Rogue Angel - Polar Quest Part 36

But Dave?

Annja knew now. He had to be behind this whole thing. She thought back to Gallagher's and how quiet he was when Mitch and Chuck came to the table to hara.s.s Zach. Dave hadn't done much of anything. He was content to let them rile up Zach and Annja.

Mitch hadn't moved the gun barrel and he was far enough away that making a move on him would have been extremely dangerous. She had to find some way to close the s.p.a.ce or she'd be shot several times before she could reach him.

"So where's Dave, then?" she asked.

Mitch shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Dave, the guy behind this whole thing. Where is he now? If he's hurting Zach, I'll kill you all."

Mitch laughed. "I don't know what's funnier-the fact that she has no clue or that she thinks she's going to be able to kill us."

Chuck joined in. "You've really been in the dark here, huh? I almost feel sorry for you. Almost, but not quite."

Annja saw some movement from somewhere behind Mitch. Someone was coming. All she had to do was keep Mitch and Chuck occupied and then they'd be surprised when they saw the new person show up. Annja could use that to her advantage and jump Mitch and his gun.

Annja's heart sank.

"Hey, Annja," Dave said.

She couldn't figure out what was happening. None of it made any sense. Someone was pushing Dave into the cavern.

"Zach?" she whispered.

He poked Dave in the back with another gun. "Get over there next to her and don't try anything."

Annja shook her head. "What the h.e.l.l is going on here?" she asked angrily.

Mitch greeted Zach. "You were right-she doesn't have a clue. She's been spouting off her theories and none of them have been close to correct so far."

Zach nodded. "It's a shame, really. I so hate for this to have to end this way, but that's how it comes down sometimes, huh?"

"Wait a minute," Annja said. "How did you get mixed up in all of this? I thought these guys hated you."

"Yeah, well, that's the way we wanted it to look," Zach said. "We figured if you were so preoccupied with the thought of Mitch and Chuck here gunning for you, you'd miss seeing what was really going on right in front of you. Apparently, it worked like a charm."

Annja felt herself getting angry. "Why did you bring me down here? I mean, if you're just going to kill me, then what's the point of asking for me in the first place?"

Zach shrugged. "I never thought they'd actually go and get you, to be honest. The winter was coming down and when I made my request, I figured it was a given they'd tell me no. Instead, they got you down here in record time and I suddenly had a big problem. I needed you out of the way, Annja. There's too much at stake here to let you interfere with it."

"The relics are fakes," Annja said.

"Obviously," Zach replied. "We planted them."

"You did?"

He sighed. "Absolutely."

"But you've been digging your heart out. Every day. For what? Just to sell the appearance of being obsessed with this?"

Zach smiled. "Pretty good, huh? I never knew I had it in me. I'd give myself an Oscar for it, but I suppose I'm a bit biased."

Annja shook her head. "What about the divorce? And the kids?"

"Oh, h.e.l.l, they left me a long time ago." Zach smiled. "Annja, it's been years since we last spoke. That little bit of trickery was easy to pull off. It's the truth, after all, just with the time line altered. I've been dead to them for years."

"So you staged all this?" she asked.

He nodded. "Sure. This payoff is huge."

"What payoff?"

Zach sat down on a nearby cl.u.s.ter of rocks. "It's twofold, really. We take the nuke generator and sell it to the highest bidder on the black market. Should fetch us a cool two billion, at the very least. At the same time, when we blow the mountain, the a.s.sumption will be that this is an environmental-disaster area. They'll send in a cleanup crew that will discover that this mountain is actually filled with tons upon tons of valuable minerals and chemical deposits. Navstar will come in as the contractor to clean it up and when they 'discover' the deposits, they'll remove them, as well."

"Meaning even more money," Annja said.

Zach smiled. "Lots more, in fact. Easily enough to make the three of us set for life."

Annja stared at him. She felt sick. "What happened to you? I would never have thought you could dream of doing something like this."

He frowned. "I grew up, Annja. I got tired of life handing me the short end of the stick. I was sick of hearing about how everyone I knew was getting success handed to them without any work to speak of. You know what that's like? Day after day of getting news about so-and-so buying a new vacation home or investing in the next great dot-com? Meanwhile, your family hates you and you've got a crummy two-bedroom bungalow outside Tampa where you spend the majority of time praying there's not a bad hurricane season. Day after day of that is enough to make anyone a bit twisted."

"But to go so far as murder?"

Zach shrugged. "I recognized early on I wasn't necessarily cut out to be the triggerman. But finding capable talent is never that hard. You just have to know where to look. Mitch and Chuck here are experts. Former military with combat under their belts. Not to mention the all-important explosives work."

Annja looked at Dave. "And where does he come into play?"

Zach sighed. "Well, Dave here is a bona fide special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Annja stared at Dave and he shrugged. "You thought I was the bad guy. Sorry about that," he said.

