Devil's Gold (48 page)

Her words trailed off when Jake touched his lips lightly to her cheek and whispered, “Don't take too long, Sunshine.”

She bit back an indignant shout as her eyes trailed his graceful leap off the edge and fast rappel into the belly of the levy. “Cheater,” she hissed and quickly began climbing down the ladder.

When her toes touched solid ground, Cassidy exhaled a shaky breath. She was grateful for the darkness. If she'd realized exactly how far down the base sat, her descent would've been riddled with panic and hyperventilation. Jake moved close and tapped a finger against her nose. He pointed two fingers at her eyes and then pointed them back at his own eyes. When she opened her mouth to speak, he shook his head with a sharp motion and then did the funny finger signal again. Cassidy frowned and bit her bottom lip. He rolled his eyes and repeated the eye poking maneuver, causing Cassidy to bend over and stifle nervous laughter. She'd watched enough movies to finally figure out this meant keep your eyes on me, but being an actual participant threw her out of reality.

With a few deep breaths she gathered some control and nodded at Jake, mimicking his finger signal and sucking in her lips to prevent another bout of giggles. He shook his head in defeat, then spun on his heels and jogged into the darkness. Cassidy followed, matching his pace. Her normal curiosity was curbed by the blanket of night. Visibility remained limited.

She felt the grade of earth shift as they headed upward, out of the levy. Jake paused at the top and motioned for Cassidy to retrieve the map. She laid it on the ground, and he focused a tiny beam of light on the area where her finger rested. Cassidy attempted to gain a clearer picture of their surroundings, but he flipped off the flashlight.

The moonless night left them victim to protruding roots and uneven ground. Jake kept their pace slow and methodical. Cassidy ignored the caress of foliage as it brushed against her face, not wanting her mind to stray to all that crawled upon its surface. Her line of business alerted her to the full dangers of what lurked within the dense jungle.

Jake paused. Cassidy slammed into his back, distracted by her attempt to listen for snakes and the like. He grunted but remained still. She tilted her head and peered around his shoulder. The jungle opened to a cleared area of land. There were shapes and shadows of things piled on the earth that were indiscernible in the darkness. A soft hum filled the night air.

Jake glanced over his shoulder and held his fingers to his lips. Cassidy remained silent. He dropped to the ground and she followed his actions, belly crawling across the clearing and in the direction of the odd noise. She felt a vibration and paused. Cassidy turned her head and put her ear against the dirt.

The vibration was real. It shook the earth and reminded her of the time as a teenager she'd tested Hollywood and placed her ear to the ground, listening for approaching horses. Her father had laughed but Cassidy sought the truth, intent on proving to the world how smart she was. Sure enough and much to her surprise, the approaching herd of Cutter horses she'd seen in the distance caused the earth to echo the pounding of their hooves.

Lost in the sound that hummed from below, she didn't hear Jake's whistle until a rock hit her forehead. Rubbing the sore skin, she glared into the darkness. His low whistle reached her ears, and she scooted forward.

“Don't do that again.” He ground the words out through gritted teeth. “I can't see you in this darkness.”

“The earth is vibrating,” Cassidy hissed back.

“No kidding. Stay close.”

She stuck her tongue out at his back and moved behind him. He stood and reached down to help her to her feet. “There appears to be a cave here.”

“No sign of life.”

Jake tilted his head and searched their surroundings. “That we can see.”

They slipped between two leafy bushes and into the cool entryway of the cave. Cassidy felt the damp stone beneath the palm of her hand as she stepped forward; it soothed for some unknown reason. Her foot caught on a soft mound jutting from the base of the wall and caused her to stumble. Jake flipped on the flashlight and spanned the ground.

“David's backpack.” Cassidy dropped to her knees, recognizing the worn green fabric and bright orange initials he'd embroidered into the canvas himself. Her fingers traced the smooth stitching, and she swallowed against the sudden lump that formed in her throat. “I remember when he did this. He hated that Charles kept grabbing his pack by accident so he picked the loudest thread he could find and sewed on his initials.” She gasped when Jake's flashlight highlighted what appeared to be a dark patch of blood against the rock wall. Standing, she scrutinized the area. “There's some scalp and hair here.” She ignored the sudden dip in her stomach at the site of the matted hair and dried brown substance.

Jake pulled out an envelope and small knife. “I'll collect DNA.”

Cassidy nodded and disregarded the trepidation that crawled along her skin. They moved farther into the cave, every step cautious, every breath silent. Her heart pounded in her ears in direct competition with the mechanical humming that drew them deeper and deeper into the cavern.

“Over there,” Jake spoke softly into her ear and pointed over her shoulder.

She followed the angle of his arm and nodded when she saw a small red light secured against the cavern wall. “Modernization.”

Jake led them across a narrow ledge. The humming notched higher as they passed the red light, rumbling and vibrating through the rock. They rounded a small bend and faced the source.

“It's a generator.” Jake approached the large ten-by-ten green box and circled it warily. “There's switches and controls along this back wall.”

Cassidy flipped her flashlight beyond the shadow of the generator and inhaled a sharp gasp. A lake spread farther than the scope of the beam of her narrow light, its surface rippling in murky waves. She staggered forward, kneeling at the edge of the basin. “Look at this…” A loud bang sounded, and Cassidy blinked as the cavern brightened to an uncomfortable level.

“And let there be light.” Jake whistled softly, gazing over Cassidy's shoulders.

She followed his line of sight and shook her head slowly from side to side. “This is a lake—no, it's a sea …”—her voice dropped to a whisper—“of oil.”

“Amazing. No drilling. No methane. Just gallons and gallons of crude ready for shipping.”

