Death Diamonds of Bermudez
Page 16
Storm laughingly said, “That’s easy for you to say. You just go and keep talking to me.”
The two worked their way through the jungle. Savage tried to stay off the main trails to keep from being detected. He was hoping to keep Van Eck guessing until the other police officers arrived. The jungle has several small caves and ponds. Savage knew it would do no good to try to hide in the caves. Finally the two men made it to a spot which Savage thought would be their safest place. It was a good sized clearing surrounded on three sides by jungle, and their backside would be protected by a large rock formation.
Savage flipped open the GPS communicator and hit the call button, but nothing happened. He pushed the button again and still nothing happened. Savage yelled out, “What the bloody hell is wrong with this device?”
Storm said, “Let me see it.”
Savage asked, “What the hell for? You can’t see.”
Storm was getting a little upset now and said, “Just give it to me. I can see close up.” Savage handed him the device. In about five seconds Storm said, “This device is customized with a thumb print recognition button. Only one person in the world could ever use this phone and that was Lynch.”
Storm and Savage were interrupted by the sounds of crackling in the brush. By the time they looked up it was too late. Savage and Storm were now surrounded on three sides by South Africans holding Uzis on them. The four South Africans walked within fifteen feet of Storm and Savage. Van Eck had heard every word that Storm and Savage had said. Van Eck smiled and said, “Ever since you took Lynch’s communicator I knew it. Lynch was a good loyal solider who will be missed.” He saw Storm holding his pistol with fully extended arms pointing at them. Van Eck laughed and said, “We know your FBI agent friend is blind. He might as well drop his pistol.”
Savage replied, “He’s his own man. He can do whatever he wants.” Savage lifted up his left arm trying to read the time on his watch. While he was looking at his watch he tapped Storm’s ankle with his left foot. Savage then asked, “What the hell time is it? My watch hasn’t worked for days.” He quickly whispered to Storm, “Nine, eleven, twelve and I’ll take two o’clock.” He went on to say to Van Eck, “My watch says its two o’clock.”
Van Eck gave Savage a dirty look and said, “Who gives a damn! You’re both dead men anyway. We won’t tolerate any loose ends.” He lifted his pistol and said, “Men, kill these cops! I want no witnesses left alive.”
At that moment Storm started firing his pistol from left to right in a systematic motion of a watch hand. Van Eck couldn’t believe what was happening; a blind man was shooting and killing his highly trained men. Before Savage could get to Van Eck, he fired at Storm striking him in the right shoulder. Storm spun around losing sense of his direction and timing. Savage reached out and grabbed Van Eck’s hand that was holding the pistol. The two struggled over the weapon. The pistol fired, and Savage fell backwards with blood spurting from his side. As he was falling he got a fix on Storm and yelled out, “Four o’clock, Storm.”
Storm now had his bearings. He turned slightly to the right and fired off two rounds striking Van Eck in the chest. Van Eck was dead before he hit the ground.
Storm yelled out, “Savage, are you alright?”
Savage lying on the ground said, “What’s one more bloody bullet in my body? Hell yes, I’m fine.”
As Savage got back to his feet he walked over to Storm and said, “I was sure hoping that you could tell time, mate. It appears your sight might be getting better.”
Storm replied, “Yeah, you’re looking as butt ugly as ever.” Both men laughed as they hobbled and limped down one of the jungle trails that led them back to the main entrance. By the time they made it to the entrance, the 911 respondents were just arriving. Both Storm and Savage along with the Spinners were whisked off to King Edward the VII Memorial Hospital while other officers trekked into the jungle to find the bodies of the Van Eck and the other South Africans.
Just another day in Paradise
Three days later at Savage’s cottage the two crime fighters were well on their way to recovery. They were resting on the garden terrace in recliners overlooking St. George’s Harbour. Both men were recovering from their wounds. Storm had fully recovered his eyesight, and the hospital was happy to give Storm and Savage an early release. To put it mildly the hospital was ready for some peace and quiet after having Storm and Savage around for two days.
Both men were sipping on ‘Dark 'n Stormy’s’. The Spinners had been to the cottage checking on Storm and Savage some hours earlier in the day. They had stayed for awhile, but it was clear that Storm and Savage did not need any babysitters.
Savage remarked to Storm, “I hear we now have a geyser on Long Island. It’s been gushing up to fifty feet high in the air twice a day for hours at a time. I think they’re going to name it ‘Old Stormy’.”
Storm smiled and said, ”You’re full of it, Savage.” He went on to ask, “Are you going to tell the Commissioner that we might know something about the origin of the geyser?”
Savage replied, “Hell no! The Government is going to bring in some scientist from the US next week. We’ll let them figure it out.”
Storm asked, “Savage, aren’t you a tiny bit worried that they might blame us for this new natural wonder?”
Savage snapped back, “What the hell are you saying? I didn’t do anything wrong; however I can’t vouch for you, mate.”
Storm laughed as he raised his drink up high and said, “Cheers to the Lost City of Bermúdez!”
Savage smiled raising his drink up high and said, “Cheers to the Death Diamonds of Bermúdez! May they stay bloody buried under the ocean forever.” They both clinked their glasses together and enjoyed another sip.
Savage added, “Let’s hope the Lost City of Bermúdez stays lost for another thousand years.” Both men reached over from their chairs and shook hands in agreement saluting each other with their glasses.
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