The Relic Runner Origin Story Box Set

by Ernest Dempsey

  "That wasn't my call, Nicky," he said.

  "You think it was mine?"

  "You know I don't."

  "Actually, I don't know that, Dak. I don't know why you left. I don't know why you're here now, but what I do know, is that wherever you go, trouble follows. And trouble isn't something I need right now." Her voice quivered in the way only a conflicted heart could.

  When Dak left to join the military, she begged him not to, told him she could support them both. He wasn't okay with that. Not that he was opposed to her shouldering the financial burden, but he felt he should pull his weight, do his part—Dak was taught to take care of himself and those he loved. Only later did he come to regret that stubbornness, a relic of decades past. Many were the nights he'd wished he could unhinge his arrogance, his pride—go back in time and make it right. Those feelings led him to join the military anyway, the ultimate sacrifice to take care of those he loved. His sense of duty didn't help. Now, though, those beacons that guided him through the darkest nights of the soul stood cold and black, leaving him in a confusing fog like a ship charging toward a rocky shore.

  "I know it was my fault," he admitted, his words full of gravel.

  "So, that's what this is? You flew all the way from wherever you were to tell me it was your fault? Maybe apologize; hoping to get back together? You broke me, Dak. I spent two years of my life wondering if that morning would be your last while you were on the other side of the world fighting someone else's war."

  "That's fair."

  "I broke things off with you so I could start a new life and move on. I have a good thing going here. The last thing I need is you begging me to take you back. Because I have to tell you, it's not going to happen."

  "I know."

  Her brow furrowed, and the gun visibly sagged in her hand. "What do you mean? Why are you being so agreeable? No witty comeback? No snappy defense? And why do you smell like you haven't had a shower in three days?"

  He raised his arm and took a whiff. It was appalling, though he'd become nose deaf to it.

  "I haven't. So, if I could, I'd appreciate it. And second. No," he said, lowering his head for a long breath. "You're right about all of it. And it was unfair of me to do what I did. I know that now. While I don't regret serving my country—not much, anyway—I regret leaving you. If I could do it again, I might choose differently. I might not. But I'm not here to apologize, even though I am sorry for everything."

  She hesitated. Her voice softened ever so slightly. "Then… why are you here?"

  "I need your help," he said. Then added, "And I really need to use your bathroom."

  Two

  Ramstein Air Base

  Bo Taylor stalked into the mess hall like a lion that just killed a gazelle for the pride. Most of the tables were empty, the base's occupants busy with their routine duties. Just days after Dak narrowly escaped the colonel’s clutches, Bo and his team were sent to Germany to prepare for their return to the United States.

  He sat down at a table in the corner where his team sat in tenuous silence. They all wore their standard issue fatigues, as always, though they seemed to fit some of the men better than others, specifically Billy. The camouflaged clothing draped over his skinny frame like a muumuu on a coat hanger.

  "You look happy," Carson said in his usual deep, throaty tone. The huge man looked like a warrior, his taut muscles nearly bursting through the fatigues at every seam.

  "Why wouldn't I be?" Bo said.

  "So, we're going home?" Luis asked. The shortest of the bunch sat in the corner, hunched over steepled fingers. The words came out amid a nervous apprehension.

  "We're going wherever we want, boys," Bo said with a rap on the table. "You can go home, to a beach, whatever psycho farmhouse Nate wants to go to."

  Billy snorted a laugh, but the accompanying smile vanished with a predatory glare from Nathan.

  Something about Nathan Collier unnerved all the men in their team, even Bo from time to time. Their leader blew it off with a casual "at least he's on our side" attitude, but he didn't trust Collier. The man's quiet demeanor as he went about killing would have caused a serial killer's stomach to turn. There was a grimness to it, something both spiritual and terrifying all at once. It didn't help that he had a tattoo of the fabled reaper on his shoulder, complete with black robes flowing beyond bony, skeletal feet, a scythe whipping around for the harvest, and hollow eyes peering out above a toothy grin.

