Earth Cry

by Nick Cook

  ‘Jack, I’m so sorry. And then there was Sue’s death on top of that.’

  ‘Oh, that was just the icing on the cake,’ Jack said. ‘That’s when I switched to archaeology, like my dad, to try to leave the ghosts of my past far behind.’ Tears were now rolling freely down Jack’s face.

  ‘Then I turn up and crash into your world, bringing the Overseers with me, destroying the peaceful life you’d carved out for yourself. You probably wish you’d never met me.’

  Jack shook his head. ‘None of this is on you, Lauren. You’re as much a victim in all of this as I am. Besides, I owe you a lot.’

  I peered at him. ‘In what way?’

  ‘You were a one-woman tornado crashing through my life, but you also woke me up. It was an accident leaving my Prozac behind the first time I accompanied you to Skara Brae, but I also knew I couldn’t keep on just numbing the pain. You, Lauren, were the catalyst to kick my reliance on a drug that had slowly stripped my soul away.’

  I gazed at the man before me, so much more complex than the carefree Viking I had first taken him for. What did it matter if he’d spoken to Alice about this before me? At least he’d opened up to someone and now he was choosing to confide in me too. Whatever else Jack was, he was a damned good friend.

  I nodded, giving him a broken smile. ‘Thank you for telling me this, Jack. I’m here for you in any way you need me.’

  Before I knew what I was doing I reached out and wrapped my arms round him, wanting to take his pain away. I felt him relax in my arms, hugging me back, and everything that had happened at the waterfall was forgotten. God, when had this guy started to mean so much to me?

  Chapter Fifteen

  By the time we reached the town, worry about Mike had taken centre stage in my mind again and nausea was swirling through my gut.

  ‘I keep hoping it’s just the quake that’s stirred up this hornet’s nest of police and we’re going to find Mike having a beer in the bar,’ Jack said.

  ‘I would love that to be true, but I have a feeling it won’t work out that way,’ I replied.

  ‘What happened to your endless supply of optimism?’

  ‘It had a reality check.’

  He nodded. ‘Same old.’

  We rounded the corner to see a group of police officers. They were showing every person they ran into a piece of paper. A group of young men who’d been cornered by a female officer walked away, shaking their heads. One of them screwed up the sheet of paper they’d been given and threw it into a bin. As they passed their eyes lingered on us for a moment too long. Nothing was said, but my instinct was screaming at me that we were in trouble.

  Jack gave me a sideways glance. ‘Maybe they just recognised us from earlier?’

  ‘No, it’s more than that. I can feel it.’

  I stooped down as we drew near to the bin and scooped out the crumpled piece of paper. The air caught in my throat. On it were drawings of a man and a woman, with a vague resemblance to a disguised Jack complete with ponytail and me with my blonde locks.

  ‘Crap, how do they know what we look like?’ Jack said.

  ‘Maybe Ricardo or one of the others blabbed. Or…’

  ‘Or maybe Mike gave our description to the police.’

  ‘You’re doing nothing to stop my paranoia here,’ I said. ‘Let’s get to the bar and find out for sure. We can ditch our disguises there too, since they’ve served their purpose.’

  ‘I am so not going to miss this rat-tail hairpiece. Next time I’m choosing my own disguise.’

  ‘Dark glasses alone really won’t cut it.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah.’

  We headed along the street, trying to mingle with the other tourists, doing our best to avoid eye contact with anyone else. At last we reached the bar where, much to my relief, our three Zero motorbikes were still standing outside.

  ‘That could be a good sign,’ Jack said. ‘At least they haven’t seized those yet.’

  ‘Maybe Mike just hasn’t cracked about them in an interrogation so far.’

  ‘I’m really starting to miss Miss Optimistic.’

  ‘Me too,’ I replied.

  We went inside to a bar full of angry people, not so much in conversations but shouted exchanges. I scanned the room but there wasn’t any sign of Mike or Ricardo. On the plus side, whatever was causing the arguments, nobody was paying any attention to us.

  I gestured for the barman who came over. ‘Have you seen our friend Mike? He was in here with us earlier.’

