Buzz-Cut swung hard at Tommy’s face, but the American caught the fist, twisted the wrist, and jabbed the guy square in the mouth. His opponent staggered back a moment and then touched his lips with two fingers. He looked at the blood and then at Tommy. His eyes blazed with renewed fury as he charged, forcing himself to forget the pain coming from his leg.
Tommy suddenly felt like he’d jabbed a hornets’ nest with a stick. Buzz-Cut moved quickly, lashing out with hands that constantly stayed in motion. One punch caught Tommy in the jaw. He blocked the second, but the third struck his cheek. Then the opponent kicked with his good leg, landing the blow in Tommy’s midsection.
The American dropped to his knees and gasped for air, the wind gone from his lungs.
Buzz-Cut moved rapidly. Stepping over to the edge of the pathway, he pried one of the softball-sized rocks that lined the walk. He stepped back over to Tommy, who was desperately trying to recover normal breathing.
Tommy looked up and saw the man hovering over him with the stone raised high over his shoulder. Tommy’s arms flailed, but it was no use.
Buzz-Cut started to deliver the mortal blow at Tommy’s head when another gunshot came from the woods.
The Korean’s body shuddered for a second. The rock fell from his hand and hit the ground with a thud. A look of confused fear filled his face as he spun around to see who’d shot him in the back.
June stood at the edge of the forest, holding a Glock in her hand. A trickle of gray smoke drifted out of the barrel and disappeared into the desert sky.
Buzz-Cut’s legs wobbled. Then he fell over onto his side, his eyes fixing on a distant point on the horizon.
Tommy’s breath returned, and his lungs started rising and falling dramatically as he took big gulps of air. He looked up at June, who lowered the weapon. It dangled for a second in her hand before dropping to the ground. Her fingers trembled, and she put her hands to her lips.
Tommy struggled to his feet and rushed over to her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.
“You saved my life,” he said.
She was still trembling. “Is…is he dead?”
Tommy lifted his head and looked at the villain on the ground. “Yeah.”
A tear formed in the corner of June’s eye. She sniffled and wiped her nose. “I thought he was going to kill you.”
Tommy stepped back and gripped both her shoulders. “There’s a lot more to you than meets the eye, June Holiday.”
She forced a laugh and then wrapped her arms around him again.
Meanwhile, Adriana sprinted through the parking lot after Shaved Head. He was fast, but Adriana was faster. She closed the gap in less than ten seconds and jumped the last few feet, throwing her arms at the guy’s shoulders.
The weight of her body and its momentum hit him like a sack of rocks. She drove him into the ground face-first, grinding his right shoulder on the gravel. Adriana put so much effort into the tackle that she couldn’t stay on top of the guy and rolled over him.
He pushed himself up from the ground and unleashed a furious attack. From the onset, Adriana knew the guy had been trained in various martial arts. His stance, the balance, the constant movement all belied mastery of hand-to-hand combat.
He slid both feet toward her and jabbed with the left. She swatted the punch downward only to find a follow-up from his right. One after the other, Adriana blocked and deflected every effort Shaved Head could throw. Her wrists ached from the blows, but she kept at it until she saw an opening. Her leg snapped out quickly, her foot striking him in the knee.
The blow did little to deter the attacker, but it bought her a split second of time to regroup. She retreated a step and invited the next round. Shaved Head pressed the assault, firing his own kick at Adriana’s face then readying himself to pummel her face as he landed.
He couldn’t have anticipated her next move. Adriana spun to the left and brought her arm around, clotheslining the guy in the neck. The power of the blow combined with his momentum flipped him onto his back with a heavy thud.
Adriana stomped her foot at his face, but he grabbed her by the ankle, twisted, and jerked. She twisted in midair, tumbling twice before crashing onto the gravel.