  "So, they didn't find out about—" Luis Martinez stopped himself and looked around. Even though he was in the corner and could see the entire mess hall from his vantage point, paranoia gripped him tight.

  Bo shook his head, both at the question and at Luis' naïvety, to even think about saying it out loud, and at the volume he'd been using.

  Leaning in close, Bo lowered his own voice. "We're even getting medals," he said with a measure of humor. "We're heroes. And we're rich. We can go wherever we want, boys."

  "Assuming we can move the goods," Nathan groused in his usual monotone.

  Bo sighed in irritation, but he didn't push the man's buttons. "I have a guy who can move them. You don't have to worry about that. What you four do need to consider is being careful with how you spend your share. Don't be stupid and go blowing it all at a club," he cast a warning glance at Billy.

  "Hey," Billy protested and threw up his hands.

  Carson chuckled. "He has you pegged, kid."

  "Like you're one to talk."

  "Shut it," Bo snapped. "Once the deal is done with my guy, I'll contact you."

  Nathan snorted derisively. "I don't think so."

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Bo stiffened his spine and did his best to look insulted.

  "We're just supposed to let you walk off with all our shares of the treasure and assume you'll bring us our cut?" Nathan held a razor-sharp knife in his hand and cut through a ripe Fuji apple with expert and insidious precision. He popped the sliver into his mouth and chewed, keeping his eyes on the fruit as he sliced another piece.

  "I'm disappointed in your lack of trust, Nate, but if that's how you feel, you can come with me. All of you can." Bo did his best to play the role of the peacemaker. "I was just trying to make it easy for you."

  "Thanks so much." Nathan's gravelly response sent a chill through Bo.

  Truth was, Bo couldn't wait to get away from the creep. Just being in the same room with him, at this close proximity, made him uneasy.

  "When is this deal going down, Bo?" Luis asked.

  "Tonight?" Billy asked. "How is he getting here so fast?"

  Bo smirked, as if Billy should have known the answer. "He's local," Bo said. "Based out of Frankfurt."

  "That's convenient," Luis said.

  "A lot of the best businessmen in the world are in Frankfurt. Some of them have connections—connections we can use. My contact will be here tonight at twenty-two hundred hours. We'll make the exchange then."

  All except Nathan exchanged excited, greedy looks.

  "Wait," Carson rumbled. "How much are we getting?"

  Bo rolled his shoulders. "He will make us an offer when he sees the goods. Don't worry," Bo reassured. "I'm sure we'll make out."

  "And if we don't?" Nathan questioned.

  "Then we find another buyer," Bo said. "If I can find one, I can find another. He's not the only fish out there, boys. So, relax. Have some of that good German beer nearby, and we'll leave here at twenty-one hundred hours, get to the rendezvous a little early to scope the place out, and then we do the deal."

  "Sounds good, boss," Luis said, nodding.

  "I have a few things to take care of before we fly out tomorrow. I'll see you guys tonight. We can leave from here."

  "What about Harper?" Nathan asked. He made the query as if asking about the price of a pack of gum.

  Bo inclined his head, the look on his face turning stern. "You may want me to tell you not to worry about him, but that's the opposite of what you should do. You need to keep him in the back o
f your mind. He's out there somewhere. Maybe he's dead in the desert. I doubt it. My guess is he went north across the border into Turkey."

  "The colonel sent search teams through there," Billy offered.

  Bo responded with a sincere huff. "You think those guys are going to find Dak Harper? He's a ghost, Billy. Just like us. No one is going to find him."

  "You don't think—"

  "Yes, I do think he will try to hunt us down. It's what I'd do. It's what you would probably do, Carson. I know it's what Nate would do," he gave a nod toward Collier, who was still meticulously slicing the apple. "Which is all the more reason you guys need to lie low. With the money we make from this deal, we're going to be able to disappear. I'm talking new identities, the works. Not even Dak Harper will be able to track us down once we go dark. You understand?"

