As they turned to leave, Sonia touched Dean’s arm. “Be careful,” she mouthed.
He gave her a wink and a nod, then disappeared into the mine.
They’d parked in a clearing on the backside of the mine and Ignacio turned off the engine. They’d taken the dirt road, forced to tread slowly over rocks and potholes even in the four-wheel-drive SUV. If they hadn’t been forced into that awful cabin, they wouldn’t have had to cross the virtually inaccessible Rio Diablo land.
Noel listened a beat, then swore. Helicopters!
“They’re fucking early. I should have known. If they try to steal my merchandise, they’ll be sorry.”
He checked his guns, his knife-“Where’s my knife?”
“I don’t know, boss,” Ignacio said.
“Right. I know.” He’d had to kill Sun Ling and forgot to pull it out of his back. He’d get it on his way out of the country. He liked that knife, it was his favorite.
“Let’s go. If they spring the mousetrap, at least I have half their money in the bank. But I want the rest. We’re going to have to lay low for a while.” He looked around. “Where are Don and Simon? You did tell them about the change.” He reached for his gun.
“Yes, boss. I told them. They’ll be here at midnight.”
“It’s nearly midnight. They’d better be on time.”
Trace Anderson drove up the mountain with lights flashing and no siren, half a dozen deputies following. He urged the driver to go as fast as possible. They slowed a fraction to round a ninety-degree turn and saw taillights in the distance. He didn’t like the look of the black truck in front of them.
“Catch up with them,” he told the driver.
As they approached, the truck lurched forward as the driver pushed on the gas.
“It’s a suicide run to go up this mountain at that speed,” the deputy told Trace.
“Just keep up as best you can without driving off the edge.”
“O-kay.” The deputy pressed down on the accelerator again, then radioed in the license on the fleeing vehicle.
Trace sent Sonia a text message.
Dean shined his light around the mine. Sheffield had provided them with hardhats and lights and Dean turned his on. The others followed suit. Cammarata approached the elevator cautiously.
“You know how to work that thing?” Dean asked.
“Yeah, but I want to check it out. Something feels … off.”
“What?”
“No guards for one. You don’t leave your prized possessions in the open.”
Lawson said, “I hardly call this the open.”
Dean agreed, but this was still an area he wasn’t an expert in. He’d worked the field enough, but in white- collar crimes it was pretty cut-and-dried. Some resisted arrest and Dean dealt with each situation as it arose. This mine reminded him of his military tour, and that was a long time ago.
He didn’t want to rely on Charlie Cammarata, but right now he didn’t have much choice.
While Cammarata inspected the elevator, Dean shined his light around the entrance. There were several dark holes cut into the mountainside. One had a bright neon X painted on the side. Underneath was written: 200+ ft drop.
The other tunnels didn’t have marks on them, but Dean wasn’t about to test them. He just wanted to go down, get the women-if they were, in fact, here-and leave. They’d stake out the place for a couple days, hoping Marchand would show up.
“God-fucking-dammit!” Cammarata exclaimed.
“What?”
“It’s rigged.”
“Meaning?”
“The bastard has another way in. This is a false bottom. If we step in it and start moving, the bottom would give way and wham! We smack down a hundred feet below. The actual elevator must be down in the room.”
“How do we get it up?”
“Find the other way down.”
“Sheffield didn’t say anything about another way.”
“There’s always another way.”
“We need to ask him.”
“We have the blueprints. We’re wasting time!”
“We’re being smart,” Dean said. “No rash moves. I’m not jeopardizing my team until I’m confident it’s as safe as possible.”
Cammarata glared at him. “I’ve worked in mines before. Undercover. There’s another way down.” He held out his hand and motioned toward the blueprints that Dean had folded and put inside his flak jacket.
If he was going to trust Cammarata about the elevator trap, then he would have to trust that he knew what he was doing in the mine. Dean handed him the blueprints.
Cammarata spread it out between them. He put his finger on the elevator, turned the map to face the same direction they were facing, and traced a line to one of the tunnels. He looked up.
Dean followed his gaze.
It was the tunnel with the two-hundred-foot drop.
“That’s a red herring,” Cammarata said.
“You’re not going down there.”
“Yes I am.”
“No.”
“It’s the only way. Look, the inspectors haven’t been out in years. These blueprints don’t have that marking. I’ll bet Christopoulis or Marchand himself painted it.”
“No,” Dean said. “I can’t risk my men on a hunch.”
“I’m not your man.”
Cammarata started for the tunnel.
Dean grabbed him and pushed him hard against the rock wall. Dirt crumbled onto their heads. “This is why you lost your job. You put people in jeopardy.”
Cammarata attempted to punch Dean. Dean countered, grabbed his fist, and spun him around, holding his arm high behind his back in a deadlock. He growled, “Don’t try it.”
“You’re in love with her,” Cammarata spat.
“Don’t talk about her. Don’t even think about her.”
“The elevator is in the room. The only way to get it up here is from the room. The crank up here is booby- trapped. Therefore, the staircase is safe. I’m willing to risk my life. I’m not asking you to risk yours. I go down, verify the women are there, and bring the elevator up, thereby disabling the trap.”
“Why not bring the women up the staircase?” One of the SWAT guys said.
“We may be able to, but we don’t know what condition they’re in until we get down there,” Dean said.
Cammarata nodded. “They’ve been through hell, Hooper. Let me do this.”
Dean let go of his arm. “I’ll go with you.”
“It’s not necessary-”
Dean interrupted. “The rule is, no one goes alone. Including a bastard like you.”
Dean told the others, “Be alert.” He turned to Cammarata. “Lead the way.”
Without hesitating, he turned and started down the marked path.
Dean followed.
