Page 71 of Murder Island
Suddenly, a powerful light blasted through the darkness in the distance. It was a spotlight, descending from the sky. Kira could hear the throb of an engine and the whipping of rotor blades.
The sound was coming from the compound. A helicopter was landing.
Reinforcements?
Kira grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut. Could this night get any worse?
CHAPTER 90
BLODGETT HADN’T BEEN expecting company, but he was ready to blast whoever it was to kingdom come.
He and the other four giants kept their rifles trained on the chopper as it descended. Gurney had ordered all five to stay behind and guard the compound. And now it looked like they might have to earn their money.
The giants knelt down and shielded their faces as the chopper landed in the clearing, blowing up a huge cloud of debris and red dust. When the engine shut down, all five men stood up and moved forward, rifles aimed toward the cabin.
The door opened. It looked like there was only one soul on board—the pilot. He jumped out, hands raised, stooping under the prop wash.
“I’ll be damned!” said Blodgett, lowering his gun barrel. “It’s Leo!”
“I hope to hell he brought money,” growled Marley.
Leo walked over from the landing zone, red-faced and irate. He got right to the point. “What the hell is going on down here?” He looked past the giants. “And where’s Gurney?”
Harper nodded toward the jungle. “Out there. Chasing demons.”
“One of the workers escaped,” Tagaloa explained. “A constant troublemaker.”
“Christ!” Leo turned and started walking toward the mine. “A nettlesome worker? Does that explain why shipments have slowed?” Blodgett looked at his buddies. Was this what Leo’s visit was about? Did he really come all the way from Belgium for a production check?
Leo reached the platform that overlooked the mine pit. He walked out onto it, then looked back at the giants in a rage. “Where is everybody? Why is nobody working?”
The five men looked at one another. Then Fenwick spoke up in his thick brogue. “It’s one in the morning, Chief. Kinda hard to sort rocks with a flashlight.”
Leo was clearly in no mood for excuses. He waved his clawed hand in the air. “Then find generators! Bring in work lights! This mine should be producing around the clock! If you hulks can’t do it, I’ll find people who can.” He turned back toward the empty pit and placed both hands on the rail. Like a king on his balcony. “Everybodyis disposable!” he shouted.
Smack!
A bullet hit him square in the forehead.
CHAPTER 91
THE SHOT CAME from the jungle.
Kira blinked as the man from the helicopter tumbled headfirst into the mine. Her curiosity had overwhelmed her instinct for self-preservation. She had worked her way back to the edge of the pit, crouching behind a felled tree trunk, close enough to overhear what the stranger had been saying. She saw the way the five giants kowtowed to him—right up until the second his skull exploded.
A few seconds later, the entire tree line erupted with gunfire, splintering the wooden platform and kicking up dirt on the rim of the mine. Kira saw the giants take cover behind anything they could find. They leveled their rifles and started to return fire. The air crackled and popped with single shots and long automatic bursts. Muzzle flashes lit up the compound.
Kira pressed herself flat onto the ground, lifting her head just enough to peek around the tree trunk.Suddenly, a figure flopped down beside her with a heavy thump. Kira rolled onto her side and brought up her knife. A hand grabbed her wrist. “Stop! It’s me.”
Lial’s face was shiny with sweat and streaked with dirt. She released Kira’s hand and nodded toward the jungle. “Cal’s men—a Somali militia,” she said between breaths. “About fifty of them.”
“Why are they here? What were they saying?”
“They have a very specific mission,” said Lial. “They came to kill you.”
That was a bit of a gut punch, but in a strange way, Kira felt flattered. “Me? Why send a whole army?”
Lial inched forward on her belly and peeked over the dead tree. “Because they think Doc Savage is here with you.”