James Acton 01 - The Protocol Read Online Free PDF Page B

between each. Looking down at the camp, he saw the attackers setting up a perimeter as four of them raced to his cabin.
    As he approached the cave entrance he saw Robbie sitting on the ground, leaning against a rock, sound asleep. Won’t be able to sleep for a while, eh? Acton had wanted one of his own he could trust to make sure no one else, especially one of the hired guards, went in the cave looking for more valuables. He bent over and shook Robbie’s shoulder.
    Robbie nearly jumped out of his skin. “Professor, what’s wrong?” he asked as he removed his iPod ear buds. “I didn’t hear you coming.”
    “I thought you were asleep.” Acton helped Robbie to his feet.
    Robbie shook his head. “You know me, Professor, I can’t live without my tunes!”
    Acton cut him off. “Listen, the guards are dead and a chopper just landed in the camp. I think they’re here for the skull. Come with me.” They ran inside the cave and once far enough in that he felt safe the flashlights wouldn’t be seen from outside he turned his on and Robbie did as well.
    “A chopper? Do you mean military? Whose?” asked Robbie as he ran behind Acton, his flashlight bouncing off the walls.
    “I don’t know. Rebels, Peruvian police. Definitely professional and well-equipped.” Acton stepped through the hole and into the first chamber. It was perfectly cubic, ten by ten by ten feet. The walls as well as the floor and ceiling were made of one-square-foot tiles. Some of the ceiling tiles that had fallen centuries before lay broken on the floor. In the center was a tall, narrow altar on top of which the skull had been discovered.
    “Why don’t we just hide the skull and go back out? They’ll never think to look in here.”
    “Because I think they’re here to kill us.”
    Robbie stopped. “Kill us?” he stammered.
    “They’ve already killed the guards and we’ve seen before where camps have been wiped out just so that no witnesses are left,” replied Acton as he turned around and grabbed Robbie by the shirt to get him moving again. “That’s why I gave strict orders to tell no one about this. It’s too dangerous.” Acton watched Robbie's face turn gray as if he were about to vomit. “What's wrong?”
    Robbie hesitated. “It's my fault. I told my brother, John. He must have told someone.”
    Acton shook his head. “I doubt it, not unless he knows some Peruvian police or paramilitaries.” Acton moved to what had once been a hidden chamber in the floor and placed the case inside. “Give me a hand.” Together he and Robbie moved a large tile that had been pried away earlier in the day back over the hole in the floor. It had been discovered by accident when someone dropped a canteen, the hollow sound underneath demanding further exploration.
    With the skull hidden to his satisfaction, Acton grabbed a pickaxe left on the floor then began looking for a hiding place for him and Robbie. There was another chamber beyond this one, exactly twice its size. They went in and crouched behind a large stone altar that stood in the middle, the only structure in the room. They turned off their flashlights and listened, as the stench in the air made breathing difficult. Robbie’s breaths came faster and faster as panic set in.
     
    Dawson and Mickey searched the cabin while Red and Spaz stood watch outside. Dawson flipped over the cot as Mickey tipped the cabinet over to see if anything was underneath. A complete search for Acton and the package yielded nothing. Dawson radioed his other men. “Bravo One to Bravo Team, does anyone have eyes on the target?” A string of “negatives” replied. “Start rounding everyone up for interrogation. Bravo One out.”
    He triggered his comm and switched channels. “Bravo One to Control.”
    “Control here, go ahead, Bravo One.”
    “Bravo One to Control, package and target not located. Beginning interrogations, over.”
    “Bravo One this is Control. Targets are on the Termination List. Eliminate