by Paul Knox
Then Aiguo quickly fired at Kai just before he disappeared into the bracken. Reece swore the bullet hit Kai because of an alteration to his movements, but she couldn’t be sure.
Yunru aimed his gun at Mario and Reece while calling out to Xie. “You know the routine, old friend. Keep it nice and slow.”
Aiguo went over to Xie and patted him down, taking both guns.
“Mario, I need you to help Duke,” Reece whispered to the boy. “Help him get through the forest. He’ll never make it on his own.”
Then she called out, “Yunru,” motioning at Duke and Mario. “Just let these two go. And I’m all yours.”
“You’re not really in a position to make deals,” he said. “I need the boy to find the gold.”
Reece stood slowly and took a step toward Yunru, looking into his cold eyes. His brows raised and his expression was somewhere between amused and interested in what she was doing.
Reece spoke. “I know where it is. Let them go and I’ll show you. If I’m lying…we both know the outcome of that. Do we have a deal?”
Yunru shrugged, considering it. “You drive a hard bargain. Give me a moment to discuss the details with my cousin.”
Yunru casually walked over to Chang and then ripped the gun from his hand, saying, “These are the details: you’re a disgrace to the green dragon line. But you can still do one thing for me. You can dig.”
54
“HOW DO YOU KNOW?” Sandy asked, still lying in the dirt and breathing hard.
“I studied maps on the plane. The pendant’s maze correlates with the Guazapa hills, the Cihuatán pyramid, and the Lempa River up north. If I’m right, the maze’s exit point is a spot about a mile from here around the base of this volcano.”
“But what does Mario’s tattoo have to do with it?”
Before Reece could answer, Yunru yanked her to her feet. It was all she could do to suppress the instinct to fight him right then and there. But now was not the time.
“I’ve decided on our deal, young Cannon,” Yunru said. “Though I must renegotiate. How about—I don’t let anyone go? But, if you find me the treasure and it puts me in a good mood, maybe I’ll give them a head start. That’s the best I can do today.”
Yunru grabbed the back of Reece’s neck and pulled her close, an inch from his face. He snarled, “Now where is it?”
* * *
Reece led them all around the volcano. They all carried shovels from the Pipil village; Mario had shown them where the tools were kept.
Reece insisted Duke lean on her as they trekked. Supporting his weight was a heavy burden, but she pushed forward. Duke often tried to give her reprieve. He could trudge along for a few solo minutes from time to time, but ultimately he would stumble. And Reece offered her support again.
As they walked, Reece heard the sound of a helicopter in the distance. Glancing up, she saw a glint of sunlight bounce off black metal before disappearing up into the clouds.
* * *
“All I see is a lot of nothing.” Yunru looked increasingly irritated.
“We’re close,” Reece said. “But I need a map and our GPS signal to triangulate the location based on the pendant’s maze. Xie?”
Xie looked at her confused, but complied. “Here.” He handed his phone to Reece.
“You should’ve worked for me, Xie,” Yunru taunted. “You would’ve been much happier. And would’ve lived longer, too.”
Xie said nothing.
Reece pulled up a map and studied it for a moment, resizing it to fit the dimensions of the pendant which she set on the phone’s screen.
“This way,” she said, marching on.
About ten minutes later she stopped. “It’s right here. Look around. Does anybody see a hole in the ground, or an entrance of some kind?”
Nothing was apparent to anyone.
“Get digging,” Yunru ordered.
* * *
Some time passed and the afternoon grew late. Reece kept eyeing Sandy. He was sweating profusely, and pale as a white sheet. Xie had helped him limp through the rainforest, but now Sandy lay on the ground nearby, dehydrated and out of it. The tourniquet Reece had tied helped slow the bleeding, but Sandy’s pants were soaked in blood.
Reece, Chang, and Xie were all dripping sweat, too, but only Chang showed signs of tiring. Even Mario dug to the best of his ability.
