“Arthur!”
Priddle jerked his head up to look at Kensington with barely concealed annoyance. “What?”
He gestured to the window. “The enclosure. It’s dark.”
Priddle paused in his inspection of the stone and leaned over to pull back the curtain next to him. “Huh, that’s never happened before.”
A loud popping noise came from the outside the enclosure.
Priddle frowned. “Is that a car backfiring?”
Kensington paled. “Shit! Douse the lights!” He hit the switch by the door.
“What are you doing?” Priddle shrieked.
“You idiot! That’s not a car backfiring, that’s gunfire. Someone’s attacking the site.”
Priddle paused for a moment before flinging himself to the floor. He crawled under the table and reached a hand back up, feeling around until he felt the Belial Stone. He pulled it down to him.
Kensington stumbled over to the table. He turned off the light above it before crawling underneath. “Move over!”
Priddle shifted his bulk closer to the wall as Kensington squeezed himself in, yelping as he whacked his arm against the table in his haste. Both men held their breath, waiting to see if anyone noticed them.
The sounds of gunfire seemed to recede from the trailer. “I think we could probably make a run for it,” Priddle suggested in a whisper.
Before Kensington could reply, the RV door rattled.
“Did you lock the door when you came in?” Priddle asked, his voice shaking.
Kensington looked at the door and saw the handle turn. No, he hadn’t locked it.
They waited with bated breath as the door opened. A dark figure filled the doorway. The man had a flashlight, which he used to search the corners of the trailer. The light came to rest under the table.
“My, my, my. What an unimaginative hiding spot.”
“Gideon?” Kensington asked in disbelief and then quickly changed his tone. “Thank God. The compound is under attack. Can you get us out of here?”
“Happy to see me, Robert? Why, I thought you’d be surprised, after the men you sent to my house tried to kill me.”
“What? Are you okay?” Kensington exclaimed, his words coming out in a rush as he tried to convey his sincerity. “I would never do anything like that. We’re partners, right?”
“Are we?” Gideon asked, his voice steely.
“Yes, yes, of course. In fact, I was just going to call you and tell you about the Belial Stone.” Kensington snatched the stone from Priddle’s hands. “See? We found it a short while ago.”
Gideon kept his flashlight trained on the stone while Kensington struggled to free himself from beneath the table. As he stood, he held out the stone.
Taking it, Gideon held it up so that the light from the flashlight could shine through. “It’s been so long,” he murmured.
“Now can you get us out of here?” Kensington demanded, feeling sweat begin to appear on his brow.
“Out of here? Why would you want to get out of here? You’ll miss the show.”
Gideon stepped further into the cabin, letting the door swing shut behind him. His voice rang out in the darkness, adding an air of menace to the chilling words.
“You amaze me, Robert. Your self-involvement and lack of awareness are truly unmatched. And coming from me, that’s really saying something. You’re so concerned with your political ambitions that you’ve never asked why I would help you. Did you think I was just being altruistic? You have the connections that I needed. You were merely a useful tool in my toolbox.”
“What are you talking about? This is my plan.”
Gideon laughed. “Your plan? My God, man, are you really that much of a fool?”
The truth of his naïveté was like a smack to the face. Kensington was floored by it. He had never wondered, either silently or out loud, why Gideon was interested in the stones. He’d been so focused on his own dreams of power that he hadn’t considered Gideon’s agenda. He’d just assumed Gideon saw and supported his own ambitions. Now, he could see that rather than Gideon being a tool to be used for his own goals, he was the one being used. Gideon was right. He was a fool.
Fear laced Kensington’s words as he stared at the stone in Gideon’s hand. “I don’t understand. What are you going to do with it?”
Gideon flashed his light on Priddle’s face. He smiled. “You know what’s about to happen, don’t you, Arthur? I'm guessing you've suspected for a while. Why don’t you tell the Senator here.”
Kensington turned to Priddle. The man didn’t speak. He simply stared at Gideon, his jaw open, his head shaking from side to side. “It’s not possible.”