Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

Axelos was also stunned — but only for an instant, as a rage-fuelled urge for vengeance took hold. He hurled himself at Anastasia—

De Klerx bodily intercepted him, slamming him to the ground. Both men rolled, Axelos clawing for the gun — but De Klerx pulled the trigger. The first shot hit the Greek’s hand at point-blank range and blew off two of his fingers. Before he could even cry out, the Dutchman fired twice more into his chest and throat. Axelos slumped on to his back, convulsing as blood gushed from his neck wound before falling still. The guard turned to flee, but another shot downed him.

A brief silence, broken by Nina’s yell of ‘Jesus Christ ! What the hell did you just do?’

Anastasia’s eyes remained fixed upon Trakas for a moment before she responded, facing the redhead with an expression that betrayed little other than surprise at her own actions. ‘He… he was going to attack me,’ she said.

‘No he wasn’t!’ cried Lonmore. ‘He was making a deal — he was going to hug me !’

‘He was going to attack me,’ Anastasia repeated, her brief uncertainty now gone. ‘Again! I was not going to let that happen.’

‘You did the right thing,’ said De Klerx, standing.

‘No she bloody didn’t!’ Eddie yelled. ‘Now every fucking goon in the place knows we’re here — and’ll be trying to kill us!’

The cameraman finally overcame his paralysis, dropping to his knees and gabbling in clear fear for his life. De Klerx turned towards him, but before he could do anything threatening, Nina hurriedly interposed herself. ‘Don’t! This has already gone way past far enough. We’ve got to get out of here.’

‘Where’s this boat?’ Eddie demanded.

Nina pointed. ‘The docks are that way.’

He signalled for the Lonmores and Anastasia to follow him. ‘Okay, come on. You an’ all,’ he added to Spencer.

The young man was ashen, unable to take his wide eyes off the dead men. ‘I… I should stay here, explain what happened…’ he stammered.

‘All they’ll care about is that someone killed their boss,’ Nina warned, ‘and you’re a someone! They’ll shoot you just as quickly as the rest of us.’

‘She’s right,’ said Lonmore. ‘Spencer, we’ve got to get somewhere safe. Come with me. Please!’ He was almost pleading. Spencer looked up at his father in surprise before frantically nodding.

‘I’m staying with Rutger,’ Anastasia announced. She followed the Dutchman as he joined his men at the truck.

‘Take the Crucible to the boat,’ he ordered. ‘Get there quickly!’ He opened the cab door for her, then followed as one of his team raised the large roller door. The truck started towards it, the men on the flatbed hunching down around the Crucible with their weapons at the ready.

‘Why do I get the feeling we just became decoys?’ said Nina.

‘Better get to this bloody boat before they do,’ Eddie growled. ‘Come on!’ He took the lead as the group headed across the factory floor towards an exit, Spencer following at his father’s urging. ‘How many guards did you see on the way in?’

‘At least eight,’ Nina told him. ‘And they were all armed.’

‘Well obviously— Shit, down!’ One of said guards burst through the exit ahead of them, spotting the approaching fugitives. He fired at them — only to fly backwards with a pained scream as he was hit in the shoulder by a round from Eddie’s weapon. ‘Fuck’s sake!’ growled the Yorkshireman. ‘I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to shoot anyone else. It’s a bad example for Macy.’

‘Yeah, let’s not tell her about all this,’ said Nina.

They reached the door. Eddie swept out with his gun raised. There was nobody in immediate sight, though he was certain that situation would not last long. ‘Okay, where are we going?’

They had emerged from the factory some way along from where Nina and De Klerx had arrived. The crane gave her a landmark. ‘Over there,’ she said, gesturing.

Eddie turned to the Lonmores, who were still in shock. ‘Okay, we’re gonna get you out of here. Just stay with us and keep your heads down.’ Lonmore and Petra nodded, wide-eyed. Spencer looked to be eyeing alternative escape routes for himself, so the Englishman grabbed him by the arm. ‘You, stick with me.’ The order was half advice, half warning.

Nina went first, the other married couple close behind as they headed for a low brick building. Eddie pushed Spencer ahead of him, gun at the ready. Still no guards. Nina and the Lonmores reached the hut—

Two guards raced around the far end of the factory, one shouting into a radio. ‘Get into cover!’ the Yorkshireman yelled as he shoved Spencer onwards. A moment later, gunfire cut through the night air. A round smacked into the brickwork just behind Eddie as he reached the hut.

Petra squealed. ‘They’re shooting at us. They’re really shooting at us!’

‘What did you expect, that they were going to politely but firmly escort us off the premises?’ Nina said scathingly. Across a rutted pathway beyond the hut was a half-built section of hull. She waved the Lonmores past her. ‘Get behind that!’

They ran into the shelter of the skeletal ship. Nina followed. Crackles of gunfire echoed through the boatyard. De Klerx and the others in the truck were encountering resistance.

She reached the hull, pausing in its shadow to let her husband catch up. Lonmore and Petra continued past another ship under construction and one of the racks of gas cylinders—

More shouts — from ahead.

‘Look out!’ Nina cried. The Lonmores darted behind an upturned superstructure as the guards opened fire with their Spectres set on full auto.

Bullets clanged against the rack, the wire mesh gates doing nothing to shield its contents from the gunfire—

A spear of bright flame erupted from a maroon gas cylinder. Nina immediately realised the danger and dived backwards — as the acetylene tank exploded.

The blast ripped through its neighbours in a fiery chain reaction, some of the oxygen and acetylene cylinders blowing apart while others rocketed out of the inferno on trails of high-pressure flame, spiralling hundreds of feet into the air or pounding the grounded ships like cannonballs.

Eddie saw Nina throw herself down just in time to follow his wife’s lead, hauling Spencer with him. ‘What the fuck was that ?’ the Englishman yelled as another errant cylinder went up like a bomb.

Nina hurriedly scrambled further behind the unfinished ship as burning chunks of metal smacked down around the crater where the rack had once stood. ‘That’s why our apartment’s all-electric!’

Spencer stared at the inferno in horror. ‘Dad! Dad! Are you okay?’

No reply for a few seconds… then Lonmore’s voice reached them. ‘Spencer!’ The older man sounded dazed. ‘We’re okay! Are you all right?’

‘Yeah, yeah!’

Eddie stood and quickly reached Nina. ‘You’re not too crispy?’

‘I’m fine,’ she replied. ‘Don’t think we’ll be going that way, though.’ A ragged wall of flame stretched across their path, cutting them off from Lonmore and Petra — while leaving the guards’ line of fire all too clear. ‘Spencer, Petra! Keep going — head for the crane and you’ll see the dock! Stay in cover!’

‘So how do we get there?’ asked Eddie.

Nina gestured to their left. ‘There’s a line of boats. They go most of the way, and they should give us protection.’

He nodded, then gestured to the young man behind him. ‘Come on.’

They picked their way through the dockyard until they reached the muddy roadway running along the row of standing boats. Eddie peered out from behind a dumpster of rusty scrap, spotting the crane beyond the beached vessels. ‘Get across, I’ll cover you. Spencer, you too.’