The Belial Library (The Belial Series) (18 page)

"You two stay here for a minute."  She turned to follow Jen.

Eddie latched onto her hand.  “Are we going to die?”

Laney stared down into his face.  His bottom lip trembled even though she knew he was trying to be brave.  She couldn’t lie to him.  He deserved the truth.  “We’re going to do everything we can to keep that from happening.”

Elena wrapped her arm around her big brother.  “Don’t worry, Eddie.  Laney and Jen won’t let anything happen to us.”

Laney nodded, turning away, not sure what to say to the conviction in Elena’s voice.  She walked over to Jen and kept her voice low.  “Any thoughts?”

Jen glanced over at her.  “Are you familiar with Derinkuyu, in Turkey?”

She struggled to place the name.  Then it hit her.  Derinkuyu  was an underground city in the Cappadocia region of Turkey.  It was one of over two hundred cities that had been uncovered.  They were believed to have been created to protect citizens from marauding armies.  Some of the cities could hold up to 50,000 people. 

“What does that have to . . .”  Laney’s voice drifted off as she stared at the door in front of her.  “The doors.  They built giant rock doors into the cave entrances to protect them from invaders.”

Jen nodded.  She turned, inspecting the walls nearest the doors.  “When invaders arrived, they’d lock the doors.  And the same mechanism could be used to open them.” Jen’s eyes raked the cave near the doors.  “There.” 

Laney followed Jen to a small alcove in the wall.  At the bottom of the alcove, were three stone levers. 

Laney stood next to her, looking down at them.  She prayed they still worked.  “Which one opens the safe door?” 

Jen shrugged, her voice quiet.  “I'm not sure.  Probably the one on the right."  She went silent and Laney met her eyes.  "But if not . . ."

Laney's stomach bottomed out.  “We drown."

Jen nodded. 

Laney looked back at the countdown clock.  “Just over twenty minutes left.  We need to make a choice.”

Jen’s hand raised above the levers and stilled.  “What if we choose wrong?”

Laney took her hand.  “If we do nothing, then we die for sure.  But if we choose right, we live.  So, let’s at l
east give living a shot, okay?”

Jen nodded.  Taking a breath, she pulled the lever.

CHAPTER 37

Jake peered out of the trees at the scene along the river.  A group of indigenous people huddled together, covered by two guards.  A few minutes ago, they’d heard an explosion and made their way to the riverbank. 

The helicopters had led them here.  They’d seen one flying towards the river and then away again with its package.  The helos weren’t going very far.  They returned after about twenty minutes.  They must be storing the cargo nearby.  Maybe they even found a clearing where a cargo
plane could land and take off.

The explosion had clued them to the exact location, but it had taken them hours to get here from the tree village.  They'd found the Tayos cave and then wasted time breaking into two groups looking for the trail up and down the river. 

His group had come across another bloody skirmish.  More natives lay dead, a few camouflaged men as well.  He shook his head.  This group didn’t even collect their own dead, just left them to rot. 

He'd thought about radioing the helicopter to speed up the search but he hadn't wanted to let anyone know they were in the area.  Instead, they'd double-timed it.  And so far, it looked like no one was the wiser.

Up ahead, two guards pulled a sled into the trees from the water.  They were emptying something out. 

"Must be the cave Laney and Jen were looking for," Yoni whispered as he sidled up next to Jake.

Jake nodded.  "Looks like these guys are prepared.  This is a high-end operation." 

"Must be waiting for another helicopter," Yoni said.   “Any word from Henry or Patrick?”

“They’re only a few minutes behind us.”  Jake and the rest of the group had taken off just before dawn.  Patrick had stayed behind, doing a final search when light had dawned for any more bodies at the tree village.  Unfortunately, he’d found some. 

“Any sign of the girls?”  Jordan asked.

Jake glanced over at Jordan, whose face was tight with emotion.  “No.  There are a bunch of tribespeople on the bank being held at gunpoint, but I don’t see any sign of Laney or Jen."

The sled was almost at the tree line and no more appeared from the river.  The two men on the s
hore guarding the tribespeople glanced over at the retreating sled.  

Jake shook his head.  "I don't like this.  I think we're showing up at the end of the party."

“Okay.  So what’s the plan?” Jordan asked.

One of the guard’s radio's squawked to life, interrupting Jake's reply.  “That’s the last sled.  The boss said to wrap it up.”
              One of the men on the shore asked.  “Clean up time?" 

"Affirmative," came the radioed reply. 

The man nodded.  He and his partner walked towards the bound group on the ground.  They raised their weapons.

Jake was faster.  His first bullet caught one of the men in the chest, his second in the neck.   He collapsed back into the river.  Jordan's gun took down the second guard. 

A barrage of gunfire from the direction of the retreating sleds targeted Jake’s position. 
Shit
. 
There must be more men just inside the tree line
.

Jake scuttled across the ground on his stomach, reaching a giant tree.  From the corner of his eye, he saw Jordan do the same across from him.  Jake sat up, his back firm against its trunk.  He looked around.  Mike and Yoni had taken up similar positions, returning fire.   The other three members of there team were pinned down.

The last sled was still being dragged into the trees.  Jake fired on it, taking out one of the men.  Over the gunfire, he could hear the approach of the helicopter.  He looked up and saw it coming in from the west, a long cable dangling from it.  “They’re trying to link it up.  Aim for the chopper.”

The words were barely out of his mouth before machine gun fire raked the ground around him.  With a yell, he dove for cover next to Yoni, driven back by the sniper.  “Where
the hell’s that coming from?”

Yoni peeked out from behind his tree.  A bullet nearly took off his head.  He pulled back.  “Not sure.  I think the t
rees somewhere to our right.” 

