Deep Sea One (15 page)

A gunshot suddenly split the pleasant morning air. They jolted, Nina shrieked, but Eickhart did not flinch. From his reaction he was either expecting it, or he was impervious to the terror of warfare. He poured the coffee and placed each person's cup next to them.

"How do suppose we are to drink this?" Nina asked.

"One cup at a time, my dear," he replied and untied her hands. His humor went unappreciated and he sighed as he cut the men's hands free. Björn had secured their ankles to one another, making it impossible for them to move beyond their spots, so Eickhart had no fret in loosening their wrists.

"What was that shot all about?" Jodh asked Sam in a hushed tone. "Thank God Purdue already transferred my funds."

"Yeah, mine too, but the catch is—has it cleared yet?" Gary spoiled his thought. Jodh sighed in disappointment.

Nina and Sam looked at each other while sipping their coffee. They were both thinking the same thing.

"Nature calls," Eickhart said, and he made his way around one of the tears in the rock face of the mountainside.

"Me too!" Gary called, but the old man simply shook his head.

"Sam, are you okay?"

"Aye."

"Any thoughts on Calisto's involvement?" she asked.

"Yes, many thoughts. She fooled me like Delilah," he said, clearly exasperated, "and I intend to feed her to the fucking lions when I see her again."

"What does that mean?" Nina frowned.

"Never mind. I just didn't see it coming," he replied.

"Me neither. I should have shared a tent with you instead," Nina said, again unaware of how her statement sounded to Sam. He liked the idea, but elected not to tease her this time, not in a situation like this.

"So you had the book, then?" Gary asked in a whisper, as he took up his cup. Nina nodded.

"I'll just come out and say it. Between Mr. Purdue and this guy, we are fucked," Gary muttered.

"I concur. We have to do something," Jodh answered, but Sam lifted his right leg, tugging at their restraints and reminding them that they could not do much while they were tied together by some Gordian knot of chains and padlocks.

"I don't think he knows about Calisto, you know?" Nina said suddenly, as it occurred to her that Eickhart or his baboon had not once made reference to her.

"They must have seen her if they followed us from the hotel in Lumbini," Sam replied. "She must be in it with them, as I inferred before. Why are they not curious where she is?"

"None of this makes sense, for fuck's sake," Nina snapped, half to herself, "God, I'd kill for a cigarette now."

"Ditto," Sam agreed.

Eickhart came out from the rock's side. He looked around as if he expected someone. The party kept quiet and sipped at their drinks. It tasted terrible and bitter, but under the circumstances it was a solace they could all do with. The old man looked around in the trees and finally sat down.

"I'm starving," Gary said very softly, to nobody in particular.

"Patience," Eickhart said, as he poured himself a cup of black.

The trees shook fiercely on the fringe of the pathway.

"Now what?" Nina moaned.

From the bush came Björn, carrying a slain mountain goat on his shoulders. The thing had already been pared expertly with only its limp lolling head still covered in fur. Eickhart jumped up and slapped his hands together, rubbing them with an immense satisfaction. His voice thundered, "Well done, Björn! That is an excellent piece of meat!" The old man looked at the hostages with a grin, "Hope no one here is a prissy vegetarian."

A tense afternoon passed, with the tall blond henchman cutting up the goat and getting it ready for the fire. In the meantime they received some roti and rice to serve as breakfast and lunch. It was getting darker as the late cloudy afternoon arrived, with Eickhart checking in on his men every half hour to get information on the hunt for Purdue. Those calls made Nina nervous. She expected the worst every time he hung up, because Eickhart would grow red in the face, obviously holding back a fit of rage at the updates.

By the time the sunlight had waned, the group was desperately uncomfortable and cold. The ground was hard and they had not relieved themselves all day; their legs were riddled with spasms from being in the same position all the time. But they dared not complain. They were in no position to make demands of personal comfort, especially now that Eickhart had turned from accommodating and reasonable to outright furious and volatile. The group refrained from asking him anything, even less from replying to anything he mentioned for fear of setting him off.

