“Fun’s over, Rashid.”
Rashid couldn’t believe his ears.
Hawkins.
“How did you find me?”
“I followed a bad smell. Now get up. Slowly. Hands in the air.”
Hawkins pulled the gun away from Rashid’s skull and stepped back out of reach. Rashid slowly stood, palming the knife as he reached for the ceiling.
“That’s better. Now step aside,” Hawkins ordered.
Rashid did as he was told. He saw Hawkins moving in from the left to tend to the woman. He still had his pistol leveled at Rashid’s mid-section, but he took his eye off the man for a second as he extended his hand toward Cait. Rashid tensed, ready to swivel and slash the short blade across Hawkins’ exposed throat.
Cait’s eyes were open and staring. She yelled a warning.
“He’s got a knife!”
Hawkins saw the glint of metal as the knife began its arc. He fired instinctively without aiming. The bullet shattered Rashid’s sternum and the knife flew from his hand and clattered to the floor. Cait rolled out of the away to avoid the man’s crashing body. She lay on her side, staring at Rashid’s vacant eyes, then with Hawkins’ help, she stood on shaky legs. Hawkins stepped over to examine the dead man so as to give Cait a moment of modesty to reassemble her clothes, then turned back and said:
“Are you okay, Dr. Everson?”
Cait was surprised to hear the man say her name. “Yes. You know me?”
“Only by your work. My name is Matt Hawkins. I stopped by Georgetown hoping to invite you to dinner so we could talk about maritime silk routes. It was quite a surprise to find you here.”
“I’m very glad that you did.”
“Me, too. Now we can talk about that dinner.”
Cait stared at Hawkins. “Dinner,” she said in a dead voice.
“That must sound a bit crazy.”
“A little bit.”
“No rush. I was talking about a future date, and different place, of course.”
She studied the handsome, dark-complexioned face and wondered who this person was who had found her in one of the most remote places on earth, rescued her at risk to his own life, killed a man in the process and asked her out on a date. She realized that his lighthearted patter was aimed at trying to keep her from going into shock.
“You seem to know a lot more about me than I know about you, Mr. Hawkins. Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“That’s a long story. I’d be glad to explain after we tend to your injuries.”
“That might be a good idea.” She touched her swollen jaw with her fingers and winced in pain, then glanced at Rashid, who lay face up. “I’m glad you killed that bastard.”
Hawkins would have liked to have kept Rashid alive long enough to find out why he’d tried to kill him, but he couldn’t blame Dr. Everson for her hard feelings.
“From the looks of his face, you got a head start.”
Cait started to reply to his comment, but said instead, “I’m a bit dizzy. Maybe I should get some air.”
Hawkins nodded, and took her by the arm as they made their way down to the first level. Cait gasped when she saw the bodies of Baht and Ghatool lying on the threshold, but Hawkins had more immediate concerns he had to deal with.
As he stepped into the open, he saw Calvin and Abby face down on the courtyard.
The muzzles of six automatic rifles were pointed at his heart.
Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, he heard someone bark an order. Hawkins knew enough Pashto to understand the words.
“Kill him!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Minutes before, Amir had driven though the front gates of the fort behind the wheel of a UAZ-469, the Russian equivalent of the American Jeep. Riding beside him was an armed guard; two more guards sat in the back.
Following close behind and protecting the smaller vehicle, was a BTR-152, a personnel carrier shielded with five tons of armor. Six more guards rode on the open top of the carrier where they were well-positioned to unleash a lethal wave of automatic gunfire in any direction. Both vehicles had been left behind during the Russian army’s retreat from Afghanistan and had been restored to their original condition by the skilled mechanics who kept his fleet of trucks running.
He had wound up his latest negotiating session, with an Iranian middleman, earlier than expected and had decided to surprise Cait and visit her at the ruins. He’d been glad she’d taken his bait and prolonged her stay. His daughter and granddaughter adored her, but he was fond of her as well. Her quick intelligence and pluck reminded him of his late wife, who had attained a college degree despite the odds for an Afghan woman.
The half-grin on his lips as he anticipated her surprise changed to a deep frown when he saw the man and woman standing over the bodies of his men at the entrance of the tower building.
He hit the brakes and got out of the vehicle with amazing agility, despite his age and bad leg. He waved his cane to signal his guards from their vehicles. They went over to the man and relieved him of his weapon. The woman was unarmed. Amir’s men forced the strangers face down onto the ground. Amir warned that they would be shot if they moved and ordered one of his men to check out the bodies. The man confirmed that the dead men were Ghatool and Baht and said they had been shot.
Amir seethed with anger at the murder of his two most trusted men. His unbridled fury was uncharacteristic of the drug lord, who took pride in his coolness. He told four guards to split off from the others and search the arcade. The other guards stood in a line in front of the tower doorway with orders to shoot the first person who emerged.
That’s when Hawkins appeared.
He would have been dead a second later if Cait had not seen Amir and his men and stepped in front of Hawkins.
“Amir. No!”
Amir limped into the line of fire and waved his cane in the air.
“Stop!” he shouted.
There was a moment of bow-string tension as all parties froze in place. Then the guards slowly lowered their guns and Amir strode up to the tower.
“What is going on here, Dr, Cait?” he said.
“This man is a friend, Amir. He saved my life.”
Hawkins gently placed his hand on Cait’s shoulder and thanked her, then moved her aside and stepped out in front.
“And those are my friends,” he said, pointing to Abby and Calvin. “I’d appreciate it if you would allow them to get to their feet.”
Hawkins strode past the drug lord and helped Abby stand while Calvin got up on his own.
“Da-yam, that was close, Hawk!” Calvin said as he brushed the dust off his clothes. He looked over at Cait, who was in conversation with Amir, and said, “Wow! Leave it to you to find a beautiful woman in the middle of nowhere.”
Abby cast an appraising glance in Cait’s direction.
“Wow indeed. Who’s the pretty lady?”
“That’s Cait Everson, the historian who did the research into Prester John that sparked our crazy treasure hunt.”
“What’s she doing in this godforsaken place?”
Hawkins shook his head. “Looks like you’ll have the chance to ask her yourself.”
Cait came toward them, walking arm-in-arm with the older man.
“This is my friend Amir,” she said. “He’s a native of this area who has been helping me with my research.”
Hawkins introduced himself and his friends. Abby winced when she saw Cait’s swollen jaw up close.