“Line up there,” said a soldier, pushing them alongside one of the trucks.

The soldiers stepped back, and the general came forward. Woodbridge exited the chopper and joined the general.

“Remove the gags and restraints,” said the general.

The tape over their mouths and bindings were removed.

“You realize that—” Corrie began, but Woodbridge quickly stepped up and slapped her hard across the face.

“You will speak when asked a question, and at no other time,” the general said. “Consider that we’re in the middle of the largest military reservation in the country—three thousand, two hundred square miles. This area is uninhabited, closed, surveilled, and patrolled. I am the commander in charge, and I have a thousand personnel at my beck and call. In preparation for this evening, I have ordered an MQ-9 Reaper and an RQ-7 Shadow drone, along with their support platoons, to be ready on the flight line at a moment’s notice. As you can see, cooperation is your only choice. Fail to cooperate, and you will be terminated. Is that understood?”

No one said anything. The general said calmly, “When I do ask a question, I want a yes sir or no sir out of each one of you. Or there will be consequences. Now, do you understand? Dr. Kelly?”

Nora hesitated, and Woodbridge struck her across the face so hard she staggered.

“Yes, sir,” said Corrie and Skip.

Nora gasped, trying to collect herself from the blow, face burning, tears springing into her eyes. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now let us begin by your telling me the name of the peak in the Oscura range where the treasure is located.”

Silence fell.

The general said, “I will ask the question again, and if I don’t get an immediate and correct answer, Lieutenant Woodbridge will fire a round into that individual’s head.” He pointed to Skip.

“Once you shoot him,” said Corrie, “you’ll lose all leverage with us, and you know it.”

The general looked at her. “You’re right.” He made a gesture, and a soldier stepped forward and slammed the butt of his rifle into Skip’s solar plexus, dropping him to the ground with a gasp of pain.

“Wait,” said Nora. “Corrie?” She stared at the FBI agent. “We’re going to cooperate.” She turned back to the general. “Mockingbird Butte.”

Corrie said nothing.

The general smiled. The soldier who had hit Skip now helped him to his feet. He was clutching his stomach and gasping.

“Mockingbird Butte,” the general repeated. His eyes glittered. “Such an insignificant little hill. Who would have guessed? Let’s go.”

Nora and the others were pushed into the back seat of one of the trucks and surrounded by armed soldiers. Both trucks started up, and they drove off down a warren of dirt roads winding through the foothills. At a certain point, the trucks left the road and began crashing through brush and tall grass, stopping from time to time while soldiers got out and reconnoitered. Finally, both trucks stopped.

“Out,” the general said.

They complied. The trucks had come to a stop at the edge of a dry wash. On the other side a hill rose up, black against the starry sky. It was a low hill, no more than a hundred feet high, with a knob of rock on top.

The general stopped in front of Nora. “Now what?”

“At the base of the hill,” said Nora, “on the south side, is a large rock with two crosses carved onto it. From there, you go straight up the hill to another rock with a cross. The entrance … the entrance is five paces to the left.”

The soldiers began searching the base of the hill with powerful headlamps. There were many boulders to examine, but it didn’t take long for one soldier to shout out a discovery.

“Bring them along,” said the general as they headed toward the location. At the base of a square block of basalt, in the beam of several headlamps, Nora could see a small cross chiseled into the rock, partially obscured by tall grass.

“Find the second marker,” ordered the general.

The soldiers walked up the side of the hill, fanning out, examining each boulder as they went. The entire hillside was strewn with rocks, and the minutes ticked by. Finally, about two-thirds of the way up, a soldier cried: “Here!”

They walked up. The soldiers had already moved five paces to the left and were removing rocks from a depression.

“You,” said the general, pointing at Skip. “Get in there and help.”

Skip limped over and, still in obvious pain, began moving rocks.

Soon the outline of a mine entrance was exposed. It wasn’t well hidden. Seventy-five years ago, Gower had probably uncovered most of it, Nora assumed, only lightly re-covering it before embarking on his fateful journey back to High Lonesome.

In another ten minutes the opening was fully exposed—a crude black hole, about five feet in diameter, boring straight into the mountain.

“Go,” said the general.

Woodbridge gestured with her M16, and Nora, Skip, and Corrie went into the mine, following the four soldiers, with the general and Woodbridge behind.

They’re not going to let us leave this place alive, thought Nora, feeling curiously detached. She glanced at Corrie and saw the same blank expression she’d noticed before. And poor Skip … her heart almost broke thinking of what they’d done to him, how they’d terrorized him. She hoped the end would be quick.