Alicia myles 1 - Aztec Gold (13 page)

“Okay, I have total darkness.”

Crouch peered past him. “Oh yeah, that’s darkness all right. I believe it means we have a large void ahead.”

Caitlyn had no idea what it meant. She said as much.

Healey laughed. “Just ask yourself—what would Lara do?”

“Lara?”

“Lara Croft. Tomb Raider.”

“I don’t play video games, Zack. Maybe you could ask yourself that same question and go from there.”

They crept forward. Crouch pointed out that this all-consuming darkness could be part of a vast cave, a deep recess or even a sudden drop-off. Their powerful flashlights picked out the ground a few feet ahead and no more. Presently the whole team could stand five abreast and join their beams to help penetrate the darkness. Crouch broke out the glowsticks and threw a few into the air.

The way ahead gradually became clear.

They were standing at the entrance to a cave. The entire place was a vault of rock, and completely empty. The floor stretched away two dozen feet toward another tunnel on the far side.

“Bit of a let-down,” Caitlyn voiced the feelings of the group.

Then Cruz squealed again. Caitlyn flicked her gaze at him, worried he might have fallen, but changed her mind when she saw him loping off to the right. His flashlight illuminated a large part of the cave wall.

“Aztec art,” he said, his tone charged with exhilaration. “These are drawings of warriors, maybe the very warriors that guarded the caravan!”

Caitlyn peered at the crude depictions. Many showed men clad in a kind of uniform, reminiscent of an animal. They all carried shields and clubs and what appeared to be a kind of machete-like weapon.

Cruz continued. “See their helmets? That signifies the warrior group to which they belonged. Eagle. Lion. And so forth. The one with the Jaguar head and skin is a Jaguar Knight. All carry a weapon called a Maquahuitl, basically an Aztec sword. It’s short and made of oak, and has volcanic stone embedded into the edges.”

“Looks a little basic for what we know about the Aztecs,” Caitlyn said.

“Don’t underestimate them. The Spanish said one of these could chop off the head of a horse in a single blow.”

“Why wear a uniform?”

“The more elaborate the uniform the higher the rank,” Cruz said. “But this is proof that they were here. My god, this is
proof.
”

“These aren’t the only Aztec drawings to be found in North America,” Caitlyn reminded him.

“And where’s the treasure?” Russo asked. “Can’t have just upped and strolled out.”

Crouch headed for the far tunnel. “Let’s see. Hey, that’s not a tunnel, it’s a room. Oh—”

His flashlight beam suddenly seemed to irradiate, light being reflected back from a solid surface. The further he walked the more the illumination increased. It was a phenomenon that creased Caitlyn’s brow in confusion.

Until Crouch fell to his knees and three staggering words fell from his lips.

“This is . . . fantastic!”

Alicia heard the commotion begin sometime after midnight. The four bikers had gathered their motorcycles in a front-facing half circle and lay with their backs to a solid brick wall. Feigning sleep for over an hour now, and lying with her head positioned so she could see under the bikes, Alicia was relieved when the militia began to show their true colors. It put an end to all the dicking around.

She nudged the others with her foot but they were already preparing. As Pitts approached she eased a concealed blade from the small of her back to the side.

“Did you know about this? Is this you?”

Alicia rose into a melee. Pitts strode into their makeshift refuge, face and neck an unsightly shade of fire-truck red. The rifle he carried swayed carefully between them.

A swarm of angry militia men backed him up. Alicia quickly counted over thirty eager guns, at least half of them being brandished under the heavy influence of alcohol.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You!” Pitts ignored her and spat his words straight at Lex. “Is this you?”

Lex shrugged. “Is
what
me?”

Alicia moved to within striking distance. Pitts didn’t notice. He fired a shot between Lex’s feet that kicked up a swirl of dirt. Alicia would have pounced then, but knew to do so now was suicide. They had to find a way to thin the herd.

“Lights were seen out by the old stream. We have trespassers.”

Lex spread his arms. “It’s just us, man.”

Pitts waved his rifle. “Cover them.”

His men spread out to all sides, weapons raised and well apart. Alicia had just seen her problem grow existentially.

