Map Of Bones Part 43

Raoul grinned and lifted his speargun. He waved a group of men into the tunnel. "Check it out."

Five darted away, leaving three men with Raoul.

Seichan, leaning near the tunnel entrance, watched the group disappear. She stepped to follow.

"Not you," Raoul said.

Seichan glanced over a shoulder. "Do you and your men want to leave this harbor?"

Raoul's face reddened.

"The escape boat is ours," she reminded him, and ducked away.

Raoul clenched a fist but stayed silent.

Trouble in paradise...

Gray turned. Vigor's gaze was hard upon him. Gray motioned with his eyes. Dive away at the first opportunity Dive away at the first opportunity.

He faced the tunnel again. He prayed he was correct about the Sphinx's riddle. It was death to solve it wrongly. And that certainly was about to be proven here, one way or the other.

That left only one mystery to be answered.

Who would die?

MONK RACED the bullets. His jet sled skidded across the water. Rachel clung to him from behind, half choking his airway. the bullets. His jet sled skidded across the water. Rachel clung to him from behind, half choking his airway.

The harbor was in chaos. Other watercraft fled from the fighting, scattering like a school of fish. Monk hit the wake of a crabbing boat and sailed high into the air.

Gunfire chewed into the wave below.

"Grab tight!" he cried.

He flipped the sled on its side just as they hit the water. Under they went. He straightened their course and dove deeper, speeding through the water at a depth of three feet.

At least that's what he hoped.

Monk had squeezed his eyes closed. Without his mask, he couldn't have seen much anyway. But before diving under, he caught a glimpse of an anch.o.r.ed sailboat directly ahead.

If he could get under it...put it between him and the hydrofoil...

He counted in his head, estimating, praying.

The world went momentarily darker through his eyelids. They were under the shadow of the sailboat. He did an additional four-count and canted back upward toward the surface.

They burst back into sunlight and air.

Monk craned back. They had more than cleared the sailboat. "f.u.c.k, yeah!" The hydrofoil had to swing around the obstacle, losing ground.

"Monk!" Rachel yelled in his ear.

He faced forward to see a boxy wall of boat in front of him, the naked houseboat couple's. c.r.a.p! They were flying right toward its port side. There was no shying from it.

Monk slammed his weight forward and tipped the nose of the sled straight down. They dove in a steep dive...but was it steep enough to duck under the houseboat, like he had the sailboat?

The answer was no.

Monk slammed into the keel with the tip of his sled. The sled flipped a.s.s-end up. Monk clutched an iron grip to the handles. The sled skittered against the wood side, barnacles ripping at his shoulder. He gunned the throttle and shot deeper.

He finally cleared the underside of the boat and sped back into clear water.

He jetted upward, knowing he had little time.

Rachel was gone, knocked off with the first collision.

GRAY HELD his breath. his breath.

A commotion immediately sounded from down the low tunnel. The first of the men must have reached the end of the pa.s.sage. It must have been short.

"Eine Goldtur!" he heard shouted. A gold door A gold door.

Raoul hurried forward, dragging Gray with him. Vigor was kept pinned at the pool's edge by a diver with a speargun.

The tunnel, lit up by the explorers' flashlights, extended only some thirty yards and was slightly curved. The end could not be seen, but the last two men in line-and Seichan-were limned against the glow, all focused forward.

Gray had a sudden fear that perhaps they'd been wrong about the gold key they had found. Maybe it was meant for this door.

"Es wird entriegelt!" a shout called. Unlocked! Unlocked!

From where Gray stood, he heard the click as the door was opened.

It was too loud.

Seichan must have noted it, too. She spun around and leaped back toward them. She was too late.

From all walls, sharpened poles of steel shot out of crevices and shadowed nooks. They skewered across the pa.s.sage, piercing through flesh and bone, and embedded into holes drilled on the opposite side. The deadly tangle started deep and swept outward in a matter of two seconds.

Lights bobbled. Men screamed, impaled and pinned.

Seichan made it within two steps of the exit, but the tail end of the b.o.o.by trap caught her. A single sharpened pole lanced out and impaled through her shoulder. She jerked to a stop, legs going out from under her.

A pained gasp was the only sound she made, hung up and skewered on the bar.

Shocked, Raoul weakened his grip on Gray.

