As quietly and carefully as two men can descend a rough stone staircase, that was how Quentin and Nick Fox moved. Kate’s voice entered the ears of both men. “Still clear.”
“Do me a favor,” Nick whispered. “Don’t say anything unless there’s a problem.”
“Roger.”
Nick took a moment to let his heart rate return to double digits, then kept moving. Another step, then another, until they could peek over the edge and see the sleeping bears. Baby Bear was indeed tucked under the arm of Mamma Bear.
They worked their way all the way down to the main level of the exhibit. It was a strange and terrible feeling for both of them, putting their boots on the same level on which the bears were sleeping. From this point on, if Mamma Bear woke up and decided to have a midnight snack, at least one Fox, whichever was the slower man, would be on the menu.
The waterfall was still flowing, long after the park had closed. Maybe the white noise helps them sleep, Nick thought. I sure as hell hope so. Either way, he was glad to have the sound to cover his footsteps.
Quentin moved a few steps ahead of him, took out his penlight, turned it on to the weakest setting, and held it in his mouth as he started to examine the gap in the wall through which the water flowed. Nick worked his way down one side of the torrent, peering at each rock. His back was to the bears. He tried to put that out of his mind and focus. Look for the swastika, he told himself. And then you can get out of here.
They examined every rock around the waterfall. Quentin looked at Nick and they both had the same thought at the same time. Maybe the rock is behind the waterfall. Nick plunged his hand into the icy torrent, trying to feel the rocks behind the falls. His hand went numb within a matter of seconds.
As he was shaking the feeling back into his hand, Nick saw his father remove his earpiece, take a deep breath, then put his head into the water with the penlight still in his mouth. Nick looked over at the bears. Had one of them rolled over in her sleep? Their position looked slightly different. He shook that off and got back to work, moving down to the bottom of the waterfall, shining his light on the rocks. All the while, he kept glancing first at the bears, then at the stairway, then at the sheer walls on the far side of the pond. It was an impossible climb unless you could levitate on the water and then jump ten feet straight in the air.
“We have a guard on the east side of the park, walking your way,” Kate said. “One hundred yards, moving slowly.”
Quentin brought his head back out of the waterfall and looked at Nick. They searched the terrain around them. There was a door leading inside, for the rare occasion when someone needed to access the lower level. Nick moved as quietly as he could to try the door. It didn’t move, obviously latched from the inside. There was nowhere else to hide, because that was the way this exhibit had been built. You pay to see the polar bears, you don’t want them tucked behind a big rock.
“Fifty yards,” Kate said.
“I see him now,” Jake said. “You need to find some cover, guys.”
“Easy for you to say,” Nick whispered.
Quentin pointed to a rough slab of stone that extended out over the water, like a raised dock for bears. You gotta be kidding me, Nick thought, but he knew it was their only choice.
Nick went into the water on one side of the peninsula, Quentin on the other. The water was an icy shock against his skin, but Quentin went in all the way up to his neck and moved under the slab, where there was maybe twelve inches of space for their heads. He was already trembling uncontrollably.
“Just breathe,” Nick said.
“The guard is in front of the exhibit,” Kate said in his ear.
“I have him now,” Jake said. “He’s walking past.”
“Tell him to hurry up,” Quentin said, his teeth chattering.
“Stay down,” Jake said. “I’ll let you know when it’s clear.”
A minute passed. A frigid, icy eternity, long enough for Nick to process everything he’d seen from inside the exhibit.
“Question,” he said into his comm. “Why are we looking for a gift again?”
“Because that’s what the rune means,” Kate answered. “According to the professor.”
“What did that symbol look like?”
A moment of silence, until Kate spoke again. “It was an X.”
“So why can’t the rune just be the rune this time? Not what it represents, but the symbol itself?”
Jake broke in. “What are you talking about?”
“Where the bears were sleeping, just a few feet above them, I noticed an X on one of the rocks. I didn’t think anything of it then, but now—”
“It’s worth checking out,” Jake said. “The guard is gone now.”
“I’m glad you guys are figuring this out,” Quentin said, “but I have to get out of this water before I die.”
He went to the edge of the slab to pull himself up. What he saw next was heart-stopping, both in its sheer beauty and in its absolute terror.
Quentin Fox was staring directly into the coal-black eyes of a curious polar bear cub.
* * *
From his vantage point in the tree, Jake watched the polar bear cub leave his mother and wander over to the stone slab that jutted out over the water. The cub moved with the playful innocence of a young and inquisitive animal, but Jake knew that the stakes had just changed, because nothing on this earth is more deadly than an animal like a polar bear, already bad news in any situation, who suddenly perceives that her cub may be in danger.
“Try not to move,” Jake said. “I’m coming down.”
“To do what exactly?” Quentin asked.
“To do whatever I have to do,” Jake said, hitting the ground and reaching for his SIG Sauer. No matter what rules of engagement they had agreed to, Jake was not going to let Quentin get eaten without at least trying to stop it.
* * *
Quentin put a finger to his lips, like he could actually convince the bear cub to be quiet and not wake its mother, but from the corner of his eye, he saw the slow movement of something very large. Nick grabbed him and pulled him back under the slab.
“Listen to me,” Nick said. “I’m going to distract the mother bear, and you’re going to get out of here.”
Jake’s voice broke through on both of their comms. “I’ve got another idea. I’m going to toss a line directly across where you are. Then I’ll make a pulley with the railing posts to create some leverage. You get out of there one at a time, grab the line, and I’ll lift you. Then you can swing over to the railing.”
“What about the map link?” Quentin said. “We didn’t come here to leave it behind.”
“We’ll regroup,” Jake said. “Do better recon tomorrow. Right now, I’d rather keep you both alive.”
“Okay,” Nick said. “My father’s coming out first.”
Quentin’s body felt like it was starting to shut down from hypothermia. He was too cold and too exhausted to argue.
“Give me a minute to set up,” Jake said. When Jake reached the railing, he checked up and down the walkway. Not like the guards are our biggest problem right now, he thought.