“He survived though as I remember?” Alicia frowned.
Caitlyn shrugged. “Oh yeah, the English knighted him.”
“All that aside,” Crouch spoke up as the others considered Caitlyn’s statement. “The new Panama City was built five miles west of the original city. Today the old town is called Panama La Vieja, essentially Old Panama.”
“How much of the place still stands?” Alicia asked dubiously.
“Not much,” Crouch admitted. “So let’s hope it’s enough.”
Alicia made her face a little glum. “And a fine bloody treasure hunt this is. No gold, no prospects and very little enthusiasm. The only thing we have gained is a lot of bruises.”
Russo shifted in his seat. “Sounds like you’re getting old, Myles.”
Alicia considered his words. “Until a certain age you don’t care about age. But there comes a point when you decide that you want to get old. Understand?”
“No more carefree, live or die, death-defying assaults? You talk like someone that has kids.” Russo turned to her with wide eyes. “You’re not bloody pregnant are you?”
Alicia choked and coughed so hard it hurt her lungs. She couldn’t speak for a minute and then looked up to see four wry grins.
“Oh, bloody funny. Pick on poor Alicia why don’t you.”
Russo made a finger sign in the air as if to say ‘one point’.
Alicia nodded. “That’s two I owe you, Rob.”
The jet banked and started to descend. Within a half hour they had bumped down the runway, tasted the hot air of Panama, and were waiting at customs. The team had brought only their civilian packs for ease and speed of movement, but Crouch knew someone in the city that could help them obtain weaponry. Once clear of the airport the team rented an SUV to take them into the heart of Panama City, threading through the high rises and along the flat, wide roads, taking a route that enabled them to identify any tail. The going was good and Crouch soon told Healey to stop the car whilst he made contact with his local acquaintance. Alicia watched the boss through the recently cleaned windows as he chatted and laughed in the shadows of a warehouse doorway. In essence nothing had changed, but somewhere deep inside a seed of suspicion had been planted. She still had no doubt that Crouch was essentially a good man, but not quite the role model she had imagined.
After a few moments he beckoned toward Healey, and the young solider backed the SUV up to a discreet doorway. Russo climbed out and helped Crouch load a couple of holdalls into the back. Alicia watched the street, the rooftops, all bleached by the sun, the windows that faced their way and the street corners. The area was quiet, which was of course why the dealer had picked it.
They continued without incident, now threading their way through the city and toward the old quarter, now called Casca Viejo. The original city was built on a peninsula, surrounded by the sea and an easily defended wall system.
Alicia settled back until Crouch stopped the car and spoke up. “We should get out here and walk. Play tourist. There are a few ruins back there—” he pointed “—most importantly a sixteenth-century cathedral.”
“And why so important?” Alicia asked.
“Because the pirates spent time there and it was mentioned as a landmark on the map.”
The team exited the car and stepped out into the blazing sunshine. “The Welsh pirate, Henry Morgan,” Crouch said, looking around and sniffing the air as if he might be able to conjure the scent of smoke and gunpowder, “found an end to his pirating days here. I wonder if the English hadn’t recalled him would he have quit anyway?”
“Hard in those days to be a captain and a quitter,” Russo pointed out. “The crew would have lynched him.”
“Good point,” Crouch said. “And what to do with all that treasure?” He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked around. “What indeed?”
Alicia took in their surroundings. Casca Viejo seemed to be a small town with a neatly laid-out collection of buildings, several narrow through roads and sea views to most sides. Crouch input the coordinates to the cathedral on his Android phone and started to follow the resulting blue line and soft-spoken directions. The town appeared quiet, but several people wandered the streets or drove their cars along the roads. Another sleepy place then, just like most they had visited in the last few days.
“All right, I admit,” Alicia said as they walked. “I couldn’t handle all this chilled-out stuff. I’d go nuts.”
Russo joined her at the back of the team. “In some ways it would . . .” He struggled to speak the word, even a simple one. “Help.”
