Pressing herself into the face of the slope, her right leg wedged in the cleft of a low branch, Viktor swung her AK-47 out from behind her back and gently cocked it.
Still the footsteps came. She readied herself to fire, determined to take out whoever had seen them rather than let him raise the alarm.
The footsteps stopped just above her head. Barely daring to breathe, she looked up and could just about make out the man's shape. Standing on the edge of the path, legs slightly parted, he loomed above them like some huge colossus, his face framed against the clear evening sky. Looking back nervously over his shoulder, the man reached down.
A pale gold stream of urine sliced through the darkness and arced gracefully over their heads, melting a jagged yellow zigzag in the snow below, the ground hissing and steaming.
Viktor looked up at Dominique with a grin and saw her stifle a laugh. But then a thought occurred to her. A way of getting word to Tom and Archie. The only problem was, it would require her to act fast.
To act now.
CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
Tom pressed his face against the wall and peered through one of the bullet holes. "Renwick," he whispered when he saw the figure standing in the middle of the chamber, a triumphant smile carved across his face. Next to him was Johann Hecht. Five other thuggish-looking men, presumably other members of Kristall Blade, were making their way across the chamber to join them.
"How did they get past Viktor's men?" Archie said in a choked voice, selecting another bullet hole and looking for himself. "I thought they were meant to be guarding the entrance?"
"They were," Tom said grimly, recognizing the two bloody and lifeless bodies lying in a crumpled heap at Ren-wick's feet.
"As soon as I heard that you were coming through the forest, I knew you would not be able to resist going into the mine, Thomas," Renwick bellowed. "It was very kind of you to climb inside one of the carriages, though. It certainly made the job of rounding you up a lot easier."
"Save it, Harry," Tom shouted. "The gloating doesn't suit you."
"Surely you would not deny me my small moment of triumph?" Tom didn't answer, but then Renwick didn't seem to be expecting a reply. "In any case, I have to applaud you, Thomas, for finding this place so quickly." Renwick raised his eyebrows in what Tom took to be some form of grudging admiration. "Johann, however, is rather irked by your persistence." Standing next to him, Hecht menacingly fingered the trigger of his Heckler & Koch MP5, his jaw sliding gently from side to side as he chewed a piece of gum.
"I'm sorry if I've disappointed him," Tom said in mock contrition, turning his attention as he spoke to examining the inside of the car again in the hope of identifying an escape route.
"Getting out of the vault was one thing," Renwick continued. "Escaping the museum — well, if anyone could have achieved that, it had to be you. But decoding a painting you did not even have? That was impressive. Especially when I had gone to the trouble of making sure there was no chance of Turnbull giving anything away."
"When did you get here?" Tom asked, trying to buy time as he tested the strength of the walls and the floorboards, trying to detect any that were loose.
"Late last night. It has taken us quite some time to dig out the entrance. As a matter of fact, we had been inside only a few minutes when you appeared. By the way, Thomas, if you are thinking of trying to get out of there, you are wasting your time," Renwick boomed. "Those carriages are quite secure. The Nazis had them reinforced to the highest specifications in order to ensure the security of their most precious cargo."
"Like a platoon of murdered Hungarian soldiers?" Tom called back, giving up on his search with an angry shrug.
"Like whatever is in the second carriage. In fact, we were just about to open it when we got word you were on your way. Now you can have ringside seats for the grand unveiling — the first glimpse of the Amber Room in over fifty years!"
Two men armed with bolt cutters advanced toward the rusting padlock that secured the door. A few moments later, there was the sound of a door being rolled back.
"I can't see anything," Archie whispered. "Can you?"
Tom shook his head. His field of vision was restricted, the bullet holes allowing him only to see to the front and rear of the car. The side where the door was located was hidden from view. But then the two men emerged, stumbling under the weight of a large crate, which they half placed, half dropped on the floor.
"Careful, you idiots," Tom heard Renwick shout.
Soon, five or six crates had been carried out to the center of the room.
"How the hell do you expect to get them out of here?" Tom called. "You know who's digging out the main entrance, don't you? They can't be far off now."
"No more than a few feet, I would say. Would you not agree, Johann?" Renwick turned toward Hecht, who gave a curt nod. "As to who they are, I can only assume — as I am sure you have — that it is some last remnant of the Order. Who else could have located this site without the aid of the code on the portrait? They have been at it for quite a few days now, but then, they had a hundred and fifty feet of solid rock to get through. Our entrance, thankfully, was a somewhat easier one to excavate."
"They've been protecting this place for fifty years," yelled Tom. "You think they're just going to let you walk away?"
"I doubt they will have much choice." Renwick smiled. "You see, among his many talents, Johann is an expert in explosives. He has mined both tunnels. One of his men has replaced the unfortunate chap you left near the entrance, and he will alert us the instant they break through. As soon as they do, we will let them into the tunnel a little way and then set off the charges."
"You'll kill them all," Tom exclaimed.
"That is the general idea, yes."
A sudden roar echoed up the larger tunnel, then the sound of an engine changing gear. Renwick flicked his head toward where the noise had come from, his smile vanishing.
"They're inside," Hecht shouted. "They're inside."
"How can they be?" Renwick seemed shaken. "We have received no word." He grabbed his radio. "This is Renwick, come in," he barked. "Are you there? We heard an engine, it sounds as if it is inside the mine. Come in, damn you!"
He spun to face Hecht, his eyes wide, agitation turning to alarm. "Your sentry must be dead. Set off the charges."
"But we don't know how far into the mine they've come."
"It does not matter. Either we will kill them or block their way. One is as good as the other. We cannot afford to take risks. Not now we are so close."
Hecht gave a nod and picked up a small black box, about the size of a cigarette packet, with four red buttons set into it. Gripping the end of the silver aerial between his teeth, he tugged until it was fully extended, then turned to face the tunnel. The noise was growing ever louder, and in the distance two faint yellow specks glowed like cat's eyes. Eyes that seemed to be growing.
"Do it, Johann," Renwick urged, a hint of desperation in his voice. "Now."
Hecht depressed the top button.
Nothing happened.
"What the devil is going on?" Renwick spluttered. "Do it now or it will be too late."
"I'm sorry, Cassius," Hecht said, exchanging the remote detonator for a gun that he leveled squarely at Renwick's chest. "For you, it already is too late."
"What's going on?" Archie whispered.
"Renwick's being turned over," Tom said excitedly. "Hecht's betrayed him."
CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE