Captive, p.27
Captive, page 27
Lasoff moistened his lips nervously. “We have them, sir.”
“They’re alive?”
“As far as we can tell.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We have them cornered. They’re trapped in a railcar.”
“You fool.” Bohdan’s face flushed with anger. “Then we don’t really have them, do we?”
The tech was almost stuttering. “According to the unit commander, it’s a simple matter of—”
“The commander is an idiot.” He reached for his cell phone. “And that’s what I’ll tell Chiswick. I’m not going to lose Caleb or the MacGuire woman because you’re all being clumsy. I’ve waited too long.” He’d make that clear to Chiswick. Bohdan wasn’t sure if he was being impatient or if he just wanted to get his own hands on that son of a bitch, Caleb. It didn’t matter. The result would be the same. He put down the cell phone. “No, I’ll tell Chiswick in person. I’m going there myself. Tell the driver.”
* * *
Caleb and Rodland dropped to the ground between the train cars and froze. When the movement wasn’t met with a hail of gunfire, Caleb took that as a win. He nodded toward Rodland, and they crawled toward the engine car. The darkness offered them cover, but he was sure that at least some of Bohdan’s soldiers were equipped with night-vision goggles.
They hoisted themselves up onto the engine car platform and Rodland smashed the side pilot window with the butt of his gun. The sound of breaking glass was startling. If their attackers hadn’t been aware that they were out here, surely they were now, Caleb thought. They waited a moment to see if there was a response. But there was so much shouting and talking among Bohdan’s men surrounding the train that they’d lucked out. The glass breakage hadn’t been noticed. Rodland reached inside and slid open the door.
The two men crouched behind the main console.
“What now?” Caleb whispered.
Rodland was ready. He pulled the laptop from his pack and flipped up the lid to reveal a screen filled with a photo of the exact same console in front of them. The screen was filled with handwritten annotations that described the engine start-up routine.
“Another MI6 resource?” Caleb said.
Rodland shook his head. “Even better. A railway enthusiast website.” He flipped a dizzying array of switches, some of which were hidden behind safety panels below the console.
The lights on the panel switched from red to green. “Good,” Rodland said. “Sometimes you have to wait for the oil and water to warm up in the prime mover. But this is equipped with a Smartstart system to keep them ready.”
“So how long will it take?”
Rodland took a deep breath and pushed the power lever up. The engine roared to life. “Here we go!”
The five-car train lurched forward and moved sluggishly across the rail yard.
* * *
Jane peered out the window as she felt that first lurch.
Caleb and Rodland had done it!
She could see some panicked movement from the shadows, then the flashes of gun muzzles as shots rang out! She ducked down and then hit the floor as the train picked up speed. Bullets rained against both sides of the car, but the assault seemed to dwindle as they left the rail yard. But the train was picking up more and more speed as it zoomed down the track.
They’d bought some time, but no telling how much. Bohdan’s forces would be in hot pursuit.
Don’t think about it, Jane told herself. Her job right now was to stay out of the range of those bullets and hope that Caleb and Rodland could do the same. Then find a way to keep them all alive.
Distraction. Keep moving. Keep thinking about something else. Help me, MacClaren.
She turned back toward her camera, which had been automatically snapping pictures of the mural at various focus points until she’d felt the train move. She suddenly froze. Something was different from when she’d been crouching on the floor as the train had started barreling down the track. The first several dozen photos had revealed nothing, but the electronic viewfinder screen now showed something else entirely.
It showed the painting beneath the painting.
Jane felt her breath leave her as she watched. With each focus point, the image grew richer and more detailed. Finally, when it started to fade, Jane grabbed the camera and stepped back through the photos until she found the clearest one.
The hidden image was similar to the one she was accustomed to seeing with the shepherd boy with the brown dog, playing children, and the lady with the blue parasol. But there was one major difference: This mural included a train and a station with a sign reading BENTLEY IND. Only details relating to the train and station had been erased in the final mural.
BENTLEY IND? Jane pulled out her phone for a quick search.
She found what she was looking for in seconds.
She gasped.
The phone rang in her hands. It was Caleb. She punched the TALK button.
“Are you okay?” He was worried. “We took some gunfire back there.”
“Tell me about it. But I’m fine. Are you both all right?”
“For the time being. But we threw Bohdan’s men back at the railway station into an uproar. Lots of activity going on. They’re bound to be after us any minute. We’re trying to figure out the next move. There might be more bullets flying so don’t be moving around the car. Keep down!”
“I will. Because there’s no reason for me not to any longer.” She drew a deep breath. Then her words came as fast as she could get them out. “Listen, Caleb. This has to be quick. I found what I was looking for in the mural. I know why no one could ever find the treasure.”
“What?”
“You heard me. MacClaren decided to hide it. It’s because the instructions’ starting point was the end of the first branch line past the McNaughton Branch. Anyone who would go looking for the treasure wouldn’t find the landmarks referenced in the instructions. No big rock, no forked stream. No waterfall or ancient cemetery.”
