Treasures of Darkness Box Set Read online

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  Treasures Of Darkness Box Set

  THE END

  Jim opened the back hatch of the SUV and squinted. It was a sunny day in Lawrence, Kansas. The brightness reflected off the chrome car latch. Jim looked over the back area to see if everything on his list was inside. "Jay!" called Jim.

  Jim's thirteen-year-old son came up to meet his father. "Here's my stuff all packed and ready!"

  "Great, son. Your sister just about done?"

  "Oh, yeah. She's coming...with the pink pack," said Jay.

  Adrianna was eleven and still loved everything pink. She ran up. "Here you go, Dad!"

  "What's this?" Jay asked. "You don't want to take this along, do you? We're going on an adventure. You've gotta be tough. That's pink; you want gritty. I've got some packs you could use." He leaned into his sister. "Are you gritty enough?" he challenged with a smile.

  "Pink power," she said, holding up the backpack. "I'm ready for any adventure."

  "All right, kids. Let's get rolling. I'm going to check the front door...don't want any critters or creeps coming in while we're gone. Be back in a minute." Jim O'Neill was a practical man, a professor in the business school at the University of Kansas. At forty-five years of age, he met life's trials with fortitude and optimism. He knew he was blessed with two wonderful children, and he was grateful for what he had. The last year and a half had been tough, but he had made it through, kept things together. His faith in God had been his rock. He often said he didn't know how anyone could make it in this life without faith. Now, he told himself it was time for a break, a change in the long haul of everyday life. This time off was, literally, just what the doctor ordered. His doc had suggested that his high blood pressure would be helped by a stress-free vacation. And so, it was beginning.

  The kids got in the car while Jim slammed the hatch shut. He glanced over to the front door. There was a white corner of something hiding underneath the mat on the porch. He went up to it and bent down. There white object was a sealed envelope. He looked for an address or a name, but there was nothing. He ripped open the envelope and pulled out the plain white card inside. A simple message was printed there: "For the safety of yourself and your children, STAY HOME."

  Jim was shocked. Who would put this here? And why? Who cared about our plans enough to stop a family vacation? Like a signal, something deep inside him flashed. This was just like...And it wasn't a simple family vacation. He knew it, and apparently the sender knew it, too.

  Adrianna appeared. "Dad, what's taking you so long? Door locked?" She checked. "C'mon, Dad. Got your wallet, your key?" She knew her father could be absent-minded.

  "Yeah, yeah," mumbled Jim. "Let's go."

  There was a subtle, gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach. He looked at the street. Nothing unusual here in this modest, middle-class neighborhood — wait. There was a car at the

  end of the street that looked unfamiliar — black, classic, official license plates. Strange to see a car like that where all the neighbors were known, friendly. It's probably nothing, he told himself.

  Getting into the car, he saw that the kids had settled in for the trip to Illinois. Jay had his ear buds on and was in the front passenger seat. Adrianna was snuggled in the back seat with a book and a blanket. "Ready for a treasure hunt?" Jim asked. Jay smiled and nodded.

  Adrianna looked up from her book. "It's gonna be great, Dad."

  "Okay, before we take off, let's say a quick prayer.” They all bowed their heads as Jim prayed for protection, guidance, and success. Just as he finished, the black car pulled out, made a U-turn, and drove off in the opposite direction. I'm sure that was nothing, he said to himself as he pulled the car away from the house. Their journey had begun.

  "Dad, do you really think we're gonna find a treasure just because you found some clues in an old diary in Grandpa’s attic?" asked Jay.

  "Well, it was an authentic diary from the 1920s and ‘30s," said Jim. "Besides, it'll be a lot of fun checking it out. You've got to take some risks in this life, right?"

  Jay said, "You're right. And this is a good time now that school is out for the summer."

  The family was heading north on Highway 35 on their way to Illinois.

  Adrianna joined the conversation. "Pink power says go for it!"

  "Well, it'll be a lot of fun finding out all the clues that supposedly exist," said Jim.

  I remember how exciting it was when you first found the diary, Dad. But we were two years younger then," said Jay.

