Page 58 of Nikolai
“So—if we can remain undetected, we might make it?”
“We’ll make it in any case,” Nick said, no stress in his voice at all.He believed it.Oh man, she wanted to believe it too.The cavalry plus Nick’s friend were coming.And she had Nick right here.
Nick was like a little army, all by himself.
She was so impressed.He moved painfully but with purpose, knowing exactly what should be done and how to do it.
But they were in a hole in the ground, two against twelve.Like the Greeks against the Persians at Thermopylae.Theyall died.She and Nick might die, too.She had no desire to die today, none.Not after having met the most fascinating man in the world, not when, throughout the danger, she could feel theApocalypse Thenbook coming together.A new man and a new book.She wanted to live for both.
He covered his head again and slowly peered over the edge.So carefully that Parker was sure that unless you were looking directly at him you couldn’t see him.
“What’s happening?”
He didn’t whisper like she did, just spoke in a low voice.“Still searching for the coordinates.They’ll get here eventually.”He checked his watch.“Five minutes.All we have to do is survive another five minutes.Easy peasy.”
He stood stock still for a minute, two.“Damn,” he said.“They figured it out.They are walking our way.Go to the back wall and pull that tarp over yourself.”Parker started walking to the back wall.“Don’t forget to keep the Beretta with you.”
Oh God.The gun.Yes, she needed to keep the gun on her, though just imagining a situation where she’d need to shoot the gun—shoot a person— terrified her.She grabbed one of the pistols—a Beretta, though she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between a Beretta and any other gun before today.
Because much as she didn’t want to use it, she would if she had to.
Nick jumped down from the top crate though it must have jarred his shoulder terribly.He glanced up at the opening and took the time to cover the array of weaponry he’d amassed—rifles, pistols, hand grenades—with a tarp.Making it look like it was carelessly flung there, not like it was covering things.He went to the opposite corner from her.
She understood that if necessary to keep her safe, he’d give up his position to draw attention away from her.
He turned off the flashlight app.It was completely dark inside the chamber, the only light coming from the broken ceiling.She was crouching against the wall, the tarp covering her loosely.She’d created what looked like a fold but was actually a break that allowed her a partial view.
She could hear male voices, excited, speaking in Neapolitan dialect.
Her heart beat so hard she was surprised they couldn’t hear it up top.It beat against her rib cage in hard thumps.There were twelve armed men up top, who wanted something in the cavern very badly.They were criminals who wouldn’t hesitate to kill them for what they wanted.
Nuclear weapons.Oh God.Nuclear weapons in the hands of criminals, maybe terrorists.The damage they could do was unthinkable.
It wasn’t beyond the realm of imagination that they could bring down civilization.A few nuclear weapons set off in major cities and the world would be lost.Rome was brought down by barbarians wearing bear skins and wielding hatchets.The most powerful military in history brought low.By primitives who were unrelenting.
Those nuclear weapons could cause their world to collapse.No more electricity, no more medicine, no more education.No more printing presses or theater or art.Just brutality and ignorance for generations.
She was a scholar of the fall of Rome.It had happened once, and it could happen again.
She and Nick were all that stood in the way of that until the US military and Nick’s friend could arrive.
The thought of another Dark Ages, lasting maybe a thousand years—it simply could not be.
She realized, to her surprise, that she was willing to die to prevent that.
A man stuck his head down, followed by his arm.He was holding a flashlight.He carefully shone it around the room, but missed her and missed Nick, wherever he was hiding.
He shouted to the men behind him—they’re here.The weapons.
The enemy had arrived.
ChapterEleven
Unless Nick did something, the mobsters were still in time to steal the nukes and disappear.They might have a solid chance.There would be a massive manhunt, but they knew the terrain and would have safe houses.There was an outside chance that they could get away with it.
That would not happen.Nick had an arsenal at his disposal, including grenades.But he also had Parker to protect.He’d never gone into battle with any thought other than winning.Winning was essential but so was protecting Parker.It felt like he was at war with himself, because many of the tactics he could use could endanger her.
He had to take it second by second.
