The Fallen (Amos Decker #4)(123)

“But why bother covering the gold with brick veneer if the bars were going to be inside a wall?” asked Ross.

“Well, even though they were heavy, it would at least hide the gold bars from the workers who built the mausoleum, and if the marble ever got damaged it would just reveal bricks underneath and nothing more, just like you thought when your guy opened up the wall.”

“But who killed the men and put them under the crypt?” asked Baron.

Decker shrugged. “For all I know, Baron the First and his butler did. They could have put the bodies inside that chamber and then had somebody come in and close it up. In fact, in the letter to his son, Nigel said it was possible that he might end up in hell and he was sort of asking for God’s forgiveness. That might have been his guilt as a murderer coming out.”

“What would a wall of gold be worth, do you think?” Ross asked.

Decker quickly tallied the number of bricks on the wall. “Gold’s over thirteen hundred bucks an ounce now. A gold bar like that weighs over twelve kilos or about twenty-six pounds. So that one bar would be worth nearly six hundred thousand dollars.”

Lassiter exclaimed, “Oh my God. Each bar?”

“Yeah,” said Decker as he ran his gaze over the crypt wall. “I’d say you’re looking at maybe nine hundred bricks or so. Maybe more.”

“So that means…” said Ross, obviously trying to do the math in his head.

But John Baron answered. “That comes to over half a billion dollars in gold.”

“And despite the old saying, Baron the First apparently wanted to take it all with him when he died,” quipped Decker. “That’s why I knew the gold wouldn’t be in the potting shed.”

Lassiter said, “God, I knew old man Baron was rich, but damn.”

Decker said, “Well, gold was a lot cheaper back then. Turned out to be a good investment.”

Ross lifted his gaze from the gold bar to Decker. “So, do we have a deal?”

“Actually, I don’t really see how that could happen,” said Decker. “You’ve killed at least ten people that I know of, including my partner’s brother-in-law, not to mention thousands more who’ve overdosed on the crap you’ve been selling. So I’m actually here to arrest you.”

Ross looked at Decker like he was insane. “Okay. But you’re outgunned and in no position to negotiate. And I’ve got hostages you want back. All you’ve got is my old man, who I could give a damn about.”

“No, you’ve got it all wrong, because you made a big mistake.”

“What’s that?” said Ross warily.

In answer, Decker used his free hand to take out his phone. It was on, and in speaker mode. “Assuming I’d be stupid enough to come here without any backup.”





Chapter 73



THE LIGHTS HIT them from all directions.

Long guns slid over the brick walls of the burial ground as the men there stood on breach ladders.

A voice on a PA called out, “Federal agents! Guns down! On the ground, hands behind your heads! Now!”

A chopper emblazoned with DEA on the side suddenly roared over the tree line and cast its spotlight down on them. Assault rifles were trained from the bird on Ross and his group down below.

In the cemetery, some of Ross’s men fired up at the chopper and at the armed men who had suddenly appeared at the top of the brick wall.

Shots rang out all over. The burial ground was quickly shrouded in smoke from all the discharging weapons.

Flash-bangs went off and people screamed. The smoke grew denser. The screams grew louder.

Decker quickly pushed Fred Ross’s wheelchair over next to one of the SUVs.

“Keep your head down,” he told the old man before rejoining the others.

Jamison shouted to Decker, “I’ll get Amber and Zoe.”

She sprinted forward, with John Baron joining her.

Ross and one of his men had also raced toward the hostages.

The two groups clashed right in front of Amber and Zoe.

Ross started to point his weapon at Jamison.

“You piece of shit!” screamed Jamison.

She kicked the gun out of his hand and drove her fist into his nose, and when he staggered back in pain, she nailed him with her knee directly in his crotch. He went down and stayed there. Just to be sure, she jerked his hands behind his back and cuffed him.

Meanwhile, Baron gripped the gun hand of the other man, stripped him of the weapon, bent his arm behind his back, and launched him headfirst into a granite tombstone. The man slumped to the ground and didn’t move.

Jamison lifted Zoe up into her arms and Baron helped Amber to her feet. They took cover behind a crypt as the firefight continued.

Jamison slipped off Zoe’s gag and the little girl looked up in amazement at her aunt.

“Aunt Alex, what you did, that…that was so cool.”

At the gate of the cemetery, something came out of the smoky darkness and struck Decker. He stumbled to the side, slammed into the wrought iron gate, lost his balance, and fell down.

Cindi Riley helped him up as shots continued to ring out and people screamed inside the grounds.

Decker could hear feet running away into the darkness. It had to be the person who had struck him.

He looked into the graveyard and as the smoke cleared he saw several of Ross’s men down on the ground. Others were on their knees, their hands over their heads.