“I guess you’re not the guide,” I said.
“Lucky for you, but that doesn’t mean you’re not expendable. I’ve gotten this far, and I have a map. If you cease to be useful to me I’ll eliminate you and go it alone.”
“You won’t find the treasure on your own.”
“So be it, then.”
I didn’t like the word eliminate. The prospect of being eliminated was even less desirable than threading my way through the slot. I put my head down and walked forward, putting one foot in front of the other. I watched my feet. I didn’t look up, and I didn’t look ahead. The narrow passageway seemed to go on forever, and then suddenly I was in bright sunlight and in an open space that was shaped like a bowl. The rocky sides of the bowl were maybe thirty feet high, and the bowl was thirty or forty feet across. Not huge, but I could breathe easier. Problem was I didn’t see a way out of the bowl other than the way we came in.
“Now what?” I asked Devereaux.
“Walk around and see what happens to the diamond.”
I set off around the perimeter of the pit, and a third of the way the diamond began to pulse with light. Two years ago I wouldn’t have believed any of this, but since Diesel popped into my life I was willing to believe almost anything. And I have to admit it was hard not to get excited about the pulsing diamond. I looked up at the rim of the bowl high above me hoping to see Diesel or Wulf, but there was only blue sky.
“Keep walking,” Devereaux said.
I continued picking my way along the bottom of the bowl, and after a couple minutes the diamond stopped pulsing.
“Go back!” Devereaux said. “The treasure must be back with the boulders.”
There was an outcropping of loose rock and large boulders in the area where the diamond pulsed. A clump of scruffy bushes and scraggly evergreens grew in the thin soil around the boulders. Mostly there was granite ledge under our feet. No place to bury a treasure chest.
I kicked through the bushes and found a fissure in the rock wall behind a man-sized boulder. Devereaux took a couple flashlights out of his knapsack. He handed one to me, and he kept the other.
“Look around,” he said. “What do you see?”
I stuck my head in and flicked the light on. The fissure appeared to form a natural tunnel. From what I could see, it was damp, dark, and no place I wanted to go. It was at best three feet wide, and it was difficult to determine the height. I might be able to stand, but there wouldn’t be a lot of clearance.
“Well?” Devereaux asked.
“Looks like a dead end,” I said.
“No, it doesn’t. It looks like a tunnel. I can see from here. It’s going to lead us to the treasure. Get in there.”
“No way. Shoot me. I’d rather die here than in that tomb.”
“It’s not a tomb, you ninny. It’s a treasure trove. It’s the path to immortality.”
He was very close to me, and the gun was shaking in his hand.
“This is too important for me to walk away,” Devereaux said. “It’s my destiny. My legacy. And you’re going to help me.”
“I don’t think so. Take the diamond. Good riddance. Good luck.”
I heard the wup, wup, wup sound of a helicopter overhead, and a shadow fell over Devereaux and me. My first thought was of Diesel and Wulf, but I looked up and saw AMMON ENTERPRISES written in black and gold on the white chopper. Hard to tell if I was relieved or even more terrified.
“Bastards!” Devereaux shouted.
He squeezed off two shots at the helicopter, and it disappeared over the edge of the bowl.
“They aren’t getting my treasure,” he said, pointing the gun at me. “We have to hurry. Lead the way to the cave, or I’ll shoot you.”
“How do you know the treasure is in a cave?”
“It’s always either in a cave or buried. And nothing is going to be buried on this godforsaken piece of rock. I’m counting to three, and then I’m going to shoot you in the foot if you don’t start walking.”
“How do you know the treasure is still there? It’s been hundreds of years.”
“Three,” Devereaux said, and he fired off a shot at my foot.
The bullet caught the side of my sneaker and ripped a hole in it.
“Damn,” Devereaux said. “Hold still so I can try again.”
“Stop!” I said. “I’m going in.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN