“Hey,” the guard said. “What are you doing here? You can’t just enter this place like that.”
Richard dusted his shirt off with both hands before acknowledging the man. “I’m sorry. I must’ve gotten turned around. Can you point me toward the nearest exit?”
“I’m no fool,” the guard said as he pulled his sword out of its sheath. “I know who you are—and I’m going to run you through right now.”
“You’re going to regret that,” Richard said.
“I doubt it,” the guard said before launching into a sprint straight at Richard.
In a skillful move, he slid aside, avoiding the edge of the guard’s blade. In the same motion, Richard threw his leg out, sending the guard tumbling to the ground. He came to a stop before lying still for a moment.
“Why don’t you just forget you ever saw me and we’ll call it a night?” Richard suggested.
“Only men who are losing offer to quit,” the guard said as he rose to his feet.
“Help me out here, sir,” Richard said. “I’m trying to save your life.”
The guard growled as he made another run at Richard. But instead of resorting to the same tactic as the guard drew near, Richard dropped low before exploding upward and catching the man in the shoulder. The force knocked the guard off balance and into one of the embrasures in the crenelated wall. He absorbed the blow just above his knee, but the momentum of his upper body resulted in him careening over the edge.
Richard rushed to the side. The guard screamed as he plummeted onto the rocks near the foot of the fortress. Almost immediately, a murmur arose from the lepers as well as the other guard roaming around the parapet.
“Nigel,” the other guard called. “Are you all right?”
The moonlight glistened on the water, and Richard realized if the guard looked over the edge, David would be exposed.
“Over here, you gutless coward,” Richard shouted before breaking into a sprint in the opposite direction.
“Stop right there,” the man yelled.
Richard didn’t break his stride, continuing toward the designated spot from which he wanted to dive. The other guard broke one way then back the other in an effort to take the shortest distance toward the intruder. While the way the man chose was what Richard wanted, it meant his margin for error was scant. Richard had surveyed the water, and the best location deep enough to handle a dive was about a hundred meters away. And the guard was equidistant from that spot as well.
Richard pumped his arms and stretched his legs with each stride. His lungs burned, and he struggled to breathe. A few seconds later, Richard honed in on the jumping location as the guard bore down. The two men continued on a collision course, and Richard could tell he needed to get creative to avoid getting apprehended or sliced by the guard’s unsheathed sword.
With contact only seconds away, Richard leaped toward the inside portion of the wall and stepped up, propelling himself to the outer portion and into the lake. Richard tucked his legs and somersaulted twice before splashing down. When he surfaced, he heard the guard screaming at him from above.
Richard’s arms sliced through the water, churning through it with desperate strokes. He wished he’d had time to strip down before diving over the ledge, but he embraced the challenge of swimming fully clothed, something he’d never done before on purpose.
After several minutes of hard swimming, Richard rolled onto his back and relaxed, catching his breath. He looked back at the leper colony, which was little more than a shadow in the pale moonlight. Then he flipped around and glanced at the shore. Headlights raced along the road that ran parallel to the shore.
Richard focused his efforts again and sliced through the water until it was shallow enough that he could scramble ashore. He found the clothes he’d left and changed quickly. He was already dressed and casually walking along the road when a car whizzed past, shining a spotlight onto the lake.
Despite his best efforts, Richard couldn’t suppress a smile. He broke into a jog as he headed back toward the rendezvous point to meet up with David.
Chapter 32
WILHELM STOOD BACK on the street with Reinhard, deferring to Ludwig to handle the initial confrontation. The man who’d reported the location of the woman’s house to the Reichswehr unit chief watched from the side, demanding that Wilhelm issue immediate payment once the report was confirmed.
“Yes?” a woman said as she answered the door. “Do you realize what time of night it is?”
“Do you realize you are working with two wanted criminals?” Ludwig asked.
“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I—”
Ludwig stormed inside, pushing his way past her. Several other agents followed before Wilhelm and Reinhard joined the rest of the troops.
“You are Sarita, aren’t you?” Wilhelm asked.
The woman stared at them wide-eyed with a furrowed brow. “Look, I don’t know what you think I’ve done, but I’m—”
“Silence,” Wilhelm shouted as he marched into the kitchen. “Lying will not help your situation. The two men you’ve been assisting took something of mine, and I want it back. If you want to get back to bed, I suggest you tell me where you hid them.”
“Hid them?” she asked, scowling at Wilhelm as she followed him.
“That’s right. The Americans! Where are they?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. “I don’t know any Americans. I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.”
Wilhelm took his coat off and slung it around the back of a chair. He rolled up his sleeves, glaring at the woman.
“Sir, we’ve searched the house,” Ludwig reported moments later. “We were unable to find anything.”
Before Wilhelm could respond, a young girl waddled out into the hallway, squinting from the bright light emanating overhead.
“Mummy, I’m trying to go to sleep. What’s going on?” she asked.
