Ethan could see this conversation heading to a bad place for Spader. Any moment, Rourke would fire a bullet into Spader's temple. Spader's brains would splatter across the wall. Ethan's would be next. Ethan could see it in Spader's eyes. Spader knew it. He knew Rourke planned to murder them both.
Unless Ethan did something about it.
'We both survived this far,' agreed Ethan. 'But only one of us knows how to open the core chamber.'
'That's why I followed you,' said Rourke. 'Ironic, because for the last two years, you've been the one following me. You've always been two steps behind me. This was my site, Ethan, not yours. You only found what I let you find.'
Rourke turned his attention on Spader. He tapped the pistol on Spader's temple. 'I caught this one trying to carry his friend out of here. Trying to carry a dead man, can you believe it?'
'If he didn't, I would have,' said Ethan flatly. 'That dead man was Gordon Merrit. You probably remember me talking about him.'
Rourke raised one eyebrow. 'The one you kept inviting here? The one who ignored your letters?'
Ethan nodded. 'That's the man you killed.'
Rourke studied Ethan carefully. 'You're a different person than you were this morning, Ethan. It's amazing what a difference one day can make. I wonder how different you are now. Shall we find out?'
Rourke kicked savagely at Spader's legs, knocking Spader to his knees. Something metallic bounced on the floor near Ethan's feet. Ethan glanced down. The knife spun to a stop, balancing on its hilt near Ethan's trainer. Rourke had tossed the knife toward Ethan.
When Ethan looked up, Rourke had dropped a thick cable tie over Spader's head. Before Ethan could cry out, Rourke yanked the cable tightly around Spader's neck. It was the same way he'd murdered Nina. Rourke stepped casually away from Spader, waving at Ethan. 'Have at it, Professor March. Let's see if you can improve on your last attempt.'
Ethan snatched up the knife and ran toward Spader.
At the last moment, instead of stopping to help Spader, Ethan hurled the knife at Rourke.
The knife spun end-over-end toward Rourke's face.
Ethan didn't expect the knife to hit, but it didn't have to. It just had to surprise Rourke long enough for Ethan to close the distance. Rourke dodged his head sideways from the knife, started to bring his pistol up, but Ethan was already there.
Full sprint, Ethan slammed his shoulder straight into Rourke's stomach, letting his body's full momentum drive Rourke from his feet. Locked together, both men tumbled over Rourke's welding trolley. Ethan started punching before they'd even hit the floor. Pinning Rourke's pistol arm, Ethan hammered his right fist again and again into Rourke's head and neck. Pure anger drove his punches. Anger over Nina. Anger over Joanne. He had enough fury-fuelled anger to mash Rourke's head into the stonework.
Mid-punch, Rourke twisted his hips with a powerful jerk. Ethan sprawled sideways. He recovered just in time to see Rourke swing the pistol across his body and take aim. Jumping up, Ethan dashed one step before tripping on a pile of metal off cuts. He fell into the row of steel pipes Rourke had stacked against the wall. He took out all the steel in one flailing fall.
Rourke started firing. Bullets struck the falling pipes.
Ethan tried to scramble away, but the steel was crisscrossing his legs and hips. It would take a few seconds to shove it all away. Ethan didn't have a few seconds to spare. Rourke leapt to his feet, squinting toward the sound of falling steel, aiming into the tumbling lengths of metal for a clean kill shot.
At that moment, Spader struck.
Spader struck from behind, expending what little oxygen remained in his fuel-starved blood to protect Ethan. Head down like a charging bull, Spader rammed his head and shoulder into Rourke's back. The desperate attack was enough to throw off Rourke's aim, but it was also the end for Spader.
As Rourke recovered, correcting his aim, Spader collapsed.
But Spader's distraction had given Ethan time to reach the stone plinth on which the gold had rested. It was just delaying the inevitable. Rourke knew where he was, and Ethan had nowhere else to run. All Rourke need do was step onto the plinth and shoot Ethan where he crouched on the other side. From where he crouched, Ethan saw Spader's body bucking and twisting, choking to death. Beyond Spader, Ethan glimpsed something else. Something ghastly. Something bloody, maimed, and…perfect.
Ethan lifted his hands so Rourke could see he was unarmed. 'Wait. I'm going to stand up. The way to open the core chamber is right in front of me. I’ll show you.'
Ethan rose steadily in Rourke’s line of fire.
Wary of tricks, keeping the pistol leveled at Ethan’s heart, Rourke took three cautious steps. Behind Rourke, Ethan saw Spader's feet making tiny bicycle kicks as his last moments of consciousness sent desperate signals through his body.
'Well,' prompted Rourke. 'How do you open it?'
Ethan checked his watch. The last barrier change was soon.
'It's easy,' admitted Ethan. 'You just have to be the last person alive in this room.'
Rourke smirked toward Spader and then shrugged at Ethan, aiming down his pistol, ready to fire. 'I can arrange that easily.'
'Except that it's not up to you,' countered Ethan. 'It was never up to you. Gordon taught me something, after all. He taught me not to discount other men's Gods. Their gods are here after all, and it's up to them to decide who lives and who dies.'
Ethan flicked his eyes to the right without moving his body even an inch.
Rourke looked confused for a second, but just for one second. He realized what Ethan was doing and peered toward the archway.
'You bastard!' roared Rourke.
The chameleon filled the archway, all the more horrific because of the wounds it carried. One eye was missing completely. Blood from the severed eye-stalk had congealed over its head like a ghastly red mask. The left side of its neck hung open, charred at the edges as though something hot had burned its way out. Rourke and Ethan were both potential prey. Ethan had lured Rourke into range.
For a second, both men looked at each other. Then the animal struck. Rourke had been the last person moving. Ethan had made sure of that.
The tongue smacked Rourke's left thigh. The impact punched his feet away. Rourke collapsed. For a second he disappeared behind the plinth, but then the chameleon hauled in its prey. The tongue dragged Rourke on his back toward the archway. Ethan glimpsed dark, bloody patches along its length. Whatever damaged the creature’s neck had likewise affected its tongue.
Nevertheless, the horrible appendage hauled in Rourke like a whaler's harpoon.
Ethan was already moving. His gamble worked, but he couldn't waste a second. He dropped to his knees beside Spader. When they first found the gold, Spader used something that caught Ethan's attention. Afterwards, Ethan was so preoccupied with translating the gold, he'd hardly noticed what Spader had done with the item. The first pocket turned out empty.
Ethan heard Rourke shrieking from the archway. Rourke lay fully in the animal's mouth now. Massively powerful jaws engulfed his right thigh and hip. Swinging its head violently sideways, the chameleon tried to smash Rourke into an immobilized stupor. The one-sided battle looked totally predetermined. Rourke's sophistication as a human was being stripped away. He was helpless prey.
Shoving his hand into Spader's last pocket, Ethan's fingers closed on something the correct size and shape.
He yanked the bottle free. This is it!
Urgently unscrewing the cap from the concentrated acid, Ethan withdrew the glass applicator and hesitated a moment. He needed to avoid the windpipe and vulnerable arteries. Spader's neck was a swollen discolored mess. Ethan chose a spot, turned Spader's head, then squirted a stream of concentrated acid into the fleshy channel circling Spader's neck. Skin melted instantly, but the melting flesh channeled the acid onto the plastic cable tie. Ethan winced as Spader's skin bubbled, but he caught the caustic whiff of dissolving plastic. Once he smelled the burning plastic, Ethan scrambled over to the plinth. He carefully set down the bottle and then cupped together a double handful of the powder from the drilled limestone.