Death Diamonds of Bermudez (14 page)

Portagee smiled and said, “That’s easy. He borrowed my compass.”

Storm interrupted the conversation saying, “OK, that’s settled. So here’s the two groups. Keno and Portagee will go with me and Sam, Michael and Graham will go with you, Savage.”

Before Savage could reply a huge explosion and a heavy cloud of smoke came bellowing out of the tunnel. Not only that, the entire city of Bermúdez’ started shaking violently. Savage yelled out, ”Those bloody idiots are going to cause an earth quake down here and flood the whole damn place.”

Storm yelled back, “Come on, everyone! We’ve got to go now before Lynch and his men emerge from that smoke. Savage, meet us at the temple in three hours.” Both groups left the walkway and took off in different directions in hopes of finding a way out.

Storm and Savage were right to be worried after hearing the explosion. The South Africans did not blow the gate to pieces, but they did blow a hole in it large enough for Lynch to walk through. As the South Africans emerged from the smoke they too were awestruck at the sight of the city. They knew the wealth of this find would make them all rich men.

Lynch barked out, “Keep a lookout for those cowards while I give the boss a quick call.” Lynch pulled out his
GPS communicator and called Van Eck.

After a few rings Van Eck answered, “Lynch I was beginning to be worried. I have not heard from you for quite some time. What the hell is the matter?”

Lynch replied, “These pesky Bermudians and the FBI agent are keeping one step ahead of us, but that’s about to change.”

Van Eck added, “I sure hope so. Either this GPS device is acting up or you’re miles out in the ocean off the North Shore of Bermuda.”

Lynch paused for a few seconds and said, “Boss, the GPS is right. We’ve been chasing these cowards through tunnels and caverns for miles.”

Van Eck was now upset. He said, “So what now? Are you going to follow them into the Bermuda Triangle?”

Lynch in a timid voice said, “No, but would you believe the Lost City of Atlantis?”

Van Eck snapped back, “OK, smart ass. Did you say Atlantis?”

Lynch replied, “Yes, boss. I’m standing here staring at an ancient city under the ocean. I don’t know yet, but it must be loaded with riches.”

Van Eck added, “Just the fact that it’s there means it priceless. You find Storm and Savage and those kids and kill them all. There is no way in hell we’re going to share this find.”

Lynch replied, “Roger and out.” He snapped his phone closed and went back to his men.

The Hunters

Savage left the cobblestone road and took his group towards the east side of the city while Storm and his Spinners headed in the direction of the centre of the city. Storm, Keno
, and Portagee did not stray far from the main road that was a direct route to the city centre. They stayed just out of sight so that Lynch and his goons could not spot them. Savage, Sam, Michael, and Graham worked their way through the city blocks in a diagonal manor trying to keep a low profile. As they walked through the neighborhood, occasionally the Spinners would take turns peeking into doorways. Savage was more concerned about being followed by Lynch and kept checking in all directions. After having looked into several buildings Sam asked, “Daddy, every building or house we look into has artifacts galore in them, but no signs of people. Do you have any idea what happened, Daddy?”

Savage replied, “Yeah, the bloody inhabitants got tired of nosey people looking into their homes and moved out.”

Sam replied, “Daddy, be serious.”

Graham added, “Sam, he’s probably right, but for the wrong reason. Remember when we studied American history about the
Pueblo Indian cave dwellings in Mesa Verde, Colorado?”

Sam smiled and said, “Yes, so what?”

Michael jumped in and said, “I know that answer. A few years ago I got to visit that national park. No one knows why they left. Some think the food source dried up; some think they were chased away, and some think they just abandoned the caves. Whatever happened they just vanished and were never heard from again.”

Graham added, “These people could have left here and sailed in three hundred compass points. Maybe that’s where the stories about Atlantis originated. People who lived here might have sailed to Greece to start a new life and passed on stories from generation to generation about their homeland.”

Savage added as he walked along, “Well, that’s a good story, mates. If we run into one of the inhabitants we’ll ask them what they think.” The Spinners laughed and continued their search for a way out of the city.

Back towards the centre of the city Storm, Portagee, and Keno made it to one of the causeways. They stopped to look over the stone wall and down at the water. Keno was first to speak saying, “I sure am thirsty. I wish we could have a drink of some of that water.”

Storm added, “Yeah, I agree, but salt water will kill you.”

Portagee in his typical inquisitive manor said, “Well, who really knows what kind of water is flowing down there? In case you didn’t know, Bermuda has lots of underground wells. Some are saltwater; some are brackish, and some are fresh water.” Portagee looked down the side of the causeway and yelled out, “Look! There’s a stairway down to the water.” He ran over to the stairway and went down to the water’s edge. He bent down and with his mouth took a sip of the water.

Keno and Storm were right behind him. Keno tapped him on his back and said, “Well, is it good water?”

Portagee replied, “It’s good! Agent Storm, try it for yourself.”

Storm made a cup with his hands and tried a sip for himself. He turned to Keno and said, “Drink up its fresh water.” He then turned back to Portagee and asked, “Portagee back on the causeway you said something else about the water.”

Portagee was a bit puzzled, “What was it? I can’t remember.”

Storm replied, “You said the water was flowing, and you’re right. So if the water is flowing it must be flowing out of this cave.”

