Glancing sideways, she caught him looking at her and smiled.
“Much further?” she asked.
“The turn-off’s just ahead,” he answered as the abandoned farmhouse came into view. “Be there in no time.”
As he turned off the main road and started up the dirt and gravel path toward the site, Corbett thought he saw something or someone move within the old farmhouse. Just for an instant. But when he turned his head for a closer look, there was nothing. Only the sound of the wind through the rafters and the stirring of the branches of the birch trees.
FIFTEEN
A s the abandoned farmhouse disappeared in the rearview mirror, Corbett continued up the steep incline leading to the base camp in silence. Sensing his need to be alone with his thoughts, Ella had turned herself away and, closing her eyes, pretended to doze off. This, in turn, provided Corbett a chance to go over in his mind what had occurred in the village that morning in greater detail. Before contacting Reed, he would need to place the events into some sort of context. But what, he wondered, were they really up against?
The attack in the street had been totally unexpected. From the look of them, neither of the men he had killed that morning was from the village. Rather than Basque, they had appeared to be decidedly Middle Eastern, like the one who got away. Assuming these were mujahedeen meant they were no doubt connected to ISIS. And if that were true, their real mission must be to kill Tariq and prevent him from reaching Iraq and his father’s side.
How many of them were there? Counting the two from the airport plus the one whom he had caught breaking into his room at the hotel made three. Add to that the two whom he had just confronted in the streets of Xeria brought the total to five. No doubt there were others as well. A dozen? Maybe more. Without question, this put added pressure on the entire operation. He would contact Reed as soon as they got back and let him know. Speed, now more than ever, would be paramount… that is, presuming his Wi-Fi connection was finally operational.
Cursing the unpredictability of modern technology, he turned his thoughts to the laptop secured beneath the false bottom of his suitcase. If indeed, they were dealing with an ISIS sleeper cell, judging by their actions, these men clearly believed the information contained on Corbett’s computer must be worth dying for. At the same time, Corbett was forced to concede that, in fact, he himself had now placed Tariq’s life directly in the crosshairs. Thus, the moral obligation to safely exfiltrate him fell squarely on him.
Lost in his own thoughts, Corbett almost failed to hear the Rover’s transmission begin to labor as they approached the camp. Reacting, he quickly double-clutched and dropped it into four-wheel drive. Then stepping on the accelerator, he forced it up the final hundred meters of rough terrain, jostling Gorka and Ella from their sleep.
As the Rover cleared the rise, Corbett drove it into the base camp. To one side, Hector and three men stood in the back of a two-and-a-half ton attempting to manhandle the larger of the two generators. Standing nearby, one of the gray uniformed security men watched idly making no effort to help.
Pulling in and parking beside the cook tent, Corbett watched as the men wrestled the generator into position on the lift gate. Stepping to the hydraulic control panel, Hector lowered the generator to ground level.
Giving orders in Spanish, Hector directed the men as they positioned the generator, then began connecting the various electrical cables that would provide power to the camp. As the lights in the kitchen tent and dining area flickered then abruptly came on, everyone, men and women alike, spontaneously began to applaud.
Climbing out from behind the wheel of the Land Rover, Corbett moved to Hector’s side as Gorka began mustering able bodies to help unload the food and supplies, so he could finally start cooking.
Hector grinned. “You came back just in time, Boss. A couple of minutes earlier and you could have had a hernia with the rest of us.”
Corbett tried to suppress a smile. “Just good timing. What about the winch? Were you able to set it up?”
Hector shook his head. “It’s not so good, I think. Got a broken gearbox. I contacted the university. They’re sending replacement parts. Hopefully they will have them here by sometime tomorrow or the next day.”
“Tomorrow or the next…?”
“It is the best we could do,” Sebastian said, joining the conversation.
“Not good enough,” Corbett replied walking around to rear of the two-and-a-half-ton as the others followed. The smaller of the two generators still stood in the back of the truck beside a cramped metal cage that would serve as a four-person elevator. All were secured in place by a pair of turnbuckles. Totally useless without a working winch capable of lowering the basket into the cave and retrieving it.
“You have another idea…?” Sebastian asked as Corbett studied the equipment with a frown.
“Just one,” Corbett nodded with a frown. “Instead of waiting, we check out the cave the old fashioned way.”
“Which way is that?” Sebastian asked.
“Rappelling. Ever done it?’
The older man shook his head and smiled. “Only when I was young and crazy. I leave that to you.”
Corbett looked at Hector. “The rappelling gear? Did we bring it?”
“Absolutely, Boss.”
“As soon as Gorka’s ready, get something to eat. Then round up our interns and meet me at the equipment tent. I want to