Alicia sensed the big soldier might finally have something to say. “Is the rage so bad?”
“Imagine a matchstick sparking to life. Imagine a pile of tinder set aflame. Then see it spread into a forest fire that engulfs a state. That’s the rage. And you feel it every day.”
“No diminishing?”
“Sometimes.” Russo shrugged slightly. “Depends on the day.”
“When did you first feel it?” She knew it was an important question and one Russo might not want to answer.
“I can’t remember when it wasn’t there.”
Alicia was surprised. “Really? Earliest memory? School?”
“Yeah. A bigger boy decided to bully me. They had to pick his arms and legs up off the floor.” Russo frowned. “Figuratively.”
“And the source?”
Russo was silent for a time. “Ah, I’m not ready for that yet.”
Alicia nodded. “So why now? Why tell me now, I mean?”
“I sense the change in you. Out of all the people I know, you’ll handle the truth best.”
Alicia nodded toward Crouch. “Better than the boss?”
“He wouldn’t understand. You will. And we have the battle trust now.”
Soldiers that faced death together bonded fast. Alicia already felt she could ask Russo anything. The answer, however, might come pricklier than a briar patch but as Russo said—she could handle anything.
“I’ll be ready. But look—is it better to hold it all in, or to just let it go?”
“I understand why you ask that. You’d think venting the rage would make it all easier. But in fact it’s the opposite. Opening the cage only makes it want more.”
“And talking about it?”
“I guess we’ll see.”
Russo moved off, walking up front and saying no more. Alicia took a few moments to study the Gold crew, thinking about how they came together and how well they worked as a team. This quest, with all its disappointments and dead-ends and nasty pieces of work pitted against them was more than testing, more than mystifying, it was a way of building up the team.
Healey strode along beside Caitlyn, the two not touching but clearly wanting to, happy together and less vigilant because of it.
But Alicia watched out for both of them. She studied Crouch too, and wondered if there were more secrets to come. Could there be worse?
It didn’t matter. Because they were a team. When it came down to it, Alicia would risk everything for every one of them. Crouch then stopped up ahead, staring at a row of trees.
Time to go to work.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Alicia found herself entering a pleasant, peaceful area bordered by trees. Well-tended lawns were broken only by a few narrow gravel paths. Low, ruined walls ran everywhere and could have been the remnants of almost anything, but one tall brick tower still stood at the far end of the site.
Alicia stopped. “That’s a cathedral?”
Crouch nodded. “Apparently. Destroyed by an earthquake in 1644. Rebuilt only to be set upon by Morgan—and others—since. Maybe they knew it wasn’t destined for a happy life.”
Alicia studied the single tower with its empty windows and crumbling frames. The top tier was blackened, as if still bearing the stains of the seventeenth-century ravishing, but Alicia knew it couldn’t be so.
Could it?
“Is this site still in use?”
“Only for tourists. I did think there would be more of them around right now, considering the time.”
Alicia guessed mid-afternoon was a good visiting time, but the area was empty. Tranquil, but eerily so as if a four-hundred-year-old ghost had chased everyone away. Crouch stared hard at the cathedral itself.
“I guess we should start there.”
Russo fell in line. “Is this a good time to ask what the script actually said?”
Crouch fished out the map. “Well, as we know this was a bad venture for Morgan and his band of pirates. Missed out on the gold. Arrived starved and desperate after days of being ambushed through the woods. Allegations of torture and still no gold. Then the great fire, which some say was set by Morgan and others that the town’s captain general ordered the gunpowder magazines exploded. Either way, thousands died. And so we come to the ruins of Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion. And so to Morgan: ‘Our woes and our fate and our comeuppance came all at once in the City. Our reward gone, our hearts and heads all ablaze with rage, we blamed the town. And its people. Shame on us. And what recompense we could make, we made at Nuestra. ’ ”
“Ahh,” Healey said. “Now it makes sense. I couldn’t understand the connection between the cutthroat Morgan and a house of God.” He paused. “Except maybe the charring.”
