Discoveries (Mercenaries Book 5)

by Tony Lavely

  Amy touched her arm. “Lisa and I were talking, and it might be better if we ferried you to the fountain two at a time, using both cars. That way, you don’t all show up at exactly the same time, and the two cars don’t both drop people off at the same time.”

  “That works, Amy,” Derek said. “Good idea. Any other changes or suggestions?” With no response, he continued, “Let’s go.”

  He hurried to tell the manager she could reopen her shop, then met Beckie and the others at the car.

  “How about I wear the ear, Derek?” Beckie said as they pulled back onto the road.

  He handed the kit to her, with a “Thanks.” I wonder if that’s for taking the radio, or letting him lead.

  The half-hour drive allowed her to do radio checks with everyone, and then be amazed by the narrow winding road. “I thought England was the only place in Europe where one and a quarter lane roads did for two-way traffic.”

  The sun was down a little, but there was plenty of daylight left. Beckie followed Derek out of the car and they walked by the fountain and up the terraced walkway to be surrounded by the stone buildings.

  “You know, this place will ring like a bell if we fire any weapons. Or if anyone does.”

  “Too true, Mrs. Jamse. You should pass the word along.”

  She nodded and set the radio for broadcast. “Inside the old city, it’s all stone and archways. If we or the bad guys have any gunplay… Well, it’ll be noisy and there’s only one way out. Seems likely the police would have it blocked pretty quickly.” She paused and Derek gave her the go-ahead signal with his hand. She sneered at him, then continued, “So if they’re there, the goal is to get Ian and Kevin out without raising Cain. Or whoever we think can provide good intel. If no one including the bad guys notices, that would be the best outcome. Otherwise, let’s do our best to make sure no one except the bad guys notices until we’re clear and out of the country. Any questions or suggestions?” After a moment of acknowledgements, she tipped her head in Derek’s direction.

  He looked at his map, then pointed up the street. Beckie caught up and took his hand. “Might look better as a couple.” He nodded and gave her a winning smile.

  “Lisa just dropped Sam and Karen.” Five minutes of walking and she said, “Amy has dropped Ben and Gillian.”

  “So Willie and Millie will bring up the rear. Right.” He stopped and looked around. “And ’ere we are at that building in the photo, but from inside the town.”

  “Not much to see.” Beckie looked around, stopping when she faced the church. “They wouldn’t…”

  Derek gave her a sardonic grin. “And why not, love? Their belief wouldn’t be shattered by misuse of a ’ouse of worship. It’s not a mosque, after all.”

  “True. But still.”

  “I know. Let’s wait a second for Ben and Gillian. We’ll ’ave them go in the front door.”

  Beckie spoke for a moment to give Ben the plan. While they waited, they ambled to the small park fronting the church, where Beckie nodded to Sam, and they smiled in Willie’s direction, approaching along with Millie. “Those two shouldn’t be together.”

  “Mmm. Why not, love?”

  She laughed quietly. “Like as not, they’ll find the answer.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  “No, but it might put the doctor in danger. She’s not good at keeping her head down, as Sam can tell you.”

  “Ah. I suggest you mention your concerns to both Millie and Sam, then.”

  She put up her hand. “Ben.” After listening a moment, she said, “He may have been… forceful, he says. They are headed to the basement, where the old keep was.”

  “That sounds reasonable. Not good, just reasonable. Who’d they talk to?”

  She held up her hand again, then waved to the others. “Let’s go! Three guys are holding a section of the basement. Ben doesn’t know if there are others, but these guys are armed.” She listened again. “To the teeth, he says.” Another pause. “But they aren’t proof against knives. Or blunt objects.”

  After a glance around the square, Beckie ran to the large door and held it until the team had gathered. “Millie, you and Willie head down that way.” She pointed to the walkway alongside the church. “Keep listening and if it sounds like we need a diversion, that’s your job. Or if someone needs you professionally. Go!”

  “Is there another exit from here?” Karen asked.

  Derek grabbed his map out again. “Doesn’t look to be, but if there is, it’d be along where they’re ’eaded.” He waved at the place Willie was just disappearing.