“You’re coming with us,” Pitts growled.

“With you?” Alicia repeated. “Where the hell are you going?”

“Gonna smoke us some intruders,” Pitts said. “Bastards are about to wish they’d never been born.”

*

Crouch was speechless, rocking from side to side on his knees, flashlight wavering ahead. Caitlyn dropped to his side, her own vision stunned into stillness. By the time Cruz, Healey and Russo joined them Crouch was finally able to speak.

“In all my years I have never seen anything like this. Never.”

The small cave revealed by the light of the flashlight was full of gold cladding. It was attached to the walls, stacked high on the floor, leaning against all four sides. Where it had fallen from its original perch it appeared tarnished, spoiled by layers of dust, but even then nothing could prepare the treasure hunters for the true measure of what they’d found.

“So this is all the gold they stripped off the walls?” Russo asked in his quietest tone ever. “Must have been quite a city.”

“Greatest of its time,” Crouch said. “Destroyed by greedy men that coveted what they did not have.”

Caitlyn sighed. “And so it goes.”

Healey walked forward, approaching the entrance to the gold room. “It’s solid gold, not too thick, but still—entire planks of the stuff. One thing’s for sure, we can’t hump it out of here.”

Crouch squeezed past him, basking in the glory of the find. With the gold all around him it appeared that he was standing in the deepest underground cave, immersed in sunlight. He closed his eyes for a second but the light didn’t dim, it lit up his dreams and substantiated every decision he’d made so far.

All his life he’d been heading toward this moment.

As a boy he’d read the books, dreamed of the sparkling buried troves, watched the movies; and then life had intruded, offering him a fresh journey of discipline, camaraderie and leadership. As a man he’d fully embraced the challenges, leaving little time spare to pursue his dreams, even when work was done. Through the years he’d pushed the old urges aside, drowned them in new responsibility. The dreams had faded and almost been forgotten like a boyhood pet—an old love that forever owned his heart but had no significance in the present. When unfortunate opportunity landed him with a second chance he’d jumped straight in, determined to give it his all.

Now . . .

Caitlyn laid a hand across his shoulder. “Well done, sir. This is . . . incredible. The Gold Team earn their stripes.”

“What happens next?” Cruz wondered. “The Nahua will want to know that we have found their birthright.”

“Next?” Crouch repeated, still dazed. “Well, next we find the second trove.”

“All this,” Cruz said. “Needs to be safeguarded.”

“Of course. We’ll slip out of here and I’ll make the calls. What do you take me for? An idiot? We always knew we’d find a treasure sooner or later. We have protocols in place to secure and preserve the find.”

Cruz smiled. “I knew you were the right choice.”

“Oh God,” Healey groaned. “Does that mean we have to tackle those bloody rocks again?”

“Afraid so.” Caitlyn swatted his behind. “C’mon bucko, giddy up.”

Healey sprang forward as if he’d been stabbed. Caitlyn watched him go, then made a face at Russo when the young man didn’t look back.

“Whoops, hope I didn’t offend him.”

“Nah. After that slap he’s probably hiding an erection.”

Russo strode off, leaving Caitlyn blushing. After a minute Crouch retreated out of the gold room, camera in hand. He proceeded to document the find, covering both caves with infinite care. Cruz wandered over to the drawings again as their boss worked.

“My heart breaks for these warriors,” he said. “Sent on a perilous journey away from their home they were gone many months, but finished their task, lost men along the way and still some returned. To find what? A city destroyed. Homes razed. Families murdered. The burden that fell to them was insurmountable.”

“And this is how they would want to be remembered,” Crouch said. “Knowing that they safely preserved their city’s wealth and cultural treasures to be returned to its descendants another day.”

Caitlyn saw that Crouch was finished and headed out of the cave. Darkness enfolded her once again, but Healey and Russo waited just ahead, ready with their flashlights. The way back was much easier and quicker. Soon they were scrabbling up the slick slope where the watercourse branched off and then back among the standing stones.

“Shit,” Russo said. “Look at that.”

Caitlyn stared in the direction he was pointing. A faint red glow buffed up the far horizon, making the skies appear lighter.

