The Midas Legacy (Wilde/Chase 12) (37 page)

Big
fires. If Eddie was still in there . . .

Coughing, she picked her way through the rubble. No sign of her husband. ‘Eddie!’ she cried. ‘Can you hear me? Where are you?’

No answer. The heat was rising, the flames in the processing facility raging harder. There was no way anyone in the chamber could still be alive.

A rattle of shifting debris – and a section of collapsed ceiling shifted aside to reveal a singed, bruised, but still very much alive bald Yorkshireman beneath. ‘Ay up,’ Eddie managed to gasp, before erupting into a coughing fit.

Nina pulled him from the wreckage. ‘You
maniac
! What happened?’

‘Muzzle flash plus flammable gas equals, well, that,’ he said between coughs, jerking a thumb at the ruins of the adjoining room. ‘I’m okay, just a bit scorched.’ He recovered the axe, then they made their way down the corridor. ‘Where’s Olivia?’

‘Outside.’ She glanced nervously back. ‘I don’t think Fenrir’s hotel will be taking many guests this season.’

‘The elves’ll be pissed off too.’

Olivia was waiting just outside the building, shivering in the icy wind. ‘Eddie, my God! After that explosion, I was sure you’d been killed.’

‘We’ve still got to get out of here,’ said Nina. They were on the hillside behind the hotel, the section housing the geothermal plant partly dug into the ground. The east wing was ahead down the slope, many windows broken and smoke rising from within. Only emergency lights remained lit, but they were enough to pick out hulking metal shapes sheltering beneath the elevated structure.

‘The jeeps!’ Olivia said through chattering teeth. ‘We can drive back to Reykjavik!’

Eddie was less confident. ‘If we can get to ’em. Still plenty of arseholes with guns around.’ He started downhill, snow crunching under his feet.

Nina and Olivia followed. ‘You’re freezing!’ the redhead said in alarm, feeling her grandmother tremble.

‘I’ll be all right,’ Olivia insisted. ‘I just need to get somewhere warm.’

‘It’s nice and warm inside, but that’s not really an option,’ said Eddie. He reached the end of the power station’s wall and cautiously peered around the corner. Some super jeeps were parked near the stairs to the main entrance, but his attention snapped to the pair heading away from the hotel. ‘Shit! They’re already leaving!’

Nina recognised the lead pickup. ‘They’re taking the Crucible!’ She looked back at the parked trucks. ‘We’ve got to stop them.’

They hurried to the nearest super jeep. ‘Hope they left the keys inside,’ said Eddie. ‘Be just our luck if they’re in someone’s coat—’

A shout cut through the wind’s shrill. A man scurried down the main stairs, bringing up his gun—

Eddie flung the axe. The blade slammed into the man’s skull with a bone-splitting crack, neatly bisecting his face as he toppled backwards. The gun fired as he fell, bullets spraying the concrete above.

More shots from further away. Another armed man ran at them from the far end of the east wing, firing as he came. ‘Shit! Down!’ Eddie barked, throwing himself behind the super jeep.

Nina pulled Olivia into the cover of its oversized front wheel. Bullets struck the truck, the driver’s window shattering. Olivia screamed. ‘It’s okay, it’s okay!’ Nina said. ‘We’re behind the engine – he can’t shoot through it.’

‘No, but he can run around it!’ she countered.

Eddie searched for better cover, but found nothing they could reach. He looked up at the truck itself, one of those that had collected everyone from Reykjavik airport . . .

Before he could act on the thought that was forming, another burst of bullets hit the jeep. One of the huge tyres blew out. The unbalanced truck crunched down on to its front-left wheel hub, the rear corner opposite kicking up into the air. Muffled thumps came from inside as the cargo shifted. ‘Stay put!’ he shouted.

‘I wasn’t planning on going for a stroll,’ snapped Olivia as he scuttled to the rear passenger door.

‘What’re you doing?’ Nina demanded.

He opened it, staying low as more rounds punched through the bodywork. With the vehicle now tipped towards the oncoming man, he was hidden from sight, though not shielded from bullets. ‘The guns and stuff they brought back from Greece?’ he said as he clambered inside. ‘They’re in here!’

