Now or Never
Chapter 7
After a few days of watching the shift changes in Scheck's compound, Arnold was ready to put his plan in motion. A man by the name of Raymond was lucky contestant number one. Second in command, Raymond was always resentful of Scheck. He was heard bad mouthing Scheck to the other men. He was the perfect target for the plan. Greed was a word this man fully understood.
Mick stood at the entrance and waited for Raymond to let him in, "this had better be good." Raymond said. Mick knew that it was no empty threat from the looks of the rifle he had strapped over his shoulder.
"I assure you it is." Mick said as he dangled the fake map in front of Raymond. "Let's talk inside." Mick said and followed Raymond into the compound. Mick carefully surveyed his surroundings just in case he might need to escape. Tents flanked either side of the large compound and in the center was Scheck's. Mick was relieved that Raymond didn't lead them too close to Scheck's tent.
Once inside Raymond grabbed Mick and held a knife to his throat while his other hand restrained Mick's hands. "You have three seconds. It's been a while since I've killed something." He said as he broke Mick's skin slightly for emphasis.
Mick kept his temper in check; it wasn't the first time he had been in a situation like this. "If you kill me you'll never find the hidden treasure."
"Treasure?"
"That's right; I doubt your boss in there has shared the importance of that girl with you." Mick smirked.
"That girl? The hostage?"
"That's right. Hasn't it struck you as odd that he hasn't killed her yet? Didn't she fulfill her purpose, I mean now that the boy has escaped, why is she still here?" Mick asked and Raymond let the knife slip away. "And how much is your boss paying you for your troubles?"
"Once we find what he is looking for he has assured us that there will be plenty of riches to go around."
"How can you be sure?" Mick said. "How many men are employed under your boss? See if you help me with my plan we only have to split the treasure two ways. I have the map but only she can read it. See you have the girl I have the map fifty/fifty." Mick said.
"How do you know all of this stuff? Who are you?" Raymond held the knife to Mick's throat once more.
"I am Mick; I have been looking for that girl for years. I finally find her and you burnt down her village." He sighed inwardly, hoping Arnold's information was correct. "I followed you guys and have been watching. It was quite a sight, that boy escaping from a heavily armed compound."
"If I am seen taking that girl out I will be killed." Raymond finally said.
"We can get out if you put a bag over head while we move through the compound. I'm sure you have other hostages here." Mick said and Raymond nodded.
"I want to talk to the girl first. See if you are telling the truth." Raymond said. "Play nice or I will have to shoot you." Raymond warned as he released Mick from his grip. Raymond picked up a gun before shoving it against Mick's side careful not to let anyone who happened to be watching see it.
He walked Mick to the back of the compound and to the tent in which they kept Bella. Raymond shoved his way through the opening and kicked Bella's foot to wake her. "You've been keeping things from us, bitch."
Bella looked up slowly; Mick had to stop from stepping back at her fiery glare. "What do you want?"
"The treasure."
"What treasure?" Raymond back handed her so hard the chair she was strapped to nearly toppled over. She spat out blood and looked back at him.
"This man here says you know the location of a great treasure. You can read this map." He said.
"I have never seen that man in my life." Bella spat. "Pendejo!"
Raymond turned back to Mick, "She's never seen you? Surely she'd know if you were looking for her."
"You will believe her? She'd say anything to protect that treasure." Mick countered and Raymond paused to think it over before turning back to Bella. "Let's see if we can convince you to tell the truth." Raymond said and made his way over to untie Bella. "Try anything stupid and I will cut out your lying tongue." He said and yanked Bella to him before sliding a bag over her head.
It had been two days without movement from the good doctor but Helga was confident that the Doctor loved the pay and would be starting his operation soon. Stinky managed to get the job of grave keeper easily since the funeral home was desperate for one. The fact that Lorenzo and Sid put together a fake job history and references helped too.
"You reckon he'll try this funeral home again?" Stinky asked. "I mean you would think he'd find a different location since he is under suspicion already.
"That's why, along with your fake job history, Lorenzo and Sid gave you a new life, complete with a gambling problem and drug addiction. You'd be an easy target for the Doctor." She said.
"It's been two days with no bite." Stinky said.
