“It’s a trap,” an animated Gerut screamed as he gestured with his arms.
“A trap” one of his men repeated as he scanned the area for hostiles. “Yeah, that makes sense now.”
“They lead us like sheep into this trap,” Gerut balled his fist with anger and disgust. “All of you spread out and kill anyone you find. They can’t see you so make it quick.”
“How you going to open the door?” an unattached voice asked.
“I have a backup plan. I have C-4 in my bag. We are going to blow the lock and get our gold. Keep them off me while I blow the door. By God, I haven’t spent all this time in planning to fail when just behind this door is a fortune.” He immediately started to open his backpack.
“We’ll need some weapons,” a man spoke.
Gerut unstrapped the magnum and put it next to the AK-47 on the floor. Immediately the guns seemed to float in the air as two of his men grabbed the guns. Within seconds one of the most forward FBI agents grunted and fell to the ground. His gun was now in possession of the third invisible man.
Gerut’s men had a distinct advantage. They could see the FBI team, but the FBI could only see the guns. Agent Gamble watched in horror as the three guns separated and began to approach his men in a large triangle formation while covering each other. One of the FBI men near to the vault panicked and attempted to retreat. That was when the shooting started.
Bullets began to fly from every direction. It was pure pandemonium. This was sniper firing of the worst kind. The invisible men were all trained killers and expert marksmen, they knew what to do. Two more FBI men dropped almost immediately. The killers were systematically marching towards Agent Gamble and knocking down all his men. Agent Gamble realized they needed more help and placed the urgent call.
***
The three Patel sisters were not dressed for fighting. They all had on loose sun dresses and sensible sandals. They had expected the FBI would take down the Gerut team and then they would grab the Black Diamond. No one expected this kind of trouble. They were huddled behind a pillar at the back of the FBI group. They had no weapons, but as usual they didn’t panic. They had been in worse situations before and they were smart.
“We need to help Greg,” Maya whispered to her sisters.
“We also need to get the Black Diamond from Gerut. I’m sure he has it in one of his pockets,” added Previne.
“Previne, quick, please can you come up with a plan?” Maya urged. “We only have a few minutes before the FBI men will be overrun. Then us.”
“Okay, Maya can you start a big fire? Go around the corner so that you won’t be in harms way.” Previne said. “Pramilla and I will go after the diamond. You will create the diversion we need to get around Gerut’s men.”
Maya pulled up her dress showing lovely tanned legs and got to her feet. She sprinted away from her sisters. One of the invisible men saw her and shot in her direction. Two bullets buried themselves in the wall just as she went around the corner.
Agent Gamble was flattened against a pillar about twenty feet in front of the Patel sisters. “Greg,” Pramilla yelled. “Throw us a gun. We can help. We are setting up a diversion for you. Then when you are back in control, we are going after the Black Diamond.”
“You’re civilians,” Gamble yelled back. “Can’t do it.”
“Then we will get one for ourselves,” yelled back a perturbed Previne.
“No you won’t, just stay out of the line of fire. We have help coming,” he replied. “We just need to hold on until more agents arrive.”
“Why are all men so stubborn?” Pramilla shook her head at her sister.
“They will be too late. But we are going to stop this very soon,” Previne announced. “Be ready to shoot.”
Meanwhile Maya rounded the corner in a sprint. She found a bunch of collapsed boxes all neatly piled on a pallet. She quickly unstrapped her purse and pulled out a lighter. She also grabbed some tissues from her purse and set them on fire. She used the tissues to light the pile and stood back. It took about a minute for the fire to begin to build. She could hear rapid gun-fire from around the corner and prayed the inferno would do the job. She scrounged the area and added more boxes to the fire. Soon it was roaring and produced the effect she was looking for. Suddenly, a fire alarm went off and triggered the huge sprinkler system in the building. Water immediately began dropping from the high ceiling. She was drenched in seconds and began racing back towards the vault.
