Death Diamonds of Bermudez (16 page)

Finally Lynch’s man made it to the hatch door only to discover it was locked. He turned and yelled down to Lynch, “The little tiger has locked the hatch from the other side. Do you want me to blow it open?”

Lynch smiled and replied, “Hell no! We’ve got her just where we want her anyway. The bait is now in the trap. Jamb the door so she can’t get out, and come on back down.” Lynch went back out of the tower saying to his men, “Well, mates, its looks like we’re going to have a little safari after all.” He pointed to one of his men and said, “You stand on guard at the entrance. The rest of you follow me. We’ll make ready for our prey.”

Sam had heard the voices inside the tower, but because of the thick walls she had no clue as to what was said. She was surprised that the South Africans had not tried to breach the hatch door yet. When she saw Lynch and his men leaving the tower and evaporating into the shadows of the city, it hit her. This is a trap for her rescuers. She quickly ran over to the hatch and tried to kick open the latch, but to no avail. She could tell that they had jammed it from the other side. With a horrified look on her face she turned back looking over the ancient city desperately trying to see her dad and friends so she could warn them to stay away.

The Death Trap

With the light
from the Death Diamonds on again in
Bermúdez the

Spinners, Storm, and Savage were beginning to wake up from their uneasy sleep. Savage was quick to take a head count to make sure no one was missing. After losing Sam while they were sleeping he would never forgive himself if one of the other Spinners went missing. Portagee, a little groggy, went over to one of the windows and snuck a peek through the shutters. They were much closer to the Death Diamond tower than any of them had realized. Portagee got an eye full when he looked up at the massive tower. Without thinking he yelled out, “Holy crap! Inspector, come here quick! Look what I see!”

Savage was there within a second. He quickly put his hand over Portagee’s mouth and whispered, “Are you trying to get us killed? What is it you’re looking at?”

Portagee pointed way up in the air and said, “Look! It’s Sam!”

Savage looked up, and his heart dropped. He groaned, “Oh, good Lord! Sam’s trapped on the top of the Death Diamond tower.”

Storm made his way over to another window to see for himself.

Before Storm could say anything Savage added, “Look, mate, we’ve got to get over there and rescue her now!”

Storm walked over to Savage saying, “I know, old buddy, but it’s a trap. We’ll be walking into the lion’s den, and we won’t be walking out.”

Savage nodded his head replying, “You’re right, but that’s my baby girl up there. We can’t just leave her there.”

Storm replied,
“Time is on our side for the moment. They don’t know where we are. We’ll pick them off one at a time.”

Savage snapped back, “Storm, are you listening
to yourself? These goons are trained paramilitary soldiers. You think they’re going to let us sneak up on them?”

Storm leaned over and whispered something into Savage’s ear. Savage turned back to the Spinners saying, “Boys, come over here for a minute.” The four Spinners made their way over to Storm and Savage. Savage looked at the boys and said, “We’re going to try to rescue Sam, but I want you four to wait here for us.”

Michael spoke up first, “Inspector, you need our help to rescue Sam.”

Portagee chimed in, “Yeah, he’s right sir.”

Savage replied as nicely as he could, “I appreciate your concern, boys, but we’re not going to put you in harm’s way anymore than we have to.”

Graham added, “But…”

Savage interrupted Graham saying, “But nothing. You four are going to stay here and wait for our signal.”

Keno spoke up, “We’ve got your backside, sir.”

Storm patted Keno on the back saying, “Now that’s the right attitude. You guys need to stay out of sight, and keep your heads down.” Storm bent down and picked up two Uzis from a bathing bench. He kept one and tossed the other one to Savage.

Savage acted surprised and asked, “What the hell did you do that for? I’ve already got one Uzi.”

Storm laughed and said, “Well, old man, you’re going to need all the fire power you can muster.”

Savage’s face turned red. He cocked both Uzis and yelled out, “Let’s go kick some butt, mate!”

Storm fired back, “Slow down, buddy. I need a head start. Don’t you go anywhere for about five minutes. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t get your butt shot off.” He gave Savage a thumbs up and walked out the back door of the bathhouse.

Savage waited five minutes then
without saying a word left through the front door. He tried to stay in the shadows as long as he could hoping that Lynch and his goons hadn’t seen him yet. Savage found himself within one hundred yards of the Death Diamond tower, and he had yet seen a trace of any of the South Africans. He was now at the point of no return. There was no cover for him from where he stood and the tower. Savage knew they were waiting for him. He just hoped that Storm was ready with the cover. Savage took a deep breath and yelled out, “God save the queen!” Savage wasted no time. He charged the tower like Teddy
Roosevelt
charging up San Juan Hill. Holding both arms straight out firing both Uzis as he spun around in all directions, he ran towards the tower. At the half way point, one of Lynch’s goons stepped out from behind a small building and took aim at Savage from behind. Just as he was about to squeeze off a round, a bullet pierced his head. The South African was dead before he hit the ground.

From his hiding place, Storm said to himself, “There’s one for the good guys.”

Another bullet came out of nowhere striking Savage’s hand causing him to drop the Uzi. Storm yelled out, “Damn it! Where in the hell did that shot come from?”