“That’s right. It’s why the treasure map was bogus.”
“But what if there used to be another branch line? A temporary one built to serve a single construction project? Companies used to pay for them all the time. They’re called spur lines. There was once a factory that belonged to Bentley Industries in the area, but it went out of business before World War One. This mural showed a rail line for Bentley, but as far as I can tell, one never existed, at least not officially.”
“What are you saying?”
“I ran across this kind of thing in my research. Occasionally local railroad administrators would accept huge amounts of money from companies to build temporary spur lines for their projects, then just pocket the cash and not inform their home office hundreds or even thousands of miles away. When the project was completed, the administrators would strike the spur line and erase all evidence it even existed. That’s why no records exist of this one. And I think it’s why MacClaren painted over this part of the mural. He made a deal with the administrators before he and his Fiona left for their new life. He probably got a fat fee, and still had the option of going back and searching for the treasure himself if he chose to do it.”
“It makes sense.”
“It gets better. This line would have been the first branch line past McNaughton. And I know there’s a forked stream and a waterfall near there, and an ancient cemetery. I’m willing to bet there’s a big rock. This is where we look for the treasure.”
“Holy shit!” Caleb murmured. “MacDuff is going to love this. I can’t wait to—”
A sudden crash shook the train!
“What’s that?” Jane said. “It came from behind!”
“Rodland is trying to see what—”
“Never mind.” Jane looked up as she heard a series of thumps on the roof of the car. “Caleb, I think we have company. Footsteps on the roof, heading your way.”
“I’m on it. Stay down!”
Chapter
17
Caleb pocketed the phone and pulled out his semiautomatic. “We’re about to get some company.”
Rodland’s eyes were still glued to his laptop screen. “I’m afraid I can’t be much help to you there. I need to switch to the main line, and if this software doesn’t cooperate, it’s going to be an extremely short trip.”
“Understood. I’ll handle it.”
Caleb ducked outside and moved along the side platform. He looked up as cold winds whipped against his face. If Jane was right, someone would be appearing above him at any—
BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!
Caleb fired at the two figures that appeared on the roof of the railcar above. One tried to fire back, but Caleb fired twice more to finish him off. One of the men fell from the train, the other onto the platform next to Caleb.
Caleb kicked him over the side.
The train lurched as they switched tracks and headed north on the main line. They picked up speed.
Caleb ducked back into the engineering compartment. “Did you do that?”
Rodland nodded. “Yes. With this software, I can control the switch tracks, traffic lights, and pretty much everything else we run across.”
“Excellent.”
“Shit,” Rodland said in disgust.
“What is it?”
Rodland nodded toward one of three monitors mounted above the main console. It showed a rear-camera view of the train, where an open-bed truck was speeding alongside. One by one, half a dozen men in paramilitary fatigues jumped from the truck to the rear train car.
Caleb cursed. “Bohdan’s mercenaries.”
“Who else?” Rodland increased the train speed again. “I’ll do what I can to make things uncomfortable for them.”
Caleb replaced his gun’s ammo clip. “So will I.”
* * *
Jane backed away from the rear door. She could hear men’s voices, shouting and talking just outside that door. She had no idea how many there were or where they were located. One of them sounded as if he was talking to someone on the roof. Then someone was pounding against the door, splintering the mahogany frame.
Shit!
She had to get out of here. But she couldn’t go out that door. And she knew that someone had been on the roof heading toward Caleb only a little while ago. They could still be there. Think. Where else could she go?
The reivers! She’d even mentioned to Caleb that there had been hiding places built in these cars because of the reivers. She looked up at the ornate paneled ceiling. She tried to remember the sketches of the remodel when the chandeliers were added in the late nineteenth century. If she remembered correctly, there was a sizable gap between the drop ceiling and the train car’s roof. At the time she’d studied them she’d wondered if this gap was used by passengers as hiding places from the reivers.
BAM. BAM. BAM.
They were almost through the door.
Jane stood on a chair and pressed against a square ceiling panel. It didn’t budge.
BAM. BAM. BAM.
She tried another. No dice.
BAM. BAM. BAM.
Bohdan’s men were almost inside. She pushed up yet another ceiling panel.
It moved.
Hurry. Not much time. They’d be breaking in any second.
She gripped the sides of the opening and hoisted herself up into the ceiling. She replaced the panel just as the door finally gave way!
She heard a single set of footsteps in the train car below. Only one man. She could hear him shouting and laughing to someone still outside the door. Carefully, quietly, she moved toward the clump of wires that fed one of the ornate lighting fixtures. She looked through the fixture opening and saw one of Bohdan’s men alone in the compartment, standing where she’d been just moments before.
Now he was speaking to someone through his headset, and she heard him identify himself as Chiswick. She’d heard that name before. Not good.
One of Bohdan’s top lieutenants.
She slid across the ceiling structure, making her way to the far side of the car. Every time she reached a lighting fixture, she paused to see what he was doing.
At one point, he crouched behind her camera and looked at the mural. Chiswick had no idea what he was seeing, she was sure.