As the sharp, blue light faded into night, the weak orange radiance of the flames lent the shadows more essence around the campsite. The captors passed around plates of meat to the party, who wolfed down every bit of flesh they could tear into. Sam was especially ravenous, ripping the meat from the bone like an animal. Even Nina relinquished her manners for the succulence of the wild meat, tossing aside her bones as she went through the animal. It was quite delicious, properly salted and slightly charred. They did not want to spoil their meal by wondering what the night would bring, how the frigid air would make them sick, maybe even kill them from exposure before the vindictive German and his lackey did.

"Right, Purdue is not showing. Neither are my men. Björn, I am going ahead so long. You extinguish them. We don't have time for games anymore," Eickhart bellowed in fury. They could tell that he was deadly serious and the firelight crackling was drowned by protests from the captives, begging for their lives.

As Eickhart disappeared in the trees, Björn drew his sidearm. His boss had taken the rifle, leaving him with a full-clip Makarov to finish off the travelers who had already been reported as safe on arrival in Nepalgunj, leaving them abandoned and their trip considered complete. Nina's eyes welled up with tears. She was terrified and Sam wished he could hold her in his arms before they were dispatched. Gary screamed and threw himself on his side, turning his head away from Björn's barrel. But he was not to be first. He shot Jodh in the head without thinking twice.

"Traitor!" he screamed at the dead body. Nina shook uncontrollably and Sam tried to scoot closer to her, but he could not get to her before the huge blond oaf took his place in front of her, gun lifting to her head.

"NO! No!" Sam screamed hysterically, reliving once more the trauma of losing someone he loved, reliving the death of his beloved Trish at the hands of the arms dealers he got mixed up with to expose the crime ring to the world. He did not want to see Nina's face explode like Trish's did and he felt his mind abandon him momentarily, yet he could not move to save Nina.

It was as if time slowed down to torment him. The killer's finger fell gently on the trigger with no sign of hesitation. Sam's eyes did not allow him blindness and his face refused to turn, forcing him to witness Nina's execution. He cried like a child when he saw her soft eyes shut, awaiting her demise. No matter how Sam screamed and kicked to get Björn's attention, the blond man showed no relent.

"Please! Not me!" she cried. "I had the book! It was stolen from me!" she pleaded.

"Then you are of no use to us," Björn smirked and turned his head to keep the blood spatter off his face.

☼

Chapter 19

Sam refused to see history repeat itself and haunt him with mortifying images for years to come. He forced his eyes shut not to see the atrocious event play out and all he could hear was the hoarse cry coming from Nina's throat.

But there was no shot, only a blunt thump and then he heard the tall blond killer scream in agony. Sam opened his eyes to see Björn gripping his arm. His radius bone protruded through the skin of his forearm like a bloody horn and he fell to his knees as the second blow from the hunk of wood landed against his left knee, crippling him. From the firelight he saw her silhouette, bigger than she normally looked. Her black frame towered over the kneeling Norwegian as she dropped the wooden stump. Sam watched Calisto pick up the T-bone of the strewn meat in the sand and with one fell swoop, she slammed the sharp edge of the bone into Björn's temple. His blue eyes froze on impact and his mouth fell open, but she was not done. Grinding her teeth, Purdue's bodyguard stabbed Björn several times in the jugular and finally lodged the bone in the base of his skull, killing him instantly.

Like a giant tree cut from its roots, the Norwegian toppled and fell to the dirt with a sickening thud.

Nina was weeping profusely, still affected by the trauma of her final moments. Sam watched Calisto kneel to free Nina with a lock pick. She fiddled with the lock and the winding chain for a bit until Nina's feet came free of the iron restraints. Sam sat astonished at what he had just witnessed, shock riding his face and his mouth ajar in disbelief. He looked at the bleeding body, the Norwegian's face unrecognizable under the crimson mess and then looked back at Calisto.

