"No! No, please!" she screamed in desperation. "I'll help you find him. Don't kill anyone, please. I can help you get to the shrine . . ."
He stared at her with a look of interest. "I will. I know the way to the shrine, by recollection," Nina wagered her fate.
The old man gestured for his associate to get Nina to her feet. They led her to the campsite, where Jodh and Gary were trussed up in the same way as Sam. Calisto and Purdue had vanished, but Nina's mind was racing, having no resolution for the mystery. The tall blond man was ransacking the tents for the book. Nina knew it was in her backpack's side pocket, but by morning light, after every item was peeled from every container and bag, she realized that Calisto must have stolen it from her bag while she was outside peeing.
"Bitch," she said softly, and her eyes met the slowly waking eyes of Sam Cleave. His cheek was swollen and bruised from the blow he had received and he looked deeply worried. He looked around the camp and quickly deduced what was transpiring. Jodh was not the leak in the cauldron. He was as trapped as Gary and Nina with him. Purdue had betrayed them and Calisto, of course, had his back.
"It is not here, Herr Eickhart," Björn said, running his hands hopelessly through his blond hair. "I have checked everything. The woman is right. Dave Purdue must have it."
"Then we should find him, yes?" Eickhart said harshly. Sam knew that name. It was Purdue's contact to facilitate their travel to the forbidden parts of the country. Of course, he would know all about the expedition! Sam looked at his company. They were all as stunned as he was at the shocking developments, shivering profusely at the low temperature they had been exposed to for the past few hours and poor Nina, sporting a black eye. This infuriated Sam, but he bided his time to avenge the petite beauty he cared so much for.
Eickhart pulled out his satellite phone and spoke Norwegian. Nobody in the Purdue party knew the language, so they had no idea what fate awaited them. All they could do was pass glances from one to the other. There were obviously more men out here that he was now sending to pursue the billionaire.
"We will stay here until my men have retrieved the grimoire," Eickhart announced. "Björn, let us get a fire going. Our friends must be hungry." With that he loosened each of their gags and personally served them water from his canteen. Jodh and Sam refused, making no secret that they did not trust the contents, but Nina was parched and quite frankly she did not care, for she was solidly convinced that they were about to be killed anyway. Gary only shook his head in protest for the water. Of all of them, he looked the most distraught and Nina felt sorry for him. He was such a polite person, she remembered from her first helicopter trip with him.
"Excuse me," Jodh said to Eickhart, "why do you call it a grimoire? It is just a notebook, is it not?"
"What is a grimoire?" Gary asked.
Nina lolled her head back and sideways, "It implies that the book holds incantations or contains some form of magical power rites," she looked straight at Eickhart, "which is bullshit!"
He narrowed his eyes at her and Björn lifted a smoldering stump from the fresh fire, but Eickhart motioned for him to put it down.
"Bullshit? The power of the Christ is bullshit? The unmistakable might of the führer is bullshit?" Eickhart roared, "You call yourself an authority on history, on men of renown throughout the halls of centuries—kings, gods, emperors and pharaohs—but you think the book that holds the secrets of the Heilige Lanze does not contain natural or practical magic? That is bullshit!"
Nina raised her eyebrow at the man's passionate retort. Sam slowly moved his head from side to side, conveying his warning not to provoke Eickhart's rage, and Nina took it to heart. She did not mean to excite his anger to this extent. Then she took a moment to think about it. Perhaps he was correct, perhaps the illegible jabber in Latin, faded into obscurity, was not all about the Spear, but in fact held occult scripture on an array of other power-inducing relics. It scared her that such a thing existed. No matter how profound its content, by the conduct of men it would be a most dangerous weapon. Humans were simply too mentally regressed, reduced to the mentality of base predators and the natural and destructive needs to impose hierarchy.
She decided that the discovery of the Spear would be more alarming to the state of the world, more important than her petty academic reputation and Nina wept for the outcome of the expedition. It frightened her to see the extent to which people could turn on others for its possession and she wondered if it was at all still worth it to be involved in this anymore. Even showing up Matlock, even getting tenure, spending the rest of her days as a renowned expert in her field was not a certain victory anymore. And Sam. She watched the man who had attained a great and grand level of honor in his own field shake in the cold of the mountains, his face battered and his eyes empty.
