The Keepers of the Rose Read online

  Rock just wanted to leave Nova Scotia but he couldn’t take off without locating Brett. He owed him that much. And there was only one place that he might get answers. He immediately headed to see Seth Delega.

  The house was built from red brick accented with strips of aluminum tan siding. There were no cars in the driveway or on the street. The garage was shut and the windows all drawn. It looked like a bunker.

  Rock parked in the driveway and jogged to the front porch. The door opened before he could knock. Jacob stood in the threshold, smirking, dressed in a black shirt and jeans. The clothes hugged the man’s body tightly, too small to be comfortable for most people but just right for the egotistical. Rock despised the man’s arrogant looks.

  “Where were you this morning, not playing pirate anymore?”

  Jacob lost his grin. “Mr. Delega has been expecting you.”

  “Ask him if he minds if we chat out here?”

  “He does,” Jacob said.

  “Just as I thought, you have your head so far up his ass, you know what he’s thinking.” That elicited an angry stare but no verbal comeback. “Then show me to him.”

  Jacob stepped to the side to allow Rock into the house. The décor was austere, consisting of rigid angles and deep contrasted colors. The lights were all fluorescent giving the interior a green tint. The windows, as he saw from the outside, were all drawn so that no light could make its way within. The place sent small shivers coursing through him.

  Jacob pushed past him, knocking into his shoulder in a display of dominance, “follow me, he’s in the basement.”

  Rock hesitated. “What’s he doing in the basement?”

  “He’s researching leads.”

  Rock followed Jacob towards the back of the house. Once there, he opened an old wooden door and stepped down onto the stairs. They creaked with age. The staircase was narrow and covered in shadows. Rock kept his hands off the railing. He could see its frayed edges dotted with sharp splinters ready to infect the unwary. He didn’t like the situation and kept glancing behind him. When they reached the bottom, it smelled damp and musty. The floor was bare and the ceiling was open, exposing the rafters and multitudes of broken spider webs. It didn’t reflect the upper portion of the house. This was the place for the dirty secrets. He imagined Delega to be much the same way. His look and way about him was the fake exterior to a more sinister character beneath.

  They turned the corner and he found Seth Delega sitting in an office chair. “Rock, come in.” He rolled slightly in his direction.

  Rock took a step towards him. He looked around the room and saw two more men hovering on the opposite side. Delega looked relaxed, almost peaceful. “Do you know why I’m here,” Rock asked immediately.

  “No, I have no idea, I thought once Anna decided to resign you’d probably leave with her.” He smiled.

  “I’m looking for Brett.”

  “Who,” he replied innocently.

  “My diving partner.”

  “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen him.”

  “Somehow I don’t believe that.” Rock watched the men in the shadows. Their slow steps were moving around him, sliding into position. He started fingering Nate’s survival knife in his pocket.

  “What did he look like,” Seth asked.

  “Well, if you haven’t seen him, I’m going to go, that’s the only reason I came here.”

  “Wait, wait. Since you’re here, I have a question to ask you.” Rock remained alert. “Where are the things you found in the cavern near Toudrey’s cove? I want them.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rock answered realizing he had made a big mistake. He should never have come.

  “That’s not what he said,” Seth gestured to his right and one of his men yanked a blue plastic tarp to reveal a badly beaten body. Brett’s blond hair was matted and stained a dark maroon. Rock could see where the bullet hole had entered his head. His face was bruised and bloodied and a few of his fingers had been lopped off. Rock swallowed. He could grieve later.

  He stared at the body, not to take in the gruesome sight but to think about his next move. He couldn’t make the stairs, Jacob stood behind him, and to try and fight would be meaningless.

  Rock reached into his pocket and took out Nate’s knife, flicking it to its full outright position. He spun around and ducked underneath Jacob’s reaching limbs and in an instant had his arm around the man’s chest and the knife dangerously close to his throat. He pressed it against the flesh. All time seemed to slow down.

  “Nice and sharp,” Rock said. “Everybody up against the far wall while Jacob and I walk out of here. I want cell phones and radios on the ground.”

  Nobody moved.

  “Now!” He yelled and the two other men looked to Seth Delega.

  Seth stood up. “Do you really think I care if that man lives or dies?” He strolled forward. “And you have a little knife, ahh, that’s quaint.” He looked to his other two men, “Shoot them both in the legs. Well just Rock, I don’t give a shit about the other one.”

