The Relic Runner Origin Story Box Set, Ernest Dempsey [summer books TXT] 📗

were bigger and less maneuverable in the confines of cave passages. All of their weapons were equipped with suppressors to give them every edge they could muster on the mission.

Bo’s muzzle popped from up ahead. A thump followed the sound as the body of another guard hit the floor.

A moment later, Dak stepped over the dead man as he followed Bo into the dim passage.

The cave was lit with ancient lightbulbs dangling from the walls, held up by old concrete screws with the wires wrapped around once before continuing down the wall to the next bulb. The terrorists usually got their electricity from generators, which was inefficient, but necessary so far from civilization.

Carson and Luis brought up the rear, checking behind often to make sure no one slipped past Nathan’s guard at the entrance.

The cave corridor narrowed before it reached the first switchback where it curved to the right and then back to the left again, going deeper into the mountain. At the second bend, the path gradually angled down and Dak could see a brighter light shining off of the wall below. He heard voices too, men barking in gruff tones—either in Arabic or a close relative to it.

Dak understood some of it, though the individual words were difficult to hear from where he stood. He and the others in his group spoke the language fluently. One of his early assignments had been flying around in a helicopter on night missions over the city of Baghdad, listening for potential insurgents’ conversations.

He and Bo crept down the passage until they could see where it opened up to the left, expanding into a huge underground chamber.

The voices echoed through the tunnels now and it was easy to hear what the men were saying. Several of them were joking about having their way with some of the women in the village before killing them in front of their husbands.

Dak glanced at Bo and saw the man’s reaction. Fury burned in Bo’s eyes. Dak had seen the look before and knew the man’s temper was getting the best of him. No amount of elite training could burn that out. They had constructed it long ago, and nothing would tear it down now. The only way it was altered was by fueling it, and these extremists had just done that.

Dak shook his head silently at his partner, but he already knew it was too late. Fortunately for Dak, Bo’s directed his anger at the bad guys.

“Go,” Dak said, unleashing the reins.

The two men holstered their pistols and raised the M1s. They stepped around the corner with the weapons raised, and took aim at the first targets they spotted, lining up the terrorists with the holosights fixed to the guns’ rails.

Their weapons popped with every squeeze of the trigger as Dak and Bo stepped into the room, one going left and the other two the right.

Luis and Carson moved in next, taking the center of the room and eliminating panicked extremists as their comrades fell to the barrage of hot metal the soldiers unleashed.

Four, six, ten men died within the first five seconds. The ones in the back of the cave heard the commotion, the gunfire, and tried to rally to their arms that were carelessly lying around on top of crates or leaning against the wall.

The room filled with a fog of gun smoke and the bitter scent that came with it. Some terrorists screamed in anger as they desperately tried to defend themselves. Others begged for mercy, putting up their hands as they yelled in broken English at the Americans descending upon them.

They would have no mercy this night.

Bo took out at least seven of the terrorists while the rest of the team mopped up the others.

The gunfight took less than a minute. When it was all over, two dozen bodies lay strewn around the room. Some of the dead were heaped on top of one another, the men dying in piles as they fell under the hail of bullets.

Bo looked around through the smoke and gave a satisfied grin. He nodded over at Dak who was also sweeping the area to make sure they had missed no one.

Dak returned the look and then spoke into the radio. “All clear. Tangos down.”

He moved deeper into the cave’s room, spotting something in the back corner in a wooden crate. Five crates sat there, all sealed except for the one on the floor with the lid propped up against it. Something glimmered from within the box. Dak drew to it like a moth to the flame and he cocked his head curiously when he reached the crate and saw what was inside.

He lowered his weapon and stared blankly at the contents. There, packed inside loose bits of straw and paper, was a two-foot-long, golden statue.

“What in the world?” Dak said out loud.

Four

Hamrin Mountains

He turned in time to see Bo sidle up next to him, his eyes also fixed on the crate. "Looks like we hit the jackpot this time," Bo huffed. Pride beamed from his eyes.

"What?" Dak asked.

The other two joined them by the pile of wooden boxes and gazed into the open one.

"Wonder what's in the other four," Luis said.

“More loot," Bo answered confidently.

"You guys know we can't keep any of this, right?" Dak informed. "This stuff is probably stolen from a museum or a dig site. These artifacts are probably pretty valuable."

"No kidding," Bo said. "And now it's time for us to get a nice little bonus to our measly paychecks."

Dak chuckled. "Yeah, sure."

"Why not?" Bo asked. He met Dak's eyes with sincerity. "No one knows this stuff is here. There was nothing about it in the reports, the mission briefing, the objectives. We completed the mission, Dak. And it looks like we just got lucky."

Dak didn't like where this was going. "You know that's against the rules. Our job was to eliminate the cell and call in the cavalry to assess the situation. That's it."

"I know the rules," Bo said.