“C’mon, c’mon,” Gunn fretted. “They’re gonna be here soon.”
“Don’t worry, kid,” Heidi said. “We have firepower now. We’ll hold them off.”
“I’m pretty sure we don’t have enough bullets.”
Yasmine waved, then pointed at a patch of grass close to the edge of the running river. “Footprints,” she said. “The right size and the right direction. Looks like he slipped into the river.”
Cassidy waded across, fighting the current all the way. Bodie jumped in. The cold water came up to his waist, making him gasp.
“Bad idea,” Gunn said at his side, “with night coming. We’re gonna freeze our bloody bollocks off.”
“Not my problem,” Cassidy said, climbing out the other side.
Heidi followed, scrutinizing the way they’d come. “Hurry,” she said. “They’re here.”
Bodie pulled himself up the far bank, dripping water, trying not to shiver. A look back revealed the mercenaries and R24 emerging from the thick tree line. Bodie didn’t wait to hear them shouting threats across the river. He urged his team on, chasing Yasmine toward the peaks. Descending darkness was now their friend.
Yasmine took advantage of what little light they had left. Before the sun passed below the bulky mountain range, she rushed ahead, following Caruso’s tracks as best she could. Cassidy tracked her, and the rest followed. Bodie counted the minutes as they hurried along. At least ten passed before Yasmine and Cassidy urged them to slow. For the first time, he found himself grateful that Yasmine was with them. She made a great counterpoint and backup for Cassidy and, in contradiction to what he’d initially thought, a positive reminder of Cross.
“It is inevitable that we will find Caruso,” Cassidy said. “No need to break anything by chasing too hard.”
“Why is it inevitable?” Jemma asked.
“He won’t be moving as quickly as Yasmine. He’s probably holed up for the night, since it’s almost pitch black out here. The only issue is . . .”
“That she finds him before pitch black,” Pantera said. “Our problem is precisely the same as R24’s. We can’t continue in the dark.”
Bodie knew his old mentor was right. He hadn’t thought to grab a flashlight earlier, and neither had anyone else. The mountains would be utterly dark, the kind of darkness people living close to towns and cities forgot. Those places always had reflected light, something shining up into the skies. It took a trip to a place where light was totally absent but for the barest sliver of moon to remember what darkness was like.
A noise up ahead stopped them. Heidi raised her gun.
“Don’t worry—it’s me,” Yasmine said.
“And me,” Caruso whispered. “I didn’t want to leave you.”
“He found me,” Yasmine said. “Saved me from a nasty fall, to be honest. Listen—I know you want to, but we can’t keep going in this light.”
Cassidy indicated their rear. “Those guys might.”
“I hope they do. They will die.”
“She’s right,” Heidi said. “I know this isn’t the mountains, but the dangers are the same. A broken leg, even a twisted ankle, could be the end.”
Bodie sought out a ledge from which they could keep watch. Yasmine and Cassidy found a wide niche where they could huddle and keep warm and defend their position if necessary. They left one gun with the group and another with the designated watcher.
The first hour passed in dark tension. After that, they allowed themselves a small margin of relaxation. The wind howled through the rocks, whipping up gravel and dust, blowing it around their hidey-hole. A mini squall swept through. They sat with their heads down, their eyes closed, not expecting sleep but at least trying to rest.
Two hours later, Cassidy gave up.
“Fuck it,” she said. “This is depressing. Heidi, how about you pass me that map, and we figure out tomorrow’s route.”
Caruso laid a hand on the redhead’s arm. “What is our next move? You must remember that my family will be killed.”
“This is what we can do.” Cassidy started to retie bootlaces that had come loose during the day. “Find the next clue; hide it so these bastards can never find it without our help. Then we negotiate.”
“You mean to find the next clue first? Before R24?”
“Exactly. It’s a race now.”
“My wife,” Caruso went on as if he hadn’t heard her answer. “We met in Siena. I don’t know what she saw in me then. I was a builder, a lazy builder.” He smiled at the memory. “No money. No future. I earned what I earned and spent it the same night . . .”
