‘You’ll come with us?’ Nina asked, getting a nod in reply. ‘Then let’s go.’
Crouched low, they moved away from the rocks and circled around the top of the hollow. The mercenary group was soon lost to sight behind the conifers. ‘Okay,’ said Eddie, once he was sure they were concealed, ‘you all go up on to the hill and wait above the entrance. Don’t do anything until I’ve got the compass. If anything goes wrong, leg it.’
‘We’re not leaving you,’ insisted Nina.
‘I’ll either be right behind you, or dead.’
‘I’d really rather it wasn’t the second one.’
‘Yeah, me too!’ He grinned. ‘Okay, I’ll go and have words with Berkeley.’ He headed down into the hollow, angling around the foot of the barrow. Nina and the others climbed the mound to make their way through the stand of ash trees.
Eddie slowed his advance as he drew closer to the entrance. The injured man’s screams had fallen to moans, but he was still conscious and in pain. That meant the men sent to collect the medical kit had not yet returned. When they did, all attention would be on them…
He kept that thought in his mind as he moved through the evergreens surrounding the island of ashes. Movement ahead; he paused, sliding behind a tree trunk to observe. Vivid yellow stood out against the woodland colours. Berkeley.
The archaeologist was still occupied with his tablet computer. Eddie leaned out a little further. A couple of the mercenaries were visible from his position, but they were looking towards the tent. Nothing about their stances suggested that they were on alert.
He set off again, hood up, head low. Sidelong glances revealed more of Hoyt’s men as he rounded the barrow. Keeping the gun out of their sight, he closed on Berkeley. He was now only thirty feet away, near enough to hear the scientist muttering to himself as he stabbed at the screen. Another brief turn of the head to check on the mercenaries—
One of the men by the tent was looking right at him.
Cold adrenalin surged through Eddie’s body, his hand tightening around the gun — but then the mercenary turned away. All he had seen was another anonymous figure in a thick coat. The Englishman felt a rush of relief, and hope. This might work…
He reached Berkeley. The scientist was typing notes on the tablet, frustration clear as he tapped repeatedly at the screen like a woodpecker; the cold was affecting the device’s sensitivity. He let out a steaming huff of annoyance as he jabbed at one of the virtual keys to no effect, then turned as a reflection in the screen told him he was not alone. ‘Yes, what?’
‘Ay up, Logan,’ said Eddie, pushing the Wildey’s broad barrel against his chest. ‘How’s things?’
Berkeley twitched in surprise and fear. ‘Chase!’ His eyes flicked towards Hoyt and his men.
‘Say a fucking word and I’ll shoot you,’ said the Englishman, his expression deadly. ‘And that’s not a bluff — I will put a bullet through your fucking heart if you try to warn them. Got that?’ Berkeley started to speak, then thought better of it and nodded instead. ‘Good. Where’s the compass?’ Berkeley tipped his head down. The dark discs of the conjoined compasses sat in the crook of his arm. ‘Okay, let’s walk to the entrance, nice and casual. You’re going to open the door for us.’
‘It — it doesn’t work!’ the archaeologist hissed. ‘The key, I mean. I put it in the lock, and nothing happened!’
‘Well, it’s a good job Nina’s smarter than you.’
‘She’s here?’ He looked around nervously, as if expecting her to materialise from behind a tree and punch him.
‘No, I came out here all on my own ’cause I like collecting pine cones. Of course she’s here, you fucking dipshit. Now move.’
Keeping the gun shielded from sight, Eddie set off behind Berkeley. The mercenaries were still staying well clear of the entrance, but the pair would have to pass less than twenty feet from one of them to reach the trench. He tensed as they drew closer. The man looked round…
And dismissed Berkeley with a glance, returning his attention to the tent. Eddie pushed the gun into the archaeologist’s side. ‘Keep going,’ he whispered.
He raised his head to check the top of the mound. At first glance he saw nothing except ash trees, but then a more focused search revealed Kagan, barely visible as he peered around a small snow-covered bush. The Russian had been well trained to make the most of any available concealment.
Eddie glanced back at the mercenaries. Nobody seemed interested in the two men. He guided Berkeley ahead of him as they reached the cutting. On the hillside above, Kagan started to emerge from his cover—
‘Berkeley!’
The Russian froze — as did Berkeley at Hoyt’s shout. Eddie stopped right behind him. He turned his head just enough to see the tall American glaring at them from by the tent. ‘Answer him,’ he rumbled, keeping the gun pressed against the scientist’s body.
Berkeley hesitantly looked back at the mercenary leader. ‘Wh-what? What is it?’
‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘Come up with something good or I’ll shoot you,’ Eddie growled, when his prisoner didn’t immediately respond.
He swallowed, but managed to stammer out a reply to Hoyt. ‘I was — I was going to check the damage done by the chainsaw. If it’s broken the lock mechanism, we might be able to open the doors without triggering any more booby-traps.’
‘Why bother?’ Hoyt replied impatiently. ‘We’re just gonna blow ’em open anyway.’ Eddie tensed again, worried that the American was going to call them back, but then a shout from the woods drew everyone’s attention. The men who had been sent to collect the morphine had returned. ‘Just don’t get yourself shot,’ the mercenary leader said with a shrug before turning away.
‘That’s good advice,’ Eddie told Berkeley. ‘Do as you’re told, and you won’t. Okay, move.’ He shoved the other man forward again. Above, Kagan emerged from the trees and crept down the slope to drop into the entrance. Nina and Tova did the same, the latter with considerable fear. But nobody was watching the barrow, all eyes on the returning mercenaries.
‘Hello again, Logan,’ Nina said coldly as Eddie brought Berkeley into the shadows. ‘Give me those.’ She grabbed the sun compasses from him.
‘Nina!’ Berkeley exclaimed. ‘What is this, what’s going on? Why is your maniac of a husband pointing a gun at me?’
‘You’re lucky I’m not pointing a gun at you, you son of a bitch!’ She took off her gloves and, with some effort, prised the two magnetised discs apart. ‘Your buddies in Norway were going to kill us after you left.’
He shook his head. ‘No, that’s absurd. Why would they do that?’
Nina turned one of the compasses around and pressed it against its companion. As she had hoped, they repelled each other, almost squirming in her hands as she forced them together. ‘What, hasn’t the fact that they’re all carrying machine guns tipped you off that these are not nice people? You asshole.’ She gave him a disgusted look, then faced the doors. ‘Okay. Let’s hope this works…’
Eddie regarded the lines of holes running across the barrier. ‘Yeah, let’s bloody hope! Tova, you stand behind me. And I’ll stand behind this berk.’
Berkeley was clearly unaware that the truncation of his name was also a British insult. ‘What, you — you’re going to use me as a human shield?’ he protested.
‘We finally found something you’re good for,’ Eddie told him. ‘Stand there and shut up.’
‘But what if you set off another trap?’
‘Then we’re both going to be pincushions,’ said Nina. ‘And yes, shut up.’ Still holding the two compasses together, she raised them to the slot and carefully slid them inside. They scraped against the edges of the opening as the magnetic force tried to drive them apart. ‘Okay, nearly there…’