Chapter 16
Mark hit the ground. The air was knocked from his lungs.
He lay there gasping, a searing pain in his shoulder, his throat feeling as though it was closing.
But none of that mattered. Someone had Heather, and Mark had to do something about it.
But what? He was lying prone on the ground, bleeding, unable to breathe. What could he do?
“Mark!” A man stood over him, big and burly. He reached down and, with a firm grip, pulled Mark into a seated position.
Mark finally drew a proper breath. “Mac, he’s got Heather. El Aguila or Bernini or whatever his name is—he’s got Heather. Ouch!”
Mac had been inspecting his wound. “We’ll get to him, but first we have to patch you up.” He pulled Mark’s shirtsleeve off. It was hanging by a thread anyway. Then he tied it around Mark’s upper arm.
Pain like a hot poker ran through Mark’s whole body, and he thought he might pass out. Mac was there though, patting his face, forcing him back to consciousness.
“Come on,” Mac said. “It’s not that bad. Looks like the bullet went right through. Come on, stay with me. We need every fighter we can get.”
With a great force of will, Mark got to his feet. He had to save Heather. It was the only thought that rolled around in his head. Save Heather and save the town.
“Did you see where he went?” Mac asked.
Mark noticed that he was flanked by Steven and Lukas. Both men had their heads on swivels, keeping an eye on the fighting and shooting any bandits that came too close.
“I didn’t see,” Mark admitted. “But he took Heather.”
“Yes, you said. Doesn’t he have a connection to her?” Mac asked.
“I don’t know if that means much to him right now,” Mark said, finding that he was starting to feel a good deal better now that he was on his feet and with friends.
“Well, let’s go and remind him what friends and family are all about,” Mac said. “I’ll bet Bernini won’t be that hard to find.”
“Here, have a gun,” Steven said, handing Mark a pistol and some extra ammunition. “We’re going to have to shoot our way through.”
They set off through the mayhem. Mac’s men had come in shooting, and they were working methodically, taking down the bandits one by one. Mark kept his eyes peeled, looking for any sign of Bernini and Heather. The coward had to have taken her as insurance, to use as a human shield. What a louse.
“Is there another way out of here?” Steven asked with a frown. “See, from what we know of Bernini, he’s not the kind of man to go down with the ship. If it looks to him like he might lose, I’ll bet he’ll jump ship.”
“Well, he can’t get over the bridge,” Lukas said. They had reached the bridge, and someone had brought one of the carts packed with flammable things, from the look of it, and set it alight on the bridge. It was blocking the way across.
“He doesn’t have to,” Mark said. “He can go along the wall.”
They rushed to the nearest ladder and, despite the pain in his arm, Mark climbed up in a hurry. The others followed him. There was less fighting up there. The bandits up on the wall in that area lay slumped in pools of blood.
Mark wondered who had shot them. Then he saw Emily and Anita standing off to one side, their rifles pointed into the chaos of the fighting by the campfire and tent town, picking off bandits here and there.
The women in this town sure were something else.
Heather fit right in, he thought both gratefully and dazedly.
Hurrying along the top of the wall, they crossed from the mine side of the town to the residential area. Things were quieter there. They passed by small pockets of fighting. Bandits were trying to get into the clinic, and women inside it were shooting them down.
“Should we help?” Mark asked.
“No, the only way this all ends is if we get Bernini. He’s the one who can stop all this madness,” Mac said.
They hurried on. “He was staying in Andrew’s house,” Mark commented. “He might be there now.”
“It’s worth checking,” Mac agreed.
The nearest ladder was a little farther on. They climbed down and, crouching low, keeping to the sides of other houses, they made their way back to Andrew and Julie’s house.
“It looks really quiet,” Steven said.
Just then the back door flew open and a woman, her auburn hair flying, came running down the steps.
Mark shot up, ready to run to her, but Lukas drew him back down. “Hang on, let’s see who comes for her.”
A man ran down the steps not two paces behind her. He grabbed her skirt, throwing her off balance, and Heather tumbled into the dirt. The man reached her and hauled her upright.
“Let me go!” she cried, fighting back ferociously. “Take your hands off me, you devil!”
“Heather,” Mark whispered in horror.
“We’ll get her soon enough,” Mac said. “But that wasn’t Bernini. He has men with him.”
“That was Pedro, one of his lieutenants,” Mark said angrily. “He shouldn’t have laid hands on Heather.”
