‘No!’ Nina screamed as she watched the Jeep sail off the road and arc down into the valley. ‘Eddie, oh my God!’
‘He’s okay, he’s okay!’ Macy desperately reassured her. ‘He jumped into the truck!’
‘He what? Oh, Jesus Christ . . .’ Nina gasped for breath, the horror of what she thought she had just witnessed still clutching at her heart.
Eddie pulled himself up and pointed the revolver into the cab. ‘Stop the truck!’ he yelled at the driver.
The rebel instead clawed inside his wet, grubby jacket. Eddie pulled the trigger—
Click. The hammer fell, but the gun didn’t go off. All the bullets in the cylinder had been fired.
The driver drew his own gun, twisted—
Eddie dropped and rolled as the rebel opened fire. Unable to turn any further without risking losing control of the truck, the driver unleashed a couple more shots blindly over his shoulder. One hit the floor as Eddie jerked out of the way, the other blasting messily through the dangling corpse’s stomach.
Eddie flipped the useless revolver over in his hand. He scrambled forward and lunged through the broken rear window, brutally cracking the empty gun against the driver’s head like a knuckleduster.
The man reeled, the pickup swerving to the right. Before he could recover, Eddie grabbed his gun hand and slammed it against the window frame, rasping his wrist against the broken glass. The driver yelled in pain and fired again, forcing Eddie to duck – but not before he pushed the weapon’s magazine release button. The automatic’s slide locked back as the mag clattered into the cargo bed.
The driver pulled the trigger twice more, getting nothing but metallic clicks in response. By the time he realised his gun was empty Eddie had shoved the corpse over the truck’s side and reached into the cab to hook an arm round his neck. Choking, the driver struggled to break free – then saw that the truck was heading for the side of the little wooden bridge. He yanked at the steering wheel—
The F-150 lurched, tilting on its suspension and throwing Eddie sideways. He lost his hold on the driver and reeled across the cargo bed, almost falling out before grabbing the rollbar.
The passenger door swung open and hit the bridge’s fence with a huge bang. It was ripped away, spinning backwards. The mangled metal scythed past Eddie, slashing the back of his jacket.
The driver regained control, straightening out. Eddie was about to attack again when he saw something ahead – something that hadn’t been there when the expedition drove up the road. A waterfall spewed down the hillside from high above, pounding the road in a swirling cloud of spray.
He gripped the rollbar tightly as the truck drove through the torrent, crashing across the newly created dip where the muddy track had been washed over the cliff. The driver fought with the wheel as the pickup skidded.
Eddie saw his chance. If he got into the cab through the missing door, he could use the Steyr to kill the driver and immediately take the wheel before the F-150 went out of control.
He drew the gun from his jacket and climbed over the pickup’s side.
The Nissan rounded a bend. ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ Macy gasped, seeing the new waterfall.
Nina looked up for its source. There was only one possible explanation: when the river feeding the falls concealing El Dorado had been blocked, the water rose behind the dam . . . and was now finding other ways downhill. ‘Oh God,’ she said in alarm. ‘This whole valley might flood!’
Eddie swung into the cab, aiming the Steyr at the driver—
The Peruvian hurled his empty gun.
Eddie jerked his head sideways, but the automatic struck his cheek hard enough to draw blood and knocked him backwards. The Steyr dropped into the footwell as he grabbed at the dashboard, missed, toppled through the gaping doorway . . .
His hand clamped round the seatbelt.
It didn’t stop him. The reel unwound, pitching him out of the truck—
Thunk!
The seatbelt’s inertial lock mechanism activated, yanking him to a stop. One hand clutching the belt, Eddie dangled out of the open door, his back almost parallel to the ground.
Grinning sadistically, the driver turned the wheel to smear him against the rock wall.
Eddie grabbed with his free hand for the seatbelt, the door frame, anything – but there was nothing within reach. The cliff face rushed past, getting closer . . .
Something sticking out of the ground, right ahead—