Luther didn’t answer. The group began to walk, in single file, back toward the daylight. Luther stopped them just before they reached the exit.
“Look here,” he said, face open and honest. “I’m nothing but plain-speaking. I see you as fellow soldiers. I realize I’m just like you. I am you, but better.” He grinned. “Naturally. I don’t entirely trust you, but once . . . I had a similar problem.”
“You were burned?” Alicia asked.
“Not exactly. But I submitted to the suits and found a way through. You could do the same. But you run from me and I will come back down on you like Nemesis, the Greek god of vengeance. I ain’t exaggerating when I say you will feel my fucking wrath.”
Drake let out a long sigh. “The men that sent you are corrupt. They have parted ways from your government, and real society. They’re using you, Luther, using your team. If it wasn’t for them your friends would still be alive today. We are not the enemy here.”
“I know you believe that, but—”
They exited into the sunlight, an overpowering glare. Crouch put a hand out close to Luther’s arm. “What if they could prove it?”
Drake tried not to look surprised. How can we . . .
“Give them a scrambled satphone,” Crouch said. “I know you have one. Not for reporting in to the suits, but for reaching out to vital contacts. Believe me, I’m in exactly the same boat. Sometimes, it’s the only way to move forward.”
“A satphone?” Luther looked surprised.
“To call our woman on the inside,” Hayden said. “To call Lauren Fox.”
Luther struggled with it for a long minute, but then perhaps understood they’d seen fit to take him into their confidence. A little reciprocation couldn’t hurt.
Taking a black phone from a backpack, he handed it to Dahl. “Knock yourself out.”
The Swede didn’t hesitate, but turned his back to Kenzie and walked away. They stood by the cars now and their surroundings were clear, bright and peaceful. Whichever enemies were abroad today were not here. Life had gifted them a good day.
Drake listened to Dahl and watched Kenzie. The signs were not good.
“I miss you all. God, I can’t wait to see the kids again, and you. We will sort it, I promise. Just hang in. I’ll be home soon. Kiss my girls . . . kiss Isabella and Julia for me . . .”
The Swede ended the call then, since he could hardly form another syllable. Kenzie glared at the floor as he walked by, her face set grim. Smyth plucked the phone from Dahl’s hands.
“Is that wise?” Hayden asked him. “We need Intel.”
“I will get Intel,” Smyth snapped. “But I’m talking to her.”
Drake and Alicia stood by Luther and Carey, chatting comfortably about recent missions and scars. Dahl joined them after a while and then Mai, conversing like the old friends that they were. When Smyth had finished, Mai went away to call her sister and Yorgi joined Drake.
It was peaceful, nice for a short while.
Luther loosened somewhat, telling a story of his own, but Carey never spoke, this being one of her peculiarities. Her eyes followed everyone though, and took it all in, and occasionally her lips curled.
Smyth broke it up to report Lauren’s status. “They set her free,” he said anxiously. “Finally. They let her go and she’s been wandering randomly for a day, checking for tails. Seems there are none.”
“Lauren’s in the clear?” Hayden said. “That’s great news.”
“For your proof?” Luther asked.
“Aye,” Drake said. “See, now you can relax. We concentrate on finishing this seven seals bollocks and then we’ll have your proof. How does that sound?”
“Apart from the gibberish—I can live with it.”
“Sweet.”
“I think this is the place.” Crouch held up his cell and displayed a map app. “See how the river bends and that mountain lies right in its lowest curvature? I think the place was chosen on purpose. Landscape like this never changes.”
“How far?” Drake was acutely aware of time constraints.
“Thirty minutes.” Crouch was happy. “North toward Cairo and the Giza pyramids and then a fifteen-minute drive east.”
“Great news,” Yorgi said. “We could finish this today.”
Hayden padded over to Kinimaka and the two enjoyed a quick private conversation. Drake hoped they might make it back together, he knew how deeply they cared for each other, but Hayden had hurt the big Hawaiian quite profoundly. She would have to work hard and show sincerity to make it happen.
