The Nostradamus File

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

It was late in the afternoon when they arrived back at the Visitor Center. The parking lot was almost empty. Nick gave Ahmed another 50 Dinar note. The guide seemed nervous. He thanked them and scurried away.

They walked over to the Land Rover. Nick's ear began to itch and burn. He pulled on it, hard.

"Oh, oh," Ronnie said.

"Something's wrong," Nick said.

They looked around. Everything seemed normal.

"There goes Ahmed."

Selena pointed at a white pickup speeding out of the lot. The guide was in the passenger seat. He didn't look back at them. The truck drove away fast, trailing plumes of dust.

"Kind of in a hurry," Lamont said.

"Remember when we were in Kabul?" Nick said to Ronnie. "That IED?"

"Yeah."

"I had the same sensation then."

"I don't see anything," Lamont said.

There was nothing in the area, no garbage bags, trash cans, packs, boxes, nothing that would conceal a threat. The nearest car was parked some distance away.

Lamont got down on his knees and peered under their truck. A black, oblong shape was stuck under the driver's side. A digital counter was marking down seconds in red. Lamont watched the numbers move past 20 to 19 to 18.

"Bomb!" he yelled. He scrambled to his feet. They ran.

They were more than a hundred feet away when the bomb detonated. The force of the blast knocked them to the dirt. Nick went sprawling. Pain jolted his spine. Chunks and pieces of the Land Rover fell around them. The hood crashed down into the parking lot ten feet from his head. All that remained of the truck was a jagged tangle of metal that burned with bright, hot light, sending a dense column of black smoke spiraling into the clear afternoon sky.

Nick got to his feet. He looked at the burning wreckage. Lamont came over to him.

"Smells like Semtex."

"Ahmed," Nick said. "Our friendly guide."

"Maybe you should have tipped him more," Lamont said.