Second Chance Gold (Buck Reilly Adventure Series Book 4), John Cunningham [polar express read aloud .txt] 📗

Jerry was shaking when he stumbled out of the plane.

“They said nobody but me and Buck—you guys gotta go—they’ll kill her!”

“We can help you, Jerry,” Jack said. “My company—”

“You’re just an ex-con!” I said.

Jack and I lunged toward each other.

BOOM!

A gunshot froze us all in our tracks.

It came from up the hill.

One of the Dominicans—I couldn’t tell whether it was Black or Blue—held a shotgun. It was pointed at Truck, who held his good arm up high and the one in the sling palm out.

I caught a glimpse of black hair behind him—then Caterina Moreau stepped out.

Even at this distance, our eyes locked.

“Looks like your answer’s up the hill, Jerry,” Gunner said.

Jerry started up, his spindly legs wobbling. I followed after him. So did Gunner and Jack.

“We need to play this smart,” I said. “Let me—”

“We can handle this, Jerry, don’t worry,” Gunner said.

My sharp glance only made Gunner chuckle. I held my hand up and used my thumb and index finger to imitate a gun, and held my other hand up to ask the silent question.

“No guns needed, bro,” Gunner said. “We got ‘em outnumbered.”

The four of us climbed the scrubby hill together, totally exposed, like fools walking to a firing squad. Jerry made the entire climb without a break, but he was seriously wheezing by the time we reached Caterina and what I now saw was Blue. Truck had a fresh gash on his forehead, thanks to Blue, and blood was streaming down his neck. His eyes burned with LED intensity.

“Where’s—” Jerry couldn’t finish his sentence, he was breathing so hard.

“I told you to only bring Reilly!” Blue said.

“You didn’t waste any time, did you?” My eyes bore into Caterina’s. She was now dressed in black spandex and stood behind Blue, arms crossed.

“Just playing the odds, Buck. You know how it is—bad boys always get the girl. And the gold.”

“You!” Blue waved at Gunner and Jack. “Leave now! My business is with Jerry Atlas.” He glared at me. “And Buck Reilly.”

“They’re not with us.” I nodded toward Truck. “I had to bring him to help me get Jerry here.”

“Where’s my wife!” Jerry said.

Blue’s eyes narrowed and he pointed the gun toward me.

“In the boat, waiting for you to cooperate.”

All eyes turned down the western side of the steep hill.

Our boat was now half-sunk, water up to the side of its gunwales. Behind it was another boat, and inside that was Black, holding a shotgun on two women.

Jerry gave a shrill wail.

“Where’s the gold?” Blue said.

“I’m not telling you anything until you let the women go,” Jerry said.

Good answer.

I stood next to Jerry, with Truck now sitting on a rock to my left. Jack and Gunner were behind us. Blue was ten feet away with Caterina behind him.

“You can take the boat and the women after he leads me to the gold,” Blue said. “We’ll take the plane.”

“I’m not taking you anywhere,” I said.

“I will,” Jack said.

“Not in my plane you won’t—”

“News flash, Buck, it’s mine and Gunner’s plane.”

“Finders keepers, asshole,” Gunner said.

A glance back revealed Gunner watching Blue, then taking a subtle step to his left. He wouldn’t care at all about Gisele or Nicole—if he could neutralize Blue, he’d have the upper hand.

“Shut up, all of you!” Blue shifted the gun toward Gunner’s chest. He must have done the math on where each person’s interests lay. “This is an EOD situation, my friends. Equal Opportunity Death.”

Gunner scowled. “You can’t kill us all with that thing.”

“No? I’ll kill you first and blow off Reilly’s arm in the process. And my brother’s instructions are to kill the de Haenen woman first if there’s any trouble up here.” He paused. “Think you’re a hero? Make a move.”

“No!” Jerry said. “Follow me, I’ll take you there.” He turned back over to where Truck was leaning against the rock, blood still streaming from the gash on his forehead. “I need my pry bar—”

“Wait!” Blue said. “Caterina, grab that metal bar.”

She hurried over, keeping an eye on Truck, since he was closest to her, as she bent down to get it. Her eyes bulged at the weight as she lifted the six-foot steel bar off the ground.

Blue kept the gun pointed at Gunner. “How far away is it?”

“Just over here, on the edge of this field of boulders.” Jerry lifted his chin toward a cluster of rocks, which I now recognized as the grouping from the painting in his home.

“You two.” Blue aimed the shotgun at Gunner and Jack. “Stay back! Jerry, lead the way. Buck Reilly, you walk behind him.”

Caterina carried the metal rod out in front of her with both hands like it was a curl bar. Jerry stumbled past her.

“Keep up with him!” Blue said.

I glanced back past our captor. Gunner and Jack were following slowly after us.

Hopefully they wouldn’t get us killed.

Jerry leaned on the largest boulder and sucked in a deep breath.

“It’s under this.”

Caterina looked at Blue with her eyebrows raised.

“Step back, Reilly. Caterina, give the bar to Jerry. Move slowly, my friend, or Reilly here—hey!” He’d noticed Jack and Gunner were much closer than they should have been. “Stop right there! Get on your knees!” He took a step toward them, the shotgun raised.

Jerry took the bar from Caterina—his arms dropped down from the weight. He looked back over his shoulder, first at Blue, then me, then Gunner and Jack. Finally he turned to his left and I followed his gaze down to the boat. The women were seated, with Black glancing back and forth from us to them. He had the gun on Nicole.

My heart pounded double as I looked at each face. We were all running, all desperate in different ways, all in need of second chances.

The metal bar scraped against rock as Jerry tried to guide it down in between another boulder half the size of the big one. With the rod in place, he took a deep breath, slid his