  "Don't tell me you've gotten cynical," replied Jim with a chuckle.

  "No, just older and wiser." Jay smiled.

  Adrianna asked, "What do you think the treasure will be? Gold, diamonds, Spanish doubloons?"

  "That all sounds good," said Jay.

  “But it also said there was danger," Adrianna replied. "That makes me nervous."

  "Yeah, and Sterling, Illinois isn't exactly civilized. Isn't it like out in the middle of nowhere?” asked Jay.

  "Sometimes the middle of nowhere can hold some interesting secrets," said Jim.

  "I wish Mom were here," said Adrianna.

  "So do I, darling," replied Jim.

  It had been a year and a half since Anne had died. His thoughts darkened as he thought of her death. Since then, he had lived a rollercoaster ride of emotions. The kids had seemed to adjust more quickly than he. The four of them had been close. But with each passing year, the sharp pain had dulled.

  Anne had been a news reporter at the local paper. She had been his soulmate and best friend. He thought again of Anne's accident. A brutal death. Her car had skidded off a bridge and plunged into a ravine a hundred feet below. The troubling thing was the pattern of tire tracks at the scene. The police had said that it looked like someone had "peeled" out and rushed the car from a stopped position. How could that be? Jim asked himself. It made no sense. He had never told the kids about his suspicions. And then there was the note.

  The other note. A plain white envelope just like the one this morning. He had found it in the mailbox about a month before the accident. "Forget your people and your father's house," it had read — same print. It was a verse from the Bible — Psalm 45. He thought some wacko from church had put it there. Why? But now that he thought about it, it seemed like a warning.

  It had all happened after Jim found the diary. His dad had passed from a heart attack and it was left to Jim, the only child, to go through the house after his death. Anne had helped him go through his dad's things. Together, they found old photographs and scribbled messages from family members, old birthday cards. Jim's dad had been alone for some years after his wife had died. With a lot of time on his hands, he had developed an interest in ancestral paraphernalia, which led to the discovery of the diary. He had it found within a secret panel in the wall of the library — an old liquor cabinet.

  Dad had told Jim of his find. "It must have been there since the 1930s. Your grandad must have thought it pretty important to hide it in there," said Jim's dad. It was a small, plain, leather-bound journal from the 1920s and ‘30s.

  Jim's grandfather, born in 1912, had been a pretty wild kid. Jim had heard the stories growing up. Grandpa had gotten a reputation after committing typical, Irish shenanigans, which culminated in the attempted robbery of a grocery store and a car chase with the police. Grandpa Mike got off with community service, which he always said was because he "knew somebody." The comment was always taken as a tall tale from a colorful old man. The diary, however, was filled with short descriptions of shady characters — "Fitzy," "the gentleman," "Oscar." They were called the Quants. They were apparently some sort of gang that had higher-up connections in Chicago. Jim did
n't think much of his grandfather's entries, but what certainly made everyone sit up and pay attention was the story of treasure. Treasure supposedly hidden in Sterling, Illinois, where Grandpa Mike had grown up and had his escapades. Who hid it, what it was, and why they hid it remained a mystery. But the diary claimed that clues were sprinkled around the property in Sterling, and they needed only to solve the riddles, beginning with the first one, to gain access to the mysterious treasure.

  Jim had decided to contact the Sterling police to see if anyone had ever reported such a find. The men in blue said no one had ever heard of or discovered any such treasure in town. So, after receiving a generous sabbatical opportunity from his teaching position at the University, Jim thought that a jaunt into the past might be just the break the family needed.

  But why the warnings? Was the accident connected to the first note? Did someone want him to forget his grandfather's past? That's crazy. It was an unrelated accident, and that was all.

  After taking the scenic route for a few hours, the O'Neill’s found themselves passing a charming red diner that looked like an old-time train station. The town sign said, "Quincy population 400."

  "Oh, let's go in there!" cried Adrianna.

  "Why not? " said Jay. "There hasn't been anything else around here for miles, and I'm starving!"