  The men nodded. He stood up and left the other four staring after him for a long moment until he rounded the corner into the hallway. Bo's anger flushed through him with every step. His plan hadn't been to rip off the members of his team, though the thought crossed his mind.

  It would be easy to sell off the treasure and leave them all in Germany wondering where in the world he went. With the kind of money he figured they'd receive for the lode, he could disappear—erase himself. For a soldier whose job was to blend in much of the time, doing so with a ton of cash would be even easier.

  Still, he didn't underestimate his team. Bo knew all too well that they wouldn't sleep until they had tracked him down. Even as good as he could be at disappearing, it wasn't worth the risk—always having to check over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't in someone's sights. And with Harper still on the loose, that could be a perennial issue.

  No, he would do the deal with the German. They would split the money and go their separate ways. Bo didn't tell them about the second part of his plan. He'd been wondering if they'd left the treasure site too quickly, and if there might be more. He told himself not to be greedy, but the thought had stuck with him since the night they'd left Harper to die.

  Dak had escaped and tried to return to base. Fortunately, Bo's contingency plan worked. The colonel believed his story about how Dak went nuts and attempted to kill Bo and his men. How Dak had managed to escape the clutches of the men sent to arrest him, Bo still didn't know, but that wouldn't matter as long as he was careful.

  Still, if Dak found a way out of that cave, that meant there might be other treasure chambers in there somewhere.

  Bo would give it a few weeks, maybe longer, before he ventured back there. Things needed to die down. He would set up his new life first. When his compadres were spread out around the world and couldn't keep tabs on him, he would go back to where they found the horde and see what else was there. Dak's body would there. That was something Bo knew he'd have to deal with, but it was a small detail.

  He turned down an adjacent hall and stepped through a door into a recreation area. A pair of basketball hoops hung from backboards on either end, surrounded by a high fence.

  Bo continued walking, his pulse calming to its normal rhythm as he reveled in the joy of his victory. He drank in the warm afternoon air as the rays of bright sunlight radiated against his skin.

  He would be a very rich man. And if his guess was right, he'd be even richer upon returning to the mountains of Iraq.

  Three

  Istanbul

  Dak opened the door and stepped out of Nicole Carter's bathroom, straight into a fiery glare. The arms crossed tight across her chest didn't make him feel any better.

  "Thank you," Dak said, ignoring the barbs flying at him from her eyes. "I had, like, three cups of coffee at that café across the street. Really good stuff, by the way. Strong. Just like I like it."

  "I hope you're ready to leave," Nicole spat.

  His head drooped so his chin nearly touched his upper chest. His thick beard brushed against the black T-shirt he'd purchased in Tatvan, the name of the town prominently displayed across his pecs in white letters.

  "I deserve that."

  "Yep. So, thanks for stopping by to resurrect the pain I was beginning to forget about. I appreciate it." Nicole spun on her heels and marched into the narrow kitchen.

  Stopping in front of a cupboard, she tugged on the handle. The door opened easily and she removed a bottle of Jack Daniel's.

  Dak smiled in approval. "That was one of the things I always loved about you. You're a whiskey girl."

  "Please go," she ordered. This time, however, her voice cracked.

  That hurt more than the acrid attitude he'd received so far.

  "Look," Dak said, his head hanging again, eyes locked on the bamboo floorboards.

  She held the bottle in her right hand while she fished a tumbler out of the same cabinet. "Go on, Dak. Spit it out." She splashed three fingers of whiskey into the glass and set the bottle down, leaving the cap off. Dak knew what that meant. He'd hurt her with the simple act of coming here, and she was going to deal with it the way she used to.

  "I need your help," he said, deciding to go with blunt honesty. The words came out of his mouth like hot ash atop of a swollen tongue.

  She was in the midst of raising the glass to her lips when he said it. The words disarmed her, causing her to freeze. Nicole turned her head to face him, still holding the drink near her neckline. "What? Did I hear you correctly?"

  "I don't deserve it. Okay? I know I screwed up. Big time."

