Page 82 of Deadly Charade

Please, God, let backup find us.

Victor shrugged the bag off his shoulder and held it out to Bryce. He took it, never breaking eye contact.

Sophia whimpered, and the guard shoved her to the ground. Alex wrestled free from his captor and knelt by his wife. “We did everything you asked. Where is our son?”

Bryce’s eyes bounced to Alex. The man trembled from cold—or rage? “Your son?” he asked.

“They kidnapped our ten-year-old son right out of his bedroom one night.” Alex’s voice cracked. “Forced us to come to the United States and collect the statues. They won’t release him until they have the treasure.”

One of the new armed guards shoved Alex to the floor. “Enough talking.” The sound of a gun cocking brought Bryce’s attention back to the bag in his hand.

The statues.

He lifted each figure out of the bag and placed them on top of the flat rock next to him. The little bunnies stared back at him. It was hard to believe these ugly little statues had cost people their lives.

All three were reunited. The ACS had found the lost ones. Each statue was the same shape and size. While the original Zaika had two long ears sticking straight up, the new rabbits had shorter ears, each with a different length.

But now what?

Kira shoved the flashlight into her pocket to inspect the area and ran her fingers along the smooth stone. Bryce didn’t see a seam or any indication that the wall would open.

Victor moved next to Bryce and placed the gun against his head. “Where is the treasure room, Kira? Open the door or your husband dies.”

21

KIRA NEEDED TO BUY TIME.

Not only did she need to figure out where Fenton had hidden an ancient treasure room, she still held out hope that the FBI might rescue them.

“The rabbits are the key,” she said. Kira picked up one of the statues and thought of the history she held in her hand. But only for a second, because Bryce’s life depended on her figuring out a way to the treasure.

Victor grabbed another statue. “What do you mean?”

“Fenton told his son that the rabbits were the key.”

While the guards kept their weapons trained on the Dominiks and the rest of them, Kira searched the wall and stones for anything that resembled a keyhole. Victor joined her, which meant the gun wasn’t trained on Bryce for the moment.

She ran her hand over the surface of the wall. All the stones were solid, not moving when she pressed on them.

Except one.

She hated that Victor might get to the treasure first. But if she didn’t share her find, this cave would double as a mass grave for the four of them. “Found something.” She pulled the loose stone out of the wall. The man aimed his flashlight into the rectangular opening.

“Keyholes,” Kira said.

Three copper disks contained two holes each in the exact shape of the rabbit ears. “The ears have grooves on them. I think they fit into this mechanism.”

Victor hovered so close she could smell his breath. She lined up Zaika with the deeper set of holes, and the ears slid into place. The base and body of the statue stuck out, looking almost like a doorknob or handle. She used the statue to rotate the dial and heard a faint click.

What in the Indiana Jones was going on? Fenton and his family had created an elaborate system for protecting their art.

And then never told anyone about it.

Victor added the other two statues and turned the dials.

They waited.

Victor pointed his finger in Kira’s face. “If this is some kind of trick—”