Shiva (49 page)

As the dust settled, Bunny poked Stark in the arm
.
“
Can we get another angle?
”

Stark shook his head.
“
No one was set up over there.
”

There was no movement. Nothing. The shattered Sphinx just sat there mocking them.

Where the hell were Rebecca and the others?

* * *

Davidson wiped his scope
—
again. The dust plume was still settling out over Giza. Blue
-
and
-
white strob
e
lights illuminated the grainy cloud with an almost
-
supernatural glow.

He didn
’
t care about any of that. Davidson blocked out the sirens, the screams, the wailing. He only cared about movement near the Sphinx.

The army was already cordoning off the area, keeping everyone away.

This wasn
’
t supposed to be the way this went. None of it was. He shouldn
’
t be out here. He should be in there, with them. Finding a way out.

Gritting his teeth, Davidson shoved down the doubt and recrimination. They had both been close friends to him after the fire. After his old life
had been
burned away. Rebecca, though, had found him in that Moroccan hospital, scarred and suicidal
,
yet she had given him hope. Like a present, gift-wrapped. He wouldn
’
t throw it away, just because…well, just because everything seemed hopeless.

Davidson swept the area again, searching for any sign of life. But there was none. Given the level of destruction
,
it could take days
,
if not weeks
,
to find any remains. If they even could. With a crushing collapse like this…

Wait. Davidson panned back to the paw that jutted up out of the hole. Was that a hand? A dark hand? He punched up the magnification.

It was! It was bloody and dirty as all get out
,
but it was a hand. Then Levont
’
s face came into view. It was a dusty mess, but Davidson could have kissed it.

Abandoning protocol
—
because who really was going to hear him over the sirens and yelling
?—
Davidson brought
the
sat phone to his ear.
“
Are you seeing this?
”

“
Yes,
”
Bunny said through tears.

“
You
’
ve got to get that van over there.
”

There was a delay. Why was there a delay?

“
Bunny?
”

“
We
’
re not sure…
”
She paused.
He could hear her lick her lips
“
With the army over there, guarding the perimeter
…
”

Davidson gritted his teeth and braced the rifle against his right shoulder.
“
Get them on the move.
”

Then Davidson did what he did best.

Shoot.

* * *

Brandt held tight to the little girl, protecting her with his body. The mass of broken rock and debris was unstable at best. Levont had tested it with his weight
,
but everything was still shifting, trying to find it
s
equilibrium.

Rebecca was right in front of him
,
trying to scale the uneven, rocky precipice. Her foot slipped, nearly kicking him in the jaw.

“
One foot at a time,
”
he encouraged.

Then the bang of a gun sounded. Then another.

“
Are they shooting at us?
”
Talli asked
,
a few feet above them.

Did it really matter at this point? It was only a matter of minutes before the whole Sphinx completely collapsed.

“
Move it.
”

Rebecca scrambled past Talli, still keeping her head low. The handholds were too damn far apart. Brandt was going to have to trust that the girl could hold her own.

“
You
’
ve got to hang on, honey,
”
he cooed to her. Vakasa nodded her head, burrowing it against his shoulder, her little arms clutching around his neck, her legs wrapped around his chest.

Now able to use both hands, Brandt scaled the pile
,
arriving at the top with Rebecca and Talli.

“
It looks like somebody
’
s shooting at the army perimeter,
”
Levont reported.

Brandt nearly stumbled a step. Davidson had come through. He had been very busy
,
indeed.

“
Look!
”
Lopez exclaimed.
“
The van.
”

From the south
,
a blue van careened through the dark desert. It punched through the perimeter where Davidson was scattering the men. Good thing too
,
because that fucking deep rumbling started under his feet.

“
Get clear!
”

Everyone climbed over the huge paw. There was no jumping straight off it
,
though. Levont must have figured that out
,
as he leapt down onto the Sphinx
’
s head, slid down its nose
,
and hit the dirt feetfirst. Lopez went next and caught Rebecca at the base.

Then it was just Talli
,
then him.

“
Smile for the camera,
”
Lopez said.

