The Belial Stone (The Belial Series) (29 page)

CHAPTER 77

Y
oni leapt away from the transformer.  The explosion blasted through the metal casing, sending shrapnel in every direction and a fireball straight up. 

A wave of heat blew over him and he rolled farther from the flames.  The site was pitched into darkness. 

Yoni pulled out his M4 as silence descended and all work stopped.  He imagined the guards, looking around, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Gunfire broke through the silence.  Yoni got to his knees, ready to join the fight.

“Shit,” he yelled as gunfire peppered the ground behind him.  He dove behind the wreckage of the transformer.  The guards had recouped faster than he’d expected.  He looked up at the gun tower and saw the sparks of light that the shooters set off with each shot. 

“Shit,” he groaned again, struggling to figure out a way to avoid the enemy, who had the higher ground. 

“Yoni, get down!” Jordan dropped to a knee and sent a surface-to-air missile into the guard tower. 

“Shit!” Yoni threw himself to the ground, covering his head as a shower of tower debris rained around him. 

Jordan ran over, pulling him to his feet.

Yoni slapped at a small fire that had started on his sleeve.  “Next time, send the debris inside okay?”

Jordan took a shot at a guard that appeared in the enclosure’s entryway.  “Sorry about that, Yoni.”

A second explosion at the other guard tower drew Yoni’s attention. 

Yoni slapped Jordan on the shoulder and gestured to the smoldering ruins of the other tower.  “Learn something new every day.  Both surface-to-air missiles and grenade launchers are effective at taking out guard towers.”

Jordan’s reply was cut off as a conveyance of ten guards appeared behind them.  Jordan yanked Yoni to the ground. 

Bullets whistled above their heads.   They scrambled for the cover of the destroyed transformer.  Yoni switched the M4 to automatic and let loose a spray of bullets.  The guards ran for cover.

He turned to Jordan with a grin.  “So, how do you think the assault's going so far?”

CHAPTER 78

J
ake sprinted from his hiding spot as the transformer exploded, Patrick keeping pace next to him.  Jake took out the guards at the entrance of the sleeping cage with two shots.

Then Patrick slammed into him, tackling him to the ground, as automatic fire chewed up the ground behind him.  Simultaneously, they turned, taking out the solitary shooter.

“Thanks,” Jake said. 

Patrick nodded as the guard tower above them exploded with Henry’s grenade hit. 

Jake scrambled to his feet, seeing Patrick do the same.  Side by side, they sprinted for the sleeping cage.  A guard appeared around the side of the enclosure with his gun raised.  With a fluid motion, Patrick pulled his shotgun from around his back and shot the man, practically slicing him in two with the blast. 

Jake grinned.  The priest could definitely hold his own.

Jake held his position, covering Patrick as he ran for the cage. 

A padlock secured the gate.  Patrick took aim and blasted the lock.  Flinging the shotgun back over his shoulder, he threw open the door and yelled. 

“Laney!”

CHAPTER 79

L
aney jolted awake, trying to figure out what had pulled her from her sleep.  Tom was sitting up next to her. 

“Tom, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.  There was a loud noise and then the place just went dark.”

Gunfire rang out and an arc of light shot through the sky.  The guar
d tower nearest them exploded.  Scrambling to her feet, Laney turned to Tom.  “It’s Jake!”

Tom had jumped to his feet at the sound of the gunfire.  He pulled Laney and Seeley to the side, just as a group of inmates charged for the gate. 

Above the yelling, Laney thought she heard a voice calling her name.  She looked around, but couldn’t see anyone amongst the mass of bodies rushing to the exit.  Then she saw a man pushing against the tide, fighting to get into the enclosure.  “Uncle Patrick!”               

Patrick’s eyes looked up and caught Laney’s.  He fought through the swarm of bodies and reached her, pulling her into a tight hug. 

“Laney,” he breathed. 

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Patrick pulled back and took the shotgun from across his back, loaded it, and handed it to her.  “We need to get going.” 

She nodded and reached out to grab Tom’s hand.  “Where’s Jake?” 

“He’s in the enclosure.”  Patrick gestured beyond the gate as he handed a handgun to Tom.  “You must be Tom.”

Tom nodded., holding onto Seeley’s waist to keep him upright.  “And this is Seeley,”

Patrick looked at the injured man, his face expressionless, but Laney saw the sympathy dart across his eyes.  “Let’s get out of here.” 

Following Patrick, they headed to the gate.  A noise behind her caused her to glance back.  Two guards were coming up on the back side of the enclosure. 

“Look out!”  Tom threw himself on top of Laney as the guards opened fire on the cage. 

Gunfire whistled through the air above them.  Tom rolled off Laney.  She and Patrick grabbed onto Seeley’s arms.  They pulled him along the ground to the gate as Tom crawled behind them.   Suddenly, the gunfire stopped.  Laney turned and saw a group of inmates had jumped the guards.   They began to kick and stomp on the guards in a mad frenzy. 

She turned away and scrambled to her feet.  

