nearby and preparing to land. The sound of its approach had been masked completely until it was almost on top of them.
Payne smiled when he saw the chopper. His escape just got a whole lot easier. ‘Where are we headed?’
Jones answered. ‘Some warehouse in Austria. Huber knows where.’
‘Then try to keep up.’
‘Not a problem.’
Payne patted Huber on his shoulder. ‘You’re with me. Richter stays with Kaiser.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Is everything loaded?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Then follow me.’
Payne led the way to the other chopper where they were met by Ulster. As bubbly as ever, he greeted each of them with a hearty handshake.
‘What took you so long?’ Payne asked.
Ulster apologized. ‘Sorry about the delay. We ran into a small problem.’
Payne slammed the hatch shut, then collapsed into one of the leather seats where he planned on snoozing until they got to Austria. Compared to the belly of Kaiser’s chopper, they would be flying in style. ‘A problem? What kind of problem?’
Before he could answer, Heidi waved at Payne from the front seat. ‘Hey, Jon.’
Ulster smiled sheepishly. ‘A female problem.’
47
Even though Payne had enjoyed chatting with Heidi at the King’s House on Schachen, he was noticeably upset by her presence in the chopper.
He growled at Ulster. ‘What in the hell is she doing here?’
Ulster lowered his eyes in shame. ‘I’m sorry, Jonathon. I had no choice.’
‘Of course you had a choice! You could have left her on the mountain.’
Heidi spoke up. ‘Actually, no he couldn’t.’
Payne glared at her. ‘Am I talking to you?’
Heidi glared back. ‘Well, you are now, which is how it should have been all along. If you’re mad at me, yell at me. Don’t take it out on Petr.’
Ulster shrugged but said nothing.
Payne lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘Petr, what is she doing here?’
Heidi heard the question and yelled over Ulster’s shoulder. ‘You’re doing it again! Talk to me, Jon. Not Petr.’
Payne gently pushed Ulster back into his seat and focused his attention on Heidi. ‘Fine! I’ll talk to you directly since you’re not giving me any other choice. Why in the hell are you on this chopper?’
‘Why? Because I figured out what you’re doing.’
‘Really? And what the hell is that?’
She smirked. ‘You’re looking for the black swan treasure.’
Payne took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat. After staying silent for a few seconds, he turned towards Huber, who was sitting next to him. Both of them were covered in blood and grime after spending the last hour fighting for their lives. ‘Can you believe this shit? She’s yelling at me after everything we just went through. This is why I’m not married.’
Huber shook his head. ‘Typical woman.’
Heidi reacted instantly. The comment upset her so much she nearly jumped out of the front seat to get in Huber’s face. The only things that kept her in place were her shoulder harness and the reprimand from the pilot, who was trying to fly the chopper out of the valley.
Huber laughed at her behaviour. ‘The defence rests.’
She twisted in her seat and pointed at Huber. ‘I don’t like you.’
Huber shrugged and closed his eyes. ‘The feeling’s mutual.’
Then she pointed at Payne. ‘And I expected more from you.’
He pointed at himself. ‘You expected more from me? What the hell does that mean?’
‘You were so nice and sweet up at the house. Now you’re acting like a jerk.’
Payne took another deep breath, trying to calm the anger that was bubbling inside. Adrenaline from the battlefield was still flowing through his veins, making it difficult to control his emotions. It was one of the reasons the US military had instituted a cool-down period before missions were debriefed. ‘Listen, I don’t know what you said or did to con your way onto this chopper, but you don’t know jack shit about what we’re doing.’
‘Sure, I do!’ she snapped. ‘You’re looking for a treasure, just like the one you found in Greece. Trust me, Jon, I know all about you, David and Petr. I know everything.’
For Payne, that was the final straw. He simply couldn’t take any more of her chirping. So he leapt out of his seat, pushed his way past Ulster who was sitting in the middle row, and knelt in the aisle behind Heidi. From his position on the floor, he pointed at the blood on the front of his shirt. ‘You think you know everything, huh? Do you know about Collins? He was minding his own business, driving our ATV through the woods, when a gunman shot him in the side of the