After an endless amount of nothing, Reece’s shovel struck something and could go no deeper. It seemed to keep clinking on a giant boulder—or something much more valuable. Everyone joined around her, digging and searching.
Soon it became apparent that her shovel was clinking on a rectangular concrete-like slab. One end jutted up to the surface, and the rest sloped deep into the ground.
“This is it. You really found it!” Greed shone from Yunru’s eyes.
Reece muttered, “I found some burnt-lime cement that the ancient Mayans used, yes. But eight tons of gold under here is anyone’s guess.”
“Keep digging!” Yunru commanded.
They dug around the slab until they reached the beginning, only a foot or so below the surface of the ground.
“A thousand years ago, this would’ve stuck out in plain daylight,” Xie commented. “It’s only been buried in modern times.”
Not long after, they had exposed what appeared to be a tunnel leading into a subterranean structure. A large piece of rectangular stone blocked the entrance.
Reece eyed the rectangular stone. It gave her the creeps, like a lid to a coffin. It was covered in ancient Mayan hieroglyphics. Some of the images were sideways-facing snakes with bulging eyes, or men with lizard heads and long tongues which coiled around spears dripping with blood.
“Help me,” Reece ordered.
Reece, Xie, Chang, and even Aiguo all pushed on the lid. A low, scraping sound of rock against rock grated the ears as they slowly moved it out of the way.
Beneath the lid, Reece stared at a series of burnt-lime steps leading down into the earth and darkness.
“Okay, Yunru,” Chang began, “the path to your gold awaits.” He nodded his head respectfully. “And both Cannons are yours. I’d say I did my fair share of the deal.” He took a deep, satisfied breath. He rubbed his palms together as if wiping them clean.
“Unfortunately,” Yunru said while lifting a gun, “you don’t know the full scope of the deal. You’ve been a walking dead man this entire time. You see, I didn’t need you to deliver Reece Cannon to me. She’s easy to find. Why would I need you for that?”
“Wait…what?” Chang mumbled. “Yunru, I’ve helped you. You’re the green dragon. Not me. It’s all good.”
“Cousin, I needed you to come out from hiding. You were the one I couldn’t find. How could I legitimately claim to be the green dragon while you were still alive, especially when you were meant to die seven years ago, almost to this very day? So, thanks for coming down to El Salvador. Spectacular vacation, huh?”
And with that, Yunru put a bullet right through Chang’s skull.
“You know,” Yunru said, laughing, “he came back from the dead once. I better make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Yunru stood over Chang’s body and emptied a full clip into his face. There was nothing left to recognize when he finished.
Reece watched the scene play out as if in a dream. She remembered the first time Chang had died. She had held him in her arms and sobbed. She had spent years alone, never getting over him.
But now… She felt nothing.
What does that say about me? she wondered.
“Lead the way, Reece,” Yunru instructed while reloading.
Reece had no choice. She took the first step into the tunnel. Yunru followed right behind with a small but bright flashlight pointed ahead.
After a few short steps down, her feet and calves could feel the temperature change, cold and damp. A musty smell grew stronger. Her shadow lay on the floor about twelve feet down. The stone floor surrounding her black image was adorned with the sa
me spine-chilling symbols she saw earlier.
Before going any farther, Yunru turned around and spoke to Aiguo in a nonchalant tone. “Kill Xie and Sandy.”
55
REECE heard herself screaming, “No!” as Aiguo immediately cocked his gun and aimed at Xie’s head. But it wasn’t Reece’s voice that stopped Aiguo from firing.
Instead, a hell-bent voice called from the forest, “Reece! Heads-up!”
This was a voice that Reece cherished, yet hadn’t heard since flying down to Central America.
From the depths of the leaves a GLOCK came flying through—a perfect pitch. Reece outstretched her hand but didn’t need to reach for it. Time slowed as it whistled toward her. She watched it tumble in midair, muzzle over barrel.