Alicia kept her eyes on their perimeter. “Let’s hope there’s an X this time. Burned into the ground.”
“Amazing it’s stood so long,” Caitlyn said. “And became part of a World Heritage Site.”
Alicia saw a shape flit between the trees. Not the slow meanderings of a tourist, but the quick gait of a man coming closer. The sighting was too quick to make out if he carried a gun, but she reached down for hers.
“Nine o’clock,” she said. “Potential enemy.”
Russo nodded. “And at eight. We’re being watched.”
Crouch folded the map. “We’re twenty feet from the cathedral. Can we make it?”
“If that’s around eight meters,” Healey again showed his youth, this time on purpose, “then I think we can.”
Alicia dropped to one knee and drew her weapon. “Then go,” she muttered. And then, loudly, she called, “Show yourselves, boys. Best to stay on my good side.”
As the team headed rapidly for the dark, open doorway, Alicia saw three men leap out into the open. Instantly, she registered they carried weapons, and opened fire. Distance affected her aim and the bullets shot wide, but still caused enough consternation to give her a little more time.
She backed up, following her team.
Russo spun at the cathedral entrance and squeezed off a few more shots. More men appeared among the trees. Alicia quickly counted five before joining Russo.
“Why an ambush?”
The big soldier shrugged. “Maybe they were waiting for us to find something. Maybe we saw ’em sooner than we should. We need to—”
Crouch’s yell of warning cut him off. “More here!”
“Crap.” Alicia bypassed Russo, leaving him on guard at the door, and headed inside. The cathedral smelled of age and mold, heat and dark places. The alcoves were covered in cobwebs. Steady rays of sunlight beamed through the open windows above, a golden latticework, shot through with dust motes. She could already see the building’s far exit and Crouch leaning against an ancient wall as three men picked themselves up from the floor ahead. They carried shovels and backpacks, flashlights and pistols.
Alicia lined them up. “Hold up. Don’t move.”
Hard faces stared back at her, but nobody moved. The men stood holding their various implements.
Crouch waved his gun at them. “Drop ’em.”
“C’mon, man,” an American voice drawled. “She told us to stay put. Who’s in charge around here? The skirt or the dude?”
Alicia fired a bullet through the gap in between his legs. “Call me a skirt again and the wedding veg come off.”
The grim exterior suddenly became a pale wreck. “Um, yeah, no worries . . .”
Crouch emerged as the men clearly recalculated. It was unlucky then that, from another alcove, a gun appeared.
Alicia shouted. Healey, behind her, fired. The distraction gave the three diggers chance to make their moves. Healey’s bullet glanced off the brick wall, sending sharp shards into the owner of the gun and forcing him to drop it. Alicia shot into the body mass of the first digger as he drew a weapon and the other two leapt away, dragging their packs after them.
Russo shouted down the short passageway. “We may have a problem here.”
Alicia grunted. “We ain’t exactly chatting over tea and biscuits, Rob.”
“Yeah? Do they have anti-tank missiles?”
She stayed calm. “Oh, I don’t know, let me ask one of them.”
Her bullet missed by millimeters.
Crouch was staring at her, clearly concerned and shocked. “Looks like Jensen’s following up on what he said. He now wants us as badly as he wants the treasure.”
“Shit.”
Alicia waved Healey and Caitlyn past and into cover and then paced back down toward Russo and the cathedral entrance. Staying flat against the wall, she peered out. She counted eight now, two of whom carried rocket launchers. The rest looked to be toting the usual collection of AKs and H&Ks but she thought she spied several hand grenades too.
“Looks like Jensen has access to the proper hardware after all.”
“So now you believe me?”
“Oh stop panicking. It’s only a fucking rocket launcher. We’ve faced far worse.”
“Only . . .” Russo shook his head. “Shit, Myles, what the hell is it like to be inside your head?”
