Gold of the Knights Templar

by Preston W Child

  "But you can call me, Bally. My friends do. I love America. I want to enroll in the Marines when I get my MBA next year."

  He looked in the mirror at Anabia Nassif, "you're not American."

  "I am."

  "That accent, Arab?"

  "Indian."

  "You're Indian."

  "I'm American, from India."

  "Oh."

  The team seemed to all sigh in relief when Balthazar stopped talking and focused on his driving. They passed undulating meadows and grain fields, lonely little houses perched on hills, chimneys smoked lazily.

  Balthazar stopped the car beside a red letterbox. White picket fences surrounded fresh-looking grass. Further up the elevated lawn, there was one of those box houses set between trees.

  The group followed the young man up the dirt driveway. Upon closer look, Olivia saw that Balthazar had a long body but short legs. He had looked tall in the car for this reason.

  They went into the house after Balthazar.

  It smelled like wet clothes kept in an enclosed place. The walls were moldy, dust-covered an old TV, a table with family photos

  on it and an old record player.

  The furniture was old too, threadbare in some places. There were two rooms, a bathroom and a small kitchen where cockroaches crawled around used dishes. An open window banged in the wind. A dog barked nearby, TV sounds filled the afternoon.

  "Very cozy, eh."

  They all turned to Balthazar. Miller said, "why don't you try, provincial?" and rolled his eyes.

  Balthazar walked into the rooms.

  Liam asked Miller, "where do you meet these people?"

  "Sorry people, this is all I could arrange in a short time."

  Olivia told him not to worry about it.

  "Gentlemen, we better get settled," she said. "Does anyone care for a late lunch?"

  All the men said they did.

  Diggs went out through the door with a bag.

  Liam asked Miller, "what is with the CIA guy?"

  "He's going to set up a perimeter around the house."

  Once again, that solemn silence fell among them. Olivia felt it from the kitchen, where she chopped vegetables. Even after Balthazar hauled a six-pack of lager from a small deep freezer sitting in the foyer.

  Balthazar disappeared shortly before the team turned in for the night.

  If they were sneaked on in the night, Olivia could not tell. Still, Diggs had set electric alarms around the grounds for an eventuality.

  —

  When Balthazar showed up in the morning, Olivia noted a difference in the man's manners. He was not his usual talkative self. If the others noticed she was not sure.

  Diggs tested the weapons, he handed each one his gun and gave Olivia Colt. She stowed it in her belt. As Diggs was about to zip his bag shut, Olivia spotted a big army knife. She grabbed it.

  Diggs nodded.

  —

  The street was different in the morning. It was quite busy and not so provincial as Miller had accused. A school bus drove in front as they lined the traffic that would take them to Shugborough Hall.

  "Mind if you tell me what you people are doing in Shugborough Hall?"

  "It’s strictly business," Miller said agreeably.

  The man gave Miller a cautious look. The school bus turned left, the car continued on the main road. A road sign said they were on Essex drive. They came out of the main road, Olivia noted another sign that said Hunters close on the right.

  Balthazar turned the car into it.

  Olivia put her hand on his shoulder, "where the hell are you taking us, Bally?"

  Balthazar stepped on the gas suddenly, and the Plymouth's rear dipped, it jumped forward. In the rearview mirror, two cars, a black truck and a jeep bore on them.

  Confused, Miller asked, "Balthazar, what are you doing!?"

  "I'm sorry, they asked me to!"

  He sped down the road.

  Diggs said, "we have company!"

  Bullets pinged off the top of the car, and the wheels yawed. Balthazar's face in the mirror was terrified. Olivia put the muzzle of her Colt to his neck, "who sent you, who are you working for?!"

  "I can't say, I can't say! They'll kill me!"

  "I'll kill you myself!"

  "No, please!"

  Diggs poked his head out of the window. He got a look at the truck that was gaining on them.

  "Three guys in the truck, and maybe four in the Jeep," he cocked a submachine gun, "Frank, I suggest you take the wheel from this asshole."