“Dawn?” Caitlyn was amazed. “We’ve been down there all night?”

“Well, technically we’ve been beyond the fence all night,” Healey said. “Took a while to find the cave.”

“Sure, but—”

“Time flies when you’re treasure seeking.”

Russo squeezed out from the final stone, turning around to help steady the others. At last they were free, standing on hard ground and searching for the most direct route back.

“All we have to do,” Crouch said. “Is head back down to the stream, then go northwest, stay away from the camp, and retrieve our vehicle. After that I’ll start making the calls and we can plan our next move.”

“I wouldn’t make too many plans,” a rough voice said from behind them. “They’re hard to fulfil when you’re dead.”

The sound of dozens of rifles being cocked sent Caitlyn’s heart into overdrive.

Alicia placed herself in prime position to incapacitate as many militia men as she could with one devastating move. The time was fast approaching; it was all a matter of experience and anticipation. Guys like this, they had to work themselves up to a kill; make it feel justified and reasonable in their own minds. If it felt wrong they’d just shout and threaten until it felt right.

Pitts had led thirty of his men and the bikers to the small stream, then tracked Crouch’s team to the standing stones. After that, it had been a simple matter to lie in wait until voices were heard then lie in concealment. Weapons had been trained on the bikers the whole time. Now though, Alicia watched as Lex positioned himself between three men, and even Wrench and Red Head realized it was in their own interests to take as many enemies down at once when the time came.

Pitts walked closer to Crouch and the boss helped close the gap. Healey and Russo ranged out to the side, drifting in. They appeared to be unarmed. Alicia was betting her life that they weren’t.

“You’re trespassing,” Pitts spat angrily. “What you doing in there?”

“Sightseeing,” Crouch replied. “I don’t believe it’s against the law.”

Pitts brandished his weapon. “You crossed our fence!”

“We’ve been here all night. I didn’t see any fence in the dark. Did you guys?” Crouch turned to his men, face set hard and eyes blinking twice to give them the two-minute warning, still drifting closer.

Pitts spat into the dirt. “Don’t matter what you saw. All I need to know before I pepper your asses is: Do you know these four pieces of work? You all planned this in cahoots or not?”

Crouch stared at Alicia. Not a flicker of recognition crossed his face. “I don’t believe I do.”

Pitts frowned. “What kinda accent is that? Australian?”

“English. Like I said we’re touring.” Crouch would never force a battle. He’d talked himself out of more than one tight space and saved countless lives. Admittedly some of those lives popped back up later toting Uzis but he would still never cause pointless bloodshed.

“Don’t look like tourists to me.”

Crouch shrugged. “Are you really going to kill us in cold blood?”

Pitts’ smile gave Crouch all the answer he needed. “Been done before. Ain’t nobody around here to see. Them boys back there they need their target practice.”

“Are you telling us to run?”

“I likes me a good hunt.”

Crouch swept a glance across the thirty faces. Not a man among them appeared regretful, not a single evil grin was false. They had done this before. They’d never do it again.

“Time,” he said.

Pitts blinked. “Wha—”

The whole area burst into frantic action. Healey and Russo whipped .45s from beneath their jackets and fired into the group of men standing furthest away from Alicia and the bikers. Alicia whipped around, disarming her closest opponent with a twist and jerk of his arm whilst side-kicking a second in the throat and a blocking a third with his pinwheeling body. Less than a second later she shot the first man and the two behind him, then ducked to the floor. Crouch jumped into Pitts, wrestled his rifle down to the ground, flipped his body over a raised shoulder, and let it fall hard onto the rocks. Cruz and Caitlyn leaped behind an upstanding boulder.

Militia men screamed and fell, momentarily overwhelmed by the planned onslaught and the sheer terrible force of it. Healey and Russo continued to pick men off. Alicia saw Lex disarm a man and wound another. She saw Wrench and Red Head wrestling enemies, the first biker with more than a modicum of military skill, the second with brute force. She smashed the butt of her rifle into a nose, spun the weapon around and fired twice. Bodies fell, twitching. Healey and Russo dropped to their knees and kept up a withering salvo.

