Wages of Sin (A James Acton Thriller, #17) (James Acton Thrillers)

by J. Robert Kennedy

  And that when they arrived there, the hostages, his wife, wouldn’t be summarily executed.

  77

  Abandoned Mine

  Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa

  “There it is, boss.”

  Laura looked to where the former miner pointed, and spotted a cluster of brush, about twenty feet from the ground. She stared for a moment, not sure what she was seeing, when suddenly she discerned an opening behind the bushes.

  Tladi groaned. “What the hell is it doing up there?”

  The miner shrugged. “Dunno. Didn’t dig it.”

  Tladi frowned as they pulled to a halt, his driver turning the vehicle to face the open ground, the others doing the same, Laura now convinced it was a habit they had developed to allow a quicker getaway should police or park rangers arrive. She glanced back in the direction they had come, wondering where James was. They hadn’t traveled far, barely a couple of miles from where she estimated he might have been. If he had survived the night, they probably drove right past him.

  Then a thought occurred to her that gave her a glimmer of hope.

  If he hadn’t survived, surely they would have seen his body?

  She frowned.

  Not if whatever had killed him had dragged him away.

  The hope was gone.

  Though she still had her faith in him, in that she’d know if he were dead.

  And she knew he wasn’t.

  He was still out there, doing everything he could to save her and the others.

  Because that’s who he was.

  And it was that desperation, that determination, that had her concerned. Part of her wanted him to find her, but another part wanted him to stay away. He was one man against a dozen. He was hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. What could he possibly do to save them without getting killed?

  Tladi grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the vehicle. “Okay, expert lady, you lead the way.”

  She yanked her arm free, concealing the pain she was in from his iron grip. She scanned the area for a way to access the entrance, spotting a thin pathway winding up the hill in a series of switchbacks. She pointed. “There.” She headed for the path, everyone else forming a line behind her, and soon reached the entrance. Two of Tladi’s men squeezed past her, hacking the bushes away with machetes, the boarded-up entrance soon clearly visible for all to see. The boards were kicked, the dry wood splitting easily, the poachers pulling them away and tossing them to the ground below.

  She held out a hand. “Flashlight.”

  Tladi gestured to one of his men who slapped one in her hand, none too gently. She resisted the urge to wince, instead smiling.

  “Thank you.” She flicked it on and stepped inside.

  Tladi grabbed her by the arm, whipping her around, shining the flashlight on his face so she could see his sincerity. “Find me my gold, or die.”

  Laura ignored him, instead yanking her arm free once more before moving deeper into the mine, the timbers rotted, signs of cave-ins of varying ages evident. And there were animal tracks, something that sent her heart pounding slightly harder than it already was, though it was difficult to tell how fresh they were.

  Yet her biggest fear wasn’t surprising an animal that might have made this their den.

  It was that they might find the gold.

  And their captors would no longer need them alive.

  78

  Approaching Abandoned Mine

  Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa

  Acton, exhausted, pushed forward, his heart hammering, his legs burning. He normally had no problem running, going for five mile runs all the time, even running marathons in his youth, but it was different in hiking boots, hungry, thirsty, over uneven terrain, carrying a rifle, and doing it at an all-out, desperate sprint.

  Courtney grabbed his arm, dragging him to a halt.

  He doubled over, hands on his knees, gasping. “What?”

  She pointed. “Isn’t that them?”

  He turned his head to see, still bent over, and would have breathed a sigh of relief if he could.

  Three vehicles, lined up against the hillside, positioned for a quick getaway.

  Thank God! Finally, something goes right!

  Acton stepped back toward the hillside and out of sight, Courtney getting the canteen out of the backpack, finally showing signs of fatigue. She handed it to him and he poured a cup, downing it, before drinking a second more slowly. “Thanks.”

  Courtney risked a peek toward the vehicles, immediately pressing back against the rock. “What now? There’s like a dozen of them and only two of us.”

  She was right. They needed the cavalry to arrive now, but he had no idea if they were even on their way. Reading would be doing everything he could, rescue would eventually arrive, yet beyond that, he had no idea what was going on outside their little cone of reality.

  That meant he couldn’t wait.

  If they had indeed found the mine, then the gold was likely inside, about to be discovered. And as soon as that happened, there’d be no need to keep Laura and the others alive. In fact, he was surprised they hadn’t killed the others already, though Laura had probably made some sort of deal for her cooperation.

  Cooperation that might no longer be needed in a matter of minutes.

  He had to take action, do something, even if it might mean his death.

  He looked about, nobody evident at first, then froze, spotting two guards about twenty feet above the ground, at the entrance of what must be the mine Sipho had spoken of. It was an odd place for an entrance, definitely not convenient for moving any ore that might have been found.

  He put a finger to his lips, taking Courtney’s hand and placing it over her mouth, then pointed at the two men guarding the entrance. Her eyes bulged, but she kept quiet, removing her hand.