  She nodded and tossed the whiskey into her mouth with the expertise and showmanship of a career bartender. Her head snapped back, and she swallowed the warm liquid without wincing at the tingling burn as it crawled down her throat.

  "Got that right," she said and tilted the bottle over the glass again. This time, she went for just two fingers and a slightly more careful pour. "So, I was right. You're in some kind of trouble."

  "Not some kind," he said, risking a step toward her. He stopped by the kitchen counter, began. "The worst kind. The army is saying I went AWOL, turned my back on my team, and now they're looking for me."

  She'd raised the glass to her lips and taken a sip when he said it. The whiskey spewed out in a fine, amber mist. Nicole managed to catch only a fraction of it in her palm.

  "What did you say? The army? The United. States. Army. They’re looking for you? And you thought it was a good idea to come here?"

  "They don't know I'm here, Nicky."

  "How did you know I was here?" Her voice raged in the confined space.

  He blushed. "I… I never stopped loving you. I wanted to make sure you were okay, so… I kept tabs on you."

  Her chin drew back against her throat, eyebrows reaching skyward. "You stalked me?"

  "Okay, now that you put it that way. I guess I never really thought of it like that, but no, not exactly. I just—"

  "You just stalked me." Her hands dug into her hips and her head tilted at an angle; an angle he'd only seen when she was beyond angry.

  "No," he insisted. "I… I just asked Keri now and then how you were doing. That's all."

  "Oh." It was Nicole's turn to feel ashamed.

  "She said you moved here, to Istanbul. That was… that was a while back." His head hung; he couldn't hold eye contact for fear the dams in his eyes would burst. "She told me you were doing okay, that you'd taken a job for some big company." He picked up his head again and did his best to make eye contact without losing it. "I just had to make sure you were good. That's all. I wasn't going to bother you. Then this happened."

  "What happened?" she asked, her tone softening. She didn't take a step toward him, even though her instincts told her to.

  He took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess there's no harm in telling you since I'm a wanted man now, anyway." The words stung him right in the chest. He still didn't understand what happened, other than the lone theory rattling around in his brain. Bo must have convinced the colonel that Dak had turned on them. It was the only explanation.

  "We had an operation in the mountains of Northern Iraq," Dak said. "Th
e job wasn't an easy one, but we didn't anticipate running into much trouble. There was a terrorist camp, most of them holed up in a cave. They'd been hitting small villages and outpost towns for a while. Everything went according to plan until we got into the cave."

  He paused, tempted to let her ask what they had found underground, but kept going. "We took out the targets. Then we found something, a treasure of some kind. Looks ancient, but I'm a little rusty on some of my history stuff."

  One of her eyebrows arched slightly.

  "Anyway, the guys thought it would be a good idea to loot the place, sell the artifacts, gold, jewels, all of it, on the black market. I argued with the guys, told them we needed to report it, but they were set on taking everything and making some quick cash. Because I didn't go along with their plan, they tried to kill me. I barely got out alive. And that was after they left me for dead in the cave."

  "How… did you get out?"

  "I found a place to hide where they couldn't get to me. With everything in a stalemate, they knew they couldn't stay there indefinitely, so they blew the entrance to the cave, effectively locking me in. Except I found another way out."

  "And you came here?" She looked confused and apologetic at the same time.

  "Not at first," Dak admitted. "I returned to base. I thought I could go back, tell the colonel what happened, and they would arrest the rest of my team. Instead, they tried to take me."

  "But they didn't." She almost sounded proud of the fact.

  "It was a close call, but I know Bo Taylor had to be behind it. He probably gave the colonel some story about how I tried to kill them, or that I went AWOL. I don't know all the details, obviously. What I do know is that the colonel will do everything he can to bring me in if he thinks I'm guilty."

  "Do you think they know you'll come here?" she asked the question as if the possibility didn't concern her, even though it should have.

  "No," he said. "They won't connect those dots. Besides, I'll be out of here soon."