The Illuminati Endgame (The Relic Hunters 7)

by David Leadbeater

  “Couldn’t we have started on that side?” Jemma asked.

  “I guess but where’s the fun in that? This was once a sea of lava and we’re walking across it.”

  Bodie smiled at the enthusiasm. Yasmine, he noted, kept watch on their backs and what they could see of the rim. No suspicious figures lined the horizon.

  Ahead, the trail entered a patch of foliage and then continued up between steel railings, rising toward the other rim. Lucie slowed to let a group of people pass and then jumped off the trail, threading her way between rocks and foliage. One by one the others followed, losing themselves in the undergrowth.

  Bodie found Lucie crouched down, checking her position with the GPS on her phone.

  “How are we gonna dig into that?” Cassidy nodded at the hard, gray ground.

  “We don’t have to,” Lucie said. “There’s a fissure here. I’ll scrape some deposits from the bottom and away we go.”

  “You seem very sure of that,” Yasmine said.

  “It’s on the ley line. The fissure is the ley line. Remember when we were told they were ancient lines, pathways and that some still exist? That there are ten sanctums or shrines along ten causeways. If this fissure isn’t one of them, I’d be amazed. It follows the ley line exactly.”

  Bodie let her work. From here they could hear people passing, their voices muted, and see vague shapes working their way along the path. He stayed quiet, keeping a lookout as Lucie worked.

  For ten minutes it seemed like they were going to get away clean. And then something shocking happened... something he hadn’t seen coming.

  Bodie came face to face with Kenny Pang.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Bodie recoiled, grabbing hold of a nearby branch to steady himself. Pang’s eyes widened to saucers; his face froze. For a moment the silence between them was as thick and viscous as coagulating lava.

  “Pang?” Bodie still couldn’t believe his eyes. “How...”

  The other man was trained to act quickly and should recover first, but Bodie had lived on instinct and sharp reactions his entire life. He backed up and eased his pack to the ground.

  Pang watched him. “If you have a weapon in there, I’d advise you to leave it be.”

  Bodie crouched to unbuckle the pack. “Pang,” he said loudly, a none-too-subtle warning for the others. “What an obnoxious surprise.”

  The foliage behind Pang swayed. A moment later, Heidi Moneymaker appeared, curly blond hair framing her careworn face, which iced up. If her bright blue eyes could have shot lasers, Bodie would be a smoking corpse on the floor.

  “Hey,” Bodie said.

  “Hey? Is that it?” Heidi pushed Pang aside and strode toward him.

  “Be careful, he’s got a—” Pang began.

  Heidi heard none of it. Bodie had been dreading this confrontation for some time but had never expected it to occur in an active volcanic crater surrounded by crusted-over lava flows.

  “We can’t do this here,” he said.

  “Do what? Talk about how you crawled off in the middle of the night? How you left me with fucking Pang? Probably destroyed my career?”

  “I was doing my best for you. Admittedly my best is not even close to perfect, but you must realize they’d have used your daughter against you.”

  Heidi slapped him, the blow ringing out. She took another step closer so that they were almost touching. Bodie found himself glancing down to check if she was holding a knife.

  “You don’t make my decisions.” She forced out the words through clenched teeth. “I make my own mistakes.”

  “Yeah, and this is one of them,” Cassidy’s voice rang out behind Bodie, who turned to see the redhead holding their handgun trained on Pang.

  “Don’t move.”

  Yasmine and Jemma appeared to the right. Bodie could hear Lucie fastening her pack behind him. In truth, he was lost for words. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected on meeting these two again, but it certainly wasn’t this.

  Pang shifted so that his weight was on his back foot. Bodie guessed that meant he was ready to launch an attack. He then became aware of a third figure among the leaves: a tall, nervous-looking man dressed in a suit that was a size too big. He sweated and wiped his brow and made no move in any direction.

  Heidi pushed Bodie in the chest, the touch sending a wave of warmth through him.

  “Hey,” he began.

