The Illuminati Sanctum (The Relic Hunters 6) David Leadbeater (new reading .txt) 📖

“Haven’t you noticed? They’re not trying to kill us. Which gives us a whole lot of leeway.”

“They’re not trying to kill us yet,” Lucie said. “That may change.”

Cassidy shrugged, staring at Bodie. “Sooner or later they’re gonna find that tunnel.”

Which will lead them here. Bodie knew they’d be easy to track even if they rose and sprinted for the trees and, somehow, weren’t spotted on the way. The chopper was mere feet away and he was pretty certain he could fly it. Failing that, Yasmine could fly it, or maybe Cassidy.

“You’re right. There’s no choice,” he said. “We’re hijacking that chopper.”

They moved fast, Bodie and Yasmine climbing to their feet and heading to the right, Cassidy breaking to the left. As one, they came around the back of the chopper as its previous occupants converged on the house.

Bodie saw the helmeted head of a waiting pilot and ducked. Judging by Cassidy’s reaction on the other side she’d seen it too. The good news was that the front helicopter was empty.

Shouts sounded out, men yelling as they searched the house. Cassidy used the distraction to wrench open the helicopter’s door, grab hold of the pilot by his jacket and haul him out. The man had no time to yell in surprise as he tumbled to the ground, landing on his head. Cassidy yanked his helmet off and kicked him in the face until he stopped squirming.

Bodie ran to his door and pulled it open. “Get in.”

They jumped up into the chopper. Cassidy was already seated at the controls, eyes roaming across the dials. Yasmine was beside her in the other front seat.

“I can take over,” Yasmine said.

“Probably a good idea,” Cassidy muttered. “It’s all flashing lights and big knobs to me.”

“Just like being back in Hollywood.” Bodie couldn’t resist the quip as he buckled in.

Yasmine took control and wrestled the bird off the ground, wincing as the engine note deepened. Bodie watched, but nobody looked their way.

At least not at first.

The helicopter rose; three feet and then ten. Bodie had just started to heave a sigh of relief when a mercenary carrying a machine gun appeared around the side of the ranch house and spotted them. Bodie saw him shout into his throat mic.

“Move!” he cried.

Yasmine tweaked the collective, sending the bird higher. It was almost at the height of the house. More men appeared around the side, rushing at them with guns raised. Bodie ducked as a bullet pinged off their paintwork.

“Ah, shit, now they’re firing like they mean it,” he said.

“Ya think?” Cassidy leaned out of her window and returned a suppressing burst of bullets.

Men scattered below. Some ducked behind the timber-built house. Yasmine coaxed the bird higher and looked around for the best direction in which to fly.

“Hurry,” Bodie urged.

A man was already sprinting for the other chopper. If Bodie had been military minded he might have thought to destroy it before they departed, but that would have made some noise and his brain wasn’t geared that way. Cassidy fired a few rounds at the sprinter, but covering fire from his colleagues forced her back into cover.

Yasmine banked the chopper, and everyone held on tight as the nose dipped toward the ground and then rose in the direction of the far road. That way lay the nearest city and large pockets of civilization and other vehicles. In every other direction, as far as she knew, there was just wasteland.

“Put your bloody foot down,” Bodie growled. “They won’t be far behind us.”

Cassidy gave him a long-suffering glare as Yasmine shook her head.

Lucie was studying the ground below. “The chopper is already moving and... the rest are running back to their cars.”

“Shit, gonna track us from the road,” Bodie said. “I hate to say it, but we have to take out that other chopper.”

“Well, he’s not bothering us yet.”

Yasmine used the collective to push their bird faster. They skimmed across the top of the house. Bodie was able to see the state of the repairs he’d tried to complete and wasn’t happy. Then they swept over their enemies’ SUVs and the front yard, swinging in the direction of the main highway. Bodie saw several cars start up and peel away from the house, sending up plumes of dust as their occupants set off in hot pursuit.

Turning, he saw the second helicopter rise above the top of the house.

Yasmine guided their bird further south, following the road. As soon as she saw a town or city, or if Lucie shouted directions at her, she would veer off. But, for now, Lucie was focused on their enemies. Below them, the asphalt stretched in a black, curving ribbon, dotted by cars.

Bodie hung on as best he could. They’d put some space between themselves and their attackers but not nearly enough.

“Still don’t know who they are,” Cassidy shouted above the wind noise.

“Yeah, that’s a problem,” Jemma said, sitting assuredly and relaxed as if she’d been born in a helicopter. Bodie put it down to her cat-burglar skills and ease of movement. For his own part, he was switching restlessly between views, gauging the distance from the chopper to the ground below.

Looking back, below the pursuing bird, which was about two minutes behind, he saw the procession of black SUVs tearing away from their ranch house. And then he saw something even worse.

“Ah, shit,” he said, closing his eyes for a moment. “They torched it. They torched our fucking home.”

He couldn’t say anymore. It had been home for just a few months, but he’d put blood, sweat and tears into its upkeep, and had shared many enjoyable nights with his friends, what was left of their team. With Eli Cross gone, with Gunn gone, and now you could arguably say that