  "Sure, let's go," said Jim.

  They pulled into the parking lot. "Oh, does it feel good to get up and stretch," he said. They all got out and bounded up the wooden staircase into the diner. It looked like something out of the 1950s. There was a long counter with a mirror on the wall behind it, and what seemed to be a mile of ice cream soda glasses lined up on the back counter. A woman with a white soda jerk cap smiled as they entered. "What can I get you folks?" she asked cheerily.

  "We'll have a seat and check out your menu," said Jim.

  The woman handed him three menus. "Take your time. We aim to please!" she said.

  They sat down at a table with a red Formica top and began reading the laminated menus.

  "So, what's the plan, dad? How do we find these clues?" asked Adrianna, looking at the picture of the bacon cheeseburger.

  "There's a riddle that we have to solve," said Jim.

  "In the diary?" asked Jay, looking up.

  "Yes. After we eat, I'll read it to you and we can try to solve it together," said Jim.

  "Yay!" squealed Adrianna.

  Just then, they heard the loud rumble of motorcycles outside. A gang of five biker types pulled up in front of the diner. They were men ages twenty-five to forty. Some had jean vests. A couple of them wore grimy fur capes. A dirty T-shirt on two of the bikers sported a patch with a large "Q" on it. They yanked the door open, sending the bell clanging. The door clattered. They came into the diner swaggering and looking all around. One of them, who seemed to be the leader, walked up to the O'Neill’s’ table. "Can I help you?" asked Jim.

  The man glared down at the three of them. He stood there, all six-foot-two of him, with along graying ponytail and earring. "Now where is the nice family going?" he snarled.

  "Vacation," said Jim, hoping the kids wouldn't mention treasure.

  "Aww, that's real nice. We could use a vacation, couldn't we, boys?" he said. "Maybe we'll tag along!" He let out a roar of a laugh and walked over to the table where his four friends sat.

  "What was that?” asked Jay under his breath.

  "Strange," said Jim. "I don't like it. Let's go." They all got up and exited the door on the opposite side of the diner. The sun was beginning to set.

  Two of the bikers had come out of the other door and now stood blocking their path. "Going so soon?" asked the one with the motorcycle boots. "And we didn't really get a chance to know you." He smiled with yellowed teeth.

  Jim pushed Adrianna gently behind him.

  "Where are you headed?" asked the other biker who was wearing cowboy boots.

  "We're just sightseeing," Jim replied. "But we really need to get going now."

  “Cowboy Boots” reached down and grabbed a combat-type knife from his boot. He held it up, and the red of the sunset glinted on the blade.

  Jay gently grabbed Adrianna's hand and bowed his head. It was a quick prayer between the two of them and not much longer than a thought. Just then, red and blue police lights came flashing into the parking lot. The knife disappeared into the biker’s boot. The cop got out of the squad car and strolled over. "Dusty, I hear you were causing quite a fuss down at the convenience store..."

  The O’Neill’s nodded "good evening" to the officer and walked cautiously back to their car. As they drove off, they saw the other three bikers staring at them out the window of the diner.

  A few hours later, the family was eating dinner, sitting on the bed and the two chairs in the motel room. "Not quite as nice as the diner," said Jim. "Sorry, kids."

  "Are you kidding?" cried Jay. "That wasn't nice at all. It's a lot safer in here."

  "Daddy, those men were so mean. Why did they bother us like that?" asked Adrianna.

  "I don't know. They don't have enough to do, I guess. They're angry."

  "Angry at what?" asked Jay.

  "Who knows? Maybe themselves," said Jim. "Anyway, we can thank God that we got out of that situation. I don't have a lot of experience fighting with knives."

  Adrianna looked down at her jalapeno burger still in the plastic wrapper. "Good thing they had a vending machine at this motel," she said.

  "I guess it's good," said Jay, taking another bite of his chicken sandwich. "Sort of hot, squishy, and tasteless."

  Jim said, "Well, when we left that diner, I had no idea there would be no more restaurants for miles. So much for the scenic route. And we had to stop for the night. We should get an early start tomorrow."

