The Keepers of the Rose Read online

  A small two way street ran along the water’s edge in the quiet town of Western Shore. It was a place Anna could find some peace. To one side were dozens of launch ramps, dotting the shoreline, giving summer vacationers an easy place to plunge their boats into the bay. On the other, grassy hills and majestic pines swayed gracefully with the ever-changing Atlantic winds.

  This commonplace stretch of road somehow reminded her of her childhood, specifically her family’s charming little cottage on the western shore of Lake Michigan. As a little girl, she used to fish off the dock in the back yard and climb the lower branches of the tilting willow tree. She skipped hundreds of stones into the lake. Her father taught her to water ski on her sixth birthday. When she was older, she took Rock up there before they were married, just the two of them, right after they met. She remembered sitting under the night sky while his arms encircled her to keep her warm. Those days were simpler.

  This afternoon, Seth Delega joined her on her daily walk. She slowed her normal gait to match his leisurely pace and small strides. He looked tired. The soft bags below his eyes told of many sleepless nights.

  “Do you have any idea when we’ll be allowed back to work,” she asked. “To meet your deadline, we need start moving again and I need to assess the damages.”

  “It should be any day now,” he replied. “I’m doing everything I can. It took much effort to even wrestle the rights to this place and events like these don’t exactly make me a local favorite.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “I should have had more security.”

  “Even so, there were too many people coming and going, there was no way to keep track of everything. Whoever did this would have eventually found a way in.”

  “Then what’s to stop them again?”

  “I think we should limit the number of people to a select few and at a single site. Concentrate on the money pit and use all your security to keep it watched. We’ll work 24 hours a day in various shifts and if nothing is there, we move along and do the same at the next site.” Anna had been thinking about this for the past month. The problem before was simply numbers. There were too many people and too much to keep track of. Anybody could have made it onto the island as a contractor or a simple member of the crew. She had been careless. Trying to get everything done at once is what created the vulnerability.

  “I think that sounds acceptable,” he said after a moment of silence. They watched a white boat trimmed with red stripes speed out from one of the nearby docks and zip by them. “You do realize Rock has taken to diving the waters around the island,” Seth changed the subject.

  “I do. He’s probably just seeing if he can find anything on the ocean floor to help him solve his riddle.” They stopped at the edge of a small wooden platform. It reached out no more than a few feet over the water. Anna leaned on the rail, basking in the warm sun. “You seem more worried than usual.”

  “I am. There isn’t much time left.”

  “Mind if I ask what happens if we don’t make it by the deadline this fall? Does your buyer pull out or something?”

  Seth chuckled. “Something like that.”

  “It’s not like the world’s going to end. We can keep going until we find whatever it is you think is here.”

  “I know. We have to get it.” He said nothing else and walked away. He met up with his security guards and they headed back to the cars.

  Anna watched them go and stood alone, feeling somewhat confused. She didn’t know how to take Seth Delega’s strange attitude swings. At one moment he would be fiery and angry and the next solemn and withdrawn. But always, he insisted on urgency, as though the current project were the final chance to do this. The man looked to be unraveling before her eyes.

  Anna remained on the small platform to take in the fresh air. Rarely did she find time for herself and it was nice to hear nothing for a change. Her phone buzzed in her pocket but she decided not to answer and let it ring out. She watched groups of boaters arrive at and leave from the docks, most coming in to take lunch but a few others heading out to eat on the water. Seagulls soared above her in groups, some hovered in place like funny shaped kites until they decided to dive into the bay and disappear beneath the water. To them, nothing had happened on Oak Island, nobody had died. This place was the same as it had always been.

  “I need to talk with you.” Anna sighed at the voice. She wasn’t allowed any peace. She turned to find a stern looking man in his mid forties. He had blond hair spiked in the front and piercing dark brown eyes. Anna balked at the contrast. She’d never seen him before but then she was always meeting new people these days.

  “And who are you?”

  “Anna Riley, I’m Agent Anders Sieb, I work with a division of the CIA.”

  “You’re a long way from home.”

  “So are you.”

  “Can I see some ID?” The man brought out a badge and handed it to her. She didn’t know what exactly they were supposed to look like but it appeared genuine.

  “Does it pass,” he said after she turned it over a few times.

  “It’ll do. So what does the government want with me?”

  “Let’s walk,” he said. She caught up to him and they strode side by side at the edge of the street. A single car sputtered by, but that was all, the road was usually empty at this time of day. He casually took a picture out of his wallet and tilted it up so she could see it. “Take it,” he said. Anna grabbed the photo. “Do you know this man?”

  “Yes,” she was staring at a profile picture of a tall blond man with squinted eyes. “That’s Malcolm Cooper, the man I think had something to do with the explosions on Oak Island.”

  “That’s one of his names. He also goes by Tad Brooks, Rich Saxton and Ronald Pickens. We don’t know which one is real if any of them. He came here to Nova Scotia under Rich Saxton and as far we know, he hasn’t left yet.”

  “I haven’t seen him in a long time, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  “Actually I was more interested in what he wanted with you. I was speaking with the department here and they said you mentioned his name. I was just wondering if you could tell me what you two talked about. Your interaction.” He took the photo from her and placed it in his pocket.

