“The next time we check into a hotel together, I get to keep all the room keys,” he said.
“What makes you think that will happen again-us checking into a hotel room?”
“I’m an optimist.”
“An optimist would have come up with something better than having control of the room keys.”
“Okay, how do you feel about whipped cream and pickles?”
“Pickles?” she repeated.
“Kiwis.”
She shook her head in disgust. He was impressed at how well she was taking this.
“Ouch!” she cried, suddenly lifting her heel.
He hurried to her, taking her left arm to steady her.
“What did you step on?”
She kissed his cheek. “Not a thing,” she said, breaking free.
Showers started walking and said, as if nothing between them had just happened, “What’s the story about the gold? I know we are looking for bullion, but that’s about it.”
“If the coordinates from Lebedev’s cell phone are correct, we’re about to find sixty billion in gold that once belonged to the old Communist Party in the equally old Soviet Union. It was hidden here by soldiers after the KGB snuck it out of Moscow before a failed 1991 coup.”
Showers said, “How are five people-one with a bad arm-supposed to haul sixty billion in gold out of here in a Chevrolet?”
“We’re not. We’re just supposed to confirm it is here. Jedidiah Jones has a plan to haul it out with helicopters from Kazakhstan. We look, but don’t touch, and definitely don’t sample.”
“Jones is going to do this under the nose of Uzbekistan authorities?” she asked skeptically.
“Jedidiah wasn’t real forthcoming about that, but he did mention several times that we had to keep our hands in our pockets.”
“That should be a familiar location for your hands,” she replied.
Storm had been so focused on rescuing Showers that he had not dwelt much on what might happen when they actually found the gold. Each kilobar was worth at least fifty-seven thousand dollars, and his job on this trek- according to Jones-was to make certain no one got greedy.
He drew his Glock and handed it to her.
“I already know you can shoot left-handed,” he said.
“You think I might need to add some notches on it,” she asked.
“Jones warned me that I might. I don’t trust Oscar, and I’m not even sure how Dilya is going to react to that much gold.”
“And Casper?”
“I told you once that I got wounded in Tangiers. I’ve always suspected that someone sold us out. Someone betrayed us. Casper was on the kill team that Jones sent in. He went off the grid right after that mission went bad. If I had to guess, Casper sold us out.”
“But he’s blaming you for Tangiers.”
“The best defense is a good offense.”
“Do you have a plan if someone gets sticky fingers?” she asked, quickly adding, “I’m talking about the gold bars, not your pockets.”
“It depends on who it is. Oscar isn’t much of a threat, but Casper and Dilya know how to use weapons and have killed before. They’re the ones we have to watch.”
“And what about you?” she asked. “Should I be worried about you and the gold?”
“I’m not a big fan of gold,” he said. “Or diamonds.”
“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”
“Lucky we’re searching for gold then. I’d hate to have to shoot you, especially since we just rescued you.”
“I knew you’d find a way to bring that up again.”
“After that kiss, I’m rethinking the whole whipped cream and pickles fantasy. Maybe adding some ice cream and pie, too. Or a female midget.”
“You are sick.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes because the altitude was stealing their breath. Storm said, “Jones said he had a reason for sending everyone on this mission. Everyone but you had a purpose. He told me that he didn’t trust the others.”
“You already said that,” she replied.
“What if he wasn’t talking about the gold?” Storm replied. “Why would he put me in charge of stopping someone from stealing a few bars of bullion? He can always track them down.”
“Your job is what-finding out who isn’t trustworthy?”
“Maybe even more specific than that. Casper thinks I screwed up Tangiers. I think he double-crossed the agency. Dilya told me yesterday that she infiltrated the Jihad Group, and I was sent to Tangiers to track down its leader. Is it a coincidence that Casper, Dilya, and I all have ties to Tangiers?”
“What about Oscar?”
“He’s not mentioned Tangiers, but Jones always suspected that it was Russian Vympel soldiers who attacked my team there. Oscar had Russian KGB connections.”
“What soldiers?”
“The KGB’s elite forces, like our SEALs. Jones was convinced that the Russians were responsible for Tangiers.”
“Why would Jones put four people together knowing that one of them is a traitor?”
“If my hunch is correct, this may be about more than the gold,” Storm said.
The others were fifty yards ahead of them. By the time they caught up, Oscar, Casper, and Dilya were standing in front of a steep ledge that jutted straight up for at least a hundred feet. Oscar doubled-checked the GPS coordinates and then looked at the sheer rock wall. “If this GPS location is accurate, the gold is a few hundred feet behind this rock wall. There must be a cave in there.”
Casper grabbed the GPS, snatching it from Oscar’s hand. “Let me look.”
“This little Russian bastard is telling the truth,” he said. “There’s got to be a cavern behind this wall of rock.”
“This area is composed of large granite slabs,” Oscar said, “but there are deep cracks in the rocks that often can lead to inner chambers, some quite large. I’m not sure how the soldiers got truck cargo containers filled with tons of gold up here, but if there is a cavern, the only way to enter it will be through a crack somewhere in the granite.”
“We just crossed over rocks that looked like rubble,” Dilya said. “Is it possible the KGB dynamited the entrance? Sealing in the gold.”
Oscar said, “That would be logical.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘a crack somewhere in the granite’?” Showers asked.
“A hole, an entrance, perhaps small, perhaps big,” Oscar replied. “If the soldiers destroyed the main entrance, there should be smaller cracks. Maybe not big enough for a truck to drive through, but big enough for us to walk through.”
“Should be a crack? That’s real scientific. Thanks for giving us your expert opinion,” Casper said. Rather than returning the GPS to Oscar, he clipped it onto his belt.
“How do we find the entrance?” Showers asked.
“Look for water or a stream that suddenly disappears into the ground. Look for steam rising from a hole. Caves are warmer than the air outside them. Look for red dirt-iron-rich soil that has been removed from a cave.”
Dilya checked the time. “We’ve got about an hour left before sundown, so let’s spread out. Oscar and I will go to the left. The rest of you can go to the right. If we find something, we’ll get each other. But we don’t go into any holes alone.”
“That’s the only way that-” Casper started to say, but Showers cut him off, not wishing to hear another crude comment.