The back of the truck was filled with bags and boxes. He fumbled open a case, his hand falling on an angular object inside.
First time lucky
, he thought as he pulled out a Steyr AUG – only to discover there was no magazine loaded, the receiver empty. His groping fingers failed to find any ammunition.

He dropped the useless weapon and scrambled deeper into the rear bed – as a bullet tore through the roof above him and blew out one of the side windows. A cascade of fragmented safety glass scoured the back of his head. The gunman was still coming.

Another case contained magazines, but he knew from their shape that they were for UMPs, not the full-sized machine gun he had found first. No sign of the weapons they were intended to fit.

He threw open another container. The low light from outside picked out the grenade launcher he had used at the shipyard – and beside it a squat ammo box. He grabbed the MGL, tearing at the box’s latch. Dull metal hemispheres stared at him from inside like dead eyes: the warheads of half a dozen forty-millimetre grenades. He snatched one out and crawled to the rear door, pulling the launcher’s release hook. It swung open to expose the cylinder.

The running man kept firing. Another window burst apart. Eddie slammed a grenade into the topmost chamber and snapped the launcher shut, then pulled the rear door handle to throw open the tailgate. The movement immediately drew fire, more bullets clanging against the back of the truck as the Englishman dived out.

He hit the ground, rolling to face the gunman – and pulled the trigger.

The grenade sailed over its target – but the man’s surprise and relief was very short-lived as it hit the hotel’s underside behind him and exploded.

A storm of shrapnel lacerated his back. Blood spouting from countless wounds, he crumpled to the ground and lay twitching. Stray shards of metal struck the truck, but Eddie was beyond the grenade’s lethal radius.

The Yorkshireman scrambled upright, returning to the super jeep in the hope of finding a matching gun and magazine, but shouts from inside the hotel prompted him to abandon the search. Instead he grabbed the MGL’s ammo box and ran for another jeep, waving for Nina and Olivia to follow. ‘Get in, quick!’

This vehicle was a Toyota Land Cruiser – and the key was in the ignition. He tossed the launcher and ammunition on to the passenger seat and started the engine. The truck’s headlights and roof-mounted spots flared. Nina pushed her grandmother through the rear door before jumping up after her. ‘Okay, go!’

Eddie put the super jeep into gear and floored the accelerator. It sprang forward, the massive tyres getting full traction on the snow-free paving beneath the hotel before ploughing into the packed drifts beyond. It slewed almost sideways, the Englishman hurriedly feathering the power to regain control. ‘There, over there!’ said Nina, pointing. The rear lights of the Mikkelssons’ jeeps were tiny red sparks in the distance. ‘Catch up with them!’

‘We’ve got to get away from that lot first!’ Eddie shot back, seeing three more men rush out of the hotel and pile into another super jeep. ‘Grab the grenade launcher and load it.’

She picked up the weapon. ‘How?’

‘There’s a hook in front of the cylinder – pull it and it’ll swing open. Get rid of the dead one inside and load the others. Turn the cylinder after you put each one in; it’s got a kind of clockwork spring that brings round the next grenade when you fire.’ He turned the heater controls to full. ‘Are there any coats or blankets back there?’

‘I think so,’ the shivering Olivia replied. ‘These jeeps usually have survival equipment in the trunk.’

‘I’ll look,’ said Nina, breaking off from her task to rummage through the super jeep’s cargo. There was indeed a blanket, which she passed to Olivia. The elderly woman accepted it gratefully and drew it tightly around herself. The redhead resumed loading the launcher, pausing as she glanced ahead. ‘Eddie, you’re going the wrong way!’ The other jeeps were off to their right, and heading away.

‘We’ll never catch up with them if we just follow that track,’ he said, guiding the 4x4 across the rippling snowfield. ‘They’re going around the lake; if we cut straight across it, we can get in front of them.’

‘You do remember we’re not in a boat, right?’

‘The lake’s frozen – it should hold us.’ He looked back at Olivia. ‘Shouldn’t it?’

‘I’m hardly the expert,’ she objected.

‘Maybe not, but you’ve been here before. Is it usually still frozen this time of year?’

‘I think so, but I’m not entirely—’ Her eyes widened in fear. ‘Look out!’

