The Sahara Legacy

by Ernest Dempsey

  Dufort barely even heard the conversation. His fingers rubbed the precious gold, interrupting the flow of the water from above.

  Cody started to turn around to see what his boss wanted him to do about Hank and the others, but he’d already made the mistake. And Tommy made him pay.

  Tommy lunged forward and plowed his shoulder into Cody’s chest, driving him backward into the nearest column. Cody grunted as his upper back struck the stone. His arms shuddered on impact, and the gun in his hand fell to the floor with a clack.

  The other henchman saw what was happening and turned to fire a bullet into Tommy’s back.

  Adriana reacted faster. Her foot snapped into the air with a sharp kick and hit the base of the pistol. June joined in a second later and drove her fist into the mercenary’s jaw.

  The man’s head whipped to the side at the same moment his weapon tumbled to the floor fifteen feet away. While his initial reaction was slow, his second wasn’t. Adriana was swinging her knee forward to hit him in the groin when he pivoted on his right foot and twisted out of the way. Her attack missed, and he swung his hand around, smacking her in the back of the head and grabbing a fistful of hair. He tugged on the ponytail and then shoved her at June just as the blonde was about to throw another punch.

  The two women crashed into each other and tumbled to the floor.

  A few yards away, Tommy tried to keep Cody pinned against the column while delivering a blow to the midsection. The second he released Dufort’s guy, though, Cody threw a hammer fist at Tommy’s head. Tommy dipped his head to the side enough to dodge the intended blow, but still caught Cody’s forearm just above the ear.

  The strike did enough to weaken Tommy’s grip. He staggered sideways momentarily while Cody doubled over and caught his breath.

  Dufort was oblivious to the melee going on just behind him. He was standing with his torso pressing against the altar, both hands cradling the amulet as he stared into the light.

  Cody saw his weapon lying on the floor near a pillar ten feet away and made a dash for it. Tommy realized what his opponent was doing and cut him off with a swing of the foot that caught Cody on the ankle and sent him tumbling through the air.

  The victory was short lived.

  Cody rolled to a crouching position and bounced up, ready to finish the fight. Knees bent, hands ready, body twisted to the side to minimize himself as a target, he stepped sideways, crossing one foot over the other, and he and Tommy circled in a stalemate dance, waiting for the other man to make a move.

  Tommy’s eyes narrowed. He faked a lunge forward and drew Cody out of his stance. The younger man went to make a counter move with his own step, but Tommy anticipated it. He spun, swept his leg around again, and caught Cody on the heel.

  The move would have worked had the enemy been off balance. Cody, however, was ready for the counter. He jumped and did a backflip. He landed on his feet, and as Tommy stood to recover, Cody whipped his leg around and planted the top of his foot across Tommy’s face.

  The temple blurred in Tommy’s vision. He put his left hand out to brace his fall, but the ground didn’t come. He stumbled to the side until he felt his shoulder hit a column. Letting all his weight push against the pillar, he tried to refocus his vision.

  Cody came at him fast, fully intent on finishing his opponent. He jumped into the air to deliver a boot to the head that would drive Tommy’s head into the stone behind him. Instead, Tommy reached deep within and found enough energy to drop to the floor and roll clear. A split second later, Cody’s foot struck the column with a crack.

  He howled in agony as he fell to the floor, immediately grasping his ankle with both hands. Tommy blinked slowly as his vision started to clear. He could see his opponent’s leg bent at an awkward angle.

  Across the room, the other henchman grabbed Adriana by the ponytail again and dragged her to her feet. He delivered an uppercut that sent her flailing back to the floor then kicked June in the face as she tried to get up.

  The man wouldn’t let June get a break. He bent over and grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up, pinning her against a nearby column. Her face flushed red, and she gasped for air. Veins and muscles bulged from his arms from the strain, but he had no intention of letting go.

  Adriana staggered to her feet and shook her head to regain her bearings. She saw June being strangled and rushed to her aid. Adriana jumped and wrapped her arms and legs around the strong man’s neck and torso, squeezing with every ounce of energy she could muster.

