Gabriel Hunt - Hunt Among the Killers of Men

They had carried Gabriel into the room with the idol, deposited him roughly at its base. It glowered down at them (eyeless now; Gabriel had dislodged the red crystal and stowed it back in the trench before they raced out to spot the helicopter); the statue’s tarnished metal surface shone dully in the firelight and the strobe-sweep of the high-powered lamps each man carried as part of a basic assault kit. They were dressed for night-fighting, black-on-black.

“If you think it’s a trap,” Gabriel said, “just make me walk in first. You can walk me in at gunpoint. Or I’ll go in alone. Whatever you say—unless you’re not the man in charge and I should speak to someone else who can actually get things done.”

Anger flared in Dinanath’s sculpted face, so much like the idol itself—rough-hewn, broad-planed, admitting of no subtlety. This was, Gabriel had decided, a man who would not want his authority challenged. Third in line in Cheung’s pecking order, his rank made him answerable here. He had been granted this responsibility. He would want neither to lose face nor gain demotion.

Dinanath squatted beside Gabriel and cracked him in the mouth again just to reassert his superiority.

Gabriel spat a small gob of blood onto the ground. “If I’m telling the truth,” he said, “you get to bring the Killers of Men back to Cheung and Cheung will be all smiles. That’s what I want for my brother. If I’m lying, you can kill me then just as easily as now.”

“You do not dictate terms for Kuan-Ku Tak Cheung,” Dinanath said, making sure the men heard him proclaim the chain of command.

“Then let me talk to Ivory,” Gabriel said.

Dinanath let a tiny snort escape him. “Longwei Sze Xie is dangerously close to becoming a Nameless One.”

“Fine. Then it’s up to you. Untie me now and let me open it my way—or you can figure out the secret of the idol for yourself,” said Gabriel.

“ You will tell us.” Dinanath reconsidered his inflection. “You will tell us.”

“I’ll tell you nothing. You can knock me around all you want, if you try hard enough you can kill me, but believe me, you won’t make me talk that way. Better men than you have tried it, and it’s never worked.” Gabriel prayed his sincere, self-confident tone was convincing them; he hoped like hell they wouldn’t test his claim, just to see. “Meanwhile,” he said, “how long do you have? Cheung’s a man who wants answers swers now. He won’t give you days or weeks to figure this out for yourselves. But I can show you. I’m unarmed, for god’s sake. You have nearly twenty men.”

“The two women,” said Dinanath. “They are armed. Perhaps they are the ambush.”

“The women are gone. They ran away. I don’t know where they are and that’s the truth. Anyway, do you really think two women can pick off twenty armed men? If they could, wouldn’t we just have done that when you were coming up the hill? What you’re saying makes no sense.” Gabriel shook his head. “I’m offering you a good deal.”

“How American ,” Dinanath sneered. “A deal. ” He pressed his gun to Gabriel’s forehead. To one of his men he said, curtly, “Untie him.” Gabriel felt someone go to work on the knots at his wrists. They sprang free a moment later.

“Very well,” Dinanath said. “I will trust you—but only so far.” He let Gabriel get up on his knees, and then unsteadily stand. “You will instruct us now as to what needs to be done.”

“I’ll show you. Keep all the guns on me you want.”

Dinanath’s cell phone trilled then, echoing in the chamber.

“That’ll be Daddy,” Gabriel said. “Better answer it.”

“ Silence !” Dinanath dealt another backhand to Gabriel’s face.

Gabriel felt his jaw swing and heard his neck tendons pop. His dentist was going to be overjoyed if he ever got out of this alive.

Dinanath stepped away for a hushed cell phone conference out of earshot. As he spoke, Dinanath’s body seemed to shrink in on itself, diminishing. Awkwardly he returned and held the cell phone to Gabriel’s ear.

“Mr. Hunt?” came Cheung’s voice. The man might have been excited or he might have been furious, but you couldn’t tell—he sounded as calm as still water. “My man has sketched the situation for me. If you would be so kind as to lend my group the benefit of your expertise, your trained eye, I would be greatly in your debt, and I am certain your brother would find any possible discovery to be of immeasurable value both to me and to your Foundation. Find me the Killers of Men and all debts are paid in full.”

“All debts?” Gabriel said, trying to match Cheung cool for cool. He had to work his mouth back into speaking form first. “How about the women?”

“You can have them if you like. I leave that to your judgment. I would only ask that they leave the country and never return. Do you agree?”

“Yes,” Gabriel said. “But your man here is eager to pound the crap out of me some more, maybe shoot me, instead of getting you what you want.”

“You have found the vault and know the way in,” Cheung said. “If I leave it to them, they shall still be loitering around there at this time next month. Prove your worthiness, Mr. Hunt, and rest assured that if anyone harms you further, it will be his final act on earth.”

It was pretty clear who Cheung was talking about.

“That sounds good,” Gabriel said, “but you’re not here. I don’t see how you can ensure my safety from wherever you are.”

“You’ll have to take that risk, Mr. Hunt.”

Gabriel raised his voice. “What if there’s treasure in the vault—gold, precious stones, old money? Shouldn’t you be here to ensure none of it goes astray?”

“Not necessary,” Cheung said. “My men have discipline. Anyway, I have another pestersome matter I must deal with first.”

Ivory, Gabriel figured.

“You also want to be far away in case anything goes wrong,” said Gabriel.

“We understand each other, Mr. Hunt.”

“All right,” Gabriel said. “We’ll play it your way.” He heard the call terminate. It would have been good if Cheung had agreed to come immediately, but it didn’t matter much that he hadn’t. Cheung would not be able to stay away for long, not when it came out that Gabriel was, in fact, telling the truth. Even if the Killers of Men were not precisely what Cheung had expected—he’d want to see them for himself.

Meanwhile, Cheung’s men here in the shrine room, had very clearly heard the words gold, precious stones, old money. Already he could see the men whispering, plotting how they might reteam to double-cross one another.

It looked hopeless. It was perfect.

“I can’t see the shrine room from here,” said Mitch, giving up on the binoculars. Her hands were shaking badly and her head was hurting. “We have to go back.”

“No, we have to go forward,” said Qi. “It is as Gabriel said—we must take the head of the serpent. That is the thing I lost sight of.”

They worked their way down the rock escarpment, closer to the reassuring cover of trees and brush, in darkness, undetected.

“Cheung really wants those skeletons you found, dung and all?”

“Yes. Although how Gabriel means to use them, I have no idea.”

“You don’t think he’s just stepping up so we can get away?” Mitch kept glancing back, second-guessing.

“No. That would be foolhardy.” Qi’s eyes were like flint chips in the dark.

“Maybe just self-sacrificing,” said Mitch.

“Illogical,” returned Qi. “That is why I believe he has another plan. He may be a reckless man, but he is not a foolish one. If it were only his life at risk, maybe—but with Cheung holding his brother, I have to conclude his choice was tactical.”