Eddie snapped his gaze back ahead – to see the snowy ground dropping out from under the jeep’s lights.

He stamped on the brake pedal, but it was too late to stop. The Toyota shot over a rise, bursting through a snow-bank and going airborne for a couple of seconds before pounding back down in another explosion of snow. The heavy-duty shock absorbers bottomed out with a tooth-jarring bang, then the truck bounced back up and slewed across a wallowing dip.

None of its occupants were wearing seat belts. Eddie managed to keep hold of the steering wheel, but Nina ended up sprawled over her grandmother. ‘What are you
doing
?’ Olivia shrilled. ‘Didn’t the army teach you to keep your eyes on the road?’

‘What road?’ Eddie replied. The super jeep was now angling up another steep rise, almost rolling over before he managed to point its nose straight up the incline. He glimpsed headlights in the rear-view mirror, closing fast. ‘Shit! Get down!’

Nina dropped flat, pulling the startled Olivia with her. Cracks of gunfire reached them over the engine’s roar. A round punched through the rear door with a flat
thunk
and hit the gear in the cargo area. Olivia gasped.

Another bullet glanced off the truck’s flank as Eddie made an evasive swerve. ‘The launcher!’ he yelled. ‘Is it loaded?’

The MGL had fallen into the rear footwell. Nina groped for it. ‘Yeah, but it’s not closed.’

‘Just swing it shut – it should lock.’

She did so. The cylinder snicked into place. ‘Okay, what do you want me to do with it?’

‘What do you think?
Shoot those wankers!
’

The super jeep crested another rise, scattering snow. The Mikkelssons’ jeeps briefly came back into view in the distance before the Land Cruiser dropped sharply down the other side. Nina yelped, then squirmed around and lowered her window. A freezing gale blasted in, clods of snow kicked off the front wheel’s chunky treads spattering her as she leaned out and tried to bring the bulky grenade launcher to bear.

The glare of the pursuing super jeep’s spotlights preceded its appearance over the crest, giving her a target. She took aim, waiting for it to appear . . .

It burst through the snow. She pulled the trigger – just as her own vehicle reached the foot of the slope and levelled out. The abrupt change of gradient threw off her aim. The grenade hit the ground twenty feet ahead of the jeep and blasted a crater out of the snow and frozen soil.

Anastasia looked around in surprise at the sound of an explosion – not from the burning hotel, but somewhere off to her left. For a moment she saw nothing, then a flare of lights marked the appearance of a super jeep over one of the moraine crests. Another surged into view behind it, clearly in pursuit. A flash of orange light was followed by the delayed boom of a second grenade blast.

She grabbed her jeep’s radio handset. ‘It’s them! They’re coming after us!’

Her father’s normally controlled voice was edged with anger. ‘I said we should not underestimate them!’

‘We can’t let them catch us.’ Her driver had put his UMP on the dash; she took it. ‘I’ll stop them.’

De Klerx came on the line. ‘Ana, no! It’s too dangerous. I can handle it.’

‘You’ve got to get my parents and the Crucible out of here, Rutger,’ she countered. ‘I’ll be right behind you.’

Sarah took the mic. ‘No, we should stay together. It’s safer.’

‘I can
do
it,’ she insisted. ‘Go after them!’ The driver obeyed, skidding the truck off the track into the deeper drifts beyond.

‘Anastasia!’ barked Mikkelsson. ‘Come back! You’ve got the other Crucible – we need both of them!’

The basketball-sized crystal was nestled in her lap. She glanced at it, then spoke into the radio again. ‘I won’t let you down, Pabbi,’ she said, before replacing the handset and taking the gun in both hands.

‘Be careful, Ana,’ said Sarah, but her daughter barely heard her, focused only on the lights ahead.

34

Nina was blinded by flying snow as the super jeep vaulted over another rise. ‘Damn it, Eddie, I missed again! Hold this thing steady!’

‘If I do, we’ll get shot!’ he shouted back. The other jeep crested in their wake, two men leaning out. Eddie swerved as one opened fire. The rear window exploded.

Nina flinched, then aimed the MGL again. The enemy driver swept his truck across to the other side of her super jeep, trying to block her line of fire. She pulled the trigger anyway, but the grenade went wide and exploded behind its target. ‘Son of a bitch!’

