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“I’m going to take him down, Sam. We either wounded or killed the cartel guy, so it’s only Reginald and Maribela. And I’ve got a score to settle with her.”
“Remi. Think this through. Just wait up here. Eventually they’ll have to come up the stairs. Take them then.”
“I don’t like them down there with the emerald.”
“It’s not like they can go anywhere with it.”
She thought for a few moments and nodded. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. But for the record, I’m in favor of doing a Sam Fargo—going in with guns blazing.”
“Noted. And I’m not ruling that out. I just don’t like a situation where you’re on the stairs and Reginald is shooting from a position of safety. That’s asking for it.”
“You made your point. What are you planning to do?”
“They’ve got us pinned down. It’s a stalemate. We can’t leave, but they can’t get in. My goal is to hold them off until the guards show up from the nuke plant. It won’t be much longer with all this gunfire.”
“Let’s hope so. We don’t actually know how long they’ll take. And there could be more cartel goons on the way. In fact, the nuclear staff might be under instructions not to leave the grounds in case this is just a diversion for a frontal attack.”
Sam looked at where Antonio was crouched, pistol in hand. “Antonio, does your cell phone work in here? Do you have a signal?”
He fished it out of his pocket. “I do.”
“Call someone. Get the entire Mexican military here. Now. Explain the situation. We need the cavalry to come over the hill.”
Antonio punched in the emergency number and spoke in low tones as Sam and Remi kept watching the brush outside the temple. When he hung up, he didn’t look confident.
“They wanted me to stay on the line. I told them I couldn’t but that they needed to get an armed group presence out here immediately. And an air evac for casualties. The operator said she’d do the best she could.”
“That doesn’t sound promising,” Remi said.
“They’ll send someone—the only question is how long it takes.” Antonio hesitated. “What are you going to do about Reginald and my sister?”
“All we can do is wait. It’s suicide to go down those stairs.”
“But Maribela could be hurt. Or he could be using her for a hostage.”
Remi touched his hand. “Antonio. Think. There was a gunshot that started all this. And only two people were on the stairs—Reginald and Guerrero.” She paused. “I’m sorry, Antonio.”
“She might be wounded . . . like Lazlo.”
Sam nodded. “It’s possible. But there’s nothing we can do right now. We need to hold off these men until help arrives. Then the professionals can take care of Reginald. We’ll see how he fares against heavily armed soldiers in full battle gear.”
Lazlo groaned from the floor.
“How’re you doing, Lazlo?” Sam asked, eyes continually scanning the grounds for signs of life.
“Not . . . great.”
Remi crawled over to him. She saw the bullet wound.
“Lazlo, help’s on the way. It shouldn’t be long now.”
“Good . . . show . . .”
More shooting slammed into the stone entryway, sending chips flying. Sam popped off a shot at the orange blossom of the shooter’s muzzle blast as Remi returned. “Let me have that thing. I’m the marksman, remember?”
“I’ve done pretty well so far.”
“They’re still out there and shooting. Come on, I’ll swap you. AK for a nearly new Beretta nine. Such a deal.”