  "I keep thinking about those bikers," said Adrianna. "How could anyone know about our treasure hunt? I only told Alena and Morgan. How could they..."

  "And how would anyone know us way out here?" questioned Jay. "How would they find us?"

  "I'm sure it's just a coincidence," said Jim. "They probably ask everybody stuff like that. You heard the officer say they bothered someone at the convenience store. Maybe they were trying to ambush us on the road later and take our money."

  Jay shuddered. "Good riddance. Dad, what about the riddle you mentioned, the clue to the treasure?"

  "Sure, this is a good time to talk about the plan," Jim said. "You know we are going to Sterling to find Great-Grandpa’s family home. We'll get a clue each time we solve the clue before it. And the clues will help us to find this treasure. But we have to solve the riddle first."

  "I'm getting so excited!" cried Adrianna. "What will we do with all that treasure?"

  "Hold on, you don't know what it is yet," said Jim.

  "Or if ...," Jay stopped speaking. "Wait," he said in a quiet voice. "Listen."

  "What?" Adrianna whispered.

  "I thought I heard something outside that window," Jay answered. They all looked through the darkened screen of the window on the opposite wall.

  "I thought I heard something, too...a scraping sound, like someone was brushing up against the wall," said Jim. "Turn out that light," he said to Jay. He went over to the window and peered out. It looked like a dark shape was moving among the trees at the edge of the property. Wanting to reassure the kids, he said, "I'm sure it was nothing. We're all a little spooked after this biker thing and sitting here in this strange motel."

  "In the middle of nowhere," said Jay.

  "Wait, if someone was out there, they heard everything!" cried Adrianna.

  "What did I say?” wondered Jim. "I know I mentioned Sterling, Illinois."

  "No, you didn't say Illinois," said Jay. "But you did talk about clues to solve."

  "The riddle. I brought up the riddle," said Jim.

  "But you didn't say ‘the riddle.’ So they couldn't have heard anything really important," said Jay.

  "Okay, Like I said, it was probably nothing — an animal, a dog," said Jim.


  "No barking," said Adrianna.

  "Let's all get to bed," said Jim. We can talk about it in the car tomorrow. In the meantime, let's shut these windows."

  The next day they started out early. The sun was again shining brightly, and the gloom of last night was forgotten. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight," said Jim.

  "What?" laughed Adrianna. "Is that the riddle?"

  "No, silly," said Jay. "That's an old saying that means if there's a red sunset at night, the next day will have good weather for sailors."

  "We're sailors! We're sailing down the highway looking for buried treasure!" cried Adrianna.

  "Just like Jim Hawkins and the crew in Treasure Island!" said Jim. "Yo, ho, ho!" He was glad that the kids weren't anxious about what lay ahead. He sighed in relief.

  They spent the morning doing relatively normal activities: reading, listening to music, some texting, even a couple of games of 20 Questions. They stopped at a rest stop later in the morning. "We're making good time. How about going for a short walk before our last leg of the trip?" suggested Jim. The kids were all for it. The woodsy area behind the rest stop building was beautiful, with a nice trail winding through it. When they returned, they all decided to get to the bathrooms before they set out again. Adrianna and Jay went inside, but Jim went to the car to check for his sunglasses.

  As he approached, he saw an envelope under the windshield wiper. It couldn't be! he thought. He scanned the area. He saw no one — no people, no cars. Is this the Twilight Zone? He grabbed the envelope and tore it open, glancing back at the building for signs of his children returning. Inside was another white card. This time it read, "What is hidden, must remain hidden." Someone was definitely out to stop them. He looked at the road. No one. No bikers. I can't let the kids know about this, he told himself.

  As he stuffed the envelope and card into his pants pocket, Adrianna came up behind him. "Boo!" she squealed. Jim jumped. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to the white paper sticking out of his pocket.

  "Dad, you look as white as a ghost," Jay said, coming up next to them.

  "Someone is trying to stop us." He took out the rumpled paper. "I found this on our windshield just now." He showed them both the card with the message.