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

Shit!

I cut hard to the left, now running at an angle down the hill toward the pair toting the treasure and a shotgun. They had to be exhausted from lugging the trunk, but this close to escape they’d also be running on adrenaline. My angle would be a surprise, but I’d be totally exposed—a thought that didn’t slow me down.

Gunner spotted me and gave up his stealth for a full-on sprint from above and behind them. I was much closer: when they spotted me, they could shoot me and still be ready to defend themselves by the time Gunner reached them.

Thirty more yards and a rock cliff separated me from Blue. A loud roar sounded—Gunner!

Blue stopped in his tracks and dropped the trunk. Caterina fell to her knee. Blue struggled to find his footing as he spun towards Gunner, who was bearing down fast, still letting out a non-stop battle-cry.

Twenty yards.

Blue raised the gun.

Fifteen yards.

Caterina shrieked—she’d seen me. Blue swiveled in my direction—

I dove off the cliff.

He drew up the gun, the barrel turned toward me. I let loose a yell—

BOOM!

Blue and I smashed hard into the rocks with me on top. There was a loud crunch as I bounced off him and rolled toward the water. From the corner of my eye I saw the shotgun spinning away end over end and landing with a clatter in the rocks.

Caterina leapt on me, pounding her fists on my head and chest.

“Damn you!”

Gunner slid into the scene. Without hesitation, he seized both handles of the trunk and started an amazingly fast forty-five degree ascent to avoid the rocky shore. I held up my hands to shield myself from Caterina’s punches—Blue hadn‘t moved but was groaning, face up.

I rolled over onto my knees and when Caterina lunged at me again, I caught her on my shoulder and flipped her over my head.

She landed with a splash in the water.

Gisele and Nicole were halfway up the hill toward Jerry. Blue’s grimace indicated injury, but his eyes followed me with laser beam intensity. I grabbed the shotgun.

“Come after us and I’ll shoot you. Got it?”

Gunner had already vanished through the scrub, making incredible progress. I sucked in a deep breath, looked both ways, and started back up the hill.

Blood oozed from my cuts and scrapes. Cactus needles in my face, legs, hands, and arms made pushing through the scrub excruciating, but I pressed ahead. All I could see above the bushes and rocks was concern on Nicole’s face as she stood over Jerry and Gisele. When I reached them, soaked to the bone and breathless, I found Gisele seated with Jerry’s head in her lap, tears streaming down her face.

“Is he … alive?” I said.

“Barely.” Nicole’s voice was a whisper.

“We’ve got to get him out of here!” Gisele said.

My heart skipped. Gunner!

I scanned the hillside—there! Gunner was a hundred yards from the plane! We’d never get there before him. I also spotted Blue and Caterina hurrying toward the boat—Black was tied up on its deck.

“Where’s the other shotgun?” I said.

“We left it on the boat—we tied Gamundi up, so we didn’t need it,” Nicole said.

I handed her the one I’d taken from Blue, scooped Jerry up, and swung him on my back in a fireman’s carry. Gisele followed closely behind, adjusting him as I went.

I was running on pure adrenalin. I just hoped I had enough left to reach the plane before Gunner and Jack left us here to die.

The descent down the hill was a nightmare. Jerry had lost consciousness, and his dead weight made me trip and fall. We rolled a dozen yards, him flopping like a rag doll and me cracking my head on a boulder.

Once the stars cleared and the women helped me up, I stood in time to see that Gunner had arrived at Betty, which was still spewing fuel from numerous holes in the wings.

There couldn’t be much left.

An outboard motor caught my attention. My heart lifted—finally, some help from St. Barths—

BOOM!

BOOM!

Shit! The Dominicans had reboarded their boat and were hauling ass around the island toward Betty. And shooting at us.

“Come on!”

I grabbed Jerry and carried him over my right shoulder as we sprinted toward the plane. It was excruciating to watch Gunner drag the case of gold to the plane’s hatch. Jack met him there and together they hoisted it inside.

BOOM!

The boat was getting closer!

Gunner ran up to the front of the plane and untied the line from the fallen tree. He glanced our way, then hurried back to the hatch.

We were closing in fast, considering. I spotted Truck lying on the beach, using an arm to cover his face from swirling debris—a rock caught my toe and I pitched forward. I landed hard on Jerry, which produced a loud grunt from him and a series of coughs as we rolled down to the head of the gravel beach. The sound in pitch of Betty’s engines, still thirty yards away, confirmed their plan. I looked up in time to see Gunner pause, one foot in the hatch, the other still on the gravel beach—

BOOM!

BOOM!

The boat rounded the corner, closing fast and shooting at Betty.

Gunner slammed the hatch shut.

I ripped the shotgun from Nicole’s grasp and staggered through the deep gravel as Jack added throttle and the twin engines grew louder. The plane started backing off the beach and I saw Gunner smiling from the co-pilot’s seat.

Son of a bitch!

Ten yards away, I stopped and raised the gun. Gunner was now laughing out loud. Jack worked the throttles and glanced out his side window toward the Dominicans, still a couple hundred yards away. Then he turned forward to see me.

My cheek was pressed against the dark wood stock. I stared down the barrel of the shotgun, Jack’s face in the center of the sight. My hands weren’t even shaking. After all we’d been through—and with Jerry close to dead, I’d shoot him if he didn’t let