“Go back to bed, sweetie. I’ll tuck you back in once everyone is gone in a couple minutes.”
No one said a word until the girl disappeared down the hall into her room.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing by charging into my house like this, but I’d like for you to leave right now before I summon a constable.”
“You mean like this one?” Ludwig asked, pointing toward a British police officer standing behind several of the Reichswehr agents.
“I—I—what right do you have to barge in here like this?” she asked.
“We have every right when you’re hiding American criminals. Now drop the act, and tell us the truth if you want to tuck your daughter back in bed. Where are they?”
“I already told you. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Wilhelm gestured toward Ludwig. “Seize her. She’s coming with us.”
Sarita resisted the men, struggling to get free. But she relented when she realized it was all in vain.
Sarita’s daughter had wandered back into the kitchen. “Mummy, where are they taking you?”
“Don’t worry about me. Just go to bed. Your auntie will take care of you. I’m sure I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Don’t count on it,” Ludwig said before forcing her toward the door.
Wilhelm clapped his hands and then rubbed them together. “Finally, we’re going to get some answers out of her.”
* * *
THE REICHSWEHR TEAM was almost out of the house when Reinhard glanced back one final time at the young girl. She heaved as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Just a moment, sir,” Reinhard said to Wilhelm before approaching Sarita’s daughter.
Reinhard knelt next to her and offered her his handkerchief.
“Where are you taking my mummy?” she asked.
“We just need to talk to her and ask her a few questions. She’ll be back before you know it, probably in time to make your breakfast in the morning. Is your aunt here now?”
The girl nod
ded. “She’s asleep in my mother’s room. She drinks a lot and doesn’t wake up very easily.”
“I’m sure she’ll be able to take care of you in the morning. Now be a good little girl and run along to bed.”
The girl scowled and stomped back to her room, slamming the door before breaking into another sobbing fit.
Reinhard sighed as he stood. He was about to leave when he noticed Wilhelm’s jacket still on the chair. Hustling over to fetch it, Reinhard noticed an envelope sticking out of the jacket’s inside pocket. He glanced around to make sure he was still alone before inspecting the letter more closely. It was addressed to him and had been opened.
“What is this?” Reinhard asked.
He yanked out the folded paper and started reading. Moments later, he was sobbing.
“Are you coming?” Wilhelm called into the house.
Back to the door, Reinhard wiped away his tears and took a deep breath before responding. “Yes, sir. I’m on my way.”
He discreetly reinserted the pages into the envelope before stuffing it back into the coat. Throwing it over his arm, he marched outside.
“Ah, my jacket,” Wilhelm said. “I can’t believe I almost left it.”
“No worries, sir. It’s been a long day.”
“And it’s going to be a long night, too, if this woman doesn’t talk.”
Reinhard thought about saying something but stopped. While he’d seen Wilhelm be nasty to people he didn’t know, Reinhard couldn’t fathom his boss would be so cruel to someone he did know.
Chapter 33
RICHARD HUSTLED OVER to David reclined against a tree on the opposite side of the shore. A warm breeze drifted across the lake and rustled the leaves overhead. David scrambled to his feet when Richard drew near.
“Thanks for the diversion,” David said. “It’s like I was rowing my boat gently down the stream.”
“Well, you can thank my arms later,” Richard said. “They feel like they’re on fire.”
“Are you ready to help me pull this cart another three miles?”
“Of course,” Richard said. “The end of this operation is in sight. All we have to do is get up that ramp and into the fort.”
“Easier said than done.”
“Every part of our evening has fallen under that category. What’s one more thing?”
David smiled. “So true. Let’s get moving.”
They each took up a position on the side of the rickshaw and pulled it behind them. Richard noted how it felt nearly effortless when someone else was helping him, even when the cart was weighed down with two bags full of treasure. They plodded along until they reached Sarita’s house.
“If this idea of yours works, I’m going to recommend you get a promotion,” David said.
Richard shrugged. “I don’t care about that. I just want to see the world.”
He walked around to the side of her house where several farm animals were sleeping peacefully for the night. Without wasting any time, he dug through the trough and found the small chest, roughly two feet square. A note was pinned on top along with a pair of gloves.
“That woman has saved our bacon twice now,” David said. “Once more and we should nominate her for sainthood with the Pope.”
“I thought you needed three miracles to be designated a saint?” Richard said.
“That’s right—and it’ll be a legitimate miracle if she helps us pull this off.”
Richard reconfigured his sack, filling the box with a small handful of jewels and coins so he could fit the box inside one of the large burlap sacks.
Richard and David resumed their journey to Fort Jaigahr, remaining silent until they reached the bottom of the ramp.
“You got any strength left?” David asked.
Richard nodded. “Enough to get us to the top.”
During his last attempt to get the treasure into the fortress, Richard had noted that workers lugged supplies up to the gates around 10:00 p.m. The steady stream gave Richard the idea that they could blend in, breaking away near the top and stealing around the side of the wall with their bags.
