Free Icefall (Dane Maddock Adventures) by David Wood Page B

hier nicht! ”
    Dane ’ s German vocabulary was sufficient to get the gist of the words – It is not here. He looked at Bones who arched an eyebrow and nodded. He ’ d understood too.
    Inside, the men replaced the lid and clambered back over the barrier. “ Das grab? ” the blond man asked. His partner nodded and they moved to the tomb of Liborius. Dane moved back from the doorway so he would not be spotted and listened until grunting and scraping told him the men were hard at work trying to remove the lid.
    A sudden crash shattered the silence.
    “ Dummkopf! ”
    Dane grinned. These two were having a bad day. He stole a glance into the chamber and saw that the blond-haired guy, apparently worried that someone had heard the noise, had drawn his gun.
    His partner inspected the tomb for a long time, moving things around and muttering under his breath. Finally, he let out a long sigh. “ Nicht . ”
    The blond man sagged visibly, pocketed his weapon, and indicated that they should replace the lid. They set to the task with angry expressions on their faces.
    “ Let ’ s go. ” Dane mouthed the words to Bones, who nodded. No sense in picking a fight if the bad guys were on their way out. Before they could head up the stairs, though, he heard the lid slam into place and footsteps echoed in the crypt. He ducked into a nearby alcove, hoping Bones had hidden too, rather than let his usual fight response take over. He breathed a quick sigh of relief as the men passed his hiding place without so much as a sideways glance, and mounted the stairs up into the cathedral. His relief was short-lived, however, for it suddenly occurred to him that Jade and Angel were alone and unarmed in the cathedral. He had told them to keep out of sight, but this was Jade and Angel. With a grimace, he slipped from his hiding place and followed.

Chapter 11- Liborius
     
    “Where else to search?” Angel looked down at the English language brochure, searching for any clue they might have missed. “I thought this mystery solving was supposed to be fun and exciting, not discouraging. I’m starting to think this place is a dead end.”
    “ It can ’ t be. ” Jade stood with her hands on her hips, scowling at the big stained glass window in the cathedral ’ s east wall as if it was somehow at fault. “ The connection is too perfect. It’s got t he hares and the peacock. This has to be the right place. It’s just got to be!”
    “ We ’ ve looked at every peacock in this place and found nothing. ” Angel wasn ’ t sure why Jade got under her skin so badly. She was actually pretty cool – quick-witted and not too girly. She i Magi ned it was worry over Bones and Maddock that had her on edge. “ I think we should check on those two. ”
    “ They ’ re fine. ” Worry painted Jade ’ s face but she shook her head. “ Whatever you might think of your brother, neither of them are dumb, and they ’ ve been through plenty of dangerous situations before. They won ’ t let themselves get into serious trouble. ”
    “ You ’ re sure about that? ”
    “ I have to be. If the bad guys didn ’ t kill us, Maddock would. He knows what he ’ s doing. Let ’ s just keep looking. ” Jade turned about slowly. “ Anywhere we haven ’ t looked? ”
    “ How about this Trinity Chapel? The hares are a Trinitarian symbol and there were three Magi . ” She shrugged.
    “ Sounds good, ” Jade agree. “ Let ’ s do it. ”
    There was not much to the chapel. Its most prominent feature was a gilded relief of Liborius himself, set in a niche between a window and a pillar. The saint held a staff in his left hand and a book, presumably the Bible, in his right.
    “ What are the three things on top of the Bible? ” Angel cocked her head to the left. “ Rocks? ”
    “ Rocks, stones. They symbolize healing. He ’ s the patron saint against gallstones. ”
    Angel guffawed. “ No, seriously. ”
    “ I ’ m not kidding. Think about how bad it must