  “You’re right, this isn’t the time. That’s why you five are coming with us now. You’re all under arrest. If you resist that’s gonna count as assaulting a federal agent and will only add to your sentence.”

  “Our... sentence.” Bodie frowned.

  Heidi didn’t elaborate. She stood there as if expecting them to give themselves up and come quietly. She should have known that would never happen, not with Bodie.

  “Stand aside,” he said.

  Pang paced sideways, blocking their way. Heidi glared. Bodie sighed and looked around. They could see the caldera rim from here, the people walking along it and, high above, the startlingly blue skies. It all seemed a world away.

  “You’re CIA,” Yasmine said. “You shouldn’t even be working inside the US.”

  “We’re CIA,” Pang drawled. “And we do as we wish.”

  “We’re leaving now,” Bodie said. “Don’t try to stop us.”

  He stepped around Heidi, brushing shoulders as he passed. Lucie and Yasmine were at his back. Cassidy still held the gun pointed at Pang. “Don’t do it,” she said.

  “Shoot, or surrender,” he said. “I won’t back down and I won’t let you go.”

  Bodie noted for the first time that Pang’s lightweight jacket hid a holstered gun. Maybe Heidi’s did the same. But they hadn’t drawn their weapons. Maybe it was the shock.

  “How the hell did you find us?” Jemma tried to ease the tension.

  “You weren’t exactly subtle at the airport,” Pang snorted.

  “We got you on facial rec at one of the flight changes,” Heidi said. “We were waiting for you inside the airport terminal, but that never happened. It was relatively easy to follow you here.”

  “There is only one main road,” Jemma admitted.

  “So what now?” Bodie asked. “We fight like old mortal enemies on the edge of this active volcano? You gonna try to kill me, Pang?”

  “It’s not off the agenda,” Pang said.

  “Believe him,” Heidi said. “The only thing on his mind is bringing you in. Dead or alive doesn’t matter.”

  “But don’t give up too easily,” Pang said. “I want the chance to break some bones first.” He cracked his knuckles.

  Bodie eyed the man warily. Cassidy, who was probably the only one who could seriously take the CIA agent on, moved closer. “I won’t kill you,” she said. “But I will shoot you in the leg. Think about how that’d affect your career, asshole.”

  Heidi threw out an elbow at Bodie. Not expecting it, he staggered as pain exploded in his right ear. Heidi stepped into Cassidy and wrenched her gun arm toward the floor.

  Pang leapt at Yasmine, the Moroccan blocking his blows and fending him off.

  Bodie whirled and physically forced himself not to attack Heidi.

  Cassidy threw her shoulder point blank into Heidi’s face and then pulled her arm free. Heidi was left staring into the barrel of a gun.

  “You’re not gonna shoot me,” Heidi said.

  “But I might.” The third man stepped forward, training a handgun on them all. The main thing that Bodie worried about was how much the hand, and thus the gun, was shaking. The bullet could go anywhere.

  “Now, now, Butcher,” Pang said, waving at him to stand down. “We’ve got this. Put that gun down before you drop it.”

  “You’ve got this?” Lucie said. “I don’t think you do.”

  They all turned. Lucie stood at a slightly higher elevation, foliage at her back. She was holding the assault rifle they’d taken from the airport, the barrel pointed at Pang.

  “You don’t k
now how to use that,” Pang muttered.

  “Wanna test me?”

  The air turned a shade thicker, a touch hotter. Bodie breathed heavily but not through weariness. This was all mental strain. How long it would have gone on for, Bodie never knew because another sound intruded.

  The heavy whump of rotors slicing the air.

  Bodie’s eyes flew up. The clear blue skies were empty no longer. Two choppers had flown in from the ocean and were hovering over the caldera. Bodie saw a flash of light and realized they were being hunted by enemies with powerful scopes.

  “Down,” he hissed.

  Even Pang hit the floor hard. “Don’t move,” he said. “They’ll pick you off.”

  Bodie didn’t fully comply but crawled further into the surrounding foliage.

