Page 101 of A Touch of Treachery
Joan,Gabriel,andIsketched out a plan of attack, then left the library.Joan returned to her room to get some supplies, while Gabriel and I headed outside to his SUV.While we’d been plotting, it had started snowing, and big, fat, fluffy flakes were tumbling down from the sky like icy confetti.
The storm had finally arrived, in more ways than one.
Gabriel opened the trunk and flipped back the cargo liner to reveal several black plastic crates.He removed the lids, and I let out a low whistle of appreciation.Guns and ammo glinted inside one of the crates, along with knives, grenades, and other weapons.Another case held heavy-duty winter gear, and I dug out a pair of ski bibs and put them on over my sweater and pants.
I also dug out a winter hat and peered at the pom-pom on the top.“Does this contain any explosives?”
Gabriel gave me a look like I was a couple of flakes short of a snow globe.“Why in the world would you wear an explosive pom-pom on your head?”
“Never mind,” I muttered.
We’d just finished donning more layers when Joan strode into the parking lot wheeling two suitcases along behind her—the same two suitcases the guards had removed from the honeymoon suite earlier.
“Those look familiar,” I replied in a wry voice.
Joan shrugged.“I packed all the gear, and I’m not letting it go to waste.”
She set the suitcases on top of Gabriel’s crates, and we rifled through the contents, slipping weapons and anything else we thought might be useful into our pockets.Then Gabriel shut the trunk, the three of us climbed into the SUV, and we left the hotel.
Three inches of snow had already covered the ground, and it was starting to stick to the road as well.Gabriel handled the SUV with expert precision, going as fast as he dared on the slick pavement, while Joan and I looked at maps and photos, double-checking our route.
Every few minutes, Joan’s phone beeped, and she finally looked at the screen and grimaced.“Diego wants to know where I am.He says the strike team members at the hotel are looking for me.”
“Are you going to tell him where you are?”I asked.
She slid her phone back into her pocket.“I don’t have to.Sooner or later, he’ll get the bright idea to track my phone.Even if I turn it off, Diego can still track it.And then, well, we all know what will happen.”
Gabriel nodded, his eyes still on the road.“Old man Percy will realize we have a lead on Desmond and send a strike team to our location.”
I didn’t care what the General would do to me as long as we rescued Desmond, although I worried about the consequences for Joan and Gabriel.
We rode in silence for five more minutes before Gabriel steered the SUV off the road and parked in a small lot that fronted a scenic overlook.
“This is as far up the mountain as I can drive in these conditions,” he said.
“Then we go on foot from here,” I replied.
Joan handed out some comms, which we all stuck in our ears.“Check,” she said.
Gabriel and I checked back to her, making sure we could all hear one another.Then we got out of the SUV, crossed the parking lot, and plunged into the woods.Gabriel and Joan both had their guns drawn, but I had a map in one hand and my phone in the other.
We had to skirt around the enormous craters Henrika’s explosives had left behind, but it didn’t take us long to hike up the mountain.We didn’t meet any resistance.No guards, no cameras, no booby traps.Not surprising, given the conditions.The storm was getting worse by the second.Hard bits of snow pelted my face, and the wind cut through my clothes like icy teeth.
I called a halt at the top of a small, rocky outcropping to orient myself.Despite the cold, I was sweating, thanks to the steep climb, my many layers of clothes, and the heavy gear tucked in my pockets.And for the first time, well,ever, I was glad my father had dragged me along on all those weekend training missions when I was a kid.I didn’t know if I would have been able to keep going now without those harsh childhood lessons.
“According to the map, the mine entrance should be around here somewhere.Let’s spread out.”
Joan and Gabriel nodded, and the three of us set off in different directions, although we took care to stay in one another’s line of sight.The last thing we needed was to get lost in the blowing, blinding snow.
“Over here.”Joan’s voice crackled in my earbud.
We weren’t that far apart, but I couldn’t hear her voice in the air over the howling wind.
Gabriel and I hurried in her direction, and Joan stabbed her finger to the right.A large pile of brush had been positioned in front of a rock wall, although the wind had blown some of it aside, revealing a rugged, cavelike entrance that was just wide enough for one person to duck into at a time.
I checked the map again.“This has to be it.”
I slid the map and my phone into my pocket and drew my own gun.Joan and I kept watch while Gabriel cleared away the remaining brush.When he finished, we peered into the opening, but all I could see was darkness.
