The Four Corners of the Earth (Matt Drake Book 16)

by David Leadbeater

  His chest moved toward the drop, sliding inexorably. His eyes met Kenzie’s, staring up. Their exchange was wordless, expressionless but profound.

  You should let me go.

  Not a chance.

  He hauled once more, only to slip past the point of no return.

  Strong hands clamped down onto both of his calves, hands that could only belong to Mano Kinimaka.

  “Gotcha,” the Hawaiian said. “You guys ain’t going nowhere.”

  The Hawaiian steadied Dahl and then slowly dragged him back from the drop. Dahl kept tight hold of Kenzie. Together, they inched toward safety.

  Above, the choppers plunged for a final time.

  *

  Drake knew Kinimaka had firm hold of his friends, but still didn’t dare to swerve the bus too sharply. The Russians and Chinese were coming in hard from different directions, no doubt aware this would be their final pass.

  The sound of windows being smashed told him the others weren’t standing idle. They had a plan.

  Behind, Alicia, Smyth, Mai, Hayden and Yorgi each took a window on separate sides of the bus and smashed it through. Targeting the oncoming choppers, they laid down a spread of fire that forced them to quickly veer away. The tree line ended and Drake saw buildings ahead.

  A network of roads, a roundabout. Gunfire resounded behind him, filling the bus; the black choppers lifted away into the skies.

  He sighed with relief.

  “We survive,” he said. “To fight another day.”

  Lauren interrupted. “The Swedes have pulled back too,” she said. “But I’m still getting a kind of ghosting on the signal. Something between DC, the field and me. It’s odd. Almost as if ... as if ...”

  “What?” Drake asked.

  “As if there’s another set of communications going on. Something else at play. Another ...” she hesitated.

  “Team?” Drake finished.

  Hayden grumbled out loud. “That sounds ludicrous.”

  “I know,” Lauren replied. “I really do, and I’m no expert. If only Karin were here, we’d have something better, I’m sure.”

  “Can you catch any dialogue?” Hayden asked. “Even a little?”

  Drake recalled the earlier mention of SEAL Team 7, heard only by Dahl and himself. It occurred to him again that all communications were being monitored.

  “Can we shelve it for now?” he asked. “And find us the best way out of here?”

  Lauren sounded relieved. “Sure, sure,” she said. “Give me a minute.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Hayden Jaye waited several hours until the team were safe, stuffed into a small satellite safe house in Taiwan, before leaving the cramped space to make a call.

  Her objective: contacting Kimberly Crowe.

  It took a while, but Hayden persevered. She found a quiet corner around the back of the house, crouched down, and waited, trying to keep her head from spinning. It was hard to find something permanent in her life, something to cling to, outside the team. SPEAR had become her life, her reason for living and, as a consequence of that, she simply had no personal bonds, nothing outside of work. She thought back through the whirlwind of adventures they’d shared—from the Odin thing and the Gates of Hell, all the way through Babylon and Pandora, the nuke that almost decimated New York City, her old break up with Ben Blake and her recent split from Mano Kinimaka. She was strong, too strong. She didn’t need to be that strong. The most recent incident with the Inca treasures in Peru had affected her both mentally and physically. Never before had she been so rocked to her core.

  Now, she quietly reevaluated. Bridges may have been burned, and that had to be fine. But if she did want to change, if she wanted more in her life, she had to be damn sure before taking the plunge and risking hurting anyone ever again. Be that Mano, or anyone else.

  I care. I really do. And next time, I need to be sure that I’m being true to what I ultimately want.

  Out of life. Not out of work. The SPEAR team gelled and worked well, but nothing lasted forever. A time would come—

  “Miss Jaye?” a robotic voice said. “I’m putting you through now.”

  Hayden pulled it together. The next voice on the line belonged to the Secretary of Defense.

  “What’s the problem, Agent Jaye?” Curt, quiet, detached. Crowe sounded on edge.

  Hayden had taken the time to figure out how to phrase her main question. She’d decided to bury it in bullshit and see what Crowe picked up on.