Shaved Head rolled to his feet. It was his turn to hit his opponent while she was on the ground. He swung his boot hard at her head. Adriana rolled out of the way, the tip of his foot missing her temple by inches. He repeated the kick with his other foot. Again, she rolled away. He tried a third time. Adriana didn’t try to get away. She rolled toward the man, catching his foot before it could gain any force, then drove the base of her hand into his groin. Her fingers squeezed and twisted hard.
The man howled in agony. Adriana slid through his legs, keeping her grip tight. He doubled over, which played right into her plan. On her back, Adriana kicked her right heel up, plowing the bone into his nose.
His head snapped back, and his feet shuffled on the gravel as he tried to gain his balance while grabbing his face.
Adriana let go and stood up. She grabbed her opponent’s shoulder and spun him around. He lowered his hands from the bloody nose in an attempt to ready himself for her attack, but it was too late.
Adriana drove a fist into his left cheek, then his right, then left again. His head rocked from one side to the other and back. Now he was fighting against gravity and the fierce Spaniard.
He drove a weak punch at her face, but she grabbed his wrist, yanked him forward, and drove her knee into his gut. He grunted and doubled over, stumbling to the ground face-first. Adriana jumped on his back and grabbed the back of his head. She lifted it and smashed it into the ground over and over again until she felt the resistance in his muscles go limp.
Adriana released the clump of hair, letting the man’s bloody head drop to the ground.
She gasped for breath, only now realizing how much exertion the fight had taken. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and stood up, rolling the guy over onto his back with the tip of her shoe.
His face looked like he’d just lost a prize fight against a cheese grinder. His chest rose and fell, signaling that he wasn’t dead.
Adriana looked off toward the woods below the church and wondered what was going on with Sean.
35
Mount Nebo
Sean weaved in and out of the trees, keeping an eye on Han-Jae as he ran down the path away from the sculpture. The North Korean looked back several times to see if he was being followed. Even though he didn’t see anyone, he didn’t dare slow his pace.
Sean made no effort to stay quiet as he ran through the woods. The path looped around to the other side of the little forest, to what he didn’t know, but he knew he could cut off Han-Jae’s escape this way.
The North Korean skidded to a stop at a huge circular stone propped up on its side between two large blocks on the ground. He took cover behind the far side and waited, panting for air.
He pressed the button on his gun and released the magazine, letting it fall to the ground. Then he reached to his belt to get a full one, taking another quick look back around the stone to make sure no one was coming.
The gravel crunched behind him without warning. Han-Jae spun around to see a fist coming at his face.
Sean’s knuckles smashed into the man’s forehead right between the eyes.
The gun dropped to the ground, and Han-Jae took a step back. He winced from the pain but was alert enough to catch Sean’s next shot. He grabbed the American’s fist, letting his fingers slide down to the base before squeezing hard, and twisting.
The sudden move bent Sean down and toward the enemy, who drove his knee into Sean’s jaw. Han-Jae didn’t let go, instead pulling the American down again and once more into his knee. After the second kick, Han-Jae drove his fist into Sean’s cheek. He pummeled him repeatedly in the temple and side of the face.
Sean’s vision blurred. He knew one or two more blows to the side of the head would end the fight and probably his life. Desperate, he reached ou
t and grabbed the Korean’s pants. With the last ounce of energy he had left, Sean tugged at the pants as hard as he could.
Han-Jae raised his fist again as the American pulled on his pants. His foot slipped on the gravel and he lost his balance, toppling over backward and hitting the top of his head against the stone. He fell to the ground and groaned, planting both hands on the gravel as he tried to get up.
Sean spit blood through his lips and crawled toward the edge of the wall overlooking the rolling desert plains and hills. He grabbed the wall’s lip and pulled himself up. He blinked rapidly, bringing the scene below and the Dead Sea in the distance into focus.
His head throbbed, his lip stung, and both sides of his jaw ached.