  One of the helicopters drifted directly above them, the second moving to the far end of the caldera. The noise was deafening, the wash from the rotor blades whipping at leaves and branches, and sending up a spray of dirt and grit.

  “Just skimming through,” Pang said. “Hoping to catch you guys, I think.”

  “Which means they’ve already secured their sample,” Lucie said.

  Bodie tended to agree with Pang but stayed silent. The less they moved, the more chance they stood of surviving.

  As the chopper drifted past, he saw men sitting in the doorways armed with machine guns and assumed, if they were spotted, that their enemies wouldn’t even bother landing.

  They’d strafe the ground with volley after volley, uncaring who else they hurt.

  “There’s another problem,” Lucie said, her voice barely audible above the chopper’s roar. “If they’ve acquired their ore they know where the fissure is...”

  “And we’re lying right next to it?” Heidi finished.

  “See,” Cassidy said. “She’s not just a dumb frizzbomb after all.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Yasmine led the way, turning to the east and crawling as fast as she could through the undergrowth. She stayed low and moved steadily, trying to put some distance between them and the fissure. Lucie was a pace behind and then Jemma. Bodie brought up the rear along with their CIA rivals.

  It was an odd prospect. Crawling to safety along with the people who’d come to apprehend them. Thankfully, the foliage was thick and plentiful here at this side of the caldera, and enabled them to push their way east and gradually ascend at the same time.

  It was rough, sticky going. Their knees screamed in pain, along with the palms of their hands as they struck rocks, thorns, grit and other sharp objects. Sweat dripped from their brows, and filth coated their clothes and faces.

  Three minutes later, they were forced to huddle together in a ditch as the second helicopter drifted over their route. They were no longer following the fissure but were still only two hundred yards to the east of it.

  Bodie crouched close to Heidi. “How’ve you been?” he said after a moment, trying to find some way of breaking the ice.

  She glared and shook her head. He’d expected that reaction but hoped for something better.

  Pang was lying beside Cassidy and looking extremely uncomfortable. Above, a nightmarish black shape blocked out the sky.

  It took another thirty seconds to move on. Yasmine started crawling again as Bodie checked his watch.

  “That’s about four minutes they’ve been here,” he said. “Surely they’ll move away soon.”

  “You don’t know what they’ve told the local authorities,” Pang said as if speaking from experience. “Could be they’ve arranged special clearance from an inside man. Could be they’ve said they’re chasing an escaped fugitive.” He eyed Bodie. “Essentially true. I mean, they could even have come up here under the disguise of a geological survey and broken the guns out after they set off.”

  Unfortunately, Bodie knew Pang was right. On the other hand, he couldn’t see them hanging around for too long.

  “They’re descending,” Jemma said. “Heads down.”

  Bodie watched both helicopters as they crept further toward the ground. The engine noise increased, their ominous black shapes jabbing his nerves with hard anticipation. They were sitting ducks down here and could be picked off by guns in a matter of seconds.

  Their only viable option was to remain still.

  Cassidy still held her gun. Lucie had passed hers to Yasmine when they started the escape. The assault rifle was strapped over the Moroccan’s back. There was nothing to do but wait and see what happened next.

  One of the choppers roared out of sight, the other banked so that its spotters could see better. They were positioned directly over the fissure, peering down so hard they might have been trying to see through the rock to its volcanic core.

  “Don’t move.” Bodie gritted his teeth.

  It was hell on his nerves. The helicopter roared and threw up plumes of dust and vegetation. But then, through it all, Bodie heard a new sound: angry voices.

  He couldn’t look up but knew it must have something to do with the tourists that were undoubtedly being pelted and showered with all manner of debris along the rim and inside the cauldron-like hollow, and maybe the rangers that protected the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park. Tension would be high inside the choppers too.

  Lying prone, Bodie felt helpless. He was ready to act in an instant but knew the best course of action was to lie absolutely still.

  The seconds dripped by like thick treacle falling off a spoon. A minute passed.

