‘Nina…’ said Eddie.
‘I have to,’ she told him, conflict clear in her voice. She placed the statue on the floor, then stepped back.
Cross crouched to examine it with reverence before picking it up. He turned it over in his hands, paying close attention to the fine details, before announcing: ‘It’s real. It’s the last angel. And,’ he said as he stood, ‘it’s mine.’
‘You’re really going to let them live?’ demanded Simeon.
‘Yes, we are. I gave my word to God.’ He bowed his head to the central throne, then started towards the exit. ‘Everyone move out.’
Keeping his gun aimed in Eddie’s direction, Simeon scurried to Anna, giving Jared a poisonous glare as he checked her wound. The other men went to the exit. Eddie stayed behind Dalton, Desert Eagle at the ready. ‘Nina, get behind me.’ She retreated, using one of the thrones as cover.
‘You’re letting them go?’ Dalton asked Eddie with angry disbelief.
‘You want me to start shooting?’ he fired back. ‘’Cause you’ll be my bulletproof vest!’
‘Nobody needs to shoot anyone,’ said Cross, holding the statue up to the iridescent light coming through the opal. ‘Not in here. But if you leave the throne room before we’re gone…’
‘Knew there’d be a fucking catch,’ Eddie muttered.
Cross and Simeon exchanged whispered words, then the latter spoke to his troops. ‘Norvin, get the Prophet and the angel out of here. I’ll take Anna; the rest of you, cover us.’ He glanced at Cross, then went on, trying to suppress his frustration: ‘Don’t fire unless fired upon.’
Hatch and the other men took up positions at the entrance as first Cross and Norvin, then Simeon and Anna left the room, the cult leader looking longingly at the Tabernacle before departing. ‘If there is a God, he’ll make that fucking bridge collapse under them,’ said Eddie as the remaining gunmen retreated.
Dalton watched them go with dismay. ‘Now what do we do?’
‘Oh, so when everything goes up shit creek, you ask us for advice? You fucking idiot.’ The Yorkshireman shoved Dalton away and moved to look down the tunnel, spotting Hatch backing away, gun raised. ‘That Bible-thumper promised God that we wouldn’t be harmed in here, but I bet that promise ends the second we set foot outside the door.’
Nina retrieved her backpack, then hurried to Jared. ‘Eddie, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t do it,’ she said as she took out a first-aid kit. ‘I couldn’t do that to our baby. I’m sorry.’
‘It’s okay,’ he told her. ‘We’ll figure something else out.’ Hatch disappeared from view; Eddie went to the tunnel entrance. ‘Jared, you okay?’
‘I never realised being stabbed would hurt this bad,’ the Israeli replied through clenched teeth.
‘Just wait until you try to walk on that leg.’
‘Thanks a lot, alter kocker.’ He gasped as Nina cut away the torn material to reveal the bloodied wound beneath. ‘How does it look?’
‘I’m not an expert, but… not great.’ Blood was still pumping from the gash.
‘Just do what you can to stop the bleeding,’ said Eddie. ‘I’ll come and help you in a minute.’
‘Where are you going?’ asked Nina.
‘To stop that lot from leaving.’ There was no sign of anyone in the tunnel, though he could still hear activity in the cenote. Raising the Desert Eagle, he crept down the passage.
He soon saw the doorway ahead. The raiders had not left a rearguard — at least not on this side of the bridge. He moved closer.
The rope was still in place, pulled taut above the crossing. But he saw as he neared the door that it was moving, jiggling up and down—
He realised what was happening just as the person hacking away at the line with a combat knife finally severed the last few strands. The far end of the rope fell away to hang limply down into the cenote. Eddie held in an obscenity, hearing movement from the other side of the bridge.
He leaned around the edge of the opening…
And his eyes widened in fear as he saw Simeon aiming his grenade launcher.
Eddie sprinted back into the darkness as a shotgun-like bam! propelled a forty-millimetre grenade across the chasm.
It struck — but he wasn’t the target.
Instead, it hit the end of the bridge. The explosion as the ancient wood was blasted into splinters blew Eddie off his feet. The shattered structure toppled into the abyss with a noise like the clattering of dried bones.
On the far side of the cenote, Simeon and Hatch, holding a flashlight, scrambled backwards as the detonation sent broken stones flying at them. A deep crunching reverberated around the passage — then a great chunk of the cenote’s wall sheared off and smashed down on to the end of the tunnel, almost completely blocking it.
Simeon regained his composure. ‘Don’t think they’ll get out of there,’ he said, as Hatch shone his light over the boulder. The two men shared a triumphant smile, then hurried to catch up with their leader.
Nina had just finished cleaning Jared’s wound when the explosion ripped through the passageway. ‘Eddie!’ she yelled, running down the tunnel to find him.
A choking cloud hit her, reducing her flashlight’s beam to a haze. She buried her nose and mouth in the crook of her arm. ‘Eddie, can you hear me?’ she called, voice muffled.
Coughing answered her. ‘Yeah, I’m okay,’ her husband rasped. ‘Just got knocked over. My ears are still ringing, though. Not that that’s anything new.’
She groped in the darkness, her hand finally touching leather. ‘Can you stand?’
He took her arm. ‘More or less.’ Another bout of coughing, then they headed back to the throne room. ‘Bastards took out the bridge with a grenade. They cut the rope, too.’
‘So how are we going to get out of here?’ They cleared the wafting smoke, the sparking light of the temple beckoning them ahead.
‘Dunno, but we’ll have to— Oh, for fuck’s sake.’
Dalton stood inside the entrance, pointing Jared’s pistol at them. ‘Stay where you are! Drop the gun, Chase.’
‘Sorry, Eddie,’ said the Israeli from the floor, one hand covering his wound. ‘I wasn’t fast enough to stop him.’
‘No problem,’ Eddie replied, eyes fixed contemptuously on the older man’s trembling hand. ‘The dozy twat’s left the safety on.’
Dalton frowned, but with a flicker of uncertainty. Eddie shrugged and advanced on him. The politician twisted his wrist to bring the safety lever into view, tipping the weapon away from its target — and the Englishman instantly snapped up the Desert Eagle and aimed it unwaveringly at his head. ‘Drop it.’
Dalton flinched, then with a muted moan of defeat let the pistol fall to the floor. ‘Now that’s what I call an executive decision,’ said Nina.
‘Dickhead,’ said Eddie as he collected the weapon. ‘If someone you’re pointing a gun at tells you the safety’s on, you know how you test that? By pulling the fucking trigger!’
‘Pardon me for not being a psychotic killer,’ Dalton replied, fuming.
‘Oh, you’re a killer,’ Nina told him as she returned to Jared. ‘Just not the kind who gets his hands dirty. Until now, at least. How does it feel to be out in the field, and on the wrong end of some blowback?’
The ex-president struggled to get his temper back under control. ‘Never mind that,’ he said. ‘If the bridge is gone, we’re trapped in here! What are we going to do?’
‘Shoot you if you don’t stop whingeing,’ said Eddie. ‘Nina, you got my phone?’ She passed it to him. He checked the screen. ‘No network. Can’t say I’m surprised, but it was worth a try.’
Nina bandaged the Mossad agent’s leg. ‘You said they cut the rope. From this side?’