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The guardian was a statue. Its body was that of a slender human, but its face was strange. It had big eyes and a bulbous forehead. Bones nodded in admiration.
“Reminds me of Roswell.”
“Could be,” Maddock said. “Or it might be a product of the sculptor’s imagination.”
“Sure. You keep thinking that.” Bones loved a good alien contact story.
“Let’s go get the others,” Maddock said.
They made the short swim back and reported what they had found. Everyone made the swim with ease except Segar, who stubbornly refused help and barely made it. Bones and Platt hauled him out of the water, and he lay on the cavern floor, gasping for breath.
“Behold, the albino seal in his native habitat,” Gold said. Bones snickered and Kendra covered a laugh.
“I’m... meditating,” Segar gasped.
They went on about their business. Platt had brought a digital recorder in a waterproof pouch, and he took time to capture the chamber on video. He then filmed Spenser while she speculated about the nature of the statue.
“Time to move along,” Platt said when she had finished.
“Go on without me,” Segar said. “I need quiet to find my zen.” He crawled behind a boulder. A few seconds later they heard snoring.
“Poor guy,” Bones said. “He does try very hard.”
“It’s a bad day when Bones Bonebrake feels sorry for you,” Kendra said.
“Right now, I’m feeling sorry for myself,” Bones snapped.
“Platt, are you getting all this on camera?” Spenser said in a raised voice. “It will add an element of juvenile drama that will appeal to a younger audience.”
That shut them up. Maddock flashed an admiring smile at Spenser. She was insightful about human nature and knew which buttons to press. Anyone who underestimated her because of her looks did so at their peril.
Large slabs of rock littered the chamber. They lay haphazardly atop one another like a crumbling pyramid. They climbed up the pile to reach a gap in the wall near the ceiling. On the other side, a twisting passageway wound upward at a gentle slope until ended in a wide chamber. Sinkholes large enough to devour a person pitted the floor like the craters of the moon. At the other end of the chamber, two rock slabs leaned against one another, forming a pyramid-shaped entrance to the next chamber.
Maddock took a cautious step forward, gradually shifted his weight. The floor held. Two more steps and he was standing beside the nearest sinkhole. He shined his light down into its depths.
“We’re pretty high up—about a hundred feet above the water level.”
“I recommend not falling in,” Dakota said without a trace of irony.
“Good idea.” Maddock and Bones led them single file through the passageway. They wound their way around the precarious sinkholes, all the while hoping the floor would continue to support their weight. Spenser and Platt followed behind him, Spenser narrating their trek with as much drama as she could muster. Gold went behind them, with Kendra, who was trying to stay as far away from Bones as possible, brought up the rear.
At the end of the passageway, Maddock stopped and searched for booby traps. So far, he had not seen signs of any, but in treasure hunting, a measure of caution seldom went amiss. Seeing no cause for concern, he shined his light through into the next chamber.
It was a small space, no more than ten paces across. And it was empty.
“What do you see?” Spenser asked.
“Not a damn thing.”
“Liar!” A voice Maddock did not recognize reverberated through the subterranean passageway.
He whirled about, drawing his Walther as he turned. He froze when he saw armed men at the other end of the chamber. He recognized Mutton Chops, Circle Beard, and Charlie Brown from the cemetery, and the Prince and Rattlebones from Drakeland. All were battered and bruised from their fights with Maddock and Bones. Rattlebones held a pistol, the muzzle pressed against Kendra’s temple.
“I won’t hesitate,” the man said. Drop your weapons.”
“Do it.” Maddock would not let Kendra die over treasure if he could help it. He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised that the Dominion had caught up with them. They had always had a knack for sniffing out his trail. He wondered what had happened to Segar, but he didn’t want to say anything. No use alerting the Dominion to his presence if they were not already aware.
Maddock, Bones, Platt, and Gold laid their pistols on the cave floor. The Dominion men herded them all into a corner. Rattlebones and Lerryn inspected the empty chamber while the other three guarded Maddock’s group.
“It has to be here,” Lerryn said. “All the clues point to this place.”
“Zollner is going to be livid.” Rattlebones’ face was white as a sheet.
“It’s not Zoller who worries me. It’s the one who holds his leash.” Lerryn’s face was white as fresh snow.
“Don’t talk about that,” Rattlebones said.
“She told us not to come back without the treasure if we value our lives.”
“If the treasure isn’t here, we’re no longer useful to them,” Maddock said quietly. “We need to make a move before they decide to get rid of us.” Their weapons lay on the cavern floor a short distance away.
“How can we do that when they have weapons trained on us,” Platt said.
“An opportunity always presents itself. Be ready.”
Just then, Dakota gasped and put a hand to his throat. He sucked in a strained breath.
“Shut him up or I’ll do it myself.” Mutton Chops gestured with his pistol.
“I need my inhaler,” Dakota rasped. “It’s in my bag.
“Go ahead, and be quick about it.”
Dakota unzipped his fanny pack, took out an inhaler, and shook it up. Maddock was puzzled. In all the time he had known Dakota, Maddock had never seen him use an inhaler. And the inhaler itself was oddly shaped, bulbous, and fragile looking.
Dakota held the inhaler close to his mouth. “Don’t breathe in,” he said in a voice that did not carry beyond his group.