She shrugged. She'd gotten everything so wrong. She looked back at Zach. "So what, he was sent to dismantle your operation?"

"We had a tough time figuring him out. He played the geologist part well. But when you went and used his satellite phone, that kind of made us a little nervous. You see, he's not the only one with a sat phone. I've got one, too."

Annja frowned. "You're full of surprises."

Zach nodded. "You bet."

Mitch still hadn't done much in the way of moving closer to her. And Zach seemed perfectly at ease. Chuck was still rigging the explosives.

"And now you're going to kill us?" Annja asked.

Zach got up from his seat. "Definitely. I'm afraid your deaths are necessary to ensure that our plan comes off without another hitch."

"And the three of you will be the only survivors? How suspicious is that going to look?"

"Not suspicious at all. You see, we're bringing the colonel's body back to McMurdo. We're on a mission of mercy. How could we ever know that this entire camp and its inhabitants were about to die?"

"Poor you," Annja said.

"Money is a perfect grief counselor," Zach said. Chuck laughed and Mitch smiled.

Annja frowned. "Wait a minute, there's one thing I don't understand-"

"Just one thing?" Zach said mockingly.

"Yesterday, I saw members of the other research team planting explosives in here. But that wall is fake. Anyone would be able to see that if they felt it. Why didn't they know?"

Zach nodded at Chuck. "Show her."

Chuck walked over to a section of the cavern she hadn't explored. She heard him switch a b.u.t.ton on, and instantly the area was filled with people. And they were doing the exact same actions Annja had witnessed yesterday.

"A hologram?" The whole scene was getting crazier.

Zach smiled. "Tripped by a motion sensor at the entrance to the cavern as you came in and snooped yesterday. Nice, huh?"

"And what about the real team? Where are they?"

Mitch smiled. "Buried farther down another tunnel that we dug and covered up."

"I saw them in the chow hall the other night," Annja said.

Mitch nodded. "And then the next day they had a tragic accident."

"You're sick. All of you."

Zach sighed. "I wish you'd try to understand that I don't want to kill you. But unfortunately, it's just one of the things that has to be dealt with. And I've suffered far too long to have anyone interrupt my plans now."

Zach looked at Chuck. "How much longer?"

"Two minutes."

Zach nodded and then looked back at Annja. "So this is it, then. Goodbye. I hope you can forgive me."

"No chance in h.e.l.l of that," Annja said.

Zach shrugged. "Fair enough. All right, let's see your hands. I've got to tie you up so we can get out of here." Zach spoke to Mitch. "Keep them covered."

He nodded. "No sweat."

Zach approached Dave first.

But as he came in, Dave suddenly exploded, lashing out with a punch and a kick that caught Zach right in the stomach. "Run, Annja!" he shouted.

As Annja moved she heard a gunshot. She felt something hard slam into the back of her head.

And everything went dark.

36.

"Wake up, Annja."

She opened her eyes and squinted at the light. Her head throbbed. Again. If this keeps up, she thought, I'm going to have to get steel plates embedded over my skull.

Her hands were bound behind her. She was also tied down to a number of wooden crates that reduced her mobility even more. Annja took a few shallow breaths and looked around.

Dave's body lay nearby, a large pool of blood spreading out and seeping into the dark ground. "You killed him?" she cried.

Zach shrugged. "He left us no choice. If it's any consolation, he was going to die anyway, soon enough. Maybe it's better he went this way."

"So you've added killing a federal agent to your list of crimes now. Very impressive," Annja spit out.

"Actually, it was me," Mitch said, "but whatever."

Zach checked the ropes holding Annja down. "Chuck does such good work with knots. I don't imagine you'll be escaping from these anytime soon. Certainly not before this whole mountain explodes and comes down on top of you."

Annja frowned. "I never thought I'd have to kill a friend before, Zach. But you've certainly proved yourself worthy of being the first."

Mitch chuckled. "She's got quite the mouth, doesn't she?"

Zach stepped away from Annja. "If you can somehow manage to free yourself in the next few minutes, I'll be more than happy to hand myself over without complaint. How's that sound?"

"Like you're lying again," Annja said.

Zach smiled. "Well, you're right. But I do have a responsibility to spend all of my newfound money. So forgive me for not following through."

Chuck stood and came walking over. "It's done," he said.

"All of it?" Zach asked.

"Yeah. How much time do you want to put on the clock?"

Zach checked his watch. "It'll take us some time to get the Sno-Cats started up. And I don't want to risk any problems given this d.a.m.ned weather."

"What about the colonel's body?" Mitch asked.

"It's being stored out behind the mess shelter. There's no security on it, so it shouldn't be a problem just getting it right onto the back of a cat."

Mitch stowed his pistol. "I can get that and head over to the cats. Once I get one primed, it shouldn't take but a minute to roll on out of here."