Storm cycle, p.26
Storm Cycle, page 26
“You what?”
“One phone call, and they’re on the road. They’ll secure the location until the police can get here.”
“We’ll see.”
“We’ll see? Dammit, Dawson took that mastaba wall away from me. I want to take it back. Do you have any better plan?”
“It depends on where we end up.”
“Tavak, there’s no way we could pull off a military operation like that one on the bridge in St. Petersburg. We don’t have any razzle-dazzle weaponry, and in case you haven’t noticed, none of us is exactly Green Beret material. We need help.”
“We’ll see.”
“Will you stop saying that?”
“Okay. I’m just telling you that this game doesn’t always go to the one who plans every move. Try going into a third-world military base with no weapons and making off with an eighty-million-dollar fighter jet without getting captured or shot out of the sky. It helps to go in with an idea how you’re going to pull it off, but mostly it’s about instinct and thinking on your feet.”
Demanski threw up his hands. “I wouldn’t need to sneak into that base because I’d hire qualified people to take care of it.”
“People like me. So relax.”
“You’re making that very difficult.”
Tavak sped up to keep Wiley’s car in view. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I just want to see where Wiley is going and reconnoiter the area to see the possibilities. I’m leery of involving the police until we get some quality time alone with that wall. The Russian government has made it clear that you’re no longer the official custodian of anything you were given from their museum. Once the police are involved, we may not be able to get near it.”
“He’s right,” Rachel said. “We don’t know how much time we’re going to need.”
Demanski looked at her in surprise. “You, too?”
“I’m just saying we should keep an open mind. And I agree we have to know what Wiley is up to.” She shrugged. “Anyway, this could all be moot if Professor Wiley is just skipping work to spend the day at his favorite fishing hole.”
Demanski nodded. “Okay, we’ll play it your way for a while, Tavak.”
But they’d only driven another few minutes when Demanski began to curse.
“What is it?” Allie asked.
“I’ve lost his signal.”
“The GPS tracker transmits through the cell phone towers,” Tavak said. “The coverage may have just dropped out.”
“Do you still see him?” Rachel asked.
“Possibly.” Tavak grimaced. “Look.”
Up ahead, a beige-and-cream Gulfstream jet lifted into view and soared into the sky.
“I don’t believe it,” Rachel said.
“You’d better start.” Tavak pointed to a road sign that read MCCOY AIRFIELD I MI. “It’s a private airport. Wiley may have had a plane waiting for him.”
“Shit!” Demanski cursed. “Shit shit shit!”
“That would explain why his signal dropped out of range,” Tavak said. “It’s a damn bad break.”
“A bad break?” Demanski said. “That’s all you have to say?”
Tavak nodded. “Yes. If he’s on that plane, it’s a bump in the road, nothing more.”
“Will the tracking signal start up again once he lands?” Rachel said.
“It should, but I’d rather not count on that. I’ll talk to the people at the airstrip. The pilot of that jet would have filed an itinerary, but that’s no guarantee of where the plane is really heading. Still, it’s a good place to start.” He glanced at Rachel. “Let me go in alone.”
She shook her head.
“There’s no reason for any of you to tag along. I’m not used to having to work by committee.”
She shook her head again. “Together.”
Tavak muttered a curse as he pulled off at the tiny airstrip, which was no more than a single runway, an open hangar, and a small tower. There were no planes in the hangar; only an eighteen-wheel tractor-trailer stood inside.
Tavak pulled next to the tractor-trailer, stopped, and climbed out. There was no sound except for the wind blowing against the hangar’s corrugated tin roof and walls.
“Where is everybody?” Rachel said.
Demanski pointed outside the hangar to four parked cars, one of which was the gold Camry they had been following. “Unless you think the drivers of all those cars are now in the air, there’s someone still around.”
Tavak stiffened, his head lifting. “It’s too damn quiet.” He whirled back toward the Escalade. “Everyone get back in the car.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to do that, Tavak.”
