Sean interrupted. "Since you've been hiding out in the shed, I don't suppose you heard about the bombing in Atlanta."
Reece's face scrunched into a frown. "Bombing? What kind of bombing?"
"Someone blew up the IAA building," Tommy said.
"We figure they were trying to take him out," Sean added.
Reece's eyes went from one guy to the other. "That's pretty deep. Odd someone would try to kill you and me in the same week, eh, Tom?"
He slapped Tommy on the back and enjoyed a good chuckle. Reece stopped laughing when he realized no one was laughing with him.
"Reece, don't you see the connection?"
"Connection? Nah. You're all the way on the other side of the world. I doubt anyone here wanted anything to do with you. Or the other way around."
"Except there is a connection," Adriana said. "You both received messages about the Baiame Cave."
The Americans stared at Reece until they saw the light go on in his head. His eyes grew wide with the realization. "Wait a minute. You're tellin' me that those guys who came by and shot up my house did it because I read a bloomin' email?"
"I got your message, and a day later someone blew up IAA headquarters. We were lucky the building was empty."
"Reece," Sean said, "what can you tell us about the message in the email Annie sent?"
The Aussie shrugged. "Sorry, mate. I don't know much about it. I read it a few times, but I'm not sure what it means. Sounds like that Mathews guy was on some kind of treasure hunt. From what the note said, he didn't finish the job."
"Do you know anything about Baiame Cave or what the treasure might be in relation to that deity?"
Reece thought for a moment before responding. He put his hands on his hips as if that would help him dig through his memory banks. "Sorry, Sean. I don't know what it could be. I could take you there if you like. Might not be a bad idea to get out of the area for a while." A mischievous grin crossed his lips. "It'll be just like the old days, right, Tom?"
Tommy appeared reluctant. "That's what I was hoping to avoid."
"Old days?" Adriana asked.
Sean glanced at her with a smirk and shook his head. "You don't want to know."
Reece's jovial expression faded, and he looked down at the floor for a moment. He slowly raised his head. "You got me thinking, Tom. If they came after me because of that message, and they came after you, I wonder what they did to poor Annie."
Tommy's face remained like stone. "If she's still alive, we need to get to her."
"Unless they got to her already."
"Right. And if that's the case, we need to get moving."
Chapter 7
The door to the little room opened, and a hulking figure of a man stepped in. He moved off to the side and allowed another man to enter. The second man stood a few inches shorter than the first but had an imposing physique — muscular and toned. He clearly spent more time at the gym than the average person.
The first man left the room and closed the door behind, leaving the second man with his new companion. A dim light shone from the center of the room from a cheaply made dome fixture. She had several like it in her home.
Before the guy sat down across from her, Annie started begging. "I don't know what you want, but please, let me go. I haven't done anything to anyone."
Shadows seemed to follow the man's face until he reached the center of the room and a simple wooden chair. Annie sat in a similar one. A mattress in the corner was the only other thing in the room.
"I know you haven't, Annie. And believe me, we don't want to hurt you, either." He turned the chair around backward and eased into it, propping his muscled arms on the back's top.
"Then why am I here? I've already told the other men I don't know anything about the Baiame treasure other than what I read in that journal entry. I have no idea where the treasure is. If I did, I would have already told you. I don't care about any treasure. I just want to get back to my life."
She started to sob.
The man stood up and walked over to the corner where a box of tissues sat next to the mattress. He picked up the box and handed it over to her.
Annie took it and pulled a tissue out. She wiped her eyes with it and then blew her nose.
When she'd collected herself, he returned to his chair.
"I mean, what are you guys, some part of the government or something?" she asked.
There was an angle he'd not considered. He'd only spent two minutes in here, and without saying more than a sentence, he'd gained a foothold. All it took was a little listening.
Paying attention like that was something at which Jack Robinson had become particularly adept through the years. It had served him well as he rose through the ranks of the Australian special forces. It still paid dividends for him in the private sector.
"Yes, Annie. We are part of the government. And we desperately need your help."
"If you're part of the government, you can't hold me against my will like this unless I'm being charged with a crime."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to charge you with a crime, Annie?" He called her bluff. "Because I can make that happen. We could start with a little tampering charge, throw in a little treason. Why, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were responsible for the destruction of government and historical property."
The last statement was too much. "I never," she protested.
"You know that, and I know that, Annie. And we don't want to charge you with anything. We just need your help with that journal you found."
Her eyes welled up again, and he held out a hand as if that could dam the river of tears. "I already told you—"
"And we believe you. We believe you don't know much about this journal." He paused a second until she looked into his eyes. "It's okay, Annie. I believe you. Promise. I just need to ask you a few more questions."
"Then you'll let me go?"
"I'll do the best I can."
The tension in her face eased a tad, and Jack could see his words had soothed her.
"Attagirl. Now. I need to know the names of every person you sent a copy of that journal."
"I already told your men. The only person I sent that to was my friend Reece Skelton. He's interested in Aboriginal culture, and I figured maybe he could figure out what it meant. Maybe even give it to the right authorities."
He smirked at the last statement. "That's good, Annie. Tell me something. Have you ever heard of Tommy Schultz?"
Her face twisted into an expression of genuine confusion. "Tommy Schultz?"
"I didn't think you had. Just to be sure, do you know anything about the International Archaeological Agency?"
The second question caused her to think a bit harder. She glanced down at the ground and then stared into his eyes. "I think I've heard of it before, but I'm not sure."
He decided to see if he could jar her memory. "They're based in the United States — Atlanta, specifically. They recover important artifacts for private organizations and governments all over the world. Does that ring a bell?"
She thought again for another few seconds and then shook her head. "No. No, I don't think I've ever heard of that before."
Before she could ask why, he continued. "Annie, we have to be very careful about this situation. There was some sensitive material in that journal you shared."
"Sensitive material?"
"Yes." He nodded. "Extremely sensitive."
"But it just looked like…"
"I know. It looked like a treasure hunter's journal. Innocent enough, right?"
It was her turn to nod, albeit filled with uncertainty.
"You see," Jack said, "within that journal, we discovered a code embedded in the words."
"A code?"
"That's right. A code. And this code reveals the location to some things that could be potentially dangerous for a large group of people. It turns out this treasure Mr. Mathews was referring to in his notes could actually be a threat to the security of our nation. So you see why we have to be so cautious."