Free The Gates of Hell (Matt Drake 3) by David Leadbeater Page A

facility and get themselves set up on the local network. They were both anxious to start delving into the whereabouts of Captain Cook’s logs. Drake almost smiled at that one. Ben always loved a mystery.
    Hayden speeded up the paperwork, and before long, they were secured into another tiny office, similar to the one they had left back in Miami. The only difference was from the window they could see the high-rise hotels of Waikiki, the famous Top of Waikiki revolving restaurant and, in the far distance, Oahu’s biggest feature, the long-extinct volcano known as Diamond Head.
    “God, I want to live here,” Karin said with a sigh.
    “I do,” Kinimaka murmured. “Though I’m sure most vacationers spend more time here than me.”
    “Hey, you got to visit the Everglades not so long ago,” Hayden wisecracked as she logged both Ben’s and Karin’s computers onto the privileged system. “And got to meet one of the locals.”
    Kinimaka looked blank for a moment, then grunted. “You mean the gator? That was a lot of fun, yeah.”
    Hayden finished what she was doing and looked around. “How about a quick meal and an early night? We get to work at sunup.”
    There were nods and mutterings of agreement. When Mai acquiesced, Alicia walked out. Drake watched her go before turning to his colleagues. “You should all know something I learned today. I have a feeling it could be one of the most important bits of information we will ever uncover.” He paused. “Dahl contacted me yesterday.”
    “Torsten?” Ben blurted. “How is the mad Swede? The last time I saw him he was staring at the bones of Odin.”
    Drake pretended there had been no interruption. “During their exploration of the Tomb of the Gods, they have found markings consistent with the whorls we found on the displacement devices.”
    “Consistent?” Hayden echoed. “How consistent?”
    “They’re exactly the same.”
    Ben’s brain slammed into gear. “That means the same people who built the Tomb also built the devices. That’s crazy. The theory is the gods built their own tombs and literally lay down to die whilst creating extended life through a mass extinction event. Now you’re saying that they also built the time-travel devices?” Ben paused. “Actually that makes perfect sense—”
    Karin shook her head at him. “Dummy. Of course it makes sense. It’s how they travelled through time, manipulated events and created people’s fates.”
    Matt Drake turned away without a sound. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
     
    *****
     
    The night air was balmy, tropically warm and laced with a hint of the Pacific. Drake walked the streets until he found an open bar. The clientele should be poles apart from other bars in other countries, shouldn’t it? he thought. This was paradise after all. Then why were the lifers still playing pool, looking like they owned the joint? Why was there a drunk at the end of the bar, head lolling? Why were the perpetual couple sat apart, lost in their own little worlds, out together but alone?
    Well, one thing was different. Alicia Myles was at the bar, downing a double-shot. Drake thought about leaving. There were other bars to avoid his sorrows in, and if most of them looked like this, he’d feel right at home.
    But maybe the call to action had altered his view a little. He walked over to her and sat down. She didn’t even look up.
    “Fucksake, Drake.” She slid her empty glass toward him. “Buy me a drink.”
    “Leave the bottle,” Drake instructed the barman and poured himself half a glass of Bacardi Oakheart. He lifted his glass in a toast. “Alicia Myles. A ten year relationship that went nowhere, eh? And here we find ourselves, in paradise, getting drunk in a bar.”
    “Life has a way of fucking you up.”
    “No. The SRT did that.”
    “It sure didn’t help.”
    Drake glanced sidelong at her. “Is that a sentence of honesty? From you? How many of those have you sunk?”
    “Enough to take the edge off.