And they still had to worry about the Brotherhood.
If anyone was watching, the team just announced its arrival.
Cobb turned to McNutt. ‘Josh, the only way up here is the stairs. Find some high ground and let me know if anyone tries to reach the summit.’
‘No problem, chief.’ McNutt pointed at the crate of weapons. ‘Before I go, what do you want me to do with this?’
Cobb glanced around the plateau. ‘See that heavy foliage in the southeast corner? Hide the crate in there. They’ll never see it, and it’ll be close by if we need it.’
‘Sarah,’ McNutt said, ‘what are you carrying?’
‘A Beretta, a knife, and several magazines.’
McNutt grimaced. ‘Are you sure that’s enough? I go to bed with more than that.’
Sarah smiled. ‘Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine.’
‘Okay.’ McNutt picked up the crate and carried it away.
‘Hector,’ Cobb said. ‘Do you have anything on the Brotherhood?’
‘Nothing yet,’ Garcia replied from the hotel. ‘But I have to tell you that there isn’t a lot of help for us in this country. Closed-circuit cameras are virtually non-existent, and most of the security footage isn’t hardwired to any sort of network. I mean, there are places here that are still using VHS systems! Besides, the Fists could walk from the coast to the Lion Rock and never leave the cover of the jungle. There’s not even electricity out there, much less cameras!’
‘Take a breath, Hector. No one’s asking you to do the impossible.’ Cobb was a bit concerned that the newly confident Garcia had somehow regressed into his former, doubting self.
‘I know,’ Garcia replied. ‘I just want to help. And I can’t do that if I’m blind.’
‘Just keep trying. Check satellite coverage, ATM and traffic cameras, webcams, whatever you can find. Just keep looking. If they’re out there, I’m sure you’ll find them.’
‘Okay, I’ll keep digging around.’
‘Good,’ Cobb answered. ‘Maggie, you’re at the hotel?’
‘Yes, I’m here,’ she assured him.
‘You might as well come over to the rock. I don’t know what we’re going to find inside, but I’d prefer if you were on site if we need you.’
‘When we need you,’ Sarah corrected. ‘I’ve got a good feeling about this.’
‘As do I,’ Maggie agreed. ‘I’m on my way.’
‘You read that, Josh? Maggie is headed up the rock.’
‘Copy that, chief. “Don’t shoot Maggie.” Got it.’
‘Yes,’ Maggie replied. ‘Please don’t shoot Maggie.’
Cobb glanced at Sarah. She was standing tall, with her hands planted firmly on her hips as she stared at the hole in the wall. Cobb could see her foot tapping impatiently, as if she were waiting for permission to dive inside.
‘Hector,’ he asked, ‘are you recording?’
‘Always,’ Garcia said.
‘Good — because Sarah and I are going in.’
It took them ten minutes to set the rigging that Sarah had pulled from the backpacks. They had anchored their lines around a ten-ton slab of stone near the wall’s entrance. To ensure that they didn’t pull any blocks down on top of themselves, they had extended the entry point all the way down to the ground. After securing a soft fabric mat at the lip of the crevasse to keep their ropes from rubbing against the abrasive stone, they had tossed an amber glow stick into the hole to help them judge the distance of their descent.
Sarah went first. ‘You getting all of this, Hector?’
‘I sure am. The rock looks similar to the rest of the mountain.’
Cobb rubbed his hand against the inner wall. ‘It’s too smooth to have been man-made. This cavern is natural. They just sealed it at the top.’
‘But is there anything at the bottom?’ Garcia asked.
‘Let’s find out,’ Sarah replied. She leaned backward and dropped through the air, the black climbing rope zipping past her waist where her belay device was tethered to it. As she came within a few feet of the ground she thrust her right hand back behind her, quickly slowing her descent, and gently extended her legs until her toes touched the ground.
‘The plot thickens,’ Garcia announced as he stared at her footage.
She was facing a tunnel that ran parallel to the ground; one that had clearly been carved into the rock. She turned on her video flashlight and shined it back and forth. ‘It looks like some sort of ancient mine shaft. The walls are braced with wood, and the ceiling is stained with soot.’
‘I call dibs on the biggest nugget,’ McNutt said in her ear.
‘Sorry, Josh,’ she said as Cobb landed behind her. ‘There’s nothing here.’
Maggie groaned as she made her way to the site. ‘That can’t be right. There has to be something. No symbols? No signs? No markers of any kind?’
‘Hang on,’ Sarah said as she and Cobb pushed deeper into the passageway. He turned on his flashlight as well. ‘There’s something on the floor up ahead.’
She could see a large wooden square on the ground, its frame having been cobbled together from scraps of the same sturdy timber that reinforced the tunnel. ‘I think it’s some sort of trap door. Jack, can you move that for me?’
‘I can certainly try,’ Cobb replied.
He dug his fingers into the gap at the edges of the wood and pulled with all his might. The door gave way with a groan, and a dry, dusty smell of ancient air escaped from the hole beneath. The opening was just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
Sarah shined her flashlight down into the opening and spotted handholds carved into the side of the rock. She cracked another amber glow stick and dropped it into the hole; it fell a hundred feet straight down before it smacked some rock and rolled out of sight.
‘What did you find?’ Maggie asked.
‘Another hole,’ Cobb said as he peered below. ‘This one’s a lot deeper.’
‘Deep enough to hide a treasure?’ Garcia wondered.
Sarah nodded. ‘Deep enough to hide a building.’
63
Lim Bao had watched the helicopter peel away nearly fifteen minutes ago, but his leader had yet to rise. Instead, Feng He lay perfectly still, as if literally frozen in place. Lim dared not budge until his mentor moved first.
They were both hidden among a plot of shrubberies that had grown near the lion’s paws entrance to the plateau, waiting for their opportunity to surge ahead. During the arrival of the UN aircraft they had hunkered low, each of them wondering what new addition the aircraft had delivered above. They knew the American woman had been left atop the rock — they had seen her in the open door as the helicopter approached and noticed her absence during its departure — but assumed there was more to the story.
Finally, Feng spotted the missing piece to the puzzle.
‘Ah, there you are,’ he whispered as he stared up at the rock through high-powered binoculars.
‘Sir?’ Lim replied.
Feng slowly lowered the tinted lenses from his face and extended them toward his companion. ‘See for yourself.’
Lim took the offering, but he had no idea what he was searching for.
Fortunately, Feng answered the question before Lim could even ask it.
‘The soldier and the sniper took no weapons to the summit, but look now at the widest edge of the rock,’ Feng whispered. ‘Outside the fence line, in the trees that sprout horizontally from the stone. He’s waiting there like a tiger. Do you see him?’
Lim moved his gaze to the spot that Feng had described and adjusted the focus. The sniper had somehow squeezed through the protective metal fence that encircled the top of the plateau and had crawled out and up the rounded trunk of one of the trees. From that vantage point, he could cover the entire series of zigzagging stairs that led from the lion’s paws to the upper levels — and he could also fall to his death if the wind blew strongly.