"Denali?" Tommy asked.
"I think so," Sean said. "Interesting it's in Russian."
Tommy rolled his shoulders. "Actually, it makes perfect sense. The Russians were the first ones to explore that area, other than the natives, of course."
"Of course."
Both men pored over the map, noting all the other way points written in Russian.
"The guys William Seward sent to Alaska must have brought this map back to him. That means—"
"Seward didn't just send explorers. He sent thieves to steal this thing," Sean finished the thought for his friend.
"Possibly. That's assuming he knew someone had this. Seeing it right now, though, sure seems that way." Tommy had another thought. "That means someone in the Confederacy must have discovered this two-part map and taken it."
"Right. And Andrews' Raiders were sent to recover the piece with the hole in it. You thought you were worried about damaging something valuable. Think about Private Knight writing his letter on that thing. I imagine he wasn't thrilled about it."
Tommy nodded in agreement. "I wonder what this is," he said, pointing at the dot on the map.
"Let's look at what we know. It's close to Denali. From the looks of it, I'd say it's situated in the hills surrounding the big mountain. What's in those hills?" Sean asked the question already knowing the answer.
"Gold?"
"Yep," Sean said. "At least there used to be."
Then another thought struck him. "One of the men who came after me said that there was something under the mountain that could produce gold."
"You mean like alchemy?" Tommy asked.
Sean snorted a short laugh. "I said those exact words. Yes, just like alchemy."
Tommy dismissed the idea with a scowl. "Alchemy isn't real. There's been nothing in science to prove that you can turn lead into gold."
"Maybe it isn't lead they're using. And maybe it isn't alchemy as we understand it."
"Maybe. There's still a lot we don't know about old, or ancient, technology."
"Right. And remember, a thousand years ago the Vikings thought thunder and lightning was Thor using his hammer. It may very well be that what these Russians were talking about wasn't gold at all. It might have been something else, and the translation down through the last 150 years got screwed up."
"Good point," Tommy said. "Either way, you and I both know the only real possibility we have of knowing what's up there is to go see for ourselves."
Sean sighed. "Yeah, but that's going to be the problem. No way we're getting across the Canadian border. The guys behind all this will have the borders locked down tight. And obviously flying isn't an option. Not even with your private plane."
"What about sneaking across the border?" Tommy offered.
"I considered it. Even so, it would take us way too long to get there. Not to mention that getting up there via the roads will be nearly impossible this time of year. Most of the roads will be closed."
"So, we take a boat. Sail into Anchorage and then make our way out to Denali."
Sean shook his head again. "Coast Guard. And we would still have the problem of getting across the country. The closest port to our destination would be Seattle. Combining the time it takes to sail with the drive out there, we'd be looking at nearly a week of travel."
"What do we do, then?"
Sean didn't have an answer. He tried to think back to a time before he and Tommy had every resource imaginable. Before the private jets, the endless amounts of money, and the connections around the globe, the two friends had managed to get around the country — even the world — with limited resources. Time wasn't a factor back then. If they wanted to drive to Saint Louis for a Braves road game, they could do it without having to worry about anything serious.
Things weren't like that anymore, and their current predicament posed a very real threat to a number of people.
He felt his phone start vibrating in his pocket. Sean looked at the screen and saw it was Adriana's burner phone.
"Hey," he answered. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. Listen, we figured out why you couldn't get through to Emily or anyone at axis."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes. Someone from the CIA redirected the phone line. We were able to search the camera footage from several video surveillance spots around Axis HQ. One of the cameras got a great shot of the guy who sabotaged the incoming line. It was pretty high tech, too. They rigged it for only certain calls. Since you'd been in Auburn, getting a call from that area code was an easy one to mark. That's why no one else noticed what was going on. They kept getting their normal calls without interruption. Emily sent one of her people up the telephone pole to retrieve it. They're dissecting the device as we speak."
"Wow. I can't believe I didn't think of that." Sean cursed himself in his mind.
"No one did… well, until we did. Don't beat yourself up."
"Thanks. What else did you find?"
"We spoke to June and the kids," she said. Sean glanced over at Tommy, who looked at him with curiosity in his eyes.
"I'll explain later," Sean mouthed.
Adriana went on. "They found some interesting information about who we think might be behind the assassination attempt on Dawkins."
"Really?"
"Yep. They tracked a big chunk of money that was put into a fall guy's account. Two accounts, actually, and in two different countries."
"Fall guy?" Sean knew what the term meant, but he didn't understand the context.
"Some guy named Kendricks. Cops shot him dead outside the hotel where the assassination attempt took place. One day, he had an account in Nicaragua and another in Costa Rica, both loaded with a ton of money. The next day, the accounts were dry. The kids had a friend who tracked where the funds came from. They were filtered through a number of channels, but eventually the money was traced to a company called Transcorp."
"Never heard of it."
"I guess most people haven't unless you're in that sector. It's an energy company. They work under the radar, providing power to a good number of other corporations. They claim to be a green energy sort of deal, but we haven't been able to find anything about their land holdings, solar farms, wind farms, nothing."
"Sounds like Transcorp likes to keep their operations out of the public eye. Easy enough to do when you're a private company and not publicly traded. No SEC breathing down your neck all the time, fewer things to file."
"That's not even the most troubling part." She paused for a second. "The majority shareholder is the secretary of state, Kent Foster."
Sean frowned upon hearing that last piece. He clenched his jaw and stared out at the dark, rippling water. "So, you think Foster is behind all this?"
"Apparently, he's been pushing Dawkins and Congress to take down the Tennessee Valley Authority for a long time. Foster wants it broken up and sold to private entities."
"Break up TVA? We have some of the lowest energy costs in the nation."
"I know. But by breaking it up, Transcorp would have the most to gain. With their green energy initiatives, they'd be lovable to the public and have the money and infrastructure to eventually take over the Eastern Seaboard."
"How much money?"
"Right now, they're valued at around ten billion, but they're locked on the West Coast right now. If they can get across the Mississippi, they'll be the primary energy suppliers to the entire country."
Sean took a moment to let the information sink in. Presidents and vice presidents were under constant financial scrutiny. Most of them put their assets into a blind trust. Dawkins's predecessor kept his money in mutual funds and treasury bonds to keep things on the up-and-up. No one ever really put much thought into the secretary of state's finances. Foster was in the perfect position to make moves that would benefit his company and yet remain largely anonymous through the entire process.