The Relic Hunters

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

The Hood atop Gunn screamed and arched away, blood pouring from a new wound at the top of his thigh. Scrambling through the dust and dirt that covered the street, he crawled away. Gunn rose slowly. Heidi aimed the gun at the rest of the Hoods.

“Give up.”

The main Hood simply sidestepped so that Cassidy was in between him and the barrel, still fighting. It must have become apparent to them all now though that their ambush attempt wasn’t going to work. Maybe their prey had put up more resistance than they’d expected. Maybe their plan was too hastily concocted. The Hood battling Jemma broke away, ran over to his fallen colleague and smashed a foot down onto the man’s throat. Bodie couldn’t help but stare in shock.

The man fighting him gave him a one-two across the face. Bodie went down.

Heidi spun and fired another shot; this one taking Bodie’s Hood down, instantly dead. Now only two Hoods remained and quickly saw where the fight was going.

The main Hood jumped high at Cassidy, landing two feet perfectly into the center of her chest. She was propelled backward four feet, kept her balance, but by then the Hood had turned tail and was running hard, sprinting up the street.

The last Hood darted off too, choosing a different direction. It was Heidi who shouted out a decision first, but Bodie would have made the same choice. “Follow the one we know! He has…”

She didn’t finish, didn’t have to. They ran hard in pursuit, and Cross tracked them in the SUV. Heidi shouted that she’d radioed the chopper back; they needed to employ every resource to catch the Hood this time and get a definitive look at the relic he carried.

Down the street, cutting through the crowd, turning right at the first market stall they followed his pounding legs, keeping the blue jeans and white T-shirt in sight, the black cap that he might discard, the general body frame and way he held himself. One thing they could watch — his backpack — was highly unlikely to be removed.

But the Hood was unbelievably quick. Cassidy tracked him closely, whilst Bodie panted at her back and Heidi followed him. Jemma and Gunn were quickly left behind, jumping into the car and following as best they could through the milling crowd.

The Hood twisted right and followed another busy street, then negotiated a tight alley. Cassidy pushed hard, even gaining a little. Bodie was not military trained nor a martial arts expert pushed to the limits — he was a simple man with a few gifts, some of which he’d had to enhance because of the job he took to heart. So he fell back now, unable to match Cassidy and the Hood, and Heidi also overtook him.

A glance back. “Waiting for a bus?”

Bodie waved her on. “Stitch.”

Heidi grinned, pulling ahead. Bodie again wished for a comms set-up, then thought for now it was probably a blessing. Some wise-ass would no doubt crack a joke about his “snail’s pace.” Still, he was close enough to see the Hood race recklessly across a wide road, narrowly missed by a bright yellow car, and then dash into another alley. Washing hung across the street and the walls were uneven, stones jutting out at knee and head height. Dangerous, but Bodie saw the Hood was intent on something else.

Grabbing hold of a piece of stone, he hefted himself up into the air, then launched with one foot, grabbing another at head height. Quickly, he propelled himself up the side of the building. Cassidy stopped below, tested a length of drain pipe, and then planted her feet against the side of the building. She followed quickly, bouncing higher and higher. Heidi split toward the front door, slamming it hard with her shoulder and disappearing inside. Bodie elected to follow her rather than Cassidy.

He’d scaled walls that way before, but thought stairs might be more appropriate today.

Heidi was above him, climbing over the top risers and then coming around a switchback. The staircase went all the way up — three stories — making Bodie hope to hell there was a roof-access door at the top.

The Hood went this way for a reason; the same reason as the one in Istanbul. In many ways they were still several steps behind; and nobody had mentioned what might happen if he called in another event.

Hopefully, the ambush meant he hadn’t thought it necessary. That thought gave Bodie hope. Heidi reached the top of the staircase, Bodie gasping a few steps behind. His chest was on fire. He rested, head down, with his hand atop the banister rail as she approached a suspect door at the end of the corridor. Gun ready, she kicked it hard. The lock flew off, the hinges twisted. Daylight flooded the narrow hall. Heidi bounded out and Bodie followed.

The roof opened out ahead, blue skies to every horizon, broken only partially by tattered cloud. Bodie saw the Hood on his knees, only just having completed his climb.

Of course I knew the steps would be quicker. Knew it all the time.

The Hood looked up; their eyes met. Heidi pointed the gun.

“I will shoot you in the goddamn leg!”

The man with the map was trapped. His dilemma — he couldn’t kill himself without destroying the map first. Bodie looked suspiciously around for chimneys, but lightning wouldn’t strike twice. There were none. The Hood backed away slowly as Cassidy finished scaling the building, pulling herself over the edge with a graceful spring. She landed on two feet, careful not to block Heidi’s firing line.

“Stop,” Heidi said.

The Hood put his hands in the air, but kept moving. Cassidy shrugged her shoulders. “I’m happy to break something if you like. Knees. Toes. Teeth. Not a problem.”

The Hood regarded her, perhaps considering speaking for the first time, but then said nothing. His eyes were fixed above Bodie’s head.

Heidi closed the gap. Bodie stayed close. The four of them became a tense knot. The Hood backed up as far as he was able, the three-story vertical drop at his back. “Why don’t you start by handing over the backpack?” Bodie said.

Heidi waved the gun. “Actually, just get on your knees, hands behind your back. I’d prefer you did that rather than try to play Superman.”

“Why is that a problem?” Cassidy squinted. “The prick can jump for all I care.”

Heidi flexed her fingers around the trigger. “We’re here to save lives, not extinguish them. Besides, he might have valuable information.”

The sound of the chopper reached Bodie’s ears. That would be their way out of here, and a means of transporting the Hood to somewhere unknown. Not a bad plan, under the circumstances.

“Call Cross,” Heidi told him. “Have him head north and meet us outside town. I’ll send him the coordinates.”

Bodie backed away. The chopper got louder. The Hood continued to stare at the skies as if they might offer some kind of salvation.

As if…

Bodie swiveled on the spot and then reeled. Never had he seen what he saw now. “Heidi,” he said, then “Heidi!”

She turned. She saw the wide blue skies and their chopper, only half a mile distant, but behind that, hanging in the air like deadly black predators, came a dozen more attack choppers, closing in fast and mercilessly, their objective nothing short of mayhem and death.

Heidi turned to the Hood. “Call them off. There’s a town full of civilians down there.”

“You should let me go.” The voice was as gravel-laden as the face was stern.

“I will. Just call them off.”

“You put the gun away and step back. Call your helicopter off.”

Heidi watched the approaching choppers, shared an anxious glance with Bodie and then put her weapon away. The Hood stepped between them, close enough to touch. Bodie wondered if the CIA would weigh the cost of a town against the map’s retrieval. Behind closed doors would they do that if they could? But this situation was too fluid to make any kind of call, too crazy to make any difficult decision.

They let the Hood pass through. Bodie heard Heidi make the call and watched for their own chopper to veer away.

It didn’t.

Heidi stared at the oncoming wall of death.

“Shit, this is gonna be bad.”