  “We’re out of China and have secured the second box. The team is checking it out now. Reports soon, no doubt. No casualties, though plenty of cuts and bruises. Not all of the opposing teams are hostile ...” She let that hang for second, wondering if Crowe might bite, then went on: “Some countries are more aggressive than other. The French lost at least three. One Russian wounded. Could there be another, more covert team along? We’ve heard snatches of furtive American chatter, which proves nothing, of course. The Brits are on our side, at least they appear to be and Drake has some sway with them. We’re now in a safe house awaiting the think tank to figure out the location of the third Horseman.”

  Now she stopped, and waited.

  Crowe kept her reserve. “Anything else?”

  “I don’t believe so.” Hayden felt disappointment as her efforts came to nothing. She wondered if she should be more direct.

  “I am in constant contact with the DC people,” Crowe said. “It isn’t necessary to keep me informed.”

  “Ah, okay. Thank you.”

  Hayden started to sign off. It was only then that Crowe sent a seemingly innocent word of enquiry down the line.

  “Wait. You said you thought somebody might be impersonating Americans? Out in the field?”

  Hayden hadn’t said anything of the sort. But from all that pertinent information Crowe had picked up on only one thing. She forced a laugh. “It appears so. We heard it on the ground.” She kept Lauren’s involvement out of it. “Of course, we know there’s no second team so maybe it’s one of the other countries using ex-US Spec-ops, or even mercenaries.”

  “A fringe foreign government element using United States’ personnel?” Crowe hissed. “Could be, Agent Jaye. You may be right. Of course,” she laughed, “there’s no second team.”

  Hayden listened to more than words. “And when we return? What do we return to?”

  Crowe was silent, which told Hayden she knew exactly what was being asked. “One thing at a time,” she eventually said. “The Order’s so-called Horsemen must be found and neutralized first.”

  “Of course.” Hayden also knew this was her last chance to talk directly with Crowe, so took it a little further. “And if we hear the American chatter again?”

  “What am I—a field agent? Deal with it.”

  Crowe killed the call, leaving Hayden to stare hard at the cellphone screen for several minutes, now not only reevaluating herself, but the intentions of her country too.

  *

  Drake took the chance to relax whilst Yorgi, Mai and Kinimaka dealt with the new box. The fact that it came from Genghis Kahn’s mausoleum and had lain among the legendary figure’s personal possessions only added to the reverence with which they handled it. The clear, repugnant symbol on the top proved that it once belonged to the Order of the Last Judgment.

  Kinimaka studied the lock. “I’m sure the Order once had a plan to hand out keys,” he said. “But life got in the way.” He smiled.

  “Death,” Mai said quietly. “Death got in the way.”

  “Want me to finesse it open?” Yorgi asked.

  “Yeah, let’s see some of those thiefy skills, Yogi.” Alicia spoke up, sitting with her back against a wall at Drake’s side, water bottle in one hand, pistol in the other.

  “No point.” Kinimaka snapped the lock with a meaty paw. “It ain’t exactly art.”

  Kenzie crawled over as Mai lifted the lid. It was an odd scenario, Drake thought, soldiers crammed into a tiny room with nowhere to sit and nowhere
to communicate from, or make food. Just a mini-fridge packed full with water, and a few boxes of biscuits. The windows were draped, the door massively barred. The carpet was worn, threadbare, and smelled of mold but the soldiers had experienced worse. It was good enough to get some rest.

  Hayden was let back in by Smyth, who guarded the door, entering just as Mai reached inside the box. Drake thought the boss looked worn and worried, on edge. Hopefully, later, she would elaborate on her conversation.

  Mai shuffled around for a few seconds before pulling her hands out. She held a thick wad of papers covered by a thick binder and secured by a knotty length of twine, which made some members of the team raise their eyebrows.

  “Really?” Kinimaka sat back on his haunches. “This is a weapon that could endanger the world?”

  “The written word,” Kenzie said, “can be pretty powerful.”

  “What is it?” Lauren asked. “We have all the DC guys waiting.”

