a moment to clear his head.
“How about you, Angel? You signed up for a vacation, not a mystery.”
“Are you stupid? I’m all over it. Do you know how sick I am of Bones coming home and bragging about wrestling Bigfoot and all the other crap you two get up to?” Her roguish grin was so like that of her brother that it made Dane flinch. It was one thing to notice Angel was hot. To think that Bones’ sister was hot— that was something else entirely.
Otto cleared his throat.
“There is something else I must tell you.” Not meeting anyone’s eye, Otto recounted the time after they had left him alone in the cathedral. His voice was soft, remorse weighing heavily in every word. “I told them about the three hares.” He lapsed into silence, but Dane sensed there was more.”And I gave them Jade’s name.”
Dane and Jade exchanged glances. He couldn’t tell exactly what she was thinking, but she didn’t seem too upset about it. She was tough.
“One of them knew you and he sounded very upset when I told him your name.” Now Jade did look surprised, but she kept her silence. “That was when the authorities arrived.” Otto finally looked at her. “I am so sorry. I have read adventure novels and iMagined myself a hero, but reality is something entirely different. I am not a strong man.” His chin fell to his chest and his face darkened.
“It’s all right.” Jade took his hand in both of hers. “I would have done the same thing.”
Dane knew that wasn’t true. Jade was stronger than Otto ever dreamed of being.
“This is really jacked-up,” Bones said to Jade. “If you have any rivals in your field, they’d have one of your specializations, wouldn’t they?”
Jade shrugged.
Dane looked at Bones and could tell they were thinking the same thing. There was only one group that was likely to have it in for Jade. If his hunch was correct, they were all in danger.
Chapter 7 — A Theft
“Did he say what, exactly, we are looking for?” Ulrich appeared in the doorway looking annoyed. “I searched the other two rooms and found nothing but suitcases that had not even been opened. It appears Ihara’s friends checked in and stayed only long enough to drop off their luggage.” He ran his fingers through his wavy black hair. His vanity and legendary poor swimming ability had earned him the nickname Hasselhoff, though few dared say it to the quick-tempered man’s face.
“The skulls, obviously, and anything else that might connect to the three hares, the Magi, or the cathedral.” Niklas finished his search of the bag. Neither it nor Ihara’s luggage had turned up anything. The name on the identification tag read Dane Maddock. The name meant nothing to him, but he committed it to memory all the same.
“Have you found anything?” Uhlrich opened the bathroom door and peered inside.
“I have not yet finished.” Niklas felt a flash of annoyance. He did not want to leave empty-handed, but he was concerned that Ihara had taken the skulls with her. He searched the dresser, closet, and even the floor beneath the bed skirt, but came up empty. Uhlrich poked around, looking in all the places Niklas had already checked.
He was about to give up when he noticed a bulge behind the curtain. Not wanting to give away his presence to anyone looking in from the outside, he drew back the curtain just far enough to see a black backpack resting on the windowsill. Dark, hollow holes gaped up at him from sinister, horned skulls. He had found what they were looking for.
“I’ve got them! Let’s go.”
Uhlrich’s tense face sagged with relief. He cracked the door open and peered up and down the hall before signaling that the way was clear.
They took the stairs down to the first floor and, along the way, Niklas slipped out of his overcoat and draped it over his arm, concealing the backpack. Neither Ihara nor the rest of her party knew him or Uhlrich, but there was always the slim chance she would recognize her own backpack, and he did not want to risk blowing things through a chance encounter. By the time they exchanged the warmth of the hotel for the cold December night, he knew he had made the right choice.
Four people approached, talking and laughing. Though he had never seen a picture of Ihara, he knew this had to be her. An attractive young woman of mixed Asian ancestry along with two American natives— one a tall, muscular man with long hair and a roguish face, the other an attractive twenty-something girl with captivating eyes. How many of their race did one see in Cologne? The fourth member of their group was a muscular man with blond hair and eyes the color of a stormy sea. This must be Dane Maddock. Though he smiled and spoke with his friends, his eyes locked on Niklas and Uhlrich as if he somehow knew something was amiss with them. Then again, perhaps it was because Niklas was not wearing his coat despite the snowfall that was growing heavier by the minute.
They passed close enough for him to catch a whiff of Ihara’s jasmine-scented perfume, and to realize just how tall the Indian was. Niklas was six feet tall, a shade taller than Maddock, but the Indian had him by at least half a head. Tension climbed his spine, knotting the muscles in his back and neck. He had a bad feeling about these two men and, though he and Uhlrich were armed, he would prefer not to have an encounter with them.
By the time they reached their car, the group was rounding the corner of the hotel. He breathed a sigh of relief, set the backpack containing the skulls in the back, and slid into the driver’s seat. He looked at Uhlrich, who was standing on the sidewalk staring back at the hotel. He called his name, but Uhlrich raised a hand.
“Wait a moment. I will be right back.” With that, he vanished into the swirling cloud of white.
Angel pulled up her hood, lowered her head against the wind and snow, and hurried along the sidewalk. How dumb had she been to leave her purse in the rental car? She wasn’t a girly girl by any measure, but her wallet, passport, and phone were inside it and she didn’t want to risk it getting stolen.
She was in such a hurry that she didn’t notice the man approaching her until he was almost on top of her. They had just passed one another moments before. Great! Another random stranger hitting on her. She was about to deflect his advances with a polite rejection when he reached out, grabbed hold of her French braid, and yanked her forward.
“Come quietly and…”
His words ended in a grunt as Angel drove a fist into his gut. An average person would have instinctively tried to pull away from the attacker and get loose from his grip, but Angel was not an average person. Her fighting instincts kicking in, she drove the heel of her palm up into her attacker’s chin. He turned at the last instant and her strike caught him on the jaw. He took a step back, trying to yank her off balance by her hair. Angel barely noticed the pain; she’d had much worse in the octagon. As he moved backward, she scooped one of his legs and drove him backward. He was bigger than her, and maybe stronger, but he was caught completely off guard by her aggression. He stumbled back against a parked car, letting go of her hair as he fell hard to the ground. She heard the whoosh of breath leaving his lungs and the satisfying thunk as his the back of his head cracked the sidewalk. The snow probably cushioned the impact, but not by much.