Somehow he managed to stand up. The sound of gravel crunching underfoot alerted him to the approaching danger. He heard the pistol slide, chambering a new round. Han-Jae’s shadow stretched out around Sean’s feet. He saw the shadow of the man’s arm stretch out, pointing the weapon at the back of Sean’s head.
“Now you—”
Sean didn’t let him finish the sentence. He ducked his head to the side, twisted his right arm back, and grabbed Han-Jae’s wrist.
The weapon fired a bullet harmlessly into the air.
The Korean struggled to wrest his hand free of Sean’s grip, but the American wouldn’t let go.
Han-Jae drove his knee into Sean’s chest, weakening his grip for a moment, but within a split second Sean regained his strength and pulled his opponent toward the wall.
Han-Jae punched with his left hand. Sean caught the fist with his palm just inches from his face. He torqued the enemy’s hand into an awkward angle. Han-Jae screamed and released his grip on the pistol. The weapon clacked on the outer edge and then fell over the side, down the cliff.
Sean twisted Han-Jae’s hand a little more and then drove his elbow into the arm. The bone snapped easily, bending the appendage at a gruesome angle and sending a fresh surge of pain through the North Korean’s nerves.
Han-Jae yelled and smashed the bridge of his other hand across Sean’s face, knocking him back to his knees.
Everything went blurry again in Sean’s eyes. He braced himself with an elbow on the wall’s surface and gasped for air. The world was spinning. He was barely able to process his opponent standing up and stepping away.
Han-Jae staggered a few feet toward the stone and then spun around, holding the broken arm with his good hand.
Sean struggled to his feet and faced the man, uncertain he could fight much longer.
“You interrupted me before,” Han-Jae said. “I was saying it’s time for you to die.”
He took two steps and jumped. His right foot lined up squarely with Sean’s chest. The move was so swift and sudden, Sean barely had a half second to react. He sidestepped and swung his right arm. Han-Jae flew by as Sean’s elbow caught him in the back with just enough force to send him over the edge.
Sean turned around and saw his opponent’s fingers clutching the outer lip of the wall in a desperate struggle of skin on stone.
Leaning over the edge, Sean saw the man balancing his weight on a narrow ledge. His toes looked to be slipping, and with only one good hand there was no way he could stay there for long.
Sean braced himself on the wall by planting both hands flat on the surface and looked down. His fear of heights mixed with the constant dizziness nearly caused him to vomit.
“It was you,” Sean said. He tried hard to focus on his enemy’s face. “It was you who killed that scientist in Cologne.”
“So? I’d do it again. All for the glory of—”
Sean had heard enough. He made a fist with his left hand and hammered Han-Jae’s fingers.
The North Korean shrieked and let go, simultaneously losing his balance and falling backward. His voice echoed up the slopes as he fell, the sound of his screams breaking off when he hit the bottom.
Sean pulled himself away from the ledge and put his back to the wall, sliding to the ground.
He panted for breath. So many parts of his body hurt.
“I’m getting too old for this,” he muttered. He spat another clump of blood out onto the gravel and looked up at the stone.
Then it hit him what he was seeing. He started chuckling at first. Soon it broke into laughter until his chest started hurting.
Adriana came around the bend and saw him first. She was followed by the others who saw him sitting on the ground against the wall.
She rushed to his side and put her hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Sean looked up, still brimming with laughter. He nodded slowly. “I will be. Everything hurts right now, but I’ll be fine.”
Tommy and June joined them by the wall. Tommy stuck out a hand to help Sean onto his feet.
“You know what, thank you, but I think I’m just gonna sit here for a few days.”
Tommy’s parents stood by the giant stone, staring at it with wonder in their eyes. Baldwin and his men arrived, too. They also gazed in amazement at the big circular rock.
“Do you know what this is?” Baldwin asked.
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”
“What happened…you know, to the other guy?” Tommy interrupted.
“Oh, he needed some air,” Sean said and jerked his thumb back toward the cliff. “And to answer your question, Baldwin, that appears to be a rolling stone they used to seal up tombs back around the time of Christ.”