  Time continued to work against them. As ever, it was the key to staying ahead of the game and in particular—the race. Drake saw two ways of moving forward. “Mai, Hayden and Dahl, why don’t you figure out what that is? Lauren—what do you have on the third Horseman, since we’re gonna need a direction to head toward?”

  Lauren had already told them she would meet them at the third location. Now, she sighed audibly. “Well, nobody is 100 percent sure, guys. To put you in the picture I’m gonna have to run you through their interpretation of the four corners of the earth.”

  Drake watched Mai and the others frowning their way through the weapon of Conquest. “We have time.”

  “Well, it is really interesting. Before the discovery of the so-called New World in the sixteenth century it was believed the earth was divided into three parts—Europe, Asia and Africa. The division between these continents was the Hellespont, which nicely integrates with the Order’s plan that you’ve been following so far. So, Asia began beyond the Hellespont, an unknown land of exotic riches they called the Orient. Of course, later they found America and it then became the New World, desirable, unexplored and laden with promise. A book of emblems was published, depicting the new four corners of the world. Asia, Europe, Africa and America. It seems the Order decided to assimilate this ancient thinking into their map for unknown reasons—though probably because they still considered themselves all-powerful, relic-hunting patriarchs.” Lauren took a breath.

  “So it’s a re-education of the world, which happened again when they found Australia, and then Antarctica?” Kenzie said.

  “Yes, a gradual re-education through the ages which, some think, is still happening. But that’s an entirely different story. It hasn’t all been happiness and roses. The phrase, the four corners of the earth, has been possibly the most controversial expression in history. In Hebrew it is translated to extremity. In Numbers 15:38, it’s borders; in Ezekiel, corners; and in Job, ends. It can also be translated as divisions. Obviously the Bible left itself open to ridicule right there ...”

  Drake got it. “Because it suggests the world is flat?”

  “Yeah. But the Bible covered that in Isaiah, calling it a sphere. So, a deliberate reference. The point is they could have used any number of words—about a dozen—to describe a corner. It is believed the word extremity was used intentionally, to convey, well, exactly that. And no Jew could ever possibly misinterpret the true meaning since for 2000 years they have faced the city of Jerusalem three times a day and chanted: ‘Sound the great trumpet for our freedom. Raise the banner for gathering our exiles, and gather us together from the four corners of the earth into our own land.’”

  “So they didn’t just pick the phrase at random?” Smyth asked.

  “No. The book of Isaiah explains how the Messiah shall gather his people from the four corners of the earth. From every extremity, they shall gather in Israel.”

  Kenzie didn’t move a muscle nor say a word. Drake had no clue as to her religious beliefs, if she even had any, but knew that nevertheless it would inevitably have been a large part of her life. In that moment he studied her a little more as they waited for Lauren to continue. Dahl’s belief that she was inherently good, and would always come back to her moral heart, was panning out—to a degree. He still saw the edge in her—the lawless edge—but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  At times.

  But you couldn’t have it both ways. And that’s what he saw in Kenzie—a ruthless slayer when they needed one and a struggling soul when they didn’t. For her sake, they had to let her change.

  “It makes sense, of course,” Kinimaka said. “First Africa, then China. So what’s next?”

  Lauren responded immediately. “Yeah, we think the Bible’s meaning was extremities, and so did the Order. They made it hard for whomever came next. According to the text ... well ... I’ll read out the relevant passage: ‘Find the resting places of the Father of Strategy and then the Khagan; the Worst Indian Who Ever Lived and then the Scourge of God. But all is not as it seems. We visited the Khagan in 1960, five years after completion, placing Conquest in his coffin. We found the Scourge who guards the true last judgment. And the only kill code is when the Horsemen arose. The Father’s bones are unmarked. The Indian is surrounded by guns ... ’”

  Drake absorbed it. “The worst Indian that ever lived? And he’s surrounded by guns? Surely, it could be anywhere in India. It’s a country surrounded by guns.”

  “Back when the Order were hiding the Horsemen?”