Savage kept on firing. As he came within twenty feet of the tower door his Uzi’s clip was empty. He stopped to pull out a new clip from his flack jacket when a voice spoke out, “Drop your weapon, mate, or I’ll put my next shot through your head.”

Savage knew his luck had just run out. He dropped the Uzi and looked straight up in the air to check to see if Sam was alright. She smiled at him. As Savage lowered his head down, he received a crushing blow to his chin. Savage was flat on his back before he knew what had hit him. It was Lynch, that monster of a man, towering over Savage like another tower. Savage shook his head knocking the cob webs out and said, “That was a lucky blow, mate. I’ll be up before the count of ten, and I’ll be glad to put you in your place.

Lynch smiled as he cocked back his Uzi and said, “The only thing you’re going to do is watch your daughter die if you’re not careful.” Lynch stepped back a couple of feet and added, “Now get your butt off the ground, and call your bloody friends here. Remember we’ve got you all surrounded.”

Savage stood back up wiping himself off saying, “You’ve got nothing, mate.”

Lynch was getting pissed. He pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Savage’s forehead yelling, “Your friend is about to take a bullet in the head. You’ve got to the count of five before I blow his head off.” He cocked the hammer back on his pistol with his thumb and yelled, “One.”

Before he could get to the count of two, Storm threw his Uzi out into the open and screamed, “Hold your fire, big boy!” He stepped out from behind a stone wall with his hands in the air. Within seconds the other South Africans came out from hiding with their weapons all trained on Storm. Storm looked around and said, “I wish I knew where you all were a few minutes ago.”

Lynch yelled, “You shut your mouth.” He signaled the others to bring Storm to him. Lynch looked Storm in the eyes and said, “Where are the boys? I want them too.”

Storm replied, “Are you crazy? We sent them packing back up the tunnel hours ago. Soon we’ll have the Bermuda Police Force down here in swarms.”

Lynch laughed, “First of all, you’re lying. Secondly, if they did get away I don’t give a damn. We’ll kill whoever shows up.”

Storm added, “I don’t think the Bermuda Government, or for that matter, the US Government is going to let you leave with any of this wealth.”

Lynch had heard about enough from Storm. He reached down at Storm and grabbed him by his flack jacket. He raised him over his head and threw him as hard as he could at the massive tower. Storm hit the tower and crumpled to its base like a sack of potatoes. Lynch pointed to two of his men ordering, “You two search every building within three block radius of here and see if you can find those kids.” He turned to his other men and ordered, “Get these two in the tower where we can keep an eye on them.”

Savage went over and helped Storm get back to his feet. As they walked over to the doorway Savage asked, “Are you alright, mate?”

Limping a bit Storm said, “My pride is hurt more than anything. I let that big bastard pick me up and toss me around.” He looked at Savage and added, “What about you? That hand of yours is bleeding pretty bad.”

Savage replied, “It’s just a flesh wound. I’ll be fine.”

Once in the door the South African slammed the iron door behind them. Storm looked back at the door and said, “They don’t seem too worried about us. They didn’t even tie us up.”

Savage was on a bee-line for the stairs. As he climbed up the stairs he shouted back, “That’s good because I’m going to get my daughter.”

Spinners to the Rescue

Michael, Graham, Keno
, and Portagee had been watching the chain of events through the gaps in the shutters on the windows of the bath house. They knew that with the South Africans searching for them house to house they would not be safe in their current hiding place.

Portagee turned to his friends and said in a low tone said, “Guys, what are we going to do?”

Keno added, “We need to get out of here first. Then we can decide what to do. We’re no good to our friends if we get caught.”

Michael jumped into the conversation saying, “Enough talk! Let’s get our butts out of here right now.”

Graham added, “The back door is still clear. Let’s go. We can regroup at the canal.” One after another the Spinners exited out of the bath house trying their best to not leave any tracks for the South Africans to follow. The boys weaved their way in and out of the shadows on their way to the canal.

After fifteen minutes the Spinners had safely made their way to the canal. Once down on the walkway of the canal Michael said, “We’re kind of exposed on this walkway. We’ve got to get under that bridge before those goons spot us.” In a mad sprint the Spinners high-tailed it for the security of the old cobble stone bridge.

Meanwhile back at the Death Diamond
tower Storm stayed by the iron door making sure there were no surprises. Savage was now at the top of the stairs. He pounded on the hatch and yelled, “Sam, can you hear me? Are you alright?”

Sam yelled back, “Daddy, I’m fine. Can you open the hatch? It’s unlocked from my side.”

Savage was getting frustrated with the hatch. He yelled, “This damn hatch is still stuck.”

Storm yelled up to Savage, “We don’t have all day. Do you want me to come up and open the hatch for you?”

Savage snapped back, “Storm, you stay out of this. I don’t need you to rescue my daughter.” Savage kicked and kicked at the lever. Finally the rusty old lever flipped down, and the hatch opened.

Sam shot through the opening like a rocket.
Savage quickly cut the plastic bands which had held her hands behind her back. She gave her dad a bear hug saying, “Daddy, I was so worried about you.”