  The guy gave me a wary look. ‘No, haven’t seen him.’

  ‘What about Ricardo, the guide who hangs out here?’ Jack asked.

  The guy’s expression became fierce. ‘Why are you looking for him?’

  ‘Because he might know where our friend is,’ I replied.

  ‘You’re going to have a hard time asking Ricardo. He got himself arrested. He was seen being dragged into the police station. Add that to the disappearance of Cristina and the whole town is in uproar.’

  Jack nodded. ‘The truth is—’

  I put my hand on his arm to stop him and shook my head. This wasn’t the time for that conversation. Instead, I took out a hundred-dollar bill and slipped it over the counter. The barman narrowed his eyes at me.

  ‘We were never here, right?’ I said.

  ‘You do know the police are looking for two westerners who were seen with Ricardo? Something about trying to smuggle out some rare Inca artefacts.’ A thin smile curled his lips.

  I scowled at the guy and slipped another hundred-dollar bill towards him. ‘Just so you know, that’s a lie someone has cooked up.’

  The guy peered at us. ‘I know Ricardo well enough to be sure he had nothing to do with it. You, I’m not so sure about.’

  I sighed and added another bill to join the other two.

  His smile widened. ‘Ah yes, now I remember, nothing to do with you either.’ He took the money and stuck the notes into his back pocket.

  I turned away from the bar just as the door burst open and Gabriel came rushing in. His gaze swept the room and he came pushing through the crowd towards us. ‘You guys have to get out of here now. The police are on the way. Someone recognised you in the street and told them that you were in here. My sister-in-law works in the station at the desk and took the call when it came in. She let me know as I’d mentioned you to her.’

  ‘Thanks for the heads-up, but why are you helping us?’ I asked.

  ‘Ricardo got a message to me before he was arrested. He told me who really abducted Cristina and now I’ve seen the security-camera footage for myself. Anna also told me they have your friend Mike in a cell next to Ricardo’s.’

  ‘Shit!’ I said. ‘But thanks for telling us, Gabriel. Now it’s our turn to return the favour. Cristina’s fine, but Villca still has her hostage. We saw them up at the Solar Observatory.’

  Gabriel stared at me. ‘Why has he kidnapped Cristina?’

  ‘To get her to locate exactly where she had her visions.’

  ‘But why would he be interested in those?’

  ‘Because your wife’s visions contained a clue to the location of a secret underground temple beneath Machu Picchu,’ I said.

  Gabriel looked between us. ‘You’re winding me up?’

  ‘As crazy as it sounds, it’s all true,’ Jack replied. ‘Villca is involved with someone called Evelyn Fischer, who’s basically a grave robber. Thanks to what Cristina told them, they just blew up the Solar Observatory. Beneath it there’s a passage that leads down to a hidden chamber. Inside is an Inca temple covered in solid gold.’

  ‘You mean the rumours are really true?’ Gabriel asked.

  ‘They are, but you need to get the word out about what Villca and Fischer are doing. Otherwise you can be sure that Machu Picchu will remained close until they have stripped the temple of its treasure.’

  I looked into Gabriel’s eyes. ‘And more importantly you need to get up there and try to rescue Cristina.’

  Gabriel squeezed
the bridge of his nose and slowly nodded. ‘Leave it to me. The people of this town will deal with our corrupt commandant and his new foreign friend.’

  The door swung open again and two police officers headed into the bar. Gabriel blocked their line of sight to us with his back.

  ‘We need to get out of here now,’ he hissed. ‘There’s an exit through the doorway behind the bar.’ Gabriel said something in Peruvian to the barman, who nodded and stepped aside. We ducked behind the bar, herded by Gabriel, then crept past him and out through the door, finding ourselves in a back alley.

  I quickly pulled off my wig as Jack did the same.

  Gabriel’s eyes widen. ‘Sure you’re not the artefact smugglers they say you are?’

  ‘Anything but that,’ Jack replied.

  He slowly nodded, his gaze brightening. ‘But what are you going to do now?’

