“You don’t think…” Tommy started to ask, his voice echoing in the still silence of the chamber.
“No. It can’t be,” Sean said.
“Are you sure?”
“The fabled statue of Zeus by Phidias was much larger than this one, and the records of it say that it was still in Greece long after Julius Caesar died.”
“Oh yeah. I guess I didn’t think about that.”
“Silence!” Bourdon ordered. “Men, shine your light over there, to the right of the statue.”
The other four did as ordered and redirected their flashlight beams to their right. Just in front of the sculpture’s throne, a marble cube sat on the floor. On its top, a shiny, almost gold-like object reflected some of the light back to the men.
It was the Eye of Zeus.
“That’s it,” Sean said with more than a hint of relief. He started to inch his way forward when Bourdon’s voice stopped him again.
“I think you’ve gone far enough, Mr. Wyatt. You and your friend step over to the side right there.” He waved his gun barrel in the direction he wanted the Americans to go. When they had done what he requested, he spoke again. “Good. I can’t have you doing something foolish like trying to destroy the device, now can I?”
“If we don’t get that thing back to your boss, he’s going to kill Adriana,” Sean protested angrily. “So if you’re going to grab it, hurry. We are running out of time.” He had glanced at his watch again, seeing that he still had a good fifty minutes until his time was up.
“That seems to be your problem, not mine,” Bourdon said snidely. He switched his attention to the closest guard and motioned toward the device with his free hand. “Lars, bring me the relic. We’ll be taking that back to Mr. Gikas.”
The one named Lars did as instructed and walked the remainder of the stone pathway to the foot of the giant statue.
Bourdon watched out of the corner of his eye as his subordinate carried out his command. “As for the two of you,” he said to Sean and Tommy, “I believe my employer will no longer require your services.”
“Gikas said that he would let Tommy and Adriana go if I led you to the device. He gave his word.” Sean’s argument bounced off the hard walls.
Bourdon shook his head. “True, but I never gave mine. Goodbye, Mr. Wyatt.” He aimed the weapon at Sean’s head and started to squeeze the trigger.
A sudden movement over by the statue grabbed Bourdon’s attention, and he held back from firing for a split second. The guard he had sent to grab the Eye of Zeus disappeared with a short scream, followed by a splash. The sound of arms thrashing wildly in the water resounded throughout the room. Suddenly, the man screamed out in profane agony before it muted to a gurgle and then silence.
Chapter 50
In the confusion of the startling event, Sean had finally gotten the window he needed. He leapt hard at Bourdon, sinking his bare heel squarely into the man’s chest. The force of the blow sent him crashing to the floor. His gun clanked loudly on the hard surface a few feet from his hand.
Sean’s attack happened so fast that the other guard didn’t have a chance to stop it, but now he had spun around and was bearing down on the American with his gun. A second before he could pull the trigger, Tommy launched an attack of his own. His fist snapped a few inches behind where the man’s jaw was, sending him staggering backward. While he lost his balance, the guard never lost his gun, and as he regained his senses he began to raise it in Tommy’s direction. Tommy didn’t stop with one punch, however. He brought his foot through the man’s wrist in a roundhouse kick, sending the gun flying across the room into the shadows.
Fifteen feet away, Bourdon had scrambled off the floor, a snarled look on his face. “You should not have done that,” he said threateningly to Sean.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have let you just shoot me in the face, then?”
Bourdon pulled a knife out of his utility belt and brandished it menacingly. “It would have been an easier death than what you will receive now.”
“I’ve never done things the easy way.”
Bourdon growled and lunged at Sean with the tip of the knife, swinging it down across his body and then back up. Each time he stabbed and swiped with the sharp edge, Sean dodged it. One strike came particularly close to his stomach, causing him to arch his body like a cat to miss the blade. Bourdon’s reaction was just as quick, slicing through the air as he spun around trying to catch Sean across the neck, the target rolling across the floor just clear of the attack.
Meanwhile, Tommy was in mid-dance with the guard. The two men circled each other, around and around, neither one willing to commit immediately to an assault. The guard had at least a twenty-pound advantage over Tommy, and was clearly much stronger, but what the man possessed in bulk, Tommy had in agility.
When the hulk of a man finally stepped in to throw a jab, Tommy easily sidestepped it while grabbing the man’s elbow and using his momentum against him. Falling forward, the man’s face ran smack into Tommy’s elbow, instantly breaking his nose. It was a wound that would have dropped a normal man. Unfortunately, the guard was no typical combatant. He swung around angrily in a blood-infused rage and brought his fist across Tommy’s face. The power of the roundhouse punch sent Tommy to the floor in a haze of pain. He winced at his throbbing cheek but forced himself to stand back up. Before he could manage it, the guard’s huge foot whipped up from the floor and through Tommy’s chin. He nearly flipped over backward from the energy of the strike, landing face down on the hard stone.
Sean saw his friend go down out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn’t help him immediately. Bourdon lashed out again with the knife, this time overcommitting his body in the lunge. Sean used it against him and grabbed the man’s wrist that held the knife. He twisted the arm around behind Bourdon’s back and yanked it up, nearly breaking the bone. The knife dropped to the floor, but Bourdon deftly shifted his stance and used Sean’s back as leverage to jump and roll behind him. Suddenly, Sean was on the defensive with the enemy’s forearm wrapped around his neck. Bourdon squeezed hard, closing off his opponent’s airway. Sean struggled, pulling at the muscular arm, desperately trying to free his throat to draw in another breath. He attempted to drop to his knee to throw Bourdon over his back, but the move only tightened the man’s grip. Sean’s face reddened, swelling with the strain. He only had another ten seconds or so before he would black out. With the last ounce of strength he possessed, Sean reached back with his hands and felt for the killer’s eyes. Bourdon twisted his face around violently, resisting the move, but one thumb caught him right in the soft eye tissue. The moment Sean felt it, he shoved his thumb deep into the man’s socket.
Bourdon let out a howling scream, and both his arms let go of their death grip, moving his hands to the now-bloody eye. Sean fell forward onto the floor, landing close to Tommy, who struggled to grasp for consciousness. Sean gasped for air on his hands and knees, trying to regain his bearings.
The guard had left Tommy on the floor and walked over to the corner to retrieve his gun. Blood oozed freely from the man’s nose as he bent down and picked it up. Bourdon recovered as well, and stumbled over to where his own pistol lay on the stone surface. Sean noticed all four of the men’s flashlights sat in a heap between him and Tommy. His friend groaned and clutched at the floor, slowly coming out of the haze.