  “Can I ask why?”

  “This man works for a known terrorist organization. I want to know what he’s doing all the way up here?”

  “What organization? What’d he do?”

  “I am the one asking the questions.”

  “And I am the one you’re asking.”

  He shrugged. “I can’t tell you who he works for but he’s been linked with computer intrusion at very sensitive institutions, burglary, kidnapping and he’s been implicated in half a dozen homicides.”

  “Am I in danger?” Anna quickly thought back to Rock’s advice. She should have listened to him. She should have washed her hands clean from all this and just walked away.

  “I’m not saying that, I just think that maybe we can help each other. I want to know what he’s doing, what he’s after. He didn’t tell you that, did he?”

  “He wants whatever is on that island not to be given to Seth Delega. That’s all I know. Does Seth know you’re here?”

  “That’s another issue you should be aware of. The Delega Group is also under federal investigation for espionage, fraud, money laundering, murder, and other infractions. They aren’t good people.”

  “I’m starting to get that feeling.”

  “Has Delega told you what he thinks is up here?”

  “No.”

  “Don’t you think that’s something you ought to know?”

  “I’ve asked. He won’t tell me.” Anna stopped. She faced him. “What is it you want Agent Sieb?”

  “I want to know what’s going on up here. I have known terrorists in the area and a corrupt Corporation that knows how to slip through the judicial
system and now their digging on a defunct piece of land. What am I supposed to think? This is purely benign.”

  “I don’t have the answers you’re looking for.”

  “I think you know more than what you’re telling me.”

  “I would like to help but.”

  “You know I can have you hauled back to Washington,” he cut her off.

  “For what.”

  “Collaborating with known terrorists.”

  Anna shook her head. “Did you know one of my longest and dearest friends was killed last month, not to mention five other people, all of whom I knew. Five.” She felt tears forming. “And you think I’m consorting with the type of people who would do that. You really think I wouldn’t help you if I could. The fact is I can’t. I don’t know anything more.” One drop trailed down her cheek. The others she was able to hold in place. “If you’re going to take me away, then do it now.”

  Agent Sieb took a deep breath. “Not today. But if you are holding anything back, I’ll find out. If that happens, things won’t be good for you. Here’s my card.” She grabbed it. “If you decide you remember anything else or somehow come across some answers, I’ll be waiting.” He smirked, put on a pair of sunglasses and started down the street.

  Once again, Anna stood alone. Inside, she felt a mixture of sadness and anger, churning in competition. She couldn’t decide which one would win out. She walked a short distance and sat down against a tree. She buried her head in her hands. The sweat from her forehead trickled into her eyes and stung for a moment.

  She felt someone sit next to her. Now what? She looked to the side. Immediately, her heart jumped, delivering a quick shot of adrenaline.

  “I don’t like him either,” Malcolm Cooper said. “Look at that arrogant walk.” In the distance, Agent Sieb was still visible, slowly walking down the street.

  Anna barely heard him. Her body was alive. Her legs no longer felt weak. They wanted to run, to sprint away. But she remained very still. He was dangerous.

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  “Of course not. I like you.” He leaned back on his hands. A gun rested in his lap. “Now, Agent Sieb, I’d kill him if I had the chance.”

  “You know him,” she asked. Anna looked out to the ocean, keeping her eyes away from Malcolm Cooper.

  “Yeah. He doesn’t like us very much. He heads a department in the CIA that is in direct conflict with our interests. He’s killed a lot of my friends. Well, I take that back, he ordered their killing.” Malcolm kept his pacing light and conversational.

  She wanted to confront him about the murders on Oak Island but quickly decided against igniting any sort of dialogue that could provoke a negative reaction. “So what now?”

  “I’m here to negotiate.”

  “For what?”

  “Your life.” She kept her eyes averted. “Here’s how it’s going to go. Your team was much faster than we anticipated over the last few months. As a result, we hit you earlier than what we originally planned. Now that leaves a whole lot of time for you to clean up and start all over. I’m willing to wager that we won’t have the success we had just recently, the next time around. So, either you agree right now to fuck this whole thing up or you go so slow that Seth fires you. If not, you’ll be dead, your assistant will be dead, and Rock and his little bitch too. Personally, I think this is a very simple choice.”

  “Just don’t find anything.”

  “Sure,” he casually answered. “That works.”

  “Then you’ll leave all of us completely alone.”

  “You’ve been a trooper through all this and I don’t see any reason to kill you. I really don’t like taking life but sometimes it’s required of me and usually it’s to ass holes like Agent Sieb, not nice people like you. So if you don’t do me any more harm, I can let you go with your life.”

  “But if Delega fires me, won’t someone else just come on in and pick up where I left off.”

  “Of course they will. But they’ll need to catch up on everything, formulate ideas and then start. Plus I think Seth will have difficulty finding someone else after I get through with them.”

  “Then I accept,” she stated and finally looked over at him. Their eyes met. His were cold. She felt a chill tickle her back.

  “I thought you’d see it that way,” he said. “And I hope it’s understood that this meeting stays between us. I watch you Anna.” He smiled. “You can go now, I’m sure you have other things to do.”

  Chapter 12

  Nova Scotia, July 2012