Dust kicked up around the men firing into the chapel as bullets struck the ground near their position. A few stuck the wall behind them. Whoever was firing from inside the little church was severely outgunned. From the sound of it, it was a .45 caliber. If Will made his guess, it was probably a Desert Eagle.
Kaba stood near him as the gunfight roiled, their team exchanging volleys with the hidden gunman in the building. She kept her hands on her own weapon, just in case she needed to jump into the fray, or in case Wyatt and his companions thought it a good idea to go on the offensive.
The muffled pops of the assault rifles stopped for a moment, though the men kept their weapons trained on the entrance to the chapel. The men positioned on the other sides of the building also kept their guns level, just in case. A chilly breeze rolled the gun smoke through the courtyard and up over the walls. An acrid smell still hung in the air. The men positioned on the other sides of the building also kept their guns level, just in case.
The tension was palpable for a few moments. The only sound being the breeze blowing over the walls and through the ears of the observers. Will kept one hand up off to the side of the men positioned to attack the entrance. He had signaled them to stop firing, but DeGard couldn’t tell why. He assumed they were waiting to see if anyone inside the building would continue shooting back.
Will pointed at two of the men in the front of the formation and motioned them to circle around to the front edge of the entryway. They immediately obeyed, sprinting to both sides of the door leading into the chapel. Both men kept their guns high and at the ready with their backs against the wall. The two other remaining men near the wall moved forward slowly, careful not to run head first into a hail of bullets. No more rounds came from inside the chapel, though.
At Will’s signal, the two at the doorway spun around and poked their barrels through the opening, checking both sides of the room, and all the corners before proceeding inside. The two men behind them followed right behind. A few seconds later, one of the men inside yelled out the all clear.
DeGard smiled. “They are all dead?” He guarded his enthusiasm.
Lindsey said nothing. The old man didn’t seem happy for some reason, which was baffling to the French archaeologist. He reflected the expression on Will’s face, which was one of suspicion.
Will boldly walked towards the entrance with Kaba following close behind, and the two disappeared into the shadowed entrance. Several minutes passed before Will reappeared in the sunlight.
“Sir, you should come look at this,” he suggested.
The old man walked slowly across the courtyard and into the dimly lit interior of the chapel. A few of his mercenaries were checking something on the floor in the front behind a stone altar. Another one was on a knee off to the side, looking at something else. The pungent smell of gunpowder hung in the air. Bullet holes riddled the wooden church pews; the first few were a tangled mess of splinters. Lindsey neared the front of the room and saw what the man to the side was checking. It was the body of a monk. The dark robes were soaked in blood. Lifeless eyes stared at the ceiling.
Now he could also see what the other two were looking into. A dark hole had been cut into the floor just behind the heavy altar. They seemed uncertain about going into the dark cavity.
Another man appeared with Kaba in an alcove off to the left. They both held their guns down at their sides. “Sir, the pit is empty,” she informed.
Will’s face was perplexed. The men near the hole looked up at him awaiting orders.
“Should we pursue?” one with a shaved head asked. He had a black scarf around his mouth that matched the rest of his clothes.
Will thought for a moment. “Everyone, back outside! Now!” He ordered suddenly.
“Where are they,” Lindsey asked sternly.
“I don’t know, Sir. But I have a bad feeling we need to get back to the helicopters.”
Chapter 30
Sean and Adriana ushered Firth as quickly as they could through the passageway. There was a light up ahead, peaking through some cracks. They reached the end of the corridor and realized there was a large, wooden door wedged into the floor and ceiling. Sean pushed hard against it, but the barricade barely budged. Adriana leaned into the obstacle as well, causing it to grind a little further against the floor. Firth gasped for breath a few feet behind them.
Sean looked back at him in the pale glow of the flashlight. “Professor, if you don’t mind, could you lean into this thing with us. A little help would be nice.”
The older man fired off a quick look of derision, but stepped over and put his shoulder awkwardly against the façade. The extra weight was just what they needed, and the door lurched forward and toppled over. Light poured into the darkness through a cloud of dust. As the dust settled, they realized they were beyond the walls of the fortress, at the base of the hill. In front of them, two black helicopters sat silently on the Armenian plain. The pilots were nowhere to be seen.
“Come on,” Said to the others and warily started across the span between the foot of the hill and the closest helicopter.
Firth looked skeptical but fell in line behind the other two. He questioned Sean as they moved. “Do you even know how to fly one of these contraptions?”
“No,” he answered. “But she does.”
“You do?” Firth cast Adriana a questioning glance.
She shrugged as they reached the flying machine. “Aviation is a hobby of mine,” she gave a whimsical grin. “And it also comes in handy in my line of work.”
She opened up the pilot’s door and climbed inside. Sean and the professor climbed in as well, with Firth in the back. There was enough room to carry at least six people in the chopper, and it reminded Sean of ones he’d seen in pictures and movies from the Vietnam War.
Adriana quickly turned knobs and flipped switches. It didn’t take long before the rotors above the cockpit were whining to life.
“What about Jabez?” Firth yelled into the cockpit over the rising sound of the engines. “Are we just going to leave him?”
Sean turned around and stared into the professor’s eyes. It was probably one of the single most intense, determined stares Firth had ever seen.
“Jabez wanted us to go without him, Doc,” he explained. “I could see it in his eyes.” Sean was clearly distraught, but he also knew there was nothing he could do to save their new friend.
“You’re just going to leave him?” The professor asked again, disbelieving what he’d just heard.
“We’ll wait for him for a minute, Doc.” Sean spied the top of the hill where the driveway ended near the fortress entrance. If there were any signs of the enemy, they wouldn’t have much time before the chopper would be peppered with bullets.
The engine continued to gain momentum, and the propeller blurred overhead. “Ready whenever you are,” Adriana said through the headset. “Just say the word.”
Sean tried to watch the top of the hill and cave entrance simultaneously, his eyes jumping back and forth between the two. Worry set in when he saw the first of the black clad mercenaries at the top of the hill. Fortunately, they were at a fairly safe distance, but even so, he didn’t want to chance it. His attention went back to the rock wall and the corridor they’d left a few minutes before.