They spun around to see a lean, fiftyish man step out from behind the tractor-trailer. He was pointing an AK-47 at them. “Dawson said that you’d track Wiley down. You work quickly. We just managed to whisk him away in time.”
“You were waiting for us. You knew we were tailing Wiley. Who are you?”
“Les Kilcher. We’re not strangers.” He smiled. “We ran into each other recently on Big Obukhovsky Bridge.”
“You’re the one who heisted my exhibit?” Demanski asked.
“I certainly did. I did a bang-up job. Literally. I’d do the same here, but I have my orders. Dawson wants to handle it himself.” Kilcher spoke over his shoulder to one of the two men who had just come from behind the trailer. “Weitz, keep an eye on them while I dial Dawson. He said we had to exercise extreme care with Tavak.”
“Yes, sir,” Weitz said, raising his automatic weapon. “No problem.”
“Dawson?” Kilcher spoke into the phone. “I have Tavak, Demanski, and the Kirby sisters. Yes, all secure.” He put the phone on speaker. “He wants to have a few words with you before turning you over to me.”
“Actually, I’m sorry not to be there.” Dawson’s voice came loud, clear, and full of malice from the phone. “But I’m on my way to meet Wiley and, in the end, money is always more important than revenge.”
“This whole thing was just to draw us out?” Tavak asked.
“Not quite. I’ve just learned to make the most of my opportunities. Each time I’ve confronted you in the past, Tavak, I made the mistake of not giving you enough credit. You’re quite a clever man, so I merely asked myself what I would do if I were in your position, watching that precious artifact airlifted out of your grasp.”
“And?”
“I knew you were aware of the only two men I would be likely to consult in this matter. My first thought was to find someone else, but then I realized it was a great opportunity.”
“Because you knew we would be watching Dr. Wiley,” Rachel said.
“And Scott Collier in Cambridge, where I know your friends have already made contact.” Dawson paused. “Poor Ben Leonard. Out of the kettle into the fire. He should really have learned his lesson in that tomb. He must be very loyal to you, Tavak. In another fifteen minutes I’ll make a call and tell my men that he’s to give you final proof of that loyalty.”
Tavak tensed. “Why? You already have us. It’s stupid to act without reason. It’s the sign of an amateur.”
“But I have the discretion to act however I please.” He added maliciously, “Don’t I? You guessed that I’d choose Dr. Wiley. His linguistic specialty tipped the scales for you, yes?”
Tavak didn’t answer.
“I’ll take that as an affirmative response. And you would be quite right. Dr. Wiley is on his way to the mastaba wall now, enjoying what I’ve been told is his first trip ever aboard a private jet.”
“Then Dr. Collier in Cambridge has nothing to do with it. Whatever you have planned there, call it off. There’s no reason for it.”
“You keep harping on logic and reason. Yes, there’s no reason for it. Like there was no reason for you to humiliate me in Bolivia?”
“You humiliated yourself the day you signed on to do the pharmaceutical companies’ dirty work. And you’ve been humiliating yourself ever since.” Tavak stopped and tried to control himself. “I’m the one you want, Dawson. Let them go. Take their phones, disable the car. By the time they could get help, you’d be long gone.”
“And so would you, Tavak.”
“Yes.”
“That’s all very noble, but you know there’s no way I could do that. Three witnesses, and your blood on my hands?” He chuckled. “It would be ironic if you were the one to put me away for the rest of my life . . . by dying.”
“Then what’s with the monologue?” Tavak said. “Why not just shoot us?”
“My employer is rather squeamish. He’s a fan of the convenient accident, but that’s rather difficult to pull off with four victims. Particularly such well-known people as your friends. So were going to have to strive to give him what he wants. Goodbye, Tavak. I’m only sorry I couldn’t see you buy it. Kilcher, go ahead with it.” Dawson hung up.
Kilcher nodded to Weitz, who ran to the Escalade, climbed in, and started it up. He backed the vehicle up a steel loading ramp and into the bed of the tractor-trailer.
