The lead. That must’ve been the safe deposit box.
“When Father died, I decided to fulfill his legacy. To bring about global governance and thus, world peace. Fortunately, my position gave me the tools to do it. I managed to cripple the U.S. dollar and set the stage for a global currency. But there was a problem.”
“Fort Knox,” I said. “The depository.”
He nodded. “Intrinsically, the U.S. dollar is worth nothing. But if backed by gold, well, it could still be saved. Thanks to Father’s notes, I knew Fort Knox’s gold was gone. However, there was always the possibility it might show up again. So, I enlisted Willow to find it or at the very least, to make sure it stayed lost.”
“How’d she know about Justin’s safe deposit box?”
“She didn’t. At least not at first. Instead, she put her systems to work on your dad’s life and noticed a curious pattern. Prior to his death, he tore down a bunch of buildings which had all served as former branches of Five Borough Bank. She delved into the bank’s old records, which had been scanned into some library’s holdings, and discovered inventories of unclaimed safe deposit boxes. One box belonged to Justin Reed and held a twelve-page document known as Capitalist Curtain.”
“Impressive,” I admitted. “But why involve me?”
“That was Willow’s idea. She said it made for good symmetry.”
The corners of my mouth tightened. I hadn’t known Willow for very long. Just a couple of years. But she’d always struck me as a beautiful woman, inside and out.
Apparently, I’d been mistaken.
“Is that why she tried to kill me?” I asked. “Because you killed my dad?”
“No, although she liked that aspect of it. Truthfully, we were worried you might start looking for the gold yourself.”
“And yet, you still convinced the president to take me to Fort Knox.”
He nodded. “After you escaped the riot, I decided you still had value. The idea of America’s greatest treasure hunter exposing its most valuable treasure as a complete fraud was too good to pass up.”
I could hear distant raucous noises coming through the open plate. Fighting and yelling and cracking wood and all the other sounds one might expect from a riot in the middle of the forest.
“So, all of this for world peace, huh?” I asked.
“A worthy goal, wouldn’t you agree?” He offered me a genuine smile. “And still quite achievable. Distract K.J. so I can get these trucks out of here. Let the markets open tomorrow and do their work. Let the U.S. dollar die a deserved death.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” He shook his head. “I overheard everything. President Walters turned his back on you. You don’t owe him anything.”
“I’m not doing this for him.” I nodded at Justin’s skeleton. “I’m doing it for him and Dad. I’m doing it so their stories can finally be told.”
“But—” A soft bang rang out. Ben swiveled his head toward the steel plate.
“That was fast.” I lifted my head. “Dutch, Beverly… we’re over here.”
A couple of shadowy forms filed into the cavern. They carried bags and other bulky items. One of them walked to the east wall and fiddled with a machine. Squealing lightly, the plate closed over again. The natural light blinked out and darkness filled the cavern.
Small lights appeared. Then the newcomers walked confidently in our direction. One of them, the tallest one, spoke up. “So, we meet again.”
My body tensed. It wasn’t Dutch or Beverly or even K.J. But I knew the speaker. Not well, but still I knew him.
It was Saul.
Chapter 76
Gunfire rang out and I darted deeper into the cavern, zigzagging every few steps. Bullets chewed the walls, the floor, the ceiling, pulverizing the ancient rock formation.
A bullet flew overhead and struck the ceiling. The rock sparked and I caught a brief glimpse of my surroundings. To the northeast, I noticed the cavern end in a rock wall. A thin tunnel cut through it. I could probably fit inside the tunnel, but the effort would slow me down.
To my left, I saw a crevice. It seemed pretty deep and partially hooked around a corner.
As the spark blinked out, I slid into the crevice. Holding my breath, I squeezed around the corner.
Moments later, I heard three sets of footsteps race past me. They stopped and a few moments of silence filled the air.
“He ran into a tunnel,” a man shouted. “Want us to go after him?”
“Nah,” Saul called out after a moment. “Kent, you take guard duty. If he shows his face, kill him. The rest of you get back here. We need to prep for transport.”
Clearly, Malware — a.k.a. Willow — had recruited Saul and his gang to her family’s cause. I assumed they were planning to take the gold. But how? The old dump trucks were probably out of commission. And it would take days to move that much gold to other vehicles.
Footsteps hiked past me, going in the opposite direction. Dim lights appeared. Soon after, soft metallic noises began to spring up near the trucks.
After a few minutes, I crept out of the niche and stole a glance toward the tunnel. One of Saul’s guys, adorned in jeans, hoodie, and ski mask, stood off to the side, keeping his gun trained on it.
Sticking close to the wall, I crept southwest. Thanks to some ground-based light fixtures, I could see Saul and his gang milling about the ten dump trucks. A couple of guys were patching up the tires and pumping them full of air. Others appeared to be working on the engines. Still others focused on adding features and details. The changes, although subtle, had an impact and the trucks were starting to look a lot like the much newer dump trucks the Army had brought to the area.
Clearly, Saul — or more likely, Malware — was taking a page out of Justin’s playbook, altering the old trucks to look like modern ones. With the Army distracted by the Berserker mob, they’d sneak out of the cavern and close the plate behind them. Then they’d drive away with no one the wiser.
I heard a soft whirring sound. The plate began to slide open. Engines turned over and began to putter softly. I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t let Malware and Ben get away with this. But how to stop them?
Dropping to a crouch, I hurried forward. Along the way, I scanned Justin’s corpse, the trucks, Saul’s men, and loads of tools and gear. My gaze stopped on the canisters lined up in the east wall alcove. Graham had said they contained fuel. If ignited, they’d pack a decent punch, maybe even large enough to catch K.J.’s attention.
One of the trucks began to inch forward. It drove up the ramp and rolled partway into the clearing. There was no time to think, only time to act.
I aimed the pistol at the nearest canister and squeezed the trigger. A spark filled my vision.
An enormous explosion ripped through the cavern. A wave of energy slammed into me, knocking me over. But Saul’s men had it much worse. Some of them, perched high up on the dump trucks, were dashed to the ground. Others were blown straight into metal siding.
As I regained my footing, a fireball rose out of one of the canisters. It quickly lit piles of blankets and stacks of old firewood. Flames started to stab outward in all directions. They didn’t quite reach the trucks, but they easily consumed other canisters as well as additional supplies left by Justin’s crew.
I turned my attention to the parked trucks. Their engines still puttered softly, but they remained still. The tenth truck had come to a halt just outside the cavern and I could see blood splatter on the front windshield.
White smoke curled up and spread its way through the cavern. Within seconds, I was surrounded by it.
I dropped to the ground, the odors of smoke and garlic in my nostrils. A disturbing thought occurred to me and I glanced toward the nearest wall. It shone like gold in the bright light and at last, I figured out why everything smelled like garlic. The walls were made of arsenopyrite, a type of fool’s gold with one important differentiating feature. When heated, it emitted fumes.