“Looks like I’ve just been promoted.”
There was another roar of approval. With his free hand, he dragged Sutherland to the mine and slammed her against a slab of boulder next to the opening. The back of her head hit the rock and her knees buckled, but she stubbornly remained on her feet.
She heard Krause yell, “Ready!”
Through blurred eyes she saw the militiamen assemble into a ragged line, facing her.
“Aim!”
She couldn’t believe this was happening to her.
“Fire!”
As Hawkins loped up the mountain road he cursed the war injury that had shattered his left leg. He and Calvin came to a sharp bend, then ran up another stretch of road to yet another hairpin turn. Which is when they heard the loud crack of several rifles being fired at the same time.
Hawkins felt a nameless dread pulling him back, but he kept on pushing ahead even though he feared it was too late.
An instant before Krause gave the order to fire, Sutherland saw movement out of the corner of her eye.
It was Sergeant Paine. She threw herself in front of Sutherland, her rifle aimed toward the line of militiamen, and yelled, “Stop!”
The firing squad’s blood was up, but at the sight of their comrade they raised their rifles into the air and let off a harmless volley.
Krause strode over to Paine. He towered over her, his face contorted in fury.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?”
The sergeant’s rifle was still aimed toward the squad.
“You can’t do this, sir. It’s murder. The general would never approve.”
Krause snatched the rifle from her hands and tossed it aside.
“I’m the general now. You have interfered with a court martial sentence against a traitor.”
“This isn’t a court martial. It’s a farce.”
“You tell him, girl,” Sutherland yelled.
Krause was practically foaming at the mouth. “If you do not remove yourself from the line of fire immediately you will be guilty of aiding and abetting treason and subject to capital punishment.”
“I’m not moving until you stop this,” Paine said with a stubborn set to her jaw.
Krause stepped behind Paine, brought the scepter under her chin and used it to choke her as he dragged her back to stand next to Sutherland.
As soon as he had her in place, Krause stood back and said, “We will proceed with the execution. Shoot anyone who does not obey my order.”
Krause raised his arm with the scepter.
“Ready!” Not pausing, he followed with a quick. “Aim!”
The next command never left his lips. There was a small thut sound and a round hole appeared in Krause’s forehead below the visor of his cap. His mouth stayed open in an expression of abject surprise, then his legs collapsed and he pitched face forward onto the ground.
Holding his sound-suppressed rifle to his shoulder, Hawkins stepped out of the woods and Calvin emerged from the other side with his CAR-15 at waist level.
Calvin snapped an order. “You know the drill, grunts. Toss your weapons in a pile and get down on your tummies. Hands behind you.”
While Calvin corralled the militia men, Hawkins went over to Sutherland. She planted a wet kiss on his cheek.
“I knew you’d find me.”
“You didn’t make it easy for us.”
“Sorry, Matt. I got angry because I hadn’t heard from you.”
“We were out of contact. Didn’t get your message until we got back to Kabul. What happened to that man lying on the ground?”
“That’s Kurtz. He had a heart attack trying to save me. This is my new friend Sergeant Paine. Sergeant, this is my old friend Matt. The general wasn’t all bad. Just a little crazy.” She glanced over at Krause. “Can you get the key to the cuffs? It’s in the front pocket of the guy you shot.”
Hawkins retrieved the key and unlocked the handcuffs. Then he picked up the emerald scepter, his fingers wrapped under the cross-bars.
“So this is what all the fuss is about.”
“Careful with that thing. It might get you killed,” Sutherland said.
“It wouldn’t be hard to find someone who’d kill to get his hands on a treasure like this,” Hawkins said.
“You don’t know the half of it, Matt.”
She led him to the ore carrier and lifted the lid on the box full of diamonds.
He shielded his eyes against the sparkle of sunlight reflecting off the gems. He was even more stunned when he looked into the boxes with the coins and emeralds. He handed Sutherland his rifle and told her to keep an eye on the militiamen. Calvin came over and stared at the treasure and deep laughter roared from his throat.
“Yeah, I know,” Hawkins said. “Joke’s on us.”
Calvin wiped the tears from his eyes. “You’ve got to admit that it’s pretty funny, chasing our asses around Afghan-land while the treasure’s sitting here.” He pursed his lips. “Now what do we do with it?”
“Not doing any good sitting up here on the mountain. Let’s see how strong these cub scouts are.”
Hawkins put the scepter back in its chest, retrieved his rifle, and then ordered the militia men onto their feet. He told them to move the boxes from the ore hauler into the back of the truck. When they were done, he and Calvin piled the seized weapons into the truck with the boxes.
“Thanks boys,” he said. “One more thing. Take your boots off and throw them in the truck. Socks, too.”
“You can’t do that,” one man protested. “It’ll take us days to get down the mountain.”
“You’ll all have a tenderfoot merit badge waiting for you at the bottom. Do it.”
The militia men grumbled, but did as they were told. Calvin got behind the wheel of the truck. Hawkins asked Paine to drive the general’s Jeep. Sutherland would ride in front. He climbed into the back seat to cover their retreat in case the militiamen decided to be fool-hardy. He’d call the police as soon as they were in the clear and let the authorities sort things out.
During the descent Hawkins called in a report to Abby on his phone. The two-vehicle caravan made it down the mountain side in half the time it had taken to climb up to the mine. As they drove through the camp they passed a number of recruits in training. Some may have wondered who Hawkins was but the general’s Jeep was a potent symbol of authority. At Sutherland’s direction, Paine drove to the Kurtz mansion. Sutherland got out of the Jeep and said she would be back in a minute. She dashed into the big house and emerged moments later with her computer bag slung over her shoulder.
Hawkins called Abby on the hand radio, gave their position and requested extraction.
Minutes later, they heard a thrumming sound. A shadow passed overhead. Hawkins got out of the Jeep and waved at a helicopter that was circling a couple of hundred feet over the mansion.
The helicopter landed on the weed-choked lawn. The door opened and Abby climbed out into the rotor blast.
“That was fast,” Hawkins said in greeting.
“We were waiting in a meadow a couple of miles from the gate.” She smiled when she saw Sutherland. “Looks like we’re one big happy family again. Who’s the lady in the soldier suit?”
“Sergeant Paine. Sutherland’s new friend. You’ve just been discharged from the militia, sergeant.”
Paine didn’t seem to hear him. She was staring at the helicopter.
“It’s black,” she said.
“Best we could do on short notice, sergeant.”
“Just like the general said would happen. Black helicopters.”
He pressed the Jeep’s keys into her hand. “That’s right. Now go home. Find a boyfriend. Get married and have kids. Shoot squirrels.”