Jake glanced out, but the shooter fo
rced him back again.  “Shit.” 

He could hear the helo getting closer.  It was hovering just above the tree line. 
They must be linking up the last sled
. 

He struggled to form a plan.  There wasn’t one.  Until that sniper was taken out or ran out of am
mo, they were sitting ducks.  

A shot from a rifle cut through the air and the blasts from the sniper stopped.  Jake glanced out.  Henry stepped into the clearing, firing at the helicopter.  It was already pulling away, its
payload swinging underneath.  

Jake stood, lining the pilot up in his sights.  He squeezed the trigger just as the pilot veered to the right.  The shot went wide.  He fired off five more shots in rapid succession.  They hit the body of the chopper, but none did enough damage to down it.  It flew off
, its cargo swinging beneath. 

“Damn it.” Jake yanked his radio from his belt.  “Foxtrot Charlie, we need a ride now.”  He rattled off their
location.  

“Ten minutes,” c
ame the reply over the radio.

“I’ll check and make sure we don’t have any stragglers.”  Yoni disappeared into the
woods, three men joining him.

Henry came to stand next to him.  
              Jake tipped his head towards where the sniper had been.  “That your shot?”

             
Henry shook his head.  “Nope.  Father Patrick’s.  Did you know he was a sharp shooter back in the day?”

“At this point, nothing th
at man can do surprises me.”  

Jake glanced over to where Patrick was speaking with some of the native people.  Pulling out a first aid kit from his pack, he knelt next to a man lying on the ground.  Placing pressure bandages on the man’s chest, Patrick kept up a rapid conversation with a woman with long white hair.   Tears streamed down her face.  She gestured towards t
he rock face across the river.

A feeling of dread began to well up in the pit of Jake’s stomach
.  He started towards Patrick.

“Jake?”  Henry called out. 

Jake didn’t answer.  He couldn't.  A rumble started under his feet.  He stared across the river.  The giant rock face seemed to quiver. Then, with a tumbling roar, it caved in on itself, sending rocks, water, and dust flying in every direction.

Jake dropped as the ground shook with the force of an earthquake.  After a few seconds, the trembling stopped and everything went quiet.  He stared with stunned disbelief at the pile of rocks across from him.  “T
hey blew the whole thing up.” 

Henry leaned down and offered his hand.  "They must have gotten everything they needed from i
t.” 

Jake grasped it, pulling himself up.  Dusting himself off, he walked towards Patrick who sat on the ground, staring across the water.  Cries of grief rose from the group on the riverbank. 

A look of pain was frozen on Patrick’s face.  Tears tracked their way through the dust covering the priest's face. 

Jake leaned down and put his hand on P
atrick’s shoulder.  “Patrick?”

Grief-stricken eyes focused in on Jake.  “They’
re gone, Jake.  They’re gone.”

“What are you talking about?”

With a shaking finger, Patrick pointed to the rubble.  “Laney and Jen.  They're under there.  We’re too late.”

CHAPTER 38

                Jake sprinted for the water.  “Laney!”

He was about to jump in, when Henry wrapped his arms around him, holding him back.  “No, Jake.
You can’t help her this way.”

“Let me go.  She could be under ther
e.  She could still be alive.”

Henry's hold didn't break.  “You saw what happened.  No one could survive that.  A mountain of rock just collapsed on itself.  She’s gone, Jake.  She’s g
one.”

Jake pulled himself free, glaring at Henry.  “She’s not.  You know her.  She wouldn’t go down without a fight.  If there was a w
ay to survive, she’d find it.”

“I know that.  But Jake, even if she did, without the right equipment, we’ll never be able to reach her in time.  Or Jen.”  Henr
y's voice broke on Jen’s name.

Jake jerked his head up and looked at Henry.  He saw the anguish etched into his friend’s face.  He knew that if there was a chance they could save them, Henry would be leading the char
ge.  

Seeing Henry’s pain hammered home the loss. Tears sprang to his eyes.  He sank to the ground.  Desperate loss clawed at his chest.  He pictured Laney struggling to breathe, unable to escape, her lifeless bo
dy crushed beneath the rocks. 

He remembered the last time he’d seen her:  She’d been laughing, making cupcakes with Max and Danny.  She’d pulled him into the kitchen, forcing him into an apron and handed him a mixing bowl.  Her eyes
had sparkled the whole time.  

They were too late.  She was gone.  And th
ere was nothing he could do.  

"No!"

Jake's head whipped around at Jordan's yell.  Jordan and Mike sprinted for the river and dove in. 

"I'll get them," Henry said, running after them.  Yoni dove in behind him. 

Jake watched as the brothers’ dove under, again and again.  Each time they popped back up, the hole in his chest grew larger.  Finally, whatever Yoni and Henry were saying to them, got through.  They let themselves be dragged back to shore.

Yoni, his clothes dripping, walked up to Jake, his eyes red, his sig
nature bounce absent.  “Jake?”

Jake wiped h
is eyes and stood to face him.

Yoni glanced up at him.  Looking away, he cleared his throat, a slight quiver in his voice.  “The helo's approaching
.  What do you want us to do?”

Jake stared back at the rocks, desperately wishing he could turn back time. If they'd only gotten here a few minutes sooner.  
I’m sorry, Laney.  I’m so damn sorry
.                 Forcing himself to focus on the task at hand, he knew he needed to do one last thing for her.  Or die trying. 

There was no tremor in Jake’s voice when he spoke, only conviction.  “Laney and Jen died for what they stole.  We’re going to get it back.”   

CHAPTER 39

Laney pulled Eddie up, dusting some of the debris off of him.   “Everybody okay?” 

Jen had picked the right lever.  When the middle door had opened, Laney and Jen had sprinted through with the children.