“No. He shouldn’t have, and you can make him pay in a moment,” Mac said. “Let’s find a way into that house without getting shot.”
“I think I have an idea,” Lukas said. “Give me a minute.” He ran off, crouching low around the side of the house.
A minute later, he was back. “Okay, come on.”
They followed Lukas to a side door that was unlocked. Opening it slowly and quietly, they entered the house. There were voices coming from elsewhere in the house, but none from close by.
Lukas led them quickly into the house and down a passage. The voices were coming from a room on their left. The door stood ajar. Mark went on one side of it, with Mac, Lukas, and Steven on the other side.
For a moment, they just listened.
There were three distinct voices. Mark knew them all.
“… you let it get out of hand!” Bernini yelled.
“No, you let the men get bored and complacent,” Pedro snapped. “I told you they weren’t the right men for this job, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“I’m still in charge here!” Bernini yelled.
“Sure, boss,” Nick said. Mark hadn’t expected to hear him. He thought Nick would be in the thick of things, happily shooting people. It was odd to find him holed up here with Bernini and Pedro.
“Yes, sure, you’re in charge,” Heather sneered. Mark could imagine her pulling a face as she spoke. At once, he felt proud of her, standing up to the oppressor, but the pride came with a touch of fear. If Bernini got upset with her, he could shoot her.
“We have to go in now,” he hissed.
Steven held up three fingers.
On the count of three.
He lowered one finger. Then the second finger.
Mark checked his weapon. Steven lowered his third finger, and Mark rammed his uninjured shoulder into the door.
It swung open forcefully, slamming into Nick’s arm.
His gun went clattering on the floor, and he kicked it away as he staggered to try and retrieve it.
Pedro turned, his gun coming up and pointing at Mac, but Steven was there, pushing the gun up. The bullet fired into the ceiling, showering them with little bits of wood.
Bernini screamed and raised his own gun, but Mac had his weapon pointed at the man’s face.
“I don’t think so,” he said in a deadly calm voice. “Lower your weapons.”
Heather was tied to the visitor’s chair. She turned a tear-stained face to Mark, and the relief in her expression filled him with joy and warmth. He rushed to her, taking her lovely face in his hands and smoothing her hair from her wet cheeks.
“You were dead,” she sobbed. “I saw him shoot you.”
“I’m fine,” Mark said. “I’m fine. It stings some, but it’s no big thing. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head. “I’m okay.”
Mark let out the breath he’d been holding and kissed the top of her head, her forehead, her cheeks. Then he set to work untying her, which was made awkward by his admittedly sore arm.
By the time Heather was free, Bernini and his two henchmen were disarmed. Steven and Lukas had their guns pointed at them, and the men stood behind the desk in a row like naughty schoolboys in the principal’s office.
“All right,” Mac said in a conversational tone. “You and Heather can go if you like, Mark. I’ve got this.”
“No, I’d like to stay if it’s okay,” Mark said.
“Suit yourself,” Mac said. Then, turning his attention to Bernini, he shook his head, a look of tired consternation on his face.
“You know, there are times when a person’s actions make perfect sense.
They are clear and definitive. It’s easy to see how the entire situation came into being.
This is not one of those times. Why you have caused the amount of misery that you have in this area is beyond me. I don’t understand at all.”
“Of course not,” Bernini spat. “You’ve never had to try, to struggle?—”
Mac burst out laughing. “Alessandro, you forget that I know your folks. I invested in your mother’s father’s venture when I was a young man building my company up from scratch. You were never poor, never destitute.”
“We suffered because of you! Demanding that ridiculous loan be paid back with interest!” Bernini snapped. “It was you, demanding payment that sent my mother into an early grave!”
Mac looked shocked. “Is that what you think? That I demanded the money back? Alessandro, you’ve been misinformed.
I didn’t want that loan back. After seeing the hurt that your grandfather caused with his drinking and gambling, I didn’t feel right asking for a dime back.
So, I told your grandmother and your mother that they could forget the loan.
I introduced your mother to your father as a means of helping her family get back on its feet.
The O’Conners and the Berninis only went into business together because I set up the meeting. ”
“Lies!” Bernini hissed. “You love to paint yourself as the hero. Were you going to be the savior here as well? How long would it be before you closed this mine’s doors and told all these people that they would have to fend for themselves?”
“You think that I closed your grandfather’s company down?” Mac asked, looking astounded.
“You invested in a rival company!”