Free The Third Key (GUARDING THE LIGHT) by V.K. Ramsey Page A

of events .
    A few security guards were near the main entrance , looking as confused as the other people in the crowd . They had concluded that the strong glow of light illuminating the crowd was definitely not a fire . One of them , a t all man with a very typical English face was n ervously trying to reach his friend:
    “ Raymond do you read…? … .. Ray ..? Where are you , mate ….”
    When t wenty minutes had passed and one of their colleagues did not respond, the guards felt a strong desire to react. The remaining t wo members of security decided to move in, before the police cars arrive d :
    “Might take ‘ e m 20 minutes more to come”, one of them commented in a strong Essex accent . “May be somefin ’ we have to solve , at the end of the day .”
    “Wait , please . I will go with you .” Rev. John Summers, the head priest of St. Paul , stopped them with kind but loudly spoken words. All three people went inside the church but they would never have suspected that they were just a few minutes away from the ugly face of death. None of them ever returned .
     
     
     
    XX.
     
    “Anything suspicious up there?” Jason’s face and voice reflected his worry.
    Everything seemed too easy . They were on the right spot and should soon find the Third Key of the Diamond Gate. There was no sign of Quabil but something just didn’t seem right.
    “ All clear up here . How about d own there ?” Gunnar replied.
    “Same here . We should be out soon. Keep your eyes peeled , they may be planning on an ambush since we’ve done the heavy lifting. ”
    “ Good point! I’m getting the latest scan of surrounding vehicles from the police . If anything looks strange , I’ll…..scream.” Gunnar grinned.
    “ You do that.” Jason grinned, but he was focused on his team . The y went over all the possible hiding placed for the Key without finding anything . They checked all around the altar, and all the spaces below it. They looked under the altar’s large base , moving the huge structure made of stone and metal to peer beneath i t. They checked all the edges and every place inside the altar . The newest generation m etal detector was no help ! T ime was running out and they had nothing to show for their work.
    “Guys, let’s light up this place . It’s time for those power vacuum cleaner s .” The team brought in powerful pumps, normally used to pump out water , to quickly remove the dirt layers from the ground below the altar.
    “ Let’s check this place all over again. Switch the spots. Check the photos Gunnar shared on your devices – memorize the shape. We need to find this object! ”
    Four muscular figures made systematic sweeps of the whole area inside the Ritual Room , inch by inch . Powerful flash lights and cleaned floors promised they would now find the hidden object . 20 minutes passed.. . 40 minutes. Nothing.
    “ Let’s look below the altar . ” Jason tried not to sound desperate . How ‘below’ had the Guardian meant? Jason wondered if it meant ‘below the ground ’ . They lifted up the heavy stone squares, exactly where the altar made of green copperas was placed . No key.
    “It has to be here somewhere – below in a box, hidden somehow. ” Jason was starting to repeat himself, but then , he remembered another possibility! That would be much easier to check.
    Jason ’s voice now sounded openly nervous:
    “Gunnar, we’ve found nothing so far . This is my idea: keep the rest of the g uys in position but 2 or 3 guys have to go to the main Church. Start a f ire alarm or something , just find a way to empty the place so you can go and check the space below the altar , there in the main church.” Jason paused, giving his friend time to react. “ We can’t do anything else here but start dig ging the earth. ”
    “ Of course,” Gunnar replied and added for Jason’s peace of mind , “sometimes the simplest things are the best in life and we miss seeing that . ” He spoke while moving