  His thick neck made it hard to choke him, but she found the windpipe and focused the force of her arms straight back into it. Her feet dug into his midsection to enhance the pain, and a second later he let go of June.

  She fell to the floor in a heap, reaching for her neck to make sure she could breathe again.

  Now the mercenary spun around in circles, hoping to throw off Adriana from his shoulders. When that didn’t work, he backed up quickly until her tailbone smashed into the wall. Her grip loosened. He took a step forward and another hard step back, once more driving her into the wall. This time, she gasped and let go, falling again to the floor on her hands and knees.

  The mercenary bent down and grabbed her by the ponytail for a third time. He yanked it hard to force her head up and exposed her neck.

  Adriana looked into his eyes without fear. A trickle of blood seeped out of her nose and from the corner of her mouth. Her chest heaved, taking in huge gulps of air.

  The guard reached to his belt with his free hand to grab his knife. His fingers felt around the sheath, but it wasn’t there.

  Suddenly, his eyes shot wide, and his head trembled. The grip on Adriana’s hair weakened, and his hand dropped to his side. June stood behind him with her hand planted at the base of his skull. She stepped back and let go of the knife handle with the blade shoved all the way into the hilt. The mercenary was dead before he hit the floor, dropping to his knees and then over onto his side with the knife handle still embedded in his head.

  Tommy turned to Dufort. With his opponent immobilized, only the Frenchman remained. Hank was still in the corner getting as much loot as he could carry.

  “Dufort!” Tommy yelled. “It’s just you and me now!” Tommy’s breath came in huge gasps. His eyes were full of vengeance and resolve.

  Dufort didn’t turn around. Instead, he lifted the medallion from its cradle and held it into the air with his arms extended.

  Suddenly, the light from the gem faded, and the floor beneath them trembled. A deep rumble came from deep inside the earth. Dust shook from the ceiling. Dufort snapped out of his trance and looked around. He saw the dead man near the two women on one side of the room. Cody was dragging himself away. Hank crouched over a pile of gold and jewels, looking around, suddenly curious as to what was going on.

  “Put the medallion down, Gerard,” Tommy said. “It’s over.”

  Dufort shook his head. “You’re right. It is over. And I’ve won.”

  He raised his pistol and squeezed the trigger. The muzzle erupted, and the loud pop caused everyone in the room to wince. Tommy instinctively put his hands over his ears. Then he realized something. He’d not been hit. He checked his chest, stomach, face, everywhere within a second.

  Dufort frowned. He fired again. Once more, the bullet didn’t hit his target. He fired a third and fourth time, spilling gun smoke into the room. But Tommy was unharmed.

  “How is this possible?” Dufort thundered.

  Tommy’s lips creased with a sinister grin. “Looks like your luck has run out, Gerry.”

  Suddenly, a huge slab of stone dropped from the ceiling and crashed to the ground between the two men. Tommy fell backward in a cloud of dust and debris. The temple shook violently. He collected himself and stood up in time to see Dufort rushing toward the doorway. The Frenchman tossed aside his weapon and picked up the one that belonged to the dead man. A second later, he disappeared through the entrance.

  Hank collected his things and hurried through
the door, not willing to risk his life for a few more riches.

  Tommy rushed over to the two women and helped them to their feet. “You two okay?”

  They both nodded. “Yeah. Nothing a hot bath won’t fix,” Adriana said. “We need to get out of here. This place is going to collapse.”

  On cue, another piece of the ceiling fell to the floor with a boom.

  “Come on,” Tommy said. He started toward the door and then stopped in his tracks.

  Cody was lying on his side between the three and their only way out. He couldn’t stand, but he’d managed to drag himself over to his gun, which now pointed at Tommy, Adriana, and June.

  “Like he said,” Cody shouted over the rumbling, “it’s over!”

  His finger tensed on the trigger, and Tommy forced the women behind him, ready to use his body as their shield. One of the pillars broke free from the roof and toppled sideways.

