Scott Mariani - The Heretics Treasure

He looked at her.

‘You’re not taking him anywhere,’ she said.

Before Ben could react, she swung her bow towards Paxton, drew and shot him at point-blank range.

The arrow whipped across the short distance and caught Paxton in the right shoulder. He screamed in shock and agony. His left hand flew up, grasped the arrow shaft. Tried to pull it out, but the muscles around the wound had clamped it tight. Blood spilled down his silk shirt. He dropped to his knees. ‘What are you doing?’ he bellowed at her.

‘Something I’ve been waiting to do a long, long time,’ Zara replied softly. There was a cold look on her face that Ben had never seen before. Her hand moved quickly, expertly down to the quiver on her belt and she fitted another arrow to the bow. Drew and fired again.

The arrow stabbed into Paxton’s left shoulder. Its bloody tip protruded five inches from his shoulder blade.

Ben suddenly understood. She wasn’t hitting at random. As a champion archer engaging a large target at extreme close range, she could have hit any spot she wanted. She was deliberately drawing this out, by pure cruelty.

Paxton screamed again and fell back on the deck, writhing in blood, smearing it across the polished wood.

‘Zara!’ Ben yelled. ‘Are you crazy?’

But she wasn’t listening. She walked coolly around Paxton as he gaped up at her. The same swift, mechanical movement of hand to quiver to string. She fired again. The arrow lanced through Paxton’s thigh and pinned him to the boards. Blood spurted in a fountain from a severed artery. Paxton was past screaming now. His mouth was opening and closing as he went into terminal shock.

‘Stop!’ Ben pointed the Desert Eagle at her, because he didn’t know what else to do. ‘That’s enough!’

There was already a fresh arrow on Zara’s bow. She turned nonchalantly to Ben. ‘OK. You’re right.’

And then she fired one last shot. The arrow took Paxton in the nostril and drove his head back and thunked into the wood. Paxton twitched as blood spewed from his nose and mouth. His muscles went limp, and he sank down against the deck and died.

The pistol in Ben’s hand was shaking as he lowered it. ‘What the fuck did you do that for?’ he asked breathlessly.

Zara took a step towards him, and he realised there was another arrow fitted to her bow. The quiver was empty now. It was her last shot. And it was for him.

‘The pouch,’ she said. ‘Hand it over.’

Ben was speechless for a moment. Nothing made sense to him any more.

And yet, in a horrible way it did. What kind of hostage was free to walk about with a lethal weapon?

‘You and he were in it together,’ he whispered. ‘The whole time.’

Zara sighed. ‘It’s true, Ben. I’m sorry.’

Thoughts were flooding through his mind so fast that it was making him dizzy. ‘But Valentine-’

‘Harry knew she was after him,’ Zara said. ‘We came up with the plan. Or maybe I should say, I came up with it. To let them see us fighting in public. Harry slapping my face in the restaurant, me throwing my drink over him and walking out. All staged, to give the impression we were having problems. But they fell for it.’ She smiled, shrugged. ‘Soon afterwards, Valentine approached me and gave me the whole bit about her girlfriend, Downey, and the poor little Africans that Harry’s guns were killing. The whole spiel. A real tear-jerker. So I played along, pretending to be all shocked and horrified.’

‘When really you didn’t give a shit.’

‘I had to win their trust,’ she said. ‘It was the only way we could make sure we got them all in one place. We had to protect Harry’s interests.’

‘The man you just killed.’

‘That’s right. I hated Harry. He was a cruel bastard and a terrible husband. I hated him, but I’d have stayed with him for his money.’

‘Wouldn’t it have been simpler just to divorce him?’

‘He’d have killed me for trying. And even if he hadn’t, there was a prenuptial agreement. I would have ended up with nothing.’

‘Nothing but your freedom.’

‘You think I hadn’t thought about it? But then you came along, Ben. You changed everything. When I met you, that’s when I started looking for a way to ditch him. I was only sorry that I had to lie to you. I never wanted that to happen.’

Ben said nothing. There was nothing to say. A cold chill had settled in his stomach.

‘I want the treasure, Ben. I’ve wanted it ever since Morgan got drunk that night aboard the Scimitar.’ She snorted. ‘Typical man, trying to show off to a woman he fancied and compete with his father at the same time. It was so easy to get him talking. I just kept pouring the drink down his stupid throat, and made sure he could see down my top. Works every time.’

‘So you were just using everyone. Like you used me. Everything you told me was a lie. There was never anything between us.’

She shook her head. ‘That’s not true. When I told you I loved you, I meant it. I want us to be together.’

‘You love me, but you’d let me believe you were a hostage? You’d knowingly put me through that?’

‘What can I say? I had no choice. I had to find a way.’

‘To get what you wanted.’

‘For us.’ Her eyes brightened with excitement. ‘For you and me.’

‘What if I’d been killed?’

‘Not you. Not so easily. I knew you’d come back.’

‘While you just spent the week relaxing, working on your tan with a cool drink at your elbow.’

She looked hurt. ‘It hasn’t been easy for me. Smiling at that bastard, keeping him happy, pretending everything was all right when I couldn’t wait to see you again. We’ve done it. We’re free now. We’ll be rich. What Harry had was peanuts compared to what we’ll have. Think of all the things we can do. The life we’ll be able to lead together.’

‘So you and I run away into the sunset with the gold. Is that how you see it?’

She laughed. ‘Why not? Why can’t it be that simple? What’s to stop us? I love you. And you love me.’ Her smile wavered. ‘You do love me, don’t you?’

He let out a long sigh. ‘Yes. I love you.’

‘Then let’s be together,’ she said. ‘Like we talked about that night in Paris.’

Ben was silent.

‘Well? Aren’t you going to answer me?’

‘Forget it, Zara. It’s over.’

‘Please, Ben. I need you.’

‘You’re insane,’ he said. ‘I can’t understand what kind of monster you are.’ He pointed down at Paxton’s body. ‘You’re worse than him. I love you, but I hate you.’

Her face seemed to twist. Her teeth bared a little, and the sparkle in her eye went dull. ‘Fine. If that’s the way you want it. I’ve always been alone. I’ll survive.’

As she said it, she hooked three fingers onto the bowstring and the sinews in her forearm tightened as she drew her hand back to anchor against her cheek. The arrow shaft scraped softly back into firing position on its launcher. The thick glass fibre limbs of the bow tensed, cam wheels rotating, cables tightening, loading vast amounts of energy behind the razor-sharp arrowhead that was pointing right at his heart.

‘You’d shoot me?’ he said.

Her knuckles were white on the handle of the bow as she held it at full draw. She nodded. ‘I gave you the chance to share the treasure with me. To share a life with me. You didn’t want it. Your choice. I’m sorry, but you’re not giving me any other way out.’

‘You could turn yourself in. Try and make some amends for what you’ve done.’

She laughed. ‘Get real.’

He raised the heavy pistol and squared the sights right on her, centre of mass. Her laugh froze on her lips. Confusion flashed in her eyes.