The drive back was more comfortable than the drive to the ruined building. We traveled more slowly, matching the pace of Gorky’s rather old and battered Toyota—obviously, spying didn’t pay very well. This time, Laia and I weren’t blindfolded, and our feet weren’t tied, but it was still difficult to stay balanced with our hands tied behind our backs. I had a moment of hope when I rolled heavily onto my cell phone and felt it vibrate, but there was no way I could reach it with my hands tied.
“Stop here,” Laia ordered when we reached the point where the road was closest to location number five. I let Laia lead the way as we worked our way around the hillside, wondering if she had some sort of escape plan in mind. I couldn’t imagine what it might be. Our hands were still tied, and we were surrounded by four fit-looking men.
Progress was slow, with Gorky being helped along and having to take frequent breaks to catch his breath, but we eventually arrived at the rockfall. One of the Spaniards said something too fast for me to catch, and the others laughed. “What did he say?” I asked Laia.
“He said his grandfather used to say there were ghosts living here and that they used to steal sheep.”
One of the other Spaniards looked over at me and said, “Habrá fantasmas más pronto.” I understood that. He had said there would be more ghosts soon. I really hoped Laia had a plan.
“Where is it?” Gorky asked. He was visibly excited now, looking around and waving his cane.
Laia led us over to rock fourteen. “You have to move that rock,” she said.
Gorky gave orders, and two of his men hauled the rock aside. Gorky moved forward and peered into the dark hole. “Where is it?” he asked again, withdrawing his head. “I need a flashlight.”
The Spaniards looked at each other and shrugged. Laia flashed me a warning look and shook her head very slightly. I realized that I was still wearing my backpack, held in place by my arms tied behind me. Our flashlight was still in it. I kept silent.
“It’s in there,” Laia said. “About three or four meters in. Untie my hands and I’ll go get it.”
Gorky looked uncertain, but he had little choice. Laia and I were the only two who could squeeze through the tiny hole, and enlarging it would be a big job. “Okay,” he said. “I don’t think you will escape into the hillside.”
Lucio cut Laia’s hands free. For a moment, she stood and massaged her wrists. She leaned toward me to give me a kiss on the cheek and whispered, “Come in fast as soon as they cut you free.”
“Be careful,” I said out loud, as I nodded to show that I understood what she had said.
“Very touching,” Gorky said. “Now get me the bomb.”
Laia squirmed through the hole and disappeared. I slowly edged forward, wriggling my hands to try and get the feeling back in them.
“I’ve found it,” Laia shouted, her voice echoing out of the blackness. I thought Gorky was going to start dancing, he looked so strung out. All the men except Lucio had edged farther away from the hole, looking nervous. I guessed they weren’t particularly keen on transporting a thermonuclear bomb in their van.
Laia grunted loudly. “What’s wrong?” Gorky shouted.
“It’s really heavy,” Laia shouted back. “I can’t move it on my own.”
Gorky looked at his men. They knew what was coming and took a few shuffling steps back, shaking their heads. Gorky looked at Lucio. It was obvious that he would never get through the hole. “Do you have any rope in the van?” Gorky asked. Again the shuffling and head shaking. “You will go in and help your girlfriend,” the old man said, turning back to me. “Cut him free,” he ordered Lucio.
I stepped forward as Lucio drew a thin, evil-looking blade from his belt. As he sawed at my bonds, Gorky produced a small automatic pistol from his pocket. “Don’t try anything funny,” he warned.
“If you shoot me, you’ll never get the bomb,” I said, hoping I sounded confident enough to make the old man hesitate. My hands were free. I swung the backpack off my shoulders, held it in front of me and dived for the hole. The backpack was through and my shoulders were scraping painfully against the rocks when I heard Gorky shout something. I felt hands grabbing at my legs. I wriggled frantically, kicking my feet. My right foot connected with something solid, and I heard a satisfying cry of pain. The grip loosened, and I was through.
“This way,” Laia urged from the blackness in front of me. “Against the wall on your right.” I struggled to my knees, shoved the backpack in front of me and, ignoring my cuts and bruises, worked my way toward Laia’s voice. There were some quite large rocks on the ground, and I kicked up a choking cloud of dust as I clambered over them. I tried not to think about what might be in the dust.
The light from the outside faded quickly, and I was in total darkness by the time I felt Laia’s hand on mine. We fell into each other’s arms, almost weeping with relief. “It’ll take them a while to dig a hole big enough to get through,” Laia said. “If we move a bit farther in, they’ll never find us.”
“This was a brilliant idea,” I said. “Was the bomb actually heavy?”
“I don’t know,” Laia replied. “It’s a nuclear bomb! I stayed as far away as possible, hard up against the opposite wall from where we spotted it earlier. I never even saw it.”
I began to laugh, as much from the release of tension as anything. I was almost hysterical, but Gorky’s voice sobered me up quickly. “Come out. Bring the bomb with you and no harm will befall you.”
Laia and I huddled silently against the wall. “I will give you one final warning,” Gorky shouted. I could see a shadow partly blocking the patch of daylight. It seemed far away.
The crack of a pistol shot was deafening in the confined space of the tunnel. “Come out now,” Gorky ordered. His voice was followed by two more shots. I thought I heard a bullet whine past, and I tried to push us both into the wall at our backs.
“Move deeper in,” I said in an urgent whisper. As quietly as possible, we worked our way farther into the darkness, until we turned a corner and couldn’t see the hole anymore. There were no more shots. We sat with our backs against the rough stone of the wall. “I think we’re safe here,” Laia said. “Let’s get the flashlight and see where we are.”
I fumbled with the zipper of the backpack. “A drink of water would be nice too,” I said as I felt around for the rubber tube of the flashlight. The beam looked incredibly bright after the pitch darkness. I shone the light into the bag and brought out our water and two granola bars. We ate and drank thankfully.
“I don’t suppose your cell phone has a signal in here,” Laia said through a mouthful of granola bar.
“I doubt it,” I said, but I pulled the phone from my jeans pocket. There was no signal, but the phone was on and there was a text from DJ. What’s up? You called but no one there. DJ.
“I must have pocket-dialed him when I was rolling around in the van. I wish I’d known—DJ could have come and rescued us.”
Laia laughed. “Felip might have been a more useful call.”
“I would even have settled for Chad,” I said. “He would have distracted Gorky by trying to sell him something.”
We both laughed, enjoying the brief release of tension, and then Laia became serious again. “Do you think they were really going to kill us?”
“I think they were,” I said, equally serious. “The bomb means a lot to Gorky. He wants to do something terrible with it because he has this crazy idea that it will change the world. I can see why Grandfather insisted on keeping the bomb hidden from him. Gorky won’t want to leave any witnesses.”
“Do you think he’s really mad?’ Laia asked.
“Yes,” I replied without a moment’s hesitation.
“He’s totally insane. The bomb’s become a complete obsession with him. I don’t know if he could even set the thing off. Felip told us it was very difficult to trigger a nuclear explosion.” But then I thought of something else Felip had told us. “He doesn’t need to set it off. Didn’t Felip say that plutonium dust is what is really deadly? Something about only a thousandth of a gram being enough to kill you? If Gorky can get the plutonium out of the bomb, he could grind it up and pass it through the heating system of a building, or put it in a water supply, or even just throw handfuls into the air in the middle of a crowded city. He could kill thousands of people without any kind of explosion.”