Uncover Me

by Linda Barlow

  "Nigel is your cousin. Betray him, and you betray our entire family."

  "Nigel's a criminal. He has been for years. He's corrupted you."

  "Be that as it may, blood is thicker than water," Sir Avery said stiffly. "I hope they were paying you well for your betrayal."

  "Nobody's paying him," I cried. I was angry for Nick's sake. I hadn't thought I could hate Nigel any more than I had last night, but the way he was twisting things turned me inside out. "Nick was offered a chance to keep you out of prison and he took it. It was just a matter of time before you'd have been tried and imprisoned."

  The stare Sir Avery gave me was different from anything I'd ever seen before in his eyes. There was hurt there, but even more, there was anger. Maybe his temper was like Nick's. It didn't often erupt, but when it did, he was implacable. Any regard he might briefly have had for me was gone.

  I felt a spasm of grief. How had things gone so wrong? I'd begun to think of Sir Avery as my friend.

  "I'm not interested in your opinion, young woman. There's only one thing I want from you. We're going to the excavations now to shoot those photographs. That much use, at least, you shall be to us."

  We argued with him. But Sir Avery would not listen. He paid no attention to Nick's warnings that he'd better get the hell off the island today. "I'm not leaving until the site is secured and those photographs taken," he vowed. "I've sunk all my savings into this venture and I'm going to sell those pieces if I can. The dig will be closed and the cavern will be sealed. When this unpleasantness has blown over, I'll return to the island and continue my search for the treasures of Troy."

  "You're a stubborn old fool," Nick was driven to proclaim. "You'll find no treasures of Troy from a Turkish prison."

  Sir Avery ignored him.

  "What are you going to do with us when you've finished sealing up the cavern?" Nick demanded of his grandfather as Nigel bound his hands behind his back, taking pleasure, it seemed to me, in jerking the cords so tight that Nick's face whitened.

  "Nigel has suggested shooting you."

  "I don't believe you're cruel enough to murder me." He paused, glancing at his cousin. "Or to permit anyone else to do so."

  The cold in depths of my stomach seemed to be spreading throughout my body. I was certain he wouldn't hesitate to murder Nick if he ever got the chance.

  "For myself I don't give a damn," Nick added. "But Ellie's been an innocent bystander, from beginning to end. It isn't right for your wrath to fall upon her head."

  "How noble," Nigel cut in. "Do what you will with me, but spare the lady? Too bad you didn't think about her welfare before kidnapping the girl and forcing her to gratify your lusts."

  I think Nick would have hit him again then, if he hadn't been bound. As it was, there was little he could do except seethe with emotions he was no longer making any effort to control.

  It was Sir Avery who calmed things down by saying, "Neither of you will be harmed. We'll leave you on the island—you, Ellie and your friend Metin. Your yacht will be disabled. No doubt you'll have the wherewithal to survive here until your friends come to the rescue."

  This seemed odd to me. Weren't they afraid that, once rescued, Nick would be able to provide the authorities with enough evidence to nail them? How long did they imagine they could keep this illegal operation running?

  I was trying to remember exactly what we had said last night in the cabin. They wouldn't have learned much about Nick's real intentions from any prior recordings, since I hadn't known myself. And he had broached the idea of me pretending to submit to Nigel in our room here in the compound, not on the boat. I knew he hadn't told me everything last night. I'd brooded over how closed off he could be, but now I was glad he had spoken so little about his plans. Apparently the crooks didn't know that they were about to be rounded up by the Turkish authorities or Interpol or whoever Nick had been working with. That was something he hadn't fully disclosed to me.

  I wondered how soon the reinforcements were going to get here. Maybe not soon enough.

  Within the hour, surrounded by Nigel and half a dozen armed and hostile men, we were marched to the site of the excavations. Several of the laborers were already there, packing up. They were all Nigel's crew.

  At the low entrance to the cavern, I hesitated. The dread in my belly seemed to be going round and around, up and down, like an out-of-control roller coaster car. Descending into a hole in the mountain was my nightmare. I was prodded forward by a jab in between my shoulders from Nigel's rifle. My hands had not been bound—I was carrying my camera equipment. But they were shaking.