  The men went for their guns but Rock responded. He quickly slid his hand to Jacob’s waist and withdrew the gun buried there, bringing it up to point at Delega. “You really want to take that chance now,” he said.

  Seth stopped moving forward, “ok, take it easy” he gestured over to his men and they lowered their weapons. “You’re quick. So now what?”

  “I’m thinking about just fucking shooting you anyway,” he said. Jacob started to squirm a little but Rock still held the knife to his neck. The man tried to swallow underneath the steel and Rock felt the lump push into the blade. He couldn’t look but he imagined a thin red line already dripping from Jacob’s flesh.

  “Jacob and I are going to walk up stairs and hang for an indeterminate amount of time. If that door so much as opens I will shoot whoever comes through first.” He started backing up, using Jacob as a shield and very slowly they made their way to the main floor.

  Once upstairs, he pushed Jacob towards front door and out into the driveway. He slipped the knife back into his pocket. He pressed the barrel of the gun into Jacob’s back and forced him towards the truck. “Get behind the wheel and fasten the seatbelt.” Jacob did as he was told. “I’m going to go around to the other side, if I so much as see you try and move, I’ll shoot you right where you sit. And trust me, I won’t think twice about it.” Jacob nodded. The arrogant look on his face was no longer apparent.

  Rock ran around to the other side and jumped in. He faced forward and pointed the gun towards Jacob. “Here are the keys,” he said flicking them over. “Now start driving.”

  Once they were on their way Jacob finally found his voice, “my guys are going to kill you,” he said.

  “I’d be more worried about yourself right now.”

  “I’m not that worried,” he replied strongly, obviously lying.

  “And why is that?”

  “You’re not the killing type, you couldn’t do it. I’ve watched you. You’re a big pussy.”

  “Really, is that what you think?” Rock felt himself heating up. He glanced behind them. They seemed to be clear of Delega’s security. He felt safer and as a result his anger heightened. “You do realize the man back there in that basement, is my best friend. I’ve known him since we were boys. We have been through just about every situation in the field together and he’s saved my life more than once. And you fucking killed him!” Rock punched Jacob in the side, just below the ribs. Jacob leaned forward, grimacing at the blow. The truck swerved slightly. “And for what,” he continued. “A few artifacts. A few bucks. So don’t tell me what I’m capable of because I’ve never been in this situation before and my heart says to slit your throat and dump your wasted body.”

  “I was just doing my job,” he wheezed back still catching his breath.

  “Construction is a job, answering phones is a job, McDon
alds is a job. Torturing my friend is not a fucking job!” He whipped Jacob in the face with the butt of the gun. The man’s scar burst open and blood squirted from the gash.

  Jacob recovered quickly wiping the fluid from his eye. “Go fuck yourself.”

  Rock suddenly realized he didn’t have anything left keeping him in Nova Scotia. “Shut up, just follow my directions,” he muttered. He needed to get to the airport, but by now, Delega would have his men out looking for them and the main roads would likely be watched. He decided to go the long route to Halifax, on paths less traveled than the main highway.

  The two-lane road they ended up taking was sandwiched between open land and forests. There were occasional farms and small gas stops but for the most part it was empty. After half an hour of silence between them, Rock broke the quiet. “What’s Delega looking for?”

  “You should know. They say you might have it.”

  “But I don’t know what it, is.”

  “Well neither do I, as I said before I was just doing my job.”

  “Don’t say that again. You have choices, don’t hide behind your job.”

  Jacob smirked, the dried blood on his face cracked and separated. “I would have cut your friend apart even if it wasn’t my job. And before I shot him, he confessed everything like a weak, little, bitch.”

  Rock raised his hand to hit Jacob again when small bits of glass shattered from the windshield. Jacob lost control and the truck swerved, jumped the shoulder and slammed into a nearby tree. Rock reeled against his seatbelt, stunned by the sudden collision. He quickly gained his composure and looked over to Jacob. The big man rested with his back up against the seat, wheezing. There was a small entry wound in his left shoulder and he held his neck with his right hand. Blood pooled through his clasped fingers and dripped onto his shirt.

  He looked Rock in the eye. “Help me,” he said in a weak voice while reaching out with his other hand.

  Rock shoved it away, “I hope it hurts,” he said. He looked around for his gun but couldn’t locate it. He opened the door to step out but the metal frame shot backwards, slamming into his head.

  Chapter 17

  Knoxville, July 2012