Fool's Gold (11 page)

“The same thing they do with people who break the Official Secrets Act. Either way, we're—”

“I know,” Jack said, “I know. Now, this may be the only time we're going to be alone, so this is the last chance I might have to tell you what you need to do. Listen and listen good.”

“I'm listening.”

“Like I said before, as soon as we get out of the camp with the gold you have to slip away. Once Red and Moose notice that you're gone they're going to try to find you, maybe yell that if you don't come out they're going to kill me. No matter what they say you keep going. If you come back, then I'm dead. We're all dead. The only chance we have is for you to get free. And remember, if Mom and I don't show up, then you go to the authorities.”

“And what am I going to tell them?”

“Everything you know. Tell them about the gold and about Red and Moose and how their boss is named Dom. The police must know these guys. Okay?”

“I'm okay,” I said, “but I feel like I'm melting.”

“I'm sweating up a storm too,” Jack said.

We had slipped on the uniforms over our clothes, and of course our faces and heads were covered by the balaclavas.

“Now it's time.” Jack put the jeep into gear and flicked on the headlights. The dirt track in front of us was lit as we slowly bumped along. We came to a crossroads. Directly ahead was the main part of the camp—the barracks and the classrooms and the shooting range and headquarters. Bill would probably be asleep, but he might be there sitting at his desk working on something. And even if he wasn't, they'd get him up pretty fast if we appeared at the front door.

“Jack, I have another idea.”

“You do?”

“What if we drove up to the main building and found Bill directly and told him what was happening, and he got his men and they captured Red and Moose right now and—”

“Sure, and then their contact inside the camp might hear what happened and tell Dom. Or Red and Moose might get away. And even if nothing went wrong, we still wouldn't know where Mom is being held captive. Face it, we have no choice.”

Jack turned right, toward the cliff, the shore and the catacombs.

The road was a lot smoother than I remembered it. Before, it used to be nothing more than a path leading down to the cliff. Now it was a real gravel road. That made sense. Before, the catacombs were just some empty caves. Now, they held a fortune in gold.

“Remember, let me do all the talking,” Jack said. “If they hear your little boy voice they'll know you're not a soldier.”

Jack was driving in first gear, going only a few miles an hour. We didn't know the road and we didn't exactly know where the entrance to the catacombs was. Besides, we had to make sure to leave time for Red and Moose to get into position.

“Up ahead,” I said. “Do you see it?”

“I don't see … wait a second … a little red glowing light. Somebody is smoking.”

“It has to be one of the guards.”

The light vanished for a split second, then reappeared and rose. We could see the outline of a rocky outcrop. The jeep went forward and in the sweep of the headlights two guards appeared, rifles on their soldiers, one with a cigarette in his hand. They held up their hands to shield their eyes from the headlights.

Jack brought the jeep to a stop, then stood up in his seat and leaned against the windshield.

“How's it going?” he yelled out, disguising his voice to make it deeper and older-sounding.

“Was going fine until somebody aimed his headlights at us!” one of the guards called back. “Turn'em off, you're practically blinding us!”

That was the idea.

Before Jack could answer, two figures came flying out of the darkness and into the light! Moose bashed into the man who had spoken and sent him crashing to the ground. Before he could even make a sound Moose had pounced on him, hitting him in the side of the head!

Red simply put a gun to the head of the other man. As he put his hands up in the air Red slipped the man's rifle off his shoulder.

“Turn off the lights!” Red called out, and suddenly the whole scene disappeared into the darkness.

Moose ran over to the jeep, reached into the back and grabbed the tackle box. “Get out of those uniforms and come and help,” he said, and then he was gone.

We didn't need a second invitation. Quickly we stripped off the uniforms. I just wished I could take off the balaclava, but I knew I needed that.

We got out of the jeep and stumbled forward in the darkness until we reached Red. The one guard was on his knees in front of him now, his hands on the back of his head and the pistol shoved in his face.

“I'm only gonna ask one more time,” Red said ominously. “How many men are inside?”

“Why should I tell you?” the guard said. He was trying to sound brave but his voice was shaking with fear. I couldn't see his face clearly enough in the dark to know whether his expression matched his voice.

“You'll tell me'cause if you don't you're gonna get real dead. Your buddy over there is all safe and sound—unconscious, but safe and sound. My partner is tying him up. You tell me and we'll tie you up too. In a few hours they'll find him, alive. You don't tell me, and they'll find one of you dead. You want to wake up dead?”

There was no answer, and then I heard the distinctive click of a pistol being cocked, ready to fire!

“You shoot me and there'll be twenty guards on you in seconds,” the man said.

“That won't make you any less dead,” Red replied.

“And it won't help you get out of here alive with the gold.”

Moose came out of the darkness now and walked over to the guard. He reached down and grabbed the man's head and pulled him to his feet. Then he hoisted him up higher and held him up in the air above his head!

“Me snapping your neck won't make a sound,” Moose said softly.

“I'll talk … I'll tell.” The guard's voice was barely audible.

Moose held him there a few more seconds, laughing—he was enjoying this! Finally he released the man, who dropped to the ground with a thud.

“So how many guards are inside?” Red asked.

“Just one!” the guard said, his voice now raspy and harsh.

“You lying to me?” Red asked. “How come there isn't a second man?”

“There usually are two!” the guard said pleadingly. “But the last few nights there's only been one … honestly. Please believe me!”

“I do believe you. Now what's this one guy's name?”

“It's … it's … James.”

“And what do you usually call him?” Red asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you call him James or Jimmy or Jim? What name do you call him?”

“Jimbo, I call him Jimbo. Everybody calls him Jimbo.”

“Good, then that's the name you're going to use when you call him.”

I understood what he was doing.