Then Luther dropped a bombshell.
“I just realized something,” he said. “There’s only one hour until FrameHub’s deadline.”
“It really makes you wonder,” Alicia said. “SPEAR would have been all over their operation. I really believe we would have destroyed it. If the same splinter group that took us out also burned many more similar teams—who’s now protecting the people against threats like this?”
Hayden came over after hearing Luther’s words. “Nobody,” she said. “That’s why FrameHub haven’t and won’t be stopped.”
“Then two of those poor countries is about to become hell on earth?” Kinimaka asked.
“I’m afraid so. It’s gonna be Dark Age stuff. Or post apocalypse. And there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Do we know which ones?” Yorgi asked. “Since we have a vested interest?”
Luther had popped a set of earphones in and was listening to the news on his cell. “Not announced yet,” he said. “They’re holding what they call an awards ceremony in twenty minutes.” He shook his head. “Crazy, crazy men.”
Dahl came running up. “Hey, I was patrolling the perimeter. The mercs are here, but they pulled away over to that side. If we leave now we can probably sneak out without being noticed.”
Some good fortune for a change. Drake smiled.
“We should go anyway,” Luther said. “If your coffin’s a thirty-minute drive away we should be there before FrameHub potentially launch a devastating strike on this country.”
Together, they marched out.
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
Alicia listened as Drake, Dahl and Hayden worked on Luther to try and get him to see things their way. He was one tough nut, but then Alicia barely expected less. His protégés, Pine and Carey, were hardly less resilient, the first never cracking that boyish face and the second never speaking. Pine reminded her of Zack Healey, who had died in the Caribbean recently. Healey had been a fine warrior, a trusted friend. Maybe Pine would be too.
The minutes ticked down; time drifted away. Their mission was fraught with anxiety now as FrameHub’s deadline drifted inexorably closer. Alicia recognized it as one of the few times she had felt truly helpless. Usually, they were the team running toward the death threat, fighting in the shadows for those that never truly knew, but on this day they could do nothing about it.
All they could do was wait and see.
Alicia held memories and friends close to her heart. “Hey.” She leaned through the front two seats. “Are we there yet?”
Dahl glared back at her. “Sit still. Another ten minutes and you can have a reward candy.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
The landscape changed as they drove through a small town and approached the banks of the River Nile. The streets were clean and narrow, full of people brightly dressed. Young children carried and traded handmade necklaces to all that passed. Every man and woman, it seemed, called out to every other, seeking something. Men sold piles of oranges off the back of carts. A man walked his child along the street because there were no sidewalks. As they approached the banks of the Nile the landscape flattened and Alicia got her first view of the longest river in the world.
Sparkling under the sunlight, its waters were wide and fast-flowing. What she could see of the river banks were sandy and rock-strewn, just like most of Egypt, she reckoned. Crouch, at the wheel, continued to pick his way through the streets, following his app
and aiming for the place where, earlier, he’d dropped a pin at the best vantage point he could find.
“Three minutes,” he said. “Get ready.”
“What are we looking for?” Alicia asked.
“Anything tomby,” Drake said. “And capstoney.”
“That’s a great help, thanks.”
“No worries.”
Crouch guided the car to the place he’d dropped the pin and braked, staring out the windshield. From here, the banks of the Nile were wide open due to a gap in the buildings. Dropping many feet from the top to the flowing river.
Crouch commented as he switched off the engine. “It’s possible were looking at a Tombs of the Nobles situation.”
Alicia raised one brow. “Totally.”
Crouch cracked open the door. “The Tombs of the Nobles lie on the west bank of the Nile, about halfway down the slope that leads to the river. The entrance stares over the width of the Nile. Could be the same here.”
“You got that view pinpointed?” Luther asked.
Crouch raised a thumb to gauge the distant peak, then checked his phone. “I do.”
“And they knew it would stay this way for all time?” Luther sounded supremely skeptical.