Bodie didn’t want to interrupt Caruso’s recollections, particularly since the man appeared to find them incredibly difficult to find.
“She pursued me.” Caruso gazed into the middle distance. “I used to say, ‘Anna, I am not good enough for you.’ She answered, ‘Dante, I know, but luckily it is your heart that I love, not your brains.’” Caruso’s eyes glimmered. “I can’t lose her. I . . . can’t. Not like this.”
“We’ll do everything we can,” Bodie said. “For your wife and your son.”
Heidi handed Gunn the map, angling it to reflect the feeble moonlight. “Nica,” he said, remembering the name of the village. “Okay, it’s not too far from here. Over the smaller peaks.” He gestured with a hand. “It was abandoned in 1955, a few years after our friend Klaus Meyer was buried there.”
Heidi waited, then, when Gunn was done, asked for the map back.
“What next?” Jemma asked.
“We have a sat phone,” Heidi said, looking surprised at Jemma’s question. “What the hell do you think I’m gonna do next?”
Bodie had been listening to the conversation, also attentive to anything their lookout might relay. Pantera was on guard right now but was unusually quiet. Bodie hoped he hadn’t fallen asleep, then berated himself for being asinine. Pantera might have been out of the game a few years, but he was still one hell of an operator.
He watched Heidi, pretending to pay attention to the call but really just watching her face. No doubt he was attracted; no doubt he wanted more from the CIA agent.
But . . .
It was easier to let it lie. The future of the relic hunters, the team he cared for deeply, the family he belonged to, was not intertwined with the CIA. It couldn’t be. So far, one mission had led to another, and now they couldn’t abandon Caruso and his family. They would see this through to the end. But what came next? Would they run? And what would happen to Heidi if they did?
Another thought came to mind as he stared at Heidi. Yasmine’s main goal, before they had been abducted by R24, had been to find Lucien, the man who had betrayed her and engineered her partner’s and Eli Cross’s deaths. Bodie wanted Lucien too. For Cross. Before they were done with the CIA, a side mission was in order.
Heidi’s next words made him refocus. “Agent Moneymaker, yes. Abducted, and now we’re in the Tatra mountain range. You can get a fix on this cell, but I will have to power down soon. I understand this is a multipurpose emergency number, but do as I’ve asked. We need urgent evac on this one.”
As she continued, explaining enemy quantities and details and then the name of the village they were headed to, Bodie rehashed her words in his head. Multipurpose number? But he understood. Somebody had betrayed them to get them abducted in the first place. Heidi couldn’t be sure she could get hold of the right person, so she had contacted the universal call unit. They would disseminate the message along the right paths. It would take longer but would be quicker and more productive than chancing individuals.
The point being—rescue was now a reality.
He shivered, clothes not fully dry and not likely to be as the temperature kept dropping. Thirty minutes passed, and then he started making his way to relieve Pantera of his watch.
“All good?” he asked as the bald man greeted him.
“No sign of pursuit,” he said. “But something is out there.”
Bodie frowned. “What do
you mean—something?”
“I don’t know. Shadows. Shapes. Barely seen. Not close. You sit here for ten minutes, Bodie, you’ll see them.”
“Hey,” Bodie said as Pantera prepared to leave. “You’ve been quiet.”
“Yeah, well.” Pantera rubbed his bald head. “I’m not used to this, not anymore. And I’m trying to mend fences at home . . . you know.”
Bodie nodded.
As Bodie turned to leave, Pantera nodded at him. “And you? I remember what you’re like. I taught you all you know. Don’t dwell too far in the past, Guy, because we need you in the present.”
Bodie’s watch passed in introspection. His thoughts were full of Heidi and what might happen, of the future of the relic hunters, and of the members of his team. They were closer to him than anyone in his life had ever been, save for his parents before he’d turned eight. One thing was certain—he wouldn’t let them go easily.
