GOLDEN REICH
Page 36
“Yeah, that too.”
As they approached the dirt road, Sam said, “Turn right here.”
After several seconds of silence, Jagr said, “Perhaps if I were to ‘say please’…”
“I might…but we have to be back in an hour or your boss might get upset. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I don’t think he would mind if we were a few minutes late.”
“You promise you won’t tell my boyfriend?”
Tom could see the Suburban’s headlights moving slowly down the dirt road toward him. He hid behind a tall cactus hoping the SUV would turn into the area where he was waiting. But the Suburban drove past Tom for nearly a quarter mile before it slowed and finally turned into the desert.
Tom began a slow jog through the cacti and ground cover toward the taillights of the SUV which stopped two hundred yards off the road.
“We can fold down the seats and make it more comfortable,” Jagr said with a grin.
“Oh, I don’t know, it’s a beautiful night, what about outside?”
“You are an adventurous lady.”
“You’re not boring, are you?”
As Tom approached the SUV, he could see Sam slide out of the back seat and walk around in front of the vehicle where she met Jagr in the glare of the SUV’s headlights.
“I think you should remove your clothing,” Jagr said, his voice thick.
“You’ve already seen me. I want to see you. It’s your turn—you go first.”
Jagr smiled as he began his strip by slowly removing his pullover shirt. “Wow, looks like somebody hits the gym,” Sam said. Jagr’s smile widened.
After awkwardly removing his shoes and socks, Jagr loosened his belt and let his pants fall to the ground. “Don’t believe in underwear, huh,” Sam noticed.
“I like movement, and to be ready for action at any moment.”
“Looks like you are certainly ready for action.”
“You inspire me.”
“Lean against the hood, shut your eyes, and quit talking,” Sam said as she pushed Jagr against the SUV and sank to her knees.
“American women are very dominating and…”
“I said quit talking.”
Obeying Sam, Jagr closed his mouth and eyes, and leaned against the warm hood of the Suburban. Sam moved her hands up each of his legs. She heard him moan in pleasure and felt him quiver in anticipation.
Within two seconds, Jagr’s moan turned to a wail of agony when she slammed her fist between his legs four times before he fell to the ground, where he landed in a fetal position. His moans were not those of pleasure.
In a single motion, Sam grabbed his clothes, shoes, and socks and threw them in different directions into the black desert. She ran to the driver’s door of the SUV, found the keys still in the ignition, fired up the Suburban, threw it into reverse, and began spewing up dirt and dust while looking into the rearview camera. It was then that she saw a tall man carrying a shot gun, not twenty feet behind her. Sam slammed on the brakes, rolled down her window, and calmly asked, “You order an Uber?”
After entering, Tom looked at Sam and said, “Wow, you’re a tough first date.”
“Oh no, are you saying he may not call me again?”
Chapter 63
Desert—One Mile from Jasper Mine
Two hours after Jagr had left with Sam, his men were still finding gold even without a map. Over two hundred bars with an aggregate value of nearly $90,000,000 had been pulled from the sand and neatly stacked in several piles in front of Dr. Martin. While this amount of gold represented a small percentage of the number of bars that had been delivered to the Jasper in 1943, it was, according to Dr. Martin, a “promising start” to recovering that which had been lost for so long.
Dr. Martin was not sure why Rolle would have risked placing the gold in the open desert so long ago but concluded the strategy had worked. If only three bars were missing, found by the stupid American girl and her boyfriend, from the original 20,000 bars, along with those that had been seen in the pit, then Dr. Martin was ecstatic that what remained in the ground would allow him to carry out his plan. The plan he had worked so hard to execute. A plan that would, once and for all, rid the world of an insidious pestilence.
His only concern was why Jagr was late in returning with the girl and the map. While the bars were still being uncovered in the sand, the pace had slowed, and Dr. Martin recalled the girl saying the valley beneath where they were now working contained even more bars. He was already planning to move his team to the valley the next morning and had devised a work schedule whereby one team of workers rested, while the others searched the sand with metal detectors. A job made easier with a map.
