Buccaneer (Dane Maddock Adventures) (27 page)

“
I know you’re Locke’s man,” Dane snarled. “
You tell him to back off
. I might not be so nice to t
he next
man who takes a shot at me
. Got it?
”

“
You...
”
the man panted...
“
don
’
t give orders... to Locke. He has... something you want.
”

“
What do you mean?
”
Had Locke found the other chest?

The man clammed up.

“
Maddock! Get over here!
”
Bones called from the street.

Dane
left the man lying there and
ran toward the sound of his friend
’
s voice, dashing through the gate and arriving on the sidewalk by the entrance to the Church Street Subway station just as a motorcycle screeched to a halt in front of them, scattering pedestrians who shouted and cursed.
Willis raised the
face shield
and smiled broadly at them
. He loved bikes.

“
Matt and Corey are on the way.
”
He said.

“
Get Avery out of here.
”
Dane
told him
.

This time, Avery didn
’
t argue, but leapt onto the back of the bike, pulled on the spare helmet, and wrapped her arms around Willis as he rocketed out into traffic.

“
Look out!
”
Bon
es shouted, pushing Dane
to the ground as a bullet whistled over their head
s
and the few people who hadn
’
t been driven away by Willis
’
s bike ran for the subway or the churchyard. The big man from inside the church had recovered his wits
, circled around the outside of the churchyard, and
was
now
coming at them head-on.

Dane reached for his Walther but, before he could draw it, a beat-up
van flashed past them, and bound
ed up onto the sidewalk. As it drew even with the approaching man, the passenger stuck out his arm, encased in a hard cast, and clotheslined
their attacker
under the chin, linebacker style.
The surprised man flew backward and
tumbled down the stairs to the subway.

“
Holy crap, that hurt!
”
Matt groaned as Dane and Bones clambered into the van and Corey hit the gas. Sirens sounded in the distance but Dane
wasn’t worried
.
They’d be long gone before the police arrived. Besides, it had been the other guys shooting at them
,
and
in front of witnesses at that, and neither was in any condition to get up and run.

“
Why did you hit him with your cast?
”
Dane asked as Corey wove the van through traffic.

“
I don
’
t know, it seemed like
something Bones would do,
”
Matt groaned, holding his arm to his chest.

“
Amen to that, my brother.
”
Bones high-fived Matt
’
s good hand.
“
Nice rescue, by the way.
”

“
Did you find it?
”
Corey asked, eyes locked on the street.
“
Because if I get points on my license, I want it to be for a good cause.
”

“
We did, and as soon as we catch up with Willis and Avery, we
’
ll see where it leads.
”

“
Let
’
s see what we
’
ve got here.
”
Avery took out the paper they
’
d recovered from the chest and laid it on the table in the
ir
hotel
room
. She carefully unrolled it, revealing another map. Unlike the Oak Island map, however, there was no code to break. Instead, someone had added
on
to the original map. The older, more faded ink, showed a river and a stretch of shoreline. A dotted line led inland to a spot marked with a cross. Distances were lined out to specific landmarks: a tree, a boulder, and a bend in a stream. In the bottom right corner, the creator of the map had drawn three of the cross-in-circle symbols they
’
d seen on Oak Island arranged in a triangle around another familiar symbol
—
two Knights on a horse. Over the top of this map, someone had inked in a street, a building, and an
“
x.
”

“
That
’
s the cross symbol we saw at Oak Island,
”
Dane said, pointing to the corner of the map.

“
I don
’
t believe it,
”
Avery said.
“
This is Trinity Church.
”

Dane hadn
’
t even noticed the labels. Sure enough, the street was labeled
“
Wall
”
and the building
“
Trinity.
”

“
Kidd, or one of his contemporaries, must have added these details,
”
he said.
“
The land had probably changed so much that the landmarks on the original map were useless.
”

“
So, once more into the breach?
”
Bones asked, drawing an amused look from Avery. Dane had long ago grown accustomed to Bones
’
occasional lapses in which he let his intelligence show, but people who didn
’
t know him well were sometimes taken unaware.

