Andy Mcdermott - Temple of the Gods

Lips tight with fury, she stepped closer and slapped him, hard. Eddie took the blow—

And grabbed her gun hand, twisting her arm with savage force to pull her against him. He clamped his other hand round her throat, pushing the Glock’s muzzle up against her chin. She cried out in choked pain.

‘Okay, everyone freeze!’ he shouted, backing up as the mercenaries aimed their weapons and looked to Stikes for instructions. ‘Anyone tries anything, she’ll get her fucking head blown off.’

Warden recovered from his shock at the sudden turnaround of events, making a sound that could almost have been a relieved chuckle. ‘I doubt anyone here would have a problem with that.’ His companions nodded in agreement.

‘I would,’ Stikes said darkly. ‘Chase, let her go or I’ll have Nina shot.’

‘You’ll do no such damn thing,’ Warden snapped.

‘In that case I’ll have your father shot.’ Some of his men’s guns moved to cover Larry. ‘However great your daddy issues are, I’m sure you don’t want them resolved with a bullet, do you?’

Eddie kept retreating, hauling Sophia with him. ‘You don’t know what I think of my dad.’

‘Edward!’ protested Larry.

‘He doesn’t mean it,’ Nina whispered to him. ‘I’m… pretty sure.’

‘Chase!’ said Stikes, losing patience. ‘Let her go and give up. You can’t get away, so just accept the inevitable.’

‘Which is what?’ said Eddie, briefly checking behind. He was now only a matter of feet from the catering trolleys.

‘That I was always going to win. I’ll even make it quick for you.’

‘Like when you made it quick for those women you murdered in Afghanistan?’

‘Enough! Last chance, Chase.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ said Eddie. He dropped the gun… then shoved Sophia forcefully away as he threw himself backwards—

Into the dumbwaiter.

Sophia was still close enough to block the mercenaries’ line of fire. Eddie used the brief moment of protection to pull his legs inside the little elevator, curling into a ball — as his weight far overloaded its maximum capacity and sent the car plunging down the shaft.

The impact of landing knocked the breath from his lungs. Dizzied, he kicked open the doors and scrambled out, dropping heavily to the tiled floor.

Amsel’s corpse lay nearby, blood oozing from a gaping head wound. The storeroom was empty, its door open — as was the outside exit. Stikes must have planted one of his men in the kitchen staff. The hotel workers themselves had fled.

He staggered upright. Amsel’s weapons—

They were gone. Stikes’s man must have taken them.

Which left him completely unarmed against a team of mercenaries out for his blood.

‘Get down to the kitchens!’ Stikes bellowed to his men. ‘ Now! ’ The black-clad mercs sprinted for the exit.

Larry was still staring in astonishment at the empty hole in the wall. ‘He — he jumped down the dumbwaiter!’

‘Yeah, he does things like that,’ said Nina, trying not to let her enemies detect her concern for her husband’s safety.

Stikes pushed past them to Sophia. ‘Are you all right?’

‘Yes,’ she replied, shaken — before turning to look at the hatch. Her shock became outrage. ‘You let him get away!’

‘We could have shot him, but I thought you wouldn’t appreciate having the bullets go through you first,’ he said testily, before returning to the table. ‘Ladies, gentlemen, for your own safety I’d recommend that we leave the hotel until I get confirmation that Chase is dead.’

‘You want us to run away?’ rasped Meerkrieger. ‘It sounds as if you’re scared of him.’

‘Hardly,’ the Englishman said, stiffening. ‘It’s just that Chase has, shall we say, a talent for destruction. I wouldn’t put it past him to set the hotel on fire or cause a gas explosion in an attempt to escape.’ His audience’s expressions showed that they were quickly coming round to his way of thinking.

‘He won’t try to escape,’ said Sophia. She pointed at Nina and Larry. ‘He’ll try to rescue them.’

‘Then we’d better make sure he can’t reach them. Or these.’ He picked up the case containing the statues. ‘We’ll take the cable car down to the village. I’ll call ahead to have transport waiting for us.’

The Group members stood. ‘Are you sure this is necessary?’ Warden asked.

‘As long as Chase is running loose, I wouldn’t take any chances. This way, please.’

‘You heard him,’ said Sophia, jabbing Nina with the Glock.

Everyone hurried for the main exit, Nina and Larry exchanging worried glances.

Eddie ran across the kitchen. He needed to get back upstairs to find Nina and his father, but the closest flight of steps, just outside the swing doors, would at any moment have mercenaries pounding down it. If he could get past it before they arrived, though, he might be able to find an alternative way up…

He saw fast-moving shadows on the stairwell wall through the circular windows. ‘Arse!’ he muttered as he changed direction for the exterior door.

The swing doors crashed open behind him. Bullets blazed across the kitchen — but he was already pounding up the snow-covered steps outside. Whirling snowflakes pricked his eyes as he reached the top. Wherever he ran, the mercs would be able to follow his trail in the snow and pick him off — he had to buy himself some time.

The bins—

The nearest wheeled container was a few feet away. He grabbed the handles on its side. It shifted slightly, but refused to move from its spot.

If it was chained to the others, he was screwed.

He pulled harder — and with a crackle of ice from around its wheels it jolted away from its fellows. Eddie ran round it and pushed. Boots scraping against the slippery ground, he shoved it towards the stairwell. It was over half full, and the snow piled up on its lid wasn’t making it any lighter. ‘Come on, come on,’ he gasped. ‘Come on , you smelly bastard—’

A cry of ‘Here, he’s here!’ from below — and a sub-machine gun let rip on full auto, bullets tearing up through the bin’s side and erupting out through the plastic lid amid geysers of snow. Eddie yelled and dropped down, pushing with his shoulder—

The bin lurched sharply as the wheels went over the edge of the top step — and suddenly the whole thing raced away from him, bouncing and crashing down the stairs. The firing stopped, the mercenary trying to retreat into the kitchen — but he was too slow. The bin hit like a charging bull, slamming him backwards into the base of the stairwell. The crack of bones was almost lost beneath the echoing boom and clatter of metal and trash.

Eddie was already running for the front of the hotel. With the bin blocking the kitchen door, Stikes’s men would have to find another exit.

He rounded the corner. The towering windows of the Alpine Lounge glowed above him. From his low angle he couldn’t see much of the room itself, but enough was visible to reveal that it was empty. The Group had left — taking their prisoners with them.

But where?

Movement through the blowing snow gave him an answer. At the hotel’s far end, beyond the skating rink, the cable car emerged from the upper station and began its descent. Its interior lights shone brightly, revealing that it was packed to the brim with passengers.

One of whom had very distinctive red hair.

‘Buggeration and fuckery!’ Stikes’s doing, he knew; the former officer was making sure Eddie could no longer interfere in the game by taking away the most important pieces. The statues, Nina to make use of them… and Larry to force her to cooperate.

He ran through the snow after the cable car. In a few minutes it would reach the village, and the Group and their captives would be whisked away.