She remembered watching his baseball games back in high school, rooting for her favorite all-star pitcher. Her best friend. And now, her partner. He came.
The gun landed right in her hands.
Shanahan jumped through the brush and bracken, firing shots at Aiguo and yelling to Sandy, “This one’s for saving my life back in Patagonia!”
But that was all Reece saw. Because in the next instant, Yunru had lunged into her. They both tumbled down onto the stone steps. The flashlight bounced to the bottom of the chamber.
The steps were large and flat, much squarer than the stairs in a modern home. Even though the burnt-lime bruised Reece’s shoulder when she tumbled, there was enough surface area that she landed on a step like a platform.
Reece tucked and back somersaulted onto the third next step lower, and then jumped down the rest. She had managed to hang onto the gun Shanahan threw her.
* * *
Yunru dropped the flashlight intentionally, needing a hand to break his fall. His other hand held a gun, and dropping that wasn’t happening. By the time he scrambled to his feet, Reece was already running deeper inside.
He fired two rounds in her direction, but she had disappeared into the underground structure. He charged after her. The staircase opened up to a large room. The flashlight sat on the ground pointing in a single direction, lighting up the room in a ghostly way and throwing long shadows across the walls.
Eight stone pillars had been erected from the floor to the ceiling, four on the left and four on the right, spaced evenly throughout the room’s depth. There were two more pillars toward the center of the room, for a total of ten.
The pillars and walls were covered in inscriptions and engravings. Black tourmaline and green jade jewels also decorated them, adding to the mystical ambiance.
Yunru ran for the cover of the closest pillar. Reece fired a shot at him. The bullet blew into the pillar, blasting stone-chip fragments through the air. The sound of the gunshot in that little room was deafening. But now Yunru knew where exactly she was: in the back on the left.
He waited for her to fire again, twice, and then duck behind her pillar. As soon as she did, he bolted for a pillar closer to her. His plan was to drive her around in a circle and back toward the stairs, which anybody in her position would want: the higher ground.
He knew Reece only had fourteen bullets left in her GLOCK 17. But Yunru had an extra clip in his pocket for his SIG Sauer with plenty more bullets to spare. If she ran out of ammunition first, she’d be powerless, higher ground or not.
* * *
Reece traded shots with Yunru until her ears rang like a bell. She was getting low on bullets. No doubt he had extra ammunition. She needed to get closer, to get a better shot. Or if she could get to the stairs again, she’d have the higher ground and the upper hand.
She ran from the back left pillar to the back right, then up one, and then the next, now one pillar away from the stairs—all the while trading bullets.
Three more shots from Yunru blasted the ancient stone pillar. A huge chunk shattered apart, sending dust particles and stone granules across her face and into her eyes. She coughed, feeling the scratchiness in her lungs. Every time she tried blinking out the grit, her eyes stung worse.
Ignoring the pain, she pulled it together. She’d been counting her shots and only had three bullets left. One more pillar to go before she made it to the staircase and out of this tomb.
But then a thought occurred to her. Maybe that’s exactly what Yunru wanted her to do. Three shots in this dark hole might not be enough to keep her alive long enough to make it to the top of the steps and outside. And once she made it outside, if she even did, what situation would she then face? With no more bullets?
Reece had to do something brash. Something unexpected. So she slid out from behind the pillar and fired her last three shots, one by one. But she didn’t run for the stairs. She ran straight toward Yunru at top speed.
* * *
Yunru had ducked back during Reece’s last three shots. He’d been counting them down, waiting for that seventeenth. And then it came.
As soon as Reece’s last bullet ricocheted off the burnt-lime cement, Yunru pivoted around, ready to send a killing shot into her body.
But what he’d expected to happen wasn’t happening. Instead, Reece was less than a foot away from him, jumping and flying through the air. He didn’t even have time to pull the trigger before she slammed into him, tackling him to the ground.
