Empire of Gold

Eddie sat up. ‘He’s got a tumi in his tummy,’ he groaned.

Nina was too worried to complain about the terrible joke. ‘Oh my God, Eddie? Are you all right?’

‘Help me up, and we’ll see if any bits fall off.’

Nina stepped over Baine’s body. ‘Sorry about your friend,’ she said to the remaining mummies as she pulled Eddie to his feet.

With the water level dropping all the time, Macy had been able to increase her pace through the city. She had spotted first Mac, then Nina, hurrying down the hill and decided to follow them, but so far hadn’t seen any further sign of anyone. And the two gunshots she had just heard prompted her to duck into hiding. Were Pachac and his people still around?

It was obvious that Stikes and his men were leaving, though. The helicopter rose above the plaza, making a careful half-turn before heading for the cave mouth. One less set of assholes to worry about, then, but she still felt far from safe.

Macy looked cautiously around, seeing nobody, then moved out and continued down the slope. The Hind was approaching the cavern’s entrance. Once it left, she might actually be able to hear if there was anyone nearby—

She rounded a corner – and found a gun pointing at her.

Shock and fear quickly turned to relief as she realised it was Kit, who seemed equally startled. ‘Jeez!’ she gasped, unable to hold back a nervous giggle. ‘You scared me!’

For a moment, the gun remained still . . . then Kit relaxed and lowered it, ‘Sorry. Are you okay?’

‘Yeah, I’m fine. Have you seen Nina or Eddie? Or Mr McCrimmon?’

‘No . . . no,’ he said, the repetition more firm. ‘Eddie went after Stikes – I’m looking for Mac.’

A flight of steps nearby led up to the tower. ‘I saw him not long ago – I think he was heading that way.’ She started towards them.

Kit shook his head firmly, moving to block her. ‘No, I saw some of Pachac’s men go up there.’ He pointed to a nearby building. ‘Wait in there and keep out of sight until it’s safe. I’ll . . . look for Mac.’

Macy reluctantly did as she was told as Kit ascended the steps. ‘Take care,’ she called to him.

He didn’t reply, or even look back.

‘How are you feeling?’ Nina asked Eddie as they left the tomb.

‘Lighter.’

‘Huh?’

‘’Cause I just had the shit kicked out of me.’

‘Very funny.’

They looked up to see the Hind clearing the cave mouth. ‘Buggeration and fuckery!’ Eddie growled. ‘Stikes got away.’

‘Well, good!’ said Nina. ‘If he’s gone, we don’t have to worry about him any more.’

‘He’s got your statues.’

‘What? Oh. Oh! God damn it!’ She scowled after the departing aircraft as it powered away. ‘Son of a bitch!’

‘Does it matter?’ Eddie asked as he started to limp back up the slope. ‘He can’t do anything with ’em, and they helped us find El Dorado – what else can they do?’

‘That was kinda what I wanted to find out!’

‘Well, you can worry about it when we get back to New York. For now, we still need to get out of here. Let’s find the others.’

‘Mac had the rocket launcher – he said he was going to try to shoot down the helicopter.’ Eddie stopped. ‘What?’ Nina asked, reading concern on his face.

‘He didn’t even try – we would have heard it.’ He looked around for the most likely spot from which to launch an attack. ‘Up there,’ he said, indicating the tower. He set off again. ‘Mac! Mac, can you hear me?’

Kit had halted once he was out of Macy’s sight, mind a whirlwind of confusion and guilt – until Eddie’s shout snapped him back to full awareness. It wouldn’t be long before the Scot was found—

An idea, the Interpol officer acting upon it the instant it formed. He hurried back into the tower. Mac lay unmoving on the floor, blood pooling around him. Kit sat against the wall behind him, fired two shots into the air – then moved the gun to point at his upper arm.

He braced himself – and pulled the trigger.

Eddie broke into a run at the sound of gunfire. He reached the steps, seeing Macy peering fearfully from a nearby building. ‘Stay out of sight!’ he warned her.

‘Eddie, wait!’ Nina cried behind him, but he pounded up the steps and raced for the tower, the pain of his beating forgotten. Past a junction, up another flight of steps—

He stopped at the top as if he had slammed into an invisible wall. Kit was slumped on the floor, clutching a bloody wound to his left arm – but all Eddie could think about was Mac. His friend lay face down by the wall overlooking the city, the RPG-7 beside him. There were two bullet wounds in his back, lines of blood oozing from