Patrick pulled Seeley to his feet and carried him out of the cage with a fireman’s lift.  Laney and Tom ran behind him and over to the open storage truck used to transport the men. 

Crouching low, Laney checked her shotgun. “What’s the plan?”

Patrick lay Seeley gently on the ground.  “Henry and Jordan’s assault groups are keeping any additional guards at bay, while Yoni and Jake enter the enclosure with an additional assault team and clear it.  I’m supposed to get you clear.”

An explosion from inside the enclosure rocked the walls.  A chorus of screams rolled over them.

Laney looked at Tom and he nodded.  “Sorry, Uncle Patrick.  But we’re not leaving this fight.”

Laney could tell Patrick wanted to argue with her.  She cut in before he had the chance to speak.  “Can you get Seeley to safety?” 

Patrick looked at the man on the ground and a group of Kensington’s men’s heading for one of the Suburban’s to escape.  “I’ll take him to some of the men, and have them get him out of here.  I’ll find you in the enclosure.”

With a nod, she and Tom turned to leave when Patrick’s words stopped her.

“Delaney McPhearson.”  She turned to face him.  “Don’t make me come save you again.”

“You got it, Uncle,” she said with a smile.  And then with a deep breath, she and Tom sprinted for the enclosure gate.

CHAPTER 80

H
enry crouched low to the ground, using some debris from one of the destroyed towers as a barrier.  He’d helped clear the area of guards and was going in for one last sweep.  Almost a hundred yards away, he saw a group of Kensington’s guards pulling away in a Suburban.  They were too far away to reach. 

He quickly made his way to his ammunition stash, hidden to the left of the enclosure entrance.  He pulled out the surface to air launcher and lined the truck up in his sights as it sped from the enclosure.  Pulling the trigger, he watched the plume of smoke trail the missile as it zeroed in on the truck. 

The impact flipped the truck, sending it flying twenty feet into the air.   It crashed down to earth in a ball of fire, just like the other surface-to-air missile had done to the Jeep at the Chandler headquarters. 

“That’s for my men,” he whispered. 

Dropping the empty canister, he reached for his gun.  A man collapsed onto his back with a shriek.  From the smell, he could tell the man was a captive, not a guard. 

“Bring him over here,” another man yelled.  Henry looked up to see two more inmates a few feet to his left.  

Henry let the man pull him over to the other two.  “Look, I’m not one of the guys who put you here.  I’m one of the guys who set you free.”

“Well, right now, I don’t really care.” The man’s face had been horribly scarred from burns that looked recent.  “I’m owed payback and it looks like you’re going to give it to me.” 

Henry was about to reply when he was distracted by the sight of a car pulling up in front of the enclosure.  The glow of the fires around the enclosure and the breaking dawn provided enough light for Henry to identify the man getting out of the car.

It was Gideon.
             

“Hey, man, I’m talking to you,” the inmate yelled, accentuating his point with a right hook to Henry’s ribs.  Henry’s body shifted only a little with the punch, but the man now had his undivided attention. 

CHAPTER 81

J
ake flattened himself against the enclosure wall with an upturned sifter table in front of him for cover.  He reloaded his M4.  Leaning around the table, he caught sight of Yoni entering the enclosure and let loose a spray of cover fire. 

Yoni sprinted across the dig site to him.  He dove over the table and landed in a heap next to him.

Yoni quickly righted himself as Jake ducked back behind the table. 

“So, how’s it going in here?” Yoni asked.

Jake spared him a grin.  “Oh, great.  We’ve got a bunch of armed ex-cons who don’t seem to realize that we’re the good guys and Kensington’s security appears to be endless.  How’s it going outside?”

“Henry and Jordan did their part.  They took out all the guard towers and most of the guards around the perimeter.  And Patrick got to Laney and Tom.”

“Are they clear?”

“Well, they’re no longer in the cage,” Yoni replied cheerfully.

Jake groaned.  “Please, tell me they’re not joining the fight.”

“What do you think?”

A string of bullets slammed into the top of table, cutting off his reply.  Jake flung himself at the ground. Beside him, Yoni did the same.  The barrage of bullets halted as gunfire erupted from a different direction across the enclosure. 

Jake glanced out.  Laney had pinned down the shooters.  A slim black man rose up behind the two guards and took both of them out. 

Yoni peered over his shoulder.  “Personally, I’m okay with them joining the fight.”

CHAPTER 82

A
fter the transformer blew, the enclosure was plunged into darkness. Priddle’s trailer, which ran on its own battery, stayed lit.  Kensington jumped at the sound of the explosion and went to look out the trailer window. 

“The enclosure’s dark.”

“Hmm?” Priddle murmured, still staring at the stone.  “I can’t swear it, but I think I just saw a puff of smoke drift through the center of the stone.  I wonder what that could be?”

“Arthur!”

Priddle jerked his head up to look at Kensington with barely concealed annoyance.  “What?”

He gestured to the window.  “The enclosure.  It’s dark.” 

Priddle paused in his inspection of the stone and leaned over to pull back the curtain next to him.  “Huh, that’s never happened before.” 