Gamble heard the alarm and quickly understood what was going to happen. He knew from his briefing with Banyon that water would wash off the formula. He yelled out to his men. “Be ready, the shooters will be visible in a few seconds. Make your shots count.”
Almost immediately a deluge of water hit the ground. The three naked shooters became visible and dove for cover. The one sided battle had suddenly become a standoff. The FBI agents now began laying down withering fire as they could see who they were shooting at. All they needed to do was keep them pinned down until help arrived.
Previne turned towards Pramilla and spoke. “Now.”
They broke from cover and circled around the huge open area heading for Gerut. They were both drenched. Their sun dresses and hair clung to their bodies as they ran. The FBI agents had the shooters pinned and only few shots were returned. So they ran as fast as they could.
Maya ran around the corner and headed towards Agent Gamble. She slipped on the wet cement, went down in an undignified way and suddenly slammed into Agent Gamble as he huddled behind the pillar. He turned with his gun trained on the prone woman, but managed to hold his fire. Maya was flat on her back with her legs askew. Her soaked sun dress had ridden up well beyond her waist and revealed red panties. She smiled at him.
“I could have shot you,” he screamed as the adrenaline rush of panic nearly made him take the shot.
“Nice way to greet your savior,” she said as she rolled to a kneeling position and pulled down her dress.
“You set off the sprinklers?” he asked with a look of disbelief.
“I did it to save you, Greg,” she replied while batting her lashes. He turned to putty in a matter if seconds.
“Well. I guess I owe you one, little lady,” he drawled with a smile as he peeked around the concrete pillar.
“Yes you do. Right after this is over. You owe me dinner. I will of course need to change from these clothes.”
“Okay,” he absently answered as he took several shots to keep the now visible men under their cover.
“That’s a promise. You can’t break it,” she said sweetly.
“I wouldn’t dream of doing that,” he replied, which was exactly what she wanted to hear. “After you clean up,” he added.
Agent Gamble turned back to the fighting and suddenly yelled out. “FBI, drop your guns. We have you pinned down and more agents are on the way. There is no way out for you. Drop your guns and come out with your hands up.”
The respond was as expected, several gun shots filled the air, but they were wild misses and the FBI men didn’t even bother to return fire.
A standing Maya now had her hands on her hips and stared at Agent Gamble. “I have risked my life to help you and exposed myself to anyone watching.” She paused for effect. “You need to clarify what you just said,” Maya huffed.
“You look great just the way you are,” he sheepishly replied.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Previne and Pramilla outflanked the gun fire. They were heading towards the hallway where the vault and Gerut were located. The sprinklers continued to gorge water. The floor was already filled with an inch of water and they had to slosh through it in their flat sandals. Their thin dresses were now nearly transparent. Their hair was plastered along their backs and it was hard for them to see. The women began to shiver from the cold water. Goosebumps rose on their skin. Both women were very uncomfortable and felt that they were nearly as naked as the shooters. But they w
ere determined to get the Black Diamond from Gerut.
They reached the hallway and crept close to Gerut. He was kneeling on the floor connecting wires to a detonator. The wires ran from the C-4 that had been attached to the vault door about thirty feet down the hallway. His back was towards them. They were very close when he suddenly whirled towards them with a leer on his face.
“Thought that you could sneak up on me did you?” he admonished. “I let you get close so I could take you hostage.” He surveyed the two thin soaked women as they stood only a few feet away from him. They appeared very fragile and he figured they had low esteem, just the type of women he knew how to handle.
“You have it all wrong,” Previne whined. “We are here to help you get away. Don’t you want our help?”
“Sure you are,” he replied as he reached into his ankle holster and brought up a small caliber gun. “Get your hands up,” he said as he climbed back onto his feet.
Raising their hands, Previne continued. “We have a way out. We only want some of the diamonds. We like diamonds, especially big black ones. It is our trade, if you will. We followed you here.”
