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She studied the pages in the journal and pointed to the X she’d noted earlier. Bryce leaned in closer to examine it. What if she was wrong? But she lined up the water marks that Grandpa Lambert had drawn and matched it up on the physical map.
“Crystal Lake,” she murmured.
“Yeah.” Bryce leaned closer to the map. “Here’s Crystal Mountain with the lake next to it.”
The X with three dots rested between them, in front of what looked like a boulder.
“But why here?” Bryce asked, keeping his voice low since Victor was within earshot.
“Three dots in the center of the X.”
“Wait, the dots.” He tapped the map. “Yeah. I remember now. Grandpa would put an X over the areas he checked, then some sort of tally mark for areas he’d revisit.”
“This spot has three. I suspect he found something.”
Victor inserted himself between Bryce and Kira. “What did you find?”
If she gave Victor the information, they were expendable. If she picked the wrong location, they were dead.
Bryce made the decision for her. “Based on this X, I believe my grandfather found something at this location.”
Victor ripped the map from his hand. “Let’s go.” He used his satellite phone to make a call. She translated the Russian in her head and heard him give the caller the exact GPS coordinates for the spot on the map. Then he requested reinforcements.
Victor shoved them into the back seat of the sedan. Boris jumped in the passenger seat, and they took off. Peter, Rolan, and the nameless third lackey raced to Peter’s vehicle to follow.
Whoever was on the other end of the call also knew about the location.
And they’d just given up their only bargaining chip.
Bryce tried to think of a way out of this, but with five armed men and the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere, the options of escape diminished with each step he took. They’d reached the point where they had to approach on foot and now walked along the edge of the lakeshore toward the rock face of the mountain. Shadows flickered under his flashlight beam as he lit the dirt and rocky path in front of him.
No tourists would dare to camp here. Even experienced hikers wouldn’t venture this far out into the wilderness. There was such a thing as being too far off the grid. The nearest convenience store or gas station was at least thirty miles away. The only sounds were shuffling feet kicking up the dirt, leaves, and rocks as they trudged forward. Boris and Peter led the pack, followed by Bryce and Kira. Victor and the other two armed men were right on their heels.
Kira stumbled on a root and Bryce reached out to steady her. The gunman with thick arms and a buzz cut prodded her with his gun to keep her moving ahead. Bryce had heard someone call the guy Nick earlier.
Bryce tried to get a good view of what was around them, but it was too dark outside the light cast by the flashlights. “Are you a member of the Amber Crown Society, Victor?” he asked.
The man grunted. “It is our mission to return the Amber Room to its rightful owners. The bloodline of Catherine the Great.”
Interesting. So this wasn’t the work of the Russian mafia or any government-sanctioned group. The ACS wanted the treasure for themselves, based on a connection to their history.
Just like the Collector who hid the art to keep it safe.
“Did you kill Derek?”
Another snort. “He got too greedy. Sent a private investigator after us and threatened a lawsuit to claim that he rightfully owned the statues.”
“Is Sophia in the Society?” Everly had thought that a woman was in charge.
“Of course not. She and Alex were a means to an end. They just helped us get access to the statues.”
“Did you kill Theo?” Kira’s voice held notes of fatigue.
No answer.
Victor sighed. “Theo became a liability,” he finally said. “No more questions.”
Bryce scanned the darkness, hoping for any signs of life. As Victor shone his flashlight around the area in front of them, Bryce caught a glint of something in a clearing off to their left side.