“
We
’
d have to be crazy to go back,
”
Corey said.
“
They know we
’
re here and they know what three of us look like. Surely they
’
ll be watching for us.
”

“
Maybe not,
”
Dane mused.
“
They know we found the map, but they have no idea where it leads. They probably figure we
’
re already on the way out of town, headed for wherever this map leads.
”

Just then, Bones
’
phone rang. He answered it, listened for a minute, then uttered a stream of curses. The conversation didn
’
t last much longer, and when he hung up, he cursed again and slammed his fist into the wall.

“
Locke
’
s got Angel.
”

Dane felt like he
’
d been dropped into freezing water. He sat there, unable to speak, or even move.

“
Charlie went back to see Meade. I don
’
t know what he said, but the sheriff broke down and admitted they don
’
t have her. The deputies tried to bring her to Meade on the island, and Locke
’
s people basically intimidated them into turning her over.
”

The icy shock was melting quickly, warmed by Dane
’
s kindled
fury
. He pictured Angel in Locke
’
s power and suddenly felt a blood rage he
’
d only experienced in the heat of battle in the service.

“
Locke said he
’
d give her back.
”
Bones
’
tone of voice made it clear what he thought of that promise.

“
Oh my God.
”
Avery looked like she was about to faint.
“
This is crazy.
”

“
We
’
re going back to the island,
”
Dane said.
“
Screw the treasure hunt. I
’
ll kill every one of those...
”

“
They
’
re gone.
”
Bones cut him off.
“
He left some researchers behind, and that
’
s it.
”

“
Damn!
”
Dane stood and began to pace the room.
“
Does Meade have any idea where they
’
ve taken her?
”

“
He gave us two clues: the museum, and somebody named Morgan.
”

“
The Bailyn Museum?
”
Avery asked.
“
That
’
s where Locke supposedly works, and it
’
s right here in New York.
”

“
Let
’
s go.
”
Dane headed to the door, his thoughts bent on mayhem.
”

“
Hold on there, bro. We need a plan.
”
Bones motioned to the chair Dane had vacated.
“
Sit down and let
’
s think this through.
”

Bones acting the calm, rational part was such a departure that it brought Dane up short. He turned back to face the others, but didn
’
t sit down.

“
I want to hurt somebody too,
”
Bones said,
“
but if we just go storming in there, we could get Angel killed, assuming she
’
s even there. We need to do this right, and we need you at your best.
”

“
You
’
re right.
”
Dane squeezed his eyes shut and turned the problem over in his mind.
“
They know me, you, and Avery by sight, but they don
’
t know the rest of the crew. Corey, if we get you close enough, could you hack into their network?
”

“
Jimmy would be the better choice, but it
’
s possible,
”
Corey said.
“
It depends on what kind of security measures they have in place.
”

“
It
’
s worth a try. We don
’
t need access to everything, just their security camera footage.
”

“
I
’
ll call Jimmy right now. Maybe he can give me some pointers.
”
He excused himself and stepped out onto the balcony to make his call.

Dane turned to Willis.

“
Would you be willing to go inside, take a look around?
”

“
Hell yes. Let me put on my nerd clothes and I
’
ll be ready to roll.
”
His smile, normally so open and friendly, was hungry and dangerous.
“
Nobody messes with our girl.
”

“
What about me?
”
Matt raised his broken arm.
“
I
’
m ready to bash some more bad guys with my cast.
”

“
I have a job for you too. We,
”
he indicated Bones, Matt, and Avery,
“
are going wherever this map leads.
”

Corey parked the van in the parking lot of the Bailyn Museum as close to the building as possible, cut the engine, and moved to the back, out of sight of passers by. He
quickly
located the Bailyn
’
s wireless network, clicked to access it, and activated a program Jimmy had
given
him. He nervously drummed out the beat to
“
Apache
”
as the program began trying security codes at a dizzying rate. He worried that the Bailyn would have systems in place to detect intruders, but Jimmy had assured him this program was as good as invisible.