“It doesn’t appear to be one. That is exactly what it is.”
“So?” Tommy asked. “What’s the significance?”
Sean answered for Baldwin. “That, my friend, is what was drawn on the clue I took from the Vatican.”
“Wait,” June cut in. “Are you saying that the sword is…”
“Yeah.” Sean gave a nod. “I’m saying the sword is hidden right here, under this stone. The very stone some say covered the tomb of Jesus.”
“He’s right, son,” Tommy’s father said. “We always thought this might be the location, but we weren’t sure.”
“And getting information in North Korea was like trying to learn how to fly a plane in the Stone Age,” his mother added.
June shook her head. “This is incredible.”
Adriana put a hand against the stone. “So Arthur’s Round Table…on the surface it was about equality and being of one voice, but in reality it was a representation of where he found Excalibur. The sword in the stone.”
“Or under it, as it were,” Sean said.
“And the lake,” Tommy said. “One of the legends talks about a lady in the lake.” He looked off into the distance. “You can see the Dead Sea from here. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.”
“Probably.”
“I just can’t believe it. We found it. We found it!”
The moment of victorious jubilation was cut short as Baldwin stepped closer to Sean. He stood over the American as he spoke. “You have done well. You will always have friends in the Brotherhood for as long as you live. Should you ever need our assistance, you know where to find us.”
Baldwin stuck out his hand. Sean hesitated for a second and then shook it as firmly as possible.
“Actually, we don’t know where to find you.”
Baldwin let go and straightened up. “I know,” he said with a wink. He turned and motioned for his men to get moving.
“Did he just make a joke?” Sean asked Tommy.
“I think he did,” Tommy said, amazed.
“What about the sword?” Adriana asked. “What do you want us to do with it?”
Baldwin stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “Do whatever you feel is right.”
He and his men trudged back up the path and disappeared around the bend.
“So…what?” June said. “We get equipment up here to move this stone out of the way and then start digging? What’s the normal process for something like this?”
Tommy looked at Sean, then Adriana, and then into the eyes of h
is parents. His mother and father stared at him with a warmth in their eyes.
“No,” Tommy said finally. “We’re going to leave it here.”
“What?” June said. “I don’t understand. We’ve been through so much. Your parents…they’ve waited their whole lives to see this.”
“I know. I know. It’s just that…this sword, if it’s as powerful as we think it might be…it could be dangerous to take it out of its hiding place. In the wrong hands, it could cause a whole lot of trouble.”
“But if we don’t dig down there, we won’t know if it’s really there. Don’t you want to know for sure?”
“I have a pretty good feeling it’s there,” Tommy said. “The only question is, can you keep it a secret?”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
June had a pouty look on her face that cracked as Tommy moved nearer. He pressed his lips to hers and squeezed her tight.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Sean said. He looked at Tommy’s parents with a relieved expression on his face, like a two-ton yoke had been taken off his back. “You have no idea how bad he needed to find a girl.”
They didn’t get the joke.
“Hey,” Tommy said, pulling away from June for a second. “We’re right here.”
June pressed her fingers to his face and twisted his head back around to face her again. “I think you boys have had enough fun together for one week.”
“You’re probably right.”
Sean stared at the stone. He rested his arms on his knees, finally catching his breath. Adriana sat down next to him and followed his gaze.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” she said. “This sacred place where Moses was shown the promised land is the same place where the sword he gave Joshua is hidden. That stone sits atop Excalibur.”
“It sure is. A lot to take in when you think about it.”
She tilted her head over and rested it on his shoulder. “How is it we keep finding ourselves in these kinds of situations? You know, shootouts and fighting for our lives?”
Sean sighed. “Because we’re the best people for the job, I guess. Would anyone else have been able to take these guys down or figure out all the clues to get here?”
The Sean Wyatt Series Box Set 4 Page 53