  Cody noticed the sudden movement but couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. The massive stone cylinder crashed to the floor, crushing him under several tons of rock.

  Tommy stared, almost not believing what just happened. He snapped out of it a second later and ushered the women forward toward the passageway. He leaped over the fallen column and on his way out the door snatched the weapon from near Cody’s limp hand.

  Chapter 35

  Sahara Desert, Egypt

  Dufort pumped his legs as fast as he could, sprinting through the dark corridor and out into the next room. He hurried past the columns and through the falling debris, narrowly dodging a few large chunks of stone that fell from the ceiling.

  Once Athanasia, he ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time until he was on the canyon floor again.

  The gigantic room shook. Sand spilled in through the opening like a golden waterfall in the rays of the desert sun.

  He looked up at the winding path leading back up to the ropes. Then he glanced around the cavern, and his eyes fixed on an opening far to his left. “Another way out,” he said to himself.

  Suddenly, a blow to his back knocked Dufort forward toward the river. He tumbled head over heels and dropped the medallion on the ground to brace himself. The weapon in his hand also fell free and slid across the stone, coming to a stop close to the water’s edge.

  He scrambled to pick up the weapon. His fingers wrapped around it, and he popped up, whipping the gun around as he did so.

  Dufort’s eyes widened with shock. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s impossible.”

  Sean stood twenty feet away, a pistol in one hand and the Athanasia medallion in the other.

  “I saw you die,” Dufort stammered. “I shot you in the chest. I saw you bleed.”

  Sean’s head turned side to side. “You really should check your magazine before you fire a weapon,” he said. “Those were blanks in the weapon you fired. I replaced the live rounds before our little encounter in Sudan.”

  Dufort didn’t believe it. His forehead wrinkled as he frowned in confusion. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  Dufort took a cautious step to the side. Sean mimicked it in the opposite direction.

  “You must really think I’m predictable, Gerard,” Sean taunted.

  “You are,” Dufort sneered. “That’s how I’ve bested you.”

  “Yet here I am with the medallion you want.”

  The ground shook hard again, and the men bent their knees to keep their balance. The weapons in their hands remained aimed at the other.

  “That belongs to me,” Dufort said. “I will be a god among men.”

  Hank emerged from the temple and descended the steps. At the bottom, he saw the standoff and paused. The other two men were facing each other, circling in a duel to the death. Sean’s back was now to the water. At first, he’d not seen Hank standing at the base of the stairs, which meant he could still get away. Sean surely saw him now, but his focus was on Dufort. Hank’s eyes averted to the left, and he noticed the opening in the wall. Cautiously, Hank made his way along the temple wall as fast as he could until he reached the passageway. He took one last look back before disappearing into the darkness.

  Tommy and the two women appeared at the top of the steps. They looked down and saw Sean and Dufort standing several paces away from each other. Tommy put his hands out to stop them in case they accidentally caught a stray bullet. All three turned a pale white as they stared at the apparition across from Dufort.

  “Sean’s alive?” Tommy whispered.

  Adriana wanted to rush down the stairs and wrap her arms around him, but Tommy held her back.

  “So, what now, Wyatt?” Dufort shouted above the rumble. “This place is going to collapse any minute. Is this where you want to die?”

  “Seems like as good a place as any,” Sean said. “Everyone’s gotta go sometime. Might as well be today.”

  “You don’t really believe that,” Dufort said. “You have too much to live for. You’re still young. And besides, you hold the key to eternal life in your hands. Everyone doesn’t have to die. You could live forever.”

  “No man is meant to live forever, Dufort,” Sean said. “We gave up that right a long time ago.”

  Dufort snorted. “Spare me the religious talk about the fall of mankind and how we’ve strayed from God’s path. I will be god!” His voice echoed amid the constant noise resonating from the canyon.

  Sean shook his head. “No, Dufort. You’ll be dead.”

  “What are you going to do, Sean? Shoot me? You realize if you pull that trigger, I’ll pull mine. We’ll both be dead. What good will that do?”