  "Easy," Nick whispered. "I'll be right beside you, and it'll be over soon."

  The cave's entrance was hidden behind a thick slab of stone that melted seamlessly into the cliff face. It was just a small hole, and we had to crawl to enter, but once inside we could stand—or rather, stoop. A narrow passage led to a large inner chamber. The uneven rock floor of this passage sloped downward at a sharp angle, and not even the light of half a dozen powerful flashlights was sufficient to ensure safe footing. I stumbled once and felt Nick steady me with his body. But my stomach kept churning and my palms were damp.

  "Hurry it up," Nigel growled, prodding us again from behind. The passage turned to the right and widened. The ceiling rose higher, until at last we were able to stand erect. We rounded a massive stalagmite and entered the central chamber.

  I looked about me in awe. The roof of the cavern now vaulted over our heads, and the air smelled fresh, even sweet. The chamber was like a natural cathedral, and it was not as pitch-black here as it had been in the entry passage.

  The ceiling, which must have been close to twenty feet high, was encrusted with stalactites that hung down like monster icicles. Somewhere in the highest part of the dome was a narrow fissure through which a sliver of sunlight poured. Relief flooded me. The light was not enough to aid in my photography, nor could one see into the corners of the chamber without the aid of a flashlight, but we could see objects and people's faces. The fissure lessened my feelings of being trapped. My muscles slowly began to untense. I'd been braced for a claustrophobia attack, but now I believed I could keep the panic at bay. At least for a little while.

  I studied the cavern's contents. The first thing I noticed was the statue I'd seen Nick filch from the western coast of Turkey. It had been removed from its crate and posed erect near the center of the chamber, as if on exhibit.

  Such was also the case with the other artifacts, which consisted of several large statues, some temple pillars and friezes, an early Christian stone altar and a baptismal font. These were too bulky to transport unless careful precautions had been taken in advance—costly precautions that Nigel wouldn't bother with until each item was sold.

  "Okay, let's get started," Nigel ordered. "I don't want to kill the whole day."

  At my direction, the workmen set up lights and reflectors. When Nigel expressed annoyance at the length of time it took me to get the lights into the correct position for each shot, I turned on him, saying, "Unless you want dark shadows distorting the artifact in each picture, you'll allow me to work at my own speed."

  While I worked, Nick's hands were untied, and he was forced, at gunpoint, to help move some of the smaller items out of the cave, where Sir Avery's men transferred them to Nigel's boat.

  It was well after noon by the time we were finished. I was tired, hungry and thirsty. The workmen had eaten lunch, but nothing had been offered to Nick and me except a can of warm beer, which we had shared. I'd done my best work, despite the adverse circumstances. I took pride in my art and could not bring myself to do anything less.

  After taking my final shot, I informed Nigel that I was ready to leave.

  "Fine," he said genially. "We are ready, too. Bring him over here, please," he said to Sinan, who, with the help of one or two other men, had once again bound Nick's arms behind his back.

  "Now what?" said Nick, sounding bored. "We've done your dirty work. If you really e
xpect to make good your escape, I suggest we close this place up and get the fuck out."

  "That's precisely what I intend to do. Unfortunately for you and your girlfriend, you won't be joining us."

  "Why not?" I asked. My stomach had turned to ice.

  "You're going to kill us." Nick's voice was expressionless.

  "You leave me no choice." Nigel relieved me of my camera with all the photos I'd shot. "I'm afraid I can't tolerate the idea of your spilling everything you know to the authorities."

  "Granddad will never allow it. You'd best follow the original plan and make your escape while you still can."

  "He won't even know," Nigel said coolly. He then nodded to one of his men, who was standing a few feet away from me. I realized that the guy was reaching for his rifle, which was leaning up against the cavern wall. He slowly moved it into firing position, bringing the barrel up in my direction.

  I'd always wondered what I would do if I actually faced my death. Freeze? Shake? Cry?

