The Secret of the Stones (38 page)

“It’s
amazing.
 
I can’t believe we
actually found it.
 
Do you realize
we are probably the first people to see this in thousands of years?”

“You’ve
earned it buddy.”

Then,
Tommy turned to Wyatt with a big smile.
 
“Thanks, Sean, for everything.
 
You’ve always been there for me.
 
I knew you would come.”

“Someone’s
got to take care of your dumb ass,” he said with a wide grin.

Chapter
58

Eastern
Georgia

Detective
Trent Morris stared in utter disbelief at the scene before him.
 
Around two hundred feet of pure, gold,
walls wrapped around the entire chamber.
 
The ceiling panels too, were made out of gold.
 
It was unlike anything he’d ever seen in his entire life.

The
place was crawling with federal investigators and a CSI unit had arrived
shortly after the other squads.
 
A
coroner was there, as well, to tag and bag the body of the mysterious Jens
Ulrich.

“He’s
an international mercenary,” Will said, pointing a finger at the black
bag.
 
“Interpol has been looking
for this guy for a few years.
 
He’s
been implicated in several assassinations and other murders all over the
globe.
 
But no one has ever been
able to catch up with him.”

“A
fistful of aliases and the right amount of money can get you a great deal of
anonymity,” Morris added.

Sean
nodded, glancing over at the burned guard being wheeled out on a stretcher,
still moaning in excruciating pain.
 
His first stop would be the hospital.
 
After that, it would be on to a cell, probably for the rest
of his life.
 

“Docs
said your buddy McElroy is going to be okay.
 
He’d lost a lot of blood when the paramedics found him, but
it looks like the bullet didn’t hit anything vital.”

“Not
that it matters now.
 
I’m sure his
wife is going to kill him when he gets home.”

“Well,
we will keep homicide on alert.”
 
Morris returned the grin.

Sean
let his eyes wander through the room.
 
Tommy was busy analyzing the golden tiles of the walls while talking on
the phone with the IAA.
 
At least a
dozen researchers and archaeologists were already on their way to the
site.
 

Schultz
was in his element and whatever fatigue he may have had was replaced by the
excitement of discovery.
 
Tommy
deserved it, Sean thought to himself.
 

His
eyes switched to another spot.
 
Allyson sat nearby on one of the stone boxes, sipping a bottle of
water.
 
She noticed him staring at
her and offered a practiced shy smile.
 
It was the kind of grin that could pull a man across a bed of hot coals
without him ever noticing.
 

For
a moment, his attention went back to the officers who were still going on about
all the things that had happened. “So if you could come by sometime next week,
it would really help me with filling out my report,” Morris was finishing his
spiel.

“What?
 
Oh, sure.
 
No problem.
 
I
will give you a call next week.”
 
Then Sean’s attention went to a man and woman dressed in black in a
corner by themselves.
 
The woman
was on a cell phone, but whatever she was saying could not be heard.
 
“Who are they?”

Will
looked back over his shoulder at the couple.
 
“Those are agents Sewell and Yates.
 
They’re with the Feds.
 
Apparently they have been after Ulrich
for a while too.  I don’t trust them.  They’re not very
sociable.  Haven’t said a whole lot to us since they got here.”

“Interesting.”
 

Trent
gave his young partner a quick nod.
 
“Let’s get out of here, Will.”
 
Then he turned back to Sean as they started to walk away.
 
“Next week, okay?”

“You
got it.”

The
detectives got on the giant platform of the lift along with the medics.
 
Will removed the disc from the pedestal
and the ancient elevator started its slow ascent.

Sean’s
eyes played back over to where Allyson was sitting.
 
She was listening to Tommy, who had apparently finished his
phone conversations.
 
He was going
on about the different languages that were represented, four in all, one on
each wall.
 
She was clearly only
half-interested.

Making
his way over to them, he stood over his friend and the young
journalist/agent.
 
“Sorry to
interrupt your history lesson, Schultzie but Ms. Webster scheduled an interview
with me, and I really have to keep that appointment.”
 
He lifted his right eyebrow at his friend.

Tommy
looked at Sean and then at her and started laughing.
 
“My bad.
 
I
don’t want to keep the good readers of the Sentinel waiting.”

With
that, he stood up and headed back over to a couple of people who were tagging
some of the panels with post-it notes and started directing the cataloging
effort.

“Well,
Ms. Webster, how about that interview?”
 
His eyes smiled more than his mouth.

“You
do remember I’m not really a journalist, right?”

“We
can pretend.”

Chapter
59

Nevada

The
old man hobbled over to his desk hurriedly to answer the phone.
 
It was ringing furiously, interrupting
his nightly dose of brandy by the fireplace in the study.

He
leaned his cane against the bulky desk and reached over to pick up the device.
 
No answer to the caller was given.
 
