"Get back here! Hurry!"
Tommy shimmied like a worm on twenty cups of coffee, working his way backward up the tunnel as fast as he could. His internal clock counted down the seconds, probably a little faster than reality.
He rounded the first bend in the tunnel near where Sean was tucked away and covered his head just as the device blew.
The cave shook violently for a split second, but the tunnel integrity stayed true. Even the sound of the explosive wasn't unbearable due to it being outside the tunnel entrance.
Tommy was about to ask Sean if he had another one of those disks, but decided to take a look at the damage first. He crept out of his hiding spot and pointed his light around the turn. Clouds of dust hung in the tunnel, illuminated by Tommy's beam and a greater source beyond the entrance: daylight.
"I've got another one of those in the bag somewhere," Sean said. "Let's just hope we can get it in a position where it will blow that rock away from the opening."
"Don't need it," Tommy said with a shake of the head. "That did the trick."
Sean wasn't sure what he meant, whether "the trick" was a good thing or a bad thing. He scooted forward and poked his head around the bend, staring through the tunnel just beyond his friend's bulk.
"You blew the whole thing to smithereens, Tommy."
The two crawled the rest of the way to the opening and out into the cold winter air. The sun did little to warm their faces, but just feeling it on their skin again was a huge relief.
Standing next to the new cave entrance, they inspected the damage Sean's explosive device had caused.
The stone that was covering the tunnel mouth lay strewn across the embankment, all the way to the creek twenty feet below.
"I thought it would just be strong enough to topple that thing over onto its side," Sean said, gazing in disbelief at the debris. "I guess it was a little stronger than I realized."
"You think?" Tommy said with arms outstretched. "We're lucky it didn't cause a cave-in."
Sean nodded. His friend was right. They were lucky. And there was no sense in pushing their luck any further.
"Speaking of good fortune, we need to get out of here. A passing car would have seen and heard that blast."
"Not to mention that someone tried to kill us by trapping us in there."
"Right. And they could still be at the top of the mountain, which means we need to take a different way back up. If anyone is up there, they're going to have some questions to answer."
Chapter 14
"It's done," Porter said into his phone.
He sat in his SUV, staring at the people going in and out of a local diner. No one would think anything of him, not in this little town. If people were nosy, it was with their neighbors, not strangers.
The explosives he and his men set had caused the cave entrance to collapse, trapping Wyatt and Schultz behind a wall of rock and dirt that would take a rescue crew more than a week to get through. With no other means of escape, their death was a certainty, and Porter's employer would be safe, as would his operation.
Porter waited for the man on the other end to say something affirming, a compliment perhaps. It wasn't necessary and Porter certainly didn't need it, though he did expect something along those lines.
Instead, he received more questions.
"Are you sure?" the man's voice said through the earpiece.
"Yes, I'm sure. Our friends Mr. Wyatt and Mr. Schultz had an unfortunate spelunking accident. Those things happen from time to time. I guess they should have had an experienced guide with them."
There was another pause before the other man spoke up again.
"I won't ask for too many details. I just need to know you're absolutely certain they will not be a problem again."
"They won't. I can assure you."
"Good, because after the fiasco in Washington, I'm starting to wonder if I brought on the right man for the job."
Porter frowned. Fiasco? What fiasco?
"I'm sorry?" he said. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."
"You should be. Your man in the castle failed. The piece is still in play."
Porter knew what the code meant. The castle was Washington, DC. And the piece was the president of the United States.
He'd sent one of his best assassins to take out President Dawkins. As far as Porter knew, that asset had never failed a mission before and claimed twenty-three confirmed kills. Sure, taking out the leader of the free world was a tall order, but Porter knew his man was capable.
"What happened?" Porter asked.
"I'm not sure. You tell me. I wasn't there. All I've heard so far is that there was some kind of mechanical gun on site. The weapon fired, but someone dove on the president seconds before bullets tore the podium apart."
That wasn't good. Dawkins would be even more difficult to take out now that someone had made an attempt on his life. The president's security was already top flight. It would be impossible to get close to him for the foreseeable future. One detail about the story stuck out in Porter's mind.
"You said someone got the president out of the way in the nick of time."
"That's right," the man on the other end of the line said. "He was lucky. And that makes us unlucky."
Porter ignored the quip. "Who was the hero? One of his Secret Service men?"
"No. It was a woman. I don't have a name yet. My men are working on it, going through the surveillance footage as we speak."
"A woman?" Porter was surprised.
"Yes. I don't know anything else about her, but we will soon enough."
"I'll figure it out, sir."
"Don't bother. Stay on standby. Now that Wyatt and his partner are out of the way, I'll be handling things from here on out."
The comment blindsided Porter. Up to that point, he'd done everything his employer asked. Now he was being pulled off the job? The notion sent a fire through Porter's veins.
"I'm sorry? What did you say, sir?"
The other man only waited a second to respond. "I said I will be handling things now. Remain on standby until further instruction. I'll call you if and when you're needed again."
Before Porter could say anything else the call ended. "Hello? Sir?" He looked at the screen, confirming his employer had hung up.
His jaw clenched, and he ground his teeth.
"What's our next move, sir?" one of his men asked.
Porter spun around and faced the two guys standing by the SUV.
"Our friend no longer needs our services. At least for now. Our orders are to stand by and wait."
The two men looked at each other and then back at Porter. "Okay. What about our money?"
Their employer hadn't said anything about payment, a fact that Porter was unable to bring up due to the brevity of their conversation.
"Your money will be deposited in your accounts as usual. I would assume by the end of the week."
He waited to see if they bought the lie. There was no way of knowing if the money would be put in their accounts or not. If it wasn't, however, then there would be trouble. And they would bring it to their employer's doorstep if necessary.
"What should we do, then?" the other guy asked. He had a head of spiked black hair that bristled in the chilly wind.
Porter stared out across the hills and mountains. His eyes narrowed against the biting cold.
"He said there was trouble in DC. I say we go back there to wait. Maybe something will come up. If it does, we'll be close by and ready to go."
Chapter 15
The cop stared up from the hole in the ground.
His hands were tied behind his back. His ankles were bound as well. He'd been stripped of his shoes and socks. His feet and toes were almost numb from the cold. The same duct tape used on his appendages had been slapped across his face as a makeshift gag in case the notion of calling out for help went through his mind.