The militia shrank back but they didn’t waste away. For all the bad that they were, they remained hard, determined men. Crouch had already anticipated this, so when the private army started getting it together he shouted a quick retreat.

Instantly, his team spilled away, a deadly torrent parting. Alicia called to the bikers, indicating a nearby rock cluster, and covered their dash. Healey and Russo fell to their stomachs, the jagged rise of the slope affording them just enough cover. Crouch fell back to where Caitlyn and Cruz were concealed.

“My men!” Pitts was screaming. “You killed half my men!”

“Let that be a lesson to you,” Crouch called back, holding Pitts’ own rifle in the air. “Besides, most of them are just wounded. They’ll heal.”

Pitts gasped and sputtered so much he couldn’t form words. As Crouch peered carefully around the boulder he saw the man wrench a gun out of the hands of a confederate and take aim.

“Shit.” He ducked back in.

“Charge ‘em!” Pitts screamed. “Kill ‘em all!”

Bullets pounded against the boulder, some glancing off its edges and depositing a reddish powder in the air. Crouch made sure his colleagues’ heads were firmly down near the floor before angling his own rifle over the top of the boulder and returning fire. Still in his line of sight were Healey and Russo, taking advantage of their clever perspective to pick off charging enemies. For a minute all was battering noise and bloodcurdling yells; until Crouch heard the scrambling of feet close to his shelter.

Anticipating the attack he stepped out at the right moment, met Pitts head on, and smashed the man’s rifle aside with his own. Pitts brought it straight back down but Crouch caught it along the length of his own, using it like a sword. When Pitts furiously snatched the rifle away to gain space, Crouch used the predictable moment to end the fight. He smashed Pitts’ larynx, putting an end to the insane bellowing once and for all, and brought a knee up hard as the man fell. Crouch made sure he felt the nose break before allowing the inert body to slip to the floor.

Another man burst around the rock. Crouch peppered him full of holes. He used the falling body for shelter as he grabbed another quick glance. Men were collapsing before Healey and Russo like sacrificial robots, the mindless and foolish led to the slaughter. Alicia and her three cohorts were firing intermittently around the sides of their sanctuary, working as a team.

Crouch tried something. “Pitts is dead!” he shouted. “Go home!”

In truth, the state of Pitts’ health was undetermined but his soldiers couldn’t know that. As a man they slowed and then paused, each staring to the other. Then, in unison, they began to back away. With guns raised, and some still discharging, they retreated until they were no longer a threat, then turned to hightail it back to their compound.

Russo jumped to his feet. “Sir! We have to pass right by that compound to get out of here and they probably know that. We should hurry!”

Crouch knew it. Already helping Caitlyn to her feet, he waved frantically toward Alicia. “Come on!”

Alicia waved back, grinning before remembering their predicament. Within seconds the entire team was running, crossing the tumbling stream and slipping across the glassy surface. An open plain soon unfolded ahead and the team ran as if being chased by dust devils.

“Did you find what we were looking for?” Alicia jogged at Crouch’s side.

Despite their dilemma Crouch let his face expand into a wide smile. “Sure did, Myles. Biggest bloody treasure trove since Tutankhamen.”

“Damn. Can’t believe I missed the big discovery.”

“Don’t worry. When we get out of here there’s going to be another that’ll make
this
one look like a quick trip to Tiffany’s.”

“As if I know what that is.”

Alicia checked her crew as they ran. Red Head was puffing a little, but keeping up. Caitlyn was struggling; even carrying no gear the girl was slow. Alicia, finding new depths of character, fell behind to encourage her.

“Not too far,” she said. “Then you and Healey can get laid out in the back seat.”

“Don’t bank on that.” Caitlyn panted. “I slapped his arse and I don’t think he appreciated it.”

Alicia failed to choke down her mirth. “You what?”

“It was a spur of the moment thing. We’d just found treasure. You get it, right?”

“I just wish I’d been there to see it.”

Still they ran, taking the most direct route back to their vehicle. The rising sun beat down; not even a breath of air stirred the sparse scrub and stands of trees. Thinking about their quandary Alicia realized the car would be a tight squeeze now since their bikes were lost, and another costly bill for Crouch when they returned to Kanab.

