Pirate

Sam weighed the risks. Lazlo and Selma had gone to great pains to make sure that the only information Bree passed on to her cousin was that she hadn’t been in touch with Sam and Remi. They had the perfect setup, Bree passing info on to Larayne, Larayne passing it on to Jak or Ivan. If it worked, Avery’s henchmen would soon be racing off to explore some other tunnels.

If it didn’t and those men found the tunnel entrance and took Nigel down there, he doubted he’d get the man out alive. “Looks like Bree’s our only option.”

Remi made the call, giving Selma a quick rundown on what they needed. She held out the phone for Sam. “Selma said that Lazlo finished the translation.”

Whatever Lazlo had found could wait. They needed to get Nigel out of there, and he got right to the point. “Remi told you what we need. Will it work?”

“It should,” Selma told him. “We’ve monitored every call between Bree and her cousin since Snake Island. As far as Larayne knows, we don’t know where you are.”

“Which plays into this perfectly.” The wind gusted and rain poured down, but none of them moved from the park. “Try to get it so Larayne asks Bree if she’s heard from us first. If Bree offers up the information, her cousin might become suspicious.”

“Understood. And if Larayne does ask? What disinformation are we passing on to her?”

“Anything that will move them away from the cave entrance. They know it’s in the vicinity, but they haven’t found it yet. We need them out of the area or we’ll never get Nigel out.”

“We could use the priory where Robin Hood was buried.”

“I think we need a better connection to King John — and something closer.”

“There’s Nottingham Castle,” Selma said. “Documented caves and tunnels, some of which even fit the names on the map.”

“Let’s go with the castle. If we can get them out of this area, we might have a better opportunity to get Nigel.”

“You’re not going to search it?”

“There’s no reason to. Even if we did get in, we don’t know what we’re looking for.”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you. Lazlo finished the translation. It’s a riddle. Above death, below death, with my last meal.”

“Which means what?”

“Lazlo thinks the Celtic knot engraved on the center of the cipher might have something to do with the riddle. That type of pattern is called interlacing. Sort of like basket weaving. Above and below, like in the riddle. The Celts were known to hide things in the pattern. Pull off layers of the interlacing to see the pattern below. Maybe it’s a pattern of the tunnels that leads to the treasure. We haven’t quite figured out the answer to the riddle, but we’re working on it.”

The riddle could wait. “Have Bree make the call to her cousin,” he said.

Fifty-three

A few minutes later, Selma called back, saying the conversation went as expected. “Hopefully, you should see some action on your end once the information’s passed on. Assuming they believe the information.”

They did. Just as Jak poked his stick into the ivy, his arm nearly disappearing through the vines, he backed up, reached into his pocket, and pulled out his cell phone. After a brief conversation, he called Fisk over.

“Look at Nigel,” Remi said. “I think he’s trying to make a break for it.”

Alexandra’s attention was fixed on Fisk and Jak. Nigel edged away from her toward the ivy, then bolted through the vines, disappearing from view.

“I don’t know if that was brilliant or idiotic,” Sam said, one hand on his gun, the other on the door.

“Can’t be any more brilliant and idiotic than our plan trying to get them to move.”

They watched as Jak and Ivan seemed to balk at entering the cave, until Fisk pulled a gun on them. Alexandra shook her head as though exasperated, walked up to the ivy, parted the vines, and followed them in. Fisk lifted the vines, then stepped back, and Sam wondered if he was trying to decide if the phone call about Nottingham Castle was worth following up. He turned, tossing something to one of the new guys, probably the keys, since they both walked toward the Mercedes. And then Fisk followed the others into the cave.

“Guess our plan worked after all,” Sam said as the Mercedes drove off.

“Not quite how we wanted.”

“We got rid of two of them. That’s a start. Text Selma that we’re going into the caves to get Nigel.”

“So she knows where to send the cavalry?”

“Gotta have a backup plan.”

They waited a minute to make sure no one was popping out of the ivy before making their way down the long drive and across the street to the park.