Page 70 of Trapped with the Covert Ops Soldier

“That damned doctor and her soldier are here.” Virgil said, his tone laced with disgust. “Who do you think left this nice lit lamp?”

“They’re not who I’m talking about,” Jack said. There was something in his voice, a quaver that sent a shiver down Abby’s spine. He sounded... terrified. “Virgil, we need to leave.”

“Not without my gold we’re not,” the old man growled.

Another rock crashed to the floor. This one sounded bigger than the first two. It was followed by a dry, dusty groan that no human could have made. It was as if the mountain itself was trying to tell them something.

“Stop trying to scare me,” Virgil shouted. “I ain’t leavin’ without my gold.”

“Then you’ll die in here with all the other greedy men who thought they could take whatever they wanted,” Smitty called out.

“I suppose you don’t want any of it?” Virgil asked, his disbelief clear. He chuckled. “Fine, then come out of hiding and I’ll let you go.”

“So we can dig your gold for you at gun point? Not a chance.”

“Promise not to press any charges and you can keep twenty percent of whatever we bring out,” Virgil said.

“Nope. We don’t want any of it.”

“Oh, thank God,” Jack muttered.

“What’s wrong with you people?” Virgil’s frustration was evident in his tone. “Think of the money that’s just waiting for us to dig it out.”

“Money doesn’t make anyone happy, Virgil,” Abby said. “Because if that’s your goal, you’ll never have enough. You’ll never be satisfied with a little bit, or some, or sufficient. It’s an addiction, like alcohol or drugs, and itwilldestroy you.”

“Come out of hiding or I’m gonna shoot your friend, Jack.”

“If we come out, you’ll shoot us anyway,” Abby said. “So... no.”

Silence was his response for at least a minute. Then Virgil said, “Well, it looks like we’ve got ourselves a stand-off. One you can’t win. I’m armed and I’m standing next to the only way out.”

“You’re right about one thing, old timer,” Smitty said. Pausing before he finished with, “You’re next to the only way out.”

Virgil laughed. “Did you find a pistol down here or something? The thing is probably rusted shut.”

“We found a lot of dynamite, but that’s not all we found.”

“You found gold, didn’t you?”

“Oh yeah. More than you can possibly imagine.”

Virgil swore. “You’re going to get it for me.”

“No, we won’t.”

“I’ll kill all of you!”

“You know, that won’t work out so well for you either. If all three of us disappear, people are going to notice and look for us. Especially Abby. The sheriff will send out search parties and her family will search her house and even the shed. There is no scenario where you haul tonnes of gold out of this mountain and skip off to some nice beach somewhere without getting caught.”

Virgil made a noise, something low and rough and full of frustration. “I’m going to find you, you arrogant son of a bitch and I’m gonna put a bullet in your brain.” The echoes of footsteps got closer and closer.

But the lamp light cast shadows everywhere, making it hard to find the source. Smitty put his lamp on the ground and urged Abby to follow him as he moved away from Virgil’s position toward Jack’s.

A thump and clatter of something on the stone floor had both Abby and Smitty stopping to listen.

“I just hit Virgil on the back of the head with a shovel,” Jack called out. “I don’t think he’s dead, but doc, you might want to check.”

“Is this some trick to get us to come out?” she asked.

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