“Get up and keep your hands where I can see them,” Red ordered. “Don't try anything … or else.”

Slowly the guard got up. He was still rubbing his head. I backed slightly away. I didn't want him to get a good look at me. Even though I was wearing the
balaclava it was obvious that I wasn't very big. Maybe he thought I was a woman.

“You know you're not going to get away with this,” the guard said.

“We're doing pretty good so far, don't you think?” Red answered.

“There are guards everywhere.”

“Not the way we came in—or the way we're going out. Now, one more question. What's your name?”

“My name?”

“What do people call you?”

“Freddie, mostly Freddie.”

“Good, and a final question. When we get into the cave, where will we find good old Jimbo?”

“He'll be toward the back … there's a little desk … that's where he sits … it's not so easy to find.”

“It'll be easy for us to find because you're taking us there. Let's go.”

Red grabbed the guard and pushed him forward, still holding the gun at his side. Moose motioned for us to follow. We fell into line, Jack behind Moose and me at the end.

Suddenly there was a beam of light and I jumped backwards, startled. It was from a flashlight aimed at the entrance to the catacombs, a large metal door that seemed to be built right into the rock face.

“Use your key to unlock the door,” Red said softly. “And no tricks.”

I heard keys jangling together before I saw them in the lock. The door swung inward.

“Call out to him. Let him know we're coming,” Red said, his voice barely audible.

“Hello!” the guard yelled into the cave. “Jimbo! It's me, Freddie, I'm coming in!”

There was no answer. That couldn't be good.

“Jimbo, you sleeping or what?” the guard called out.

“Not sleeping any more!” a voice echoed out of the darkness.

“Just thought you might want to come up for some air, maybe have a smoke,” the guard called back.

“Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea,” the voice—Jimbo's—answered.

Red shoved the guard in the back with the pistol and the guard stumbled forward. Moose had to duck slightly to get through the doorway. Jack followed. I hesitated at the door for a split second before stepping inside.

Instantly it was cooler and the air was damp. We were in the dark, but ahead of us the light showed the way. The floors were wooden planks, but the walls were just sheer rock—it was a cave. As we walked the space opened up, and the little beam of light couldn't find the wall on the other side.

“Hey, Jimbo!” Freddie called out. His voice sounded shaky. “Maybe you should turn on some lights so we can see you!”

All at once the whole room was bathed in bright light and—

“Drop your weapons!” yelled out a voice, and all around us soldiers appeared.

I started to raise my hands when Moose spun around and began firing his pistol!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“
PUT YOUR HANDS UP
and drop your weapons!” the voice yelled out again.

I started to raise my hands when Moose turned and ran toward the door. There were explosions and flashes of light, and suddenly something smashed into me, sending me flying into the air. When I landed, something huge fell on top of me. It was Moose, and his weight forced the air out of my lungs.

“Cease fire!” a voice shouted, and the gunfire stopped. Everything stopped. I lay there, pinned beneath Moose, unable to move, unable to draw a full breath.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. I twisted my head slightly. There were soldiers—there had to be ten or twelve of them—and they were appearing from all sides of the cave!

“Hands up!” A soldier poked a rifle into my face.

“I can't,” I gasped. “I can't move! I'm pinned down!”

I felt the weight lift off my chest as two men pulled Moose off me. He was limp and he wasn't moving,
and as they dropped him to the ground beside me I realized there was a gaping hole in his chest and he was bleeding! Then I saw that my shirt was covered with blood, and for a split second I wondered if I'd been shot, until I realized it was Moose's blood.

I was grabbed roughly by the collar and hoisted to my feet. What about Jack? Was he okay, was he…? He was sitting on the floor, and one of the soldiers had a gun pointed at him. Beside him, lying curled up, holding his side, was Red—he'd been shot too!

“Take off their masks,” one of the soldiers—obviously the officer in charge—ordered.

They ripped the balaclava off Red, and then Jack, and mine was yanked off as well and—

“Jack?” a voice called out. “George? What are you two doing here?”

One of the soldiers obviously recognized us. I turned to the voice. I recognized him too. He looked surprised … no, shocked.

“We can explain!” I said.

“No point in telling us,” the officer in charge said. “Jamison and Campbell, you go and get Bill and the Lieutenant-Colonel. Wake them up and get them down here right away. And you don't talk to anybody else or tell anybody what's happened. Just tell them we have a
situation
.”

Two of the soldiers hurried away.

“I'm just so glad that you—”

“Not another word,” the officer said to me. “Just keep your hands where I can see them.” He turned to two of his men. “Put him with the others.”

The two soldiers pulled me along and then practically threw me to the ground beside Jack and Red. Three of the soldiers now had their rifles trained on us. That was right. They knew us, but that didn't change the facts. We were still in trouble, big trouble. And what about our mom? My body started to shake and I knew what was going to happen next. I started to cry.

“Stop crying,” Jack said out of the corner of his mouth.

“I can't!” I sobbed.

“Stop it. There's nothing to cry about—it's going to be okay.”

I didn't believe him. I didn't see any way that this could be okay. I looked past Jack. Red was still holding his side. Blood was dripping from between his fingers and his face was distorted with pain.

“This one is dead,” I heard a voice say.

I looked over. There were two soldiers standing over Moose.

“He took four slugs,” one of them said. “Two to the chest, one to the neck and one to the leg. Probably dead before he hit the ground.”

Before he hit
me
.

There was a commotion at the entrance of the cave. The Lieutenant-Colonel marched in—he was wearing
his pants and boots with an untucked nightshirt overtop. Behind him was Bill. His eyes widened and he skidded to a stop as he saw us. And then, behind him, came Little Bill! I couldn't believe that he was here. Why was he here?

His looked at us, but his expression remained steady and calm, as if he had expected this whole scene, including us being part of it.