Most of the morning was spent with the two captors conversing in Norwegian, as they were aware that Dr. Gould and Jodh both understood German. Björn disappeared into the sloping woodland away from the camp with his rifle in hand. Eickhart sat down with a coffeepot by the fire and offered some to his captives. This time they all decided that quenching their thirst and maintaining their hydration was more important than the possible poisoning in the liquid.
"Mr. Eickhart, are you going to kill us?" Gary asked. The others gasped in disbelief, thinking him an idiot to bring up the subject.
"That depends, "Eickhart said, as he collected cups from their belongings that Björn had thrown in a pile. "If I find the book we will have what we want. As long as you stay out of our way, we will not shoot you in the face."
Sam chuckled at his choice of words. "Sir, I have to butt in here. If it is taking your people this long to find Purdue, chances are that he is long gone."
"How? I have his pilot," the old German said.
"We are of the opinion, and I think I speak for all of us, that he had been planning this move all along. So he had to have made provision for his flight so that he could use us to keep you occupied while he got to the shrine," Sam mentioned.
"He is not that smart, Mr. Cleave. Have you forgotten that I was the one taking care of his safe passage and permit laws? Do you not think he would need me to accommodate any escape from this region?" Eickhart boasted. He seemed completely unfazed by it all and his voice was calm. Sam nodded. He had to admit that the German had Purdue at a disadvantage, even if the latter had thought it through.
"Wait, so you are not after the Spear of Destiny as much as you are after its address book?" Nina asked, minding her tone this time.
"Oh, I am of course interested in the Spear. But with what is in that book, it is but one of the elements of world domination and historical power to be unlocked, discovered, and owned!" Eickhart smiled for the first time.
A gunshot suddenly split the pleasant morning air. They jolted, Nina shrieked, but Eickhart did not flinch. From his reaction he was either expecting it, or he was impervious to the terror of warfare. He poured the coffee and placed each person's cup next to them.
"How do suppose we are to drink this?" Nina asked.
"One cup at a time, my dear," he replied and untied her hands. His humor went unappreciated and he sighed as he cut the men's hands free. Björn had secured their ankles to one another, making it impossible for them to move beyond their spots, so Eickhart had no fret in loosening their wrists.
"What was that shot all about?" Jodh asked Sam in a hushed tone. "Thank God Purdue already transferred my funds."
"Yeah, mine too, but the catch is—has it cleared yet?" Gary spoiled his thought. Jodh sighed in disappointment.
Nina and Sam looked at each other while sipping their coffee. They were both thinking the same thing.
"Nature calls," Eickhart said, and he made his way around one of the tears in the rock face of the mountainside.
"Me too!" Gary called, but the old man simply shook his head.
"Sam, are you okay?"
"Aye."
"Any thoughts on Calisto's involvement?" she asked.
&n
bsp; "Yes, many thoughts. She fooled me like Delilah," he said, clearly exasperated, "and I intend to feed her to the fucking lions when I see her again."
"What does that mean?" Nina frowned.
"Never mind. I just didn't see it coming," he replied.
"Me neither. I should have shared a tent with you instead," Nina said, again unaware of how her statement sounded to Sam. He liked the idea, but elected not to tease her this time, not in a situation like this.
"So you had the book, then?" Gary asked in a whisper, as he took up his cup. Nina nodded.
"I'll just come out and say it. Between Mr. Purdue and this guy, we are fucked," Gary muttered.
"I concur. We have to do something," Jodh answered, but Sam lifted his right leg, tugging at their restraints and reminding them that they could not do much while they were tied together by some Gordian knot of chains and padlocks.
"I don't think he knows about Calisto, you know?" Nina said suddenly, as it occurred to her that Eickhart or his baboon had not once made reference to her.
"They must have seen her if they followed us from the hotel in Lumbini," Sam replied. "She must be in it with them, as I inferred before. Why are they not curious where she is?"