  Liam and Anabia dragged the hapless Balthazar out of the driver's seat. He whimpered like a girl as they deposited him in the back with them. Olivia switched positions with Anabia Nassif. Olivia got the window position.

  Her first shot took out the side mirror of the truck. She leaned out again and got the windshield, narrowly missing the driver.

  "Good shot!" said Anabia breathlessly, "Oh Jesus!"

  Miller found a narrow alley and turned the car into it, the rough walls broke the side mirrors. The metal prods screeched as they scratched the wall. The jeep was following, but the truck had turned back, apparently unable to fit in the alley.

  They came out on another street.

  "Turn left, that should take you to the road to Shugborough Hall!" Balthazar said.

  Diggs did so.

  The truck was coming up ahead, and the jeep bore on them from behind. Someone started firing from the truck, the bullets crashed the windshield, Diggs bent to the side, bullets grazed the side of Olivia's seat. She heard the thud, thud, as they sank into the leather seats.

  "Shit," she said under her breath.

  She changed the magazine in the gun and aimed. She shot the tires of the truck as it came passing by the car. Diggs fired into the driver, the body buckled, and the truck crashed into a side of a grocery store, shattering glass and wood.

  More gunshots pelted the back of the Plymouth. Anabia and Liam cowered, Balthazar screamed for his mother.

  The Plymouth joined the traffic on the main road. A road sign swished by, but Olivia caught the words: Shugborough Hall, 10 Miles ahead.

  Diggs stepped on the gas, the car weaved through the light traffic, other drivers honked their irritation. The jeep was coming on fast from behind, there was a car between it and the Plymouth. Diggs maintained the distance.

  Olivia caught a glance at the men in the truck, they didn't look like Italians. Maybe English. She had expected they'd run into trouble but not this early, and certainly not this far from the where the treasure supposedly was.

  Someone was pointing what looked like a massive gun at the Plymouth.

  "Watch out!" Olivia called.

  Diggs stepped harder on the gas, and the car shot forward. Diggs dove beside a cooling van that was doing half the speed of the Plymouth. They lost the pursuing vehicle momentarily.

  "Olivia, check in my bag, get the big gun," Diggs said.

  Olivia found the gun, it was a twelve gauge assault weapon. No holds barred, Olivia thought.

  "Oh my fucking Christ, that's an anti-aircraft gun!" Liam hollered.

  Balthazar bleated something Olivia didn't quite catch. She was pumped, adrenaline flowed in her, and she was surprised at how much she was enjoying the show. She checked to make sure the gun was loaded. It was.

  "Chert poberi!" Borodin said, "damn it!"

  The Jeep appeared suddenly behind the car, and there was a loud bang, the trunk of the Plymouth was flapping the air, smoke poured into the back of the car, Olivia choked on it. There was a hole in the roof of the car too, sunlight streamed through it.

  Olivia had squeezed the trigger of the twelve-gauge mistakenly.

  She cocked it again.

  "Are you all alright back there?" Miller asked.

  "I think I'm hurt."

  Balthazar was bleating again. And he was bleeding from the side of his neck; Anabia pulled his head to the side.

  "It's only a scratch, glass," Anabia said, "get a grip, my frien
d."

  The road curved suddenly, the Jeep was coming around again. The van in the shadow of which Diggs had been hiding stepped on its breaks. The driver had seen what happened to the Plymouth vehicle. Diggs sped up.

  "Olivia, get that gun up, shoot these assholes, will you?!"

  "Give me a moment," said Olivia.

  Miller stretched his had across Diggs back and shot at the Jeep, glass shattered, but the Jeep kept coming, the shooters were getting ready to fire at the car again.

  The road ahead narrowed somewhat. Another minute and the highway forked.

  "Get off the highway!" Balthazar said.

  Diggs barely made it, the tires scraped at the shoulder of the road, the car tilted dangerously. The Jeep bumped into the car.

  Olivia turned with the gun, Anabia pulled Balthazar down.

  Olivia aimed at the hood, she popped off three deafening shots, that went through the rear windshield, it shattered, showering everyone with grains of glass.

