Chasing Gold

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

She broke cover and flew at them. As she ran she saw Ricci wildly push the banner over the edge and then follow it down. The long, well-wrapped package smashed one terrorist to the ground and bounced off the shoulder of another, sending him tottering away. Those few men that had held on to their guns, trained them upward, expecting the cops to check the balcony first.

Alicia struck them hard, knocking two men off their feet and grabbing a knife as she rolled. Then Russo hit like a charging bull, scattering terrorists like bowling pins. Men turned or scrambled up from their knees only to receive punches to the face. Alicia ducked and strode through the melee, jabbing her knife here and there and drawing blood or making scars. Red filled her vision.

Russo lifted a man by the jacket and hurled him against the wall. This movement, however powerful, left him vulnerable. A terrorist stabbed him in the jacket — a bruising blow but one that only hit thick protection.

Alicia found herself rolling across Terri.

“You okay?”

“I… have no idea.”

Then a man blindsided her, coming in from the side, taking her off her feet and toward the brick wall. Alicia folded and rolled, hitting the floor and sending him on his way. It was his own spine that struck the ungiving surface. The area rang to the sound of groans and crunching. Russo fell over outstretched feet but managed to take his opponent down with him.

Alicia saw Crouch just meters in front of her, fighting a terrorist and receiving a blow to the face that left him bloody. She shouted and leapt across.

Only to be stiff-armed in the face by a solid blow. She saw stars and swayed in place, looked over and received a hard punch to the jaw. Even as blood filled her vision she knew it was Ricci. The bastard had blindsided her.

She darted sideways, wiping and flicking the blood away. Using a terrorist’s back to gain some height, she leapt up and came down hard, elbow first. Ricci blocked the blow and delivered a harsh punch to her ribs. Alicia took it without protest and used the space to deliver a crunching blow to his right cheekbone. Pain filled the man’s eyes and he ducked away.

At that point the cops arrived, looking out over the balcony and then immediately firing down at the ground. Alicia heard someone — probably Vino — screaming at the hotheads to cease, but everyone could all be dead before that happened.

She rolled into the side of the building even as Ricci shrieked at his men to grab their weapons and run.

The order panicked and galvanized every single one of them. With most of them grunting in pain, they scooped up discarded guns and knives and ran away from immediate cover, in the direction of the pools. Russo was on his knees, a man unmoving beneath him. He tried to grab another but received a kick and a gun-barrel-blow to the head. Russo made no sound, just shrugged it off.

Alicia saw Ricci with Crouch pulled into his chest. Both men ran, but Crouch’s feet were practically off the ground. Terri had a gun to her head and was forced to join the run. At that point the police stopped firing and the terrorists streamed across the open grass.

Alicia counted Ricci and eleven men, all of whom bore various wounds, and then Crouch and Terri. With the loud clatter of gunfire mercifully stopped for now, her ears rang in the silence.

“After them.” She forced herself to stand.

Her radio crackled. “Are you okay?”

“No thanks to your men. Do you see the bad guys?”

“Yeah, and the captives. They’re headed for the beach. We’ll be right down. Keep them in sight.”

Alicia started toward Russo, picking up two weapons as she went. Her own gun rested in its holster along with six spare clips. She held out a hand to the big giant.

“You coming?”

“That was close.”

“Yeah, I thought we had it there for a few seconds.”

“Watch out for Ricci. He’s good.”

Alicia nodded, already aware. They took a moment to fill their lungs with air, steady their pulses, then took off after the terrorists.

Alicia crossed the grass and ran up the bank at the far end. As she crested the hill shots were fired, erratic and high, the terrorists shooting wildly as they ran. Some bullets passed way over her head to hit the windows of second and third floor hotel rooms behind them. Alicia threw herself to the ground. The terrorists were either skirting around or wading through the pool now, water sloshing from their boots. One man fell and came up sluicing water, then quickly fired behind to cover his mistake.

He hadn’t even turned around.

Alicia unplugged her radio. “Vino? You have to evacuate that beach, man. These guys are out of control. Don’t you have a siren or something? Shark warning?”

Vino yelled that he’d check and that they were now just minutes behind.

Alicia maneuvered herself into position and made sure to loose off a couple of shots. The gunfire was their best way of warning civilians now. The return shots helped for once, and Alicia was already safe behind cover.

The way ahead cleared as the terrorists ran and stamped and tore their way through to the next pool.

Alicia signaled Russo and followed as fast as she dared. They kept vigilant, wondering if the terrorists might leave a sniper behind, but it soon became clear that wasn’t Ricci’s intention. It was a speedy getaway. Even now the banner and the captives were slowing them down, but he refused to leave them behind.

They hugged the edge of the pool as they raced around the edge, careful not to slip in any puddles their quarry had left behind. Russo dragged a sun lounger out of the way, sending it flying over a hedge. Alicia kicked a plastic chair to the side.

They reached the next bit of landscaping — a sinuous slope winding between four palm trees about three meters high. Racing straight up, they slowed near the top.

Alicia looked over, saw many men crossing the next pool area. She lined one of the stragglers up, but then a cacophony of noise came from the right: FBI agents streaming toward the running terrorists.

They came around another chunk of designer camouflage, weapons drawn and shouting loudly, ordering the terrorists to lay down their guns.

Alicia flinched at the sight. “Oh, no…”

The strategy was all wrong. The runners would never give up; that much was abundantly clear. And they had hostages. To a man they didn’t break stride, but turned their weapons on the FBI. The two men running with the banner ran harder. Ricci pushed and shoved Crouch almost beyond his limits.

Alicia couldn’t stand and watch the outcome. She started to give chase again, slowly closing the gap between her and the last man. Out of the corner of her eye she saw three agents go down and the rest jumping for cover.

The terrorists cleared another pool area and then passed among a huddle of palm trees as they headed to the beach. Alicia and Russo were close, maybe within ten meters, and could hear bullets thudding into the hard trunks. One of the men fell, but their losses weren’t close to the same level as the collapsing agents.

Alicia hurdled the dying man. The beach was spreading out all around now, wide open spaces, well-tended, raked and flooded with sunshine. She could even hear the powerful roar of the surf to their left.

The chase strung out. The banner-bearers were ahead, just hitting the real sand, followed by more men, then Ricci and Crouch, another man and Terri, and half a dozen trailing terrorists.

Alicia shaded her eyes as she ran. Sunshine bounced and reflected off the bright blue seas. “You got any sunglasses?” she shouted across at Russo.

“Oh yeah, let me pull a pair out of my jockstrap.”

“Maybe not then. You wear a jockstrap?”

“Just like you.”

Alicia became aware of a huddle of tourists up ahead. The terrorists hadn’t noticed them yet, but several men and women were hiding behind a heap of stacked chairs and tables. Their bodies were visible through the gaps in the slats. Alicia grimaced and pointed it out to Russo.

“Get ready, mate.”

The big man charged slightly ahead, just in case. The lead terrorists stomped quickly by. Ricci didn’t appear to notice, although Alicia suspected otherwise. The men at his back barged past too, but then Alicia noticed the very last man. She saw his head turn and then do a double-take. She saw his finger tighten on the trigger of his gun.

She knew what type of man this was.

“No.” She was nowhere near close enough to stop him. “No!”

The man raised his semi-auto and they could all hear his demented laugh.