Zim shot again, this time hitting the gate as the two rescued pilots squeaked through. Tyler and Alexa veered to the right and tore up the hill, where they climbed over the railing.
Zim beached his own sub next to Tyler’s, running it so far onto the rocks that it would be impossible to launch again. He didn’t care. Once they finished off Tyler and his friends, they’d take the Zodiac back across the loch to the stashed Range Rover and freedom.
He eased himself out of the cockpit. The pain flared up again in an excruciating jolt, but he did his best to tamp it down for now. It reminded him that he had a special present for Tyler and Alexa.
He picked up the gaff hook and tucked it in his belt. Getting off the sub was even worse, and he took a moment to gather himself before continuing on, his rifle at the ready.
He considered yelling that he was coming for Tyler and Alexa, then thought better of it as he set off up the stairs. Fear of the unknown was always scarier.
* * *
Grant snapped out of his stupor when he heard rifle fire not only in front of him, but also behind him as well. Something primal from his long stint in the Army gave him a sudden burst of adrenaline. He felt more alert than he had in days, but he knew it wouldn’t last long.
He peeked over the back wall and saw Tyler and Alexa creep out of hiding behind a crumbling retaining wall. Tyler would know that Brielle had chosen the gatehouse for their last stand and would lead Alexa in that direction.
As he watched, they kept low and were about to dash along the sidewalk to the gatehouse when another man burst from the loch gate behind them. The hulking figure in the shadows had to be Zim. He fired from the hip, sending Tyler and Alexa running away from him toward the tower.
Grant called to Brielle. “I need the rifle!”
She shook her head and whispered, “I ran out of ammo two minutes ago.”
Grant couldn’t sit there while Tyler and Alexa were killed.
“Keep showing the rifle over the wall,” he said. “Since you’re such a good shot, the bluff should give us another minute or two.”
He crawled toward the stairwell, willing the energy to move.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Whatever I can,” he replied, and went down the stairs.
* * *
Dunham couldn’t convince either of the remaining men to make a run for the gatehouse. They were too afraid of Brielle’s sharpshooting skills to venture out, so they kept taking potshots at the balcony.
A distant sound pierced the silence between gunshots. Dunham was the only one not firing, so she doubted the men heard it. But as it grew closer, the source was unmistakable.
Sirens.
She looked in the direction of the road and saw blue flashing lights heading toward them. The police would be there any minute, responding to the sound of gunshots.
Sticking around was no longer a good idea.
“Keep firing,” she said, and they each shot a few more rounds at the castle.
Sufficiently distracted, they didn’t notice when she backed away, got to her feet, and made a run for the pier.
It wasn’t until her footsteps were banging against the wood that she heard them shout, “Hey! Come back!”
She ignored their pleas, instead laying down her own covering fire with the machine gun. It bucked in her hands so much that she hit nothing, but it did the job. The two men dived to the ground.
She leapt into the Zodiac and untied it from the pier. After a moment of fumbling with the starter, she figured out how it operated. The engine thrummed to life, and she reversed away from shore.
Once she was clear, she twisted the throttle to full and aimed for their drop-off point across the loch. The lights at the front of the Zodiac would show her the reflectors they’d planted on shore. Dunham congratulated herself for having the foresight to swipe the car keys from Pryor before getting off the ship.
She streaked away, passing the Grant Tower to her right. The Aegir was nowhere in sight, so she assumed it was on the bottom of the loch with the monster strapped to it. Although her plan to capture Tyler hadn’t worked, she felt pretty good about the outcome.
She waved goodbye to the ruins and couldn’t help but grin that she was done with Zim even earlier than she had planned.
* * *
Tyler winced at every footstep that jarred his re-injured left shoulder. His arm dangled by his side, useless. The pain was far worse than when he was shot at the Eiffel Tower. He wouldn’t be surprised if it had shattered bone. Zim’s gunshot had hit him so hard it knocked the wind from his lungs. It was only by leaning on Alexa that he could go on without passing out.