He flung the inhaler at their guards. It struck the ground at their feet and shattered. A green mist boiled up and an acrid odor filled the air. The Dominion men began to gasp and choke. They stumbled away, clutching their throats, eyes streaming and nostrils pouring.
Maddock acted immediately. He sprinted forward, threw his shoulder into Charlie Brown, and drove the round-headed man into the nearest sinkhole. Rattlebones turned and fired a shot at Maddock, but his watery eyes made it impossible to take aim. Maddock dropped and rolled, and the bullet went high. He sprang to his feet. In the thinning mist, his watery eyes turned the scene before him into a kaleidoscope of violence.
Bones plowed into Lerryn, lifted him bodily, and threw him at Rattlebones. The Dominion men went down in a heap. Platt and Kendra were grappling with Circle Beard, struggling to disarm him. He looked around for Spenser just in time to see her deliver a roundhouse kick to Mutton Chop’s gun hand just as he pulled the trigger. His bullet missed her by inches, ricocheted off the cavern wall. Before Maddock could come to her aid, Terry Gold appeared behind Mutton Chops. He grabbed the man in a chokehold and squeezed. Spenser, fighting to disarm the big goon, sank her teeth into the man’s wrist, eliciting a pained cry as the weapon clattered to the ground.
“I could use some help here,” Bones shouted.
Maddock ran toward the sound of his friend’s voice. Bones was trying to keep both Rattlebones and Lerryn pinned down while simultaneously controlling their gun hands. Rattlebones spewed raspy curses, his throat raw from the rapidly dissipating green fog. With a jerk, he pulled his gun hand free and pointed it at Bones.
Maddock dived headfirst and knocked the pistol aside just as Rattlebones pulled the trigger. The loud boom set his ears to ringing. They fell to the ground. Maddock ended up atop the thug, and he rained down elbow strikes until the Dominion man went limp, his ruined face a mask of blood.
Bones drove his fist into Lerryn’s jaw. In a surprising show of toughness, the thug absorbed the blow and somehow ripped his gun hand free of Bones’ grip.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion.
Lerryn turned his pistol on Bones, who reacted a split-second too late.
“Bones!” Maddock shouted. He sprang to his feet, knowing he was far too late.
Dakota appeared as if out of nowhere carrying a grapefruit-sized rock. He smashed it down on Lerryn’s head and the man went out like a light.
But there was no time to feel relief. The fight continued.
“Don’t you do it!” someone shouted.
Maddock turned to see Platt and Kendra shove Circle Beard into a sinkhole. As he fell, he managed to grab Kendra by the hair. She screamed as he pulled her in with him.
“Kendra!” Bones and Maddock dashed for the sinkhole where Platt was lying on the ground, the upper half of his body dangling over the edge.
“I’ve got her,” he panted. And then he began to slide forward. “Help me!”
Maddock caught him by the belt before he could fall in. Bones reached down, seized Kendra by the wrist, and hauled her out. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest. Spenser ran to Maddock and squeezed him tight.
“Nice roundhouse,” Maddock said.
“Glad you noticed. I’ve been training ever since I met you.”
“Is that all of them?” Gold still had Mutton Chops in a chokehold. The man was limp as a ragdoll.
“I think he’s out,” Maddock said.
“I have to deprive him of oxygen for at least three minutes to be sure he won’t wake up again.” Gold squeezed harder.
“That’s murder,” Spenser said.
“Just standing my ground. But if you insist.” Gold let go of Mutton Chops and the man fell limply to the rocky floor. Gold stood, stretched, and knuckled his back.
“I’m getting too old for hand-to-hand combat. On a related note, where is my Colt 45? James Arness used it on Gunsmoke and I’d hate to lose it.”
“Over here, Dad.” Platt gathered their fallen weapons and handed them back to their owners.
“What was in that inhaler?” Maddock asked Dakota.
“I told you I had other tricks up my sleeve. I was trying to invent a body spray that makes your skin glittery green like it was coated in emerald dust. I figured I could sell it at raves. Instead, I accidentally killed all the rats in my friend’s basement and ended up in the emergency room.”
“So, you decided to market it to asthmatics, instead?” Gold said, grinning.
“I thought it might be good for personal defense. Put it in an inhaler so the bad guys don’t get suspicious. The idea was to use a single puff, like pepper spray, but I figured our situation called for more.”
“That might be the smartest thing you’ve ever done,” Spenser said. “I’m so proud of you.”
“And he saved Bones’ life,” Maddock said.
“I didn’t enjoy it,” Dakota said, “but Bones is my bromigo. And now, he owes me a life debt.”
Bones closed his eyes, a pained expression twisting his face into a grimace. “Thanks, dude. You really saved our asses.” Speaking the words appeared to cause him physical pain.
“No problemo. I have already decided how you’re going to pay me back.”
“I can’t wait.”
“What do we do with these three?” Platt indicated Mutton Chops, Rattlebones, and Lerryn.
“Tie them up for now,” Maddock said.
“For now?” Gold said. “There’s no treasure here. What do we have left to do besides take out the trash?” He kicked Rattlebones in the ribs, but the unconscious goon didn’t make a sound.
“The treasure is still waiting.” Maddock enjoyed their confused expressions. “Tie these guys up and then I’ll show you.”