"None of this makes sense, for fuck's sake," Nina snapped, half to herself, "God, I'd kill for a cigarette now."
"Ditto," Sam agreed.
Eickhart came out from the rock's side. He looked around as if he expected someone. The party kept quiet and sipped at their drinks. It tasted terrible and bitter, but under the circumstances it was a solace they could all do with. The old man looked around in the trees and finally sat down.
"I'm starving," Gary said very softly, to nobody in particular.
"Patience," Eickhart said, as he poured himself a cup of black.
The trees shook fiercely on the fringe of the pathway.
"Now what?" Nina moaned.
From the bush came Björn, carrying a slain mountain goat on his shoulders. The thing had already been pared expertly with only its limp lolling head still covered in fur. Eickhart jumped up and slapped his hands together, rubbing them with an immense satisfaction. His voice thundered, "Well done, Björn! That is an excellent piece of meat!" The old man looked at the hostages with a grin, "Hope no one here is a prissy vegetarian."
A tense afternoon passed, with the tall blond henchman cutting up the goat and getting it ready for the fire. In the meantime they received some roti and rice to serve as breakfast and lunch. It was getting darker as the late cloudy afternoon arrived, with Eickhart checking in on his men every half hour to get information on the hunt for Purdue. Those calls made Nina nervous. She expected the worst every time he hung up, because Eickhart would grow red in the face, obviously holding back a fit of rage at the updates.
By the time the sunlight had waned, the group was desperately uncomfortable and cold. The ground was hard and they had not relieved themselves all day; their legs were riddled with spasms from being in the same position all the time. But they dared not complain. They were in no position to make demands of personal comfort, especially now that Eickhart had turned from accommodating and reasonable to outright furious and volatile. The group refrained from asking him anything, even less from replying to anything he mentioned for fear of setting him off.
As the sharp, blue light faded into night, the weak orange radiance of the flames lent the shadows more essence around the campsite. The captors passed around plates of meat to the party, who wolfed down every bit of flesh they could tear into. Sam was especially ravenous, ripping the meat from the bone like an animal. Even Nina relinquished her manners for the succulence of the wild meat, tossing aside her bones as she went through the animal. It was quite delicious, properly salted and slightly charred. They did not want to spoil their meal by wondering what the night would bring, how the frigid air would make them sick, maybe even kill them from exposure before the vindictive German and his lackey did.
"Right, Purdue is not showing. Neither are my men. Björn, I am going ahead so long. You extinguish them. We don't have time for games anymore," Eickhart bellowed in fury. They could tell that he was deadly serious and the firelight crackling was drowned by protests from the captives, begging for their lives.
As Eickhart disappeared in the trees, Björn drew his sidearm. His boss had taken the rifle, leaving him with a full-clip Makarov to finish off the travelers who had already been reported as safe on arrival in Nepalgunj, leaving them abandoned and their trip considered complete. Nina's eyes welled up with tears. She was terrified and Sam wished he could hold her in his arms before they were dispatched. Gary screamed and threw himself on his side, turning his head away from Björn's barrel. But he was not to be first. He shot Jodh in the head without thinking twice.
"Traitor!" he screamed at the dead body. Nina shook uncontrollably and Sam tried to scoot closer to her, but he could not get to her before the huge blond oaf took his place in front of her, gun lifting to her head.
"NO! No!" Sam screamed hysterically, reliving once more the trauma of losing someone he loved, reliving the death of his beloved Trish at the hands of the arms dealers he got mixed up with to expose the crime ring to the world. He did not want to see Nina's face explode like Trish's did and he felt his mind abandon him momentarily, yet he could not move to save Nina.
It was as if time slowed down to torment him. The killer's finger fell gently on the trigger with no sign of hesitation. Sam's eyes did not allow him blindness and his face refused to turn, forcing him to witness Nina's execution. He cried like a child when he saw her soft eyes shut, awaiting her demise. No matter how Sam screamed and kicked to get Björn's attention, the blond man showed no relent.