  Turned out I didn't even think about it. My body acted faster than I could process the threat. I ducked and ran, weaving to make myself a more difficult target. Not that I expected to escape. But I wasn't going to stand there numbly and take a bullet.

  Behind me, Nick bellowed and exploded into action.

  Chapter 37

  NICK

  Something detonated inside me. Ellie charged toward the exit, but she could not outrun a bullet. "Down, Ellie," I screamed, and she obeyed, flinging herself to the ground as I attacked, driven not by thought but by the reflexes I'd drilled into her.

  They'd made a mistake in neglecting to bind my ankles. Moving onto the balls of my feet, I channeled my energy and leapt at the dude about to shoot my girl, knocking his weapon out of his hands and kicking it away. I kneed him in the groin, and then stepped back and kicked him in the head. He crumpled, went down hard and didn't get up. Ellie scuttled away from the action. Since no one else was immediately threatening her, I turned on Nigel, screaming like a banshee, and bull-charged him.

  I was kicking him, too, feet flying, trying to get him in the same sore spots where I had struck him the previous night, but by then his thugs had started to move. Besides Nigel, there were two of them. I had already taken out the third. Not good odds, especially with my hands bound.

  Fuck it. I was going to see how many of the bastards I could take down with me. I got one more, kicking him in the balls and putting him at least temporarily out of the action. But Nigel and Sinan, his chief lieutenant, jumped me and beat me to the ground. "Hold him," Nigel growled, and I saw the unholy light in his blue eyes as I was dragged to my knees. Sinan pulled my head back by the hair so the asshole could personally send his fist into my already-swollen jaw.

  "You bastard," Nigel muttered between a series of coarser expletives. "I can't tell you how long I've waited for this day." He hit me in the ribs and belly, and then kicked me in the side as I sagged to the rough floor of the cave. The kicks kept coming, but I kept fighting. Fuck the pain. I had to stay alive to protect Ellie. That was all I could think of as I struggled. I refused to admit that I was going to lose this fight. Not until something struck me in the head and my vision dimmed did I realize I might not get up again.

  "Stop hurting him or I'll shoot."

  It was Ellie's voice, clear and high, speaking Turkish. It took a second for me—and everyone else—to process what must have happened. But the sound of a gun firing—it caused an echo to bounce around the walls of the cave—got their attention. The beating stopped.

  I managed to prop myself up on one bruised elbow, and through blurry eyes I could see that she had grabbed the rifle dropped by the asshole who had been about to shoot her. She'd fired it once at the floor of the cave—dust was rising from the spot—and she was now pointing it in what looked like a competent grip at Nigel. She said, "What kind of a coward would kick a man when his hands are tied behind his back?"

  "Are you okay, Ellie?" I gasped, trying to get my breath.

  "I'm just peachy."

  "Shoot him," I said, wishing I could do it myself. I doubted she would obey that order, though. And, unfortunately, Ellie wasn't the only one with a gun. Nigel jerked my wretchedly weak body against his legs and put his own pistol to the side of my head.

  "The question is, can your bullet hit me before I pull the trigger?"

  "Fucking shoot him," I said. If she didn't, Nigel would kill us both anyway.

  "How good a shot are you?" Nigel said, still sounding calm. He was every kind of evil bastard, but he was not a coward. "Because I can't miss."

  Ellie kept her cool, too—so much so that I was fucking proud of her. I'd known she was kick-ass almost from the first moment we'd met, but this was above and beyond. "Just take your men and get out of here," she said. "You go your way and we'll go ours."

  I felt Nigel hesitate. He wanted to kill me. I think he'd probably wanted to kill me for years.

  But he didn't want to die.

  "Deal," he said. He snapped an order for his companions to leave the cavern. Muttering, the ones I hadn't managed to take down began to do so, dragging the unconscious asshole who had aimed his rifle at her with them. The screaming-testicles dude managed to stagger out by himself, one hand between his legs. Ellie kept her sights trained on Nigel even after he lifted his weapon away from my skull. I was barely conscious, and the pain of the beating was beginning to hit as my adrenaline ebbed. Nigel must have played the odds and figured that Ellie wouldn't shoot him now that he had agreed.

