Most of those men made the mistake of running straight into the Confederate forces on the other side of the ridge. One who evaded the pursuers for two days was eventually captured in the hills outside Ringgold. The story suggests he tried to make a deal with one of the soldiers and even told him he'd be handsomely rewarded if he'd been let go.
The Confederate guard refused the bribe. The prisoner was tried and hanged in Atlanta shortly after. Whatever secrets he may have been keeping died with him. Unless he'd left something somewhere in a place few people would look or think to look.
Sean had been down inside the cave on one occasion. Neither time did he think it was possible or practical to get a cannon in there.
He'd been in high school the last time he ventured down into the darkness of the cave. He didn't remember seeing anything unusual, but he also hadn't explored as deeply as he would have liked.
With the strange events of the last few months, Sean couldn't help but wonder if there was something in the cave, something that would help shed some light on the Seward mystery.
It was a long shot, and Sean knew it. Unfortunately, he and Tommy didn't have a ton of good leads, so they needed to give it a try. If they found nothing helpful in Ringgold, they'd keep digging until another lead presented itself. That's how it went in their line of work. Sometimes you hit a home run, and sometimes you swing and miss.
Sean moved the arrow on the computer screen and clicked on a link. The computer lagged for a second before zipping him to a web page with a black-and-white map at the top. A red line was drawn from Atlanta to an area just east of Ringgold. He took a sip of the coffee as June and Tommy entered the room, dragging their feet and rubbing their eyes.
"Good morning," he said. "Coffee's ready if you want some. There's milk and creamer in the fridge. I left the sugar on the counter."
"Thank you," the other two said in tandem.
Outside, the sun still hadn't peeked over the horizon, leaving the cabin bathed in darkness. The thick forests surrounding the place made it seem even darker.
"How long you been up?" Tommy asked from behind the kitchen counter as he fumbled through a collection of coffee mugs.
"A while," Sean said as he took a sip from his steaming cup.
"I figured."
"Did you sleep okay?" June asked.
"Okay enough for me," Sean answered. "I don't usually sleep much anyway. Too many thoughts running through my head to get any rest. Especially right now."
"Any of those thoughts useful to our current predicament?" Tommy asked. He finally chose a mug and started pouring.
"Maybe," he said, pointing at the screen. "We don't have a lot to go on in terms of Operation Iron Horse."
"Yeah, I was thinking about that. What's that?" Tommy motioned at the computer.
"A map of North Georgia. The line represents the starting and ending point of the Great Locomotive Chase."
"So, that's where we're headed, huh?"
"The first thing we need to do is get June out of here." He shifted his gaze to the blonde, who was taking a sip from her cup.
She swallowed and shook her head. "Hey, I'll be fine. I can handle myself."
"I know you can," Sean said. "But these guys are dangerous."
"As opposed to the ones we dealt with before? Pretty sure it doesn't get much more dangerous than that."
"That may be, but if we can avoid it by getting you back home, I'd prefer that."
"He's right," Tommy agreed. "I'd feel much better knowing you were back across the pond. Whoever these people are, they probably don't know about you and me. I'd rather keep it that way for now."
She tilted her head forward, and her eyebrows pinched together. "Sounds like you're trying to get rid of me."
Tommy shook his head vigorously. "No, that's not it."
"I'm messing with you," she said. "Really, it's okay. I have to get back to work anyway. I have to say, though, I don't like the fact that you might be in danger."
She pulled close to him and wrapped her arm around his back.
"Okay," Sean said, interrupting the intimate moment. "As I was about to say, I have an idea about where we should go after we take her to the airport."
"Oh yeah?"
Sean nodded. "Yeah. There's an old legend about a cave in Ringgold. I think we should start there."
"Cave, huh?"
"I know. Another cave. But it's the only thing I can think of. It's less than three miles from the place where the General ran out of fuel, and it butts against White Oak Mountain, where several of the Raiders tried to escape. It's worth a shot."
The other two listened for a moment, considering the idea.
"You said it's a legend," June spoke up. "Do you two normally chase after any random myth that comes along?"
Tommy was in the middle of taking another sip of coffee and froze in place. He looked over the rim of the mug at his friend.
Sean chuckled. "Sometimes. But only if we don't have any other options. This is one of those times."
She shrugged and raised the coffee mug to her lips. "Just asking," she said with a playful smirk.
Sean turned his attention back to Tommy. "After you take her to the airport, get yourself a burner phone. We can't make it easy for these guys to follow us."
Tommy nodded. "Gotcha. Wait…"
"What is it?"
"The kids. You think they'll be okay?"
"They'll need to hunker down for a few days, but they should be fine. I'm sure the men coming after us will be watching the building. As long as they stay put, they'll be okay. I doubt anyone will try to go in."
"I hope you're right," Tommy said, dubious.
"Tell you what," Sean said. "You take June to the airport, and I'll make sure the kids are okay."
Tommy wasn't sure he liked the second part of Sean's idea. Going back into the city could be dangerous. The new IAA building would be under surveillance, and if either one of them so much as showed their face within a block of there, they'd have trouble.
"So, you're going to go back into the hornet's nest?" Tommy asked.
"You got a better idea?"
The long pause after the question told the tale.
"I'll do it," June said suddenly.
The two friends jerked their gaze to her.
"No," Tommy said. "You need to get out of the country. And besides, you said you have to get back to work."
"I have some extra paid time off. There will be a fee to change my flight this late, but I can handle it. I can go into your headquarters and let the kids know what's going on."
The kids, Tara Watson and Alex Simms, pretty much lived at IAA headquarters. Constantly embedded in research with new artifacts or historical oddities, they each kept a bed and several days' worth of supplies on hand in case they ever needed to stay put. This situation fit that description perfectly.
The two men exchanged uncertain looks.
"Come on," she pushed. "You need someone to let them know what's going on. And who knows, maybe I can help out in case you guys need something. In fact, my phone is probably the only one that isn't being traced right now. If you have a question, you can call me, and I'll relay the information to Tara and Alex."
Her offer made a lot of sense, so much so that Sean and Tommy were having a hard time coming up with a reason not to let her do it.
"Fine," Tommy said after a long moment of thought. "I suppose we do need someone on the inside to keep the kids safe."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said with a caked-on layer of sarcasm.
"I just don't want you to get hurt."
She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his chest. "I appreciate that. But I'm a grown woman. Like I said, I can take care of myself."