  Sean kept his weapon trained on the Frenchman’s chest.

  “It will rid the world of one more horrible person.”

  “Ah,” Dufort said. “So, that’s the plan, then? A Mexican standoff until one of us pulls the trigger? Then we both die? I have to say, Sean, that’s pretty imaginative for you. The problem is if we stand here too long this whole cave will collapse in on us.”

  “Works for me,” Sean sneered.

  Dufort decided to try a different tack. “You know, if you hurry, you might still have time to save your friends. They’re just inside the temple.”

  Sean didn’t flinch, but inside he wondered. What if Dufort was telling the truth? What if Adriana and the others were still inside?

  “Don’t listen to him, Sean!” Tommy shouted from the top of the stairs.

  Sean’s eyes remained locked on the enemy. In his periphery, he saw Tommy, Adriana, and June standing at the entrance to the temple amid the chaos.

  A gun fired. Something struck Sean hard in the chest with the force of a wrecking ball. He stumbled backward as the pain turned from dull to sharp and burning. He looked down at the hole in his chest. Crimson started spreading through his shirt. Then he looked up at Dufort standing there with his pistol. A thin trickle of blue-gray smoke wafted out of the barrel and disappeared into the air.

  “Noooo!” Tommy yelled. He fired his weapon as he descended the stairs. The first round missed and ricocheted off the stone floor.

  Dufort spun around to return fire, but Tommy’s barrage was too much. The second round tore through Dufort’s shoulder and spun him to the side. The third struck him in the ribs. A fourth ripped through his leg and dropped the Frenchman to one knee. He tried to raise his weapon again to ward off the attack, but Tommy kept shooting, pouring hot rounds at his target until one caught Dufort at the base of the neck.

  The Frenchman dropped his weapon to the ground and grasped the mortal wound with both hands, desperately trying to plug the life from leaking out of him.

  Behind him, Sean looked up at Adriana, who was rushing down the steps. He smiled at her as he fell backward into the rushing water.

  “Sean!” she yelled, hysterical.

  Tommy reached the bottom of the stairs and panted for air. Tears streamed down his face.

  Dufort raised his head and looked into Tommy’s eyes. “Do it,” he mouthed.

  “With pleasure, you
piece of—”

  The gun popped loudly. A pink spray shot out of the back of Dufort’s skull. He wavered for a moment, the hole in his forehead still smoldering. Then he fell backward, his legs bending at an impossible angle.

  Tommy swallowed and then looked over at Adriana, who skidded to a stop at the river’s edge.

  “Sean!” she yelled again. She was about to dive in after him, but June rushed to her side and wrapped her arms around her.

  “No, Addy! You’ll drown. The water…the current is too fast now. He’s gone.”

  “Let me go!” Adriana shouted. She struggled, swinging her arms at June to break free.

  Tommy rushed over to them and put his arms around Adriana. He held her still in his strong grip and forced her to look into his eyes. “We have to go,” he said. “This place isn’t going to hold up much longer.”

  June saw the passage over Tommy’s shoulder. “Over there,” she said. “It’s a way out.”

  Tommy took a quick glance back and then looked in Adriana’s eyes again. “He wouldn’t want you to die here. We have to go.”

  She resisted for a second. Her eyes drifted back to the water. There was no sign of Sean’s body. He was gone. She’d watched him die twice, and it was almost more than she could bear.

  Tommy looped his arm under her armpits and started dragging her toward the exit with June helping from the other side. Huge rocks fell from the ceiling. A massive slab dropped down and crushed part of the temple roof as the three made their way into the dark corridor and out of the canyon.

  Once they were in the passage, Tommy took one last look back. He was overcome by one resonating, heart-wrenching thought: Sean Wyatt was dead.

  Chapter 36

  Chattanooga

  The southeastern Tennessee sky was a gray soup overhead. Tommy stood with his hands folded in front of him as he stared down at the hole in the dirt at his feet. Tears streaked across his cheeks. He couldn’t swallow, could barely breathe.