Three times he thought he saw shapes in the dark, and once a light in the distance. The cloying blackness of the night hindered his senses and capabilities. Every time he tried to focus on what he thought might be a moving shadow, it vanished. Once, from above, he heard the pitter-patter of gravel falling down a rock surface as if disturbed.
Still, nothing happened.
I’ll be bloody happy to see the dawn.
When Yasmine appeared to take her turn, Bodie stayed. Not because he didn’t trust her, but because he was certain something was out there. Biding its time. And the two of them shared a great bond now, something they’d never spoken of. Something, even now, he didn’t want to face with her.
To her credit, she didn’t raise the issue of Cross at first. Instead, she listened to the sounds of the night.
“Wolves?” Yasmine asked after he whispered his fears.
“Too quiet. Whatever it is, this is far more careful. And meticulous.”
Yasmine crouched. “And the light you mentioned?”
“Never saw it again, but it must be Gurka’s men, right? Who else would be dumb enough to be out here?”
“I’m sorry,” Yasmine whispered then.
Bodie’s forehead creased. “What?”
“I know, in part, you blame me for Eli’s death. I know he was your best friend. And I thank you for letting me work with you. I’m trying to find my place here. And . . .” She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Bodie was grateful for the sentiment, but now wasn’t the time. “Cross was my greatest friend. But you’re good, and you fit in well. Just keep doing what you’re doing. I hope you stay with us until we find Lucien,” he said. “After that, we’ll see.”
“I loved Cross, you know. Since I was eighteen. Interpol broke us apart back then; the job broke us apart. I loved him. I have been hollow since he died.”
“I know.” Bodie was becoming distracted by her. “So have I. They say it gets better, but I’m not sure that I want it to.”
“Will you replace him?”
Bodie stared at her. “Cross? It hadn’t even entered my mind. Listen.” He made a decision. “You work for Interpol, right?”
“Worked. I don’t know my position now.”
“You’re aware of our real issue? Compelled to help the CIA under threat of charges and imprisonment, with no clear exit date ever offered. What would Interpol do?”
Yasmine didn’t answer straight away. Bodie thought she might be choosing her words carefully.
“They’ll never let you leave,” she said finally. “You keep performing like you have been, you keep showing success, and they’ll never let you leave.”
“You’re saying we should run?”
“Where can you run to that the CIA wouldn’t track you down?”
It was a good argument. One Bodie had been struggling with for months. There was no point showing their hand until they had something watertight in place. A solid, foolproof plan.
“When we get time,” Bodie said with a hint of irony, “we’re gonna start working on that question.”
“I really hope you find an answer.”
“We will.”
He stayed alongside her for the rest of the night and, when the first signs of dawn showed, followed her back to camp. They roused the others, though nobody was truly asleep. Everyone stretched, groaning in low voices, watching the last vestiges of utter darkness fade away.
“Which way, Gunn?”
The young man led the way out of the narrow chasm, and they padded along a pass for the best part of twenty minutes. The day grew brighter and noticeably warmer. Every time a mini rockfall occurred around them, Bodie and the others stopped and aimed weapons. Those who had stood watch last night exchanged knowing looks.
Humans are not the only things tracking us out here.
But it was humans who first announced their presence. As Gunn and Jemma, leading the group along the only path, topped a rise, Bodie heard the sound of a gunshot as a bullet glanced off a nearby rock. He leapt on top of the leaders, bearing them to the ground. Cassidy ducked behind a rock and peered out.
“Up there,” she said. “Not far as the crow flies but about an hour behind.”
Bodie peered through clusters of small peaks. Standing atop a cliff were at least nine men, and Nina too, all staring their way, soundlessly, weapons raised. More shots rang out but glanced harmlessly away.
“Save your bullets,” he told Heidi without thinking. “We’ll need them.”
She gave him an irritated look and then said, “More than that. We should move. All they need is a good vantage point to pin us down from while the rest of their crew sneak in closer.”
