Death Diamonds of Bermudez (17 page)

Savage smiled and replied, “Not half as worried as I was about you.” He took her by the hand and said, “Let’s get back on ground level and see if we can figure out how to get out of here.”

Sam smiled and answered
, “Yes, boss.”

By the time they made it back down to Storm they could tell he was trying to listen through the iron door. Storm waved them over to the door whispering, “Listen, Lynch must have some hi-tech phone that can be transmitted and received from down here. I think he’s getting ready to call Van Eck right now.”

Storm was right. On the other side of the door Lynch had just told his men to shut up while he was trying to call Van Eck.

Lynch flipped his
GPS communicator
open and waited for the call to reach Van Eck. After a short wait Van Eck answered, “I can tell by the map on my screen you’ve not moved very far. Well, what’s going on? ”

Lynch replied back, “We hit the Mother Lode! I’m looking up at a Death Diamond ball that’s lighting up the entire cavern. There must be a billion dollars worth of Death Diamonds inserted into the ball. We’re going to need some help getting these diamonds out of here.”

Van Eck replied, “Have you captured those kids and the coppers? You can use them to help with the load.”

Lynch smiled and said, “They won’t be of any help.” He went on to say, “We got the coppers and one of the kids locked up. Two of my best men are out looking for the others.”

Van Eck added, “Good job, once you’re done with them you know what to do.”

Lynch laughed and continued to talk, “Believe me, I’ll cut them all in half.”

Van Eck was now on
cloud nine. He knew his dream of an independent Boer Nation
could now become a reality. Yes, his Boer ancestors would be proud of him. Van Eck replied, “Good, keep me posted.” He closed his
communicator and walked back into his cottage.

Savage looked at Storm and said, “There’s no way in hell I’m going to help that bloody bastard with those diamonds. As soon as they’re done with us, we’re dead men.”

Storm replied, “I agree, but we may not have a choice.” As the two walked around Storm looked down at the open trap doors and said, “That’s one hell of a current down there. I wonder where all that water’s going.”

Savage pointed down to the water and added, “Look, that channel is only half full of water. There’s air down there and maybe an escape route.”

Sam interrupted by saying, “Don’t get too excited, Daddy. I’m pretty sure that the water level rises with the tide. When the water level rises the trap doors shut. I don’t think I want to be down there at high tide.”

Storm replied, “I understand, Sam, but that might possibly be our way out of here.” The three continued to look around the inside of the tower for escape routes.

Back under the cobble stone bridge the Spinners were trying to formulate a plan, but they were not having much luck.

Keno asked, “How can we break our friends out? We don’t have any weapons.”

Graham broke into the conversation saying, “First of all, we’re not going to use any weapons. If we do get any it will be for the Inspector and Agent Storm. Secondly, there’s no way we’re going to breakout anyone from that tower with those big goons on guard.”

Portagee asked, “Then what are we going to do?”

Michael spoke up, ”That’s simple. We create a diversion and pull the goons away from the tower. One of us will be there to open the door and let our friends out.” The Spinners continued to discuss their plan of attack. They all agreed that their plan of deception would have to be in the light. At night with the South Africans having the night vision goggles the Spinners would be at a disadvantage. At least in the light there would be equal vision, although it might not matter at all. The Spinners were at a huge disadvantage no matter what.

A few hours later, three of the Spinners showed up in the middle of the street which led directly to the Death Diamond tower. They were in formation like three old western gunslingers would be. Michael, Graham, and Keno were standing there like characters from the Clint Eastwood movie “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”. They were all holding small wooden clubs that they had made, and they were slapping the clubs into the palms of their hands.

Michael yelled out, “Hey, Blondie!” Nobody responded. He yelled out again, “Hey, Blondie!”

The South Africans one by one stepped out of a nearby by building. They were very puzzled at what Michael was saying. Lynch looked at one of his men and said, “Who the bloody hell is that kid calling Blondie?”

The man replied, “He’s calling you Blondie, sir.”

Lynch turned red as a beet. He yelled back, “You little Yank! I’m going to beat the hell out of you!”

Graham whispered to Michael, “He’s really pissed. Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Michael was silent for a moment then whispered back, “Oh yeah, I’m ready.” Michael banged his club in his hand a couple more times and yelled back, “
The way I figure there's really not too much future with a sawed-off runt like you.”

Lynch stomped his foot and just stood there. The Spinners could tell he was about to explode.”

Michael continued with his movie dialog, “
I like big fat men like you. When they fall they make more noise.”

Lynch ripped his Uzi off his shoulder yelling, “Just one more word out of you! “

Before he could finish his sentence Michael winked at Graham and yelled, “
Blondie! You know what you are. You’re nothing but a dirty son of a bitch!”

Lynch cocked his Uzi back and started uncontrollably firing it in all directions. Finally he stopped and ordered, “Get those brats and beat the hell out of them!”