But Crouch had no problem rounding on him. “Y’know, stop being such a bloody wet towel. No, of course they couldn’t be sure. People build tombs and raise buildings every single day, hoping they stand the test of time as some kind of memorial. But they don’t know. What they have—is faith. I’m so sick of hearing people like you repeating the same old bloody mantra. Nobody knows what will survive a thousand years or even ten, and for the relatively few treasures we do manage to find I bet you now there are hundreds we don’t.”
Luther held up both hands, letting Crouch have his day, then as he turned away caught Drake’s and Dahl’s attention.
“Your time is almost up. I gave you leeway; you’re just about out. Best get ready to come quietly, boys.”
Alicia was standing quietly behind the big soldier. “And there I was thinking we’d managed to sway you slightly over to our side.”
“I see no gray area,” Luther said. “I got tasked with bringing you in. That’s about to happen. Like I said before, fight your case with the suits. Maybe you’ll win.”
Drake didn’t want to lock horns with him. “How about the proof we promised?”
“I don’t see nothing.”
“You’re a bloody pig-headed brute of single purpose,” Dahl groaned. “Refusing to see the truth and shouldering a lifetime of regret.”
“I have no regrets.” Luther gazed into the middle-distance where the glimmering sunlight met the waves. “That’s why there’s a chain of command and you boys are enemies of the state.”
“Depends what day of the week it is,” Alicia said. “Next week—we’ll be heroes.”
“And like I said—I wouldn’t regret that either. This is the sixth seal right?”
“Yeah. This should show us the location of the weapon.” Alicia felt the familiar rush of adrenalin returning now as they all recovered from their arena ordeal.
Luther pursed his lips. “I can promise you another hour, but not much more than that.”
Drake looked like he wanted to argue, but Alicia saw him shrug and mouth “what’s the point?” He was right. Luther was a hound with dogged, unwavering ideals. The mission, the orders, could never be compromised.
Right?
Hayden’s voice cut through the tension like a bullet through parchment. “How much longer until FrameHub’s announcement?”
Luther checked his watch, and planted his earplugs in. “Ten minutes.”
“Best to get a move on.” Kinimaka followed Crouch to the edge of the road.
Alicia followed, knowing the storm of storms was coming and wanting to take her mind off to a different place. A treasure hunt with Crouch should do the trick. It had worked before.
The team joined them near the top of the slope that ran down a sandy bank to the lapping waters. The incline was steep but still negotiable. Crouch shaded his eyes.
“Nothing obvious.”
Of course, there wouldn’t be. Hayden had already crosschecked the area to see if anything important had ever been found. Crouch aligned his position with the picture as best he could. “Moment of truth,” he said. “Wish me luck.”
Alicia followed him over the edge. “Don’t be silly. We’re all coming.”
They started down the slope, inches at a time, balancing uncertainly on the rocky, shifting ground. Shales of grit ran away from their heels, ending up in the Nile. Sunshine glared down upon their heads and blinding lights shimmered off the water. Alicia felt the breeze rushing along the Nile like a racehorse around a track and welcomed the cool respite.
From above, Luther called out. “You have three minutes.”
Crouch picked up the pace, almost fell and then steadied. Drake came alongside him. Alicia stayed above, scanning left and right for any kind of jutting rock or alcove. So far, all they could see was endless rock.
Mai ranged furthest to the right; Kenzie to the left. Those in between searched with increased desperation and doubt.
“Not looking good, Michael,” Drake said. “Are you sure this is the right place?”
“It matches the symbol,” Crouch replied. “Like no other contours along the entire Nile. I guess the picture, being old, could depict anywhere along this whole stretch.”
Luther called down to them, signaling to the buds in his ears. “Time’s up. FrameHub are broadcasting.”
“Is it really going ahead?” Kinimaka asked, fearful not for himself but for those that would undoubtedly be caught up in it.