Cassidy sighed. “But the source?”

Jake signaled for her. “Maybe these maps will help.” He pointed toward a wall behind the generator that sported large geological renderings and what appeared to be some type of station schematics.

“You think it's safe to keep these lights on?”

“Probably not.” He flipped the switch, and they sank into darkness once more. “Wait for your eyes to adjust before making your way over here.”

Cassidy grumbled. “You could've waited until I'd gotten there.”

“Sorry, Sunshine. Wasn't thinking.”

She moved the beam of her flashlight around the interior and began walking in Jake's direction. Trailing her fingers along the edge of the generator, she guided herself to the back wall. Cassidy began with the geological survey farthest to the left. She studied the drawings, glancing back and forth from the color-coded template in the bottom right hand corner and then tracing her fingers along the survey.

Next, her eyes absorbed the map that displayed a blown-up section of the Niger Delta. “Okay …”

Jake inched forward and offered her his full attention. “This is the shoreline of the Niger Delta.” She moved her hand toward the bottom of the picture and ran it upward in an arc from the edge of Port Harcourt up and past the area where they stopped at the levy. “Here's Port Harcourt in the south and Warri in the north.” Cassidy placed her hand over the center of the line. “This is the middle of the delta proper. This appears to indicate that during the Jurassic period the earth shifted, forcing this section down and into a bowl shape.”

“Okay,” Jake said, although the tone of his voice indicated he was uncertain of what she implied.

Cassidy twisted around and faced him. “This date here …”—she tapped her nail on a crudely scribbled date written in red pen—“shows that this bowl of crude oil reached its full capacity two years ago, shifting the fault planes and leaking into existing veins of oil from the Paleocene era. But the pressure was too powerful and forced another shift in the earth's crust.”

“And?”

“That lake, sea, whatever …”—she gripped his arm and pointed back over her shoulder—“is all oil. It's endless. Jake, this resource of crude is not only the purest in the world but an amount larger and greater than anything within the Middle East or the rest of our continents.”

Jake sighed, shaking his head. “Which means that NWP would control the world's largest source of oil?”

“Worth killing for?”

He shrugged. “If you're into that sort of thing. But yeah, I guess for a guy like Cole it's worth killing for.”

“We need to grab a sample, take pictures, and deliver it as proof to President Nuna. If mined properly, this oil could provide Nigeria with steady income for hundreds of years. The potential of bringing West Africa out of its third world status is here.”

Jake didn't answer immediately, but when he did, his words froze the blood in Cassidy's veins. “Along with the potential of igniting World War III and bringing more blood and destruction to the Ivory Coast.” He sighed and stepped away from her. “It's ironic. A land so rich in resources yet so scarred by death.”

His words echoed within the cavern, bouncing back at them until they faded beneath a more ominous sound.

The rapid staccato of an AK-47 machine gun.

J
AKE PUSHED HER ROUGHLY AGAINST THE WALL. “STAY HERE.”

Cassidy frowned as he made his way toward the entrance of the cavern. “Like hell.” He glared over his shoulder but didn't prevent her from following. The gunfire was random, flowing in a wild rhythm, stopping completely, then trickling into a few final bursts.

“I don't think these are NWP men.”

Gunfire was gunfire to Cassidy. She didn't care whose finger itched the trigger, the end of the story remained the same. Dead. Deader. Deadest. Not good. “Let's get back to the boat.”

“What about your sample?”

Cassidy chewed her bottom lip. “This is too dangerous. Our lives aren't worth it.” Frustration and indecision made her voice harsh in the silence of the cave. “We'll come back.” Jake stared at her for an excruciating amount of time. She shuffled from one foot to the other and pointed toward the cave entrance. “We'll come back.” This time her voice was stronger, more committed.

Jake gave her a sharp nod and proceeded toward the mouth of the cave. Gunfire still wavered on the night air, but now it broke the silence above an area farther north of their location. The grounds clear of invaders, Jake signaled her to follow.

Cassidy paused before exiting the cavern. Her fingers gripped the edge of the rock, and sadness welled from the very bottom of her soul, slicing through her chest with the viciousness of a machete. Because of this, she'd lost half her heart, half her world. She'd lost Steve.

A warm hand reached for her, strong fingers intertwining between hers. Cassidy tilted her head up, gazed into Jake's eyes, and saw the other half of her heart.

Jake and Cassidy returned to the rebel camp. Exhausted, but in turn jubilant at their discovery.

“I need to contact Colonel Price and formulate our next course of action.” Jake moved to the edge of the woods and signaled for Anna to follow him. “I'd like you to update me on the whereabouts of the Ijwo and their actions tonight.”

Cassidy smiled as one of the native women approached her with a crudely carved wooden bowl. “Wine,” the woman said and handed it to Cassidy. “Go sit against that rock. It will relax you.”

Not wanting to offend the woman, Cassidy accepted the bowl of fermented fruit and headed in the direction she pointed.

She settled against a large rock, content to watch the graceful moves of the women and old men as they leapt in a circle and sang to their gods for deliverance. Cassidy's eyes drifted closed, and she allowed herself a brief moment of respite from the uneasiness that plagued her mind.

A rustle of leaves behind the boulder shot a bolt of fear through her heart. Cassidy sat up, glancing around the rock.

Nothing.

She laughed softly at her nerves and rested back against the hard surface. She thought the hum of native singing and percussion of drums must be echoing through the jungles, creating strange noises.

A twig snapped.

She moved quickly and crouched in a defensive attack position, studying the dark patch behind the rock. This was not her imagination. “Who's there?”

No answer.