Infernal: A Repairman Jack Novel by F. Paul Wilson

Author:F. Paul Wilson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery & Detective - General, Detective, Judges, Criminals, Brothers, Mystery & Detective, Mystery, Horror, Fiction - Mystery, Hard-Boiled, General, Repairman Jack (Fictitious character), Suspense fiction, Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled, Thrillers, Suspense, Terrorism, Fiction
ISBN: 9780765351388
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2006-08-29T09:45:21.047000+00:00

3

“Damn thing’s locked,” Tom said. “Not that I’m surprised, but shit!”

Jack watched his brother kneel on the rocking deck in his dripping wet suit. He hadn’t bothered to remove his tank. He had the chest tilted back and was peering at the front seam of its lid.

Jack shrugged out of his BC vest and pulled off his hood. He ruffled his hair to shake out some of the water. The wind had picked up, raising some swells. Clouds were building in the west, reaching toward the sun. The weather looked ready for a change.

He didn’t see a keyhole in the front of the chest, so he leaned in for a better look. He saw a curved surface, like the edge of a cylinder, divided into seven sections. Each segment sported an embossed number.

Jack let out a barking laugh. “It’s a combination lock.”

Tom’s frown indicated he didn’t think it was funny. “Combination… but when did combination locks first appear?”

“Not sure,” Jack said, “but I know they were around before the Sombra’s time.”

Locked… not necessarily a bad thing. But as much as Jack wished this thing were still buried in the sand below, he had to admit to a curiosity about its contents—and about his brother’s intense interest.

“What’s in it, Tom?”

Tom was turning the little number wheels.

“Shit. They run zero to ten. That means…”

He paused, calculating, but Jack was ahead of him.

“Ten million possibilities. But you didn’t answer my question: What’s in there?”

“Who knows?” He sounded annoyed now. “Gold? Jewels? The Lilitongue of Gefreda?”

“Whatever that is.”

“Well, we’ll never find out if we can’t open it.”

“I think you already know.”

He looked up at Jack. “Now why would you say that?”

“Just a feeling. A very strong feeling. Time to level with me, bro. What’s going on here?”

Tom looked up at him, his face a mask of frustration. “You know anything about locks? Any idea how to bypass this?”

Yeah, Jack knew about locks, knew how to pick them, but this baby was not the pickable kind.

“Yeah. Got a pry bar?”

Tom looked shocked. “No! We might damage whatever’s inside!”

“Would that be a bad thing?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Jack pointed to the chest. “It’s been underwater more than four hundred years but it looks brand new. Now lift it, Tom. Tell me how much you think it weighs.”

Tom hefted it. “Twenty… twenty-five pounds.”

“I helped you haul it over the transom. More like forty or fifty.”

Tom grinned. “Gold is heavy.”

“Yeah, it is. But tell me: You’re the scuba diver. You’re the one who gave me lessons on the rules of buoyancy and displacement. Should something that size and that weight be able to float?”

“Well, no, but—”

“No buts about it. You saw it. This thing not only floated, it shot to the surface like a balloon. Care to explain that?”

“I wish I could. I also wish I could explain why you’re so suspicious. Why do you keep going on about me hiding something from you? Here’s what we found. It’s sitting right here between us. I’m asking your help to open it.

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