“Bullshit,” Gerut answered. “You’re with the FBI. Besides, I’m after the gold.”
“Do we look like FBI chicks?” Pramilla spoke indignantly as she thrust out her left hip in a sexy pose.
“Then why are you here?”
“We heard about this heist from one of your men.” She pointed with her long slender finger towards one of his men hiding behind a drum. “We want in. You take all the gold, we’ll settle for some diamonds.”
Suddenly realizing his own men could have been the leak, he waved his gun for Pramilla to continue.
“We were entertaining him last night, you see. We know a secret way into the convention center and it can also be a way out, if you want,” she said seductively. “We have used it before. It is safe,” she lied.
“What do you want for helping me?” Gerut asked like he was going to negotiate.
“We just want the Black Diamond we heard about.” Pramilla announced as she wiggled her body with her arms stretched high above her head. Gerut could clearly see her breasts jiggle and the hardness of her nipples from the cold water. “We’ll do anything for the Black Diamond.”
“Really,” Gerut answered.
“Now, finish hooking up those wires, blow this door, and let’s get what we came for,” Previne said with authority.
And blow the door he did. The explosion was huge in the small confined area. Gerut and the women were knocked to the floor by the concussion wave that rolled up the hallway. They all quickly recovered, but were now covered in white dust that stuck to their wet clothes, their skin, and their hair. They looked like zombies. When the dust cleared, Gerut still had the gun and he waved the girls over to the door.
“I’ll only need five more minutes,” he yelled to his men over his shoulder. “Keep them at bay. Then we are getting out of this place.” He had an insidious grin on his all-white face. It made him look like the Joker in a batman movie.
The cascading sprinkler water quickly cleared the air. The blast had ruined the vault door and much of the surrounding walls. Only concrete showed around the opening. But Gerut saw there was a problem. The huge heavy door was still closed.
“How will we ever get that thing open?” asked an innocent Pramilla.
“I am always prepared,” replied the arrogant Gerut. “Watch this.”
He pulled out the Black Diamond from his front jeans pocket and discarded the leather pouch by throwing it in the air. Previne snatched the pouch with the deftness of eagle. As Gerut held the diamond in the air, the water quickly washed the goat blood off of it. Satisfied that it was activated, he gripped it in his left hand and immediately looked more powerful to the two women. He gripped the handle of the door and pulled. After a few seconds, it opened surprising easily.
“Wow,” Gerut exclaimed. “It really works. I have super strength.”
“Let me try it?” Previne pleaded.
“Not on your life,” he roared. Both women could see anger and hatred already building. He was quickly changing.
“Want some help in the vault?” Pramilla asked.
“I though you would never ask.” He used the gun to wave them inside the dry vault. He followed them inside.
Previne looked at Pramilla. “Get out the goat blood,” she whispered. “Be ready to use it as soon as he reaches the final stages.”
Pramilla nodded her head. “Let’s get us a Black Diamond,” her sister smiled like they were going shopping.
Gerut rushed to the back of the vault where there were many diamonds laying on what looked like cookie sheets. He attempted to dump the diamonds into his now empty backpack, but he had the Black Diamond was still in his left hand and the gun in his right hand and was not able to pour the diamonds with any success.
“Start loading the backpack with these stones,” he commanded as he waved the gun at the women standing patiently near the door.
“I thought you were after gold?” Previne said.
“No time to load it into the truck,” he said with a sneer. “I’ll have to make due with these trinkets.”
“Okay, but give us the Black Diamond or you will never get out of here,” Previne commanded. “We have a deal.”
“I don’t see how that will ever happen, seeing as I have the gun, the Black Diamond and now super-human strength,” he said as he tried to rake millions of dollars’ worth of precious stones into his bag.
“But, you don’t know what we know,” replied a smug Previne.