Yunru’s gun was knocked out of his hand and slid across the hieroglyphic engraved floor to the other side of the room. He jabbed his knee up and into Reece’s ribs, eliciting a loud exhale from her. Her grip on him loosened.
He sprang up. But no sooner was he standing than she had jumped to her feet and charged at him again.
* * *
Reece barely felt the pain in her ribs as she charged at Yunru. Her adrenaline was going crazy. Yet her mind was focused.
Being smaller than him meant brute force was a poor tactic for attacking. So instead, she jumped with her foot high in the air—a sidekick to his face was her goal, with the added momentum of her body flying forward. It seemed like a good strategy.
But Yunru was quick. And it was extremely hard to see clearly through the shadows of this underground chamber, especially because Reece’s eyes were burning from the stone debris.
While she was airborne, he reached behind him and whipped something out, bringing it up toward her inner right thigh. He also rotated sideways, narrowly avoiding her foot.
When Reece landed on the ground she knew immediately what Yunru had pulled. A knife. And he had cut right through her jeans, slicing her leg.
Then Yunru lunged at her. Reece crouched low and swept her foot out in a circular motion. The slice in her thigh stung, opening wider as she extended her leg, stretching her skin.
She connected her foot to his shin and he stumbled, unable to directly stab into her chest. But her move wasn’t enough to prevent Reece from all harm. Yunru fell sideways and still lashed out.
His knife penetrated the side of Reece’s left arm. She felt the blade cut deep into her flesh, sticking in. She gasped.
Yunru took advantage of the moment and grabbed her shirt, maneuvering on top of her, attempting to pin her down. He punched Reece in the gut with full force. The last bit of air in her lungs burst from her lips.
Reece felt herself being slowly broken down.
She raised her right arm and grabbed the back of Yunru’s head for leverage, pulling down while hoisting her own cranium straight towards his nose. The head-butt connected powerfully. Reece heard the sounds of Yunru’s cartilage cracking and popping. A fountain of blood erupted from his nostrils. Yunru recoiled, grunting in pain.
Reece’s body started to go into shock from being stabbed. The feeling threatened to consume her. She fought the dizziness and confusion that swarmed her mind.
They both got to their feet again. Reece eyed the gun’s dark shadow in the corner of the room, but it seemed too far away. The only weapon within reach was stuck inside her arm.
She grabbed ahold of the knife and drew it from her injured arm. She had to; she felt death waiting for her if she succumbed.
Yunru c
harged forward again. Reece swung the knife at him but missed. They did this back and forth a few times, but Reece wasn’t getting anywhere. Yunru was a skilled fighter, much more than Reece. And Reece had never been trained on how to use a knife as a weapon.
Blood was dripping down her leg and flowing from her arm. She wouldn’t last much longer before passing out.
Then a massive dizzy spell hit her, and Yunru landed a solid sidekick to her abdomen. She stumbled backwards and crumpled to the ground, landing on her knees, clutching her stomach. The knife dropped from her hands.
She definitely had a cracked rib or two after that kick. She was slowly being destroyed.
In that moment Reece recalled what Xie had said earlier in the car about Qi. Be an open palm, not a closed fist. Reece couldn’t comprehend that, but he’d also said she couldn’t be told. She had to feel it.
Yunru looked at Reece on her knees, swaying. He said, “I’ve been looking forward to killing the blue dragon’s daughter ever since I heard your name. And after this, I’ll slaughter what’s left of your entire family, erasing the Cannon name from the world.”
Reece steadied her body and stood, facing Yunru eye to eye.
He yelled in fury and rushed forward with closed fists and arms up. At that same moment, Reece moved forward too, but with open palms by her side. She threw herself down, dropping to the floor. Yunru tripped right over her body, sprawling to the ground.
Reece swooped the knife up. As Yunru pushed himself upwards from a pushup position, Reece stabbed the knife down into the center of his back, using his own momentum against him.
At first Yunru continued to stand, throwing Reece off him as he became upright. But she hung onto the knife, pulling it out of his back.