  “Good call.” Beckie advised Millie of the chance of an alternate exit, and nodded to Derek.

  “Okay, let’s go. Quiet.”

  Inside the church, the Monday afternoon called for no services; the lone acolyte, a young man who looked more nervous than Beckie felt, lost no time in directing them to the stairway down, and didn’t seem at all upset when Karen told him in French to go on about his work and he wouldn’t be bothered.

  The stairway had rough cut steps, steep and getting narrower as they went down. Nobody’d overspent on lights, either. The bare bulbs were close enough that she could see the next one in sequence but no closer. And she wondered, how could it feel damp, on the top of a mountain in the south of France in July? But it did. She shivered in her chambray shirt.

  The team’s footsteps shuffed behind her… except for Sam. His boots clopped on the rock, but not loudly.

  “Ben?”

  He didn’t answer and she couldn’t guess whether he was just not interested in talking, or the radios didn’t work here in the rock. She kept going, although after the first twenty or thirty steps, she’d slowed down. Don’t want to run into whatever headlong.

  With a tap at her shoulder, Derek signed for her to stop. “You get Ben or Gillian?” She shook her head. “Maybe we went the wrong way?” he whispered.

  “The church guy might steer us wrong?” she said softly. “I’m shocked you’d think such a thing, Mr. Hamilton. Karen, did he seem like he was… less than honest?” The woman shook her head, a definite motion. “Okay. Let’s continue… to that black hole down there. If we see nothing there, we’ll turn back.”

  He agreed and behind him, she saw Sam’s teeth shining out of his big grin. I must be doing something right… Or wildly, humorously, wrong!

  At the place that had appeared to be a black hole from above, they reached a T-intersection. Light bulbs were even further apart down here. To the left, a bright light flashed once; Beckie signed to Sam to hold his position and she and Derek took opposite sides of the tunnel⁠—for all that the width was barely enough to stretch her hands across.

  Twenty paces⁠—she counted them⁠—brought her to Gillian, guarding a second intersection.

  In muted speech, Gillian told them Ben had disabled one man and stuffed him in an alcove a little ways up the left path. Ben had seen two other guards further along the hallway that cut down and to the right. The guards hadn’t reacted to either Gillian or Ben, so he’d trailed them.

  “Explains why he hasn’t answered,” Beckie said, indicating the radio.

  “Yeah,” Gillian said. “Where do you think we are, relative to the outside?”

  Derek held the map against the wall. “This lot isn’t on it, surprise, surprise. But I’d guess we’re about ’ere.” He pointed to the building behind the main church structure. “And about fifteen feet below the surface level, since the church is right at the top.”

  “That’s the same building that the cell phone locator pointed to, right?”

  “Actually, no, but this one’s next to it. Well within the margin of error, since there aren’t all that many cell towers around.”

  As he finished, Gillian motioned. Beckie could hear footsteps from the tunnel to the right. They faded back against the wall away from the dim light.

  She recognized Ben by his height and carriage. The black balaclava he’d donned covered almost everything. When he reache
d Gillian, she waved and they grouped back with Sam and Karen.

  “They’re not using names, but they’re holding someone on tha other side a tha room I was just at.” As he surveyed the team, Beckie’s heart did a little stutter-step. Could that mean… Ian’s in there? Ben was continuing. “I counted four hostiles, an tha one I stopped earlier, he’ll probably wake up soon. But they’ll miss him even if he doesn.’”

  Get back to business, Beck! “So we should go now,” she said, “since when they miss him, they’ll be even more alert.” She glanced at Derek. “No hint where the other side might be, or another door? ’Cause if there is, they might try and take them out that way when we come knocking.”

  “No clue, love. We can ’ope that Willie can stop them without our ’elp, in that case.”

  “If we think that’s likely, Sam and Karen should go back them up while we four come in the front door.

  “Of course,” she continued, “There has to be an alternative for that to work, and this used to be the keep, right? The dungeon. Not gonna be many doors out.” She leaned back against the stone. “Alternatives?” No answer. “Sam, go. We’ll give you, five minutes?”