  ‘We need to scout out the situation at the police station,’ I said. I turned towards Jack. ‘Then we can supply solid intel to Niki for a follow-up strategy.’

  ‘And if things move too quickly for our backup to get here in time?’ he asked.

  I turned the thought over in my head. This was another leadership call and I tried to make myself sound as confident as I could. ‘Then this stops being a reconnaissance mission…’

  Jack gave a sharp nod. ‘Hell yes. After all, it would be a shame not to make use of all that training we’ve had.’

  Whatever my apprehension, I knew this was the right call. There was no way either of us would wait for someone else to rush in to save the day if an opportunity presented itself to do it ourselves.

  Gabriel looked between us. ‘It sounds like you think Ricardo’s and Mike’s lives are in danger?’

  ‘I’m certain of it,’ I replied.

  ‘And Cristina?’

  ‘Her ability is useful to them, so I think she’ll be fine for now.’

  ‘But when she isn’t?’ Gabriel asked.

  I could dress this up for him, but he deserved to hear the truth. ‘I would be worried if I were you. That’s why you need to get up to Machu Picchu as soon as possible. We would go ourselves, but we need to get to the police station.’

  ‘You do what you need to do to save Ricardo and your friend. Leave the rest to me and the people of this town.’

  ‘Good, but I need your help for one other thing, Gabriel,’ I said.

  ‘Name it.’

  ‘Can you ride a motorbike? We need to get Mike’s bike as near as possible to the police station. If things go as I think they will, we’ll need to make a fast exit.’

  ‘Do Peruvian bears shit in the woods?’

  ‘I guess?’ Jack said.

  ‘Of course they do and of course I’ll help you,’ Gabriel replied. ‘My grandmother once said I was born on two wheels.’

  ‘Then let’s get over to the police station,’ I said.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A short while later, the three of us were weaving through the back streets of Aguas Calientes on the Zero motorbikes, the helmets adding a useful layer of disguise for Jack and me. Thankfully, with all the tourists filling the town, the police didn’t even register three bikers as we slid by the crowds.

  By the time we reached the police station, for some reason I was feeling totally calm. Maybe being exposed to one too many dangerous situations had rewired my brain for ever. Jack seemed to be doing OK too, with no sign of his Prozac-withdrawal shakes. It was almost as though both of us had started to thrive under stress. If we could bottle it, we’d make a fortune, I thought.

  We followed Gabriel as he turned off the street into an alley. He came to a stop, dismounted and put his motorbike on to its kickstand. We did the same and slipped our pistols into our hidden shoulder holsters without Gabriel noticing, before following him towards the end of the alley.

  Gabriel turned to us. ‘The police station is just round the corner and across the street.’

  ‘OK, one final favour,’ I said.

  He nodded.

  I pulled up the video call button on the Sky Wire and rang Jack’s phone. A moment later his phone chirped.

  Jack gave me a questioning look as he accepted the call.

  ‘Just hang on and I’ll explain.’ I swapped the camera view from the front facing one to the rear camera and handed my Sky Wire over to Gabriel.

  ‘What do you want me to do with this?’ he asked.

  ‘I want to keep the risk of us being recognised to a minimum. So if it’s OK with you, you’re going to be our eyes and ears for a moment. Can you get close to the police station without drawing any attention to yourself and show us what we’re up against?’

  ‘No problem.’ He rounded the corner of the building, gazing at the Sky Wire’s screen as if he was normal guy just casually checking his social media.

  Jack’s phone showed a perfect video surveillance of what Gabriel could see as he crossed the street.

  The concrete-walled police station ahead was surrounded by vehicles and at least a dozen police officers were gathered outside. Gabriel wandered past them and none of the officers gave him a second glance, as I’d expected.

  Jack peered at his phone’s screen. ‘That place might as well be a fortress. There’s no way we’re getting in there past all those cops.’

  I nodded. ‘Gabriel, is there any way into the back of the station, avoiding the front door?’

  In answer, the view bounced as Gabriel headed down an alley along one side of the station. The camera view was turned to a wall and then pivoted upwards. We could now see – through barbed wire on top of the wall – a rear yard. Two windows on the ground floor were barred and a heavy-duty lock held a rusting door in place. Suddenly the phone view dropped back down and all we could see was ground.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Jack asked.

