Her head cocked a few inches to the right. “You know, now that you mention it, I thought I picked up something odd in his voice. I didn’t think much of it at first, but some of his words seemed to sound almost too controlled, like he was trying to cover up his accent.” She paused for a moment, visibly realizing something was certainly out of place in this whole scenario. “But why would he…?”
“Mrs. Borringer,” Sean answered before she could finish. “I don’t believe that guy was a cop.”
The statement struck her even though now it was becoming obvious. “I don’t understand.”
“Earlier this week, my friend Tommy Schultz was kidnapped. He had been working on a project with your husband.”
Her face was dazed. “Tommy was here a few weeks ago.” She looked down thoughtfully. The poor woman had been through too much in the last week. “And you think that this Jurgenson may have had something to do with my husband’s murder and Tommy’s disappearance?”
“I don’t know, Mrs. Borringer,” he leaned closer to her, setting his mug down on the wooden table in between. “Is there anything you can tell us about what Frank was working on? What Tommy and he discussed? If we can figure out what he was doing, maybe we can find Tommy. And if we find him, we find the guy that killed your husband.”
Her face changed from confused to resolute. The look was a little scary to both of the visitors. “I cannot say for certain what it was Frank had found, but I do know what he was looking for.” The older woman stood and started walking towards the stairs on the other side of the room. “I may know where we can find what you are looking for, though.” She smiled and motioned for them to follow.
Sean shared a skeptical glance with Allyson.
Chapter 14
“Now, Thomas, this is how it is going to work.” Ulrich circled the large desk like a big cat sizing up his prey. “You are telling me that you do not know where the chamber is.” He stopped directly in front of Tommy, looking down at him with an almost pitying look. “You will figure it out.”
“Why can’t you figure it out yourself?”
Ulrich leaned back and smiled, wickedly. He brought the side of his hand down hard across Tommy’s face. Tommy grimaced for a moment from the quick strike. “Do not insult me Thomas.”
Pain and anger mingled in his brain. “That was unnecessary,” Tommy managed through clenched teeth.
“Come now, Thomas,” the voice had somehow gotten even more sinister, “I know what you found. And I know that you have been working with Dr. Borringer on translating the code.”
A horrific realization crossed Tommy’s mind. “How did you…what have you done to Frank?” He struggled against the ropes in the chair but he could barely breathe, much less escape. Thunder rolled outside following a flash of brilliant lightning not too far in the distance.
“You do not need to concern yourself with Dr. Borringer. I know what you and he were working on.” Ulrich repeated the statement.
“If you did anything to Frank, I’ll…”
“You will find the chamber for me or you and the Wyatts will both die by this time tomorrow!” This was the first time he had heard Ulrich sound really angry. The tall man’s face had turned red, his jaw tightening while he spoke. “You found the stone of Akhanan! But you could not interpret the code. So, you took it to Borringer, the foremost authority on ancient languages in the Southeast.”
Ulrich calmed momentarily and wiped a small bead of sweat from his forehead. “Now, I know that Borringer interpreted the code on the back of the stone. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the results of his work or even the stone itself. You can make this a lot easier if you just tell me what the code means.”
“You’re going to kill me either way,” Tommy’s face became twisted in rage. “You killed Frank, didn’t you?” The question was direct, full of anger.
“I do what is necessary.” Resolution now manifested itself in the man’s voice. Ulrich stood erect and stepped to the window. “Sacrifices must sometimes be made for the greater good.”
“Spare me your righteous speeches. Frank had a wife, you son of a …”
“Mr. Schultz!” Ulrich’s voice thundered, “There is nothing you can do to help Dr. Borringer now.” He thought for a moment, almost savoring it, before he continued. “It may comfort you to know that he died, unfortunately for me, rather quickly. The blade must have gone too deep into his back.”
The chair strained against Tommy’s adrenaline. Still, neither the rope nor the wood gave way. Moments later, his body relaxed, spent from the futile effort. His face blushed a bright red. Staring down at the ground, a sick looking smile appeared on his face. In a quiet, matter of fact tone he said, “I will kill you”.
“Now, Thomas, I seriously doubt that. The current situation would lead me to think otherwise.” Ulrich had come back from the window to stand in front of his now insane-looking captive. He walked around behind him, pulling a gun out from inside a holster concealed within his jacket. A second later, he produced a large blade in his other hand. “What you are going to do is exactly what I tell you.”
“I don‘t know what the code means, you freak! Frank had everything. I gave him the stone and all the other stuff that I had been working on. He was going to return it to me when he finished. I’m not sure he even started working on it.” The desperate sincerity was convincing. Of course, the man holding him prisoner had no way of knowing it was true. He might just as easily believe him to be lying.
“Don’t toy with me,” Ulrich stepped closer, holding up the blade, running the gun barrel down the side of it.
“Listen, why would I tell you I didn’t have anything? If that’s true, then I am useless to you. Unless…”
“Unless what?” He finished Tommy’s sentence for him.
“There is one possibility…” His mind was running frantically. Truly, he had indeed given most of his work to Borringer, including the stone itself. If Sean could somehow get the stone and put together the clues, perhaps Tommy could leave a trail of the proverbial bread crumbs to where they were headed. That was a pretty big “if” considering Sean didn’t know much about what he’d been working on. And it was doubtful that he would be able to find what Borringer had been working on, if Frank had indeed begun his task. All of this ran through Tommy’s mind as the blonde man stared down at him, waiting. It was a long shot, but it was his only play.
“Well?” the accent was nearly gone with the question.
“The stone is only the first clue to the trail. It was dumb luck that I found it.” He cleared his throat as Ulrich gave him a warning look to quit stalling. “However, I did make a copy of the stone. If we can get the copy, I may be able to decipher some of it. Even then, I don’t know if I will be able to interpret enough to get us to the next clue. That’s why I took it to Borringer in the first place.”
“Next clue?” He leaned back a little, relaxing his menacing gaze into a questioning look.
“Yes. The legend claims that there is a path that must be traveled. Only those who are worthy can interpret the code and find the path to the four chambers.”
“How do you know about this?”
“Because of a riddle I came across a few years ago. It was written on an animal skin. It was dated to be from the early 1800s. I’m pretty sure the stone confirmed the riddle and the location of the next clue, but I had to take it to Borringer for him to figure out the rest. Only God knows if he did or not.”