Kilcher gestured with his gun. “Take their weapons and phones, Hannigan.”
The man, Hannigan, to whom Kilcher had spoken couldn’t be over twenty but was wearing a holstered knife and also carrying an AK-47. Hannigan patted down each of the captives. He took phones from each, plus a knife and handgun from Tavak.
“Don’t worry,” Kilcher said. “You’ll be reunited with your items soon enough. Now into the trailer. All of you.”
Tavak didn’t move. “What’s the plan, Kilcher?”
“It will be apparent soon enough,” Kilcher said. “Climb in. Of course, if you don’t follow Dawson’s instructions, I’d be just as happy to shoot you. I’m a professional. I don’t run risks when I can just move on to another job that doesn’t have all those damn restrictions. Your choice.”
What the hell could they do? Rachel thought. She glanced at Tavak, instinctively trying to tap into that confidence and ingenuity to which she had become accustomed.
She didn’t like what she saw.
Tavak appeared resigned. Defeated.
“Tavak?”
He started toward the truck. He said curtly, “Just do what Kilcher says.”
They walked up the loading ramp and stood in front of the Escalade. The last thing they saw as the trailer doors swung shut was Kilcher’s unsmiling face.
Large chains rattled outside as the doors were secured.
Rachel glanced around. Light spilled from the ventilated sides of the trailer. “What is this?”
“It was made to transport cattle,” Demanski said. “Which, at the moment, happens to be us.”
The truck started up. It rolled out of the hangar and pulled onto the highway.
“You know Dawson,” Rachel said to Tavak. “What is he doing with us?”
“No idea. All I know is that we couldn’t do anything back there under Kilcher’s guns. We need to find a way out of here right now. Before Dawson makes that call to Cambridge. Fifteen minutes. Shit.” Tavak jumped on top of the Escalade and pounded his fists on the roof of the trailer. He glanced down to Demanski and pointed to the trailer’s side vents. “Help me with this.”
The two men slid their fingers through the vents and pulled, but the steel framework didn’t budge.
“Dammit!” Demanski struck the trailer’s side with the heel of his hand.
After a few minutes more of struggling with the vents, Tavak went still. “We’re slowing down.”
Everyone listened as the tractor-trailer downshifted. Gravel kicked from the tires.
Rachel peered through the thin vent slits. “We’re off the highway. It’s a gravel road. Whatever they’re going to do, it’s going to happen soon.”
Tavak threw open the door of the driver’s side door of the Escalade.
“Keys in the ignition?” Allie said.
“No.” Tavak ran around to the rear door, opened it, and burrowed into the spare tire compartment. He came up with a tire iron. “I don’t know what use this is going to be against those AK-47s.” His gaze became suddenly speculative. “But maybe I can find a use for it in another way.”
The truck stopped. Then they were almost thrown from their feet when it lurched into reverse.
“What’s happening?” Tavak yelled at Rachel.
She peered through the vent and fear tightened her chest.
Water.
Water everywhere.
“It’s a lake, a pond, or something.” She whirled back toward Tavak. “They’re going to drown us.”
Tavak nodded. “They’ll submerge the trailer, drown us like rats, pull us out, and set up their accident scene. They’ll roll the SUV off a bridge or something.”
“With us inside,” Allie said. “And the autopsies will show that we drowned just like we would from that staged accident.”
Demanski shook his head in disbelief. “Can that tractor really pull out a trailer full of water?”
“It’s a beefy rig,” Tavak said. “It’s possible, especially if they pull it out slowly enough for the water to drain from these vents.”
The tractor-trailer slowed.
The crunching of gravel gave way to a sloshing sound, and water poured in through the lowest row of vents as the trailer entered the water.
“Shit.” Tavak’s grip tightened on the tire iron, then turned to the driver’s side of the Escalade.
But Allie was ahead of him. She was already slipping underneath the wheel. “Give me that tire iron.”
Tavak frowned. “What?”
“We don’t have time for arguments. You were going to try to hot-wire this baby. I can do it faster. You and Demanski try to get those doors open. Give me that iron. Now!”