  There was no reply. Jack’s hand went for his Glock.

  ‘Wait a moment,’ I whispered.

  The camera view swung back up.

  ‘Sorry, guys, a police officer just walked past the alley and nearly caught me,’ Gabriel said.

  ‘OK, that’s more than enough,’ I said. ‘Get yourself back here.’

  ‘On my way.’

  Once again the view bounced as Gabriel retraced his steps. He’d just reached the other side of the street when the roar of several cars approaching echoed between the buildings. The video view swung round to show an old man who’d been crossing the street jumping out of the way of three black SUVs with tinted windows. The vehicles screamed to a stop just outside the police station and a group of men and women leapt out. They were openly carrying Uzi sub-machine guns, which I recognised instantly thanks to my training with Tom. The police officers eyed the group suspiciously, but did nothing to stop them, while I only had eyes for a guy who’d emerged from the middle SUV.

  ‘Holy crap, that’s Alvarez,’ Jack said, staring at the screen.

  ‘Damn it, that confirms the Overseers are pulling the strings behind this operation,’ I replied.

  Gabriel appeared at the entrance of the alley. ‘Hey, did you see all those cars pull up and people with guns pile out of them?’ He handed the Sky Wire phone back to me.

  ‘Unfortunately we did,’ I replied. ‘Look, Gabriel, your job now is to spread the word around town and get as many people as possible up to Machu Picchu. But please watch yourselves, as they’ll be armed.’

  Gabriel nodded. ‘We’ll have phones,’ he said. ‘We’ll live-stream the entire thing to make anyone up there less likely to try anything. Just do your best to get Ricardo and your friend Mike out of there.’

  ‘We will, I promise,’ I replied. I felt a surge of admiration for the guy, not showing even a flicker of fear about going up against Villca and his people without any weapons. In my book that took real guts.

  Gabriel hugged me and then Jack. ‘Good hunting, my friends.’ With a final wave he disappeared along the alley, out on to the street opposite.

  ‘So what’s the plan, Lauren?’ Jack asked.

&nb
sp; ‘We confirm that Mike and Ricardo are still in the police station and then spring them.’

  ‘In other words, it’s too late for Tom and the cavalry to get here.’

  ‘What do you think?’

  A smile curled the corners of his mouth. ‘We both know the answer to that. But we need to go in prepared.’

  ‘I agree. We’ll try to gain access to the police station through the back door. I just hope my skill at picking locks is as good as Tom thinks it is.’

  We headed back to our motorbikes and I took out my lock-picking kit. In addition to my LRS, I helped myself to Mike’s spare dart gun, while Jack loaded his rucksack with smoke, flash-bang and tear-gas grenades – as well as several extra clips for his Glock.

  He gestured towards the tranquilliser gun in my hand. ‘You’re going to use that instead of your LRS?’

  ‘You know I’m not keen on killing someone even at the worst of times. It’s likely that many of the people in that station won’t be corrupt, but just following orders like Gabriel’s sister-in-law. So I want to be careful.’

  ‘True. We can also use some of those fancy martial-art moves Tom taught us, especially those pressure points that’ll knock somebody out for a while. But what about those Overseers mercs or Alvarez himself? What happens if we run into them?’

  ‘Oh, that’s why I’m still packing my LRS. My moral objections to killing will quickly disappear if that bastard is standing in front of me.’

  ‘So we’re going in there without a disguise?’

  I handed him a baseball cap and some dark glasses. ‘This will have to do for now. Hopefully, no one aside from Alvarez will recognise us. And if we see him, it all becomes a bit academic anyway, as it will surely turn into a shooting match.’

  Jack nodded and checked his bullet clip in his Glock.

  I threw on my baseball cap, pulled the peak low over my face and slid my sunglasses on. ‘Let’s do this thing.’

  Taking a large breath, I hooked my arm through Jack’s and together we walked out of the alley into the street. Just everyday tourists doing touristy things.