A good point. Bodie watched as his group slipped away. Their pursuers didn’t shoot again. The early dawn began to catch fire, sunlight rising and peering through the ragged rock faces. A narrow, rocky valley passed by a blue mountain lake, where they stopped and replenished the water from their packs. Bodie splashed the cold liquid onto his face, feeling new vitality enter his body. Caruso looked like he was preparing to remove several layers of clothing and jump in before Cassidy dragged him back, reminding him of their need to continue.
“I remember this,” Caruso said with a hint of glee. “I remember this lake. I spent a day relaxing here. It was . . . a peaceful time.”
Cassidy leaned in toward him. Bodie heard her whisper, “Last time you were here, did the wolves hunt you?”
“I don’t know. I’m not good with bad memories.”
Cassidy sighed. “I’m with you there, dude.”
Bodie couldn’t help but feel sorry for Caruso. To know your mind and memory weren’t right. To know your family couldn’t completely rely on you due to a medical condition. It had to be a heavy cross to bear.
Without wasting more time, they moved on, skirting the lake and following the map. Finally, Gunn stopped and pointed ahead.
“Nica is just through here,” he said. “A small depression among the mountains with a path down to the hills and the lowlands.”
Bodie stared ahead at the two fifty-foot-high peaks, their sides worn smooth by scouring winds, their peaks jagged and pointed toward each other, as if forming a natural gate.
What dreams or nightmares lay beyond?
“First things first,” he said. “We take a look at the area and work out escape routes. R24 can’t be more than an hour behind. It’s imperative we find and hide that clue first.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Nica nestled among small peaks that formed a natural fortress between the higher mountains beyond. It was a rudimentary cluster of small houses spreading from the rocks to the grassy plains, where, thirty feet to the east, it broadened into a rough circle. Bodie saw a church and pointed it out. Just like Dydiowa, the place was overgrown. Several roofs hung in disarray, and some walls had collapsed.
Unnerving, though, was the way the half-open doors shifted as he watched, the way old, tattered curtains twitched, the way a rusted, half-collapsed swing set creaked on ancient hinges, still moving as if propelled by ghosts long dead.<
br />
A breeze blustered through the place, moving a piece of wood here, a chunk of rock there, giving life to old relics. Bodie ignored it, preferring to focus on what he could see and what he feared physically rather than allow his imagination free rein.
“Church,” Pantera said, “usually means graveyard. Move it.”
“I’ll stay with Yasmine,” Cassidy said. “We can go to higher ground and watch for uninvited guests. Hand over the guns.”
Bodie nodded and then started moving fast, picking his way down the rocky path and then among piles of earth and overgrown tangles of vegetation. Empty windows yawned as he passed the abandoned homes. Would there be possessions inside? Bones, perhaps? What had happened here in 1945?
The church was as sorry looking as the rest of Nica. The spire had crumpled at some point and now lay in ruins, just outside the front door. A fence ran, warped and bowed, around the rear. Bodie noticed all of the stained glass windows were still intact—seemingly more enduring than bricks and mortar. Back when he’d been a thief and a relic hunter, on the other side of the law, there’d been a thriving market in stained glass, the older the better. The fact that he noticed it now proved he hadn’t changed all that much.
Pantera and Heidi moved steadily around the back of the building, surveying the small graveyard before shouting for the others. Bodie saw about forty gravestones, almost half of which were either leaning or fallen over. Pantera moved to the first and started scraping decades’ worth of debris away.
“Not Klaus Meyer,” he said and moved on to the next.
Bodie helped, starting on the second row. It was an odd atmosphere they worked in. The mountains to their right, their deep, majestic silence an almost overbearing presence; the knowledge that killers were coming; the terrifying certainty that something else was tracking them; the fear for Caruso’s family; the uncertainty around the Amber Room. Bodie found it easier to dilute every sense and every emotion.
Together, he and Jemma moved on to the third row.
“Out of my depth here,” she told him as they scraped at the grave markers.
“Hey, you wanted back in the field,” he said with heavy irony.
The Amber Secret Page 15