At 2:15 a.m., a cut, bruised, and naked Jagr stumbled into the work area. His feet and legs were bleeding, and he limped badly. “What happened to the map, Jagr?”
“There was no map. The bitch pulled a gun on me, forced me off the road then ordered me to take off my clothes then threw them into the desert.”
“How did a woman…”
“She put a pistol to the back of my head, it was a Sig Sauer, I think, she then ordered me to…”
“Jagr, did your cock betray you? Did you succumb to the young woman and she outsmarted you?”
“No sir. I never touched her. I don’t think there was a map.”
“Nonsense. The woman would not have walked away from over $2,000,000.”
“If there is a map, maybe she plans to return and take far more than just the five bars she was promised,” Jagr said.
“Jagr, you have disappointed me. Your actions have put our operation in jeopardy.”
“I am sorry, sir, deeply sorry. Please forgive me.”
“Of course, my son. After all these years of loyal service, I will give you another opportunity to redeem yourself, but do not disappoint me again. Now, have someone take you back to the Jasper, find some clothes and shoes, take some nourishment, and return here in forty-five minutes. We have much work to do.”
“Yes sir. I will not disappoint you again.”
As Jagr turned and walked away, Dr. Martin drew a pistol and shot him in the back of the head. “I know you won’t, Jagr.” He shot him three more times. The sound of the gunfire echoed in the black desert and got the immediate attention of the workers still pulling bars from the sand. “I want some of you to get rest now, then return to relieve those who will stay. Our work here is only beginning.” As he spoke, two guards dragged Jagr’s body into a gully and tossed him down an embankment. Dr. Martin didn’t seem to notice.
Chapter 64
Ben’s House—Phoenix
After Tom and Sam found Ben and Jon in the desert, thanks to a few calls and texts, it was almost dawn when the four finally returned to Ben’s ranch. Despite the hour, Sam and Tom made a breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, French toast, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. “Let’s eat now, get some rest, and talk when we get up and our minds are fresh,” Ben said.
After eating in near silence, the quartet retired to separate bedrooms and slept until late afternoon. Later, sitting around Ben’s pool, the conversation began with a question by Jon, “Now what the hell do we do?”
“We wait,” Sam said.
“Wait for what?” Tom asked. “Once they find there’s not much left of Lester’s stash, they’ll probably just head back to the Jasper and start their search all over again in there. That group doesn’t strike me as one that will give up.”
“Maybe what they found will be enough,” Jon said, unconvincingly.
“Wonder what they’re doing up there now?” Tom asked.
“Let’s go look,” Sam said as she smiled at Ben.
Twenty minutes later the group was flying north toward the Jasper at 2,000 feet in Ben’s favorite Mooney. They did not have to fly dire
ctly over the area to see Dr. Martin’s crew of two dozen men hard at work inside and along the banks of a meandering creek bed. The men could be seen working south from the Jasper in military precision. “Are you guys aware that I don’t like flying?” Jon reminded the group as he looked out the window.
“Looks like they do have a plan,” Tom said.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Jon said.
“We have a plan too,” Sam said, as she smiled at her dad.
“We do? Besides letting them take the last bit of Lester’s gold, what kind of plan do we exactly have?” Tom asked.
“Just look down there and tell us what you see,” Sam said.
Tom and Jon peered out the Mooney’s window.
“I see about a million square miles of sand and two dozen guys with metal detectors digging up lead bars,” Tom said.
“Yeah, that’s what’s I see too…wait a minute...oh shit, are you fucking kidding me?” Jon asked in a whisper.
“I don’t kid,” Sam said.
“She doesn’t kid,” Ben agreed.
