All because they…
What? she thought. We didn’t make a mess of the job. We succeeded!
They had been tricked from the beginning. They had been employed by somebody utterly ruthless, a fanatic. That much was clear.
“We have to find a way to escape,” she said.
Crouch grunted again. “You need to wait,” he said. “It won’t happen in Cincinnati, I’m sure. It’s not the final stop.”
How could he know that?
“What is the final stop?”
“I… don’t know.”
She was sure he was lying. He didn’t want to tell her. Why? Maybe he enjoyed the company. Didn’t want to face the enemy alone. Maybe he needed a lackey to help distract the guards whilst he wrote more notes.
Either way didn’t work for her.
“And you?” she asked, trying to dig a little. “What do you do?”
“I’m a gold hunter,” he said quickly and easily. “With good connections. Someone in the FBI asked me along to the Smithsonian that night because he thought our expertise might help prevent a robbery. They never counted on a terror attack to help disguise it.”
“Neither did we. And what do you mean — a gold hunter?”
She sensed him shrugging.
“Exactly that. We seek out treasures around the world, find them, and bring them to the people that rightfully own them.”
“You haven’t always been a treasure hunter.”
“No, you’re right. I was in the British Army for many years.”
So that was it. The guy was ex-army, a captain at least. It made sense. It also explained how he could be so calm at the center of total crisis. The interesting part was the faith he put in his team — the only person she trusted that much was Paul Cutler.
And now she had to tell him the truth.
Already, the merc who’d visited the restroom was on his way back. She left Crouch where he was, staring after her, and made her way over to Cutler. One of the guards glared in her direction, so she stopped short. They were standing in a secluded corner of the rest stop; at the far end of the parking area with thick trees and shrubbery all around. The guards weren’t displaying their weapons, but Terri knew their fingers were resting on triggers underneath their jackets.
“Paul,” she said, barely audible. “You hear me?”
A shifting of his feet as he no doubt turned his mouth away from the guards and then: “Yeah, you okay?”
“Crouch thinks they’re gonna sell us to the highest bidder once we get where we’re going.”
Cutler gasped, then masked it with a cough, bending almost double. “They’re what?”
“It makes sense. Think about it — why else are we here?”
Cutler was silent as the mercs finally regrouped, huddling for a quick chat at the front of the car. He took the chance to face Terri.
“We have to run.”
“Yeah, but when? Crouch says we’re headed for Cincinnati and his team will help us.”
“How can he be sure of that? He’s fucking government, Terri, and he’ll watch whilst those bastards throw us into a dark cell. We should run.”
“They’ll kill us.”
“You wanna be sold to the highest bidder? Who knows what they’d do to us.”
Terri saw it clearly now. “Damn, you’re right.” She couldn’t put the same trust as Crouch did in his team and, even if they did manage to rescue them, they still worked for the authorities. It wouldn’t end well for Terri and Cutler.
“See there?” Cutler tipped his head toward the other side of the parking area. “It’s a hundred-meter dash at the most. They won’t shoot. I’ve been considering it for a while now. They’re trying to move under the radar, drawing no attention. We can run faster than they can.”
“Then what?”
“Anything we have to. Steal a car, probably.”
Terri quickly surveyed the far side of the lot, where most of the cars were parked. She counted at least thirty, well-spaced out. Cutler’s idea was as plausible as it was dangerous.
“We’re not gonna get a better chance, Terri.”
She knew it. Crouch had already told her they were on their way to meet the big boss. Surely, he would come with more guards. This was about as good an opportunity as they were going to get.
“What about Crouch?”
“You know what we say. It’s us and them. Let his team save him. He’s the enemy.”
Terri hesitated. “I don’t think I agree with that. He’ll help—”
“They’re coming now. We have to go. Now.”
He decided for her, grabbed her hand and pulled her along as he started to run. The mercs saw them instantly and shouted a warning. Cutler ignored them, racing through underbrush and jumping over shrubbery to clear the trees they were among. He jumped the last hurdle and came down in the parking lot; Terri staggering at his side.
“Run!”
She felt a jolt of fear-induced adrenalin wash through her entire body; the chance at freedom suddenly right there before her. Cutler was rushing a few steps ahead. Terri chanced a quick glance back.
Crouch stared after her, unmoving, the look on his face somewhat sad. The three mercs were chasing hard, desperate not to let a prize like this slip through their hands. Gold was gold, no matter what form it took in different places, in different situations.
They had covered a third of the parking lot when the first merc reached her. She swung an elbow back, caught him across the face. He yelled out and reached for her. Terri skipped to the side, still swinging her arms. Cutler swiveled his head, determination in his face. We can do it.
They had done it before.
She could hear breathing right behind her, and pounding steps. They were fit and fast these mercenaries, faster than her. Cutler was slowing to keep pace with her. It was already clear that they wouldn’t make the cars.
But still, they could attract attention.
Cutler opened his mouth to shout, but at that moment the merc behind Terri pushed her hard in the back, sending her staggering into Cutler. Together, they fell ass over head, tumbling three times, scraping their skin and getting bruises from the asphalt. Terri had never felt so out of control. Her elbows grazed the floor, smashed Cutler in the face, then hit the bone of his knees with a jarring impact. The breath was torn from her chest, leaving her panting, disoriented and with her vision full of black spots.
“No,” she managed. “No.”
The mercs dragged them to their feet and pushed them away from the open spaces, back toward the trees. They growled threats and jabbed both Cutler and Terri where the nerves clusters were most sensitive. Terri couldn’t help but be herded over the hedgerows and back among the trees, a hundred meters from their getaway car.
One of the mercs forced Cutler to his knees and drew a battered handgun. “End of the road, asshole.”
He put the gun to Cutler’s head.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Terri screamed and fought her way to Cutler’s side, still on her knees. A man jabbed her in the back, sending her face-first into the foliage. She spat dead leaves and twigs from her mouth, struggling upright once more. The merc still pointed his gun at Cutler’s head, his finger half-squeezed on the trigger.
As she rose, Terri saw that Crouch, left alone, had ducked his head inside the mercenaries’ car. He was fiddling with something on the dashboard.
She yelled harder, seeing that as of right now Crouch was their only chance. All the mercs’ attention was on Cutler and herself.
“Try to run? I’m surprised at you,” the gun-holding merc hissed in anger. “They’d kill us if we lost you now just for the loss of revenue. You fuckers are worth millions, apparently.”