  “What do we do now?”

  “There has to be another entrance. We need to find it.”

  Courtney’s eyes narrowed. “What makes you think that?”

  “Because no one puts the entrance to a mine twenty feet above the ground. That’s probably for air or for dumping whatever they were mining out to the ground below. There has to be a ground level entrance around here, close by.”

  “But how are we going to find it?”

  “Well, we didn’t pass it, so it must be farther on. Just stay here, I’ll go find it.” He turned to go when she grabbed his arm.

  “We stick together.”

  He frowned, there no arguing with her. “Fine, stick to my six—”

  “Huh?”

  “Ass.”

  “Oh.”

  “—keep quiet, and stay as close to the hillside as you can. They don’t have the angle to be able to see us from up there.”

  She nodded and Acton poked his head out, watching the men above. If he could see them, then they could see him, at least here. They had to clear about thirty feet to be under them, then the hillside took a bend where they would be unseen.

  Both guards stepped into the mine, out of sight.

  Acton grabbed Courtney’s hand and sprinted across the gap, taking advantage of the lapse in security, all the while his head tilted up, eyes glued to the entrance.

  He spotted movement.

  And they pulled up, pressing against the wall, voices overhead, calm, they evidently not having been spotted.

  He held a finger to his lips, once again reminding Courtney of their predicament, then slowly slithered along the rock face, toward the bend, his eyes on where the poachers might look should they lean over for some reason.

  Courtney sneezed.

  Like a sound!

  He grabbed her hand, yanking her the rest of the distance and around the bend, slapping his own hand over her mouth, his pounding heart overwhelming his senses as he tried to hear if they had been discovered.

  Nothing.

  “Sorry!” she whispered.

  He pointed for her to keep going, and they walked for a few hundred feet before
Acton spotted what he was searching for. Another entrance, clearly manmade, in the hillside.

  At ground level.

  Courtney smiled, apparently impressed. “You were right!”

  “It’s been known to happen.” He pointed at a stand of trees nearby. “I want you to stay over there, out of sight, while I go inside.”

  “No way. We stick together.”

  Acton shook his head, there no arguing this time. “No, it’s going to be too dangerous. I have to go inside, alone.” He jabbed a finger at the trees. “Over there, now.”

  “But you’ll be killed!”

  “It’s my wife. I have to try and save her.”

  “You’re crazy!”

  He handed her the gun, perhaps proving her point. “Take it.”

  “Won’t you need it?”

  He shook his head, drawing the knife from her belt. “This will be more useful in there.”

  79

  Abandoned Mine

  Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa

  Tladi followed the white woman, their progress excruciatingly slow. She examined every beam, every brace, every part of every wall, even the animal prints in the dirt.

  And it was tasking his patience.

  Yet every time he challenged her on it, she had an explanation, a perfectly reasonable explanation.

  And it was infuriating.

  He hated people who thought they were smarter than him.

  And he really hated people who actually were.

  Yet this was taking forever, and by now people were searching for them, rich white tourists disappearing sure to attract plenty of attention. They didn’t have a lot of time before the area would be swarming with police and rangers, and if they put a helicopter in the air, there might be no avoiding detection. Their only hope was to find the gold, kill the hostages, dump their bodies somewhere away from the discovery, then lay low in town until they could come back for it.

  They’ll come straight to you.

  With his brother dead, they’d definitely pay him a visit. But so what? No one could expect that he’d kill his own brother. And besides, his wife would give him an alibi, as she always did, and he’d play the grieving family member, crying about how he’d have to go tell their poor mother, and then they’d move on.

  I’ll have to move the stash!

  It was stupid to store it on his property, yet he had no choice—he didn’t trust any of the others. He had a buyer from China coming next week, then it would all be gone, but now, with the prospect of the gold, he would have to take the stash and hide it somewhere, even if it meant abandoning it.

  Nothing could trace back to him.

  He was about to have millions, all to himself.

  They came to a junction, three more tunnels extending out from the one they were currently in. “Which one?”

  The woman turned toward him. “No way to know. We’ll start with the one on the left, and if we don’t find anything, come back here and continue with the next.”

  Tladi’s chest tightened in frustration. “I thought you were an expert?”

  “I am. And this is the way it’s done.”

  He growled. “To hell with that.” He pointed to the shaft in the middle then looked at his men. “You two, down that one, you two the one on the right, you with me. The rest stay with the hostages.” He shoved the woman into the tunnel on the left. “Let’s hurry this up!”

  80

  Above Abandoned Mine

  Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa

  Niner and Dawson peered over the edge of the cliff at the two hostiles below, guarding what Langley thought was the entrance to a mine, a mine that might have enough gold stashed in it for them all to retire comfortably. Control had wisely rerouted them along a path from where they couldn’t be spotted, costing them barely ten minutes, their vehicles parked only a klick from the hostiles’.

  Dawson crept back from the edge, Niner following, Dawson briefing the others. “Two hostiles, forty feet below our position.”