  The second helicopter returned, assaulting his senses with another deafening roar. Bodie’s spine itched. At any moment, he knew, they could be spotted and picked off. The mercenaries in their helicopters might have identified them and even now be lining them up, laughing and taking bets on which target they’d blow to bits first.

  By the time the choppers lifted away, the noise of their roaring rotor blades lessening, Bodie had lost all track of time. Conscious that the withdrawal might be a trick to flush them out, he waited, unmoving.

  Someone on Pang’s team was the first to move.

  “Butcher,” Pang hissed angrily. “Stay still, you fool.”

  “They’re practically gone.”

  “Move again and I’ll break your arm.”

  Bodie turned his head, looking at the newcomer properly for the first time. Clearly, Butcher was green, new to the field, but must possess other attributes that Pang needed. Just as obvious though, Pang was a loner and cared about nothing beyond the completion of his mission.

  “Come over to our side,” he told Butcher just to annoy Pang. “We’re not wankers like this guy.”

  Pang bared his teeth at him. “We found you,” he hissed with the barest hint of a malevolent grin. “We got you.”

  A sense of stillness returned to the caldera and soon all they could hear were the still-angry voices of tourists and, from far away, the sound of a man speaking into his phone. Options sped through Bodie’s brain like fast cars.

  Pang was staring at him, gauging him.

  For now, everyone remained immobile, lying on their stomachs.

  Bodie wasn’t going down without a fight. Pang knew it. His hand was already inching toward the handgun holstered at his hip. Pang was all Bodie could see.

  And then the whole place erupted.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Pang leapt at Bodie, a crabbing, lunging attack that seemed to come out of nowhere. One second Pang was immobile, the next he was close enough to touch.

  The thought went through Bodie’s mind—even as he sought to defend himself: Pang could have drawn his weapon much faster.

  But he wanted a fight.

  Bodie covered up. Pang jabbed at him, aiming for the ribs and stomach. Pang rose to one knee. Bodie managed to draw his boot up and kick out, catching one of Pang’s arms. Bodie scrambled away, trying to create some space between them but Pang was after him like a predator that had just locked in its favorite meal.

  Blows flew at him, left and right, directed to Bodie’s head. It was ho
t and sweaty and all close contact. Pang was in his element.

  Bodie’s vision was full, his concentration absolute. He had no idea what was happening to the others.

  Pang didn’t relent, attacking easily and competently. Bodie defended some blows, but others found a target, punishing his body from head to groin. Pang was a hard, dirty fighter who followed the “anything goes” mantra. It was only when he stumbled that Bodie got a chance to hit back.

  He kicked out, caught Pang on the shins and then launched himself at the CIA agent, landing atop him. Hot dust swirled up around them. Pang’s hands and arms were slick. Bodie tried to pin him down. Pang rolled first one way and then the other, and then heaved Bodie aside with incredible momentum and strength.

  Bodie gasped and coughed but managed to climb to his feet.

  “You’re mine,” Pang grunted.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Orders.” Pang rushed in.

  Bodie finally had an opening, something learned from the old days. A thief always needed a trick or two. As Pang closed in, Bodie sidestepped and pushed out. Pang slipped past him and then staggered headlong down a steep bank, landing amid a tangle of trees.

  Bodie gave him the finger. “You lost focus, pal. Better luck next time.”

  Pang roared, struggling amid the tangled foliage. The lull gave Bodie the opportunity to assess the rest of the fight.

  His mouth fell open in shock.

  There was no fight. Butcher was in Yasmine’s arms, the big gun pressed into his back. Heidi was staring from Butcher to Yasmine and then to Cassidy, who stood threateningly at Heidi’s side. It was clear neither woman wanted to tussle, but it occurred to Bodie that it might be an interesting fight.

  Cassidy’s handgun remained holstered at her side.

  Bodie backtracked to the main group, but couldn’t take his eyes off Heidi. “Honestly,” he said. “I don’t know what to say. I could explain, but...”

  “Explain why you left me with that freak? To be coerced into hunting you down? Stalking my teammates across the globe isn’t my idea of fun.”