"NO! No!" Sam screamed hysterically, reliving once more the trauma of losing someone he loved, reliving the death of his beloved Trish at the hands of the arms dealers he got mixed up with to expose the crime ring to the world. He did not want to see Nina's face explode like Trish's did and he felt his mind abandon him momentarily, yet he could not move to save Nina.
It was as if time slowed down to torment him. The killer's finger fell gently on the trigger with no sign of hesitation. Sam's eyes did not allow him blindness and his face refused to turn, forcing him to witness Nina's execution. He cried like a child when he saw her soft eyes shut, awaiting her demise. No matter how Sam screamed and kicked to get Björn's attention, the blond man showed no relent.
"Please! Not me!" she cried. "I had the book! It was stolen from me!" she pleaded.
"Then you are of no use to us," Björn smirked and turned his head to keep the blood spatter off his face.
Chapter 19
Sam refused to see history repeat itself and haunt him with mortifying images for years to come. He forced his eyes shut not to see the atrocious event play out and all he could hear was the hoarse cry coming from Nina's throat.
But there was no shot, only a blunt thump and then he heard the tall blond killer scream in agony. Sam opened his eyes to see Björn gripping his arm. His radius bone protruded through the skin of his forearm like a bloody horn and he fell to his knees as the second blow from the hunk of wood landed against his left knee, crippling him. From the firelight he saw her silhouette, bigger than she normally looked. Her black frame towered over the kneeling Norwegian as she dropped the wooden stump. Sam watched Calisto pick up the T-bone of the strewn meat in the sand and with one fell swoop, she slammed the sharp edge of the bone into Björn's temple. His blue eyes froze on impact and his mouth fell open, but she was not done. Grinding her teeth, Purdue's bodyguard stabbed Björn several times in the jugular and finally lodged the bone in the base of his skull, killing him instantly.
Like a giant tree cut from its roots, the Norwegian toppled and fell to the dirt with a sickening thud.
Nina was weeping profusely, still affected by the trauma of her final moments. Sam watched Calisto kneel to free Nina with a lock pick. She fiddled with the lock and the winding chain for a bit until Nina's feet came free of the iron restraints. Sam sat astonished at what he had just witnessed, shock riding his face and his mouth ajar in disbelief. He looked at the bleeding body, the Norwegian's face unrecognizable under the crimson mess and then looked back at Calisto.
"What?" Calisto said nonchalantly, "You said I shouldn't shoot people. I did not shoot him, did I?"
Sam caught his breath, and gasped for air, "No, you didn't shoot him. Thanks."
Purdue was busy working at Gary's chains and then started to go through the mess of items the intruders had thrown in a heap while Calisto freed Sam.
"Where the fuck were you?" Nina screamed at them. Sam gently held her back as she spat angry insults at Purdue and his bodyguard.
"She is clearly in a state. Don't judge her utterings," Gary said to Calisto. "To tell you the truth, I am not exactly the picture of mental health right now either. Nina tried to strike Calisto, but the woman simply blocked her hand.
"Why did you betray us?" Nina melted finally and fell against Sam's chest. He embraced her tightly, numb from the whole experience. Gary and Purdue wrapped the Norwegian's body in a tent and moved him into one of the rock caverns.
"We can leave Jodh's body here. I'll call the local authorities by satellite and have them collect him. Poor son of a bitch. He didn't deserve this," Purdue lamented the passing of the young guide.
"You had to wait for them to start executing us before you did anything?" Nina shouted at Purdue.
"My job is to protect Mr. Purdue, Dr. Gould," Calisto said, as she crouched to get the coffeepot going. "I went to look for you with Mr. Cleave, but I soon saw the shape of the big Norse guy I saw in the hotel, standing ready to coldcock us, so I doubled back and went to get the book from your backpack."
"Why? Is it more important than we are?" Nina sneered.
"Yes," Calisto replied coldly, "yes, it is. It is the reason we are all here, the reason you are all wealthy right now. Without the book or Mr. Purdue, we would all be slaving away in thankless environments, repeating day after day, hoping for some sort of breakthrough, would we not?" Calisto's voice deepened as she spoke, lending to her a rather intimidating front that demanded respect. Nina had nothing to throw back at her, so the bodyguard continued, "We watched you the whole day. We would not have let you perish here, but we had to wait for the cover of night… and we had to eliminate the other two men Eickhart brought with him before taking on the big one here. This life has no place for misplaced loyalties or expectations, Dr. Gould. It is a dangerous job. A job. And we are all here to do what we are paid for, not to form a circle and sing Kum Ba Yah while we profess our friendships."
Now she was positively annoyed with Nina's whining and she made no secret that she did not intend to tolerate the doctor's behavior toward her.
"Enough now," Purdue urged calmly. "We are all exhausted. We need rest to press on tomorrow and now that we know about our competition and the lengths they would go to, I suggest we gather our courage and get to the shrine as soon as possible. Dr. Gould, here is the map and the book. If you please, I need an estimate of how far we still have to go. Gary will assist you with the measuring of the map coordinates," Purdue said.
The group got closer to the fire. Calisto gathered more wood while Gary and Nina checked the approximate distance they still had left before getting to where the book indicated the location of the shrine was. Sam took care of the coffee and the roti supply, making sure there were still some grains and rice for tomorrow. Purdue joined Nina and Gary to listen to their speculating. The mood was one of momentary relief but they all felt an overwhelming somber hurt and a seeping fear of what was waiting. Purdue placed his palm on the back of Nina's hair, but she did not jump defensively as he expected.
She looked at him with a dreadful worry on her pretty face and what she saw in his was something she had never seen before. Even knowing that he had desired her for so long, she realized that what his expression conveyed now was far from blunt sexual pursuits. Purdue looked genuinely sympathetic toward her recent shock and the punishment she had to endure. He ran his hands over her hair, comforting her in his own awkward manner.
"I'm so sorry, Nina. Really. I will never let anyone hurt you again, I promise. It was selfish of me, even if my intentions were not to desert my group," he whispered, and, to his surprise, she simply nodded in acceptance.
Between Calisto and Sam they took turns to sit by the fire on lookout during the night while the others got some sleep. The expedition had now reached a point where comfort gave way to completing the route. There was no more time to figure out the deeper meanings of the numbers and languages in what Eickhart called the grimoire.
The next morning was freezing. The sun had no power over the frozen earth below and from the mountaintops the threat of collapsing ice loomed. Soft whispers of snow traveled leisurely down the slopes and covered the ground in a patchy white carpet. Calisto's back was aching terribly from falling asleep in a slouching position and she woke to a burning skin of goose bumps and cold. In front of her the fire was barely going and she struggled up to wake the party before the sun made too much time and ate the day away.