Brandt was about to rip him a new one, but he realized that the corporal was actually talking to Vakasa
,
who had raised her head and waved to Lopez. Anything to keep the child calm.

But what was going to keep him calm as the last of the Sphinx shook underfoot, the head of the statue rocking backward into the maw? It was no longer a slide
,
but a scramble, running
up
the nose
now
, trying desperately to stay one step ahead of gravity. Finally
,
he reached the tip of the nose and slid down the lips as the head tipped straight back and fell out from under him.

They landed hard next to Rebecca. Brandt pushed forward
,
making sure there was plenty of solid ground beneath them.

“
What
’
s wrong with them?
”
Talli asked, pointing to the van
,
which did look like it was driving around in circles.

Levont nodded to the fissures and cracks that scarred the desert.
“
I think they are avoiding fault lines.

Fuck.

Brandt realized there was no avoiding the fault lines. They were everywhere. And worse? There was a linear gouge in the ground that ran between them and the van. There was no way the van could make it over that earthen moat.

“
We
’
ve got to meet them halfway,
”
Brandt ordered.

They were going to have to rely on Davidson supplying cover as they dashed across the desert. The point man was the first one over. He cleared the deep fissure easily. Lopez sailed across as well. Talli
,
however? Talli
’
s boot caught the edge of the other side. If it hadn
’
t been for Levont grabbing his shirt, the sniper would have fallen down the thirty
-
foot gash in the ground.

As much as he would
have
like
d
to think himself a far better athlete than Talli, Brandt realized he could never make it over with the girl in tow. Rebecca
,
too had stopped on this side of the fissure.

He hugged Vakasa quickly.
“
Honey, I am going to have to toss you over.
”

Brandt had no idea if the girl really understood him or not
.
S
he just clapped. However
,
that was her response to just about everything.

“
Levont!
”

“
I
’
m ready!
”
the point man yelled back.

“
One,
”
Brandt said
,
swinging the girl
’
s body back to get some momentum.
“
Two.
”
Another swing.
“
Three.
”

Channeling every bit of high school javelin throwing, Brandt let Vakasa launch. The light girl was so light that he actually overthrew her. Levont had to jump up to catch her before she flew past.

Rebecca looked to him.
“
I
’
ll never make it.
”

“
I know.
”

* * *

Tears threatened. Seriously
,
after surviving
the
Sphinx falling on
her
, she was going to die because she didn
’
t have thighs of steel?

“
And you can
’
t throw me. I weigh…
”
Well, even at death
’
s door
,
Rebecca wasn
’
t going to admit that. Maybe Brandt could throw Bunny, but not her.

Still
,
he took her hand in his.
“
That
’
s why we are going to run.
”

“
Run?
”
she asked
,
but he had already turned away, circling his arm over his head.

“
Get in!
”
he yelled to the others.

The words were barely out of his mouth when he tugged her forward.

“
Where are we going?
”

“
With any hope,
”
he answered,
“
t
o a part of this fissure that narrows.
”

Rebecca ran, having to really press to keep up with Brandt as the men loaded into the unmarked van. Her fiancé was such an optimist
.
H
owever
,
the gap only got larger and larger. And it began to send off side cracks. The van easily caught up to them, but had to veer off to avoid a four-foot dip in the desert.

She slowed, tugging his hand.
“
Just go, Brandt.
”

“
No.
”

Rebecca pulled to a stop.
“
You
’
ve got to get over before it
’
s too far for even you.
”

There was no time to argue. The Egyptian army was regrouping. Not even Davidson could keep that many away. And the longer the van lingered trying to pick them up, the more likely the entire team, including Vakasa
,
would be captured.

“
Jump,
damn it
”
Rebecca insisted.

“
Sarge!
”
Levont yelled as the van pulled to a stop as close as it could get to the edge. He waved a coil of rope.
“
We
’
ve got you.
”

As the point man tossed the end of the rope over, Rebecca turned to Brandt.
“
What does he mean?
”

Brandt caught the rope, wrapping it around his wrist over and over again.
“
I
’
m going to anchor this side
,
and you are going to climb the rope across.
”