They hobbled into the tower and onto a modern wood floor that had been built to cover the open basement.
Bullets bit into the floor, and they hobbled faster, plunging into the darkness of a doorway. It was the landing of a narrow spiral staircase.
“Up or down?” Alexa asked.
“Up,” Tyler said without hesitation. High ground was always better.
Tyler chewed on his lip to keep from screaming as they climbed the stairs. Footsteps pounding across the floor below them hurried their pace.
They reached the top of the tower, a twelve-by-fifteen-foot observation platform constructed for tourists to have an unsurpassed view of the loch, and Tyler realized they were cornered. There was nowhere to run, no other way down. Crawling to one of the other parapets along the disintegrating rampart was suicide, but the alternative wasn’t much better.
To the north, Tyler could see the Zodiac speeding away. A woman’s long hair streaming backward from the head of the only passenger was barely visible in the running lights. It had to be Dunham.
Zim, who was now on the stairs below, must have seen it too.
“No!” he screamed. “You bitch!”
He fired a long burst from a window opening in the stairwell until the weapon clicked empty. Tyler listened for the sound of him reloading another magazine, but the rifle clattered down the stairs instead.
“I’m coming for you, Tyler,” Zim cackled with glee. “I’m coming for both of you.”
Tyler considered jumping over the balustrade and landing on Zim, but decided it was too risky. In close quarters Zim had the advantage of upper body strength, doubled now because of Tyler’s injured shoulder. Better to bring him into open space where Zim’s wounded leg would hinder him.
Tyler backed Alexa against the railing behind him and readied himself for the fight.
Zim limped up the stairs one at a time, brandishing the gaff hook in front of him. Tyler didn’t want to think what landing on that would have felt like.
Alexa pressed something into his good hand.
“I forgot I had this,” she said.
Tyler looked down and saw his Leatherman gleaming in the floodlight. He flipped open the knife and held it out, bending his knees in a defensive posture.
Zim came to a stop at the top of the stairs.
“How’s your arm?” he asked with a maniacal grin.
“Nothing but a scratch. What about your leg?”
“I’ve had worse.”
“Well, now that we’ve gone through our ritual lies, why don’t you go back down the stairs and give yourself up?” Tyler pointed at the flashing blue lights in the parking lot. “Without your boat, you won’t be getting out of here.”
“I don’t care. I know you must have gotten a tissue sample, and I want it. Now.”
“Come and get it.”
Even with his gimpy leg, Zim was quick and the platform was small. He charged forward, swiping with the hook. Tyler dodged to the side and kicked at Zim’s leg, grazing it enough to elicit a howl.
Zim whirled around again with the hook but missed. He followed through with his other arm and connected with Tyler’s chest close to the shoulder. The vibration jolted the injury, causing a blaze of stars to temporarily obscure his vision. Another hit like that and he’d be down for the count.
Ty
ler staggered back, waving the knife. Zim came at him again, bringing down the hook in an overhand sweep.
Tyler blocked the move with his right forearm, but couldn’t bring his other hand up to ward off Zim’s right fist. It crashed into Tyler’s shoulder, and this time he buckled to his knees in agony, dropping the Leatherman to the floor as he grasped at his shoulder.
Zim raised the hook to finish him off, then dropped the weapon when Alexa smashed her knee into his wounded leg. He screamed and threw his arm back, catching Alexa with an elbow that sent her reeling.
Pain seemed to provide Zim with superhuman powers. He put one hand on Tyler’s shoulder and the other around his neck. Tyler had little strength to fight back. Once he was unconscious or dead, Zim would find the tissue sample in his coat pocket and dispose of it, killing Grant in the process as well.
As his vision tunneled, Tyler reached into his pocket and slid the tube to Alexa, who was looking at him, still on her hands and knees from Zim’s massive blow.