Jane turned. It was difficult to see, but there appeared to be a small door on the car’s far side. Could she use it to get to the roof? From there, she might be able to reach Caleb and Rodland in the front engine car.
She slid toward the door panel, hoping the clattering of wheels on the tracks would mask the sounds of her movements.
Just a few feet more…
SMASH!
The ceiling panels erupted in front of her, and Chiswick’s face was only three feet from hers! He was standing on a table and had broken through the ceiling with the butt of his rifle. He turned his gun barrel toward her and smiled.
“Going somewhere?”
She inhaled sharply and couldn’t speak for a moment.
He smiled. “Jane MacGuire. Poor woman, afraid and cowering in the ceiling. It seems I’ve come up with a prize. Bohdan warned me I’d better come back with you or Caleb today. He has great plans for you. If I help him, he might just forgive me. This must be fate; I ran into a friend of yours at your gallery in London. She was most cooperative.”
Felicia. This must be the man who had killed Felicia.
“You’re right, she was a friend of mine,” she said hoarsely. “And I think ‘fate’ is a very good word for it.”
Only when it was too late did Chiswick notice that she was holding a half-hidden gun in her right hand.
BLAMMM!
She shot him in the face.
* * *
Rodland glanced back at the rear camera monitor. “Dammit.”
“What?” Caleb said.
“It looks like we have eight more troops climbing aboard the train from another truck. And I’ll bet there could be another couple of trucks on the road behind this one.”
Caleb stepped closer to the monitor and watched Bohdan’s men climb aboard from their truck. “This isn’t going to get easier.”
Rodland looked back at the laptop. “I might be able to do something about the trucks coming up behind them.”
“Do what?”
The train shook as it switched off the main line and crossed the river Thurso.
“Well done,” Caleb said.
Jane suddenly appeared at the side door. “Yes, well done.”
“What are you doing here?” Caleb stepped toward her. “I thought I asked you to—”
“Bohdan’s right-hand man Chiswick paid me a visit and changed my mind.” She slung her carbine on her shoulder as she entered the engineer’s compartment. “I suddenly didn’t have a back door any longer and there were other soldiers climbing on the Reiver car.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry, I took care of Chiswick. But I thought I’d be safer up here.”
“I can’t argue with that,” he said bitterly. “So much for trying to keep you secure.”
Rodland studied the map on the laptop screen. “I have an idea. But I’m about to do something that may get us all into a great deal of trouble.”
“I doubt if it can get any worse than it is for us right now,” Caleb said.
“Don’t say that. It is worse,” Jane said. She pointed at the rear camera monitor where a dozen men were running toward them across the train car roofs. Two of them had already drawn their guns and were firing in their direction. “I believe those were the mercenaries Chiswick brought aboard the Reiver car. If you can do anything to get rid of them, to hell with the trouble.”
Rodland increased the speed. “Hang on, I need to get going for this maneuver to work.”
“What maneuver?” Caleb asked.
“There’s a drawbridge on the trestle up ahead. I just opened it.”
“And…?” Jane said.
“And I’m about to uncouple the last three cars of this train.”
“And…?” Caleb said.
“Don’t talk to me. I need to time this just right…” Rodland concentrated and then punched a key. There was a jarring ripple as the last three cars uncoupled from their train. Bohdan’s men tried desperately to steady themselves on the train car roofs. A few seconds later, Rodland activated a switch command for the track behind him.
The three cars with Bohdan’s men coasted through the switch and toward the open drawbridge.
Jane’s jaw dropped. “No way.”
In the next instant, the three cars hurtled over the drawbridge. The men screamed as their train tumbled to the river hundreds of feet below!
Jane and Caleb watched in stunned silence. The train cars with the men had simply vanished in the darkness.
“How far down was that?” Jane said.
“At least a couple hundred feet,” Caleb said.
“Three hundred and twenty-seven,” Rodland said. “Big trouble if they hadn’t been scum of the earth. But I’m getting a little tired of playing with this train, Caleb. Time for you to figure how to get us out of this mess.”
“I’m working on it. But it may not be necessary.” Caleb had grabbed a pair of infrared binoculars hanging from the console and was looking behind him. “I believe I just heard something that sounded very familiar on the road heading toward the railway station.” He focused carefully and then gave a low whistle. “How the hell did he manage to get them here this fast? Wouldn’t you know that MacDuff would pull a stunt like this?” He started to laugh. “I believe the marines have landed. Just in time to reap the glory and cheers from all and sundry. I almost expect a ticker-tape parade.”
“What?” Jane took the binoculars and looked for herself. It was true. Trucks, armored cars, motorcycles all being operated by the marines they’d become so familiar with. All of them were engaged in the attack on Bohdan’s forces. MacDuff himself was at the forefront; she could hear the sound of explosions and saw Bohdan’s camouflage-clad soldiers scattering before them. “Thank God.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t you say one thing against MacDuff, Caleb. I think he looks absolutely fantastic at this moment.”