He thrust the tire iron into her hand. She braced herself against the front seat and pried loose the panel beneath the steering column.
Rachel leaned into the open door. “What are you doing?”
“You’re blocking my light!”
Rachel stepped back.
Allie grabbed a cluster of wires and examined them. She tore two wires free and stripped the edges with her teeth.
“Can I help?” Water was now sloshing around Rachel’s ankles. Allie shook her head, and Rachel turned to see that Tavak and Demanski were now pushing hard on the trailer’s rear doors. The large chains held them closed tight.
“Can she do it?” Tavak asked Rachel over his shoulder.
“If she says she can,” Rachel said. “She completely rebuilt a Jeep Cherokee when she was seventeen.” She was watching Allie, who was moving with the efficiency of a master car thief. Lord, she was scared.
Come on, Allie, she prayed.
The trailer submerged even farther. Water poured in from the higher side vents.
Allie picked up the tire iron, pried apart the starter assembly, and pushed the bar forward.
The Escalade roared to life.
“Get behind me!” Allie yelled as she slipped on the seat belt. “All of you. Get behind the car.”
Tavak and Demanski scrambled through the calf-deep water. Demanski yelled, “Let me take the wheel!”
“No time. If the water hits the intake, we’re finished!” Allie jerked her thumb back. “Get behind me. Don’t argue!”
“Dammit.” But Demanski turned and waded back to Tavak and Rachel behind the Escalade.
Allie gunned the engine.
Still more water poured in.
The Escalade’s engine roared in Rachel’s ears as the vehicle hurtled toward the locked doors.
Boom.
The doors exploded outward, and thousands of gallons of water suddenly filled the compartment. In an instant, all gravity appeared to have been suspended, and Rachel was aware of the Escalade floating in space next to her.
Allie.
Rachel kicked her feet. The still-rushing water made it impossible to move toward the door.
The Escalade’s monstrous rear end swung wide, and Rachel realized it might pin her against the trailer’s inside wall.
She kicked furiously. Get around it. No, not around. Normal rules didn’t apply. Over. Get on top of it.
She pushed upward with her legs, and in a moment found her head above water, almost touching the roof of the trailer.
Allie. Must get to Allie.
Rachel moved over the Escalade’s roof and thrust her face back into the water.
She opened her eyes.
Through the Escalade’s windshield, there was the deployed airbag and something else. It almost looked like . . .
Allie’s hair.
Shit.
Rachel reached inside the Escalade and struggled to find the seat-belt catch.
Come on, Allie. Help me.
The airbag and the rushing water were fighting her, jabbing and blocking with her every lunge.
Tavak was suddenly back beside her, pushing the airbag down and to one side.
Then a thin, strong hand clasped Rachel’s wrist.
Allie. Thank goodness.
The seat belt loosened, and Tavak helped Rachel pull Allie out from behind the airbag.
Allie gave Rachel the thumbs-up sign, and they swam out of the trailer.
They broke the surface seconds later. Tavak came up an instant behind them.
“Thank God!” Demanski was swimming toward them.
“No.” Tavak immediately grabbed Rachel. “Swim. Get as far away from here as you can. All of you.” He pointed toward the middle of the lake as he gave Rachel a push and motioned for Allie and Demanski to follow her. “Stay as close to the bottom as you can. Only come up when you absolutely need to.” Tavak swam back toward the shore.
“Wait.” Rachel asked, “Where are you going?” But he’d disappeared beneath the surface, slicing the water with barely a ripple.
There were shouts from the truck, and Rachel spun around to see that Dawson’s men were out of the cab. They lifted their rifles and opened fire.
A bullet broke the water not a foot from where Allie was treading water.
“Move!” Rachel yelled.
Rachel, Allie, and Demanski dove to the bottom as more bullets pelted the lake’s surface.
SEVENTEEN
On the shore, the kid, Hannigan, turned toward Weitz. “Did we get ’em?”
“No. Keep looking.”