  Atlas dropped two bundles of rope at their feet, Leather’s contact having supplied them well. “These should be long enough.”

  Niner eyed him. “Should?”

  Atlas shrugged, tossing him a harness then climbing into his own. “I’ll go with you in case you’re scared I’m wrong.”

  Niner prepped for the descent as Dawson cut off any retort, continuing with the briefing.

  “There’re three vehicles below, no guards, so the rest must be inside, including the hostages.” He turned to Niner and Atlas, already prepped. “Get down, kill them quick and silent, and don’t dump the bodies over the edge. We want their weapons.”

  “Roger that,” said Niner, turning to Atlas with a grin. “Race you?”

  Atlas gave him a look. “Little man, gravity dictates I win.”

  “Fleet of foot says I do.” He approached the edge, Jimmy and Dawson holding his rope, Leather and his man holding Atlas’. He glanced at them. “You’ll be wishing you were on my rope in a second.”

  He stepped over, running down the side of the cliff as if it were a Sunday morning jog at Bragg, his knife at the ready as he picked where he’d put his feet on each step to minimize the loosening of any debris, not wanting to warn the rapidly nearing hostiles of their impending doom.

  He pushed off slightly from the cliff, flipping forward, letting those above feed out the rope at the pace he had set, as he dove headfirst toward his target, the big man right at his side. He reached out with his left hand, gripping his target’s face from behind and buried six inches of his blade into the side of the man’s neck. Giving it a twist, he silenced him before touching the ground.

  He glanced over at Atlas with an ‘I win’ look.

  Atlas shook his head, tapping his chest with his bloody knife, his hand clasped over his struggling target’s mouth.

  He broke the man’s neck, Niner frowning as his still bled out.

  He wins.

  Niner pulled his man to the side of the entrance and listened, hearing nothing from inside, their attendance at the party not yet discovered. Niner took the beat-up AK-47 that had been slung over his guy’s shoulder, it a reasonable score. He pulled the mag and cursed.

  One round.

  He looked at Atlas, his guy packing an old revolver. Atlas flicked it open.

  One round.

  What is this, a theme?

  81

  Abandoned Mine

  Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa

  What the hell are you doing?

  Acton knew he was an idiot for entering the mine alone, yet what choice did he have? It was Laura, his wife, the love of his life, the woman who had saved his life before, and who would without hesitation sacrifice her own to save it again.

  As would he.

  Though sacrificing to save the one you loved was noble, it was foolish if it was merely sacrificing oneself.

  If there was no hope in saving the person, the sacrifice meant little.

  If life were a math equation.

  But it wasn’t.

  Trying to save her was the right thing to do.

  He just had no clue how to do it with a knife in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

  He could hear nothing ahead, only his own breathing, which for the moment suited him fine. Quiet was good, for surely the act of killing the hostages would be a noisy affair.

  Unless the tunnel you’re in doesn’t connect to where they are.

  It was possible, though he doubted it. These old shafts usually connected at some point, though through cave-ins, they could indeed be cut off now.

  He frowned at the thought.

  Yet pressed forward, the beam from the flashlight aimed at his feet to not only spot any hidden dangers, but to avoid it being seen by anyone who might be ahead. He had to hope they had no such worries, and that he’d spot their flashlights first.

  His hand squeezed around the hilt of the knife, realizing that there would be no choice but
to kill anyone he came upon, even the slightest noise or hesitation from him could reveal his presence, and perhaps seal the fate of the others.

  Something echoed ahead.

  And he froze.

  Niner crept forward in the darkness, wishing he had a pair of night vision goggles. They had flashlights though couldn’t risk being seen by those ahead, which meant relying on their other senses, mostly those fed by the holes in the side of their heads.

  And one nice thing about bad guys who didn’t know you were coming, was they were quite loud.

  Like those just around a bend he could barely make out, there obviously some sort of light source ahead. He put his hand out behind him, pressing it against Jimmy’s chest to have him hold, the silent signal passed back as Niner crept forward, choosing his steps carefully.

  He found the source, a flashlight sitting on the floor, pointed up, providing barely enough light for him to pick out who needed to be killed and who didn’t.

  He stepped back, hand behind him, finding Jimmy where he left him. He put his mouth to the operator’s ear, whispering his intel. “Six hostiles, four hostages. Hostages are on the floor against the right-hand wall, hostiles are spread out in front. We’re short one hostage, so we need to do this quietly. I’m going to try and thin the herd.”

  Jimmy patted him on the back, acknowledging the message, turning to pass it on to the others. Niner knelt and picked up a small stone, tossing it against the other side of the wall.

  Now for the fun part.

  “Did you hear that?”

  Jacob glanced at his cousin then back at the young woman, wondering if Tladi was serious about a party with them after this was all done. He could tell that he’d be into it by how things down below were reacting to the thought. “No.”

  “Well, I heard something.”