  “Six,” Derek said.

  “Six minutes to get out and around. I’ll try the radio⁠—”

  “It works great,” Ben said.

  “Cool. I’ll holler before we go, so if you’re not in position… Or you get there early… Hand him the map, Derek.”

  She watched for another minute while Derek indicated where he thought they were, and Ben gave them an idea of the direction they’d be heading, then Sam and Karen were gone.

  “Remember, no firearms. Although I’m not sure anyone up top would hear anything from down here,” she whispered. “How best to go in? Probably not the guys; that reeks of aggression. Maybe not me leading; if these are the people we think, they might have seen pictures of me associated with Ian. Gillian, then, a good mixture of less threatening and unfamiliar.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Gillian drew a Boker M3 combat blade and stropped it on her thigh. When Beckie grinned, Gillian said, “I also have a boot knife and one here…” She dug into her shirt and pulled a leather cord out, to which a funny shaped leather…

  Oh, that’s a sheath. “Really nice, Gillian.”

  The woman slid the small blade free. “Fits my hand well, but really, it’s for self-defense.”

  “I can see that,” Beckie said. “Let’s talk after; I coulda used one of those day before yesterday. Armor?”

  Gillian nodded and checked the rest of her gear, hidden in a blue work shirt and boy cut jeans. Ben smiled and took himself back to the junction where Gillian had been stationed, to make sure no one came up that way unannounced.

  “Okay, Gillian in first. Derek, you next, or Ben?” Derek gave her a non-committal shrug. “He’s more panic inducing than you, and that’d be a good thing to bring to the party. I’ll sneak in hidden behind him and you make sure they don’t slip out behind us.”

  “Wish I’d brought the rail gun, now,” Gillian said.

  “Wish I’d brought any damn thing,” Beckie said. “But the rail gun… too big. And the battery pack… You’d need a helper just to carry that!”

  Gillan laughed while Derek just stared at them. But when she recovered, she slid a knife from her boot. “Spare.” She handed it to Beckie. “I’ll want it back.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be careful. And clean it too.”

  At five minutes, thirty seconds, Beckie’s earpiece announced that Sam and Karen were within reach of the most likely of the candidate doors. Willie had taken a second and Millie a third.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Moving silently, they went down the tunnel to Ben, who then guided them into the sloping tunnel he’d explored earlier. Beckie was a little surprised that he stopped them after only a minute or so, but the wooden door looked sufficiently stout. No lock, though. I guess not many people wanted to break into the prison.

  Gillian took her place and lined up the team behind her, then without further ado, she grabbed the latch and pushed the door wide.

  Behind Ben, Beckie’s first impression was music, then light and warmth. Odors of garlic and oregano. She kept close to Ben’s back until he was well inside; when the door slammed, Ben sheered off in the direction of a gun rack; Beckie headed toward the first door she saw. It didn’t open as easily as the previous one; she dropped to her knees to examine the latch. The music was now covered by shouts and bodies falling or slamming into the few pieces of furniture.

  One of those bodies flew by close enough to feel the breeze. Beckie looked to see Derek; she stuck her foot out just in time to trip the man chasing him. He landed awkwardly, and she beat Derek to slam the butt of the knife against his head. “Good job,” Derek said.

  She smiled and leaning into the door, yanked at the latch again. Still no joy.

  Carrying one of the rifles from the rack, Gillian opened the third door, on the side wall, and eased through. Yeah, Beckie thought, we’ve only got two guys here, and Ben said four.

  Ben had subdued his opponent, and with Derek, they tied up those two guards. Before they completed the job, Gillian forced two more guards, one male, one female, out of the room they’d been in.

  “Bunkhouse,” Gillian said. “No one else. I did a quick check, no alarms or phones back there.”

  Beckie stood and went to the desk, lying on its back after Derek’s impact. She set it upright, then sorted through the papers and debris that had ended on the floor. “Looking for a key,” she said to Gillian when the woman cast a raised eyebrow her way.