After waiting for a half hour, the caravan started right on time and the two Army Intelligence agents joined in, plodding their way toward the top. Twenty minutes later, they stopped as the rest of the workers reached the gate. Richard and David slipped away into the shadows and navigated to the north side that wasn’t guarded.
“Up for climbing another wall?” David asked.
Richard scowled. “What are we going to anchor the rope to?”
David didn’t say a word as he dismantled the cart and attached one of the wheels to the end of a rope. He whirled it around before slinging it toward the parapet. The wheel crested the top of the wall and fell securely between one of the embrasures.
“It’s sturdy,” David said. “Want to give it a go?”
Richard nodded and then yanked on the rope. Satisfied that it was going to hold, he looped another rope around his belt and scurried to the top. Once there, he waited for David to affix a burlap bag loaded with treasure to the other end before hoisting it to the top. After both bags were safely atop the wall, David muscled his way up.
They crept along the parapet until they reached a stairwell and descended to ground level. After meandering along the walkway for a few minutes, Richard led David down another set of steps and into the bowels of the fortress. When they reached the room where all the water was stored, they used sticks and cloth they’d stuffed in their bags to form torches. Leading the way, Richard headed straight for the far right corner. After he laid his bag on the floor, he approached a portion of the wall that was cut out in an ornate fashion.
“How did you find this?” David asked.
“I saw it when we were looking for the treasure the first time, but I didn’t have time to fully investigate it,” Richard said as he felt around the space.
“Wait a second,” David said. “You mean to tell me that you’re going on a hunch right now?”
Richard nodded.
“I can’t believe this. You told me you found a hiding place and—”
David’s tirade was cut short as part of the wall slid to the side, revealing a small empty chamber. His mouth fell agape.
“How did you know?” David asked.
“Like I said, just a hunch. None of the other sections in the wall had this hidden lever, and I know from reading history that these rajas were all paranoid someone was going to take their treasure. And I bet this isn’t the only room like this in the castle.”
Richard and David emptied their sacks, spilling the treasure across the room. Once they were finished, Richard pocketed a couple coins before grabbing the chest and exiting the chamber. Once both agents were outside, David closed the secret door.
“You know the Hindus believe what you just did results in bad karma,” David said.
“It’s not for me,” Richard said. “It’s for my dad. He’s got quite a coin collection, and I thought he might enjoy adding a couple of these to his stash. Besides, I don’t believe in karma.”
“Suit yourself,” David said. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Richard strode to the designated holding tank and opened the chest. After reading the instructions in the note, he put on his gloves, drizzled the liquid from Sarita’s vial over the jewels, and closed the box. Then he placed the box in the water, hiding the small chest well beneath the surface.
“I hope this works,” David said.
Richard nodded confidently. “All we have to do now is get the Germans here.”
“Is that all?” David asked with a sigh. “I can’t wait for this operation to be over.”
They hustled upstairs and looked for the gates. Just as they were about to walk into the courtyard, Richard stopped and put his hand on David’s chest.
“Look,” Richard whispered. “Reichswehr soldiers.”
Four Germans working in pairs were questioning the people who had brought up supplies earlier that eveni
ng.
“I thought you told Sandeep not to send the Germans here until after midnight?” David asked.
“I did,” Richard said. “But something must’ve happened. They’re not going to stop until they’re convinced there’s nothing to look for.”
“Or we’re dead,” David added.
“Yes, there’s that too.”
“We need to sit tight.”
“I agree,” Richard said. “If we have a front row seat for the show, at least we’ll know if it’s really going to be over.”
“Should we return to the bowels of this place?” David asked.
Richard nodded. “But let’s stay in the shadows.”
They crept along, crouching low to avoid detection. However, when they were about halfway to the passageway, a little girl darted in front of them.
“Hello,” she said.
Richard froze. He glanced over at David, who was staring wide-eyed at her.
“Hello,” Richard said softly as he bent over to get eye level with her. “What’s your name?”
“Indira Nehru,” she said confidently.
“And what are you doing here all alone, Indira?” Richard asked.
“My father is here on business, and I’m exploring the fort.”
“At this time of night?” Richard asked.
“Are you the ones they’re looking for?” she asked.
“Who’s looking for someone?”
“Over there,” she said, pointing toward the soldiers. “Those men are looking for someone. Is it you?”
“They are,” Richard said. “But we didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I’m not sure I believe you.”
Richard cut his eyes over at David, but he was surveying the activity across the fort. “Why don’t you help us out—and we’ll help you out? Sound good to you?”
She shrugged. “I guess so.”
“Good,” Richard said. “When they ask you if you saw us, tell them you’ve been all over the fort and you didn’t see anything.”
“But that’s a lie,” she said.
“It might be a little one, but those men are going to hurt us, and we didn’t do anything to them,” Richard said. “At least anything they didn’t deserve.”
The Raja's Lost Treasure Page 18