Zim heard the skittering metal and saw that Alexa now had it. She got to her feet and made a dash for the stairs, but Zim pushed himself up and grabbed the back of her jacket, whipping her around into the railing that overlooked the deck.
Tyler struggled to regain his footing while he watched Zim pin his sister against the rail. He grabbed the arm that was holding the aluminum tube and drew it to him. He was about to pluck it from her fingers when Alexa flicked her wrist, pitching the tube backward in an attempt to throw it down to the first floor. Instead, the tube bounced along the top of the wall and lodged in the crevice between two stones.
“Bad move,” Zim said.
Tyler staggered to his feet as Zim looked back at him and said, “Say goodbye.”
As easy as picking up a feather pillow, Zim tossed Alexa over the railing. Her terrified shriek ended with a horrible abruptness.
Tyler felt a savage scream tear directly from his soul, creating a rupture that seemed bottomless. With pure animal fury, he rushed at Zim. He landed one blow before Zim tossed him aside.
Zim crawled over the railing and out onto the top of the outer wall, grasping at the tube. As soon as he had it, he’d throw it into the loch, and Grant’s death warrant would be signed.
Tyler was not going to lose him as well. He frantically looked around and saw the Leatherman with the knife still extended. He scrabbled over to it and picked it up. With the last bit of strength he had, he pushed himself up and hurtled toward Zim, who was snatching the tube from the crevice.
Zim got to his knees and reared back, preparing to throw the last vestige of the Loch Ness monster into the bottom of the loch. He saw Tyler coming and struck out with his good leg, which was exactly what Tyler had been expecting.
He plunged the knife into Zim’s foot and twisted his leg sideways, causing enough imbalance to teeter Zim over the edge.
As Zim was going through his throwing motion, he fell off the wall. There was no scream, just a thump when his body hit the platform.
Tyler crumpled to the ground, tears streaming down his cheeks. Alexa was gone. He sensed the same darkness that had descended when Karen died now threatening to overwhelm him.
He forced himself to look down at the first floor through the mesh steel railing, preparing himself to see two bodies laying side by side.
Instead, he saw three.
In addition to Zim’s motionless form, he saw Grant cradling Alexa, who pushed herself up and waved to him.
In the grip of despair moments before, Tyler was now seized by a dizzying euphoria he’d never experienced. The rush of adrenaline gave him the energy to stumble down the staircase.
He walked over to Alexa, dropped the knife, and pulled her to him with his good arm.
“I thought you were dead,” he said, his voice cracking.
“I thought I was too. But Grant saw what was happening and caught me. Or at least cushioned my fall.”
Tyler knelt next to him and grabbed his hand. “Thanks, man. I owe you big time.”
“No problem,” he said with a weak smile and closed his eyes. “I think I’ll take a nap now.”
Brielle came running through the entrance and said, “Zim’s men surrendered to the police, so I left Sinclair to explain what’s going on.” She helped Tyler up. “Oy vey, you’re a mess.”
“I look better than I feel.”
She looked down at Grant. “How is he?”
“I don’t know, but without the antidote he won’t make it much longer.”
“Did you get it? The tissue from the Loch Ness monster?”
“I had it, but Zim threw it over the side of the castle. They might find it eventually, but not in time.”
“The police are here,” she said, looking at Zim. “I suppose they’ll take him back to prison.”
Tyler had assumed he was dead, but Zim was still breathing. Tyler picked up his knife and knelt next to him.
“He doesn’t deserve to live.”
“Tyler, don’t,” Alexa said. “There’s been enough killing for one day.”
“I know. But he still doesn’t deserve it.”
Tyler saw a glint in Zim’s palm. He opened Zim’s fingers, and there was the aluminum tube.
He felt another rush of euphoria, but the adrenaline was gone. He rocked back on his heels and sat down against the wall, laying his head against the cold stone and closing his eyes. Like Grant, Tyler decided that he needed a nap.