‘You’ve only got two shots left,’ Olivia cautioned.

‘Mom taught me to count, thank you!’

Eddie applied more power as the 4x4 started uphill once more. The snow was getting deeper, giving him an idea. ‘Nina, get back in!’ he called. ‘I’m going to try something.’

‘What?’ Nina asked as she retreated.

‘Depends what’s at the top of this hill! Just hold on really tight, both of you – and get ready to shoot when I say.’

‘Why am I not filled with confidence?’ muttered Olivia as Nina ducked down beside her.

More bullets struck the super jeep’s rear and blew out one of the tail light clusters. Eddie hunched as low as he could, still charging up the slope. Deepening snow swamped the jeep’s headlights, spray coming up over the bonnet and hitting the windscreen. He turned on the wipers. Black sky rose above the spotlit white glare. Almost at the top—

He switched off all the Toyota’s lights as they reached the crest.

The view ahead became nothing but darkness as they bounded over the summit. Eddie spun the wheel hard to the left as they landed, bringing the truck around in a barely controlled power slide back up the hill. ‘Get ready!’ he yelled to Nina.

She still had no idea what he was doing – until the second jeep exploded through the snow to their left, crashing back down into the drifts below. Eddie kept turning, coming about to complete a full circle and swing in behind it. The men inside were confused by their prey’s apparent disappearance . . . until the Yorkshireman switched the spotlights back on, pinning them in the merciless beams. ‘
Now!
’

Nina had already leaned back out of the window. This time, she didn’t miss.

The grenade punched a neat hole through the super jeep’s rear window – and exploded, the blast ripping the three men in the cabin to shreds and blowing out all the windows. A moment later, the shrapnel-ravaged fuel tank detonated, flinging the hulking vehicle into a blazing somersault. It smashed back down on its roof, two of the oversized wheels flying off as what remained of the body tumbled to a stop.

Eddie hurriedly changed course to avoid the burning wreck. ‘Nice shooting.’

Nina dropped the MGL on the front passenger seat. ‘We’ve still got to catch up with Fenrir’s jeeps.’ She closed the window as the truck climbed again. ‘For that matter, we’ve still got to find them—’

Her eyes widened in shock as Anastasia’s GMC Yukon erupted through a snowdrift and charged straight at them.

Eddie jammed down the accelerator and tried to swerve out of its path – but too late. The onrushing super jeep hit theirs at an angle, caving in the rear wing. The impact threw everyone sideways, Nina’s head banging against the window.

The truck slewed around, for a moment travelling sidelong as the other off-roader barged against it before Eddie broke away. The Toyota lurched, flinging its passengers back across the rear seat.

Anastasia’s jeep rammed them from behind. Eddie scrabbled for the grenade launcher, but it had fallen into the footwell, out of his reach. ‘Nina! I can’t get the—’

He broke off as the lights in the mirror shifted. The Yukon pulled to the left, trying to overtake on his side, and he saw Anastasia’s arm emerge from the front window. ‘
Gun!
’

Flames spat from the sub-machine gun as she opened fire. Eddie dropped low, making another hard turn away from his attacker. The side window behind him burst apart, a bullet shredding his headrest. Another clanked against the hefty roll cage – but a third hit flesh.

Nina screamed as the searing round tore through her left bicep. Hot blood caught Olivia’s face, the elderly woman shrieking.

Despite the pain, Nina threw herself over her grandmother as another round whipped through the broken window. ‘I’m okay,’ she gasped, clapping a hand over the wound.

Eddie sliced back in front of the other super jeep to cut off Anastasia’s line of fire. ‘Where are you hit?’

‘My arm,’ Nina told him. ‘I think the bullet went through.’

‘As soon as we get away from these fuck-knobs, I’ll look at it— Shit!’ The Yukon veered left again to give Anastasia another shot. He turned to block it, curving across the snowfield as more rounds narrowly missed the Toyota. ‘We’ll end up going in bloody circles at this rate!’

Olivia raised her head in sudden alarm. ‘How far are we from the road to the hotel?’

‘I dunno, I can’t see it. Why?’

‘Because we might be heading for the lake!’

He gave her an aggrieved glance. ‘That’s where I
want
to go!’