“Not as much fun as being inside my pants. But hey, we’ll save that for later.” Alicia considered trying to pick off the RPG-carrying men, but couldn’t be certain what their orders might be. Fire if fired upon? And there were other men who might pick the weapons up. She held off, watching their progress.
“You think they set this up as an ambush?”
Russo grunted. “Had to be. Jensen knew we’d come and they’re prepared. I just wonder what his overall aim is. Aren’t we at the final clue?”
“Looks like he’s given up on Morgan’s booty. And now he’s after ours.”
Alicia watched the approaching men and read their patterns. Soon they would come within an acceptable range. Behind, shots rang out and Crouch yelled for the enemy to stand down. Only a volley of gunfire greeted his call.
“See you on the other side, Robster.”
Surprisingly, she ran out into the open, gun up, but she knew what she was doing. One of the low, ruined walls afforded good cover and it gave her and Russo a much better line of sight. She skidded in, dropping low and kept her head down as a salvo of bullets smashed into the old bricks. The grass was bone dry and emanated an earthy smell this close to her nose. With an eye on Russo she waited for his nod, then inched her head up and carefully squeezed off three rounds. One man fell dead. Another twisted, wounded in the shoulder. She ducked as men returned fire, but then Russo opened up and felled another.
Already they were down to five and one wounded.
Alicia rolled further down the length of the wall. Russo signaled that a man was running at her but then had to duck inside as men turned weapons upon him. She slithered a bit further and then rose, gun aimed steady.
She experienced a shock. The man coming for her at full pelt held one of the grenade launchers and it was loaded. Before Alicia could do anything, he loosed the missile at the place she had originally been. Alicia had seconds to roll even further, then tucked her body into the fetal position, hugging the wall as closely as possible. An explosion rocked the entire site. A plume of black earth and shattered brick blasted past the side of the cathedral.
Alicia still gripped her gun, and felt the blast wave pass by. The direction of the explosion was at a right-angle to her, so none of the deadly debris came close. But earth, grass and fragments of brick soon began to rain down.
In the midst of it, Alicia rose and fired hard into the mass of her attacker. The rocket launcher flew high and he flew straight back, blood erupting from his chest. Behind him came another man, this one toting a rifle, and Alicia took him down with a single headshot.
Three remaining, one wounded.
Alicia ducked once more, head pounding and ears ringing from the explosion. The shattered earth lay to her right, a black swathe of destruction delved from the cathedral’s hallowed grounds. She wondered briefly if Jensen was there and where he might be hiding.
A thought occurred.
Then, Crouch and the others came sprinting out of the cathedral. Alicia hesitated, caught between necessities, but her team came first. Crouch was already seeking her out.
“Lots more of them round back,” he shouted, face scared. “Too many.”
Healey followed, pushing Caitlyn hard. Bullets fizzed past them, striking brick and stone, and blasting through empty air. So many impact dust plumes sprang up that a gray cloud swirled through the air. Russo, forced out of cover, joined the wild sprint, now all out of options.
Alicia felt a blast of desperation. No way could they all sprint like that together and not take a bullet. It was a matter of seconds, a wild card race. She could only guess at how many mercs gave chase, but she knew it was a damn sight too many.
Without a moment’s hesitation, without any doubt, she put the team first. Lunging over the wall, she kicked the dead merc aside and hauled up his missile launcher. A man fired at her and she returned the bullet with her left hand, hefting the metal tube with her right.
Then she dropped her own gun, wrenched a grenade out of the merc’s backpack and loaded the launcher.
She sighted on the ancient cathedral.
And pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Crouch, Healey, Caitlyn and Russo ran headlong and desperately away from Panama Viejo’s centuries-old cathedral, moving so fast they were practically tripping themselves and finding it hard to balance. Bullets created a tracery among them. Lady Luck shone her bright light. But even that would not have been enough if Alicia hadn’t acted within seconds. Healey felt fire along his leg, saw Crouch stumble as a lead missile cut through the strap of his pack. It was that close.
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