Chapter 65
Desert Near Jasper
As the sun sank in the west, a group of eight ATVs, carrying sixteen heavily armed men and women dressed in black military fatigues, came across the desert at forty-five degree angles. They drove slowly, with purpose and discipline, maintaining their distance from each other and moving inexorably toward their target. The ATVs at first created an almost imperceptible humming sound that led Dr. Martin’s men to initially look skyward to determine where the sound was coming from. They saw only one small single-engine plane.
As the ATVs moved across the desert, they kicked up dust that could be seen from the Mooney. The circle tightened around Dr. Martin’s men like a large noose. They were oblivious to what was heading their way and continued to work in and around the creek bed.
Colonel David Green, a twenty-five-year member of the Jewish Defense League, rode in one of the ATVs, an Uzi in his lap and his eyes covered with Oakley Gator Sunglasses. While he wasn’t trying to look cool, he did. He also looked scary, as did the other fifteen special ops soldiers who had volunteered for a “special assignment” over 7,000 miles from their homes in Tel Aviv. After hearing the details of the assignment, over 110 former Israeli soldiers had volunteered.
The driver of Colonel Green’s ATV had his Uzi draped over his shoulder. In fact, every ATV contained two soldiers armed to the teeth. If someone was interested in starting a mini-war, Colonel Green and his troops were more than happy to oblige.
Through a series of international contacts that included encrypted messages, satellite phones, and coded texts, Sam had reached out to fellow pilots around the world, including Israeli pilots she had trained with, and explained her proposal. A deal of sorts—you help us, and we’ll help you, kind of deal. The Israelis with whom she spoke thought it was a damn good plan and immediately accepted the proposal.
As the ATVs moved to within a half mile of the creek bed, they could be heard by Dr. Martin’s men. But not heard by Dr. Martin who was asleep in one of the Suburbans.
He was awakened by a knock on the window: “Doctor, someone is coming.” Exiting the Suburban, Dr. Martin could now hear and see Colonel Green and his approaching troops, only 200 yards away. Many of his men were still in the creek bed looking for gold bars.
“Men, grab your weapons, we are under attack!” Dr. Martin shouted.
“What did he say?” one of his men digging in the creek bed asked of anyone who might know the answer.
When he reached for his weapon, it was shot out of reach by six Uzi rounds from one of Colonel Green’s troops. Within seconds, most of Dr. Martin’s men dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Three did not. When they instead raised their weapons to fire, they were shredded to ribbons by at least five Uzis.
For over a minute, the Uzi’s smoked, the air reeked of nitroglycerin, and the desert was silent. Dr. Martin’s men stared at Colonel Green’s troops, not sure what to do next other than keep their hands in the air. They looked toward Dr. Martin who had instinctively positioned himself between the gold bars and Colonel Green’s troops, apparently hoping that a nonagenarian could not only hide but also protect what had been found.
Finally, one of Dr. Martin’s men uttered, “Fuck me.”
“An interesting offer, young man, but I would prefer to know how many other men await us in the mine.” Colonel Green asked softly as he approached the twenty-two year old.
Colonel Green’s soft tone and smiling face scared the hell out of Dr. Martin’s guard. He thought about running. He thought about screaming. He thought about not talking. As he contemplated other useless options, Colonel Green slapped handcuffs on the heavily tattooed young man then whispered in his ear as he simultaneously pulled an eight-inch serrated blade knife from his waistband. “You have ten seconds to answer my question. Only ten. If I get to eleven, I will disembowel you with this knife, and you will be forced to catch your intestines and other organs before they hit the ground. It will take you over an hour to die. One…”
“There are no men in the mine; everyone is here. We don’t know that old dude over there. We were told we could make some coin if we…”
“Thank you, that is far more information than I need,” Colonel Green said, maintaining his smile, then added. “If I discover you have lied to me, your death will be even more painful than I previously described. Do we understand each other?”
“Yes…I mean, yes sir.”
After leaving the young man, Colonel Green approached Dr. Martin from the rear and placed his Uzi at Dr. Martin’s back. “Hello, you must be Dr. Armin Martin.”
“I am.”