‘But the cliff gets higher the farther you are from the road – and we’re heading away from it!’

He hurriedly looked ahead, but the truck was descending into a dip, only snow visible. Not that he had time to scan the landscape. The pursuing 4x4 jinked left again, this time accelerating enough to pull its nose past the rear of the Englishman’s vehicle, preventing him from cutting back across its path.

Instead he braked hard and made a skidding turn to the right, speeding up to pull away from his adversary. The Yukon arced around to follow him.

Anastasia leaned out to shoot, but before she could pull the trigger the Toyota cleared the next rise, dropping out of sight. Eddie wondered whether he would be able to pull off the same trick that had taken out the first super jeep – but then saw a sharp edge to the snowfield directly ahead, coming up fast.

The lake. And Olivia had been right about the rising cliff, the drop at least twenty feet.

He was about to brake and turn away when spotlights reappeared behind him, followed by flashes of gunfire. Only one place to go. ‘Hang on!’ he shouted. ‘We’re going over!’

He accelerated, the engine snarling as the super jeep surged towards the cliff edge—

The Icelander’s bullets struck home.

One of the rear tyres blew out, ruptured rubber flaying the wheel arch before ripping from the hub. The super jeep swerved. Eddie jerked the wheel back, but the 4x4 had already reached the cliff.

It flew over the precipice, the weight of the engine tipping its nose down towards the ice—

Impact.

Even with the beefed-up tyres and suspension taking the shock of the landing, the Land Cruiser still wiped out as it hit the ice, a front wheel tearing from the axle. The frozen surface cracked, stress lines shooting outwards like lightning bolts as a huge splash of icy water burst from under the truck. But there was still enough play in the surviving wheels to catapult the super jeep back upwards, sending it careering across the lake and bouncing once, twice, before slithering to a stop.

Despite being braced, Eddie had still slammed painfully against the steering wheel. He slumped back, the sudden silence left by the stalled engine almost shocking. ‘Nina,’ he said, turning his head painfully. ‘Are you—’

A new noise, the roar of another big V8 behind them – which abruptly changed in pitch as the driver tried to stop before reaching the cliff . . .

He failed.

The second super jeep hurtled over the edge in a spray of snow, landing short of the hole where Eddie’s truck had hit the lake. The front suspension collapsed, one of the shock absorbers stabbing up through the hood – and the ice smashed beneath it, dropping its nose into the frigid water.

More fractures shot through the surrounding surface, frozen chunks breaking loose and rolling in the waves. The jagged lines lanced across the ice towards the Toyota—

A dizzied Nina had just raised her head to check on Olivia when the super jeep pitched backwards, its rear wheels dropping through the breaking ice. Everything in the cargo bed hit the tailgate, then was swallowed by a freezing deluge as the bottom of the smashed rear window dipped beneath the surface. ‘Jesus!’ she gasped. ‘We’re sinking! Olivia, get out!’

Olivia grabbed the nearest door handle. The latch clicked, but with the 4x4 now tipping ever more steeply, the door’s own weight was holding it shut. She strained, forcing it open a few inches. Nina crawled closer to help, only to be tugged to a stop. Her foot was caught in something. She kicked, trying to free herself, but to no avail. A seat belt had entangled her leg. She groped in the darkness for the strap—

With a scrape of ice, the super jeep slid deeper into the lake.

Eddie was about to bail out when he remembered the grenade launcher. He leaned over the centre console and clawed in the footwell. The truck jolted again, grinding backwards into the water. He grabbed the MGL, then threw open the front door and rolled out.

Even dry, he was still freezing. The temperature was sub-zero. ‘Nina!’ If they didn’t reach shelter or summon help, without outdoor clothing they would rapidly suffer the effects of exposure—

Another kind of death was closer.

A bullet hit the jeep’s flank just inches from him. Eddie whirled and saw Anastasia staggering towards him, silhouetted by the spotlights of her own wrecked vehicle. The small Crucible was clutched in one hand, her UMP in the other. The Yukon was slowly sinking nose-first, the splashed blood on its cracked windscreen telling Eddie that her driver had not survived the touchdown.