Keno added, “That means the water might be the only way

out of here, right?”

Storm smiled and said, “Good deduction, Keno. We’re going to follow the flow of this water and see where it takes us. This small stone walkway along the water’s edge will serve as our path. Follow me, boys, but don’t fall in the water. There might be gators in that water.”

Keno looked at Portagee and said, “You think?”

Portagee replied, “No, goober, he’s just pulling your leg.”

The three walked along the water’s edge in hopes of finding a way out of the cavern.

Meanwhile Lynch and his goons were trekking their way down the cobblestone road. Normally when tracking an enemy they would be more guarded; however in this case they had no fear of who they were hunting. Lynch had his goons spread out across the road looking for tracks. The magnificent ancient city was even distracting for Lynch and his men. The distraction worked well for Storm and his group because Lynch missed the spot where they split up from the others. Savage and the others weren’t so lucky. Their tracks were spotted. After following the tracks for a short distance one of Lynch’s men stopped and said, “Sir, there’s not enough tracks to account for the entire group. Some of them must have split off back towards the main road through the city.”

In a disgusted tone, Lynch said, “You bloody fool! No wonder we haven’t caught these civilians yet. They’re smarter than us.”

His man responded, “Do you want some of us to go back and find where they split off?”

Lynch snapped back, “Hell no! That’s want they want us to do. I’m not going to split up right now. We’ll keep tracking this group. Sooner or later they’ll meet up and when they do, we’ll snag them.” He turned to two of his men and said, “I want you two to head out separately and scout out the area. If either of you see our friends I want to know immediately.”

One of the men asked, “If we make contact should we eliminate them?”

Lynch replied, “Use your judgment. If both of the parties are still split up then you might take a captive. Otherwise kill them.” The two men nodded their heads and took off in different directions to scout out the area.

Lynch signaled to his remaining men and said, “Alright, men, follow me. We’ll follow this street for a distance.”

While they were walking one of Lynch’s men pointed up in the air and said, ”Lynch, look at the size of that diamond.” He was pointing to the massive diamond ball that was lighting the city.

Lynch replied, “Yeah, I saw it earlier. It’s on our shopping list once we kill these elusive Bermudians.” No sooner had Lynch finished speaking when the entire city went black. Lynch and his men froze. Lynch pulled out something from his vest and said, “Not to worry, men. Pull out your night vision goggles.” He put them on and said, “Now the advantage is ours. Those poor bastards won’t see us coming, but we’ll see them.”

Meanwhile Savage and his Spinners were sitting down resting when the lights went out. Savage said, “Well, I’ll be damned. Someone forgot to pay the light bill.”

All was quiet for a minute. Graham finally spoke up, “I’ll bet the inhabitants here have the Death Diamond on a twelve hour timer.”

Sam added, “You’re right, Graham. They not only simulated day; they must have also simulated night.”

Michael chimed in saying, “That’s not good for us. What if those paramilitary creeps have night vision devices?”

Savage replied, “What’s the odds those goons would have even thought of bringing something like that?” His comment seemed to calm the Spinners, but Savage himself had the same fears. He flipped on his flashlight, but pointed it down on the cavern floor. He said to the others in a low tone, “Follow me. We’ll only use this one flashlight. I don’t want to take a chance of someone spotting us. We’ll find a spot and rest for the night.” Savage’s fears were well founded. Unknown to him and the Spinners one of Lynch’s scouts had already spotted them with his night vision goggles.

Back in the canal Storm and his Spinners had stopped hoping the Death Diamond would light back up again. Storm finally said, “I don’t think it’s going to light up again. It’s either malfunctioned or maybe it’s night time. No matter what, standing on this ledge makes us sitting ducks if someone sees us or our lights. We’ll get off this ledge at our first opportunity. Follow me, but do it quietly. ” Keno and Portagee kept as close as they could without tripping over Storm. After walking for about ten minutes they came to another stairway that would lead them up to street level. Storm held his hand back touching Keno on his shoulder. He whispered, “You two stay here. I’ll signal you when it’s safe to come up with a single flash of my flashlight.” Storm almost crawled up the stairs making sure not to make any noise and avoid being seen. Once on the street level he just sat there trying to listen for any kind of noise. Also his eyes were now used to the dark, and he could see a short distance although most objects seemed like shadows. Storm turned back around and gave a single flash to signal Keno and Portagee it was safe to follow him. Within seconds both boys were with Storm. Once again he signaled them to follow him. Without saying a word they crept along as close they could get to any structure they passed.

Savage and his Spinners had found refuge in what appeared to be an old pub. They had agreed to take a quick nap and try to relax for awhile. After about an hour Michael woke up. He moved from Graham to Savage nudging them as he went by. Once he got by Savage he panicked. He could not find Sam. Michael scurried back to Savage. In a very low tone he nervously asked, “Inspector, where’s Sam? I can’t find her.”

Savage jumped up and began whispering for Sam. After no response he started at random intervals turning his flashlight on and off in different directions, but to no avail. Sam was nowhere to be found. Almost beside himself, Savage yelled out, “Those bastards took my daughter!”

Graham whispered back to Savage, “Sir, they’ll hear you.”

Savage snapped back, “Excuse me for saying this, but I don’t give a damn. Besides they already know where we are.”

Michael asked, “Why didn’t they just take us all or shoot us all?”