"What?" Calisto said nonchalantly, "You said I shouldn't
shoot
people. I did not shoot him, did I?"

Sam caught his breath, and gasped for air, "No, you didn't shoot him. Thanks."

Purdue was busy working at Gary's chains and then started to go through the mess of items the intruders had thrown in a heap while Calisto freed Sam.

"Where the fuck were you?" Nina screamed at them. Sam gently held her back as she spat angry insults at Purdue and his bodyguard.

"She is clearly in a state. Don't judge her utterings," Gary said to Calisto. "To tell you the truth, I am not exactly the picture of mental health right now either. Nina tried to strike Calisto, but the woman simply blocked her hand.

"Why did you betray us?" Nina melted finally and fell against Sam's chest. He embraced her tightly, numb from the whole experience. Gary and Purdue wrapped the Norwegian's body in a tent and moved him into one of the rock caverns.

"We can leave Jodh's body here. I'll call the local authorities by satellite and have them collect him. Poor son of a bitch. He didn't deserve this," Purdue lamented the passing of the young guide.

"You had to wait for them to start executing us before you did anything?" Nina shouted at Purdue.

"My job is to protect Mr. Purdue, Dr. Gould," Calisto said, as she crouched to get the coffeepot going. "I went to look for you with Mr. Cleave, but I soon saw the shape of the big Norse guy I saw in the hotel, standing ready to coldcock us, so I doubled back and went to get the book from your backpack."

"Why? Is it more important than we are?" Nina sneered.

"Yes," Calisto replied coldly, "yes, it is. It is the reason we are all here, the reason you are all wealthy right now. Without the book or Mr. Purdue, we would all be slaving away in thankless environments, repeating day after day, hoping for some sort of breakthrough, would we not?" Calisto's voice deepened as she spoke, lending to her a rather intimidating front that demanded respect. Nina had nothing to throw back at her, so the bodyguard continued, "We watched you the whole day. We would not have let you perish here, but we had to wait for the cover of night . . . and we had to eliminate the other two men Eickhart brought with him before taking on the big one here. This life has no place for misplaced loyalties or expectations, Dr. Gould. It is a dangerous job. A job. And we are all here to do what we are paid for, not to form a circle and sing Kum Ba Yah while we profess our friendships."

Now she was positively annoyed with Nina's whining and she made no secret that she did not intend to tolerate the doctor's behavior toward her.

"Enough now," Purdue urged calmly. "We are all exhausted. We need rest to press on tomorrow and now that we know about our competition and the lengths they would go to, I suggest we gather our courage and get to the shrine as soon as possible. Dr. Gould, here is the map and the book. If you please, I need an estimate of how far we still have to go. Gary will assist you with the measuring of the map coordinates," Purdue said.

The group got closer to the fire. Calisto gathered more wood while Gary and Nina checked the approximate distance they still had left before getting to where the book indicated the location of the shrine was. Sam took care of the coffee and the roti supply, making sure there were still some grains and rice for tomorrow. Purdue joined Nina and Gary to listen to their speculating. The mood was one of momentary relief but they all felt an overwhelming somber hurt and a seeping fear of what was waiting. Purdue placed his palm on the back of Nina's hair, but she did not jump defensively as he expected.

She looked at him with a dreadful worry on her pretty face and what she saw in his was something she had never seen before. Even knowing that he had desired her for so long, she realized that what his expression conveyed now was far from blunt sexual pursuits. Purdue looked genuinely sympathetic toward her recent shock and the punishment she had to endure. He ran his hands over her hair, comforting her in his own awkward manner.

"I'm so sorry, Nina. Really. I will never let anyone hurt you again, I promise. It was selfish of me, even if my intentions were not to desert my group," he whispered, and, to his surprise, she simply nodded in acceptance.

Between Calisto and Sam they took turns to sit by the fire on lookout during the night while the others got some sleep. The expedition had now reached a point where comfort gave way to completing the route. There was no more time to figure out the deeper meanings of the numbers and languages in what Eickhart called the grimoire
.