  What happened next was exactly like it was in movies she has seen. It was both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. The hood of the Jeep folded like the tip of an origami paper, then the whole vehicle rose into the air. There was smoke, glass, metal —all in the air. The Plymouth gained more speed, as the Jeep crumbled in the road and flipped around. Other vehicles either stopped or went around it.

  Sirens started wailing in the distance.

  "Oh shit."

  Diggs gunned the Plymouth forward. The small town of Shugborough was still about five miles off.

  Miller turned to Balthazar, "now's the right time to get back in our good books, tell us a good place to hide."

  "Get off the highway, cut left, you'll see a close," Bally said, "you should be safe there for a while."

  Diggs found a close. He turned the car into it. The cops passed on the highway, on their way across the Essex bridge.

  The close was a quiet one, silent chalets on both sides. Two kids riding their scooter saw the car parked in the alley and stared curiously. Their eyes were glued to the twisted tailgate and trunk, and the broken windshield. Olivia shooed them away.

  "Go on, kids, run along."

  When the kids had rolled their scooters away, Olivia said, "we are gonna need another car."

  "I'll find us one," said Diggs.

  "No, I'll do it."

  Olivia had never jacked a car before. There were three cars on the short street, two on the left with two tires on the curb, and one in a driveway. Flowers line the drive, and a boy with blackheads on his face and slanting eyes was trimming the edges. His shears made whistling noises as he worked. He didn't see Olivia pass by.

  Houses hummed with the activity of their occupants, but there was no one else in sight. She watched the open blinds. A screen door banged somewhere, and she turned, that was when she saw the shadow jump back behind the house where the freckled boy was busy cutting the hedges.

  She felt the belt of her denim.

  "Shit."

  She had left her gun back in the car; Olivia ducked in behind the second car, a yellow Ford Fiesta. She picked a brick hiding in the grass by the sidewalk.

  Two men crept out of the back of that house, they carried guns with silencers. Their appearance was tactical —dark clothing and a radio strapped to their bodies, black ski masks. Olivia concluded that these were professionals. The question was, who wanted her and her friends dead this much?

  She peeped into the Ford, the key was in the ignition. But there was not enough time to dash toward the car. Besides, she couldn't possibly make it in time, they'd surely shoot her down like a dog in the street.

  Her heart pumped in her ears, she struggled to keep her nerves still. The two men spread themselves, each taking a side; Olivia crouched and saw their booted feet. She exhaled and braced herself.

  The closest one was just a foot from her now.

  She flipped around, the man stepped into a sliding tackle from Olivia's feet. Stunned, the gunman fell forward, Olivia cut his fall with a jab in his solar plexus. There was a grunt.

  The other guy came around too, he was bringing his gun around, prepared to blow Olivia's face open.

  She turned and looked into the dark eyes of the silencer.

  She heard a coughing sound from behind the man. The brown eyes in the mask turned up into the skull, and he crumbled on top of Olivia. Standing in the grass was Lawrence Diggs, his gun pointed and dark eyes aflame.

  The boy who was clipping hedges bolted around the house.

  Olivia got into the Ford while Diggs dragged the dead bodies into the open trunk. Olivia turned around, "what are you doing?"

  "We can't leave them around for the cops to find now, can we?"

  She threw the car in gear. The rest of the team ran out of the alley, Balthazar was clutching at his bloody neck. Olivia asked him if he was going to be okay.

  "He'll live," Anabia Nassif said.

  As they came out into the open road, she saw through the rearview that people were gathering at the spot where she had engaged the two assassins, the freckled boy looking lost. He was pointing at the spot where the dead men ought to be.

  Shots shattered the windows, bullets riddled the doors as they turned to the highway.

  Liam screamed, "Oh shit!"

  Olivia looked at Miller, who was sitting beside her and saw blood running down his neck. His head lolled, and his mouth hung open as if he was dead.

  "Frank is hit," she screamed, "Frank, oh God!!"

  Diggs touched her shoulder, "don't stop! Keep driving!"

  Three motorbikes appeared in the side mirror. They looked like some alien insects from afar; Frank Miller mumbled something, touched his neck, and stared at his blood-smeared palm. His gaze was a disoriented glare.