"Maybe there is something I can do to speed things up." Helga said. "You just keep working." Helga said and left the funeral home and headed for home base. On the way she turned on her phone and called Gerald. "I need money."
"How about hello, long time no see, Gerald." He sighed. "Where have you been? Phoebe's been so worried about you." He said.
"I can't do anything about that now. I don't want her involved in this. I need your help. What do you know about money laundering?"
"It's a crime with serious jail time attached." He said.
"Of course. What I mean is how does it work? I'll need get some money together for a little project."
"What, because I'm black you call me? What makes you think I know about laundering money?"
"Shut up, you know this isn't about race, I know that you've been studying business and law so just help me."
"Okay, okay."
"I only need the money for a few seconds and then it can be sent back to where it came from." She said.
"If you don't get caught first." He paused. "What is this project? Does it have to do with Arnold?"
"Arnold…" Helga sighed. "You can't tell anyone about this." She said and explained the whole thing to Gerald, from the interview to the death of the grave keeper. "I need the money to convince the Doctor to take a job on the fly, he seems to be laying low now but if I have enough money his greed will take over and we can find Arnold."
Gerald was silent for a while before saying, "I'll help. Don't ask me how I know this and don't let Phoebe know about it either. I can get the money together in a couple of days. I need to run it through various channels to make sure it's not traceable and then you'll only have a short time. I'm going to need the Doctor's bank account number. We'll do the transfer in front of him and after he takes the deal the money will only be there for a week before it bounces back."
"Thank you Gerald."
"And if I get fired or jail time you'll have to deal with Phoebe's wrath." He said. "I'll call you when I'm ready." He said and hung up.
"Great. Two steps back." Helga said, slipping her phone into her pocket.
Arnold was startled by the sound of footsteps heading his way so he signaled Eduardo to be ready with the trap. He looked down at the ground where they had set up a human snare, once Raymond was in place Eduardo was to cut a rope that would capture him.
"Look at the map carefully," Mick said. "I know you know how to decipher it"
"Do this and you can go free?" Raymond said.
Mick was doing a good job of making sure it looked like Bella was leading the way since the code on the map was nothing but gibberish. Bella was still suspicions of Mick but he was helping her so she figured she'd play along for now. Bella leaned in close to Mick and whispered something to him.
"She said its right through to that clearing." Mick pointed, though Bella never whispered anything, he was glad that she had finally caught on.
They continued walking until Mick pulled them to a stop then he pulled Bella back and yelled "Now!" signaling for Eduardo to cut the rope which quickly scooped up Raymond in a huge net.
"You bastard! You tricked me!" Raymond Yelled, "you want the treasure to yourself!"
"There is no treasure." Mick smiled and Arnold stepped from the bushes.
"Arnold!" Bella called and ran into his arms.
"You are working for that kid! Dammit!" Raymond wiggled trying to get free but the net only swung from side to side.
"Hopefully your boss finds you before the wild animals do." Said Mick "let's go before he finds us though." He turned to Arnold
Back at Camp, Bella and Arnold sat around a fresh fire drinking some hot coffee. "You didn't have to come back for me."
"Yes I did. You saved me first and besides I need to stop Scheck. He might be willing to wait for me to show him where the green eyes are for now but that won't last and then he'll start bulldozing the whole forest." Bella gasped at the thought and grabbed for the necklace beneath her clothes. "I've been meaning to ask about that necklace." Arnold said.
"It is a key." Mick said suddenly and Arnold looked up to see they were cornered by Jose and Mick, who were pointing large jagged knifes at both of them.
"What's going on?" Arnold said and started to stand before he was shoved back down.
"Hand it over." Mick said.
"No." Bella held her necklace tightly and Jose advanced on her. She looked at Arnold and then back at Jose.
"We will take it from you, dead or alive." Mick said. Arnold's eyes narrowed and he grabbed the blade of Mick's knife, flinching as the cool steel pierced his skin. He twisted his arm causing Mick's wrist to give way and Arnold shoved him back where Mick tripped over a vine. While this was happening Jose had taken his attention off of Bella. She splashed the hot coffee in his face and moved away.
"Let's go." Arnold said and grabbed her wrist before pulling her through the trees. Arnold didn't know what was happening but he did know two things, the Green eyes were being tracked from all sides and he had to keep Bella safe even at the cost of his life.