  The thing was, I knew Nigel couldn't be trusted to keep a deal. I knew it, but I felt like a ragdoll, and there was nothing I could do.

  But incredibly, Nigel seemed to be leaving. Ellie kept the rifle on him and stayed far enough away from him herself that he couldn't attack her and knock it out of her hand. She was so amazing and so brave that I wanted to seize her in my arms and hug her hard. Kiss her into oblivion. She had just saved my life.

  When Nigel and the last of his men left the cave, their flashlights vanishing down the short passage that led to the exit, her legs collapsed. She sank to the floor of the cave.

  "Ellie?" I croaked. I felt as if I'd been hit by a bus. My head was throbbing; my ribs were burning, and I hoped I wasn't going to throw up. It was, I decided, a distinct possibility.

  I began to crawl toward her. Fuck me, there was no way I could walk.

  "I'm okay. It's just reaction, or something." She lifted her head, squinting to try to see me. The cave was much darker now that they'd gone and taken the lights. "You're hurt, Nick, don't try to move." She rose and stumbled toward me, but I kept coming. I wanted to be near her. I needed to reassure myself that she was really all right.

  She came to me and untied my hands. We slumped back to the cave floor together. I was still shocked, I think, both by the beating and by the ruthless way Nigel had been ready to murder us. I had no trouble understanding why he wanted me dead—he had hated me since childhood—but her? Even though I knew what he was and had been trying to months to bring him down, it still surprised me to discover he was a cold-blooded killer of innocents.

  I reached for the rifle Ellie had commandeered. No one had expected it of her. Including me. "They might be back," I said, checking the gun to see how much ammunition it had. My fucking hands were shaking. My wrists were deeply scored where the ropes had cut into them. Safe, non-harmful bondage was not something these creeps practiced.

  "I didn't know you could use firearms. That was awesome, what you did, Ellie."

  "I was imitating what I've seen on TV."

  "Seriously? It looked pretty damn authentic."

  "Okay, I've been to the firing range a couple of times," she admitted. "In high school I dated a gun freak. But I might well have missed Nigel if I'd had to fire."

  "I doubt it. He's a big target."

  From just outside the cave came the muffled sounds of shouted directions, muttered curses and some hammering. Ellie and I looked at each other. Her eyes were wet and
there were tears on her cheeks, but I don't think she even knew it. Her jaw stayed firm, strong, and her hands kept touching me gently, as if she couldn't believe I was still with her and that we were still together.

  I felt the same way. By now, I'd expected one or both of us to be eating dirt.

  I lifted the rifle. Fuck. My ribs were hurting. At least one of them was probably broken, given the pain I felt while taking a deep breath.

  "I'd better take it. You don't look so good, Nick." When I hesitated, she added, "Don't worry. I will shoot if I have to. I will kill that goddamn freak if he tries to hurt you again."

  I gave her the gun. We didn't stand much chance if they returned with a higher number of men and more weapons. Nigel had at least two more guys in his crew. They'd been occupied with carrying the loot down to his boat, but he could have called them back.

  While we waited, Ellie scooped up some rocks to use as missiles. She also pulled out a rather pathetic Swiss Army knife from the pack where she had the camera equipment they hadn't taken with them. I wished I had the strength to hug her. She was determined to fight.

  But they didn't come back into the cave. Instead we heard the ominous grating of rock upon rock. I think I realized before she did what they were doing out there.

  More pounding, shouts and creaking. Then we heard Nigel's voice, muted, sounding farther away than it ought to sound:

  "The men and I are leaving now. Not sure if you can hear me, coz. We've moved that boulder at the entrance into its original position, flush against the cliff wall. Now we're sealing it up from the outside in such a manner that it cannot be opened from within.

  "So, unless you're discovered by your friends—which is unlikely, I'm afraid—you will die there. Of perfectly natural causes. No awkward bullet wounds to be explained if your bodies are ever found."