Taking advantage, Gray wrested free and flung himself toward the pool. "Go!" he shouted to Vigor.

Before he could take a second step, something struck the back of his head. Hard. He went down on one knee. He was clubbed again, on the side of the head, pistol-whipped with the b.u.t.t of a speargun.

He had underestimated the speed of the giant.

A mistake.

Raoul kicked Gray onto his face and pressed a boot on his neck, bearing down with full weight.

Gasping, Gray watched Vigor fished back out of the pool. The monsignor had been caught by the ankle and denied escape.

Raoul leaned down, leering into Gray's view.

"A nasty little trick," he said.

"I didn't know-"

The boot pressed harder, squeezing off his words.

"But you have eliminated a bit of a problem for me," he continued. "Taking that b.i.t.c.h out of the picture. But now we have some work to do...the two of us."

RACHEL CLAWED back to the surface of the water, hitting her head again on the side of the boat. She choked on a mouthful of water and broke through to open air. She coughed and gagged repeatedly, reflexively, unable to stop. Her limbs floundered. back to the surface of the water, hitting her head again on the side of the boat. She choked on a mouthful of water and broke through to open air. She coughed and gagged repeatedly, reflexively, unable to stop. Her limbs floundered.

A gate suddenly dropped and she saw a naked middle-aged man standing there, bare-a.s.sed to the world. "Tudo bem, Menina?" "Tudo bem, Menina?"

Portuguese. Asking if she was okay.

She shook her head, still coughing.

He bent down and offered an arm. Taking it, she allowed herself to be hauled up and stood shakily. Where was Monk?

She watched the hydrofoil banking away, heading out toward deeper waters. The reason soon became apparent. A pair of Egyptian police cruisers sped out from the far pier, revving up, gaining speed, finally responding. The chaos in the harbor must have delayed them, but better late than never.

Relief flooded through her.

Rachel turned to find the man's wife or companion, equally naked.

Except for the gun.

MONK SURFED around the stern of the houseboat, searching for Rachel. Further out in the harbor, a police cruiser wailed across the waters. Lights flashed an angry red and white. The hydrofoil raced away, picking up speed, lifting to the full extent of its skids. around the stern of the houseboat, searching for Rachel. Further out in the harbor, a police cruiser wailed across the waters. Lights flashed an angry red and white. The hydrofoil raced away, picking up speed, lifting to the full extent of its skids.

Escaping.

There was no way for the police to catch it. The hydrofoil headed out...to international waters or to some other hidden berth.

Monk turned his full attention to his search for Rachel. He feared to find her floating facedown, drowned in the polluted water. He edged around the stern, staying close to the boat.

He spotted motion on the rear deck of the houseboat.

Rachel...she had her back to him, but looked unsteady. The naked middle-aged man supported her with one arm.

He slowed. "Rachel...are you o-"

She glanced back, eyes panicked. The man raised his other arm. He held a snub-nosed automatic rifle, pointed at Monk's face.

"Oh...I guess not," Monk muttered.

GRAY'S NECK was about to break. was about to break.

Raoul knelt atop him, one knee square on the middle of his back, the other on the back of his neck. One hand twisted into Gray's hair, yanking his head back. The man's other hand held the speargun straight-armed toward Vigor's left eye.

The monsignor was on his knees, flanked by two divers with additional guns. A third looked on, scowling with a knife balanced in his hand. All eyes were narrowed with raw hatred. Gray's trick had slain five of their men, comrades-in-arms.

Moans still echoed from the b.l.o.o.d.y tunnel, but there would be no rescue for them. Only revenge.

Raoul leaned closer. "Enough games. What did you learn in-"

A zinging thwack thwack cut off his words. cut off his words.

The speargun clattered from Raoul's grip. A roaring howl erupted from him as he fell off Gray.

Released, Gray rolled across the floor, s.n.a.t.c.hed up the abandoned speargun, and shot one of the men holding Vigor.

The shaft pierced through the diver's neck, knocking him back.

The other man straightened, turning his weapon on Gray, but before he could fire, a spear flashed through the air from the pool and spitted the man through the belly.

His weapon fired reflexively, but the shot went wild as he tumbled backward.

Vigor slapped the one unfired speargun toward Gray, then flung himself low.

Gray grabbed it and swung it toward Raoul.