The white haired man just waited.

“It
is done,” the young voice came through the receiver.
 

“Both
of them are dead?”
 

“Ulrich
is.
 
The Russian he hired was still
alive when I got there, though, he was badly burned.
 
Wyatt shot him in the knee, as well.

“You
said, was alive.”

“Correct.
 
He will not be a problem anymore.”

“Excellent
work.
 
I knew I could count on
you.
 
Ulrich had become so sloppy.”

“He
served our purpose in the end.”

“Indeed.”
 
The old man stood, contemplating his
next question.
 
“Did you find the
next clue?”
 

“Yes,
sir.
 
The girl had it, but I
instructed her that it would be needed as evidence for the crime scene.”

“I’m
sure those pesky agents from the IAA will be clamoring to get their hands on it
for their museum.”
 
He coughed as
he finished the sentence.

“It
will be of no concern.
 
I have
already contacted the best stone worker in the country and requested a
duplicate be made.
 
By the time
those fools have their artifact we will be well on our way to the next
chamber.”

“Good.
 
I knew I could count on you.
 
God be with you, my son.”

“Thank
you, Prophet.”

The
old man hung up the phone and retreated to his enveloping leather chair by the
fireplace.
 
He raised his glass of
brandy in satisfaction, filling his nostrils with its rich, warming aroma.
 
Curious, he thought while eyeing the
half-filled tumbler that alcohol was forbidden by the church’s teachings.
 
Soon enough, though, they would be
following his doctrines, as would the world.
 
He finished the drink in one gulp and set the glass back on
a stand near the chair.

“Who
were you talking to?”
 
Morris asked
as he met up with Will at their car.

“Oh,
that was just my girlfriend.
 
Had
to tell her I would be home late tonight.”

“Alright
buddy, let’s get back to Atlanta.
 
Good job, Will.”

“Thank
you sir.”
 
The young detective
stood for a moment as his partner entered the car.
 
“Thank you,” he repeated, almost inaudibly, peering back at
the totem poles nearby.

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Author’s
Notes

With
any good piece of fiction I have ever read, there are always notes from the
author at the end.  So in keeping with what my favorites have done, I
thought I would provide some of the details behind The Secret of the
Stones. 

Gold
really was one of the biggest reasons the United States government wanted
to relocate the Native American tribes.  In North Georgia, there have been
several documented finds of Indian Gold in different places.  Talks about
the “Indian Problem” began as early as the Jefferson Administration and ended
with the Trail of Tears moving the last great tribes to the west.  The
government never did find the enormous treasures they had hoped for. 

The
IAA and the Georgia Historical Center are both fictional.  However, at
Dalton State College, about an hour north of Atlanta, a new North Georgia
Historical Center has been opened and contains a tremendous wealth of history
and artifacts. 

Chief
Vann’s House and the story as relayed in the book
are real.  His home is situated in the small town of
Chatsworth, GA.  The 200 year old plantation house is still one of the
best preserved historic sites in the United States

Etowah
Indian Mound State Park, Fort Mountain, Track Rock, Red Clay State
Park, and Rock Hawk and Rock Eagle are all very real.  The mysteries
that these locations present are truly amazing and I highly suggest visiting
them in person.
 
The original
location of the Cherokee Capital was actually near Cartersville, Georgia.

The
riddles and theories concerning the arrival of the first Native American
settlers were entirely my concoction.  It was extremely interesting,
though, to find so many similarities between the Ancient cultures of
Egypt and the Native American tribes during my research. 
Also, the likeness of the wall at Fort Mountain when compared to the Nile River
is quite fascinating.  Though, that monument’s purpose continues to remain
a mystery to historians. 

One
historical note that I did have to alter was the relationship between the
Mormon settlers and the Native American migration.  All of the details are
true except for one.  The Mormon church was not actually founded for
almost another decade after the Trail of Tears.  That fact does not mean
that the Mormons could not have helped the tribes later on, though.  And
their paths certainly crossed many times in the mid-west and beyond.

During
the course of the story, the characters find themselves in a church called “The
Beacon Tabernacle.”  This church does exist in the small town of
Collegedale, Tennessee.  I changed the name of it to better suit
 
the flow of the story but, all of the
details are as close to the truth as I could make them.  The Bible verse
that appears in Morse code on the stained-glass windows also exists, but I did
take the liberty of changing which verse is displayed.

As
to the Golden Chambers themselves, I must admit that they are only a theory of
mine.  However, much of the research I have done seems to point towards
the number four in conjunction with the existence of a Native treasure.
 
And the more research I do, the more I
start to realize that the chambers could be a very real possibility.

Thanks for reading my
book.  I hope you enjoyed the story and will check out the other Sean
Wyatt books I’ve created. If you liked this book, share it with a friend. And
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J