“Shut up and get to work. Or, maybe I’ll kill one of you right now. I don’t need two dumb broads to show me out of here,” Gerut snapped. His anger and hatred was growing. He was already shaking with hatred.
“At least put the Black Diamond down. It is for your own good. Can’t you see you are already feeling the effects? You haven’t much time left,” Previne reasoned. She had already noticed the glow around him. His muscles were also growing. It would be only a matter of seconds before it would be too late.
“You’re just trying to trick me,” he snarled back and pointed the gun at them. Violence filled his eyes. The aura kept growing and his muscles began to twitch.
A crazed look suddenly appeared on his face. The women instantly knew he had just gone insane. His eyes had the dark fury of fire. He looked bigger and stood more rigid. The air around him began to swirl as the Black Diamond started pulling energy from the surrounding area. It glowed brightly. Brilliant colors suddenly burst from all the regular diamonds. The colors filled the vault like one huge rainbow and streamed towards the Black Diamond. The women could feel the Black Diamond now pulling on them. The pull was so strong they could barely keep their feet. It felt like a huge vacuum cleaner was trying to suck them inside. Waves of energy pulled at their flimsy clothes and whipped their hair forward towards the Black Diamond. They heard sounds that appeared to be ancient and yet almost human. There were moans, soothing words that did not seem to make any sense and people crying. It was both fascinating and horrifying.
The monster that had been Gerut prepared to fire his gun at Previne. The woman braced herself. But just before he was able to pull the trigger, the gun disintegrated into dust. It swirled up and around the Black Diamond several times before the dust dropped to the floor as if discarded. John Gerut simply stood looking at his empty hand.
“Now would be a good time,” Previne said.
“Right,” replied Pramilla. She rushed towards the Black Diamond. In her hand was a clear plastic bag. It contained the blood of a goat. As she reached the stunned Gerut, she raised her arm and smashed the plastic bag onto the tip of the Black Diamond.
The effects were immediate. The sounds, the colors and the energy waves quickly abated. In fact there were no sounds at all in the vault. It was like a big empty void, a black hole. Time seemed to stand still. Gerut didn’t move. He looked like a character from a waxed museum. Within a fe
w seconds the void filled and the women could here shouts and orders from outside the vault. Previne opened the leather pouch and went to pry the Black Diamond from the hand of the now rigid Gerut. She gingerly grabbed the Black Diamond in her right hand, just in case, and pulled it from the stone-like hand of Gerut. She then deposited it into the leather pouch and poured additional goat blood from a plastic bag from her purse on it, then pulled the draw string. A smiled crossed her face as she turned towards her sister. Both women raised their arms in triumph.
“That’s two hundred thousand dollars in our pockets,” Pramilla proclaimed.
Previne ran to her sister’s side and they both began to survey the damage done inside the vault. There were diamonds everywhere, the shelves had been moved even the pallet of gold bars was closer to the entrance. The Black Diamond nearly sucked all the energy from the vault, even the humans.
“Just a few more seconds and all would have been lost and we would look like Gerut too,” Previne remarked.
“John, you have been a bad boy. Who will clean up this mess you made,” Pramilla scolded the stoned faced Gerut?”
“Do you think he can hear us?” Previne asked.
“I think he is dead. All the energy from his body was absorbed by the Black Diamond. All that is left is dust,” replied Pramilla.
As if on cue, the stone statue that was once John Gerut crumbled to the ground and became a small pile near the door of the vault.
Suddenly the water from the sprinkler system stopped flowing. Pramilla quickly put the pouch with the Black Diamond into her purse just as several FBI agents filled the door of the vault with guns drawn.
Agent Gamble stepped through the crowd and entered the vault. “What happened here? Where is Gerut?” he asked.
Previne pointed to the pile of dust. “He is indisposed.”
“Did you…?”
Previne interrupted, “Yes. And Banyon has the other two items. We have recovered all the items.”
A Dubious Terrain (A Colton Banyon Mystery Book 4) Page 22