Luther nodded. “They getting to it. Some kinda juvenile speech about toeing the line and doing as you’re told. Sounds like a parent telling a child off.” He glanced over at Pine without thinking, giving Alicia something to ponder on. “Everyone had the same chance, everyone had the same amount of time. Blah, blah, frickin’ blah. Shit, they’re promising to lay waste to certain areas and cripple others.”
Luther looked down at them. “I hope to hell they’re bluffing. This could get real bad, real quick.”
Alicia thought about the town they’d just driven through, the civilians going about their daily business, many of them having no clue who FrameHub were and what they were threatening.
Luther tensed. “Just naming the countries now.”
Alicia looked up at the man, her friends and colleagues alongside. For a moment nobody breathed.
“Greece,” Luther said. “And . . . Egypt. The countdown has begun.”
A knot of tension roiled inside Alicia’s stomach. With everyone else she turned her gaze to the skies.
“Ten, nine, eight . . .” Luther counted it down.
And eventually: “One.”
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
The nightmare turned into reality.
Drake felt his face slacken and his eyes close as rockets took to the air. He saw vertical and arcing ones; heard one explode out of a bunker only a few miles away and scream into flight. He saw the lovely, peaceful waters of the Nile and the air filled with death high above it.
Luther breathed a running commentary. “Egypt have SCUD launchers, at least ninety of the Project Ts with increased range. They have FROG-7s, purchased from the Soviets with a seventy kilometer range. They have M270s from the United States.” He stared in horror. “This is . . . Armageddon.”
Drake counted eight on their way to a terrible devastation. FrameHub had challenged the world, and no one had managed to stop them.
Did anyone even try? He wondered how many other teams were scattered around the world now, watching this in torment and utter helplessness.
“It wasn’t all about the missiles,” Hayden reminded them. “FrameHub promised a countrywide breakdown. Infrastructure, utilities, everything.”
In moments the missiles had vanished and the sky was clear. Drake made out several spiraling clouds of smoke toward th
e direction of Cairo and other cities, and could only guess as to the devastation.
“We get this done,” he said. “And then we get FrameHub done.”
Alicia nodded. “They can’t get away with this.”
Hayden agreed. “And just as importantly—they won’t stop this. How long until the next ransom demand?”
Drake, for once, felt powerless. Usually, they were at the tip of the sword, saving the day. But now . . . somebody in America had taken on a wealth of sins today and, soon, they were going to pay.
Luther sat down at the top of the slope, body language showing distress and disbelief. He stared at the floor, ignoring the SPEAR team.
Drake said nothing, just continued searching along the rocky bank. The team spread out in silence, each lost to their own thoughts, and when Crouch and Mai stumbled across something it took three low-key shouts to gather everyone together.
It wasn’t a splendid Egyptian tomb, nor even a marked burial site, just a hole in the side of the hill, covered over by a three-foot-thick slab and hidden by years of silt build-up and gathering sand. It had to be dug out. The only reason they continued in the light of everything was that this hole lay exactly where the depiction said it would be, and the thick plank overlaying it spoke to the fact that it had been made to last. Even the occasional Nile flood wouldn’t wash away the murals, and this site may never even have been flooded. The ancients knew what they were doing.
Drake’s fingers were bleeding by the time they finished removing sand. Then Crouch tried to wriggle into the hole and found he was too large. As ever, it was Alicia that turned to Yorgi and flashed a grin.
“What say you, Yogi? If anyone can get in there, it’s gotta be you.”
The Russian thief stepped up, dropping down into his belly and wriggling into the tiny alcove.
“You know what you’re looking for?” Crouch fretted, always anxious to be at the center of the hunt, inside the actual chamber.
“Got it,” Yorgi said a little thickly, concentrating hard. “I see darkness.”
Alicia looked like she was about to crack a witticism, then Drake saw her glance at the far-off plumes of smoke and let it die right there on her lips. He felt the same.
The Seven Seals of Egypt (Matt Drake Book 17) Page 18