"Please! Not me!" she cried. "I had the book! It was stolen from me!" she pleaded.
"Then you are of no use to us," Björn smirked and turned his head to keep the blood spatter off his face.
☼
Chapter 19
Sam refused to see history repeat itself and haunt him with mortifying images for years to come. He forced his eyes shut not to see the atrocious event play out and all he could hear was the hoarse cry coming from Nina's throat.
But there was no shot, only a blunt thump and then he heard the tall blond killer scream in agony. Sam opened his eyes to see Björn gripping his arm. His radius bone protruded through the skin of his forearm like a bloody horn and he fell to his knees as the second blow from the hunk of wood landed against his left knee, crippling him. From the firelight he saw her silhouette, bigger than she normally looked. Her black frame towered over the kneeling Norwegian as she dropped the wooden stump. Sam watched Calisto pick up the T-bone of the strewn meat in the sand and with one fell swoop, she slammed the sharp edge of the bone into Björn's temple. His blue eyes froze on impact and his mouth fell open, but she was not done. Grinding her teeth, Purdue's bodyguard stabbed Björn several times in the jugular and finally lodged the bone in the base of his skull, killing him instantly.
Like a giant tree cut from its roots, the Norwegian toppled and fell to the dirt with a sickening thud.
Nina was weeping profusely, still affected by the trauma of her final moments. Sam watched Calisto kneel to free Nina with a lock pick. She fiddled with the lock and the winding chain for a bit until Nina's feet came free of the iron restraints. Sam sat astonished at what he had just witnessed, shock riding his face and his mouth ajar in disbelief. He looked at the bleeding body, the Norwegian's face unrecognizable under the crimson mess and then looked back at Calisto.
"What?" Calisto said nonchalantly, "You said I shouldn't shoot people. I did not shoot him, did I?"
Sam caught his breath, and gasped for air, "No, you didn't shoot him. Thanks."
Purdue was busy working at Gary's chains and then started to go through the mess of items the intruders had thrown in a heap while Calisto freed Sam.
"Where the fuck were you?" Nina screamed at them. Sam gently held her back as she spat angry insults at Purdue and his bodyguard.
"She is clearly in a state. Don't judge her utterings," Gary said to Calisto. "To tell you the truth, I am not exactly the picture of mental health right now either. Nina tried to strike Calisto, but the woman simply blocked her hand.
"Why did you betray us?" Nina melted finally and fell against Sam's chest. He embraced her tightly, numb from the whole experience. Gary and Purdue wrapped the Norwegian's body in a tent and moved him into one of the rock caverns.
"We can leave Jodh's body here. I'll call the local authorities by satellite and have them collect him. Poor son of a bitch. He didn't deserve this," Purdue lamented the passing of the young guide.
"You had to wait for them to start executing us before you did anything?" Nina shouted at Purdue.
"My job is to protect Mr. Purdue, Dr. Gould," Calisto said, as she crouched to get the coffeepot going. "I went to look for you with Mr. Cleave, but I soon saw the shape of the big Norse guy I saw in the hotel, standing ready to coldcock us, so I doubled back and went to get the book from your backpack."
"Why? Is it more important than we are?" Nina sneered.
"Yes," Calisto replied coldly, "yes, it is. It is the reason we are all here, the reason you are all wealthy right now. Without the book or Mr. Purdue, we would all be slaving away in thankless environments, repeating day after day, hoping for some sort of breakthrough, would we not?" Calisto's voice deepened as she spoke, lending to her a rather intimidating front that demanded respect. Nina had nothing to throw back at her, so the bodyguard continued, "We watched you the whole day. We would not have let you perish here, but we had to wait for the cover of night . . . and we had to eliminate the other two men Eickhart brought with him before taking on the big one here. This life has no place for misplaced loyalties or expectations, Dr. Gould. It is a dangerous job. A job. And we are all here to do what we are paid for, not to form a circle and sing Kum Ba Yah while we profess our friendships."
Now she was positively annoyed with Nina's whining and she made no secret that she did not intend to tolerate the doctor's behavior toward her.
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