  Gillian’s two captives were stretched out on the floor with Derek and Ben securing them.

  “Well, who wants to give away the secret?” Beckie said. “No key, but that’s not a surprise. No place for one. I’m afraid⁠—”

  “It opens from the other side,” the man from the bunkhouse said. Beckie wished he’d been working with her; the mocking note in his voice was perfect.

  She pulled her three together, still where they could monitor the guards. “It seems really stupid to me to have no way through the door, so before we do anything else, you guys take a look; see if you can open it or what’s his name is correct.”

  While they examined the reluctant portal, Beckie gave Millie and Sam the update that apparently they’d dead-ended; keep a close eye out.

  The others agreed with the assessment; the door had been secured from the far side. Given tools they hadn’t brought, they could breach it, but it certainly seemed secure from their fists and knives.

  “No hinges, check. No fasteners for the latch mechanism, check. Which side of it are we on, anyway?” Beckie’s frustration welled up; she paused to swallow the curses she wanted to sear through the wooden planks. That won’t do any good. “Okay. Gillian, two minutes to see if you can convince one of our ‘guests’ to guide us to our objective.”

  “What then?”

  “Kill them.” She signed to ignore that. “Derek and I, maybe with Ben, depending, we’ll go out and try the other route.”

  “Ben should definitely go,” Gillian said, leaning back from the man who’d spoken earlier. “He has the most experience with the tunnels out there. If we need someone to stay with me…” Her delivery gave Beckie to understand that she didn’t find it necessary. “… Derek will be fine. Or you, for that matter.”

  “Thanks, but no.”

  With the other two, Beckie watched as Gillian reiterated the likely rewards of helping them, and the penalties for refusing to do so. Beckie was disappointed that fear of their superiors overrode the possibility of death from their captors, but she just shrugged when Gillian looked at her when time ran out.

  “Okay. Thanks. Should we leave Derek…”

  “Not necessary⁠—”

  “…in case someone does open that door?” Beckie tipped her head at the locked exit.

  “Oh,” Gillian said. “Yeah, if they come through that way, two of us’d be good.”r />
  Ben nodded and removed the radio he’d been wearing; he handed it to Gillian. “Keep in touch.”

  Beckie led the way up to the first junction, then stood aside to allow Ben to take the point. His steps were confident, but not hurried. I wish we could make better time. She almost asked Ben to speed up, but caught the words on the tip of her tongue and swallowed them. Like he needs my direction!

  By the time they’d found a plausible alternate entry, they’d investigated four dead-end tunnels and five doors into storage rooms. Beckie wasn’t sure what they’d stored there, but whatever it was, it was neither people nor anything she sought.

  Ben gave her a look that she wanted to believe was filled with the promise that Ian was just on the other side of this door. She knew it was a stupid, nay impossible, idea, but she couldn’t press it out of her mind; she merely gave him a feeble half-smile.

  When he began to turn the handle, she grabbed him and signed, Like before; me first. Weapons ready?

  When he nodded, she took the handle and slammed it down, shoving against the rough wood with all her hundred-five pounds.

  Falling in wasn’t the entrance she wanted to make, but the door offered no resistance. The polite Pop-Pop of a suppressed gun echoed briefly; Ben spun away. Is he hit? No!

  While she converted her motion through the opening into a roll to the side, she caught glimpses of Ben in a tuck, then springing to attack a black-shirted man holding a rifle. Coming into a crouch, she saw a man holding a pistol, suppressor attached. He stood gaping as if he didn’t know which way to turn. She targeted his legs.

  A heavy table provided a convenient pivot point; Beckie gathered her strength and timed the leap perfectly. She hit the man’s knee, collapsing it. Her joy was very short-lived; his body fell atop her. This time she heard the crack. Damn and fuck! Broke that rib again! The pain took a couple seconds to build, she used the time to kick her way out from under his body. By the time her ribs were screaming in full voice, she was on her hands and knees holding her knife at the man’s throat. For his part, he seemed more concerned that his knee now went sideways; she almost slit his throat just due to his thrashing.