Keno nudged Michael in the side saying, “I think our plan worked. He looks plenty provoked to me.”

Before the men could move, the three Spinners started running for their lives down the narrow street. At the first intersection they came to each Spinner went down a different street. The South Africans including Lynch went running after them.

As soon as they were a hundred yards away Portagee came running out of the bath house on a bee-line towards the tower. Portagee made it to the door in just a few seconds. He quickly unlatched the door and flung it open. Storm and Savage were shocked it was Portagee.

Savage yelled out, “We wondered what the shooting was all about. Are you guys OK?”

Portagee in a panicked voice said, “No time to explain. Quick, follow me.” He turned and started running down another side street away from the South Africans.

Storm said, “We’d better get our butts moving or he’ll lose us.” Sam didn’t waste a moment; she was out the door like a flash of light with Storm and Savage not far behind. After about fifteen minutes of running Portagee, Sam, and Storm had made it to their hiding place under the bridge. Savage showed up a couple of minutes later.

Sam looked at Portagee asking, “Where are the others?”

Portagee smiled and replied, “They were a wild west diversion. Lynch got so mad at them he couldn’t think straight.”

Storm joined the conversation saying, “You boys need to be careful. Lynch is a killer and not to be messed with.” No sooner had he finished talking than the other Spinners showed up one after another. Michael was first followed by Graham with Keno bringing up the rear.

The Spinners all gave each other the hi-five. Savage tried to keep the noise down hoping the South Africans were not close by. After the excitement settled down Graham asked, “Inspector, what now?”

Savage thought for a minute and replied, “None of you are going to care what I have to say, but I need to bring this up.” The Spinners all gave Savage their undivided attention. Savage went on to say, “I believe our best way out of here is through those damn trap doors in the tower.”

Keno asked, “What are you talking about? Trap doors in the tower?” Storm went on to tell the others about the tower and the underwater current flowing under the tower.

It was time for everyone to relax for awhile. Soon they would be facing Lynch and his goons again. They all knew that Lynch was a cold blooded killer, and the events today didn’t help their chances of survival. For now they were all together again.

The Tower of Life

While the Spinners were talking about their close call with Lynch and the South Africans, Storm and Savage walked down the
canal walkway to discuss plans. Savage spoke first, “Look, mate, if those goons are out looking for us then we probably should move quickly to get back to the Death Diamond tower.”

Storm replied, “I know you’re right, Savage, but I hate like hell thinking that we’re going back to where we just escaped from. We don’t even have a weapon.”

Savage snapped back, “What the bloody hell do you mean, we don’t have any weapons? What the hell do you call these?”

Storm looked at the two small wood clubs and said, “Savage, you’re crazy. You do have to admit we’re a little out gunned right now.”

Savage laughed and said, “Only for the moment, mate, only for the moment. No matter what, we should be headed back in the light and hopefully show up at the tower shortly after dark.”

Storm agreed and added, “Let’s go tell the Spinners. That will make their day.” The two walked back to the bridge. On their arrival Storm announced, “Everyone, come here. Savage has an announcement.”

Savage turned to Storm and said, “Thanks a lot, mate.” He turned back to the Spinners and continued, “There may be many ways out of here, but Storm and I feel only one way is workable for us.”

Keno replied
, “Good, tell us the plan, man.”

Savage went on to say, “We found an underground river or ocean current. There’s air in it and it has to lead somewhere. Hopefully back to the surface.”

Sam knew exactly what her father was talking about. She said, “Daddy
, you’re kidding, right?”

Michael asked, “Sam, what do you know that we don’t?”

Savage interrupted, “She knows our way out is hopefully in the tower.”

Portagee said in a high
pitched voice, “What do you mean the tower? We just risked our lives getting you the heck out of the tower, and now you want to go back?”

Storm replied, “Little brother, we didn’t say it was going to be easy. In fact it probably won’t be easy for the rest of the journey.”

Graham added, “Don’t worry, Storm. We’re all with you even if we’re a bit worried.”

Savage entered back into the conversation saying, “All right then, let’s move out. We’ll keep to the back streets and try to stay out of the open. When we get close we’ll stop and wait for darkness. Then we’ll try to do the last leg under the cover of the dark. I’ll go first, and Storm will bring up the rear. Absolutely no talking; just tap the person on the shoulder in front of you if you need their attention. Any questions?” Everyone was silent. Without saying a word, Savage signaled the others to follow him. He ran down the canal walkway about fifty yards. He took the first stairway up to the street level. Once at the top he looked both ways then shot across the street to the cover of a close by building. He turned around and first making sure the coast was clear, he signaled the Spinners one at a time to cross the street as fast as they could. Storm didn’t wait for a signal. He looked both ways and made a mad dash for himself.