  "It's only a scratch," he said, "my cheek."

  With one eye on the road and her hand on Miller's face, she turned his head and saw that the bullet had only grazed his cheek. She relaxed a little. In a trembling voice, she said, "we are not out of the woods yet, guys, buckle up, I'm mad now!"

  Liam mumbled to Borodin, "I'm beginning to like her."

  "But you have a wife, yes?"

  "Solomon had nine hundred wives, don't ever forget that."

  Diggs was cocking his semiautomatic again. He looked at the other guys and said, "now is the time to use your guns!"

  More shots spattered the top of the car as the bikes got closer. They were on the highway now, cars were fleeting past as Olivia floored the engine. She changed lanes to beat the bikes, but the riders were professional, the stick to the vehicle like glue, literally.

  One rider grabbed hold of the side of the door, on Borodin's side. The Russian cringed at first, then he remembered what purpose a gun served. He shot the assassin's hand, the killer yelled. Borodin reshot the guy, the bike went under a wobbling truck carrying hay. They heard a crunch as tires climbed flesh.

  Two more bikes remained. They spread on both sides of the lane. Other vehicles pulled to the sides or slowed down, not wanting part of the mayhem that was on.

  Diggs took the bike on the left, and Borodin had the one on the right.

  The two bikers sprayed the car on both sides. More glass shattered. Bullets tucked into the backrest, Olivia yelled.

  "Someone do something!"

  Olivia dropped speed for a breath.

  Diggs shot the biker on the left in the chest. Olivia stepped on it again, Borodin missed. Still, the biker Diggs got stumbled, his bike tripped, and the rear wheels caught the other bikers wheels, his rear tires went up in the air, and they both crashed into each other.

  —

  Shugborough began with fields of green flat grasses and farms. The smell of fresh corn filled the air, the sound of birds in a clear pale sky, wavering trees along the countryside, and the faint redolence of cattle underneath it all.

  Diggs parked the car on the gravelly side of the main road that led to the borough. A truck carrying cattle smoked past suddenly. The acrid odor of dung fell on
the world.

  The truck was on its way out to Haywood, the way the group had come.

  Undecided, the group watched Diggs, who seemed to be in deep thought.

  "What do we do now?" asked Liam.

  Diggs said, "We can't just go in this way, we don't know what's waiting."

  Everyone agreed.

  Olivia admitted the adventure had gotten off to a bad start. By now, the British police would be on their trail, Scotland Yard as well. All sorts of signals must be triggered. More killers would be lying in wait.

  Olivia climbs out of the car. The sun warmed her face. Standing with her hands on her hips, she looked up and down the road. Where's the atrocious English weather they always talk about?

  It was quite a balmy day. Lots of air. A handful of nature to go with it. She could use some roasted corn at this time. Behind her, the doors opened, and the others, probably feeling what she felt, were coming out of the car.

  "I suggest we walk the rest of the way," she pointed up the hill, "there, we walk into town."

  "Shugborough Hall is half a mile from this point," said Miller.

  Olivia looked at the car.

  "Scotland Yard will pick our prints off this car, we gotta burn it."

  "And the fire would call them to us in minutes," said Liam Murphy.

  "It's one of two evils now."

  Diggs sucked the gas with a hose and spilled it inside the car. He lit and pushed the car off the road, it rolled gently down into a ditch nearby where it flames beautifully.

  There was a man on a bicycle on the dirt road that Olivia pointed out. The bike was laden on the back with a heap of watermelons. The group started towards the minor road.

  —

  Detective Blake Camden of Scotland Yard had indeed noticed the bloody trail. He walked into the apartment of the Rory Alden, where the boy lived with his parents to find the lad looking like he'd seen a ghost.

  And indeed young Rory had seen something worth the experience.

  Blake wore an oversized green trench coat. He looked every bit out of place in his broad rim hat and dark glasses. His shoes were dusty. He took his shades and hat off to reveal Sandy brown hair and soft green eyes.

  Rory sat with his parents, a man, and a woman who appeared too young to be the boy's parents.