  Drake thought about it. “Well, yeah, I guess so. What is the third Horseman anyway?”

  “Famine.”

  He let out a long breath and looked over at Alicia. “Couldn’t be Fluffy Princess could it?”

  Alicia waved a hand to and fro. “Maybe. I’ll take it under advisement.”

  Drake stared. “You are freakin’ impossible.”

  “Any preferences?”

  “To what?”

  “Which princess? A girl’s gotta know, you know.”

  He studied his boots. “Well. I always had a thing for Cleopatra. I know she’s not a princess, but ...”

  “A queen? Even better.”

  Lauren was still speaking. “As I said before, the guys and girls are still evaluating which Indian the Order could be referencing. Truth be told, it’s too ambiguous. I mean, even putting yourself in their place, in their time, it could be one of a dozen.”

  “And they’re all surrounded by guns?” Smyth asked.

  “Living in India, yeah. Mostly.”

  “Well, at least we have a destination,” Alicia said.

  Drake looked over to Mai, Hayden and Dahl, who were dealing with the contents of the second box, Conquest.

  “Any luck?”

  Hayden wiggled her hand, signaling they were almost there. She looked up. “It appears to be a plan for a doomsday scenario. Do you remember the linchpin effect? One small event triggers another and another, each one larger?”

  “Chaos theory,” Dahl said. “It is a weapon of conquest and Genghis Kahn was a deep thinker. With this, you could conquer the world.”

  Drake tipped back his water bottle.

  Alicia said: “A domino effect weapon?”

  “Exactly. Like the assassination of Franz Ferdinand led to the star of World War 1. Potentially, this blueprint of rising chaos could start World War 3.”

  “And again,” Drake removed his comms for a moment and spoke quietly, “that’s pretty tricky. Who do we give it to?”

  Everyone stared. It was a valid question. Hayden signaled that he should say no more. He knew Washington and the Secretary of Defense were already unhappy with them, and turned back to wondering about SEAL Team 7.

  Coincidence?

  Not a chance.

  Hayden surveyed the sheets of paper for another few minutes, then shoved them inside her jacket. To the team at large she shrugged to indicate the decision was not yet made and absolutely anything could happen to the unsecured papers.

  Aloud she said, “
We’ll sort this as soon as we can. Right now, we need that third location. Lauren?”

  “I hear you. We’re still waiting.”

  “Now wait a minute,” Kenzie said, the frown on her face from the last ten minutes still clear. “You people say there are four corners of the earth, right?”

  “Well, the Bible mentions it,” Lauren said. “And so have the Order of the Last Judgment.”

  “Well, something’s off. Don’t you see it?”

  Drake blinked, now more confused than ever. Dahl studied Kenzie closely.

  “Perhaps some explanation would help?”

  “The four corners? Africa, Asia, Europe and America.”

  “Sure. That’s what they tell me.”

  Kenzie spread both her arms. “And where is India?”

  Hayden rose to her feet. “Crap, India is a part of the Asian continent.”

  “Which we’ve already dealt with.”

  Lauren was thinking on her feet. “Which leaves only Europe and America,” she said. “Hey guys, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “Probably,” Alicia moaned. “Is your arse numb from sitting on a crappy floor too?”

  “Chicken,” Kinimaka said. “But then I’m always thinking ‘chicken.’”

  “The Order are war criminals from the forties. By the time they concealed the weapons the term ‘native American’ was in use, but they wouldn’t have thought of it that way. They were born in the twenties or earlier, for God’s sake.”

  “Red Indians?” Drake said. “From the Wild West? Bloody hell.”

  “It’s possible,” Lauren said. “That the think tank has been looking in the wrong place.”

  “So who was the worst that ever lived?” Dahl asked.

  “Let me get back to you on that. For now, just get on a plane.”

  Drake wasn’t the only one that stared hard at Hayden.

  Back to America?

  Shit.

  Hayden, in particular, watched Smyth. They had no idea what might have transpired since Peru, or what the authorities were thinking. The soldier, to his credit, immediately began to rise and check his pack.