He started to lift the grenade launcher – but her gun locked on to him, any residual dizziness from the crash now past. He froze, knowing that he would never be able to aim the awkward weapon fast enough to take a direct shot.

And Anastasia knew it too. ‘You thought you could beat us?’ she crowed. ‘Nobody can beat my father!’

‘Give me time,’ Eddie replied. ‘’Cause I already beat
you
.’

She hesitated, surprise in her voice. ‘What—’

He pulled the MGL’s trigger.

The launcher’s barrel was pointing at the ice between them. The grenade hit – and punched through, continuing onwards like a torpedo until the water slowed it . . .

Underneath Anastasia.

It armed – and exploded. The screaming blonde was flung into the air amidst a churning fountain of spray. Bones broken by the shock wave, she plunged back down into the freezing water, chunks of ice pounding her as she vanished into the black depths. The gun followed her, the Crucible landing at the edge of the jagged hole.

Eddie dropped the empty launcher and turned back to his stricken super jeep, Anastasia already forgotten. The Toyota had tipped backwards almost to the vertical. It had also slewed sideways, the water up to the edge of the rear door.

And his wife and her grandmother were still inside.

He tried to open the door, but its lower corner was blocked by ice. He leaned through the broken window. ‘Get out of there, it’s sinking!’

‘What do you think I’m
trying
to do?’ Nina yelled back. ‘My foot’s caught!’

Eddie cursed and ran around the truck. The other rear door was ajar, and still above the lake, its corner pressing into the ice like a piton. He yanked at it, feeling the surface under his feet flex and groan as his weight shifted. Metal scraped against frozen water – then crunched free. He hauled the door open. ‘Olivia!’

She stretched out a hand and he pulled her clear. ‘Get away from the edge,’ he ordered before dropping to all fours, holding the door open with his back as he looked into the truck. The only illumination came from the other 4x4 behind them, but it was enough to pick out the belt snagging Nina’s ankle. He crawled partway inside and tried to untangle her—

The super jeep jolted, ice snapping malevolently beneath it. Opening the door had let him reach Nina, but the truck was now held up only by whatever parts of its underbody were caught on the lake’s edge. Its sheer weight was dragging it relentlessly downwards, inch by inch, as the frozen surface crumbled. He pulled at the seat belt. The tension lock clunked. ‘Bend your leg,’ he told Nina. ‘I need to loosen it.’

‘Easier said than done when your car’s turning upside down!’ she protested. Squirming around, she twisted her leg. Eddie made another attempt to free the strap, pulling more gently.

This time, the lock released. He carefully drew out a few more inches. ‘Okay, I’ve got it—’

Water surged around her seat from the flooded rear bed as the vehicle sank deeper. Nina shrieked as it soaked through her clothing. ‘Oh my God, Eddie!’

He grabbed her foot and forcefully unravelled the belt, then backed up. ‘Come on!’ The door pressed down hard on his back as he cleared the cabin – and the pressure kept rising. ‘Quick, this thing’s fucking crushing me!’

She slithered out feet-first, gasping as the freezing wind caught her wet legs. Spicules of ice spat at her face from creaking cracks. Eddie strained to hold fast against more than two tons of metal. ‘I can’t . . . keep it . . .’

Nina rolled clear. He tried to follow her, but the edge of the door caught his left leg as it dropped. The metal ground against his shin, crushing it into the ice. ‘Agh,
fuck
! It’s got me, it—’ His words became a yell of pain.

She grabbed the door and pulled at it, a wail of her own joining her husband’s as her wounded bicep burned. But her efforts were just enough to ease the pressure, if only for a moment – and he jerked his leg free. Nina let go and fell backwards. The door thudded down flat on to the ice. Its hinge creaked as the Toyota continued to slither into the lake, bending it to its limit . . . then with a protesting moan of metal the vehicle jolted to a stop, held in place by the buckled panel.

Eddie tried to stand, only to stumble back to the ice as a bolt of agony speared through his leg. It was not broken, but he wouldn’t be managing anything more than a hobble for several hours.

If they lived that long. Panting, he crawled to Nina. Her face was screwed up in pain, palm again pressed to the bullet wound. ‘Get back from the water,’ he said, still hearing alarming sounds from the overstressed surface. ‘How’s your arm?’