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He was standing at the window looking out at the lights of the boulevard below. “And who is that, this ‘new leader’?”

“Have you ever heard of Alexander Lindsey?”

“Might ring a bell. Eccentric rich guy. Seems a lot like Howard Hughes. Stays out of public mostly.” He shrugged. “What about him?”

“We think he is the one behind what happened to you and Tommy a few weeks ago.”

Sean’s head spun. “Look, Em. I’m retired from government work now. My job is with IAA.” He could tell she understood. But there was something she wasn’t telling him. “Who’s the we you referred to earlier?” he asked. “And why are they interested in me?”

Suddenly, the conversation was interrupted by a sound coming from the entrance. Someone was trying to open the door.

“Looks like they aren’t the only people interested in you,” she raised an eyebrow.

“Friends of yours?” He hoped.

She shook her head slowly.

Chapter 5

Las Vegas, Nevada

The Agusta’s engine hummed above as the helicopter sped through the night, headed towards the mountains to the north of Las Vegas. The city blinked busily in the darkness of the desert through one of the cabin windows. Alexander peered through the window, lost in thought. Soon he would be back in his bed, safe in the mountain compound he’d had built decades ago. It was nice to have money. It could buy you fame or solitude. He preferred the latter, especially considering his mission.

He knew where his great grandfather had failed, he would succeed.

The cell phone in his left jacket pocket rang silently, interrupting his moment. He glanced at the number on the screen and then answered the call. “I trust everything is going according to plan?”

The voice on the other line was young but confident. “Not exactly. We’ve had a complication with the code interpretation. I’m on my way to fix the problem right now.”

Another issue. The “complications” that occurred a few weeks ago had turned into a full-blown fiasco. What was supposed to be a quiet operation had become a media frenzy. The public was fascinated by the treasure hunt, intrigue, and murder. At least nothing pointed his direction. Attention was not something Lindsey wanted. Not yet. Now every treasure hunter on the planet was trying to figure out where the next chamber was.

“What happened?” he asked abruptly.

“I believe that the others may have made a move to try and locate the information.” There was a slight pause. “Whoever they sent made a mess of everything.”

Lindsey’s blood boiled and his eyes narrowed, filling with rage. “Those fools. I told them not to interfere. But they just can’t leave well enough alone.”

Their organization was built around three controlling members, a triumvirate of sorts. They made executive decisions concerning the Order that most lower level members never even knew about. It had always been that way, since the very beginning.

He realized he’d been silent for a moment when his man spoke again. “Not to worry, sir. I will handle it. I trust you will take care of things with the other two.”

He thought for a brief second about how to approach things with the others. For the most part, the other two were obedient and submissive. They always agreed to whatever he decided was best for the Order. It was nice to have puppets. Lindsey knew they were jealous of his power and loathed the fact that he had almost autonomous control over the organization. But under his leadership what had been a broken and forgotten group had risen from the ashes of obscurity and amassed money in the billions along with a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes clout in political arenas.

While conspiracy theorists talk about the Bildeburg Group and the Freemasons, The Order of the Golden Dawn were pulling more and more strings by the year.

“Make sure you take care of things quickly there.” He paused momentarily, considering something else. “What about the Las Vegas issue?”

“Our men are moving in now, sir. That problem will be eliminated within the hour.”

“Good.” Soon, his operatives would have the location of the next chamber. And then, only a few short steps away from- His thoughts trailed away into a plethora of grand possibilities.

Up ahead, he could see the pale lights of his mountain compound. A mansion cut into the rock itself, the facility had cost millions. But it provided him with a hidden fortress where he could escape watchful eyes. Even satellites would have a difficult time spotting the 15,000 square-foot palace. So natural was its appearance with the surroundings. For a long time he’d stayed concealed in the shadows. Soon, he thought, the time for laying in wait would come to an end.

Chapter 6

Atlanta, GA

Professor Terrance Nichols never had a chance.

Dark crimson oozed down the hole in the front corner of his drooped head, a splattering of it decorated the thin carpet on the other side.

His body still sat in his desk chair in front of a computer monitor. The screen was on, casting an eerie glow in the dark laboratory. Tommy surveyed the scene in shock.

Crime scene investigators were all over the place working busily to gather any fragments of evidence they could. Others were taking pictures with their digital cameras trying to piece together the event. Police tape lined the doors and walls of the laboratory.

“Looks like it happened this morning,” Will said standing slightly behind Tommy. “We’re doing everything we can to find out who did this and why.”

Tommy could only muster a slight nod.

“Tommy. We need your help here. You were friends with Nichols. Do you have any idea why anyone would do something like this?”

Inside, Tommy wondered. Surely it wasn’t happening again. Professor Borringer had been murdered because Tommy had gotten him involved. What had originally been a simple favor of translating some ancient text had gotten Borringer murdered. Was Nichols the second?

Will broke his thoughts. “Tommy, had you been working with Dr. Nichols on anything lately?”

Tommy snapped back to the moment and nodded. “Yeah,” he began sullenly. “I brought him a copy of the stone disc we found a few weeks ago. There was a code on the back of it, a sequence of letters and symbols unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Terrance told me he had some software that he believed could decipher the meaning of sequence.”

“Is there anyone else that knows that you were working on this with him?”

“No.” Tommy shook his head. “Sean knows, but he is in Las Vegas.”

“He’s the only other one? McElroy doesn’t know?”

Joe McElroy had been instrumental in the discovery of the first chamber. His knowledge of ancient Native American history was staggering and had actually surprised Tommy at first. He’d been shot during the events leading up to the discovery and was taking a little time off to recover. Tommy was going to offer McElroy a job with IAA as soon as he felt better. They could use a person with his level of learning. But Joe wasn’t aware that Tommy had been in contact with Dr. Nichols.

“No. He doesn’t know. He’s been taking it easy the last few weeks. Pretty sure his wife won’t let him leave the house either.”

Will chuckled slightly at the thought.

Tommy’s face was filled with regret. He somehow felt responsible for the death of his friend. Then it changed to curiosity. “Do you know what was on the computer?”

Will shook his head. “Not yet. We have been trying to get the scene swept and make sure there is nothing we missed. You think whatever they were looking for might be on the hard drive?”