Page 91

CHAPTER 90

BLODGETT HADN’T BEEN expecting company, but he was ready to blast whoever it was to kingdom come.

He and the other four giants kept their rifles trained on the chopper as it descended. Gurney had ordered all five to stay behind and guard the compound. And now it looked like they might have to earn their money.

The giants knelt down and shielded their faces as the chopper landed in the clearing, blowing up a huge cloud of debris and red dust. When the engine shut down, all five men stood up and moved forward, rifles aimed toward the cabin.

The door opened. It looked like there was only one soul on board—the pilot. He jumped out, hands raised, stooping under the prop wash.

“I’ll be damned!” said Blodgett, lowering his gun barrel. “It’s Leo!”

“I hope to hell he brought money,” growled Marley.

Leo walked over from the landing zone, red-faced and irate. He got right to the point. “What the hell is going on down here?” He looked past the giants. “And where’s Gurney?”

Harper nodded toward the jungle. “Out there. Chasing demons.”

“One of the workers escaped,” Tagaloa explained. “A constant troublemaker.”

“Christ!” Leo turned and started walking toward the mine. “A nettlesome worker? Does that explain why shipments have slowed?” Blodgett looked at his buddies. Was this what Leo’s visit was about? Did he really come all the way from Belgium for a production check?

Leo reached the platform that overlooked the mine pit. He walked out onto it, then looked back at the giants in a rage. “Where is everybody? Why is nobody working?”

The five men looked at one another. Then Fenwick spoke up in his thick brogue. “It’s one in the morning, Chief. Kinda hard to sort rocks with a flashlight.”

Leo was clearly in no mood for excuses. He waved his clawed hand in the air. “Then find generators! Bring in work lights! This mine should be producing around the clock! If you hulks can’t do it, I’ll find people who can.” He turned back toward the empty pit and placed both hands on the rail. Like a king on his balcony. “ Everybody is disposable!” he shouted.

Smack!

A bullet hit him square in the forehead.