Behind, she saw nothing. Russo noticed her checking and shook his head. “Assholes will be reloading,” he said. “And I’m down to my last six shots.”

“One more for the niggles list,” she said. “Pack more ammo. Truth be told I only have four.”

Crouch added a full mag and Healey another five bullets. A minute later their car was in sight and Russo was untying the fence. The engine started with a roar. With three in the front, four in the back and two in the hatchback space the team would have opted to fight it out if the force facing them had been smaller but now wasn’t the time to take such a chance. Guns were positioned and heads twisted to the best vantage points as they slithered across the dirt, hitting the asphalt hard. The sudden jouncing of the car elicited a chorus of pained groans.

“Suck it up,” Crouch told them. “Long way to go yet.”

He powered the car along the winding road. The perimeter fence flashed by to their right. In only a few moments Crouch had confirmed the worst.

“Damn fools have parked a truck broadside, blocking the road. Armed men to every side and in the gateway.”

“Can you get past?” Russo readied his gun.

“Not a chance.”

“So what the hell are you going to dooo!” Healey’s last word was drawn out as Crouch trampled the gas pedal to the floor and swung the vehicle hard right. The front end bounced over the raised asphalt, hitting dirt and fighting for purchase. The car slewed left and right, the tires grinding. Men scattered from in front of the militia compound gates, not having time to fire even a single shot.

“They didn’t expect that!” Crouch shouted.

The car sped through the open gates, straight in to the militia compound. Crouch let it pick up speed for a minute and then spun it around the square, throwing up a wall of dust. He waited before the central dais, underneath the drooping flag, waiting to see what their enemies would do. Alicia quickly pointed out their bikes.

“If we get chance . . .”

“Too exposed,” Crouch said.

“I didn’t mean ride
past
them.”

Crouch caught her meaning and ran through the likely upcoming scenarios in his head. The obvious one had the militia blasting straight toward him in that big truck.

“All right. Do it.”

The four bikers slipped out of the car, sprinting hard across the square and through the smoking trashcans. Alicia reached her bike first, flicking the foot rest and fiddling with the starter. Lex, Wrench and Red Head jumped aboard their own bikes. Lex kept his eyes on Crouch.

“Ready?”

They waited close to the brick wall where they’d sheltered the night before, out of sight of the militia. Wrench took the moment’s respite to tap Alicia on the shoulder.

“Hell of a side trip you provide.”

“And on the house.” she replied. “Never let it be said that Alicia Myles doesn’t offer a good ride.”

Wrench chuckled. “I don’t doubt it.”

The roar of a powerful truck’s engine snapped Alicia’s attention back to their perilous situation. Crouch raised his hand, just visible behind the wheel. Alicia arranged her bike so that it would go first and the others pulled up alongside her. Another heavy bellow and the truck roared along even faster, out of sight to Alicia but clearly powering toward Crouch’s vehicle. The sound of gears being forced bit at the air. In the moment that Crouch’s hand fell, Alicia opened her throttle, making the bike spurt forward at full speed. She held on tight, yelling as the adrenalin surged.

This would be close.

Three bikes sped along at her side, gaining momentum; silver chrome, aluminum and darkest black flashing in the corner of her eyes. With no helmet her blond hair streamed out behind—a warrior Valkyrie riding like a bat out of hell. The four-bike race was fluid, molten, the blur of dirt, metal, leather and flesh flowing together as their speeds increased.

A moment more and Alicia launched herself out of the seat, tumbling clear. Her motorcycle sped on, a missile that struck the front of the truck. The next three bikes in line hit the front wheel, the side and the rear wheel as one, causing the driver to lose control and the men in the back to go head over heels across the flatbed or tumble over the low sides.

Crouch floored the gas pedal, shouting for his men to throw open the doors seconds after they’d already done so, then screaming to a halt alongside the battered bikers.

“Move!”

Alicia dived across the back seat. Wrench and Lex landed on top of her. Red Head struggled to climb over the rear seats. Before anyone could even think Crouch burned rubber again, upsetting their balance beyond control. Healey leaned out of the front window, loosing rounds out of Crouch’s rifle. If a head rose, Healey took it off.