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Grand Canyon, South Rim
THE SUN BROKE the horizon as Crowley and Rose reached the top of the Bright Angel Trail and emerged at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It had taken all of their skill to free climb their way out of the Anubis cavern, then a further challenging climb down from the hidden city. Arms and hands trembling from their efforts, they had hiked through the night to get back to the Canyon edge. The final leg, an exhausting trek up the steep switchbacks of the Bright Angel Trail, had taken nearly everything Crowley had left to give. After the efforts of hauling Rose out of the chasm, then everything that had followed, he wanted to just lie down and sleep for a week. His legs felt like water, his stomach growled with hunger. At least they had kept their canteens with them and had managed to stay hydrated.
Rose looked worse than he felt, but as they stood at the top of the trail, basking in the early morning sun washing over them, she allowed herself a smile. “Pretty glad we’re in good shape, eh?”
“Hardcore.” Crowley drank deeply from his remaining water supply then handed her the canteen. “Finish it up. We can refill soon enough now.”
“I need to rest. Get some food.”
“No time.” Crowley grimaced at her dismay. “We have to catch up with Lily before she hands the capstone over to her Illuminati cohorts. She had, what, an hour head start on us? I’m convinced we’ve narrowed that gap at least partially. How fit is she?”
Rose made a rueful face. “She’s in good shape. Does triathlons and stuff like that. Part of her obsessive nature, you know? Pushes herself.”
Crowley squinted into the dawn light. “Hmm. Maybe we haven’t closed the gap that much then.”
“Except we were really pushing it. Lily thought we were dead, so she wouldn’t have tried to gain on us.”
Crowley heard the catch in Rose’s voice when she said the word ‘dead’. He took her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“My own sister. Threw a bloody grenade at us! Whatever family love I might have thought we had has clearly long since passed for her.”
“Yeah. And that’s not your fault, nor is there anything you can do about it.”
“I can grieve.” Tears stood on Rose’s lashes.
Crowley pulled her into a hug. “Yes, you can do that. I’m sorry.”
After a moment Rose pulled away, wiped at her eyes angrily with one grubby sleeve. “So let’s get the bitch. Where do you think she went?”
They moved on, staggering toward the parking lot, ignoring the glances of the few early morning tourists.
“Denver airport,” Crowley said. “At least, I reckon that’s where she’s probably headed.”
“If she drives it, that’s a good eleven hours,” Rose said. “But if she catches a plane...”
They dropped into their rental car, both groaning at the relief the comfortable seats offered. Crowley tried to recall details of the local area. He pulled out his phone and hit the maps app to confirm his guesses. “The closest airport is Flagstaff.” He tapped more, pulled up details of the airport. “It’s small, only one airline plus private planes. Is that a likely candidate?”
“Private planes?” Rose sneered. “Exactly the kind of place where one of her rich Illuminati friends might fly in and out?”
Crowley grinned. “You’re brilliant. That’s a fine point. I need to call Cam.”
He dialed the phone, drummed the fingers of his free hand on the wheel while it rang. Then Cameron finally picked up.
“Hey, Jake.”
“I need to you to do some hacking for me immediately.”
“And hello to you too, mate!”
“Sorry, man, but I’m not kidding. The situation has got really messy.”
Cameron’s tone became instantly serious. “Notepad at the ready. What do you need?”
“I need you to find out who has private planes at the Flagstaff-Pulliam Airport in Arizona. Then compare those names to the names of the Illuminati on the Denver airport capstone.”
Cameron was silent for a moment, then he said, “What?”
“I know how it sounds. Just do it, please!” Crowley thought for a moment as he heard keyboard taps from Cameron half a world away. He remembered the gray marble capstone at Denver airport, and the men credited with its laying. “Actually, start with the names Claude W. Gray and Benjamin H Bell.”
“You got it,” Cameron said. “Leave it with me and I’ll get back to you ASAP.”
Crowley drove, pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the highway. “Get some rest,” he told Rose. “One of us might as well.”
She laid her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. Crowley tried not to think about how she must be feeling, the thought that her sister had really tried to kill them. The woman was a psychopath, no question. Wrapped up with the Illuminati and the Anubis Cult. Which he assumed were one and the same, or at least the Cult was a group within the Illuminati. And now he and Rose had finally learned what the Anubis Key was, they had immediately lost it to Lily and her lunacy. What could they be planning for it? Crowley gritted his teeth and pushed the speed up, barreling along the highway in the quickly brightening day. Whatever she was planning made no difference; their task was the same. They had to stop her.
They were almost to the airport when Crowley’s phone rang in the center console. Rose jerked up in her seat and grabbed it. “Cameron,” she said, and answered the phone. “Hey, Cam. Wait a sec, I’ll put you on speaker. Jake’s driving.” She tapped the speaker, then said, “Go ahead.”
“Okay, guys,” Cameron said. “I’m afraid I don’t have much, but it might be what you need. There is one jet at Flagstaff registered to a Graybell, Incorporated. I don’t see any connection to the men you mentioned beyond the similarity in name, but it’s the closest thing to a match I can find.”
“That might be it,” Crowley said. “You find anything else at all?”
“Well, I dug into Graybell, Incorporated and found that they’re a corporation headquartered in Denver. And they have ties to a German outfit called Graue Glocke.”
“Gray Bell,” Crowley translated.
“Exactly.”
“I know this is an odd question,” Crowley said. “But any connections to the Illuminati?”
Cameron chuckled. “I’m used to odd questions from you. And yes, the Graybell corporate logo is a stylized pyramid with a smoking capstone. Could be Masonic.”
At the mention of a smoking capstone Crowley and Rose exchanged a quick glance, both with eyes wide.
“You think they knew all along what the Anubis Key was?” Rose asked.
Crowley shrugged. “Who knows how much they knew, how much they told Lily, any of that. Cam, what kind of business is Graybell?”
“Let me see.”
As Cameron tapped more keys, Crowley braked and turned off into the small road leading to Flagstaff airport, chain link fences, low buildings and gray concrete only a hundred meters ahead.
“Chemical,” Cameron said. “They claim to be working on drought solutions... advanced methods of cloud seeding... methods for cleaning polluted water...”
“Wait!” Crowley said, remembering what Lily had let slip. “Did you say cloud seeding?” He glanced at Rose and she nodded. She remembered too.
“Is that important?” Cameron asked.
Panic swept through Crowley at the swift train of thoughts the information had set in motion. He fell automatically into the tone of command suited for the military. “I need you to get on the horn with any authorities to whom you have connections. Let them know there’s a terrorist on board that Graybell plane and it must be intercepted at the Denver Airport. I don’t care what you have to do, who you have to talk to. Make them believe you.”
Crowley parked the car crookedly at the side of the small road and grabbed his phone as he leaped out.
“Hang on,” Cameron said. “They filed a flight plan for Los Angeles.”
“That's bull,” Crowley said, staring up at the sky.
“How do you know?”
“Because their plane just took off and it’s definitely headed east.”
He watched as a sleek, white plane with Graybell emblazoned on the side climbed slowly into the clear blue sky. A smoking capstone logo was printed boldly on the vertical stabilizer.
“Bloody hell,” Cameron said. “I’m on it. What are you going to do?”
Crowley grimaced, cursed. “I’m going to catch them.”