“I believe you are trying to find some things that belonged to my grandparents. They would like those things back.”
Chapter 66
Ben’s Mooney
Ben sent the Mooney into a wide circle pattern around the Jasper, which allowed the team to see Colonel Green and his troops cram Dr. Martin and his remaining men into the back of the Suburbans driven and guarded by the Israelis. The SUVs were then surrounded by the ATVs, and the vehicles made their way up the dirt road that led back to the Jasper.
In the Mooney, Tom had a question:, “How many lead bars did J.T. bury?”
“Hundreds according to Lucille,” Sam said. As she spoke, a “ping” was heard in the plane. Then another. Suddenly, the right rear window shattered, sending pieces of plexiglass over the cabin, mainly over Jon. Hot Arizona air filled the cabin as two more pings were heard over the wind noise.
“We’re being shot at, Daddy.” As she spoke, Sam texted and gave coordinates. Within sixty seconds, two of Colonel Green’s troops split off from the caravan and tore back toward where Dr. Martin’s men had been digging.
Ben banked the Mooney to the left and dove the plane toward the desert floor. An acidic smell filled the cabin, and a thin stream of oil could be seen coming from the right side of the engine housing.
“We’re losing oil pressure,” Ben said calmly.
“Can we make it back to the house?” Sam asked.
“Don’t want to land around here.”
“Did I ever mention I hate flying?” Jon asked.
“At least there are no rattlesnakes up here,” Tom said.
Below the Mooney, two of Colonel Green’s troops had located the lone remnant of Dr. Martin’s group who had been peeing among the rocks while his cohorts had been loaded into the Suburbans. He had three AK-47s with him and kept firing round after round toward a now-disappearing Mooney. His bald head with a red swastika tattooed on it made him an easy target.
Major Sylvia Weissman knew she needed only one shot. She took four.
Chapter 67
Ben’s House—Phoenix
Despite oil splashing on the windshield, smoke pouring from the engine, and Jon puk
ing in the back seat, Ben made a perfect landing of the smoldering Mooney at his private field. Fifteen minutes later, Ben, Tom, Jon, and Sam were sipping iced tea in Ben’s kitchen.
“When do they arrive?” Tom asked.
“Within the hour,” Ben said.
“Have you heard if…”
“We agreed, no communication. We just have to wait.”
For nearly two hours, the four sat in virtual silence.
Chapter 68
Inside the Jasper
Given his advanced years, Dr. Martin was provided a chair. The rest of his men were directed to sit on the floor of the Jasper in a semicircle, facing the pit, twenty feet from the edge, their hands tied behind their backs.
In front of the men were the 250 bars they had pulled from the desert dirt and sand. Dr. Martin was within five feet of the bars. He stared at them like a lost lover. His heart wanted them back. His brain knew better.
For nearly thirty minutes there was absolute silence in the Jasper. At one point, one of Dr. Martin’s men raised his hand and said, “Excuse me, can I…?”
Without answering, one of Colonel Green’s men looked at the man with sincerity on his face, put his finger to his lips, and slowly shook his head. There were no further questions.
At first, the sound was muffled. Like summer thunder. As the volume rose, the sound became that of an approaching commercial jet. When the trucks began to enter the Jasper, the roar was deafening, and the image of the behemoth trucks with their headlights glaring, diesel exhaust pipes belching, produced a rumbling that made the floor of the mine vibrate. It also scared the hell out of Dr. Martin’s men who were already wishing they were somewhere, anywhere else.
Colonel Green greeted the drivers of the trucks, who had shut down their engines and began unloading what their trucks carried. After conferring with the six drivers, he walked to the bars that sat in front of Dr. Martin. The colonel was joined by two other men who began a chemical analysis of each bar. Most of the bars analyzed were then absent mindedly tossed into pit and could heard clattering down the sides of the mine on their way to the darkness. Each time a bar was thrown into the abyss, Dr. Martin winced, his body physically reacting to his loss. With each tossed bar he seemed to wither.