WORLD NEWS
Crisis in the Middle East Averted
By PETER HAVERFORD
June 25, LONDON — Scientists at the toxicology laboratory of Imperial College confirmed today that they have successfully synthesized an antidote to the poison that struck down leaders across the Middle East. Doses have already been couriered to all of the affected countries, and the condition of the treated patients has shown dramatic improvement.
The recovering health of the ministers in twelve countries, including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, along with vigorous diplomatic gestures from the United States and the European Union, has convinced the affected countries to begin a measured drawdown of forces. One reason tensions are easing is that Israel is no longer considered the instigator of the crisis. The source of both the poison administered at the Eiffel Tower and the subsequent antidote have been under intense scrutiny, but authorities have not revealed details of its origin.
Answers about the toxin, however, may eventually be forthcoming if they’re able to capture a third mastermind implicated in the Eiffel Tower attack. According to sources at the US State Department, while André Laroche has been exonerated of any role in the plot, an American woman named Marlo Dunham has recently been named a co-conspirator of Carl Zim and his brother, recent fugitive Victor Zim. Ms. Dunham’s whereabouts are currently unknown, but she is now the subject of a massive worldwide search conducted by Interpol and law enforcement agencies on every continent.
EPILOGUE
Three weeks later
Alexa felt an intense sensation of déjà vu as she rode in Grant’s Tahoe down the driveway at André Laroche’s estate. It brought back memories of her jittery arrival after being rescued from the kidnapping attempt at Pike Place Market. The difference was that the fear, urgency, and desperation were gone, replaced by calm anticipation.
She couldn’t help looking at Grant for any signs of a relapse, but he seemed stronger than ever, the wrinkles and grey hair erased as if they were never there. It seemed the antidote not only stopped the progression of the poison but had a rejuvenating effect as well. The treatment in London had lasted a week, followed by recuperation in Seattle, during which she’d taken care of him. Other than one dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, this was their first foray out into the world since leaving Urquhart Castle.
He parked in front of the mansion and shut off the engine.
“Thanks for coming with me,” she said, putting her hand on his.
“After what you did for me? I would have come if you were visiting a scorpion pit
.”
Alexa smiled because for Grant that was saying a lot. Through their long discussions in the last month, one tidbit she’d learned was that he was deathly afraid of scorpions, an aversion forged by a bad experience when he was camping as a child and found one had crawled into his shoe during the night.
“Aw, thanks, honey,” Alexa said. She leaned over, and they shared a hungry kiss that went on for a minute. If they had been at Grant’s apartment, she was sure the make-out session wouldn’t have stopped there.
When she drew back, Grant stared into her eyes with a pained expression.
“Are you sure we have to tell Tyler?” he asked.
Even though she’d made frequent visits to Grant’s place, they’d successfully kept the relationship a secret, which was even easier in the past week with Tyler gone on a well-deserved vacation in the UK. She knew he’d be seeing Brielle and secretly hoped it would lead to something more. She thought they made a good couple.
“I think you’re making too big a deal of this,” Alexa said. “He’ll understand.”
Grant shook his head. “You’re not a guy with a sister. I know if anyone messed with my sisters, I’d have some strong words with them.” His balled fists at the thought made it clear that words weren’t the only thing the offender would get.
“So you’re just messing with me?”
Grant’s eyes went wide when he realized how that had come out. “No, no. It’s kind of an unwritten code. You’re not supposed to…get involved with your friend’s sister.”
“So a stranger would be better? Why?”
“I don’t know. That’s how it works.”
“You want me to talk to him?”
He hesitated. She was amused that Grant would face down hordes of enemy soldiers armed with guns, but admitting something like this to Tyler was terrifying to him.
“No,” he finally said, “I think we should do it together.”
“So do I,” she said lasciviously.
“See? That is exactly why the rule is in place.”
“It’ll be okay. Trust me.”
“I do,” Grant said. “But if it goes south, I’ll tell him it was all your idea.”
The Loch Ness Legacy tl-4 Page 29