A loud popping noise came from the outside the enclosure. 

Priddle frowned. “Is that a car backfiring?”             

Kensington paled.  “Shit! Douse the lights!” He hit the switch by the door. 

“What are you doing?” Priddle shrieked.

“You idiot! That’s not a car backfiring, that’s gunfire.  Someone’s attacking the site.” 

Priddle paused for a moment before flinging himself to the floor.  He crawled under the table and reached a hand back up, feeling around until he felt the Belial Stone.  He pulled it down to him.

Kensington stumbled over to the table.  He turned off the light above it before crawling underneath.  “Move over!”

Priddle shifted his bulk closer to the wall as Kensington squeezed himself in, yelping as he whacked his arm against the table in his haste.  Both men held their breath, waiting to see if anyone noticed them. 

The sounds of gunfire seemed to recede from the trailer.  “I think we could probably make a run for it,” Priddle suggested in a whisper.

Before Kensington could reply, the RV door rattled. 

“Did you lock the door when you came in?” Priddle asked, his voice shaking. 

Kensington looked at the door and saw the handle turn.  No, he hadn’t locked it. 

They waited with bated breath as the door opened.  A dark figure filled the doorway.  The man had a flashlight, which he used to search the corners of the trailer.  The light came to rest under the table. 

“My, my, my.  What an unimaginative hiding spot.”

“Gideon?” Kensington asked in disbelief and then quickly changed his tone.  “Thank God.  The compound is under attack.  Can you get us out of here?”

“Happy to see me, Robert?  Why, I thought you’d be surprised, after the men you sent to my house tried to kill me.”

“What?  Are you okay?” Kensington exclaimed, his words coming out in a rush as he tried to convey his sincerity.  “I would never do anything like that.  We’re partners, right?”

“Are we?” Gideon asked, his voice steely.

“Yes, yes, of course.  In fact, I was just going to call you and tell you about the Belial Stone.” Kensington snatched the stone from Priddle’s hands.  “See?  We found it a short while ago.”

Gideon kept his flashlight trained on the stone while Kensington struggled to free himself from beneath the table.  As he stood, he held out the stone. 

Taking it, Gideon held it up so that the light from the flashlight could shine through.  “It’s been so long,” he murmured.

“Now can you get us out of here?” Kensington demanded, feeling sweat begin to appear on his brow.

“Out of here?  Why would you want to get out of here?  You’ll miss the show.” 

Gideon stepped further into the cabin, letting the door swing shut behind him.  His voice rang out in the darkness, adding an air of menace to the chilling words. 

“You amaze me, Robert.  Your self-involvement and lack of awareness are truly unmatched.  And coming from me, that’s really saying something.  You’re so concerned with your political ambitions that you’ve never asked why I would help you.  Did you think I was just being altruistic?  You have the connections that I needed.  You were merely a useful tool in my toolbox.”

“What are you talking about?  This is my plan.”

Gideon laughed.  “Your plan?  My God, man, are you really that much of a fool?”

The truth of his naïveté was like a smack to the face.  Kensington was floored by it.  He had never wondered, either silently or out loud, why Gideon was interested in the stones.  He’d been so focused on his own dreams of power that he hadn’t considered Gideon’s agenda.  He’d just assumed Gideon saw and supported his own ambitions.  Now, he could see that rather than Gideon being a tool to be used for his own goals, he was the one being used.  Gideon was right.  He was a fool.

Fear laced Kensington’s words as he stared at the stone in Gideon’s hand.  “I don’t understand.  What are you going to do with it?”

Gideon flashed his light on Priddle’s face.  He smiled.  “You know what’s about to happen, don’t you, Arthur?  I'm guessing you've suspected for a while.  Why don’t you tell the Senator here.”

Kensington turned to Priddle.  The man didn’t speak.  He simply stared at Gideon, his jaw open, his head shaking from side to side.  “It’s not possible.”

“Come now, Professor.  I can see you finally understand.  Here, let me help.  I’ll start the explanation for you.  The Belial Stones are known by another name.  They are also called angel stones.”

Priddle began haltingly.  “The Belial stones are also called angel stones because . . . Because they were supposed to have been brought to earth by the fallen angels.  The stones were alleged to contain the power of heaven.  With a chant in Enochian, the language of the angels, the angels were supposed to be able to release all of the force of the stone.”

“Very good, Professor.  I give that answer an A-minus.  The minus, of course, for the use of the word ‘alleged’.  There is nothing ‘alleged’ about the power of the stones.”

“But this is ridiculous,” Kensington sputtered.  “There’s no such thing as fallen angels.”

Gideon gestured with the gun for the two of them to proceed him out the door.  “Well, I guess we’ll just see about that, won’t we?  Let’s take this outside.  Shall we?”

“Why?  What are you going to do?”  Kensington asked. 

Gideon smiled.  “Why, unleash the stone’s power, of course.  You’re a fan of power, Robert.  Now, you have the opportunity to see what real power actually is.”